Not in-depth but a good initial introduction to a number of Scandinavia and Baltic cities.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship is big and well maintained. However, it has some odd floor layouts and access to certain areas are cutoff, which forces you to go up another floor or to another elevator bank. Also, cannot go to the front of the ship or walk the entire exterior of the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Ship tip
It is big and crowded in the main pubic portions. At times, I felt like I was travelling in a shopping center. Taht said, it is well-maintained. The staff was generally vey nice and the food was consistently good.
We spent a few days here before boarding the ship. Charming city. Nyhavn is iconic but touristy. Tivoli is OK, but it is essentially an amusement park with some gardens. Little Mermaid is a joke and a waste of effort to see (you will see it from the canal cruise, so don't make the effort to go separately).
We went to Roskilde (20 minute train ride) to see the excellent Viking ship museum and the cathedral where the royalty of Denmark are buried.
The FRAM and Kon-Tiki museums on Bigdoy are very interesting (as is the adjacent maritime museum). Read up on these sites in advance. The Vigeland Sculpture Park was wonderful and should definitely be seen. The Nobel museum was "ehh" and is a surprisingly "cheap" presentation. Go into City Hall. The outside edifice is large and bland, but the interior is quite surprising!
I have been to Berlin before, so we did not do the $300/person, 3 hour (each way) bus/train trip. Reviews from most people who went were positive. However, you do not get a chance to go into some of the important sites, such as the Holocaust Museum, the Pergamum and other museums, the Berliner Dom (cathedral). I am not sure it is worth doing that. We spent the day in Wannrmunde (pleasant area along canal and white san beaches), Rostock (St. Mary's has a 600 year old astronomical clock similar to Prague's and a charming central city), and Bad Doberan (terrific 12th century abbey and cathedral)
St. Petersburg is a large city that is already crowded and having multiple cruise ships in port at the same time does not help. Most sites are jammed with tourists, with everyone taking photos. Extremely crowded.
We used an outside tour (Shore Excursions Group) and were quite pleased. There are others too. Price per person was @ $300 for 2-days compared with $500 price for Princess excursion. Our guide (Lara) was excellent. The fact is that every group sees the same sites and use the same group of local tour guides so I would definitely recommend using an outside group.
Enjoyed the city very much. However, it is nearly an hour from the port of Nynashamm. We did the Hop On/Hop Off bus from the cruise ship into the city, which worked well. The old city (Gamla Stan) is touristy but very charming. Visiting the VASA ship museum is an absolute must. It is a 13th century warship recovered after 330 years underwater and restored with 98% of its original parts. Just terrific; best single site on the entire cruise!
Agree with the lack of a true Promenade deck, do not know why the designers are leaving that off of ships today since it is a nice walking area (the one topside is OK, but not near the water), a nice relaxing area on warmer cruises, and a nice place to stand at night. The little patch of Promenade left gets too crowded. I am guessing that the design allows for another row of cabins since the lifeboats are now down in place of the walkway.
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