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MEETING NEW PEOPLE:
Again we met some great people. Our 'dining partners' were Ed (known as Mr Ed) and Juanita. We didnt get off to a good start as Mr Ed insisted in calling me Judi (aghhhhhhh). Needless to say after he started to call me Jude we all got on like a house on fire ! Our 'boozing' partners were Shannon and Monika - great fun and they drank as much as we did. (Thanks, guys - you made us laugh - especially the conversations about the group of people who kept 'taking over our bar' on a regular basis!).
BEING PREPARED!
All I can say is that its best to be prepared, especially when it comes to the weather. We had friends who had been on the same cruise and told us to be prepared for some bad weather (yes, even in August). I packed sweat shirts / waterproof jacket and even an umbrella! We used all three. St. Petersburg was particularly cold. I was wearing jeans, 2 t shirts, a sweat shirt and a jacket and I was still cold !! (As the coaches left each port you could spot who had thought it was going to be warm as they were all wearing the same 'Celebrity X' sweat shirts / jackets etc).
PLANNING!
I always like to 'plan in advance' but this cruise we decided to explore some of our 'stops' on our own...... not one of my best decisions! We managed to get round Stockholm ourselves and had a great time. We arrived in Helsinki with high hopes! In a nutshell, we walked miles without actually seeing anything (well, apart from the Rock Church which was a church made out of rock!!). We left the church with a map (well 2 maps but neither of them did us any good). Our next stop was a 'monument' we had been told we must visit, we set off with both maps (!) and seemed to walk for ages we bumped into 2 gypsies who said we needed a train to find it (they were as clueless as we were), we eventually ended up at a huge cemetery !!! We decided to make our way back to the shuttle drop off point and start again - we couldnt even find that ! Helsinki was very busy at this time and tempers were a little frayed (I also needed to find a loo) ! We eventually found the shuttle drop off point and decided to return to the ship .......... (A little tip we were given, which I think was (is) very useful, is to take a photograph of the shuttle drop off point and whatever surrounds it, then all you need do is check out your camera - what a brilliant idea).
Finally in this particular area on planning, Ed and Juanita were so well prepared they set their alarm for an early start for one of their excursions and found they were a day early !!! Thats what I call organisation!
GOOD FOOD:
As always the food on the ship was excellent. There was food in abundance, I could certainly recommend the bacon, sausages, black pudding, beans and scrambled egg, because I had this most mornings, well to be honest every morning. Needless to say I am now on a diet!
HIGHLIGHTS:
Copenhagen: was a real surprise - sunny, friendly, clean, cosmopolitan!
St Petersburg: I guess this was what I had expected. Just getting into the country was a bit of a pain, passports, visas, stern looking immigraton officers checking and stamping your passports (mmmm, where have we all seen them before - yes, returning back to the UK at Manchester airport). All the street signs were in Russian (I know, I know, we were in Russa - but you would normally something in english, we didnt). Our guide said eventually there would be more signs etc. in English, but not in his lifetime (he was only in his 20s). I felt in a way priveledged to be there, but tresspassing at the same time. I could write so much but I feel it will become a visitors guide to St Petersburg....... needless to say if you get the opportunity to go, do, because I would certainly go back.
Talin: again what a surprise. The old town is really quaint. People were sat in groups painting buildings, girls (and guys) dressed in traditional outfits giving away roasted almonds - it almost felt like a christmas scene.
Warnemunde: what a beautiful place, we climbed the lighthouse which gave us a magnificent view of the place itself and the seaside - WOW what a surprise.
Amsterdam: I have been before and have seen the 'sights' as some of you may well know!. This was Tom's first time. We werent able to go into the red light district on our coach, but the coach did get stuck in traffic ..... and just to our left you could see into one of the bedrooms of the young ladies in a state of undress, and I do mean in a state of undress, needless to say Tom didnt moan!
This really was a fabulous cruise and I would recommend anyone to try it. Even the weather didnt dampen our spirits!
