MS Prinsendam Baltic, Kiel Canal and Celtic Explorer, May 20-June 17, 2015

[olson99]

I am loving your thread. Great pictures. We board her on June 17th so we are learning a lot. How is the internet on the Prinsendam? Do they have the old packages or the new one which includes unlimited internet? Thank you.

Paula

[I_r_a]

Thanks for sharing, raf

 

Ira

[rafinmd]

I am loving your thread. Great pictures. We board her on June 17th so we are learning a lot. How is the internet on the Prinsendam? Do they have the old packages or the new one which includes unlimited internet? Thank you.

Paula

 

Thanks I R A and RuthC. Paula, Wifi performance of course varies by ship location and is typical of cruise ships, generally pretty slow. The traditional 100 to 1000 minute plans are offered.

 

I woke a little before 5 and was out on deck soon after with the sun having just come up over the bow. Around 8 Captain Roberts came on the PA and announced that wh had some additional slowdowns in the Keil Canal and had just cleared the last lock about 3AM. As a result we would be late in Warnemunde and would be delaying all aboard until 9:30. Our passage from Kiel to Warnemunde was through a relatively narrow area with one island of Germany about 5 miles to our starboard and Denmark about 40 miles to port. A number of ferries crossed at several points between the 2 countries. We sailed past the MSC Sinfonia and docked about 8:30 (I was surprised to see that our itinerary called for 6AM).

 

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Warnemunde is essentially a suburb of the small city of Rostock. It is a seaside resort. Berlin is about 3 hours by bus and a number of tours were going there. They got priority in getting sent off. My tour, best of Rostock, was scheduled for 9AM and our bus pulled away at 9:20. Warnemunde and Rostock were part of East Germany and our guide Ulf pointed out many Soviet era block apartments. Rostock is not really a commercial port any more but does serve international ferries. Over the years it has had some significance as a naval base and was heavily bombed in WW2,

 

Our tour was mostly a stroll through town. Our bus dropped us off near Kopelin gate, originally one of 24 but only a few survive. Much of the city wall is gone as well but we looked at one surviving section. In most of central Rostock vehicles are either prohibited or severely limited. We walked a short distance along Wall Street, stopping to have a look at the former convent. It was founded by Queen Margaret of Denmark. When the Protestant Reformation came convents were no longer supported and the site became a part of the university. We continued walking, now along Kopelinstrasse, another pedestrian street to University Square. The University does not have a “campus” but works from scattered buildings. Ulf said that the university provides each student a transit pass to facilitate getting between buildings. The university was founded in the 16th century and the present building dates to 1867. Ulf translated the motto as “Many theories but only one truth”.

 

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The other end of University Square is the main part of town. Rostock was part of the “Hansiatic league”, composed of ports ringing the North and Baltic seas from London to St. Petersburg. Even during the East German period the cities had an annual celebration with the host city being given some kind of gift. Rostock’s town square had a “Fountain of Joy” and a carillon as gifts from past Hanseatic celebrations.

 

After a short rest stop we continued down Kopelinstrasse. Most of the buildings are brick as clay was plentiful and stone was rare. Decorative touches were added by tinting the bricks. One of the most common colors was black, created by adding some animal blood to the mix. Ulf pointed out one such building. Our final stop was at the Marienkirche. The church was built as a Catholic church in 1230, but became a Lutheran church after the reformation. While much of it is covered with fabric and scaffolding for renovation, it came through WW2 bombings in pretty good shape. The major wartime loss was the windows. They have only recently started replacing the original stained glass windows as there was no money available for the purpose in the Soviet era. Most of the windows are still clear glass. Special features of the church are an astronomical clock and a large pipe organ. I’ve heard that metal parts of both were hidden during the **** era as metal was wanted for weapons.

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Ulf was a lad of 7 when the Berlin Wall came down. On the ride back to the ship he described his memories of East Germany. He said his early childhood was pretty normal but did talk of fear, secrecy, and intimidation. His chief memory of the fall of the wall was his father warning him “Do not repeat these conversations with anyone”, a reference to the possibility that the revolution might fail and there would be consequences for people who supported it. He added that religion was not actually banned, but that people of faith would almost automatically be passed over for the best jobs and positions of power and prestige. We returned to the port about 1PM.

 

The resort of Warnemunde was about a 10-minute walk from the dock. I took my netbook and explored the town, a decent but walkable size with a single church near the center. I found only 1 place with wifi, a café. I did get my netbook antivirus updated an accomplished a few other things, but the lunch left a lot to be desired. My final return to the ship was about 3PM.Br

 

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Between the extended tours to Berlin and a beer garden/buffet set up on the pool deck the dining room was quite quiet. It was also a quiet evening, The Filipino Crew Show was held at 10:30. We lost an hour as we sailed for Estonia, and between that and the late hour I passed on the show. I hope to catch it on the second segment. I was just getting into bed as we left the dock at 10:30.

 

As today’s parting shot, Monday is Memorial Day in most of the free world. It is a special one for me after the tunnels of Ponta Delgada, Neuengamme, and St. Nikolas Church in Hamburg plus more special ports to come. My Fire Department of course works 24/365 but the administrative offices are on a Monday-Friday schedule. I’ll close with the quote chosen by our county Fire Chief in his Memorial Day message from President Kennedy: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." Thank you to the people who have or do toil to maintain our freedom. If your country celebrates Memorial Day by that or any other name have a great day.

 

Note: With 7 consecutive port days coming up and 2 long touring days in St. Petersburg my upcoming posts may be delayed.

 

Roy

[lastlook]

Just having a chance to catch up on your posts/blog and have enjoyed it very much. Many thanks for your time and effort to take us along on your journey.

[rafinmd]

Thank you, lastlook

 

My first full sea day of the voyage began with a trip to the laundry room. It was very quiet at 5AM. It was about 5:40 when I got out on deck to begin my walk. I was just passing around the bow when I noticed the sun starting to peep above the horizon. It was not visible from the port side so I cut through the forward doors back to starboard for a picture perfect sunrise, even though it was quite a chilly day. My 5-mile walk, interspersed with a number of visits to the laundry room, continued until about 7:30. Timing was perfect, I picked up the laundry as I completed my 20th and final lap.

 

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There was not much of interest in the morning; along with breakfast and laundry I completed my report for Warnemunde. The 11:30 Mariners Brunch completed my morning’s activities. An attractive display of Mariners pins and medals was outside the dining room. I thought being in the dining room at noon I had missed Captain Tim’s update but it was delivered just before 1PM. We are right on our required speed of 17.5 knots to make Tallin on time. We have calm seas of 1 foot and are doing quite nicely without the stabilizers today. Tallin tomorrow is expected to be 12 (54F) and sunny,.

 

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Afternoon activities included a talk by Tina on what makes a Grand Voyage Special, Brett’s introduction of Tallin, St. Petersburg, and Helsinki, the final segment of the Dancing With the Stars lessons, and a 4:30 Interdenominational Worship Service.

 

This was our first formal night, rescheduled from Saturday due to our late time slot in the Kiel Canal. Our librarian hosted table 151 and supplied the wine. Holland America has become a family tradition for her as her mother is currently a nurse in the Prinsendam Medical Center.

 

I suspect the reason is our latitude (about 58N) but I normally think of sunrise and sunset as being in pretty much opposite directions. This morning’s sunrise was just barely to starboard from the bow while the sun is dropping almost directly outside my port window, only a difference of about 100 degrees rather than the expected 180. Sunset was officially 10:13 but it dropped below some clouds about 9:40. There is barely 7 hours between sunset and sunrise here.

 

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The main evening entertainment was piano showman Count Dumas from Transylvania. His name rings a bell but I can’t remember seeing him previously. I must admit that I’ve been attacked lately by the drowsies, but I enjoyed what I remember of his show. I am taking the hint and retiring early for the evening.

 

As today’s parting shot, congratulations to Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Despite being up close to 5 when I went out on deck the sun was already quite high, rising about 4:30. It was still quite a chilly morning and after 1 lap I returned to my cabin to finish my coffee rather than walk with my hands exposed. Our pilot boarded about 7, and by 8 we were the first of 3 ships in port, the Costa Favolosa right behind us and the Serenade of the Seas significantly behind. It’s a bustling port with usually about 4 international ferries docked at all times.

 

My tour today was called “New Farmers and Old Nobility”, and was one of several “small group” excursions offered on this cruise. We left the ship about 8:15 and were met by Tiina and 13 of us boarded a full size motor coach.

 

As we drove to our first stop Tiina talked about the history of Estonia. It has only had 2 brief periods of independence, first from 1919 to about 1940, and again since 1989. It was occupied briefly by the ****s, but for most of the 20th century was Russian territory. The country has a population of about 1.5 million, and is the combined size of New Jersey and New Hampshire.

 

Our first stop was a manor house from about the early 19th century. At that time nobility owned large tracts of land and the peasants would work the land, gaining a meager subsistence but giving much of the income to the noble. The manor house was very large with beautiful wings on each side and servant and guest quarters on the 3rd floor and in buildings to each side of the main house.

 

When the Russians took over Estonia around WW2, the buildings and equipment were all turned over to collective farms Some of the manors were used as workers’ residences while others housed animals or equipment, and of course the fate of an individual house rested in large part on how it was used in that period. When independence came in 1989, the prior owners or their descendant had an opportunity to get their land and other property back. The owners of the house we visited had no interested heirs, so a new owner was able to purchase it. The property fared reasonably well and is in restoration, in some places we could see the effects of many coats of paint of various colors. The house today is used for weddings, receptions, and other private events.

 

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Our next stop was a modern farm. This was a small farm and the heirs of the original owners did want it back but had no farming experience and had to learn everything from scratch. The original owners had 8 cows so the new owners were given 8, but now have 195. They did not find that milk production provided a viable source of income so the main product today is cheese (and clearly tourism as a Royal Caribbean bus also visited). We went into the dining room for a cheese sampling and then given a short tour of the property and some free time.

 

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We did a short walking tour around central Tallinn taking in 2 vantage points from upper town and visiting 2 churches, a Russian Orthodox cathedral and St. Mary’s Church. It started out Catholic and became Lutheran after the reformation. On our walk we passed Toompa Castle, a large, ornate pink building that is home to Estonia’s parliament. We returned to the pier about 1:30. I took a short walk, looking for wifi. The port was said to have had it but I was unable to get a connection. From the sound of things at dinner, the hot spot had a limited number of connections, but if you were lucky enough to have one it was good. I did not, but found a coffee shop at a hotel about a half mile from the ship with good soup and fair internet.

 

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All aboard was 3:30. I left the hotel about 2:45 and on approach to the harbor came an ominous sounding horn blast. When I reached the ship (3:00) the popup outside the gangway was gone. As I was heading up to the lido about 3:20 the Costa Favolosa was backing out of the dock so I assume the horn was theirs. We started backing out about 3:50

 

The main evening entertainment was the Prinsendam entertainers with a show called “Red, Hot, and Blue”. It was the first time I’ve seen this group as their previous show was the evening we were sailing the Kiel Canal. There is one dance couple and 6 singers, 4 female and 2 male. The production was not elaborate but I thought the artistic level was quite good.

 

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As a quick parting shot, Estonia is a country that probably doesn’t figure much in people’s consciousness. Tallinn is only about 40 miles from Helsinki but when there in 2003 I never gave Estonia a second thought. I learned today that Tallinn is the silicon valley of the Baltic, and the birthplace of skype. I’d never have guessed that.

 

Roy

[kazu]

thanks for the reports Roy. Tallin is so picturesque. Glad you had a chance to enjoy it.

[rafinmd]

Thanks, Jacaui.

 

Primarily due to the number of posts I am dividing this day into morning and afternoon posts. I have actually left St. Petersburg but have not even thought about my day 2 post yet. It will probably be divided as well.

 

St. Petersburg was founded on May 27, 1703, at the mouth of the Neva River and the head of the Gulf of Finland. Sunrise was 4AM and we were making steady progress when I walked 6 laps on the Lower Promenade deck. There was a bit of a chill but it was warmer than the previous couple of mornings. We docked just about 7AM.

 

St. Petersburg is unlike most ports in that I don’t believe it is possible to just go ashore on your own. To get past the immigration counter you must have either a ships escursion, a printed confirmation of a private tour, or an individual visa. This is my second visit to St. Petersburg, the first was a land tour where I arrived by a patchwork of freighter, ferry, and rail connections, and continued on by rail to Beijing. My recollection of the Visa process is that it requires an “invitation” from a tour company, so even with a visa it is pretty much impossible to just arrive and explore independently.

 

I am booked on a 2-day package using small groups. With 8 or 9 sections of this tour somewhat over 100 people headed ashore simultaneously. The Russian authorities like to take their time looking things over and it probably took about 20 minutes to get through immigration. Once outside the terminal we were loaded onto large vans, in my case with driver Paul and guide Maria. The passenger terminal is on an island and we started out passing some former naval bases and some memorials. In about 20 minutes we crossed a bridge into the main part of St. Petersburg and headed for Pushkin, our morning destination, and about 20 miles from the port.

 

Maria pointed out a number of sites along the way but it was hard to really get a good view of them from the van. Along the way, fairly near Pushkin, we passed a memorial to the siege and eventual liberation from the ****s. Hitler had hoped to bring St. Petersburg to it’s knees by starvation with a 2 ½ year blockade and in the end was repelled by the city’s brutal winter temperatures. About a million people died in the siege but the siege did not succeed.

 

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Our destination for the morning was Catherine’s Palace. One characteristic that cannot be claimed for the Tsars was modesty. Imperial palaces started out massive and were enlarged with each succeeding generation, and by Catherine’s time the palace had grown to a length of about 1,000 feet. The palace was largely destroyed in the siege and associated bombing runs and restoration took many years. Associated with the palace were elaborate gardens, a church, and the Lycium, a school for boys of the nobility. Crowds at the palace are huge, but they were handled relatively efficiently. Admission was group by group, and there were perhaps a dozen groups ahead of us; we were inside in about 20 minutes. A band was playing outside the entrance. While massively long, the palace is relatively narrow, perhaps 150 feet wide.

 

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We entered near the center and climbed a staircase to the second level, the primary space in Russian Palaces. After climbing thre grand staircase we proceeded through a great hall and a room set up with a display of deserts. We reversed direction through some rooms on the West side, a banquet room set up for military honorees with various levels of military award on display, then a more general banquet room and several rooms in differing color schemes. The gilded doors were all lined up giving the effect of a tunnel of gold. In the Red room, there was a display of period instruments including a harpsichord that is still played at special events.

 

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The most opulent room was the Amber room. The palace was burned and badly damaged in the siege, but enough remained of most of the rooms to do a restoration. Nothing was left at all of the Amber Room, so it is a recreation rather than a restoration. It is the one room in the palace where photos are not permitted, supposedly to help keep the lines moving.

 

We left Catherine’s Palace around 11AM by the back, and found there was a huge lovely garden on the grounds. We walked through part of this garden but did not linger, We boarded our bus for about an hour ride to Peterhoff, in the opposite direction from Pushkin.

 

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Roy

[qsuzi]

I very much appreciate your blog. I am learning so much and the pictures are just stunning.

[kura]

Enjoying your reports. We will be boarding Prinsendam on July 15 th for 49 days. We have booked the 2 day package in St Petersberg with small groups also.....so we are very interested in this.

You mentioned your dining steward was Sugeng.....we had him last year on the Prinsendam (if it is the same one) ...hope he is still there in July!

[Logistigr8r]

Just found your thread today and I'm taking notes. We board the Prinsendam in Aug for a similar route that includes many of your stops. Can you please tell us, in St Pete, did you use a ship's excursion or did you go private? "Small groups" sound appealing. I don't recall that mentioned in the ship's excursions. Thanks for taking the time to post so much useful info.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Logistigr8r

[rafinmd]

Russia’s Tsars were certainly fond of palaces. Our visit to the main palace was held until Thursday but there were 2 massive summer palaces. In addition to the palace in Pushkin which was inland, we visited Peterhoff Palace which was on the Gulf of Finland, about 10 miles west of St. Petersburg. Our visit there was not to the palace itself, a yellow structure rivaling Catherine’s in size, design, and opulence, but to the gardens. The buildings sat on a ridge probably 20 meters above the gardens, which were probably 2,000 feet in length and 1,000 feet in width. As we disembarked our buses we were given box lunches. Maria led us on a walk the length of the palace pointing out various points of interest and especially our meeting point for our return to St. Petersburg.

 

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The gardens had an extensive network of paths, but the most notable feature was an abundance of fountains all over the property, The fountains were all gravity fed, with water supplied from the top of the ridge where the palace sat. There were many benches, all providing a lovely setting for our box lunches. A canal ran the width of the property, from the bay up to the entrance to the palace. An indentation in one of the canal walls suggested it had once been navigable and included a lock. At the bay end of the canal there was a museum of royal yachts (sadly closed for renovation),

 

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We met at 1:20 for a hydrofoil ride to the historical center of St. Petersburg. The 15-mile ride took about a half hour, and we were dropped off about a 5-minute walk from the Yusupov Palace. Palaces were not just the domain of royalty, Felix Yusupov was not officially Royal but had wealth befitting royalty. The palace is notable because it was there that Rasputin was murdered. Rasputin was brought to St. Petersburg to assist with young Prince Alexander, a hemophiliac. The reasons for his murder are not clearly known, but one theory is it was because he was a womanizer.

 

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After viewing one hall in the palace we went down a narrow stairway to the rooms related to the murder. In the first one we see figures of Yusupov and his co-conspirators hatching their plot. They had recruited a physician who was able to secure arsenic and tried to poison him first (n.b. Arsenic does not work with sweets) then beat him and shot him. Rasputin was a big, strong man and survived all those attacks fighting vigorously, but he was eventually subdued and thrown in the Moika River where he drowned. A second downstairs room has figures of Rasputin at his final meal.

 

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Returning up the stairs, this palace has a number of rooms with various color themes. The ballroom is on the small side, but the adjacent Great Room has a loft with a lattice on the upper level of the ballroom where the music comes through without the need for musicians actually in the room. Zenaida Yusupov also had a theater in the palace, where there are still performances today.

 

Our final stop was a combined toilet/refreshment/shopping stop for about 20 minutes. We returned to the ship about 4:30. When we passed immigration on the way out we were given landing cards which were collected on our return. We were now joined in port by 4 other ships, Costa Luminosa and Favalosa, Serenade OTS, and the Viking Star. I had not yet realized that Viking had started operating.

 

Dinner was pretty quiet as everybody had had a long day of touring.. The Viking Star and Luminosa sailed away as we were dining and by 9PM we were the only ship in port. There was no traditional entertainment this evening, although a local folklore show was offered as a shore excursion. There were fireworks at 11PM as part of the birthday celebration but on the evening between 2 long days of touring I was asleep well before then.

 

Today’s parting shot will be a now belated happy birthday to St. Petersburg.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Our second day in St. Petersburg started out with rain. Our second day of adventure was scheduled to start a half hour later than the first but we left the showroom a bit early and breezed through immigration in less than 5 minutes. Officials just looked at our tickets and passports, no new landing card and no new stamp. My guide today was Paval (Paul) along with driver Alexander.

 

Our first activity was a ride in the subway system. Moscow’s subway dates from the mid 1930's, one for St. Petersburg was interrupted by WW2 and came on line in 1955. Because the city is a network of islands and rivers, the subway is deep underground, with a depth of about 110 meters where we traveled, using very long and fast escalators. Like any urban subway system, St. Petersburg is subject to rush hour crowds into town in the morning, and Paval sheparded us into a train going out of the city core for 3 stops. On that ride, the train was not crowded and everybody got a seat. At our destination we looked at the design of the station with the artwork; then boarded a train back to our starting point. I perhaps foolishly took advantage of easy access to the end door of my car and found the aisle so crowded I could not get through to the group. I could see a couple of our members with their earpieces but could not make my way to them. In the end, when we got to the 3rd stop we all got off and were reunited. As we returned to the escalators to go back to the street I noticed that there was an attendant in a control booth at the landings, ready to stop the fast moving machines if somebody had a problem getting off. It was still drizzling as Alexander met us on the street.

 

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We mostly drove around the city for a while, passing the Kazan Cathedral, unique for a massive colonnade extending well past the ends of the church, and getting out briefly at the Aleksandrinsky Theater. Our first actual stop was the Church of the Spilled Blood, erected on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. At the time he was simply driving alongside one of the canals when a bomb went off under his carriage. A niche in the Cathedral marks the exact spot where it happened.

 

 

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Our second stop was St. Isaacs Cathedral. Once the largest church in St. Petersburg it, much like the Church of the Spilled Blood was diverted to many other uses during the Soviet Era and eventually became a museum. For a while, St Isaac’s was even a museum of atheism.

 

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After visiting the 2 churches we made a short drive to the Arts Square, home of several venues for music, opera, and theater. I was particularly interested in the Philharmonic Hall, home of Yuri Tamirkanov, once Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony. Lunches were distributed at this stop, a bit awkward as the rain had stopped but the benches were still pretty wet.

 

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Roy

[rafinmd]

Thanks folks. I'm still trying to catch up from the long days at St. Petersburg and hope to look at and respond to questions later today.

 

Our main afternoon stop was the Hermitage but we did a couple other things first. What is now the Hermitage was originally the main palace for Russia and it sits on the Neva River directly across from the spot where St. Petersburg was founded. Alexander dropped us at the center of the Palace bridge, the main one across the Neva, and the original working port for St. Petersburg. There is a small island and on either side are tall “Rostok” columns, ornate red columns that once were lighted at night as lighthouses. From our vantage point in the center of the bridge we could get a view of the vastness of the Hermitage on one side of the Neva and the Fortress and Cathedral of Peter and Paul, where Peter the Great established the city in 1703. Back in the van we drove past the main University of St. Petersburg, a military museum, and the Fortress of Peter and Paul before crossing the Neva again and stopping at the Hermitage.

 

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The Hermitage complex is composed of 6 major parts, the Winter Palace, a theater that is open only for performances, and 4 connected museum buildings. The first of the museums was established by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has grown since. After entering we went through the Winter Palace first, and then through the collections, which were displayed in a wide variety of room styles. Most of what we saw was on the second floor but at the end we went through several rooms of ancient material, mostly from Egypt but there was also a large sculpture of Jupiter. One of the buildings was supported by columns consisting of pairs of human figures holding the building up with their heads and shoulders. We spent about 2 hours in the Hermitage, a time often given as the maximum a person should spend there in one visit.

 

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After the usual coffee/toilet/shopping stop we returned to the port about 4:30. The final check at immigration was surprisingly quick, perhaps 30 seconds, but I have never felt more joy at crossing the Elegant Explorer’s gangway than I did leaving Russian soil.

 

Sailaway was set for 6PM, and Destination Specialist Brett was going to provide some commentary as we left the harbor and passed the Russian Navy base at Kronshtadt. I wanted to be on deck for that and decided to just get a starter in the dining room and get the rest of dinner in the lido as we were making our way out of the harbor. I left the dining room about 6:10 and we were still docked. Captain Tim came on the PA and announced that with the winds we were unable to get away from the dock and were dispatching a tug. Even with the tug’s assistance it was a very slow process moving the bow away from the pier, but things started moving once we got to about a 30-degree angle. I could make out the spires of the palace and church at Peterhoff around 7PM, and passed Kronshtadt around 7:45. It is an island and virtually all naval personnel. The dome of the Naval Church stood out and there may have been other ships I didn’t see but most of the ones I did see appeared to have seen better days.

 

 

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St. Petersburg has a history of severe floods, largely due to storm surges from the Gulf of Finland. In 2011 a flood control dam was installed. It passes through Kronshtadt and is about 25 km (16 miles) long. There is a highway across the dam with a tunnel about a mile long under the ship channel. We could see the massive gates to close the channel as we passed through the dam. It reminded me a lot of some similar projects I saw installed near New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

 

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There was a double bill in the Showroom at Sea. The main show was magician Ronald Moray. The Indonesian Crew Show came at 11PM. It was quite a full house despite the late hour and the exhausting day of touring most people had experienced, but that is a hard show to pass up

 

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I’ll take today’s parting shot from a comment Marie made on Wednesday about St. Petersburg’s summers. She described them as “9 months of anticipation and 3 months of frustration”.

 

Roy

[RuthC]

Roy, your St. Petersburg reports were worth waiting for. The write-ups are complete, and the pics reflect the narrative perfectly.

I saw pictures of things both familiar and new to me, and appreciate every one of them. I was never in the subway system, but now understand why some of the stations are part of the tours. Nothing like what I've seen in USA stations!

 

Thank you for your dedication in sharing this marvelous trip with us.

[sppunk]

GREAT reports from SP, Roy!

 

One question. You say after your last afternoon you've never been happier to cross the Pdam's threshold. Would you be willing to say why, by chance?

 

I only ask because SP is my favorite place on earth. :)

[Logistigr8r]

"We were now joined in port by 4 other ships, Costa Luminosa and Favalosa, Serenade OTS, and the Viking Star. I had not yet realized that Viking had started operating."

 

We just got off the Viking Star in Bergen a couple of weeks ago. Since you posted she has visited Helsinki and Stockholm. She picked up more pax today in fact.

[RuthC]

We just got off the Viking Star in Bergen a couple of weeks ago. Since you posted she has visited Helsinki and Stockholm. She picked up more pax today in fact.

If you would care to post a few words about your Viking cruise, or let us know where you have posted about it, it would be much appreciated.

 

I am very interested in this new cruise line. I am also interested in knowing if it as unwelcoming to the disabled as I have read about. I understand that scooters are not allowed.

 

Thanks.

[sppunk]

If you would care to post a few words about your Viking cruise, or let us know where you have posted about it, it would be much appreciated.

 

I am very interested in this new cruise line. I am also interested in knowing if it as unwelcoming to the disabled as I have read about. I understand that scooters are not allowed.

 

Thanks.

Roth, check out the Viking Ocean board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=875

 

You'll find a, let's be diplomatic, wide range of opinions to date. :)

[qsuzi]

Just the most complete write-ups and pix to make them even more helpful. among the best complete reviews I've seen.

[sammiedawg]

CC editor in chief was on the Viking Star shakedown cruise and her write up was most diplomatic.

I'm curious whether Viking can up its food quality to match the pricing structure. Food was weak on our Viking River cruise. They offer lots of other amenities, wine, beer, soft drinks with meals, free wifi, free excursions.

[rafinmd]

Because I have been running behind I can say this was the first of 2 scenic sailins. It is also nice that in most cases we are moving more or less in a line so our route out is typically different from the one in. We docked close to our expected time and pretty close to town. It is my second visit to both Helsinki and Stockholm, with my first visit in 2003 sailing the Viking ferry Gabriella from Stockholm to Helsinki. Soon after our arrival the Gabriella came in and docked just on the town side of us as well as a similar ferry, the Silja Serenade on the opposite of the harbor. I had a walking tour today, “A stroll through Helsinki”.

 

We left the ship about 9 for a short bus ride to the center of town and were dropped off at Senate Square, location of the building that once held the Senate. Our guide pointed out a statue of Tsar

Alexander II and claimed that there is no such statue in Russia. The main cathedral stood on the opposite side of the square. It was a short walk from there to market square, sitting at the end of the harbor.

 

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The Esplanade leads east from market square. My photo shows it’s worst side, I completely missed the pile of dirt when taking the photo; it is actually very pleasant with benches along the sides of what is essentially a 100-yard wide median lined by fashionable shops on each side. Other nice shopping streets run off the Esplanade, the one we took led us to Station Square where in 2003 I caught my train to St. Petersburg. City hall is across the square from the station.

 

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We started walking north and passing mostly new buildings, a lovely new music hall, the National Museum (not new), and Finlandia, primarily a conference. We continued walking through a nice park to a lakeside coffee shop where we enjoyed coffee and a pastry.

 

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Refreshed, we retraced our steps along the park for about a quarter mile before returning to the streets to visit the Rock Church. The church was blasted out of solid rock and covered by a dome with a ring of skylight around the edges. When we went in there was a gentleman playing the piano. The church looked nice and is apparently a very popular place but it did not seem that extraordinary to me. Our bus returned us to the ship around noon.

 

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Finish composer Sibelius made his home in Helsinki and there is an interesting monument to him in Helsinki. I thought our route took us past the monument but was mistaken, and I found a photograph of it from my 2003 visit.

 

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It had been mentioned that there was wifi in the center of town. I took a walk into town (about a mile each way) and did find wifi on the Esplanade but a shower was coming up so I decided to go inside for lunch. A new President has just been elected and there were parades along market square as new cabinet selections were to be announced. The showers got a bit stronger as I returned to the ship so I wasted no time getting back.

 

When I was on the Gabriella in 2003 I had never really gotten a good look at the ship so was pleased to be out on deck as it sailed away around 4PM. We left about 4:50 with the Silja Serenade not far behind us. It was close behind us as we had our dinner. Captain Roberts came on the PA about 5 and told us we were about to go through a very narrow passage known as “the dagger”. I was dressing for dinner but watched from my window as we were really quite close.

 

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This was a formal night, rather unusual for a port day but we don’t have many sea days on this segment. The evening entertainment was the Prinsendam Singers and Dancers with “Dance”. Since leaving Miami on May 4 we have had about 7 time changes, all in the form of losing an hour. We finally got one of those hours back. While I am normally up for sunrise the days are a bit strange with sunrise well before 5 but sunsets, while late are not terribly late. We had a nice sunset tonight around 10:15 PM, which was actually more like 9:15 with the hour we gained.

 

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Today’s parting shot is a wish for wise decisions by Finland’s new leadership.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The entry to Stockholm harbor is very long and scenic. We picked up our pilots at 4AM and when I rose at 5AM we were passing nearby islands on both sides. We were the tail end of a parade of 3 ships with the Silja Serenade and Gabriella ahead of us. Captain Roberts came on the PA about 8 to tell us that as the last of the 3 arriving ships our arrival would be delayed and that our departure from Stockholm would be delayed by an hour. He commented on the size of the ferries, about 3000 passengers and commented that they were all in beds, something that few others on the Prinsendam can attest to by personal experience. My cabin on the Gabriella was compact but functional.

 

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We were also joined in port by the Costa Luminosa and Viking Star, both on turnaround days. We docked again next to the Viking terminal at 9AM. My tour was not until 12:30 so I had plenty of time. I got off about 9:45 in the hope of finding wifi and an ATM. Sweden is one of the relatively few countries in Europe that maintains it’s own currency and in Visby I will be on a free walking tour where the guide works for tips. I’d really like to do that in his own currency. Brett told me there was an ATM at the Viking terminal and the port had free wifi. I went online for a while and uploaded some big files and then started walking. I did not find the ATM in the Viking terminal and continued walking until the end of the harbor. Still no luck and it didn’t look promising ahead of me so I turned back to the ship. I took “one more look” in the Viking terminal and found the ATM in a secluded corner. After 2 miles of walking on the Lower Promenade Deck and 2 more in town I was back on board about 11:30.

 

My tour was called “Sensational Rooftop Walk and Stockholm’s Old Town”. The morning had been a bit chilly and windy but not bad. As we left the ship for the coach into town a few sprinkles were starting to appear . Our ride into town and Nobility Island was about 15 minutes. We left the coach at a building and ascended 4 flights of stairs/elevator and then one more flight on a smaller stairway to the attic. We were given a safety briefing in the attic and fitted with helmets and harnesses. The 14 of us were divided into 2 groups of 7 with a guide for each and one safety person who moved between the 2 groups.. We were told photos were not allowed while walking but were ok at the platforms where we turned corners. We needed to stay hands free while walking and were given lanyards to secure our cameras to our harnesses.

 

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I was in the lead on the second group. We went out through a hatch in the roof onto a metal platform. A rectangular course was set up with a metal track about a foot wide and a cable running along the side. We hooked into the cable by a “dog” suspended from our harness which normally slid along the cable but needed a nudge by foot or hand where the cable was attached to the building. A guide attached us to the cable and then took the lead. Our course was about 300 meters and there were several places where we needed to ascend steps or ramps but there were no really difficult points.

 

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We had a railing for about half the course while the other half was just the track and the cable. I thought I did pretty well although as first I got some extra attention from the guide. She would go around me at several points where one of the people was having some difficulty. I could see the Gabriella almost all the way around but there was only 1 spot where I could see the Prinsendam and it was not a photo spot. We had a light drizzle for most of the walk, which took about an hour. I didn’t catch a lot of special sites from the roof but saw a lot of steeples up close.

 

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After we returned to the attic and took off our gear I did get one souvenir, the lanyard that held my camera. We went back to the street for about a 30-minute walk around Old Town, just across a narrow channel from Nobility Island. Unfortunately, about this time the drizzle became a more substantial shower. There appeared to be few cars where we walked in Old Town with narrow streets lined with shops. We did stop near several buildings, The Nobel Museum, where prize winners for most awards (other than peace, which is done in Norway) are announced, the Cathedral, and the Royal Palace. Neither the Cathedral nor the Palace was all that impressive, at least viewed in the rain. There was also a marathon on which had some effects on traffic; we saw runners passing a couple of times.

 

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When we returned to the ship around 3:30 I was very ready for hot coffee and hot food. I was in the dining room when Captain Tim gave his sailaway message around 5:45. The forecast was not promising for tendering in Visby with a strong possibility of wind and swells. Captain also mentioned that this was not a great day for open bridge wings. He loves them when it is sunny but not on a day like this. Two of my 3 favorite ships have open bridge wings. On the Crystal Symphony the Cruise Director once interviewed the Captain and raised the issue of the open wings in inclement weather. Egil Giske quipped “I have the Vice Captain for that”. All through dinner we enjoyed the sailaway from Stockholm, once again passing close to islands with lovely summer homes.

 

This evening’s entertainment was the Celtic duo Livewire. Today’s parting shot, congratulations to the brave folks who ran the Stockholm Marathon in very challenging weather.

 

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Roy

[rafinmd]

I'll have to digest the latest comments offline and get back to you.

 

Thank you qsusi and kura.

Just found your thread today and I'm taking notes. We board the Prinsendam in Aug for a similar route that includes many of your stops. Can you please tell us, in St Pete, did you use a ship's excursion or did you go private? "Small groups" sound appealing. I don't recall that mentioned in the ship's excursions. Thanks for taking the time to post so much useful info.

Thank you. I booked my tour through HAL. This cruise has 3 or 4 “small group” excursions, something I’ve never seen on HAL before, and I haven’t seen it on the 14-day Celtic half of the collectors cruise. I was happy with the tour, although some people prefer private tours. I think Alla tours and SPB tours are the big and well respected providers for private tours in St. Pete.

 

 

 

While in Stockholm I uploaded some video from earlier in the cruise. I haven’t had a chance to review these yet but I think they’ll be ok. The first one was taken as we were just starting away from the pier in Ijmuiden.

 

 

A couple minutes later the Staff Captain (might have been First Officer) blew the horn

 

 

Passing under a bridge on the Kiel canal:

 

 

We were unable to tender into Visby today. Right after the announcement I made a lunch reservation for the Pinnacle Grill.

 

Roy

[dancourt]

Thank you for your posts Roy it has been lovely going down memory lane with your journey through the Baltics.

 

I have either cruised to these places or done a land based holiday so it is so nice to revisit whilst sitting in my armchair.

 

It is a shame the weather is not good at the moment but I have read that it is to improve sometime soon.

 

Susan