Review of Baltic 12 night on Navigator, 6/15-6/27/18

[Legowife]

Day 7 - St. Petersburg

 

 

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[Legowife]

There was much debate over how we would spend our 2 days in St. Petersburg. Sure, we would book a tour, but with who and to which sites? We pored over websites and reviews and cruise critic member suggestions. And then, he broke his ankle and it became a debate over how much could he possibly do a few months after surgery? Would we have to cancel because half way through the cruise he might not be feeling up to it? So...we broke down and booked with Royal Caribbean, thinking that we could always cancel it onboard for credit, if necessary.

 

The good news is that he was fine and we really enjoyed the tour we booked: St. Petersburg 2-Day Exclusive Tour - Small Group.

 

Small Group meant that we paid more ($359 per person, for those interested) for the 16 passenger van instead of the giant bus. Our group was also one of the first ones off the ship (the very first group was the one that took the train into Moscow). As a quick recap, we did the following:

DAY 1

* Canal ride on the Neva River

* Hermitage Museum (about 2 hours) including a trip to the private Library

* Lunch at Biblioteka

* Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

* Yusupov Palace

* St. Isaac's Cathedral

 

DAY 2

* Catherine's Palace

* Catherine Park

* Carriage Museum

* Souvenir stop

* Lunch at Giacomo

* Peterhof Palace & Gardens (did not go inside the palace)

* Peter and Paul Cathedral

 

The actual tour company was named something like Arctours, I think. Our guide, Dasha, was excellent and spoke fantastic English. Our drivers (different one each day) also did amazing work weaving through traffic and getting us back to the ship at 5:28pm on the second day for our 5:30 all aboard time. (Side note, the ship did stay until 6:10 that day and with our balcony we were able to see the last person running for the gangway as they were all but ready to pull it in)

 

Also, a quick note about Passport Control. The lines get long very quickly. We were lucky to be one of the first groups off and got through in less than 20 minutes. We heard those that went later took an hour and a half to get through. Coming back to the ship and 2nd day entry were much faster, but there's a lot of: typing in the computer, staring at your passport, staring at you, staring back at the passport that first day!

[RSLeesburg]

Welcome to all of you that are following along, I'll try to keep plugging on here and there this week until it gets done!

 

 

 

RSLeesburg - No, we didn't see too many families, mostly older couples. We're in our forties and felt pretty young on this cruise! That being said, if your son enjoys the kids club, I'm sure he'll still meet a few onboard.

 

 

 

Another thing you should know is that the weather is a bit cool for much swim time. Pools were almost always empty, though the hot tubs did get some use. This would be a deal breaker for a lot of kids. There were blankets available to check out (like towels normally are) for lounging and watching the big screen movies.

 

 

Thanks! We just got back from Alaska, and he lived in the kids club - so that is good thing. It had not dawned on me that it might be too cold to use Flowrider or pools...lol. I was looking at the 10 night Baltic on Serenade that starts in Copenhagen and ends in Stockholm, but would rather start and end in UK. Then we could do a few nights pre or post in London.

 

 

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[Legowife]

Thanks! We just got back from Alaska, and he lived in the kids club - so that is good thing. It had not dawned on me that it might be too cold to use Flowrider or pools...lol. I was looking at the 10 night Baltic on Serenade that starts in Copenhagen and ends in Stockholm, but would rather start and end in UK. Then we could do a few nights pre or post in London.

 

RSLeesburg - that's exactly what we did, we spent a few nights in London after the cruise before heading back to the States. We've found it's nicer to do it at the end when we've already adjusted to the time zone. Took a guided tour back through Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor castle to get dropped off in London, then two full days in London.

[Legowife]

Our tour provided us with water and then we drove straight to the canal ride. We maneuvered under a few bridges and ended up on the Neva River, with a nice view of the Hermitage and other historic buildings. The bridges are low, so you have to be careful if you're standing up to take photos!

 

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[Legowife]

Next stop was the Hermitage. We each received our own ticket from the guide and got in as one of the early entry tour groups, so the lines were short.

 

Part of the tour included a trip to the private library. It's a little strange because here the guide must let the librarian conduct the tour in Russian and she translated. Very funny when it was later revealed he could speak English, but giving the tour in Russian is their rule.

 

By the time the library tour was over, the museum was getting quite busy. We obviously didn't see everything, but did walk through a nice bit in our 2 hours there.

 

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[Legowife]

After all if that walking around, it was time for lunch! No, we did not eat at the McDonald's in the first picture! We ate at Biblioteka, where we were given some traditional Russian foods, including very soup and beef stroganoff.

 

Word of warning to the vegetarians, there was one vegetarian on our tour and they said they'd accommodate him. His meal was the beef stroganoff without the beef. Not very filling.

 

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[Legowife]

I said a traditional Russian meal, right? That included shots of vodka for everyone, of course. We also got some kind of apple crisp dessert.

 

We had a restroom break here, too, and I took a picture of the sign because I have no idea if it was telling me anything important! Hopefully I am not wanted in Russia for incorrect bathroom usage.

 

I also tried to connect to the wifi. Decided I would probably click something that requires me to send my first born to the Russian military, so I went without.

 

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[Legowife]

As mentioned, we were traveling during the World Cup. No game this day (game happening the following day), but plenty of fans and decorations everywhere.

 

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[Legowife]

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. No pictures could do this place justice, it is so amazing. Over 300 mosaics!

 

A recurring theme throughout the 2 day tour was how much of St. Petersburg had been destroyed in WWII. The church was also badly damaged and almost everything inside was a reproduction of the original works.

 

 

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[Legowife]

Next stop was Yusupov Palace. We walked through a number of rooms in the palace and were treated to a short a capella performance.

 

We also got to see the theater, followed by a trip downstairs to where Rasputin was murdered. Complete with wax figures.

 

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[Legowife]

Final stop of the day was St. Isaacs Cathedral. It was big and beautiful, but It was getting tourists out by then.

 

A few random photos through the van windows on our way back to the ship to collapse!

 

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[soccerdad72]

Thanks! We just got back from Alaska, and he lived in the kids club - so that is good thing. It had not dawned on me that it might be too cold to use Flowrider or pools...lol. I was looking at the 10 night Baltic on Serenade that starts in Copenhagen and ends in Stockholm, but would rather start and end in UK. Then we could do a few nights pre or post in London.

 

We were on the same cruise, with our 13 and 17 year old sons. There definitely weren't a lot of kids on the cruise and while it was cold, our boys still spent a lot of time on the Flowrider. Our 13 year old was often one of the only people on it many days - at the busiest (one really nice day while in port at Skagen), there was maybe 10-12 people in line.

[CCC3]

I want to take this cruise sooooooo bad!

 

 

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[Legowife]

We were on the same cruise, with our 13 and 17 year old sons. There definitely weren't a lot of kids on the cruise and while it was cold, our boys still spent a lot of time on the Flowrider. Our 13 year old was often one of the only people on it many days - at the busiest (one really nice day while in port at Skagen), there was maybe 10-12 people in line.

 

Good feedback, soccerdad. What was too cold for me, may have been fine for someone else. For those that are curious about temperatures, here's a summary of what we experienced according to the Cruise Compasses (all temps are farenheit).

 

June 15: Southampton 66 partly cloudy

June 16: At Sea 64 partly cloudy

June 17: Oslo 61 cloudy with chance of rain

June 18: Copenhagen 63 partly cloudy

June 19: At Sea 72 partly cloudy

June 20: Tallinn 57 clear skies

June 21: St. Petersburg 64 partly cloudy

June 22: St Petersburg 65 overcast, showers

June 23: Helsinki 59 partly cloudy

June 24: At Sea 59 mostly clear

June 25: Skagen 66 clear skies

June 26: At Sea 55 partly cloudy

[Legowife]

Day 8 - Second day at St Petersburg

 

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Edited July 26, 2018 by Legowife

[Legowife]

Given how long it took to get through passport control the first day, we gave ourselves plenty of time to meet our group. However, the process is much faster on day 2, so we were at the bus earlier than necessary. That was a bonus, though, because we were able to grab better seats! We had been stuck in the back the previous day and it was hard to see out the windows.

 

Catherine's Palace

 

There was some renovation going on, but I like that they cover the building in tarps that show you what it should look like.

 

Our tour got there just as they were opening for the early tour groups. We all had to don shoe booties to protect the floors and then we began the tour.

 

The great hall is gorgeous, with mirrors across from the windows to really light the place up. Some of the rooms did not allow pictures, like the famous Amber room. Google it for amazing pics - it was looted in WWII and they've never located the original panels but have recreated them here.

 

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[Legowife]

Catherine Park

 

We had a short walk around Catherine Park and heard another performance by an a capella group in a building on the grounds that had very nice acoustics.

 

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[Legowife]

Carriage Museum

 

It was a short walk to the Carriage Museum from Catherine's Palace. Not really something we were excited about, but I think they toss it in because it's right there.

 

http://worldwalk.info/en/catalog/287/

 

 

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[Legowife]

The van took us to a souvenir store that looked very fancy and very expensive (it was!) Before lunch at Giacomo.

 

It was only after some of us asked how we pronounced the name Pectopah, that the guide explained that word means restaurant and is not the name of where we were eating.

 

We had a lite salad, followed by mushroom soup. The entree was chicken and potatoes (the vegetarian got fish) with ice cream dessert (and of course there was vodka!)

 

 

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[Legowife]

Peterhof Palace and Gardens

 

There are a LOT of fountains in this park. Some do special things or spray you when you aren't expecting it (the guide will warn you about those!)

 

There are also some statues, including one of Peter the Great that you can make a wish on by trying to toss a coin into the boot.

 

Lots of fun warning signs here too.

 

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[Legowife]

Peter and Paul Cathedral

 

This was our last stop and was full of other tour groups also trying to squeeze in one last stop, so there was a bit of a line to get in.

 

June 22nd is the Russian National Day of Remembrance and Grief, the day Germany attacked Russia in WWII. There was a band by the cathedral practicing for a performance that night, so we had some entertainment while waiting in line.

 

Our guide took us through and gave the history of many of the dead royalty interred there. Then it was back to the ship just in time for all aboard.

 

 

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[Legowife]

Day 9 - Helsinki

 

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[Legowife]

We booked another Royal Carribbean tour for Helsinki. It was called "Free Time at 3 Sights". As you'll see from the pictures, the three slights were

- Market Square and Senate Square

- Sibelius Monument & Park

- Rock Church and Kamppi Surroundings

 

Since we opted to go cheap ($32/person), this was an unguided tour. They gave us the writeups you see in the pictures and a bigger map as well.

 

The bus wanderered through the city for a while and then we realized they were probably driving past a lot of the sights pointed out on the big map. After that we paid a bit more attention.

 

Our first stop was Market Square. The bus parked in front of Helsinki Cathedral, but you had to hurry if you wanted to see anything as services were about to start, so we went straight to the market, which had a variety of food and souvenir stands.

 

We were there during Midsummer, so many of the regular shops were closed.

 

 

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[Legowife]

Sorry, posted the wrong photo on that last post (rock church instead of market square). Here are the other writeups.

 

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