TRIP JOURNAL: Nicole721 Get[s]away to the Baltics

[Nicole721]

With only an hour left until back onboard time, we decide to start making our way back to the ship, heading back to Pikk Street and making our way to the entrance of Old Town. We stopped in a few more shops to pick up some nesting dolls, but decided to do our shopping near the pier, since our research had indicated that’s where the best prices were.

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

The walk back from the entrance of Old Town to the ship took about 20 minutes, and we walked at a ridiculously slow pace because it was just so beautiful out that we wanted to enjoy it for as long as we could. The streets outside of Old Town are wide and even and easy to walk, but I’d definitely do it the same way over again: I’d still take the bus (or a taxi) up to upper Old Town and then walk down and back.

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

Unlike most ports of call where the prices are higher at the shops at the pier, Tallinn’s cheapest prices are in the small market just outside of the official terminal shops. The specialties are wooden items (especially those made from local juniper trees and smell ahhhhmazing), cold weather clothing and amber jewelry. We bought our standard souvvies (guide books and magnets for me, patches for Stephanie, postcards for Mom), and we also picked up some wool hats (and I was really tempted by some wool boots, but it would be a solid six months before I’d even think about cold weather again, so I had to resist). All of the booths in the craft market took credit cards, though you could definitely pay in cash if you were so inclined (Tallinn is on the Euro).

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through the terminal shops, which had their own cafes and shops, but all seemed overpriced and generic, so we mostly passed right through on our way to the pier, where Norwegian staff were handing out moist towels and cool beverages.

[Nicole721]

The Garden Café was shutting down lunch right around the time the Getaway set sail, so we headed up for a quick lunch before taking a walk around the public upper decks. Stephanie hadn’t seen them on embarkation day because it was so cold out and they were bustling today since it was so warm out. If we had warmer weather on our sea days, we’d have a ton of fun options available to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We settled back in the room and onto our balcony for sailaway, where we left before the Viking Sea for the smooth waters ahead towards our next port of call in Russia.

 

[Nicole721]

Later on when it came time to decide what to do for dinner, we flipped through the menus on the NCL iConcierge App (which allowed us to see every menu for every venue for every night upfront, which was super convenient!) and since the Taste and Savor menus didn’t have anything super appealing, Stephanie and I decided to try something different and give Shanghai’s Noodle Bar a go, while Mom opted to skip dinner and head to bed early.

 

 

From what I gathered from other reviews, people either love or hate Shanghai’s. It’s one of the ship’s complimentary dining venues, serving (limited) dim sum options, noodle dishes and soups and if the wait time was any indication, Shanghai’s definitely tipped the scales towards love: we had to wait 45 minutes for a table.

 

On the Getaway, Shanghai’s is tucked in an open corner of the casino, which leads to a really odd ambiance, but we were seated right in front of the open kitchen, which provided some fantastic entertainment as we waited for our food.

 

 

[Nicole721]

To order, you check off boxes next to the dishes you want to order, which keeps things efficient and accurate, especially when you’re ordering a bunch of dishes. Stephanie and I weren’t sure what the portions were like, so we ordered a bunch of dishes and shared. And, you guys, I’m obsessed. Everything we tried was so good, especially the dumplings and the soups. All of these different options Norwegian offers over Carnival and Royal Caribbean were definitely ruining me for future cruises.

 

Pork Pot Stickers and Vegetable Spring Rolls

 

Beef Chow Fun

 

Char Siu with Rice Noodles

 

Vegetarian Fried Rice

 

Five Spice Chocolate Cake

 

Panda Salad

[Nicole721]

After way too many pot stickers and a few pots of green tea, Stephanie and I hit the Waterfront to watch the sunset. There wasn’t a production show and we had an early morning in St. Petersburg, so a beautiful sunset was the perfect way to end our day.

 

 

And then we went to bed early, because before we even woke up, we’d be docked in Russia, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of adventure we’d be in for.

[bluesea777]

The review is wrong of British airways. Water is free so please get your facts right.

 

 

LOL, water is NOT free - it was offered at a price on the LHR - GLA flights! Maybe they sell water on the short hauls ....

[TravelingAPor]

:) This journal is fantastic! Your photos are awesome! I did this cruise last year, in July. Looking forward to reading more of your journal. Thanks for sharing!

[nycfa]

Thanks so much for your review! We go in July and i read everything from last season so it’s great to have another one to read!

 

Look forward to reading the rest. 😊

[jaxw17]

Really enjoying the review and the photos

[Jnsplace1]

Your review is lovely, and quite inspiring. Makes me want to look at Baltics for the future.

[Magiemae41]

I am loving your review and plan to go back and "study" it in more detail. I keep getting off track going to check things out as you talk about them. (Copenhagen card, etc). We are taking this cruise in July and plan to spend a few days in Iceland and then a few days in Copenhagen before the cruise. Thank you for the great review

 

Can I ask how you guys got from the airport to your hotel?

 

Mae and Kirk

[tmackel]

Loving your review, thank you so much for sharing.

[HolySpearit]

Ports coming your way! Where in Europe are you heading this year?

 

Amsterdam and London, should be a good time!

 

Loving your photos, can not wait to hopefully explore Europe more in the coming years.

[Nicole721]

:) This journal is fantastic! Your photos are awesome! I did this cruise last year, in July. Looking forward to reading more of your journal. Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks for following along!

 

 

Thanks so much for your review! We go in July and i read everything from last season so it’s great to have another one to read!

 

Look forward to reading the rest. 😊

 

I hope your cruise is as memorable as ours was! :D

[Nicole721]

Really enjoying the review and the photos

 

Thanks! :)

 

 

Your review is lovely, and quite inspiring. Makes me want to look at Baltics for the future.

 

Thank you!!

[Nicole721]

I am loving your review and plan to go back and "study" it in more detail. I keep getting off track going to check things out as you talk about them. (Copenhagen card, etc). We are taking this cruise in July and plan to spend a few days in Iceland and then a few days in Copenhagen before the cruise. Thank you for the great review

 

Can I ask how you guys got from the airport to your hotel?

 

Mae and Kirk

 

Sure! We took a taxi to the hotel, but we were also running on very little sleep and if we were a little more awake (and had a little less luggage -- I want to say we had four full size pieces and three small pieces across the three of us), we could have easily taken the train into Copenhagen Central.

 

 

Loving your review, thank you so much for sharing.

 

So glad everyone is enjoying it! Thanks for following along! :)

[Nicole721]

Amsterdam and London, should be a good time!

 

Loving your photos, can not wait to hopefully explore Europe more in the coming years.

 

Amsterdam is on my list! I'm trying to tackle as much of Europe as I can while airfare is decently affordable. The cruises help :P

[Nicole721]

Day 9: St. Petersburg

 

I can’t lie and say I’ve had this longtime dream to visit Russia. Between the tense political climate bringing Russia into the news on what seems like a daily basis and a large Russian cultural presence back home, I’ve just never felt like I needed to leave home to experience Russia – there was plenty of borscht to be had in my proverbial backyard.

 

But Russia was on this itinerary, the highlight for many but a bonus for us, and I’m always down to cross another country off my Been app.

 

 

We woke up super early, grabbed a quick breakfast at the Garden Café and left the ship as soon as all clear was declared. The part of our visit that made me the most nervous was passing through border control, which I had heard not only takes awhile, but has enough intricacies to make me nervous.

 

Those who booked their excursions through the ship were already in line when we got outside, so they must have been led off the ship before the all clear call. It took just around 45 minutes to clear border control (after the first time, it only takes a few minutes for subsequent exits from the ship). There were many lanes open, but as expected, just about everyone on the ship was off early to get to their tours. Part of the reason it took so long is because, even when you’re traveling with a family our a spouse, you need to clear one by one, and many people did not know what to expect or what to have on hand. To make this go the quickest, you need to have your passport in one hand and your tour ticket or visa in the other. Not the email confirming your tour (if you book tours independently) – that will get you held up – but the PDF that most of the tour companies will send you prior to your trip or the actual tour ticket. That will act as your visa if you do not secure one otherwise (and there’s no reason to secure a separate visa if you are on a tour, both through the ship and through a private operator).

 

 

We followed the signs to SPB Tours and met up with Tatiana, our tour guide, and Dmitri, our driver. Our tour group had 15 people, but the last family ran 45 minutes late and Tatiana insisted on waiting for them. Others in the group were angry, but if I were in a new country with a different border check than I was used to, I’d want the group to wait for me, too, you know? We had two days in St. Petersburg. There was plenty of time to explore. And also, our tour van was equipped with wifi that was lightning fast (especially compared to the crawling service on the ship), so waiting with wifi was a-okay in my book!

 

 

The tour began with a drive through the city. St. Petersburg is extremely metropolitan and in some regards, reminded me of Chicago. There are tons of restaurants and bars and museums, a thorough transit system and even the roadways were similar to the expressways we have in the Chicagoland area.

 

 

[Nicole721]

Our first stop was a ride on the subway, so Dmitry dropped us off at a nearby station, Tatiana gave us each a subway token and we followed her into the station. Unlike back home in Chicago, there was a security check as we entered the subway, undoubtedly a precaution stemming from a recent subway attack, but there wasn’t any point where I felt unsafe. Russian subways are famous for their unbelievably long escalators, which move so quickly they can almost make you dizzy! This might have been Stephanie’s favorite part of the tour – she’d been looking forward to seeing these escalators since we booked the trip!

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

The subway stations are immaculately clean and supremely ornate. Many of the subway stations in St. Petersburg, Tatiana told us, were these beautiful, opulent displays that looked more like museum exhibits than public transit hubs, and the one we visited was no different.

 

 

 

 

We hopped on the next train that came and rode it to the next stop over. Nothing special about the ride – it was no different than riding the subway in any major metropolitan city. Well, maybe a little less crowded!

 

[Nicole721]

At the next stop, we walked a few steps from the subway station to Kuznechny Market, a local farmer’s market where we sampled Russian coleslaw and pickles and perused aisles of fresh, colorful produce, meats, cheeses and at least a dozen varieties of pickled vegetables. It reminded me of the vegetable markets we grew up shopping at. I mentioned earlier that there’s a large Russian population in the town we grew up in (and really, throughout the northern Chicago suburbs). We aren’t of Russian descent, ourselves, but our grandma was born in Poland, so we did a lot of the grocery shopping with her and our Mom when we were younger in the European and Russian vegetable markets. It’s kind of crazy, but the farmers market even smelled the same as some of these vegetable markets we grew up shopping at!

 

 

 

 

 

From the farmer’s market, we hopped back on the bus and Dmitry navigated us to a nearby souvenir store so we could shop, sample some local vodka (which Tatiana informed us, according to the Russians, was the cure for everything that ails you and the answer to any questions you’re seeking an answer to) and use the facilities because it would be a few hours before we’d be near decent restrooms again. I totally missed that everyone was downstairs sampling vodka, so I was making my way through aisles of Matryoshka dolls when Stephanie grabbed me and brought me downstairs. It wasn’t even 11:00 am, but Tatiana told me that time of day doesn’t matter in Russia when it comes to vodka, and I liked that answer.

 

 

Our next stop on this tour was a hydrofoil ride over to the Peterhof for a tour of the gardens. We’ve been on a hydrofoil before, so we knew what to expect. Some people on our tour didn’t even know we were going on a boat ride and weren’t happy about it, and it served as a reminder to always make sure you read your tour descriptions carefully to avoid surprises you may not find exciting.

[Nicole721]

We got to the hydrofoil a little early and, naturally, the boat was running late. To Tatiana’s credit, she would march over to the ticket agent every few minutes and demand an update, and it was always “a few minutes away.” I think it showed up some 10 or 15 minutes late, and there was an actual stampede to get onboard. Seriously. We’re talking Black Friday and there’s $100 big screens at Best Buy kind of stampede. The source of it? A Dutch tour group that formed a barrier and started pushing people to get onto the hydrofoil quickest so they could get the better seats. I’m used to keeping my cool in crowds and I love me some Black Friday shopping, but there were points where I was legitimately scared we’d get pushed off the dock and into the water.

 

 

The ride to Peterhof was just over a half hour and I slept for most of it. Anytime we had downtime or quiet time on this tour, I slept. We had early wakeups and super intense itineraries for our two-day visit and the only way to cope was to find pockets of time to close my eyes and recharge.

 

When we got off the hydrofoil, we followed Tatiana through the turnstiles and into the Peterhof. If you’re not versed on Russian palaces, the Peterhof is a palace that was commissioned by Peter the Great in the early 1700s. It’s sometimes referred to as the Russian Versailles, with it’s manicured gardens, cascading water fountains and ornate palace. It’s a UNESCO Heritage Site, too. Most tours will stop here, some for a visit inside and others for a walk around the upper and lower gardens (as ours was).

 

 

As we entered the parks, Tatiana kept us moving instead of taking pictures further back, telling us we’d get better pictures closer up. As we approached the cascades, it was clear we wouldn’t get any clear photo opportunities here – there was a ceremony for the official seasonal opening of the fountains and there were thousands of people visiting. I really wish the tour company had looked ahead and rescheduled our visit for earlier/later in our visit. This was a site I was really looking forward to and not only were we were rushed through it, but we really lost a great opportunity to take in one of St. Petersburg’s most beautiful treasures.

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

Tatiana showed us to a nearby café on the lower garden grounds, but she really wanted everyone to keep on an optional fountain tour. When most of the group opted to eat instead, she seemed a little disappointed. For us, though, we had another tour planned for the evening, so as much as we wanted to see more, it was too crowded to enjoy and we wouldn’t be eating dinner until late at night anyways. The food was okay – typical Russian fare (which has never been my favorite cuisine) – and a bit pricey: my pot of pelmeni, cup of buckwheat with mushrooms and a slice of cake translated to somewhere around $15.

 

 

 

We finished our tour of the Peterhof with a walk through the upper gardens, where we had a little more time and experienced a few less crowds. Because of the event, Dmitri couldn’t pull the bus up right in front to pick us up, so he had to pick us up at a meeting point a couple of blocks away. And he was running late. I think everyone was getting a little testy at this point. Crowds never bring out the best in people.