Just back from the Baltic on the Voyager

[Call me Ishmael]

We just returned from Stockholm after ten days on the Voyager's first cruise in '05 in the Baltic. We started in Le Havre, France, with stops at Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Germany (Warnemunde), Visby, Talinn, St. Petersburg, and ending in Stockholm.

 

The itinerary was fantastic, the Voyager was fabulous and the overall experience was 4.9 stars out of 5. There was one problem on the trip that prevented a 5.0 rating.

 

I'll try to write more detailed info once I recover from jet lag, piles of mail, and the usual assortment of mini-crises that seem to occur when we're gone. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, I'll attempt to address them.

 

CMI

 

PS I also can't say enough good things about the private tour company we used for 2 days in St. Pete. I'll post some comments about that on the Baltic board.

[trinidad]

I'm very interested in hearing about your cruise as we are planning a similar one next year. How was the weather?

Thanks

[trinidad]

Also your selections for excursions

[Call me Ishmael]

Trinidad,

 

The weather changed dramatically; we had heavy rain in France on our drive from Paris to Normandy where we spent 4 days with gradually warmer days suitable for short sleeves. In Amsterdam it was overcast with sprinkles and cool. Copenhagen had rain, wind and was quite chilly. Warnemunde was sunny and pleasantly warm, again suitable for short sleeves and I may have even worn shorts. Visby was quite warm if we were in the sun and a little cool if in the shade due to the wind. The rest of the trip we were also lucky enough to have nice weather, close to 70 in Talinn, St. Pete and Stockholm.

 

On CNN - Europe, there was talk of a heat wave taking place during the time we were there. I think that was more in the inland areas such as Paris and Moscow since we did not experience anything much higher than 72.

 

As for excursions, we are more the DIY type, having done quite a few of the bus rides and walking tours which usually have too many stops for trinkets, refreshments, etc for our liking.

 

We did use the ship's excursion from port to Amsterdam for canal cruise and overview of city with some free time thrown in. In St. Pete, we also did the Yusopov Palace evening gala through RSSC which was something different and allowed us to add an extra stop during the day trips. As noted in my original post, we used a private guide and driver which I highly recommend.

 

Our companions took one of the Visby excursions, West Coast and Viking Village, and thought it was interesting. However, they are not experienced cruisers. They later learned that there had been complaints made that the Viking Village did not live up to its description and that the ship was refunding the cost of the excursion to everyone who took it.

 

CMI

 

CMI

[mborchgardt]

CMI-

 

Just received our sponsorship letter and instructions from RO for our tours while in St. P on Voyager in August. They reference having your passport so that it can be stamped by immigration.

 

Does RSSC "confiscate" your passport when you board? If so, how do you get it back to go through immigration in St. P?

[LHT28]

Everyone gets their passport back for Russia. Just go ask for it the day before you dock

They will probably have details in the newsletter.

[mborchgardt]

CMI-

 

Thanks for the information.

[NCCruzQueen]

CMI, Please continue to post your thoughts on your Baltic cruise as I leave next Friday (counting..... 7 days until we leave for Copenhagen). This is my first Voyager cruise, 13th RSSC trip.

 

Thx, Beth

[nyfeds]

I hope you'll post more of your experiences once you've gotten over the jet lag, CMI. Looking forward to hearing as much as possible, as we will be taking this cruise August 6.

 

Thanks!

[Call me Ishmael]

mborchgardt,

 

Yes, you definitely need your passport in St. Petersburg to reach the area where the vans, buses, guides and drivers are waiting.

 

RSSC did collect the passports upon boarding and gave a little receipt. I asked at reception the next day about getting it back. I was told that they needed to retain it until the ship had been cleared in St. Pete. WRONG!

 

As it turned out, authorities in Talinn require passengers to carry passports while ashore. No one asked to see them; there was no passport control. But the daily Passages newsletter (delivered in the evening with next day's schedule -- be sure to read it closely before you go to bed) so stated and the ship's security personnel asked if we had it. It also turned out that Germany required passengers to show and carry passports when we docked at Warnemunde. Since both of these ports were before St. Pete, we had passports already in hand and there was no effort by the ship to have us turn them back in.

 

If you visit Talinn first, just wait for the announcement in Passages about picking up your passport the day before the ship arrives in Talinn. If you visit St Pete first, go to reception a day or two before. All of the people taking the ship's excursions also need their passports, so they have to release them to everyone.

 

Beth,

 

Wow! 13th RSSC cruise. I think you're probably the expert here. But let me know if you have any specific areas of interest since you leave soon.

 

& Nyfeds,

 

I hope to have a little time this weekend.

 

CMI

[NCCruzQueen]

CMI,

 

Thanks for the info on the passports. I have been on a similar Baltic cruise on the Song of Flower in '93. Any reflections you want to share will be helpful. Who are the staff right now? How were the menus in Signatures and Latitudes?

 

Many thanks,

Beth

[abc1]

I can't wait to read what you have to say. We are on the July 23rd cruise. I signed up for radissons tours in Russia. I just didnt know who to contact . It just seemed easier . How was the weather? Any good shopping? clothes and shoes etc? Does my husband really need a dark suit?

Thanks for your help.

We just returned from Stockholm after ten days on the Voyager's first cruise in '05 in the Baltic. We started in Le Havre, France, with stops at Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Germany (Warnemunde), Visby, Talinn, St. Petersburg, and ending in Stockholm.

 

The itinerary was fantastic, the Voyager was fabulous and the overall experience was 4.9 stars out of 5. There was one problem on the trip that prevented a 5.0 rating.

 

I'll try to write more detailed info once I recover from jet lag, piles of mail, and the usual assortment of mini-crises that seem to occur when we're gone. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, I'll attempt to address them.

 

CMI

 

PS I also can't say enough good things about the private tour company we used for 2 days in St. Pete. I'll post some comments about that on the Baltic board.

[NCCruzQueen]

abc1, For formal nights, gentlemen need a dark suit or tuxedo. I think on 7 day cruises, Radisson has one formal night. He can also wear the jacket with other pants on informal nights. They are strick about the proper dinner wear after 6PM.

[Call me Ishmael]

Beth,

 

The captain is Knut something or other (I'll have to dig through my stack to find his last name. You may know him from the Song of Flower where he was the staff captain at one time according to some acquaintances on board. Very personable, enjoyed chatting with him at the end of the cocktail party.

 

The cruise director is a lady - Glenn Younger.

 

The menu in Signatures was consistent with the Cordon Bleu theme: slightly modernized, classic French or "continental" cuisine as opposed to Apicius on the Paul Gauguin which is more the French nouvelle approach. We ate in Signatures twice and were very pleased. Fish, veal chop, beef, rack of lamb. I'll cover Signatures in greater detail in my lengthy report.

 

Latitudes had an Oriental menu with, among other things, egg rolls and Vietnamese meat stew. I like Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese food well enough, but the overall menu did not appeal to me given the other dining choices and menu options. We did not eat in Latitudes, but on a longer cruise would probably have tried it eventually.

 

abc,

 

I didn't see any fashion police onboard, but your husband should attempt to come close to the requisite dress code with a coat and tie at a minimum. The seven day itinerary has no days at sea which is typically when the formal night takes place. On our ten day cruise we only had one formal and one non-casual (which RSSC calls informal) night.

 

You won't be alone on the ship's tours in St. Pete. They'll be fine and you'll see what is indicated in the description. Don't give it anothe thought.

 

The weather was quite good in the Baltic except for Denmark where it was cold and rainy. They seem to be having a heat wave so far this summer. You can find daily temps online.

 

There are plenty of shopping opportunities if that is your thing. Talinn had the most interesting with several areas where hand made sweaters and things were offered. This is also the place to look at and buy amber jewelry. We briefly visited the large department store in Copenhagen, where my shopper wife said she could have spent a day. St. Pete has a very large department store but it wasn't on our itinerary. Stockholm also has one (NK I think) but by the end of our sightseeing we decided to pass on a visit. Visby has an assortment of little shops. Not being a shopper myself, I can't tell you if you'll find shoes or clothing that you can't find at home. My wife says it's more the hunt than the find and there's always plenty of hunting grounds.

 

CMI

[nyfeds]

Thank you, CMI. Eagerly awaiting more reporting from you.

 

We have booked the city tour/rock church excursion through the ship, in Helsinki. Also considering touring with them in Visby and possibly Tallinn. Did you take any excursions through RSSC or did you do your own thing in those ports?

 

Where there any meals onboard that were typical to the Baltic ports visited?

 

As there are no sea days, how many formal nights did you have?

 

I appreciate the time you're taking to fill us in on your experiences!

[Call me Ishmael]

Nyfeds,

 

We had two sea days on our ten day cruise: day 2 which is when the only formal night was held and the last full day prior to disembarkation which was casual.

 

We did not have Helsinki as a stop and did not use the ship's excursions in either Talinn or Visby. I very much prefer the self-guided, on foot approach.

 

One night in Russia the main dining room had a full menu of Russian cuisine. Our companions who tried it said it was very good. We had an evening excurison so we ate a quick bite from the room service menu.

 

I also seem to recall that some of the lunch items were geared to local cuisine. I think there was smoked herring which is typical of the area, but I didn't want it so it didn't make much of an impression.

 

CMI

[nyfeds]

Thanks, once again.

 

Did you take RSSC's full day excursion to Moscow? If so, I'd very much like to hear about that, as we will be taking this much anticipated excursion.

 

Do you think it wise to get some local currencies prior to leaving, or get local currencies onboard or at ATM's at port? Are USD's and/or Euros used, as well? We'd prefer to not get a multitude of currencies, if not necessary.

 

Did you experience any rough seas?

 

Appreciate your response, CMI.

[Call me Ishmael]

We did not opt for the Moscow trip. Our cruise only had 2 days in StPb. I can't help you on that one other than to say there is a great deal to see in StPb and a third day can be well spent there with no problem. For my taste, the trip to Moscow would involve too much travel time. I assume you are watching the Baltics board for comments on that excursion which is offered by most ships stopping at StPb. Since you are anticipating the trip to Moscow, I expect you will find it worthwhile.

 

I think it wise to have local currency for the start and end ports if you are doing any travel on your own. I took euros since we started in France and SEK since we ended in Stockholm. You can exchange at the airport on arrival, but sometimes there's a line which I don't really want to cope with after 10+ hours of flying and customs and baggage carting. You can get foreign currencies online and through many banks at a reasonable cost.

 

Credit cards are widely accepted. I used ATM's in France and the first time the transaction did not go through, probably because of the amount or a balance request. The same machine worked fine the next day.

 

The ship will exchange your money, but I did not check on their rates. I recall some indication that they would not buy back some or all currencies.

 

We had rough seas in the North Sea going from Amsterdam up to Denmark. The Gulf of Finland was quite smooth.

 

CMI

 

I would not take any Estonian or Russian currency. Both $$ and euros were widely accepted.

[nyfeds]

Thank you, CMI!

[Call me Ishmael]

Beth,

 

Captain was Knut Hannsen, formerly staff captain on the Flower.

[NCCruzQueen]

Thanks, CMI, I don't remember Capt. Knut from the SOF but he was captain of the Voyager when we were on the final Song of Flower cruise in Oct. '03. Capt. Dag was our captain.

 

You were going to comment on why you gave the cruise a rating of 4.9 instead of a 5. What was your reason?

[Call me Ishmael]

I might have been overly generous in only docking them down to 4.9. There was a major problem in the tendering process at Visby. We were told that the ship's excursions would board first with independents added as there was space on the tenders. We were told to pick up a number in the small show lounge across from the casino.

 

We arrived in the lounge shortly after the anchoring time of 1 pm to find it filled beyond capacity with passengers spilling out into the hallway. We were told it would be about a 20 minute wait.

 

After 45 minutes I inquired if there was more than one tender being used. I was told there was but that the tendering took about 20 minutes each way. The tenders hold 100 passengers each according to their signage, so it seemed like at least 3 tenders would be needed to promptly tender everyone. However, it was apparent that a third tender was not launched until the troops became very restless.

 

Meanwhile, there were passengers without numbers or excursion tickets who were allowed to board tenders without regard to the 150 or more who were following the stated procedure.

 

Finally, at about 2:15, our number was called. We were by no means the last ones to depart the ship, yet the tender sailed without a quick check to see if there were empty seats, which they were. We reached land at 2:30 where a sign reminded us that the ship was sailing at 5:30.

 

Some acquaintances who had signed up for an excursion were also steamed as they waited until 2:00 before they were able to tender over. The first tender was called fairly soon after anchoring. After that first one, it seemed to be very, very slow going.

 

Since we only had 4 hours in port to begin with, wasting an hour and a half just to tender over one way was a major demerit in my opinion. It was not well organized, managed or implemented.

 

CMI

[NCCruzQueen]

Thanks for that information, CMI. I had the opportunity to visit Visby in '93 (On the Song of Flower, we were able to dock) and have fond memories of this lovely town and delightful, warm people. Visby is our first port, so we will probably kick back and walk around.

 

Was Visby the only tender port?

[nyfeds]

I hope that this poorly organized and disturbing incident was brought to the attention of RSSC to ensure that such an occurence is not repeated. I would have been angry beyond words. Time is so limited at most ports. To be further delayed due to disorganization is really inexcusable.

 

I find it very surprising that your friends, who had signed up for an RSSC excursion, were delayed as well.

[Call me Ishmael]

Visby was the only tender port. It is possible to dock there, but the berth was occupied by a German cruise ship of the Aida line which seemed to be everywhere we were. It was immediately recognizable by the red lips painted at water line on the bow. Perhaps you will not be subjected to the tendering process at all.

 

I agree it was inexcusable. I mentioned our friends on the excursion to highlight just how bad it really was. The same friends were doing a b2b and said they had tendered into a least one port on their first leg up from Monte Carlo with no problem. So clearly, this was not the norm and someone botched it.