Baltics Cruise on the Norwegian Jewel

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Dover - Day 1 and Day 2

We arrived at London-Heathrow after a non-eventful flight from JFK and breezed through immigration and customs. We found our private driver waiting for us in the arrivals area and set off for the drive to Dover.

We made the trip in 75 minutes because there was little to no traffic on a Saturday morning. This same trip can take 2 to 3 hours on a weekday morning with rush hour traffic.

We arrived at the Best Western Churchill hotel located on the waterfront in Dover. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so we didn’t mind when the front desk staff informed us that our rooms wouldn’t be ready until 3 PM. We armed ourselves with a town map and set off towards the town center for a walking tour of the area.

Dover is a quaint town, with lots of pubs, cafes and tea houses lining the main streets…all in the shadow of the castle on the top of the hill. We stopped to admire the cathedral in the town center and met a lovely old gent on the street. He told us his story of how he served during WWII and survived two different torpedo attacks when he served on Naval ships in the Atlantic. This tied into the historical importance of Dover during the war.

We began the steep hill climb along the old coach road to Dover Castle. It took us about 30 minutes at a leisurely pace to reach the ticket office. We appreciated the sunshine during our trek.

Entrance tickets were priced at 13.40 GBP per person. The price normally includes the Secret Wartime Tunnels tour, but unfortunately the tunnels were closed for renovation work. However, the recently renovated Great Tower was open for its first weekend of visitors.

We entered through one of the medieval gates and walked the castle’s rampart walls for beautiful views over the Dover countryside. We hopped aboard one of the trams for a commentary tour of the grounds to the Great Tower stop. Churchill worked with wartime personnel in the hidden underground tunnels here to plan some of the most vital work during WWII. One of the major undertakings conducted here, was when Vice-Admiral Ramsay masterminded the evacuation of British and allied troops from Dunkirk.

The castle’s great court, called the inner bailey, featured costumed historical street theater actors re-enacting courtyard life during the days of Henry II’s rule. He had the castle built in the 1180s. We visited the multi-media exhibit in Arthur’s Hall to learn about King Henry II and his troublesome family. He was renowned for his demonic energy and violent rages. He ruled an empire stretching from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. After his death, the in fighting of family members resulted in the empire being broken up into parts and eventual loss of control.

We visited inside the castle recreated to its 1180s glory, complete with furniture. We climbed to the top for spectacular views of the famous white cliffs and where we could see the old Roman pharos ruins including the old lighthouse and the Saxon church, St. Mary-in-Castro.

We headed back into town for a well deserved break of afternoon tea at Chaplin’s Carvery in the main town center. A plate of scones, jam and clotted cream with a pot of tea cost 4 GBP per person. We also enjoyed an ice cold Spotted Hen Ale, brewed locally in Kent County.

We got back to the hotel about 4 PM and our rooms were ready. Locally, the hotel has an elevator, albeit a small one. We took turns taking it upstairs with two people and 2 suitcases at a time. The rooms are quite compact and some come with sea views and terraces. There is no A/C, but oscillating fans are provided at request. The tiny bathroom windows open, but most large windows in the bedroom area are painted shut. This is normally not a problem, since most days here are cloudy and cool, but we had warm, sunny days during our stay. Luckily, it cooled down nicely at night, which allowed for a comfortable sleeping temperature.

After a quick shower, we headed back out on the town. We stopped by at a local Rock Music Festival on the waterfront along De Bradlei Wharf. The festival grounds were jammed with young local families out for a free night of entertainment. We strolled past all of the designer outlet shops along the wharf and crossed under the river via the pedestrian tunnel. A sign commemorating the ancient bronze boat they found during excavation, directed visitors to view it at the Dover museum on the main square.

We strolled around the town and ended up having a dinner of delicious cod fish and chips alfresco at the sidewalk café at Chaplin’s. It was a great people watching spot that gave us a front row view of all the festival goers.

After dinner, we had a great view of the castle on the hill illuminated in colorful lights. We headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a nightcap in the cozy hotel bar.

We had a good night’s sleep and enjoyed a nice English buffet breakfast in the hotel dining room. After breakfast, we strolled along the waterfront and watched swimmers and boat teams practicing in the channel. The water felt cool and the beach is rocky with pebbles of different colors, sizes and shapes. No sand in sight. The promenade is beautifully designed with several war time memorials. The houses across the street all had beautiful English gardens in their front yards.

At high noon, it was time to head to our home for the next 12 days, the Norwegian Jewel. We took a local taxi service van (7 pounds) to the cruise ship terminal across the way. People in shape with little luggage, could easily walk to the terminal in about 15 minutes. We had a lively taxi driver that we had some fun with enroute.

The Dover Cruise Terminal is set up nicely. There are plenty of porters to greet you at the passenger drop off point to assist you with checked luggage. From there it is a very short walk to the passenger check-in area. NCL has a special check-in area for Gold and Platinum Level guests and VIP suite guests. We were checked in as a Gold level guest in 5 minutes. The other members of our party were on the general check-in line. There were about 25 check-in desks to handle that operation and they were processed in about 15 minutes.

We were given priority boarding status, so were able to board the ship immediately. We were greeted with a complimentary ice cold glass of champagne as soon as we set foot on the ship (an NCL standard greeting). We headed straight for the poolside grill and grabbed a burger and ice-cold bucket of Dos Equis Beer. I couldn’t believe it that in my first 5 minutes on board, I bumped into Arvell (bar waiter) and Sean Smith (bartender) who I knew from the Norwegian Spirit. It’s always nice to see crew members I know. It makes you feel at home.

At 2 PM, our rooms were ready. We were booked in a beautiful mini suite stateroom on Deck 11 with a full size couch and large balcony with reclining sun chairs and a table. The bathroom was a nice size including a full size tub and shower combination with sliding glass door, and a separate toilet area that could be closed off from the sink and bathtub/shower area. There were plenty of deep drawers to store clothing and other items, along with wall hooks to hang jackets and such. My only complaint was the poor design of the double door closet. You can not open the doors all the way, because the kingsize bed is too close. The bed was quite comfortable with a memory foam mattress topper and high quality thread count linens.

I headed to the spa and purchased the 12-day thermal suite pass for $99.00 that gave me unlimited access to the sauna, steam room, rain showers, Japanese plunge pool, Jacuzzi tubs and heated tile loungers.

The sun was shining for the sail away party as we passed the white cliffs of Dover into the English Channel. We had a prime view from the Sky High Bar on Deck 13 where Sean was working. The Phillipine cover band, Kenosis, provided excellent poolside entertainment along the way.

We grabbed a quick dinner at the smaller of the 2 continental restaurants on board, Azzurro. I enjoyed a delicious Teriaki glazed Mahi Mahi as a main course. Then it was off to the Welcome Aboard show featuring the comedian Lenny Windsor, a British style Don Rickles.


Day 3 - At Sea
Billy and I started the day with general trivia and then headed down to Maltings Whiskey Bar for a Cruise Critic get together, where we met the Captain, Staff Captain, Hotel Director and other Officers. We were served a selection of pastries and coffee and invited to a bridge tour by the captain on the next sea day.

I enjoyed a delicious sushi lunch with the ladies at Chin-Chin for a cover fee of $15.00 per person. I also bumped into another waiter I knew from Chin-Chin on the Norwegian Spirit named Etsu.

I attended martini tasting at NCL U in Shaker’s Martini Bar. The bar manager conducted the session where we learned about the different types of vodka and gin, and got to sample a flight of 4 different types of martinis. The piece de resistance, was when we got to choose ingredients to make our own vodka infusion that would set for at least 72 hours before we could enjoy it. I chose a selection of berries, mango and ginger.

We hit the early production show that evening, called Band on the Run that featured music from the 70’s. It was a high energy show that showcased very good singing and dancing talent.

After the show, we had to wait about 40 minutes for a table in Azurro Restaurant. They were serving Lobster Tail this evening, so there was a mad rush for it, all at the same time. We enjoyed a cocktail at Magnum’s Champagne Bar and listened to Beatles’ tunes sang by entertainer Don Dunn while waiting for our table buzzer to go off.

We finally got to enjoy a delicious dinner of seafood fettucine with lobster tail, clams, mussels and mahi mahi. Dessert finished the evening with a mouth watering chocolate lava cake.

Day 4 - Copenhagen
We woke up to room service breakfast and enjoyed it on our balcony as we sailed passed a large windmill farm into Copenhagen Harbor. We docked at Langoline pier with ease.

Steve changed some US Dollars into Danish Kroner at the cruise reception. We were blown away when he told us that they charge a $10.00 USD fee to change any money, regardless of the amount changed. It made the rest of us happy we had our ATM cards.

We began walking to the city center so we could pass by the Little Mermaid Statue. We crossed over the bridge and passed the Gefion Fountain of the Goddess and Oxen near the Anglican church. We hopped on bus #16 to City Hall Square and arrived just in time at the Tourist Info office for the start of a walking tour.

The tour is led by an ex-pat American, Richard Karpen, who dresses up as Hans Christian Andersen. He led us on the Royal Copenhagen Tour through courtyards, backstreets and plazas of the old town. We stopped along the way for a complimentary refreshment of a locally made herbal liquer that was quite tasty. After 90 minutes of insightful and humorous background on the history and culture of Denmark, Copenhagen and the Danes, we finished at Amalienborg Palace in time for the changing of the Royal Guard. They were quite impressive with their tall black bear fur hats.

From here we headed off to waterfront Nyhavn. I put the group on the canal boat tour for 90 minutes, while Billy and I headed off to Els Restaurant for some local Carlsburg beer and a cheese plate. Billy and I enjoyed the canal boat tour on our previous visit to Copenhagen two years ago.

After their boat ride we hopped a bus back to the town center and visited the Apollo Brewery next to Tivoli Gardens for a lunch of herring, wurst and good amber ales.

We caught the #16 bus back to the ship in time for some shopping at the local port shops.

It was another perfect weather sail away party with Kenosis as we made new friends with other cruise guests from England at the Sky High Bar.

Billy and I had a quick dinner at the buffet restaurant at the Garden Café and went to the spotlight showtime featuring Chantz Powell. A very talented young singer from New Orleans.

The late night adult comedy show with Lenny Windsor finished off the evening in the Spinnaker Lounge.

Day 5 - Warnemunde and Rostock
While most of the other passengers rushed off the ship bleary eyed to board the chartered trains going to Berlin, I began the day by taking advantage of the 30% off port day specials in the spa and had a seaweed wrap and full body massage. It was a luxurious morning.

After a late breakfast, we went ashore about noon time and timed it just right to catch a boat to Rostock about 35 minutes upriver. We sailed through the industrial port of the former East German republic which is the center for ship building. The boat docked in the heart of old town. We enjoyed a walk along the pedestrian promenade and viewed the gates of the old medieval wall that used to surround the city. We saw the beautiful university buildings and interesting shops along the way. We attempted to get a brew and food at the Rathskellar bar in the basement of the old town hall, but were disappointed when we did not see any wurst on the menu. We left and headed out to the promenade where we had a delicious bratwurst with spicy sauce from a Frank’s Kori Bratwurst take away window for 2.60 Euros.

We continued on to the St. Marienkirche to see the astronomical clock that dates back to 1472. It is amazingly elaborate and is able to predict the phases of the moon with accuracy. It is the only remaining piece of its kind that still works.

On the way back to the boat, we walked up a preserved block of medieval houses and got to see an original merchant’s house. The city’s merchants made Rostock a wealthy town by trading beer and fish exports and formed the Hanseatic League.

We grabbed a local Rostock pilsner style brew near the pier and sat along the dock waiting for our boat. On the boat, we were able to enjoy a Rostock Amber Ale that was quite delicious and looked in awe at all the tall ships tying up along the pier in Rostock for the Tall ship regatta and festival (Hanse Sail Rostock) scheduled to begin the next day.

The Captain sailed past the dock in Warnemunde to get us close to some of the Viking style ships sailing into the Warnemunde Harbor from the sea, with a cannon blast announcing the arrival of each ship. After docking back in Warnemunde, we walked along the pier past several ships including a beautiful tall ship from the Bulgarian Navy and a German Naval PT type vessel. We turned and headed towards the main part of town over cobblestoned streets and under the train tressel with trains that serviced Berlin 3 hours away.

We passed lots of vendor stalls filled with ship’s crew members enjoying German brews and wursts. We headed towards the lighthouse and the canal front stalls selling fresh fish cooked to order. Jackie had a surprise when a devilish gull swooped down on her to steal her fresh fried whitefish.

We found a great place to enjoy some German beer and fish soup at a café in the shadow of the lighthouse. We also had a great view of the beach, harbor and the tall ships still arriving.

We took a slow walk back to the ship and did some window shopping along the way. Once back on board, we grabbed a spot on the Great Outdoors back deck where we had a ringside seat for the tall ships sailing in, and enjoyed buffet selections for dinner from the Garden Café.

The sail away that night was beautiful, as opera music sounded from the cruise terminal speakers, Warnemunde residents lined the pier and river banks to cheer and wave as the ship left the harbor. All in the shadow of a full moon.

Sea Day - Day 6
We woke up and grabbed a quick breakfast before attending the VIP talk about St. Petersburg in the concierge lounge. From there, we headed off to the Cruise Critic private bridge tour with Captain Kostas. The Captain was a very friendly guy who took great pride in showing off his “office” aka the bridge.

I spent a relaxing afternoon at the pool and thermal suite, before meeting the group for dinner at Mama’s Italian Kitchen restaurant. We had a delicious assortment of antipasti, tableside tossed Caesar salad, main course of tender osso bucco and a dessert of tiramisu. The $10.00 cover charge was more than worth it. We washed it down with a delicious bottle of pinot noir.

After dinner we went to spotlight showtime featuring Moscow Magic. A third generation magician team. From there we headed to the cabaret showtime with Chantz Powell in the Spinnaker Lounge.

Tallin, Estonia - Day 7
We grabbed a van taxi right outside the cruise terminal for 7 Euros to the city center just outside the old town wall at the Hollywood Nightclub Casino Plaza. We found an ATM close by to get some Estonian money (EEK) and met some lovely girls in the casino that changed money for Steve without a service fee.

We met Andrew, the owner of Estonian Adventures who introduced to our guide, Pirat. She led our group on a private walking tour of the upper and lower old town for the next 2 hours.

We started by walking uphill over the old wall ramparts, to the upper town called Toompea. Pirat explained the interesting history of Estonia and how it was passed off many times between several countries, before it fell under Soviet dominance during WWII. We passed the Danish King’s Garden where we had a good view of the stout round tower called Kiek de Kok (peek in the kitchen). It got this name because the guards here had a view of the cooks in action.

Our next stop was Tall Hermann Tower. This is the tallest tower of the castle wall and is a powerful symbol in Estonia. It was here in 1987 that the Estonians flew their flag as the Soviet Union was falling apart, and in 1988 over 40,000 Estonians gathered at the festival grounds here to sing national songs in their cry for independence. Pirat told us of the memories she had of her father participating during that stressful time.

Across from Tall Herman is Toompea Castle. A pink palace built onto the castle by Russia in the 18th century, now serves as Estonia’s Parliament. Directly across is the Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral filled with gold leaf and mosaics. The Cathedral was built in 1900 over the grave of an Estonian hero. Most Estonians view nature as their religion and do not attend church, but one third of Tallin’s residents are of ethnic Russian background and practicing Orthodox Christians.

We strolled downhill to the Toomkirik Square to see the 13th century European Gothic Lutheran church that was built during Danish rule. It was once the church of the wealthy and its walls are covered in hand carved wooden coats of arms and the floor is paved with tombstones.

Locals dressed in medieval costumes had vending stalls set up around the square including bicycles, wheelbarrows and horses. It made us feel like we suddenly ended up in Busch Gardens Old Country.

We continued downhill along cobbled stone lanes and passed under the Patkuli Vaateplats arch to the Patkuli Viewpoint. A fabulous view of the old moat, the old medieval buildings, and St. Olav’s church stretched out before us. On the far left we could see the Neoclassical building that houses Estonia’s executive government branch. In the distance was the large TV tower that transmitted views of Western life from Finland during Soviet domination.

We descended another downhill lane to the Kohtuotsa Viewpoint where we could see the 16th century Town Hall spire and Pikk St. which is the main street through the medieval buildings from Toompea down to the harbor.

We continued our walk past St. Nicholas church built in the 13th century and on to the wheel well. This is where Tallin residents easily fetched their water. From here we passed the Church of the Holy Ghost that has a large working clock on the outside that dates back to 1633.

A stroll down the merchant’s main drag of Pikk Street, took us past the Great Guild Hall, the Maiasmok (Sweet Tooth) Coffee Shop, well known to Tallin residents for a sweet and cup of coffee that survived throughout Soviet domination, and the peeping Tom house with a plaster cast to commemorate the perpetrator who lived there.

Further along we passed the hall of the Black Head’s society, the German merchant’s club from 1440, the old KGB headquarters and St. Olav's Church. We finally reached Fat Margaret Tower who guarded the entry gate of town from the sea. Just inside its gate is the Three Sisters that contained a merchant’s home, warehouse and office from the 15th century. The legend is that Tall Herman was married to Fat Margaret and that she was placed downhill from him, so he could always keep an eye on her.

We returned back up Pikk Street to Raekoja Plats or Town Hall Square. The big open plaza is surrounded by beautifully restored medieval merchant buildings from the 15th century. It once was the sight of criminals chained to pillories for public humiliation and knights to show off their skills during tournaments. Today, it is filled with tourists and sidewalk cafes for people watching.

We bid farewell to Pirat and headed towards Hell Hunt Pub aka The Gentle Wolf. This was the first western style pub to open after Estonia gained its independence. The main bar is housed in a stark medieval cellar, but we chose to sit in the outdoor garden café across the street. We feasted on Russian dumplings and local beer.

From here we headed back to the Town Hall Square to sample honey beer at Olde Hansa restaurant. The costumed waiters and waitresses added a Disneyesque feel to the place. Our beer came in hand sculpted clay mugs and tasted like burnt sugar. It was not to our liking.

We ventured outside to a sun-filled table at one of the plaza restaurants to sample local Tallin Beer and then across the way to a microbrew beer garden where we really enjoyed the amber style ale.

A lazy stroll took us back down Pikk and past the gates of Fat Margaret into the harbor area. We stopped at the farmer’s market stalls along the way and stocked up on delicious handmade Estonian chocolates and candied pralines.

We arrived back at the ship 30 minutes later. We enjoyed a quiet sailaway with our new British friends at the Sky High Bar and then ventured to dinner at Tango’s for a free margarita and a Southwest Tex-Mex dinner. We shared an assortment of appetizers like nachos, BBQ ribs, quesadillas, etc. and enjoyed main courses of Carne Asada and fajitas for a $10.00 cover charge per person. Dessert was a delicious caramel flan.

From here we headed to the Stardust Theater to see the production show called Country Gold. It was a fun show filled with dancers in various states of “undress” that showed off their six pack abs and long legs. Then it was early to bed to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for 2 jam packed days in St. Petersburg Russia beginning very early the next day.

St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 8 and 9
We woke up bright and early at 6 AM to bright, sunny skies and 65 degrees. We needed to be ready to disembark the ship as soon as it was cleared by the Russian authorities, so we would be one of the first to clear immigration. We were told that lines could be unbearably long, so it was important to be some of the first passengers off. The ship was docked at the commercial pier and cleared at 07:30 AM. We were through immigration within 15 minutes. The line was 6 people wide extending back inside the ship by the time we cleared. Getting in line 15 minutes later, would have translated into a waiting time of 45 minutes to over an hour.

We had a semi-private tour here and really exhausted ourselves in seeing all we could in 2 days and 1 night. What an amazing city !! We met our driver Sergei and guide Elena, who was very knowledgeable and she spoke perfect English. After brief introductions we set off towards the city center where we drove past the Marinsky Theater known for producing ballet greats Nureyev and Barishnikov, and along the Neva River. Our first stop was at the Rostral Columns, which were erected between 1805 and 1810 in honor of the Russian Fleet. The columns were originally erected as lighthouses. From here, we continued on to Peter and Paul Fortress. The fortress was erected in 1703 during the Great Northern War against Sweden. It served mainly as a political prison, under the Tsars. We entered the fortress through St. John’s Gate past the Artillery Arsenal and the Engineer’s House to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The cathedral was built between 1712 and 1733 and is unusual for a Russian Orthodox church because it is topped with a single, slender, golden spire stretching 400 feet. The inside of the church has free standing statues and a pulpit that was used only once to excommunicate Leo Tolstoy. The Grand Ducal crypt is also here where nearly all the tsars are buried, including Nicholas II and his family who were executed in Siberia in 1918. Beautiful semi-precious stone caskets and gold leaf are everywhere.

From here we caught the 30 minute hydrofoil to Peterhof Palace. There was a small observation deck with a pop up roof that is not kind to anyone vertically challenged. A height of at least 5’5” is necessary to see over the wall. Unfortunately, we were unable to sail up the Neva River past the Fortress and Admiralty because of a speedboat race taking place on the river.

As for Peterhof, unbelieveable is all I can say. It is often referred to as the Versailles of the North, and it was easy to see why. The palaces, gardens and fountains were modeled after ones designed for Louis XIV in France and were built in the early 1700’s under Peter the Great’s rule. The main fountain that you see as you enter the grounds is the Grand Cascade. It extends as far as the eye can see in a staircase fashion from the Grand gold gilded palace up on the bluff all the way down to the river. What is truly amazing, is that the fountains operate without pumps. The water flow is all gravity driven.

A number of smaller gardens and trick fountains branched off of the Grand Cascade. The Summer Palace was here as well, close to the river. Elena explained how most of what we see today was destroyed when occupied by the Nazi troops during WWII. The soldiers used the fountains and statues for target practice and even blew up part of the palace. Extensive restoration work is what has brought the area back to its former opulence. One of the most impressive fountains was the Samson Fountain. It depicts the moment when Samson rips open the jaw of a lion. This was symbolic of Russia’s triumph over Sweden in the Great Northern war, because a lion is featured on the Swedish flag and the victory occurred on St. Samson’s Day.

We strolled around for a while to enjoy the outstanding fountains and gardens and watched several brides and grooms having their wedding portraits taken here. I also was a near victim of one of the many pickpockets that frequent this area. I felt a bump and was able to push away the hand of a woman looking like a tourist in a big floppy sun hat. She had managed to half open the zipper on my messenger bag. She would have been disappointed since I didn’t have much in there anyway.

We continued up the hill along side the Grand Cascade for a few panoramic photos. We also passed the gold gilded East Chapel that flanked the side of the Grand Palace.

Sergei was waiting for us at the top of the bluff. We boarded our mini bus and enjoyed a boxed lunch of Russian pancakes filled with cheese and chicken enroute to Tsar's Village. We had a pleasant drive along a very modern highway for 45 minutes. We entered the grounds of Catherine's Palace. We were immediately struck by the vastness of the building and beautiful wrought iron gates that surrounded the complex. The palace was originally built by Elizabeth I in 1752 in the German Rococco style. She had a flair for the extravagant and gold gilded statues. When Catherine the Great came into power, she frowned upon the expense of gold gild and left the cement stuuco statues on the face of the building in their natural state with nothing more than a coat of paint.

The real extravagance of the building lies in its interior. The Great Hall with its painted ceiling and wooden mosaic floor was most impressive. We were fortunate to be able to view the recently restored Amber Room. It cost over $25 million to complete the restoration. There were plenty of other impressive rooms such as the palace chapel, dining room and agate room to name a few. The most interesting part was to see the photos of before and after renovation. The palace was stripped of all its valuables by the Germans during WWII and then during the communist years, all of the palaces were used as storage facilities and fell into terrible states of disrepair. Thank God they never bull dozed these buildings. But, in looking at the opulence of these places, it is no wonder that the masses who were starving, revolted against the Romanov dynasty.

Our guide took us to a local café called Nupoiu for a late afternoon snack of meat and fish pies. We were the only tourists there and really enjoyed the experience. We had hoped to try a Russian beer here, but they only had Austrian beer on the menu.

From there we went to a fabulous Russian Folk Show at the Nikolayevsky Palace in the center of St. Petersburg. The palace was built in the 19th century for the son of Nikolay I. We were greeted by baroque music and 17th century costumed characters with a glass of champagne as we made our way up the marble staircase to the ballroom which now serves as the concert hall theater. We were treated to a fabulous show of choral singing and Russian folk dance including lyrical dances of North Russia, stirring dances of the Russian Cossacks and humorous dances from Siberia. At intermission, we were invited into the Grand Banquet Hall where we were treated to more champagne, vodka, sherry and red and black caviar canapés, smoked sausage and cheeses.

We departed the palace at 9:00 PM and it was still very bright outside, thanks to the midnight sun of summer. We originally planned on hitting a couple of local pubs, but we were beat after a long day of touring. So, we opted to head back to the ship for a good night’s sleep before another full day of touring in the morning.

The next day we breezed through immigration at the port and met Elena and Sergei at 8:30 AM. We made a stop at a government sponsored souvenir shop where we had fun trying on Russian hats and combing through hand painted wooden eggs and nesting dolls. We also enjoyed complimentary coffee and vodka to give our day a jump start.

We headed towards the Hermitage for our early entry visit. Elena took control as she marched us past the hundreds of people standing on line awaiting entry. We were amazed as we waltzed right in ahead of the crowds. The main building itself is awe inspiring and the perfect backdrop to the art collection it possesses. It served as the Winter Palace for the Tsars and was built by Peter the Great’s daughter in 1752. Several buildings were added on during the Tsar Dynasty to house the growing art collections.

Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays a diverse range of art and artifacts from all over the world and from throughout history. The collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, Rembrandt and Rubens, Renoir, Cezanne, Manet, Monet and Pissarro, Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin, Picasso and several sculptures by Rodin. Elena told us that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on display in the Hermitage, you would need 12 years to see them all.

After an impressive entry through the Jordan Staircase of marble, granite and gold, we entered the malachite room and continued on to do a quick visit to several paintings and sculptures with an explanation provided by Elena and had a half hour on our own to view some of the impressionist and modern art pieces. One exhibit that was quite impressive is the peacock clock. One of the last surviving automaton clocks in the world in its original state that still functions. It is an elaborately detailed gold gilded clock with several moving parts. In order to preserve its functions, it is only operated a few times a year. It is displayed in the Pavillion Hall with 28 crystal chandeliers. My other favorite area was the frescoed arch room. We exited the museum into the palace square surrounded by the Hermitage buildings and the grand entrance arch topped with gold gilded statues.

We continued on to the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood. The outside is topped with beautiful candy cane looking spires. This is the church featured in most of the St. Petersburg promos. The church was built by Alexander III to memorialize the death of his father on this spot, when he was killed by a terrorist’s bomb in 1881. The church is just as beautiful on the inside with all of the intricate mosaics that look like frescoed paintings. The altar of the church is entirely made of semiprecious gems and is supported by four jasper columns. The floors of the church are made of pink marble.

We headed to Koleso Russian Restaurant for a quick sit down lunch. The interior of the restaurant was designed to look like a peasant restaurant and the wait staff wore costumes from the 17th century. We were served a boring lunch of chicken, potatoes and vegetables. This is a standard lunch served to tourists traveling with a guide. While the food was good, we were disappointed. We would have much rather had a lunch of local food that the restaurant specialized in.

After lunch we headed to Yusupov's Palace. This family was said to be wealthier than the Romanov's due to their merchant trade. This was also the place where Rasputin was murdered under very strange circumstances. He was poisoned, shot and beaten before being tossed into the river. The autopsy claimed has death was a result of hypothermia. He actually survived all of the other attempts to kill him.

The most impressive part of Yusupov’s Palace was the specially built theater. It is a small theater draped in scarlet velvet and gold gild with a special box built for the Tsar. The Yusupovs used to host elaborate dinners and entertainment here with the Tsar’s family as regular guests. It is still used today to host special ballet and opera performances.

Our final sightseeing stop was St. Isaac's Cathedral. This is the 3rd largest domed cathedral in the world after St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London. It dominates the St. Petersburg skyline with its golden dome covered in 220 lbs. of pure gold. It was constructed by Alexander I in 1818 to celebrate his victory over Napoleon. It took 40 years to complete. It is another architectural masterpiece of mosaics in malachite, lapis lazuli, marble, other semi precious stones and minerals including gold leaf. We exited onto Decembrist Square where a bronze horseman statue was erected by Catherine the Great to Peter the Great.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped off at a local supermarket so we could purchase an assortment of local Russian beer to sample on the ship. We ended up with about 12 bottles and cans for $4.00 USD.

We said our good byes and thanks to Elena and Sergei and headed to the port’s souvenir kiosk to spend what was left of our Russian Rubles. We were surprised to see that the kiosk had some of the best prices we saw for souvenirs.


We had a delicious dinner in the Tsar’s Palace main restaurant on board the ship and were entertained by a British comedian named Tucker in the Stardust Theater. We headed to the Spinnaker Lounge for the Newlywed, Not So Newlywed Gameshow and then turned in for a well deserved sleep.

Day 10 - Helsinki, Finland
We woke up the next morning in Helsinki, Finland. The ship was docked in the commercial port two blocks from the local city bus stop. We hopped the local bus and arrived at the waterfront market in less then 15 minutes. We strolled around the old plaza of Senate Square in the shadow of the Lutheran Church. The center of the square has a statue honoring Tsar Alexander II, who gave Finland its autonomy and never pushed to Russify Finland. We elected to skip the climb up the stairs to the cathedral and ventured up the street to the market square where we did quite a bit of shopping. Beautiful furs, woolens, linens, handmade jewelry and wooden carvings were offered at great prices. Many of the items were constructed of materials from Lapland including the nice smelling juniper wood.

We took the late morning ferry to Suomelina Fortress and enjoyed the beautiful harbor views from the water. We joined the tourist office walking tour around the fortress and learned about the history of the fort over the past four hundred years. Beautiful vistas were afforded from several viewpoints around the island. We enjoyed a local Finnish beer (of course) on a sunny roof top terrace with wonderful sea views.

We took the ferry back and perused the various stalls of fishmongers, farmer’s berries and local delicacies at the waterside market open air food court, where all of the locals were enjoying their lunch. We settled on a lunch of reindeer meatballs and sausage and finished off with a fabulous jelly donut, something the Finnish are known for. It was all quite tasty.

We crossed the street and strolled the Esplanade (Helsinki's Champs d'Elysee). We enjoyed people watching and window shopping before catching the bus back to the ship.

Tonight’s dinner was simply hot wings and burgers with fries at the Blue Lagoon Cafe. Then it was off to see Romano Frediani who juggled bouncing balls. While he was quite talented, the repetitive bouncing of the balls lulled most of us to sleep. I tried to stay awake for the Liar’s Club, but couldn’t make it through the first half before retiring for the night.

Day 11 - Stockholm, Sweden

We woke up early to enjoy the view as we sailed through the Swedish archipelago of over 1,000 islands with the beautiful flora and homes. It was amazing how close the ship came to some of these islands. We could actually look right inside people's homes.

We docked at the commercial port that is quite far from the old city center. We ended up taking the very expensive Hop-on, Hop-off bus that stops in front of the ship. It cost 25 Euros per person (35 euros if you include the boat tour) for crappy canned commentary from shared headphones. We had to change seats 3 times before we found speakers that worked.

Our first stop was the Vasa Museum. It was a 15 Euros per person entry fee, but well worth it for the interesting exhibit. The boat sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised in 1961, 95% intact. The ship survived, due to the brackish water which does not allow the wood eating parasites to survive, that devours ships in the salty oceans. They show an interesting film on how they raised the ship. To see the ship up close is amazing. It is covered in 500 carved wooden statues and had two large cannon decks.

From here, we grabbed the city ferry across the bay for 4 euros. It was a beautiful cruise across the old harbor with great views of Gamla Stan Old Town. We strolled through the twisting medieval streets filled with shops and cafes. We passed the Storkyrkan Cathedral and entered Stockholm’s oldest square the Stortorget. The square is surrounded by colorful old buildings from the 1400’s and the Nobel Museum and Swedish Academy that awards the Nobel Prize for literature each year.

We continued on and arrived at the boring, boxy palace for the changing of the guard ceremony. The Royal Horse Guards were there and they put on quite a show.

We headed off into the newer section of town across the river and enjoyed a local beer at a sidewalk cafe. We strolled to the main plaza and finished our day on the hop-on, hop-off bus with its commentary as we looped around parts of the city we didn't visit on foot. The bus delivered us back to the ship 45 minutes later. In hind sight, we should have just hopped a cab to the Gamla Stan area and then taken the ferry to the Vasa Museum and cabbed it back from there. It would have saved us about 15 euros a piece.

We had to clear immigration here, since this was our last stop before returning to Dover. This only required a quick glance of our passport by Swedish officials.

It started to rain as we were heading back to the ship. The only rain we experienced so far on the trip. Unfortunately, it rained out the sail away deck party that was supposed to occur as we sailed out past the 1,000 island Stockholm Archipelago. I elected to head to the hot tub inside the thermal suite and watched the passing islands from the forward facing floor to ceiling windows.

We ventured to the Teppanyaki Grill tonight for dinner. My favorite waiter, Edsu, took care of us, while the chef entertained us with his quick slicing and dicing skills. It was a wonderful dinner of shrimp, steak, lobster and calamari, all seasoned and grilled to perfection.

After dinner, we headed back up on deck to watch the ship sail underneath the longest suspension bridge in Europe that connects Sweden and Denmark. The evening’s entertainment was provided by Yalba, a multi-instrumentalist from Peru. He played over 30 different instruments, most of which were pan flute variations. Can you say “Zamfir”?

After that, we headed up to the White Hot Nights party. I usually enjoy this South Beach style party, but the one on this ship was full of teenagers.

Day 12 - Sea Day

It was a very relaxing sea day today that I began with a hot stone massage in the spa. We had our Russian Beer party in our stateroom in the afternoon. Dinner was in Azura tonight where we enjoyed delicious lobster tail.

Tonight’s entertainment featured the show Cirque Bijou that featured aerial gymnasts, acrobats and bungee jumpers. While not quite Cirque de Soleil, it was very entertaining. From here we headed up to the 70’s Groove Party with music provided by Kenosis Band. I also got to enjoy my mixed fruit infused vodka I made on the 2nd cruise day.

Day 13 - Sea Day

Billy and I finally had a chance to eat breakfast in the VIP restaurant at Cagney’s Steakhouse. I had a delicious Crabcake Benedict to start my day. We listened to Carlos talk about disembarkation and then headed to the Great Outdoors to enjoy a Bloody Mary in the sun and sea air.

We had a lazy afternoon with Sean at the Sky High Bar, visited the casino for a while and packed up for our trip home. We had a leisurely dinner at Tsar’s Restaurant before heading to the Stardust Theater for the crew talent show. This is always one of my favorite shows. It featured some wonderful singers and dancers from crew who usually work as cabin stewards, in the laundry and dining rooms. The cruise director’s staff is a riot as they perform their infamous “Fountains” show. You have to see it to believe it. The finale is representatives from the entire staff who fill the stage to sing including all of the senior officers.

We turned in for a good night’s sleep before our long travel day home the next morning.

Day 14 - Dover to JFK

We signed up for NCL’s bus transfer to Heathrow. They had supplied us with a schedule the day before that told us the approximate time to expect to disembark the ship. We had a leisurely breakfast and were ready to go just as they called our group. We had the smoothest disembarkation we have ever experienced. The customs was non-existent, except for a red phone on the wall with a sign that said "British citizens must call on this phone if you have anything to declare". No surprise, that there wasn't anyone lining up to make the phone call.

We proceeded outside the terminal to busses clearly marked for each destination. The bus wasn’t full, which allowed us to spread out comfortably for the 2 ½ hour ride to Heathrow. We hit a bit of traffic and made a restroom stop along the way.

Check-in at the airport was a breeze. We had time to enjoy some beer and have a bite to eat. There also was some great duty free shopping. We had a comfortable and uneventful flight back to New York.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip that I highly recommend.

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Photos

Great Tower
Dover Castle

Tallin
View from the cruise ship

Peterhof Palace
Grand Cascade

Catherine's Palace
Grand Entry Hall

Hermitage
Frescoe Arch Room

Waterfront
Helsinki

Swedish Royal Horse Guards
Changing of the Guard Ceremony

The Indian Mafia
Our favorite Bar Waiters