Royal Princess Baltic Cruise - August 8-19 Review and ports

[Shutterbug623]

Just got off the Royal yesterday in Copenhagen. Here's some about our experience:

 

A couple of things:

1) We are not usually cruisers. We chose this trip for the destinations, and it happened to be that the best way to see it was a cruise. We don't do the extras like spas or specialty restaurants, and spent most of this cruise in port.

2) This was my second cruise ever and on Princess...the first was 15 years ago when my main activity was hanging out in the teen center.

3) I did a lot of reading and research in guidebooks and online (especially cruise critic) before we left.

 

The quick and dirty version:

1) Use Rick Steves' Northern Seaports book. It is designed for cruisers in the Baltics and British Isles, and gives great DIY advice for those not interested in cruise ship excursions (we would have DIY'd every port if we could have!)

2) The boat was nice. I am not picky enough that boat details would make or break the trip. There were good things and less convenient things about the boat, but overall, we never really waited very long for much - seats in the buffet, an anytime dining table (unless you go at 5:58), service at the International Cafe, getting off or on the boat, etc.

3) Favorite 2 ports - Oslo and Berlin. Tallinn also surprised me as being great, even though my brother told me it was great. SPB lived up to expectations. Helsinki was nice. Time in Stockholm was too short. Gothenburg was...less than stellar.

4) Two words - INTERNATIONAL CAFE. I love that place. Any place that has 3 cases of pastries and another with cheese is my kind of place. My husband loved the cookies that were out all the time. I loved the chocolate peanut butter tarts. I want one in my house.

5) This trip can be a ton of walking if you choose it to be - wear comfortable shoes, layers, and don't be afraid of rain. You won't melt. :)

 

I will post the much-longer-winded version with specifics later today. :) I would be happy to answer questions you have about the Royal or any of the ports to the best of my knowledge.

[Bimmer09]

Looking forward to the long-winded version, particularly why Gothenburg was "less than stellar".

 

Norris

[onefine89]

Shtterbug623........be sure to scan your Princess Patters for the Royal and post the link or include in your future review if you can..........would like to place the Patters in the "Princess Patter Sites" thread:D

[Mom33]

Looking forward to your review.:D

[Shutterbug623]

The much-longer winded version:

 

Port and Boat

 

We flew into Copenhagen about 5 hours later than expected (thanks, United), but still were able to catch the boat (missed seeing anything in Copenhagen, though...). We took the train from the airport to Osterport Station (must have cash or a card with a PIN to purchase a train/bus ticket - there are ATMs in the baggage claim and along the concourse, so cash is easily accessible) - a 3-zone ticket gets you from the airport to the cruise port for 36 DKK. Trains come frequently - take one labeled for Osterport station. We then took bus 26 (UNICEF) to the port. It started raining while we were on the bus, and because we were the only 2 on the bus at that point on the route (quite full earlier!), our super nice bus driver drove past the UNICEF stop and dropped us off right at the terminal. The terminal has free wifi (also usable if your balcony is on the terminal side of the ship while docked). We checked in and dropped our stuff off in E323.

 

The cabin (E323 - Obstructed Deluxe Balcony): it was great and suited all of our needs. We had a lifeboat in front of us, but really the only direction we couldn't see was straight down. It was the first time I've ever had a balcony, and we loved both the fresh air and natural light. Storage space was definitely sufficient for the 2 of us. On-demand TV and movies were great - probably a choice of about 60 movies from old classics to just out on DVD, and they added the MUTS movies after showing them (we don't see a lot of movies in general, so we used this to catch up on some recent ones). Our room steward was nice, but not overly friendly. She did the job.

 

We went to the MDR for dinner about half the time, but also went to Alfredo's (good calzone, EXCELLENT vegetarian antipasto), and Horizon Court. Sometimes we liked to do what we called the "ship progressive dinner" - salad and fruit course in the buffet, pizza somewhere else, and dessert at the International Cafe or Swirls...interchange courses as you wish. We had anytime dining and never had a problem getting a table for 2. We shared a few times, which was a nice way to meet people, but sometimes it took a long time to wait to fill the table and then it was dinner with 8 instead of 2, so dinner became an extended event. (not a problem, just an observation). We always liked the options at the buffet - breakfast had a wide variety, although the options were pretty much the same from day to day (again, not a problem). Omelets made to order were a nice touch. We only ate lunch on the boat on sea days (2 days out of the cruise), but the lunch options in Horizon court/Bistro seemed varied as well. Like I said before, my personal favorite was the International Cafe with the panini, salads, and pastries. I often liked the desserts there better than in the MDR.

 

Because we were in port so much, we didn't do a lot of on board activities/entertainment. We did two evening shows in the Princess theater - "Colors of the World" and the Russian Folk Dancer and Music Show. Colors of the World was a little more "Vegas-style" than we would prefer, but the Folk Show was worth going to. We liked the string quartet and some of the smaller things happening in the Piazza. We both enjoyed the culinary demonstrations - fruit and vegetable carving and the galley tour - entertaining and fun. It was just too cold on deck for MUTS to be too much of a draw, but we did watch Divergent one night. Had it been warmer, we would have done more of that. Also, with all of the early ports and time changes (you are in 3 different time zones on this boat, and the boat often docks at 7am), late night activities didn't happen often for us.

[Shutterbug623]

Ports

 

Oslo

I loved Oslo. We walked off the boat straight into the heart of downtown. Following Rick Steves' instructions, we walked to the Tourist Information (TI) behind city hall and bought an Oslo card. We hopped on the ferry to Bygdoy and walked up the hill to go to the outdoor Folk Museum. It was a really interesting museum with most things in English. Check out the daily schedule - we saw them making lefse (Norwegian stovetop flat bread) and saw a music and dance presentation that was cool. We could have spent more time there, but don't miss the stave church. We then took a short walk over to the Viking Boat Museum, which was also super cool. Because we missed Copenhagen, this was really the only place where we saw viking things at all. After that, we took the ferry back to the main waterfront and toured City Hall, where they hand out the Nobel Peace Prize. We stopped at the 7-11 (super authentic and local, I know...) across the circle to grab a snack (they also had an ATM) and a drink before heading to the Akershus Fortress to the Norwegian Resistance Museum - powerful, informative, and well done. (Not huge, though, which was good.) We walked over to the Opera House (so cool that you can walk on the roof!) and made our way back to the boat via Rick Steves' Oslo walking tour that took us past some important sites (but we didn't have time to go in). I really enjoyed Oslo - very walkable, a ton to see, a wide variety.

 

Gothenburg

 

We docked in Gothenburg in a remote port. If you were not on a Princess cruise, you had to take a shuttle ($16/pp rt) to get to town about 30 min away. 1st shuttle was at 8am and last shuttle from town was at 1pm. We showed up in the main square at 8:30am on a Sunday....and nothing opens until 10am. Really nothing. Even coffee shops were closed and there wasn't a single person on the streets. We walked around for a bit, looking at buildings along the canal. The botanical gardens are open all the time, but it was a 20 min bike ride from the town square and you needed a chip-PIN card to rent a bike (no cash, no person). It was a lovely morning, weather-wise, so walking around wasn't so bad. Took the canal tour at 10:30 - worth doing. Wandered around through a gardens near the main canal (just off the main drag) and then went looking for a pastry shop and a grocery store to pick up some Coca-cola for my husband, and then ended up back in the town square about 12:45 for the shuttle. I said in the beginning that Gothenburg was "less than stellar" - in comparison to the other ports, it was not as interesting, and if the weather had been rainy, it would have been quite miserable because everything we did was outside - and we didn't really have an option for inside until 10am. It seemed very odd to come into a port so early when there was nothing to do and then leave so shortly after things opened. I understand the itinerary has to be able to get you to the next port, but then choose another place that you can get to later when things would actually be open.

 

Berlin

 

We took a tour from Warnemunde to Berlin with SPB Tours (package deal with St. Petersburg). They were at the dock, very organized, and seemed ready to go. We ended up getting delayed (not SPB's fault), so we arrived in Berlin an hour later than expected. Stephan, the husband of Viktoria (SPB's owner) was there to meet us, and he worked with us to compensate for the lost hour. He was very understanding and made amends immediately, even though it was not his company's fault we lost time. Our tour guide, Jim, was phenomenal. I know a lot of people say that, but he was REALLY good. Originally from the States, he studied in Germany and has lived there for several years. He carried photographs to the sites to show us what it looked like either during WWII or the Cold War, which made it come alive. He was clearly passionate about the subject and could answer all of our questions. It's impossible to see a city like Berlin in one day, but I thought he did a great job of getting us to the highlights - the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, Holocaust Memorial, Topography of Terror. Yay SPB tours! Back on the boat about 8pm.

 

Tallinn

 

Time changed one hour forward (on the sea day before). I LOVED Tallinn. What a beautiful medieval city! Also, totally walkable. We walked to the Old Town and followed Rick Steves' walking tour (you'll see we did that often...he would bring us past the highlights and we'd stop in if we thought it was interesting), catching most of the highlights, like the churches, palaces, towers, viewpoints, etc. After finishing the tour, we went to St. Olaf's church to climb the steeple - GREAT view, and the number of steps (238?) did not seem like that many (maybe because we walked up the steps from Emerald to Lido every morning for breakfast...and later for ice cream...:o). Worth it. We ate lunch in a small tiny restaurant just of the main square recommended in Rick's book as "good, solid Estonian food at good prices without the touristy stuff" and it lived up to expectations. Also, I think Tallinn might be the place to find souvenirs. Matryoshka dolls seemed to be of better quality and better prices than in St. Petersburg (14 euro in Tallinn vs. 20-25 euro for the same size in SPB). They have lots of shops up in the upper part of Old Town. We also climbed into the walls near Sweater Wall to see the towers - definitely worth it too. There is also a glass blower on a street off the end of Sweater Wall that was cool to watch. We made our way back to the port along the walls, where there was a summer festival art installation. We got back to the terminal in time to use the free Wifi. While we were sitting there, suddenly the Royal's horn blew the Love Boat theme (to salute another leaving cruise ship). Even though we knew we had time before all aboard, when the horn blew, EVERYONE in the terminal started sprinting for the ship. It was pretty funny...and yes, we were right in the middle of the runners too. So a little less Facebook, a little more exercise, and a few minutes before dinner (probably a positive life choice :o). It was also nice in Tallinn because they used Euros, which we already had from Berlin, so no ATM search!

 

Will post St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm after I mow the lawn. :)

[smtcan]

Just got off the Royal yesterday in Copenhagen. Here's some about our experience:

 

A couple of things:

1) We are not usually cruisers. We chose this trip for the destinations, and it happened to be that the best way to see it was a cruise. We don't do the extras like spas or specialty restaurants, and spent most of this cruise in port.

2) This was my second cruise ever and on Princess...the first was 15 years ago when my main activity was hanging out in the teen center.

3) I did a lot of reading and research in guidebooks and online (especially cruise critic) before we left.

 

The quick and dirty version:

1) Use Rick Steves' Northern Seaports book. It is designed for cruisers in the Baltics and British Isles, and gives great DIY advice for those not interested in cruise ship excursions (we would have DIY'd every port if we could have!)

2) The boat was nice. I am not picky enough that boat details would make or break the trip. There were good things and less convenient things about the boat, but overall, we never really waited very long for much - seats in the buffet, an anytime dining table (unless you go at 5:58), service at the International Cafe, getting off or on the boat, etc.

3) Favorite 2 ports - Oslo and Berlin. Tallinn also surprised me as being great, even though my brother told me it was great. SPB lived up to expectations. Helsinki was nice. Time in Stockholm was too short. Gothenburg was...less than stellar.

4) Two words - INTERNATIONAL CAFE. I love that place. Any place that has 3 cases of pastries and another with cheese is my kind of place. My husband loved the cookies that were out all the time. I loved the chocolate peanut butter tarts. I want one in my house.

5) This trip can be a ton of walking if you choose it to be - wear comfortable shoes, layers, and don't be afraid of rain. You won't melt. :)

 

I will post the much-longer-winded version with specifics later today. :) I would be happy to answer questions you have about the Royal or any of the ports to the best of my knowledge.

 

We were on the same cruise, arrived home late last night so my review will be delayed somewhat.

 

Our opinions of the ports pretty well matches yours, although we decided Berlin was worth a separate trip - we have family in Germany and go there at least once a year, so next time will spend a few days in Berlin. Warnemunde and Rostock were an interesting alternative, and we were thrilled to see the tall ships sailing away after the festival that ended in Rostock the day before our visit.

 

Gothenburg was our least favourite port too, and I was not pleased that Princess took us to a port where we were not permitted to walk, then charged $16pp for a shuttle to town. We had no opportunity to leave the ship without paying for the shuttle.

 

We did our own research and like you found Rick Steves book to be an excellent resource. The only ship's tour we used was the Stockholm on your own option, and while we loved the city, the time there was too short. We did a walking tour in Tallinn and another in Stockholm and booked a private tour for our family with SPB in St. Petersburg which was excellent.

 

We travelled with a three generation family group, one son and his family were first time cruisers, the other group had cruised once before on a smaller older ship. We are seasoned cruisers, with Celebrity and Princess being our lines of choice.

 

Everyone was impressed with the ship and the service. Our granddaughter loved the teen club, but the three younger ones tried the club for their age group (9. 11 and 12) and didn't want to go back.

 

I was aware of the shortcomings that others complain about on Royal Princess, but can honestly say they did not impact us at all. We did so much walking in port that the lack of a proper promenade deck wasn't an issue, our cabins were aft, so we didn't miss the centre stairs and as for the toilet roll holder, what is the problem!

 

The food in our opinion was better than on previous Princess cruises. We had an included dinner at Sabatini's, which was good, but I don't think I would pay $25pp to do it again. DH and I celebrated our anniversary with a Winemaker's Dinner, which was great value for $40pp including wine pairings. We had My Time Dining and after the first night booked the same table for ten each night, which rather defeated the idea, but worked well for us. The waiters got to know the children's preferences and made sure they were served quickly, then they were happy to read or play cards quietly while the adults had a leisurely meal.

 

I seem to have almost written a review. Sorry to have rambled on so long - blame jet lag!!

 

Sheila

[Shutterbug623]

The lawn gets long when you leave it for 13 days. :)

 

Back to the ports:

 

St. Petersburg

 

One more hour forward on the clock! St. Petersburg was overwhelming, and I was glad for 2 days. We booked a tour with SPB. We had to go to the Vista Lounge to get a number for disembarking when the Russian authorities gave clearance for groups to come through. We were there at 7:05. Our number was called within 10 minutes (I don't remember what group we were in...2, maybe?), and we were through Russian immigration by 7:22. I think the lines and wait got longer after we came through. We found, in general, that it paid to be early (here with Russian immigration, later with tendering in Stockholm). As soon as we came through passport control, SPB was there to meet us. We were greeted by the owner, Viktoria, and got to know our group members a little. There were 14 people in our group - just the right size for the Mercedes mini-van we had. People were pretty much on time, and we were on our way by 8am.

 

We spent the first day in the suburbs, seeing Peter and Paul Fortress and church (czars buried there), Peterhof, Catherine's Palace. We had great weather the first day there - 75 and sunny, and I loved the Peterhof Gardens - the fountains, the flowers, the grand summer palace. We had lunch at a restaurant with the meal prearranged by SPB - soup followed by beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes. Dessert was two scoops of ice cream with strawberry sauce. Some people have complained about the food in St. Petersburg, but we found it to be good. Our little bus and lunch had free wifi.

 

We spent the 2nd day in the city. It was rainy on the 2nd day for our canal boat tour. We also checked out a subway station before our entrance to the Hermitage. Katya, our guide, was very good. She clearly knew a ton about St. Petersburg and the art at the Hermitage. The Hermitage was my husband's favorite part of St. Petersburg, and I liked it too. I particularly liked the special exhibit display of czar's clothing and the Rembrandts. We went to the Church of the Resurrection on the Spilled Blood (Russian Orthodox) and St. Isaac's Cathedral, which were both gorgeous. Also, Yusopov's Palace was interesting partially for the Rasputin story, but also for the furnishings in it that were (I believe...it was a bit of information overload) original to the house. Katya also took us to a souvenir shop to get something from Russia. Lunch on the 2nd day was at the Stolle Pie Shop - I loved it! They had meat pies and fruit pies - we each got a small slice of a meat pie and a fruit pie. We had no complaints about the food with SPB (I did also request the pie shop in my email communications while booking, so maybe that's the key).

 

We took the typical tour here, but I think it was good. If you don't like palaces and churches, this is not the place for you. Please feel free to ask any questions.

 

 

Helsinki

 

I ended up enjoying Helsinki more than I anticipated. We took the tram #9 from the port (10 min walk from the cruise terminal). Stop at the TI in the terminal and ask for a public transit map - it's super helpful. Automated train ticket machines get you an all-day transit pass for 8 euro (machines take coins or cards with chips only - the newsstand cashier was kind enough to make change for our bills). We then took the Rick Steves' tour, seeing Market Square, the Lutheran Cathedral, Stockmann's department store, the 3 Blacksmiths statue, and ending at the Church in the Rock (please don't ask me to spell the Finnish name!) We took a tram back downtown, got take away at the deli in Stockmann's, and got on the ferry to Suommelinna fortress. The ferry goes about 3/hr, and is included in the transit pass. We only had about an hour at the fortress. Because the weather had cleared up (it rained a bit earlier in the day), the fortress was fantastic and we could have spent way way more time there, exploring the fortifications, etc. We walked across the islands to the Kings Gate and then had to turn around and come back to catch the last possible ferry...but if I were to do it again, I would take an earlier ferry to have a little more time cushion before the all-aboard. It takes about 50 minutes (with wait times) to get from the ferry to the tram to the cruise boat.

 

Nynashamn/Stockholm

 

I had heard horror stories about the tendering process, so I was nervous about doing this one on our own. The port lecturer on board had a Stockholm train schedule, though, so when I had that info, I felt much better. Unfortunately, we were there on a Sunday, when trains only leave once an hour (2/hr M-F). We again, got to the Symphony dining room, where they gave us a group number (we were in group 3?). We knew the 1st train left for Stockholm at 7:50, but didn't think we could make that as tendering didn't start until 7:30ish (perhaps before??) and it was a 15 minute walk to the train station, where we would then have to buy a train ticket. As it turned out, we walked up to the train station just as the train was pulling out...if we had jogged, we would have perhaps made it. So we bought our all-day transit tickets from the guy in the coffee kiosk, walked up the hill to the ATM to get some Swedish kronor (currency #5? 6? I lost count!) and wandered around town until the 8:50 train left. Hour and 6 min ride to get to Stockholm, and ended in Stockholm's central station. We headed for the Vasa. You can get there via ferry (as recommended almost everywhere) or via tram #7. In hindsight, we ended up waiting for a long time for the ferry, and the tram probably would have been faster (and went right past the water front). There are TIs all over the place - stop in and pick up a public transit map. Rick Steves' map is lacking on this one. We got to the Vasa and waited in line for about 35-40 min. Got inside (free bathrooms and wifi!), watched the movie, and then did a quick tour through the exhibits. We wanted to make the city hall tour at 1:30...so we took the tram back downtown and then walked over to City Hall...to find out that because of a special event, the last tour was at noon that day. :( So, we walked around outside and got lunch at the cafe inside. After buying the requisite country magnet for our fridge, we walked back to the Central Station to catch the 3:04 train back to Nynashamn....along with about half of the boat! It was so crowded that people stood the whole way back. The tender line was pretty long, but seemed to move pretty quickly at about 4:30. We went to the aft Promenade deck and watched them lift the boats back up.

 

Copenhagen

 

Since United made us spend 5 hours in our home airport instead of Copenhagen, we missed seeing anything on the way in. We had a morning flight out (9:35am). So...on the way out, we got off the boat early (5:30 am? We only had carry-on luggage, so we did walk-off disembarkation) and got the bus at the UNICEF stop at 6am (first scheduled bus at that stop). We got off at Rosenberg Castle and wandered through the gardens and past the castle just so we could say we saw SOMETHING in Copenhagen. Walked down the street a block to the Norreport station and picked up a Metro train (every 2 min or so) to the airport. Check in at the airport and security was a breeze at 7:30 am...in fact, our gate wasn't even assigned yet when we got there. P.S., there is a LEGO store in the B gates of Terminal 3.

[Shutterbug623]

We were on the same cruise, arrived home late last night so my review will be delayed somewhat.

 

Our opinions of the ports pretty well matches yours, although we decided Berlin was worth a separate trip - we have family in Germany and go there at least once a year, so next time will spend a few days in Berlin. Warnemunde and Rostock were an interesting alternative, and we were thrilled to see the tall ships sailing away after the festival that ended in Rostock the day before our visit.

 

Gothenburg was our least favourite port too, and I was not pleased that Princess took us to a port where we were not permitted to walk, then charged $16pp for a shuttle to town. We had no opportunity to leave the ship without paying for the shuttle.

 

We did our own research and like you found Rick Steves book to be an excellent resource. The only ship's tour we used was the Stockholm on your own option, and while we loved the city, the time there was too short. We did a walking tour in Tallinn and another in Stockholm and booked a private tour for our family with SPB in St. Petersburg which was excellent.

 

We travelled with a three generation family group, one son and his family were first time cruisers, the other group had cruised once before on a smaller older ship. We are seasoned cruisers, with Celebrity and Princess being our lines of choice.

 

Everyone was impressed with the ship and the service. Our granddaughter loved the teen club, but the three younger ones tried the club for their age group (9. 11 and 12) and didn't want to go back.

 

I was aware of the shortcomings that others complain about on Royal Princess, but can honestly say they did not impact us at all. We did so much walking in port that the lack of a proper promenade deck wasn't an issue, our cabins were aft, so we didn't miss the centre stairs and as for the toilet roll holder, what is the problem!

 

The food in our opinion was better than on previous Princess cruises. We had an included dinner at Sabatini's, which was good, but I don't think I would pay $25pp to do it again. DH and I celebrated our anniversary with a Winemaker's Dinner, which was great value for $40pp including wine pairings. We had My Time Dining and after the first night booked the same table for ten each night, which rather defeated the idea, but worked well for us. The waiters got to know the children's preferences and made sure they were served quickly, then they were happy to read or play cards quietly while the adults had a leisurely meal.

 

I seem to have almost written a review. Sorry to have rambled on so long - blame jet lag!!

 

Sheila

 

Glad you enjoyed the trip too, Sheila! I think I may have seen you with your family in the dining room once or twice - I saw an extended family with children about the ages you posted. :)

 

Berlin was too much of a draw for me to not go there...we will probably go back some day, but we don't make it to Europe often, so we wanted to make the most of that opportunity. It was worth it for us; sounds like it will be a different trip for you.

 

I agree with you that most of the complaints about the ship were non-issues...we generally found stairs close enough to where we wanted to be, and I never had an issue with the toilet paper.

[judylou]

Great review! Looking forward to this cruise in just one week.

[Shutterbug623]

A few other things I thought of:

 

1) Take a travel alarm clock - don't rely on your cell phone. Phones do not always pick up on the time zone changes (you are in 3 different time zones on this trip!), and two couples almost missed the 1st day in SPB because of it. I got a cheapo one from Target that worked great.

 

2) Always grab a map from the TI if you can. Guidebook maps often don't have enough detail. And sometimes it's worth the 5 minutes there to ask what's the best way to get somewhere.

 

3) Our captain, Dino Sagani, told us each night if there were interesting things happening on entrance or exit from a port. We saw Elsinore Castle (Shakespeare's Hamlet Castle) and a bridge near Denmark that had a whole 4m of clearance as the boat went under. That was cool to see.

 

4) This cruise is very port intensive (which we loved! That's why we signed up for it!). Be prepared for early mornings. (coupled with time zone changes...)

 

5) We really lucked out on the weather - most days it was upper 60s or lower 70s and sunny or partly cloudy. It dripped on us in Tallinn, rained a bit in the morning in SPb and poured for a while in Helsinki, but other than that, we avoided the precipitation. Bring a rain coat and layers - I often started the day with a light long sleeve layer and shed it at some point during the day.

 

We really enjoyed our trip and thought the ports were excellent. I'd recommend this cruise, although next time I might look for an itinerary that docked in Stockholm rather than Nynashamn.

 

Again, please feel free to ask questions about the boat or about a port - I will answer it to the best of my knowledge!

[Shutterbug623]

Great review! Looking forward to this cruise in just one week.

 

Have a great time!! We did!

[lovevacadays]

What a wonderful review. I am thoroughly enjoying reading it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts. I very much enjoyed reading it.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Sea Day Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on this cruise in a couple of weeks and your information was really helpful.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[CTack]

We were also on the 8Aug cruise. No time right now to post details, however, I wanted to get back to all that we met at the Meet & Greet regarding our decision to go on the private tour excursion offered by Estonian Experience - The Bog Tour. This was a nature hike thru a park area about 1 hr 15 minutesd outside of Tallinn. Since we were the only two on this custom tour, we were sort of concerned that being in the middle of nowhere, maybe we would be taken as hostages or something. The tour was great and we did make it back to the boat !! It is not the tour for everyone. We wanted to do something different rather than see more museums, souvenir shops, etc and so we went on thos hike tru swampy. spongy parklans which make up about 10-20% of the land mass in Estonia. Then had time afterwards to tour the old town of Tallinn. The Bog Tour was great ! We put on snow shoes/bog shoes and tramped thru the parklands avoiding the sinkholes. When we think about all the sites and experiences on our full cruies, we recall quirte clearly our experiences walking thru the bog and the personal discussions we had with our tour guide - believe his name was Mart - A tall (6' 6" ) well buil sort of viking type indivdual....but unlike vikings, after he dropped us off back in Tallinn, he was going to meet his musical buiddies where he plays the saxophone !

 

Anyway - I I was most surprised on this cruise with Estonia. I did not know much about Estonia but what a nice country - Love the medieval old town architecture and people.

 

We also combined this cruise with a pre-trip tp Bergen, Norway and the Fjord town of Balestrand. Norway was a great experience travelling thru the fjords.

 

Princess Royal was a great ship. Crowd control onboard was not bad on most days except for one day when it was very windy and cool - No one or very few were then on deck 16 and so that day, the boat seemed very crowded on the decks below.

[RNRcruisers]

Thanks for your great review! This cruise is definitely on my list for the future. I was particularly glad to hear you liked Helsinki. I spent a year there as an exchange student many years ago and loved it and am puzzled by the reviewers who don't enjoy that stop. I thought it was a wonderful city. Maybe I need to move this cruise up the list....

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[gardenbunny]

Such a wonderful review. Thank you! Having a such a true and detailed representation of the ports was so helpful. I have heard that August or Sept is the best time of year to do this cruise. I am hoping to schedule this one for Sept of 2016. I am more excited than ever after reading your review.

[chocolady001]

Thank you. Learned a lot for you great reviews. Planning to take the 11 days Russia Scandinavia in July with the Regal Princess.:)