Review: 12N Scandinavia & Russia - Celebrity Silhouette 28/May/2015

This is my first detailed review of our awesome 12N Scandinavia & Russia Cruise on board the Celebrity Silhouette which started on 28th May 2015. This was my 6th Cruise overall and 3rd in a row on Celebrity Silhouette, which is now officially our adopted child. I am 35 years old, living in Mumbai, India and I am a cruise addict. From the first time I set foot on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas in 2010, I have been hooked on to cruising. I was travelling with my DW (who also loves cruising), her parents and a couple of her parents' friends.

We love BIG cruise ships and Celebrity’s S class ships are the smallest we’re willing to cruise on. We had been looking at this particular cruise for quite a while and last year, while we were on the Silhouette, we were informed that the Silhouette would be switching from its Venice itineraries to the Baltic. Hence we jumped upon this opportunity and booked the Baltic cruise. We also decided to see Moscow before the cruise, since the airfares were reasonable.

Our itinerary was as follows:

25th May - Mumbai to Moscow (via Dubai)

26th May - Moscow

27th May - Moscow

28th May - Moscow to Stockholm (Cruise begins!)

29th May - Stockholm

30th May - Helsinki

31st May - St. Petersburg

1st June - St. Petersburg

2nd June - Tallinn, Estonia

3rd June - At Sea

4th June - Warnemunde (Berlin)

5th June - Fredericia, Denmark

6th June - Copenhagen

7th June - Copenhagen

8th June - At Sea

9th June - Amsterdam (Cruise ends)

10th June - Amsterdam

11th June - Amsterdam to Mumbai (via Dubai)

25th June 2015

After winding up with work, we left for the airport. I am always the most excited about my holiday, the minute I leave work for the airport. I always send out this picture to my friends the minute I leave work for a holiday.

We had a short flight from Mumbai to Dubai on Emirates, which landed on time at midnight on the 26th. We had a look at the Marhaba lounge at the Dubai airport and they didn't have any comfortable seats where we needed to spend the next 9.5 hours. So we checked into the Airport Hotel. The rooms were nice and large, air conditioning worked well and the beds were very comfortable. The rooms were quite expensive, USD 200 for 6 hours but we had a good night’s sleep and woke up feeling refreshed for our flight to Moscow and for the day in Moscow.

26th June 2015

The Emirates flight was very comfortable and there was plenty of leg room. The food on the flight was excellent. I am a huge foodie so the review will have a lot of food mentions with photos. I also had a good old Beef Burger from Burger King at Dubai Airport. The Burger King in India doesn't sell Beef & Bacon Burgers in India, so for me, grabbing one of these Burgers is a BIG DEAL.

At 2PM we landed in Moscow and were surprised to see how smooth the immigration process was. We had heard a lot of horror stories about how people with visas were taken aside for more questioning, how officers never smiled, but we were amazed to see how friendly and efficient the airport staff were.

We had booked transport from the airport to our Hotel (Courtyard by Marriott) on LingoTaxi and we found their service to be excellent. There was an English speaking driver waiting for us at the arrival hall and he helped us with all our bags. The cab was large enough to accommodate 6 people and 10 bags. An hour later we were safely transported to our hotel.

First views of Moscow

The hotel checked us in quickly and were kind enough to get us 3 rooms on the same floor. The rooms were large, clean and modern. Very comfortable beds again. The location of this hotel was excellent. A 10 minute walk to the centre of Moscow, where the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral all were. Even for the 4 senior citizens, this walk was manageable.

We immediately freshened up and got out to explore the city. The weather was pleasant (20-24 degrees) and I personally wished it would be cooler since we come from Mumbai which is usually 32-36 degrees. We walked down to the Red Square and were amazed by the beautiful gardens with fountains and eateries (there was also a huge McDonalds). We walked through the gardens and to the Red Square, Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral. All these landmarks are within walking distance and the atmosphere was very playful and the people were friendly. Lots of tourists in the area and we never felt more safe. We walked to the St. Basil’s Cathedral and after seeing so many pictures, to stand in front of the real thing was an awesome feeling, and that’s when it dawned on us that we’re actually in Moscow, Russia !

To be contd

After spending a couple of hours exploring the Red Square, we took the metro to the Radisson Hotel from where our river cruise would start. We pre-booked the river cruise before the trip and we just about made it in time for the cruise at 8:00 PM. The walk from the metro station to the pier was longer than we initially thought and took us nearly 30 minutes! The Moscow Metro stations were really gorgeous. Efficient and good looking! We felt very safe traveling in the Metros. We had studied the maps in detail and used google maps extensively. It can be a bit tricky since there’s hardly any English names anywhere.

Here are some pictures from the river cruise. The cruise lasted 1.5 hours and took us past many of Moscow’s famous attractions. The sunset was also at 8:45 PM which allowed us to see many of these attractions getting lit up for the night. With a cool breeze and near perfect weather, the evening was thoroughly memorable! We also chanced upon a 4-5 km stretch of beautiful trees, people sitting on the banks of the river and we quickly looked up what this place was. It was a place called Gorky Park and we immediately decided to try and fit that into our packed schedule the next day. As it turns out, this place was one of the best places we visited on our entire trip! More details on that later tho!

We took a couple of cabs back to the hotel (10 minute drive) and decided to call it a night, since we had a long day ahead of us. Detailed tours of the Kremlin, St. Basil’s, 8-9 Metro stops, Izmailovsky Market, Gorky Park and the Red Square at night was planned the next day. Would we be able to complete all of this in a day? Stay tuned to find out.

Nick

Please keep the pictures coming. Also, any advice on the ship/ports. Our cruise leaves in two weeks.

27th June 2015

After getting a good night’s sleep at our hotel, we started off Day 2 in Moscow bright and early. We walked down to the Red Square where we had bought tickets to the Armoury. We also wanted to visit Lenin’s Tomb, and we were lucky since the line to enter the area was short and moving fast. There were signs in English that photography was not allowed inside both these places. Lenin’s tomb was surprisingly good to see, how well the Russians had managed to preserve his face and body. Inside the Armoury, we got a taste of how rich Russian Czars were. There were rooms full of clothes that Royalty used to wear, thrones, crowns, jewellery and even some of the most amazing horse carriages I’ve ever seen. To imagine that sort of craftsmanship back in the day is something else. It’s so disappointing to not be able to take pictures, but at the same time, you’ve got to see it in person to really get a feel of Russia’s golden days.

We then walked around the Kremlin grounds, past the Tsar’s bell, the Tsar’s cannon and the gardens. Unfortunately this was one of the warmer days and the sun was really beating down. Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. We also went into St. Basil’s Cathedral and were underwhelmed by it. The Cathedral definitely looks a lot better from outside and that’s where most people were taking pictures/ selfies from. The GUM ‘mall’ was also on the same grounds and was HUGE ! We were told that at one time, only the finest Russian made goods were sold here and this was the shopping place for the Affluent segment of Russia. We took a quick stroll inside and it was really nice.

Next we decided to visit some of Moscow’s famous Metro stations. We had chalked out which stations we wanted to see, and we were able to see quite a few of them in a short period of time. However after 6-7 stations, we decided to cut short our plans, so that we have more time for the rest of the places we wanted to visit. We then took the metro to Ismailovsky market which is quite far from the centre of Moscow. We arrived there at around 4:00 PM and unfortunately most of the shops were shutting down. From the looks of it, this is definitely a place to visit, plenty of small souvenir shops, local traders and a really fun atmosphere like a mini carnival. We then took the metro back to see Gorky Park, that sparked our interest us the day before.

Gorky Park was a short walk from the Metro Station and immediately you could feel a different kind of buzz to the place. It seemed like everyone in Moscow was coming to the park, although it never felt too crowded. The atmosphere here was fantastic. People were walking their dogs, skating, dancing, riding bikes, lying in the numerous gardens – there was such an active happy vibe to the place. Plenty of small shops serving meals, happy families strolling around, great place for people watching. Here are some pictures of Gorky Park but honestly I don’t think this does any justice to the place. We loved this place and didn’t want to leave.

Please keep the pictures coming. Also, any advice on the ship/ports. Our cruise leaves in two weeks.

Lots of pictures and views of the ports and ship coming up. This was one of the most port intensive itineraries I've been on, and DW and I didn't feel like we were on a cruise holiday.

The ship is just awesome, as is her crew. I hope some of these posts help you fine tune your holiday.

Great report so far! We are doing a similar itinerary next summer and were thinking about a pre-cruise visit to Moscow. Curious about the visa process (although I'm sure it's much different for Indians than Americans). Also did you face any overt (or covert) racism there? You hear so much about the "new Russia" being hostile to minorities, LGBT, etc.

Great review and photos . You're fortunate to have sunny weather for photos . We were there in May and it was COLD windy and rainy on all 3 days !

This is a very well written review. I love the pictures too. We just got off the 15 day Eclipse cruise to the Baltics from Southampton. The ports were simply amazing. We were given the advice to get up at 5AM when sailing into Stockholm so we could view the archipelago. It was stunning and well worth the early rise. The 2 day tour in St P and the ballet in the evening were well worth the long days and the expense.

I hope you don't mind but I am coming along for the ride...

I have my first X booking on the Silhouette next January and it is reassuring to see that she has really won you over.

Thanks for being so generous with the photos -they are crisp. The night time river shots are very evocative.

Thanks for sharing this with us. I know from experience that photo reviews take a lot of time and effort.

Cheers!

Norris

Thanks in advance; we will be doing a similar cruise from Southampton.

Just one question, were you able to use US $ in St Petersburg, or did you change your money into Roubles?

Pjs678 - thank you for your kind words. I would definitely suggest that you go through with your plans to visit Moscow. The visa process for us Indians is quite weird. We needed to book a hotel and then have the hotel send us some ORIGINAL documents (scanned/e-mailed documents not allowed) so we had to courier the papers at our cost via UPS. Then it was a simple online form we filled and we got our visa in 2 days flat. Important to note that the visa has to be validated by the hotel every 3 days that you're in Moscow. According to me, you can easily see a lot in Moscow in 3 days.

As far as racism was concerned, we didn't face any issues whatsoever. We were very surprised to see the Russians very helpful, smiling and we were not even stopped once and asked to present our passports/visas.

I would strongly suggest that you stay in a hotel close to the centre of Moscow, lots of tourists and very safe till late in the night as well.

Scubacruiserx2, teabag, bimmer09, upwarduk - thank you for your kind words. I'm trying not to give too much away for people who may be going soon, but enough for people to enjoy the review as well.

Upwarduk - our SPB TOURS was clear that they would accept USD and not Roubles. Many stores in St.P will accept USD and I got the feeling that they preferred it due to the fluctuating rouble.

Also I was unable to exchange my remaining roubles for euros in Denmark and Amsterdam. They refused to change/accept Roubles.

The ship is just awesome, as is her crew. I hope some of these posts help you fine tune your holiday.

Excellent. Can't wait, especially to where we overlap on ports.

Pjs678 - thank you for your kind words. I would definitely suggest that you go through with your plans to visit Moscow. The visa process for us Indians is quite weird. We needed to book a hotel and then have the hotel send us some ORIGINAL documents (scanned/e-mailed documents not allowed) so we had to courier the papers at our cost via UPS. Then it was a simple online form we filled and we got our visa in 2 days flat. Important to note that the visa has to be validated by the hotel every 3 days that you're in Moscow. According to me, you can easily see a lot in Moscow in 3 days.

Did you only get a visa for the 3 days in Moscow if you took tours in SPb? Or did you use the visa to tour SPb on your own? The flight options using FF miles look more intriguing for Moscow (Virgin Atlantic Upper Class & Aeroflot Business Class) than other places we were looking at pre-cruise so now I am considering it. :D

PS - Sorry to interrupt your review. Feel free to respond later on.

Hi guys.

Your review and pics are great. We will be following along with you.

Coming from Australia to do this cruise sometime.

Looking forward to the pics of the Silhouette and the Baltic capitals.

Cheers Bob & Christine.

Really enjoying your review. Thank you for sharing.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Did you only get a visa for the 3 days in Moscow if you took tours in SPb? Or did you use the visa to tour SPb on your own? The flight options using FF miles look more intriguing for Moscow (Virgin Atlantic Upper Class & Aeroflot Business Class) than other places we were looking at pre-cruise so now I am considering it. :D

 

PS - Sorry to interrupt your review. Feel free to respond later on.

Yup we took a single entry Tourist Visa for Moscow for our Pre-cruise trip. For people on a cruise, you do not require a visa if you are taking excursions/ tours through Russian tour operators. Hence SPB arranged for our visas for our 2 days in St. P. We were also very impressed with Aeroflot, very comfortable flight, very good seats. We flew from Moscow to Stockholm.

After leaving Gorky Park, we took a metro back to our hotel. When we got out, the sun had already set and the buildings were lit up. The city looked even better at night! Here are some images of Moscow city after dark, in the Red Square Area. These buildings are the Bolshoi Theatre, Tsum (the other big mall next to it), GUM (the mall) and the St. Basil Cathedral. I’ll let the pictures explain it.

DW and I immediately made a pact to return to Moscow when it’s snowing! I cannot imagine how amazing this square would look with white snow all around.

(to be contd.)

There was also a beautiful walking street parallel to GUM which was bustling with tourists and youngsters. We also came across a Krispy Kreme shop and of course had to stop by to grab a bite. Our way to the hotel was straight out of a fairy-tale since we walked past many momuments which were beautiful lit up. And when we reached the hotel after midnight, we realized just how tired we were and how much we managed to see in 2 days time. Moscow is really a wonderful city with the highlight being Gorky Park in the afternoon-evening and the Req Square lit up at night.

And alas, we also realized that the day we had been waiting for, for so many months, was FINALLY upon us. Cruise day!

(to be contd.)

28th May 2015

Today was a special day. Not only was it Cruise day (I’d been waiting for this day for so long, especially while reading so many amazing reviews on cruise critic), DW and I were also celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. We thought that this cruise was the ideal present to ourselves and we were raring to go. We had booked our transfer to the airport via the same company (lingo taxi) and once again their service was impeccable. The driver was on time, spoke very good English, helped us with our bags and dropped us safely to the airport for our early morning flight to Stockholm.

We had to stand in a long queue at Moscow airport to check in, the check-in process was slow. Aeroflot was VERY strict about the baggage allowances and we saw many people having to open their bags and reduce the weight. Immigration was a breeze and in 2 short hours, we had landed in Arlanda airport, Stockholm. The landing was excellent and so were the views. Clear blue skies, lush greenery at the bottom. We hadn’t even stepped off the plane and we were already in love with Stockholm.

We went past immigration rather slowly (only 4-5 counters were open) and after picking up our bags, we walked out to the arrival gate where we had our driver waiting for us. We used the services of suntransfers and they were also very good. English speaking driver helped us load all our bags into the large van. Just before leaving the airport, we managed to purchase the 24 hour travel card which we could use in Stockholm on buses, trams and all other transport. We needed Swedish Kroner to purchase these cards from a small 7-11 kind of shop just before exiting the airport.

A 30 minute drive later, we were nearly at the cruise terminal and my excitement levels were at an all-time high. I absolutely love cruising and the thought of 12-13 days on board this awesome ship, is the best feeling in the world. Having sailed on the same ship twice in the last 2 years already, we knew that we were in for one hell of a good time. We had our credit cards and our set sail pass and we were on the ship in less than 20 minutes.

The ship was in excellent shape, clean as a whistle and yet looked as modern as ever. I’ve been itching to try out Royal Caribbean’s newer and larger ships, but this ship just has won our hearts. Our parents keep asking us when we plan on having kids, and we keep telling them that the Celebrity Silhouette is their first grandchild which they get to visit every year! First views of the ship… Deck 3 elevators (we love the blue and red colours), the Martini Bar, which we would never see so empty again, the Oceanview café buffet and the central Atrium. This ship is not over the top and is really classy. We absolutely love this ship (not sure if I’ve mentioned this earlier)

(to be contd.)

And here’s the view of the ship (exterior) from the Pier.

We had 3 rooms in total. My In-laws were on deck 7 (7269 veranda port side) and their friends were also on deck 7 (7175 veranda port side midship). Both cabins were not too far from the aft elevators. DW and I had Cabin 8282 on deck 8, starboard side. 2 years ago we had Cabin 8298 on the same ship, just a few cabins further up, so we were thrilled to be back to what felt like home. All our cabins were ready and we loved our cabin. The bed was close to the balcony (I prefer this option) as the room looks and feels a lot more spacious than rooms which have the bed by the bathroom.

The cabin is very spacious for both of us and we’ve always loved the layout. We were also very excited to sail with Captain Dimitrios. He can captained the Silhouette on our Med cruise in 2013 and he was the funniest Captain we’ve ever had on a cruise ship. He has a wicked sense of humour and is blessed with brilliant comic timing. And yet you can see that this staff really look up to him and respect him.

Our cruise director was Richard Spacey and he and his team were also brilliant. A good cruise director makes such a big difference to the entire experience of a cruise. We yet think that our 2013 cruise director (Alejandro) and his Activity Managers (Manuel and Martin) were in a different league of their own, but Richard Spacey and his team ensured that we had a really good time. They also threw the most outstanding 70s dance party on the last sea day, but more on that later.

(to be contd.)

After enjoying some of the cold breeze on the balcony, and taking in some of the amazing views, it was time to head out and check out Stockholm.

We also received both our bags pretty fast and after freshening up, we decided to quickly go out and explore the beautiful city of Stockholm. We walked out the pier (there was a blue line along the road) towards the exit from where you could get on a bus to take you to the city centre. We had already purchased our passes and we got onto the bus and headed for Gamlastan aka the old town. This was an awesome way to get the feel of the city at our own pace, and we loved the vibe. Lots of little shops, cafes, walking streets along the river front as well as inside the old town.

There’s also a special felling of having some cold ice cream and M&Ms in the cold weather. This trip was off to an excellent start.

(to be contd.)

Since my inlaws and their friends were pretty tired walking around in GamlaStan, they decided to head back to the ship. DW and I continued walking to nearby areas like the Kungstradgarden, NK Stockholm, Ahlens City mall, and up to Drottninggatan. Now for those who are planning on going there, as much as you try and remember these names, don’t worry. Just wander around and you will be sure to pass many of these places. It’s a straight long walk from Gamlastan and you cannot get lost. Here are some more pictures. What a wonderful place.

(to be contd.)