The 2009 cruise season kicks off this month when Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) returns to the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal for the seventh straight year with the luxurious Norwegian Majesty, making its first sail on August 29.

Cruise passengers can beat the heat and enjoy a five- day sail to Canada and New England. That trip will be followed by three consecutive 10-day sailings to Canada and New England - the longest Canadian cruises from Philadelphia to date. These 10-day cruises will call on Bay of Fundy/St. John, Sydney, Charlotte, Halifax and Portland, Maine.

Then summer returns in October, with the Norwegian Majesty makes four consecutive seven-day sailings to the sunny pink beaches of St. George's, Bermuda. Norwegian Majesty's final sail to Bermuda, ending CruisePhilly's 2009 season, leaves Philadelphia on October 24th.

For information on cruising from Philadelphia or special pre- and post-cruise package, visit www.cruisephilly.com or call (856) 968-2052.

The British are coming but this time, they've given us advance notice. The Revolutionary Germantown Festival returns October 3rd, with reenactors dressed in period uniforms staging the 1777 Battle of Germantown at Cliveden of the National Trust.

The free Festival takes place from 10 am - 5 pm, with battle reenactments held at noon and 3 pm. Families will enjoy colonial games and activities held across the road at Upsala where children can make their own ink and write with quill pens, enjoy colonial era entertainment and hear "first hand" from a reenactor of Ned Hector, an African American wagoneer who fought in the 1777 battle.

Guests can also explore all of Historic Germantown, Freedom's Backyard, by purchasing a Freedom's Backyard Passport, valid for one year from purchase and affordable priced at $15.00 for individual admission and $25.00 for a family of four consisting of up to two adults and two children age 12 or under.

The passport includes one-time admission to all 14 attractions comprising Freedom's Backyard: ACES Museum, Awbury Arboretum, Cliveden of the National Trust, The Concord Schoolhouse, Deshler-Morris House, Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust, Germantown Historical Society, Grumblethorpe, Historic RittenhouseTown, Johnson House, LaSalle Art Museum, Stenton and Wyck.

For more information, visit Freedom's Backyard at www.freedomsbackyard.com.

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