This was our second cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The Baltic cities were wonderful and I would recommend visiting them to anyone interested in beautiful architecture and a fantastic way of life. The ship was enormous but easy to get around and we soon found our favourite bars and entertainment spots. Sid's Pourhouse and its live rock music was the gem for me. The cocktails were great, the staff were so friendly and the choice of dining superb.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Very speedy. We were on the ship in around 20 minutes from arrival. This may be due to us arriving early but compared to the experience of queuing up with thousands of other guests in Venice last year this time was a breeze.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Overall we enjoyed the food, particularly the speciality and main dining rooms in the evenings. However, for breakfast and lunch there was only one of the main dining rooms open with restrictive times resulting in what felt like an over reliance on the Garden Cafe. On our last NCL cruise we had a leisurely and peaceful breakfast in the main dining room most days whereas on this cruise we had virtually all but one breakfast in the far from peaceful Garden Cafe. We are not early risers on holiday as we like to enjoy the evenings entertainment on-board so to have finished breakfast by 8:30 am was too early for us. This ruled out the main dining room. The drinks package is excellent and the cocktails at the Shaker Bar were superb.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
There were loads of things for people to do. The only negative is that the activities held in the Atrium were very noisy and would have been better situated elsewhere. It spoilt the grand impression of the heart of the ship as all you could here while sitting at the bars was the sound of Bingo and other similar games.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
All very good. Burn the floor was excellent as was the Cirque de Dreams. We were a bit disappointed with Rock of Ages. The bands in Sid's Pour house were very good and we were drawn back here most evenings.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Always clean. Never saw any where dirty for long i.e. when guests leave spilt drinks on the decks.
Didn't do the Berlin trip as we've been a few times already so we strolled around Warnemunde for a few hours. The weather was a bit cool and breezy so a few hours on the beach was out. There isn't a lot to do really though it is a nice seaside resort and would be OK with good weather.
We arranged a private 2 half day tour including visas. Be prepared for a lengthy wait in the ships theatre where everyone disembarking has to meet. They let the NCL excursions off first. St Petersburg is a big, impressive city with loads of fantastic architecture. Well worth the visit.
Nice city, easy to get to from cruise port. Dissappointed with NCL service desk though. We asked how to get to the centre and were told the cheapest way was to use the NCL drop off and return service for $40. I could see the tram from my balcony and it was only a 5 minute walk to the stop. The trams run every 10 minutes and cost €2 each way.
Shame its so far away from Stockholm.We walked to train station and took the train in. It takes an hour but worth it for a brief look at Stockholm. Its another nice city that we'll visit again.
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