Live from the Emerald Princess - Baltic Heritage June 28-July12

[Kinkacruiser]

Day after Copenhagen - The private tour was a 5 hour one and most interesting. Were had a great local guide and she focused on the history of the city. Most of the tour was walking the city streets and visiting palaces and high points. One of the palaces now houses parliament and one wing has been maintained in its original state as a living museum. This was my first and closest visit to a palace.

 

The temp reached 20 C by noon. Celebrity Eclipse was in port. She looks a lot bigger and newer than the Emerald.

 

Incidentally we are given a good size tube of lovely body lotion and a medium size hand soap daily, though I noted they are stocking Dove beauty bar and more shampoo in the ship's shop.

Food and service continues to be outstanding.:)

 

Julia - there are bikes and ellipticals and recumbent, though I haven't noticed a training bike. I will ask. The spinning bikes are for classes only. No kettles though Cafe Caribe is open 24 hrs for tea/coffee. Brink a thermos cup :).

 

Judi - There are lots of treadmills to compensate for the later time. You can also find other places to walk before then eg promenade

 

Peter - I'd say 2/3 American, equal numbers of UK and Aus/NZ, smaller numbers of Japanese and other European nationalities.

Age - mostly 50 -70 with some younger adults. 50 children and teens. One of the child care attendants mentioned there would be 3 times that number on the following Med cruise.

I will ask about the draft Stella.

 

See you after Stockholm....

Edited July 3, 2014 by Kinkacruiser

[AJ28]

Hi Anna, thanks for starting thread :), great to read your experiences.

 

We'll be coming aboard on the 12th and will be seeing you on the 13th for our M&G.

 

Just one question for now, I am looking forward to watching the Movies under the Stars films. Can you tell me any films shown so far? (I am wanting to see Frozen ;)). Also, I am assuming that the final of the World Cup will be shown on the big screen on the Sunday, it'll be a great match to watch at sea.

[Esprit]

Day after Copenhagen -

Peter - I'd say 2/3 American, equal numbers of UK and Aus/NZ, smaller numbers of Japanese and other European nationalities.

Age - mostly 50 -70 with some younger adults. 50 children and teens. One of the child care attendants mentioned there would be 3 times that number on the following Med cruise.

I will ask about the draft Stella.

 

See you after Stockholm....

 

Thanks Anna

 

That's a great mix. I hope ours will be similar on 26 July with a few more kids no doubt.

 

I'm following you on the ship's webcam and the sea seems pretty calm.

 

Cheers

Peter

[minikiss]

[quote name=Kinkacruiser;43274680

Julia - there are bikes and ellipticals and recumbent' date=' though I haven't noticed a training bike. I will ask. The spinning bikes are for classes only. No kettles though Cafe Caribe is open 24 hrs for tea/coffee. Brink a thermos cup :).

 

 

See you after Stockholm....[/quote]

 

Hi Anna

I had a stupid moment yesterday as I couldn't remember what they were called - I was thinking Exercise bikes. I'm sure I'm loseing my marbles, lost a nice pendant the other day, only to find it in the bowels of my handbag....

I'd already thought of taking my own mug, for my early before breakfast fix. Sorry to be a pain but do they still use Liptons teabags ? If they do I'll be packing my own of those to.:)

 

hope you had a good day in Stockholm,

 

Julia

[Wavelet]

Anna,

Thank you for the updates. This sounds like a wonderful trip! I hope the rest of it is just as nice. We're getting excited to begin our Emerald trip next week and your updates on this trip make it real!

Judi

P.S. I'm not really THAT disappointed about the later start for the treadmills. I'll be able to explore the ship more! :)

[Kinkacruiser]

Day after Stockholm - The internet was down yesterday but you get that.

Firstly,

AJ28 - MUTS movies are also played in your cabins, if you don't want to sit outdoors. I'll make a list of what's been shown. We have seen Gravity and 12 Days as a Slave recently. World cup is screened as well.

 

Peter - yes, seas have been super calm. Today we woke to thick, fog 6 hours out of docking in Helsinki.

 

Julia - 2 exercise/training bikes only 4 recumbent

 

Abbie - My Colosseum tickets only have the purchase date on them

 

Other ship titibits - Cooked and Continental Breakfast are available in Cafe Caribe (aft part of Horizon Court) from 5 am.Dining Rooms are busy and waits vary. Better I think to have a fixed traditional time. Da Vinci deck 6 is fixed from 5-30-6.30pm then becomes anytime. It's been our favorite so far.

SPB day tomorrow and we've been told to go to Da Vinci, if we are not on Princess tours. We will be called in groups to attend Immigration.

 

Stockholm - similar to Copenhagen in architecture and atmosphere. We went to the 3 well patronized hot spots - the City Hall/Parliament centre, Vasa Museum and the Old Town . I'm sure all of Europe were at all three. The HoHo river/lake tours are in my opinion a more relaxed way to see the city and dock close to the ship. Everything is expensive--a wee OJ was 2.50KR a double scoop icecream 50 KR and a souvenir tea towels 75 -180KR. USD and Euro are accepted.

 

That's the last of the Scandavian ports ...see you tomorrow.

[caribill]

AJ28 - MUTS movies are also played in your cabins, if you don't want to sit outdoors. I'll make a list of what's been shown. We have seen Gravity and 12 Days as a Slave recently. Is that the short version of 12 Years a Slave?

 

Everything is expensive--a wee OJ was 2.50KR a double scoop icecream 50 KR and a souvenir tea towels 75 -180KR. USD and Euro are accepted. I assume you mean OJ was 25.0 KR.

 

 

Thanks for your reports. Enjoy SPB.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great live! :)

[Esprit]

Thanks Anna for taking time out of your cruise to post these updates.

 

What's the nightlife like after 11 pm? I hope it doesn't become a ghost ship particularly on nights when a sea day follows.

 

I'm hoping too the Wheelhouse bar has a great party band playing till late this time.

 

Peter

[Flainefan]

Hi Anna

I had a stupid moment yesterday as I couldn't remember what they were called - I was thinking Exercise bikes. I'm sure I'm loseing my marbles, lost a nice pendant the other day, only to find it in the bowels of my handbag....

I'd already thought of taking my own mug, for my early before breakfast fix. Sorry to be a pain but do they still use Liptons teabags ? If they do I'll be packing my own of those to.:)

 

hope you had a good day in Stockholm,

 

Julia

 

We were on the Emerald last week. Just to reassure you, they have Twinings English Breakfast tea bags at Horizon Court, alongside the dreaded Liptons. Just specify which you prefer. In the International Cafe, the pots of tea seem to be made with Twinings, unless you specify some other choice such as Earl Grey. They had a lot of speciality tea bags displayed too, including green tea, peppermint and those fruity teas.

[FritzG]

We were on the Emerald last week. Just to reassure you, they have Twinings English Breakfast tea bags at Horizon Court, alongside the dreaded Liptons. Just specify which you prefer. In the International Cafe, the pots of tea seem to be made with Twinings, unless you specify some other choice such as Earl Grey. They had a lot of speciality tea bags displayed too, including green tea, peppermint and those fruity teas.

 

I sure hope the tea in IC is not Twining's. IC has extra cost specialty teas which have been Mighty Leaf for the last year or so. Horizon Court has mostly Bigelow teas and yes, the dreaded Lipton. In the mdr you can request a specific tea--not Mighty Leaf, though. I always request green tea, which has always been Bigelow. I check the packet before I open it--sometimes the asst. waiter will bring mint tea instead of green. They're both in green wrappers.

[Flainefan]

I sure hope the tea in IC is not Twining's. IC has extra cost specialty teas which have been Mighty Leaf for the last year or so. Horizon Court has mostly Bigelow teas and yes, the dreaded Lipton. In the mdr you can request a specific tea--not Mighty Leaf, though. I always request green tea, which has always been Bigelow. I check the packet before I open it--sometimes the asst. waiter will bring mint tea instead of green. They're both in green wrappers.

 

Ordering a regular pot of tea in IC resulted in Twinings English Breakfast. No complaints from us Brits!

I think there were lots of other special teas available in a display of individually wrapped sachets, possibly including Mighty Leaf. Perhaps these would incur a charge. We had the 15 clips speciality coffee card which includes as much ordinary fresh brewed coffee and regular pots of tea as you wish, for free, for the duration of the cruise. Good value purchase.

[Colo Cruiser]

I sure hope the tea in IC is not Twining's. IC has extra cost specialty teas which have been Mighty Leaf for the last year or so. Horizon Court has mostly Bigelow teas and yes, the dreaded Lipton. In the mdr you can request a specific tea--not Mighty Leaf, though. I always request green tea, which has always been Bigelow. I check the packet before I open it--sometimes the asst. waiter will bring mint tea instead of green. They're both in green wrappers.

 

There are a few choices. ;)

[FritzG]

Ordering a regular pot of tea in IC resulted in Twinings English Breakfast. No complaints from us Brits!

I think there were lots of other special teas available in a display of individually wrapped sachets, possibly including Mighty Leaf. Perhaps these would incur a charge. We had the 15 clips speciality coffee card which includes as much ordinary fresh brewed coffee and regular pots of tea as you wish, for free, for the duration of the cruise. Good value purchase.

 

Unlimited Mighty Leaf tea was included in the coffee card in March. Has that changed?

[Flainefan]

Can't say for sure whether anything's changed. DH prefers Twinings English Breakfast to all others so that's what he asked for. He's not keen on Mighty Leaf.

[Kinkacruiser]

Before I tell you about Helsinki and our first day in SBP, I need to revise my nationality breakdown. Those original percentages were from our CC roll call, but in fact we have about 300 Aussies, 700 Americans and the balance of passengers are from the UK and Europe. The ship seems crowded, with just a tad over 3000 pax. You notice it when waiting for the elevators at mealtimes and on port days. Many times it's faster to use the stairs.

So the most popular tea is English Breakfast and Peter - there is night life after 11 pm (not that I've seen it).

[B]Helsinki [/B]was so-so, with the highlight of the attractions being the Rock church. There were lots of dogs being walked in the parks, so some of us became homesick for our pets. Today's tour was 3 hours and the weather was great.
[B]SPB [/B]- what can I say....simply GRAND and amazing :):). Perhaps a little too much time was spent in the Hermitage looking at paintings, plus we had to wrestle with all of Europe again. We started the day with a subway ride which was astonishing. Too many great sights and experiences to mention here but our private guide was simply outstanding.
Immigration was a breeze. Our group assembled at Vines at 6.30 am and were were off the ship and waiting for our guide and bus at 6.50am. No need to go to the dining room on deck 6 as instructed, as our large group was whizzed though quickly. Tonight many went to the ballet in the city and there is also a folkloric show in the Princess theatre. An early night here as we meet again in the morning for a hydrofoil and canal ride to Peterhof Palace as well as other attractions. I hope there won't be too many more churches;) but I'm looking forward to more amazing sights and experiences.

Talk again soon....
Anna

[littlesteelo]

[quote name='Kinkacruiser']
The temp reached 20 C by noon. Celebrity Eclipse was in port. She looks a lot bigger and newer than the Emerald.[/QUOTE]

Interesting point, since Celebrity Eclipse is pretty much the same size as Emerald Princess. Granted though she is 3 years younger.

I'll be joining you on the 12th, can't wait now :D Edited July 6, 2014 by littlesteelo

[wallycat16]

Really enjoying your blog. Did you use princess excursion in spb or private?

[JoJoA]

[quote name='Flainefan']Ordering a regular pot of tea in IC resulted in Twinings English Breakfast. No complaints from us Brits!
I think there were lots of other special teas available in a display of individually wrapped sachets, possibly including Mighty Leaf. Perhaps these would incur a charge. We had the 15 clips speciality coffee card which includes as much ordinary fresh brewed coffee and regular pots of tea as you wish, for free, for the duration of the cruise. Good value purchase.[/QUOTE]

I'm just a basic tea drinker - nothing fancy! If you have just an ordinary pot of tea is there a charge in the IC? Just to check if you buy the coffee card does that cover 15 speciality coffees plus any number of ordinary teas and coffees and how much does it cost?

[G & T for me]

Hi we came off the Emerald before this cruise started. You get unlimtied regular tea and coffee with the coffee card as well as the 15 specials and unlimited hot chocolate.

[caribill]

[quote name='wallycat16']Really enjoying your blog. Did you use princess excursion in spb or private?[/quote]

Since the subway was included, it was not Princess.

[IECalCruiser]

[quote name='wallycat16']Really enjoying your blog. Did you use princess excursion in spb or private?[/QUOTE]Anna mentioned she was doing an SPb tour in Copenhagen. I believe you can only do that if you have booked SPb for St. Petersburg.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Edited July 7, 2014 by IECalCruiser

[IECalCruiser]

[quote name='JoJoA']I'm just a basic tea drinker - nothing fancy! If you have just an ordinary pot of tea is there a charge in the IC? Just to check if you buy the coffee card does that cover 15 speciality coffees plus any number of ordinary teas and coffees and how much does it cost?[/QUOTE]I'm a basic tea drinker also. Skip the Coffee Card ($31 in advance or $33.35 on board) and brew your own tea with the complementary tea bags and hot water in the Horizon Court. I bring a 20 oz thermal mug to brew tea. I have also on occasion been able to have them fill my cup with hot water at the IC and bring my own tea bag while DW has her fresh brewed coffee.


Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[JoJoA]

[quote name='IECalCruiser']I'm a basic tea drinker also. Skip the Coffee Card ($31 in advance or $33.35 on board) and brew your own tea with the complementary tea bags and hot water in the Horizon Court. I bring a 20 oz thermal mug to brew tea. I have also on occasion been able to have them fill my cup with hot water at the IC and bring my own tea bag while DW has her fresh brewed coffee.


Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the information! Is Horizon Court the only place you can get complementary tea or a basic coffee? Also regarding complimentary drinks in general is orange juice only available free of charge at breakfast or can you get it throughout the day?

[piatro]

all this talk of tea you are on holiday whats wrong with gin and vodka but not for breakfast