Hezu

And cards are widely accepted also in Finland and Estonia, so probably you won't need much cash even in those countries. On the other hand, if the Baltic cruise includes stop in Germany, there for some odd reason many places won't accept credit cards, but obviously euros in cash are accepted.

If it is sunny, it is rarely a bad idea to use sunscreen. And even if you don't bring sunscreen, it should be fairly easy to find from local stores in the cities you visit.

Are you fixed on those Panasonics? I guess those might be ok, but I think the best compact superzoom currently on the market is still Sony RX10 IV, which I believe has superior autofocus capabilities in addition to very versatile 24-600 mm equivalent lens. Granted, it might not be the cheapest option nor the smallest one, but still far more compact than an ILC and telephoto lens with comparable reach.

It is certainly worth noting that Hamburg is quite far away from Kiel and traveling between these two will take over an hour in each direction.

Ouch, I can sort relate with this, some years ago in mid-May I fell on bike and fractured my upper arm, survived without surgery, but sadly had to cancel a trip to Iceland that would been in early June. The arm started to feel normal only couple months later. If lifting heavy camera+lens combinations continues to be a problem when you travel, I suggest to seriously take a look at getting Sony RX10 IV. The feeling of the controls and EVF might be tad inferior compared to your ILCs and the smaller sensor might be less suitable for low light situations, but that camera packs a versatile lens (field of view comparable to 24-600 mm in full frame terms) and very respectable AF in reasonably small and light compact form.

Actually the flight restrictions over Russia and Ukraina do not affect most Europe<->Singapore flights as much as it affects flights between Europe and Korea, Japan and northern parts of China, which have to take much longer detour whereas Singapore flights still follow roughly similar route as earlier, just tad more southern flight path.

Majority of cruise ships dock in Helsinki at Hernesaari (Ärtholmen in Swedish) and the distance between the quays there and the nearest tram stop is something like a kilometre, so not exactly something I would call nearby, although for a able bodied persons not impossible distance to walk. Few smaller cruise ships (+ Silja Line and Viking Line cruise ferries) do call at South Harbour (fi: Eteläsatama, sv: Södra hamnen) and from there the distances to the nearest tram stops are much shorter.

Just for sake of clarity: the main international airport serving Reykjavík area is Keflavík Airport, which is something like 50 km from the city centre, which probably explains why the taxi fares are quite expensive. There is also another airport, Reykjavík Airport, that is next to the city centre and taxi fares between the cruise terminal and that airport are more tolerable, although since that airport offers only flights to elsewhere in Iceland and some destinations in Greenland, for most people that won't offer any help. For connections between central Reykjavík and Keflavík, the more cost-effective transport method is probably bus.

If you want to take just a part of the HOHO bus route, you probably could use regular public transportation to travel to the opposite direction. Most HOHO bus stops should have bus or tram stops or a metro station in the vicinity. Of course, for these you will need a different ticket. For more information about public transportation (routes, ticket prices etc.) in Helsinki region, please check out HSL website.

My personal experience on cruising around Svalbard is quite limited as I have only taken a short (three nights) cruise on Hurtigruten's MS Polarstjernen, which is a fairly small ship (especially as it is rather old and thus her cabins tend to be much smaller than on more modern ships) and I think that particular cruise was not even fully booked. Fewer passangers is obviously an advantage if the cruise includes landings on smaller boats as otherwise the process of getting people on the boats and back to the ship would take longer time and there might be crowding on the beach. And there are certainly smaller ships sailing around Svalbard, I believe the smallest ones are M/S Origo, M/S Malmö and M/S Freya. These sister ships take only something like 14 passangers and primarily they are used for photo expeditions around Svalbard. There are also other bit larger expedition ships, eg. MV Polar Pioneer, that has something like 25 cabins in total.

The most commonly used cruise port in Helsinki is Hernesaari, which sadly is currently without any nearby tram or bus stops, closest one is something like kilometer away from the quays. And that is for tram line 6. Although if you want to ride around on tram 2, you could for example take tram number 6 to either Fredrikinkatu or Erottaja stops on Bulevardi, go to the stop on the other side of the street, hop on the next tram on line 3, which will eventually change into tram number 2 at Olympiaterminaali stop (and also the other way around for trams that are going to the opposite direction). But in general, the public transport in Helsinki should be able to get you on most locations around the city quite easily, for more details on routes, prices and possible announcements on interuptions, please check out HSL website. The route planner there can be useful tool if you want to know how to get from certain location to some destination. The route planner is also included in HSL mobile app. It is possible to purchase tickets with this app. And all HSL area tickets include unlimited changes between busses, trams, local trains and Suomenlinna ferry as long as the ticket is valid (for single tickets minimum of 80 minutes).

I think there is (or at least in summer will be) vendors offering fruits, berries and vegetables. And I presume that at least some of the cafe tents would offer Karelian pasties (or "rice pasties" as the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) definition of Karelian pasty has quite strict regulations on how one should prepare these). But certainly significant portion of the offerings will be more geared towards tourists rather than locals doing their grocery shopping.

Also worth a note that the transfer speeds of memory cards have been increasing all the time and it is rarely a bad idea to have a faster card instead of slower one.

Traditionally the Market Square has been a food market and with sort of farmers' market type repertoire, but in recent times the focus has somewhat shifted towards more touristy offerings and these days many booths offer souveniers and prepared food and drinks to be consumed on the spot or as take away portions. Some sign of this process was news that on Easter Saturday the last fish monger on the market will cease trading there. If you want to see an open air flea market that you could find in Hietalahti market, but it will be open only on Saturdays and Sundays 10-15. There are also some other indoor flea markets or second hand stores around Helsinki that have longer opening hours.

I presume the quoted times are sunrise and sunset times. It is worth remembering that around dusk and dawn there will be twilight illuminating sky even if the sun is below the horizon.

I think you have most bases covered with that choice of lenses (and cameras). At most, I would consider adding some fast prime(s) in case you want to shoot in dark conditions (eg. indoors), although that f/2.8 wide angle zoom might cover such situations at least partially if you don't need longer focal lengths.

In summer you sure cannot see Northern Lights in Southern Norway (or elsewhere), but I wouldn't use such strong language that there is no chance to see them there, granted the sufficiently strong magnetic storms occur rarely and even then clouds may obstruct the view to the night sky. Just couple weeks ago the space weather had so strong magnetic storms that one could see Northern Lights even on the latitudes of The Netherlands. But certainly the best chances to see auroras are in latitudes above the Arctic Circle (and from (late) autumn to (early) spring).

I have no experience in any specific tours, but after little research I gather that your best chances are either from Ísafjörður (nearby Vigur island) or Reykjavík (Akurey and Lundey islands). Found a comprehensive blog post on puffins in Iceland that probably can give you further information.

If the wish was no international chain restaurants, I think this could be thus disqualified since despite being originally Norwegian, thesedays the chain is international as there are restaurants at least also in Helsinki.

Where in Europe? What would you like to photograph? You are talking about a large continent and for some photo opportunities camera phones may prove to be somewhat limited. I can think about at least two use cases, where mobile phone cameras may be insufficient: when you want to take photos of far away subjects and dark locations (eg. interiors of old buildings). Of course, for these situations, you would need a telephoto lens and a fast aperture lens(es).

One note regarding public transport in Helsinki: presuming the ship calls at Hernesaari, for time being there is no bus or tram traffic close to the cruise ship quays, the nearest tram stop is about kilometer away. But once you get there, for modest ticket prices you have access to the whole public transport network, that can transport you not only to the destination of the shuttle busses (somewhere near Market Square?), but pretty much anywhere in the Finnish capital region. Worth noting that even single tickets include unlimited number of changes between trams, busses, Suomenlinna ferry, metro and local trains within the validity time of the ticket. This varies on how large area is covered: the AB zone (whole central Helsinki and little more) ticket is valid for 80 minutes and ABC zone ticket for 90 minutes and ABCD zone (= whole region) ticket for 110 minutes. Although it might be useful to buy a 24h ticket instead of bunch of single tickets as AB zone 24h ticket costs 9 €, while single tickets for the same area are 3.10 €, so thus if you need 3+ tickets 24h ticket becomes cheaper option.

It doesn't have to complete darkness to see auroras, although minimal light pollution makes it easier to see these. For example one reasonably popular place to see northern lights is around Garður lighthouse in NW tip of Reykjanes peninsula (north of Keflavik airport). Also apart from the city center of Reykjavík, I think Iceland might have fairly light amounts of light pollution.

Waffles are quite popular in Norway, so there is indeed number of places where they are on offer.

I think either itinerary would offer a lot to see in Northern Europe, so it is bit of toss whether you want to A) ports on North Sea coast and Shetland Islands or B) few more fjords on Norwegian coast and full tour around Baltic Sea. I wouldn't be too concerned that the situation with Russia would significally affect either cruise.

Blue Lagoon isn't even in the city of Reykjavík, so the distance would be quite challenging to walk. Skarfbakki harbour (where there is cruise terminal) to Blue Lagoon car park is 51 km and if Google Maps estimates correctly, would be 44 minute drive by car. It is possible your DW noticed Laugardalslaug pools, which are within the city and there you could indeed walk from the harbour.