LIVE - Royal Princess Transatlantic & Baltic day by day

[dmwnc1959]

Live web cam in Tallinn

 

http://www.portoftallinn.com/cruise-camera

 

:D

[GweninTX]

Good morning! We lost another hour of sleep, but it is a blessed sea day and much needed. We slept in and went to the HC for breakfast about 8:45. I wanted to do laundry this morning so we went back to the room. I was lucky and got a washer and got it loaded before I left for line dancing at ten. Jerry was in charge of watching the dryer and getting it out before the insane people would have thrown it on the floor. I am proud to say Jerry handled it well and when I came back from line dancing it was all hung up and put away! Score!

 

They were having a Baltic event in the Piazza with music, food and of course things for sale. We sampled the vodka, beer, sausages and saffron buns. Very good. I had decided I wanted a dragonfly pin with Amber so I decided to look for one. I found a small one and bought it. I then went to the spa to book a nail appt. they were swamped since tonight is formal night. I settled on a 2:00 appt. tomorrow. We ate a quick bite in the HC for lunch today.

 

Jerry and I decided to play in the slot tournament. I did really well and was in the finals till the last group played and got knocked out. It was fun though! I played a machine while I was waiting to see if I made it and made $60, so I thought of that as my winning the slot tournament!

 

I then had tea with a friend and had a private iPad tutorial for her. Jerry took a nap. When I returned to the room we watched a movie called, "Monument Men" which was really good. All about 8 men who were museum curators and art experts that went in to save the masters pieces during the war. A must watch for all on a Baltic cruise! I just cannot say enough nice things about these interactive TV's - you can never be bored with all the great movies they have available!

 

We then got ready for our Winemakers dinner. It was formal night, so all of us dressed up which added even more to the evening. Franco came to Vines and got us promptly at 6:45 and took us to our table. Tonight the menu was for the French winemaker - Laboure-Roi. Our white wine was a Pouilly Fuisse Vallon. I really enjoyed it a lot. The red wine served with our steak Dianne was a Pinot Noir - Gevry Chambertin Laboure-Roi. I am not a red wine lover, but others at the table loved it! Our first bite was a lovely raw tuna and avocado mince. It was really good. Our appetizer was a large panko crusted tiger prawn. Our soup was Consommé Celestine - very strong broth with thinly sliced crepes in it - yummy. Our main course was cooked table side - Steak Dianne. It was a very tender piece of beef smothered in a very rich gravy. Only a couple of the steaks were not cooked exactly like requested and those were quickly fixed. The dessert was my absolute favorite - Mohr im Hemd - a chocolate hazelnut volcano type cake, covered in a warn chocolate sauce and whipped cream. All in all I liked the food from the Mondavi dinner better, but the dessert from tonight was 10 times better than the Mondavi dessert. We laughed, drank a lot of wine and had a great evening. Again, we wanted to do it again and asked Franco if we could just have the table and eat a regular meal in there. He said, yes, for $110 for the entire group of 12 and he would include 2 bottles of champagne and a special chocolate cake! Sold - we signed up for the last night of our cruise for a farewell party. It will make the sad last night of the cruise a little easier!

 

We then went to the Vista lounge and watched a comedian go thru the normal stuff with some brave volunteers. Then off to bed, tomorrow we dock in Tallin and are taking an Alla tour. Stay tuned!

[GweninTX]

I To add a little more confusion, you can also embark and disembark in St. Petersburg but it is only a 10 day cruise because you don't overnight in St. Petersburg. I believe most cabins are reserved for the CPH cruises but on the TA you can disembark in CPH, stay on three more days to Warnemunde or stay on three more days to St. Petersburg. Rolls Calls get pretty confusing.

 

Everyday in ports we have had people embarking and disembarking. Seems you can get off at any port on the way - very confusing. Copenhagen and Warnemunde were 2 main ones.

[MicCanberra]

I am enjoying the thread, thanks for posting.:D

[sashas_mom]

Love your thread. I read on another thread that you have a nice obstructed cabin. Would you take pictures from of the view from your balcony so we can see the obstruction please. That would be very helpful to Renmar who has a site of obstructed cabins.

 

Thanks. We LOVE THE Royal and can't wait to sail on her again.:)

[sandyoftheseas]

Gwen I am loving your daily posts. My DH and I will be on the same Baltic cruise in August. I have one request, can you check the Princess Patter and see if they offer the folklore show on board the night you overnight in St Petersburg. We are planning on doing a land tour that night to a folklore show for $70pp but, if they offer something similar on board we might just relax and see the one offered on the ship. I am getting even more excited for our cruise reading your posts.

[pkpon]

Really enjoying your posts.

 

I am currently doing the Baltic on Cunard's Queen Victoria. We have just sailed past you. Saw you off in the distance.

 

Had a wonderful day in Helsinki. The weather was beautiful. Had a good but hectic time in St Petersburg. Especially enjoyed the Peterhof Palace. If you are going there go early to see the fountain ceremony at 11.00 am in the gardens.

 

We are on our way now to Warnemunde..

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[IECalCruiser]

Everyday in ports we have had people embarking and disembarking. Seems you can get off at any port on the way - very confusing. Copenhagen and Warnemunde were 2 main ones.

It does appear that they are trying to make it easier for Europeans with the multiple boarding opportunities. They added Warnemunde in 2012 and St. Petersburg last year.

 

Continue to enjoy your posts about the Baltic portion of the trip. Helping us relive our great Baltic cruise on the Emerald in an upsell full suite last June :)

[cruisenshop]

Gwen! Loving your daily posts… its making me SO excited for our Royal trip next month

So, may I ask another favor (along with the info re where the Stockholm ship shuttle drops off if you find out)

I know you are Platinum and have free minutes for the internet…. I am only GOLD so no free minutes. I can purchase minutes from Princess in advance of my cruise 680 minutes for 202.00. Supposedly includes 80 bonus minutes… for pre purchase. This seems like a deal to me based upon what I have paid on other cruises. If you have an opinion on whether I should do it, I'd appreciate it. I do NOT expect you to do research…. just an opinion is all I am looking for….

 

thanks and I am looking forward to tomorrow!

 

Rachelle

[GweninTX]

Gwen I am loving your daily posts. My DH and I will be on the same Baltic cruise in August. I have one request, can you check the Princess Patter and see if they offer the folklore show on board the night you overnight in St Petersburg. We are planning on doing a land tour that night to a folklore show for $70pp but, if they offer something similar on board we might just relax and see the one offered on the ship. I am getting even more excited for our cruise reading your posts.

 

Yes, it is tonight at 7:00 and 9:00. The great thing about the Royal is they will tape it and if we are too tired we can watch on the tv later! Love the TV - so wonderful!

[chamima]

Gwen I am loving your daily posts. My DH and I will be on the same Baltic cruise in August. I have one request, can you check the Princess Patter and see if they offer the folklore show on board the night you overnight in St Petersburg. We are planning on doing a land tour that night to a folklore show for $70pp but, if they offer something similar on board we might just relax and see the one offered on the ship. I am getting even more excited for our cruise reading your posts.

 

Yes, it is tonight at 7:00 and 9:00. The great thing about the Royal is they will tape it and if we are too tired we can watch on the tv later! Love the TV - so wonderful!

 

Sandy

If that show is anywhere near the quality of other folkloric shows we have seen on Princess don't miss it!!!

I know you can see it later on the TV but I really think you lose something if you aren't right there for that kind of show.

[GweninTX]

Gwen! Loving your daily posts… its making me SO excited for our Royal trip next month

So, may I ask another favor (along with the info re where the Stockholm ship shuttle drops off if you find out)

I know you are Platinum and have free minutes for the internet…. I am only GOLD so no free minutes. I can purchase minutes from Princess in advance of my cruise 680 minutes for 202.00. Supposedly includes 80 bonus minutes… for pre purchase. This seems like a deal to me based upon what I have paid on other cruises. If you have an opinion on whether I should do it, I'd appreciate it. I do NOT expect you to do research…. just an opinion is all I am looking for….

 

thanks and I am looking forward to tomorrow!

 

Rachelle

 

Yes that is a good price and I know they offered a bonus if you purchased first day of cruise too. I think I would purchase the first day

[GweninTX]

Good morning! An early morning in Tallin, Estonia! We are taking an Alla tour and meet our guide outside the gate to the pier. They are not allowed inside - it is about a 10 minute walk. We board a small bus and she takes us to the old town and to the top of Toompeah hill. We do the upper town first and tour the beautiful churches. We have a comfort stop and shopping stop mid morning. The prices seem good and we see a lot of quality amber. We tour the 3 churches and take pics from the beautiful lookout before we descend to lower town. We stroll down both Pikk streets and tour the beautiful guild houses. I especially like the woolen and sewing guild. We are then allowed 2 hours to shop.

 

I had a nail appt this afternoon - the prices are ridiculous, but I needed them filled. She at least did a good job. She did it all by hand and was so much slower than my Jenny at home.

 

At 4:30 we are all supposed to go up on deck - they are celebrating the new cruise pier and the largest cruise ship to dock here. They are filming it and we can go out to a website to see it later. We watch sail away and then get ready for dinner. Nice dinner and then we go to the Princess theatre and watch a 3 guy singing group called Del Mundo. They were good and we went to bed early as we knew tomorrow would be a very long day in St. Petersburg. This cruise is NOT for the weak, out of shape or infirm. We have averaged between 5-10 miles of walking per day. The step counter app has confirmed it. Start getting in shape if you are taking a Baltic cruise! More tomorrow, not sure if I will be able to write it up or not immediately, but stay tuned I promise I will when I can! Thanks for listening!

[Mom33]

Good morning! An early morning in Tallin, Estonia! We are taking an Alla tour and meet our guide outside the gate to the pier. They are not allowed inside - it is about a 10 minute walk. We board a small bus and she takes us to the old town and to the top of Toompeah hill. We do the upper town first and tour the beautiful churches. We have a comfort stop and shopping stop mid morning. The prices seem good and we see a lot of quality amber. We tour the 3 churches and take pics from the beautiful lookout before we descend to lower town. We stroll down both Pikk streets and tour the beautiful guild houses. I especially like the woolen and sewing guild. We are then allowed 2 hours to shop.

 

I had a nail appt this afternoon - the prices are ridiculous, but I needed them filled. She at least did a good job. She did it all by hand and was so much slower than my Jenny at home.

 

At 4:30 we are all supposed to go up on deck - they are celebrating the new cruise pier and the largest cruise ship to dock here. They are filming it and we can go out to a website to see it later. We watch sail away and then get ready for dinner. Nice dinner and then we go to the Princess theatre and watch a 3 guy singing group called Del Mundo. They were good and we went to bed early as we knew tomorrow would be a very long day in St. Petersburg. This cruise is NOT for the weak, out of shape or infirm. We have averaged between 5-10 miles of walking per day. The step counter app has confirmed it. Start getting in shape if you are taking a Baltic cruise! More tomorrow, not sure if I will be able to write it up or not immediately, but stay tuned I promise I will when I can! Thanks for listening!

 

That is a really good point to make. We were really upping the exercise preparing to take the cruise. We are going to continue in the hopes we will be able to go next spring. Enjoy St. Petersburg! :D

[chamima]

Good morning!

 

This cruise is NOT for the weak, out of shape or infirm. We have averaged between 5-10 miles of walking per day. The step counter app has confirmed it. Start getting in shape if you are taking a Baltic cruise! More tomorrow, not sure if I will be able to write it up or not immediately, but stay tuned I promise I will when I can! Thanks for listening!

 

 

But I bet you can eat WHATEVER you want and won't gain any weight! ;)

I haven't had much desire to do a Baltic cruise (I love warm weather) but it's sounding more attractive now. ;)

[2pbears]

But I bet you can eat WHATEVER you want and won't gain any weight! ;)

 

You got that right. We spent three weeks in France last year with lots and lots of walking and climbing and we ate whatever we wanted (croissants, crème brulee, escargot---you name it). It was the first vacation EVER that we did not gain weight. Hoping for the same on this trip :p

[MicCanberra]

You got that right. We spent three weeks in France last year with lots and lots of walking and climbing and we ate whatever we wanted (croissants, crème brulee, escargot---you name it). It was the first vacation EVER that we did not gain weight. Hoping for the same on this trip :p

Just remember to wear good walking shoes as the surfaces can be uneven as in cobblestones, etc. There is always lots of opportunity to walk around oin these old european towns/cities.:D

[Papermaker]

Gwen,

 

We are Ron and Brenda and are friends of Kathie and Charlie. We have enjoyed your blog and have tried to meet you and thank you since we embarked in Copenhagen! We waved at you from afar one time but that's as close as we came. Hope to meet you before we disembark.

 

Ron

[GweninTX]

St. Petersburg - a two day journal.

Day one:

 

I have decided to do both days today as I was too exhausted to even write my name after day one or two, so I am writing this the afternoon of Helsinki. We knew that going thru customs would take a while and decided to go thru with our friends Terry and Joyce. We went to the Vista lounge about 7:30 am and got a "group" number of 8. They were letting groups off in pairs from the Vista lounge and we would then leave the ship and go thru customs. We waited about 15 minutes in Vista lounge and then we walked off the ship. It was a beautiful, sunny day, already about 70 degrees. It took about 20 minutes to go thru immigration with very unhappy, stern Russian agents. No smiling! We then found Alla and were assigned a bus and a guide. Stick with your friends, because you have the same guide both days. We had 19 in our group day one and 15 day two.

 

We started with a drive to some vantage points on the Bolshoya river to take pictures of sites we would be visiting. Some were better viewed from a distance. Our first stop was St. Isaac's cathedral and then to the Hermitage museum and OMG - it was sensory overload at every viewpoint. We had a special early entry for the tour company. We had 2:45 minutes there and I am sure we could have spent a week and not seen it all. She gave us the radios and earphones so we could hear her clearly in the crowds. The Hermitage does some crowd control of their own and stops guides from entering rooms if they are too crowded. After 2 days of reflection, this was my favorite place and would have liked to stay even longer. I bought a lovely Faberge egg pendant here at the Hermitage gift shop. I am so glad I bought it there as the price was so reasonable. I bought a 14K gold filled egg and paid about $35 US dollars. There were costume jewelry quality here for about $15 US dollars. I love mine and later saw the cheap costume quality at gift shops for $42 US dollars. Mine had some lovely filigree work and several women wanted to steal it for days. My advice - when you see something you like - buy it, a lot of people were sad that they waited till the souvenir shopping spot the second day. In my opinion that place was a bunch of overpriced tourist junk from China - we did not spend a dime there.

 

We left for lunch at noon and drove to the Agorta restaurant. They had the entire place reserved for them and we had a traditional Russian lunch. The salad course was a layer of herring, a layer of beets and topped with crumbled egg yolk. It was Inedible. I saw others finish it, but IMHO - truly awful and I will eat most anything. We then had a nice soup - not sure of the name - but was a chicken broth with potatoes, cabbage and onions. Not very substantial. The main course was a very tiny portion of mashed potatoes topped with about 2 tablespoons of beef stroganoff. My husband thought it was an appetizer - LOL! We then were brought a tray of what looked like breakfast pastries - exactly one for each of us and if you were last - sure hope you like the last one! I got a cinnamon roll and Jerry thinks he got a cheese Danish. We were offered coffee or tea and the hot tea was very good.

 

We boarded our buses and left for the Tsars village and then Church of the Spilled Blood- my second favorite stop. It was magnificent both inside and outside. The crowds were awful, but having the hearing devices was a savior! We then toured Catherine's palace which included the amber room which was amazing! We paid for our Alla tours on the drive back to the ship - all very efficient.

 

We had to get 2 couples then to a restaurant by 6:00 to meet the group that was staying in for evening entertainment. I was amazed that people were actually doing this. We were exhausted and all we wanted was a shower, food and a bed. We had to go back thru customs to get back to the ship, but shorter lines and quicker. We were so tired we skipped the folkloric show as we missed the 7:00 show ( we were starved from our meager lunch and went to the formal dining room late, but were welcomed as so few were there at 6:45). I watched the folkloric show on tv and it was very good. Those that saw it in person said it was very good also.

 

The group with Alla tours, who went to the theatre said they got back to the ship about 9:45. The Princess ballet group said they did not get back till about 11:45 and were unhappy with the ballet and the time it took to get back to the ship. Buyer beware! I vote for sleep as this is a very strenuous day of walking and standing. It is not for the weak or infirm. Even those on the "Comfort tour" were exhausted. We had 4 people drop out of the second day of our tour as it was just too much. Several sat on the bus by the end of each day and skipped things as they were too tired to get off the bus. Start walking 5 miles a day to get in shape and make sure you have VERY COMFORTABLE walking shoes! It was unseasonably warm the first day and our guide recommended shorts for day 2 as it would be in the high 80's. The heat added to the exhaustion and I think that is what really exhausted everyone. But I was so happy it was not raining or cold! Day 2 next - we has to be out the next morning and thru customs to meet Alla by 6:45 am, so we went to bed and slept like we had died!

[GweninTX]

St. Petersburg - Day 2

 

The alarm rang much too early and we showered, dressed and ate at the HC quickly. It is so crowded at breakfast - it is hard to find seats. You have to share tables with strangers just to have a place to sit, but we are all in the same boat and share willingly. We meet our friends, Terry and Joyce and walk off the ship and thru customs much quicker today. The lines are long, but move quicker than day one. We find Elena and our bus. We have lost 4 of our group - it was just too much for them. We are the hardy determined ones! It is already warm this morning and we did wear shorts and later were ecstatic that we did!

 

We leave at 7:05 am and take another scenic drive to the Rostal Columns (spelling) and stop for pictures. Our guide Elena spoke decent English and told us of the life there. I got really excited as I had told Elena I collect Starbucks coffee mugs and she thought she knew where one was and we would stop so I could buy one. We see the sign, drive over and it was under construction. I have not found a Starbucks yet on this trip. Maybe later!

 

 

Our first event is a boat ride on the Neva river. All of the Alla tour groups were going to share one large boat. We stood in line for about 15 minutes and then a large Princess tour group took our boat that was supposed to be reserved for us. So we split up into 2 smaller boats and took a lovely hour long ride that allowed us to take really good pictures of many of the sites we had toured. An enterprising young man ran to every bridge and would wave at us as we passed under. He must have run for 20 bridges and always beat us there and was waving madly. In my mind, this was very entrepreneurial and was better than begging or being a pickpocket. He looked like he might have been autistic or a little handicapped and many of us soft hearted souls gave him coins as we left the boat. It was fun to see him running madly to beat us to the next bridge!

 

We then went for a subway ride. The subway stations are very ornate and clean. We rode thru two stops and saw each unique design at each stop. It was very enjoyable and was very popular with the locals. We then boarded the bus and were given hot sandwiches to eat on the way to our next stop. She called them "pancakes" - I would call them thick crepes stuffed with a nice big chicken breast and they had mayonnaise or some such dressing inside. They came in a foil pouch to keep them hot and were quite good. You had to cut them up with a fork and knife. We saw this same brand of sandwich all around the city - a chain restaurant for carry out food. I wished we had these on day one, much better than the sit down food! We also were given a bag lunch with an apple, an apple juice box and a chocolate bar. All of the chocolate bars were different and we shared and swapped pieces.

 

We then went to Peterhoff gardens. We walked a long ways thru these and the fountains and gardens were gorgeous. They were modeled after the palace and gardens at Versailles. It was really really hot and people were dropping like flies. Some preferred to sit on a garden bench and not even walk thru.

 

We then went to St. Peter and Pauls cathedral. Gorgeous and amazing architecture! We then went to Yusupovs Palace. Even more grandeur. We are all about beat at this point and all the gilt ornate features and angels are all starting to blur! We are the assured will go to a GREAT place to shop - NOT! And it was PACKED with every tour bus in the city and it was 4:00. We were all supposed to be back on the bus by 4:40. Notice I said "supposed" to. One woman had an issue with her credit card and being charged twice and Elena finally had to go In and referee with the clerk. One couple was really getting anxious in the bus and it got rather tense when 5:00 rolled around and we had not left. All aboard was 5:30. Finally they came running out and we left. We were only 10 minutes from the ship and were not the last bus back by a long shot! But it was hot, people were exhausted and tempers were short at this point. We were very happy to zip thru immigrations and get back to our room. We had time to freshen up, change clothes and sit on the balcony and enjoy some wine before dinner.

 

We had a lovely dinner and went to the Princess theatre for a new show to us called "What the World Needs Now". I love this group of singers and dancers and they are some of the best we have heard on any Princess ship. After the show we decided to play some Caribbean Stud poker together at a table. I had poor luck and quickly gave up. I then went to my favorite slot machine and promptly won $225! Great evening, and ready to go to bed by 10:00. We got an hour back tonight and so needed it. We do not have to be off the ship so early for Helsinki in the morning and our Alla tour is mostly a driving city tour. We are very thankful tired people tonight when we are asleep the minute our heads hit the pillow. It is full sunlight as we get in bed!

[wallycat16]

Your days sound amazing and exhausting! We are planning a private tour in SPB and I wonder if there is anything you did on your tour that you would remove given the choice? Thanks so much. Btw we canceled our Berlin day and signed on with Friends of Dave. Really looking forward to it. Thank you for the review.

 

 

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[OnVacation11]

St. Petersburg - Day 2

 

 

We then boarded the bus and were given hot sandwiches to eat on the way to our next stop. She called them "pancakes" - I would call them thick crepes stuffed with a nice big chicken breast and they had mayonnaise or some such dressing inside. They came in a foil pouch to keep them hot and were quite good. You had to cut them up with a fork and knife. We saw this same brand of sandwich all around the city - a chain restaurant for carry out food. I wished we had these on day one, much better than the sit down food! We also were given a bag lunch with an apple, an apple juice box and a chocolate bar. All of the chocolate bars were different and we shared and swapped pieces.

 

I definitely agree about the lunch at the restaurant. Last year our group was very late to the restaurant because of traffic and they run out of food for about 1/3 of the people. They had to wait for about half hour while the kitchen scrambled to fix them a meal. We all agreed that another "fast food' lunch would be better than wasting so much time at the restaurant for a mediocre meal.

[Ethel5]

Again, AWESOME reports! I feel like I'm there with you.:)

[GweninTX]

Your days sound amazing and exhausting! We are planning a private tour in SPB and I wonder if there is anything you did on your tour that you would remove given the choice? Thanks so much. Btw we canceled our Berlin day and signed on with Friends of Dave. Really looking forward to it. Thank you for the review.

 

 

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I would shop in the Hermitage museum gift shops only - high quality and low prices and benefits a non profit group that helps the church. I would ask the driver to get a bag lunch that you can eat on the road in the car to preserve precious time. I would not take away any of the stops we had - but if I HAD to give up one it would be the boat ride.

 

 

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[GweninTX]

Gwen,

 

We are Ron and Brenda and are friends of Kathie and Charlie. We have enjoyed your blog and have tried to meet you and thank you since we embarked in Copenhagen! We waved at you from afar one time but that's as close as we came. Hope to meet you before we disembark.

 

Ron

 

 

Hope so too - I am planning on line dancing the final sea day! Come join me - I am usually the only Caucasian woman in the group! LOL we have a lot of fun and is good exercise!

 

 

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