Long Baltic Review on the Eclipse With Lots of Photos

[MVPinBoynton]

We have just published the review of our recent cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse to the Baltic. There are lots of photos of the many beautiful ports; as well as of the ship. There are menus from the restaurants and bars also. You can see the review on our website www.thepreismans.com. We hope it either brings back some fond memories of your Baltic cruise or helps in your cruise planning.

 

 

In addition to the cruise we had a 10 day driving tour of the English Countryside prior to the cruise, which is linked to in the cruise review. England has so many wonderful places to visit.

[andawayigo]

Wonderful. I was actually checking the website the other day to see if any new reviews had been added. You write wonderful reviews. Makes one feel as if one is there. Will go to website now and sit back and enjoy.

[Iamthesea]

Great! I have become addicted to your reviews so much that I only trust what you write. :D:) We are sailing the Century to Alaska and staying in an SS. Your Century review was very helpful when it came to picking staterooms. Off to read your Alaskan review and then the Baltic review is next . The Baltics will more than likely be our next cruise after Alaska. Thank you!;)

[J.E.C]

We are board the Eclipse a week today - so a lovely remember of what is to come. :D

 

Its our 4th time on board so good to see she is still in fantastic shape.

 

Great review and fantastic photo's

 

Many thanks

[Cruising89143]

Mike, I always enjoy your reviews. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Edited July 27, 2013 by cruisingator2

[LSEA]

Great review and photos. Congratulations on your retirement. Enjoy.

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks for the nice comments. They are appreciated.

[NancyIL]

Mike, thank you for your wonderful review and photos. :) We are also going on Alla's 2-day Grand Tour in St. Petersburg next year, but opted not to do any of her company's tours in other ports. Your comments about the other tours confirmed that I made the right decision. We had a great time on a previous Baltic cruise using only Rick Steves' Scandinavia guide book. His Northern European Cruise Ports book is hot off the press, and has excellent info about even more Baltic ports.

[MVPinBoynton]

Mike, thank you for your wonderful review and photos. :) We are also going on Alla's 2-day Grand Tour in St. Petersburg next year, but opted not to do any of her company's tours in other ports. Your comments about the other tours confirmed that I made the right decision. We had a great time on a previous Baltic cruise using only Rick Steves' Scandinavia guide book. His Northern European Cruise Ports book is hot off the press, and has excellent info about even more Baltic ports.

 

Hi Nancy,

I hope you and John are doing well. I think you will be very happy with Alla's tour in St. Petersburg. As you can tell from the review, we got to see so many wonderful places. It was pleasantly exhausting. :D

[NancyIL]

Hi Nancy,

I hope you and John are doing well. I think you will be very happy with Alla's tour in St. Petersburg. As you can tell from the review, we got to see so many wonderful places. It was pleasantly exhausting. :D

 

Mike, we are both very well, thanks. :) Like you, I had read many wonderful comments about Alla Tours in St. Petersburg. I've been impressed since I first started communicating with her a year ago about a Baltic cruise this year that had to be cancelled. I'm really looking forward to being pleasantly exhausted! :D

[CAPinBoynton]

Mike, we are both very well, thanks. :) Like you, I had read many wonderful comments about Alla Tours in St. Petersburg. I've been impressed since I first started communicating with her a year ago about a Baltic cruise this year that had to be cancelled. I'm really looking forward to being pleasantly exhausted! :D

 

Hi Nancy, nice to hear from you. :)

[NancyIL]

Hi Nancy, nice to hear from you. :)

 

Hi, Carol! I hope you were feeling as great as you looked in your photos. :)

[CAPinBoynton]

Hi, Carol! I hope you were feeling as great as you looked in your photos. :)

 

That is the funniest comment you could make. If you read the review of our land tour you'll see that I fell in Bath and had a royal shiner when we boarded the ship. :D It was only one of three misadventures we had while doing the English countryside.

[NancyIL]

That is the funniest comment you could make. If you read the review of our land tour you'll see that I fell in Bath and had a royal shiner when we boarded the ship. :D It was only one of three misadventures we had while doing the English countryside.

 

Oh no! Shame on me...I skipped right to the review of the ports! Bedtime now, but I will catch up with your English countryside trip tomorrow.

[willma]

Hi Mike. your much anticipated review did not disappoint. We hope to visit the Baltic in the next couple of years, and the information will be invaluable. We are following in your footsteps to Asia next year! Next time you come to England you must be sure to visit our hometown of Bristol, just 12 miles from Bath. We would love to show you around.

[MVPinBoynton]

Hi Mike. your much anticipated review did not disappoint. We hope to visit the Baltic in the next couple of years, and the information will be invaluable. We are following in your footsteps to Asia next year! Next time you come to England you must be sure to visit our hometown of Bristol, just 12 miles from Bath. We would love to show you around.

 

Thanks and I hope you make it to the Baltic. There are some wonderful ports to visit.

 

We will be back in England next year for a Spain/Canaries cruise; but will only take tours out of London for that trip, so we probably won't make it to Bristol then. I am not driving in England again :D; but thank you for the offer.

[rwr235]

Hi,

 

Enjoyed the review...and it did indeed, bring back fond memories of our Baltic cruise on the Eclipse in 2011 !!

 

Always enjoy perusing your reviews !

 

Woody

[atlantagirl3833]

Fabulous review and brought back so many memories for me. We did almost the same route in 2009 (departed from Amsterdam rather than Southampton) and it was truly the trip of a lifetime. We did do the Celebrity excursions, mostly because it was my first cruise and I had no idea if we'd be able to get visas into Russia without going through the cruise line. We did the excursion to Moscow, instead of a second day in St. Petersburg. As a child of the 70s and 80s, never in a million years did I think I'd have the opportunity to stand in Red Square. We adored Tallinn - did not do a formal excursion, just hopped on the bus into town and explored on our on. Had some amazing beer and a local speciality in the square while a men's choir performed.

 

Looks like y'all had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing!

[CAPinBoynton]

So glad we were able to bring back a few memories for you. When we first started cruising we did the ship tours, also. In fact our first 8 cruises consisted of ship excursions. There's somewhat of a learning curve, and that's why Mike includes links to private tour operators that we have used, and we try to give honest appraisals.

 

Cruise Critic is always the very best resource for finding good guides.

Edited July 28, 2013 by CAPinBoynton

[cruiserhal]

We were on the cruise before yours and I can say it sounds like you had a better one than ours - but ours was not bad, just different.

 

I was sorry to hear you got the head/chest cold that was going around on our cruise. I got it also and went to the Medical Center for antibiotics. Unfortunately they did not work and I got home with pneumonia. I still had a good trip but felt horrible the last 5 days. I was not impressed with the doctor but no need to go into that here.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed your review and pictures. THANKS!!!

 

Hal

[petronella]

Mike, we are on the same cruise next June so was excited to read your review .. I wasn't going to read the UK part but I am so glad I did!

 

As well as loving reading about your adventures, with special interest in the Lake District part as my Dad and ancestors going back several hundred years were from there, your review of Bath has actually made us change plans! We will be visiting Bath in December for the wonderful Christmas market and I had already booked our hotel .. but I've now cancelled it and booked the Ayrlington! And I've have taken down the details for SottoSotto too - we are definitely going there one night and I shall make sure I book early to secure a table!

 

It was also good to hear that you were treated so well by my fellow countrymen in your hours of need - the Brits can be quite nice really :)

 

Have only just started the cruise portion of your review, but I know I will enjoy it as much as I did Jim's. Even though our turn is still 11 months away, I'm already excited and planning and can't wait to learn more.

 

Thanks for putting it all together.

 

Jane

[MVPinBoynton]

We were on the cruise before yours and I can say it sounds like you had a better one than ours - but ours was not bad, just different.

 

I was sorry to hear you got the head/chest cold that was going around on our cruise. I got it also and went to the Medical Center for antibiotics. Unfortunately they did not work and I got home with pneumonia. I still had a good trip but felt horrible the last 5 days. I was not impressed with the doctor but no need to go into that here.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed your review and pictures. THANKS!!!

 

Hal

 

Thanks Hal. I was quite glad I went to the doc before it got bad so the antibiotics worked quickly. I missed a port on South America cruise because I had a fever and was not going to let that happen in St. Petersburg. We had heard that your cruise had worse weather and didn't get to take the archipelago in Stockholm. That was a shame.

[MVPinBoynton]

Mike, we are on the same cruise next June so was excited to read your review .. I wasn't going to read the UK part but I am so glad I did!

 

As well as loving reading about your adventures, with special interest in the Lake District part as my Dad and ancestors going back several hundred years were from there, your review of Bath has actually made us change plans! We will be visiting Bath in December for the wonderful Christmas market and I had already booked our hotel .. but I've now cancelled it and booked the Ayrlington! And I've have taken down the details for SottoSotto too - we are definitely going there one night and I shall make sure I book early to secure a table!

 

It was also good to hear that you were treated so well by my fellow countrymen in your hours of need - the Brits can be quite nice really :)

 

Have only just started the cruise portion of your review, but I know I will enjoy it as much as I did Jim's. Even though our turn is still 11 months away, I'm already excited and planning and can't wait to learn more.

 

Thanks for putting it all together.

 

Jane

 

Jane,

I think you will be quite glad you are going to Bath. Just a wonderful town to spend vacation time in. I am sure you will love the Ayrlington and Soto Soto. Please tell the Soto Soto owner Antonio hello from me. He really runs a great restaurant. I think Brits are even more awesome after our visit there. Have a great cruise next year.

[frogsgirl]

Thanks for the memory! We were on the very same cruise & the very same cabin, great review:)

[Tiggertastic]

Being British and coming from just outside York, I am glad you got to go to Betty's

 

Did you manage to see the mirror downstairs with all the engraving from the 2nd world war - all US and UK troops stationed in York that went to the tea room (which was a bar at the time) etched their names and regiments/troop.

 

I also cringed at your accidents - why Hertz did not explain the stop/start to you of the cars here, I have no idea - mostly BMW/Mercedes etc have them.

 

Hope your wife's head recovered quickly

 

Now onto reading the baltics part