Best and worst bits of Baltic Cruise
This is the last post on our Baltic Cruise. We will pick up the travel blog again in January when we go to Australia and New Zealand. But for the moment here are the best bits, and the worst bits of our Baltic cruise.
First of all the ship and cruise line. We have sailed Royal Caribbean a few times and loved it. Not so much this time. The ships are getting too big for us.
The other problem is that it is all about upselling now. Every time you turn around they are trying to sell you something you don’t need. We bought the drinks package and regretted it as we felt we had to drink to break even. This isn’t a good thing if you are trying to maintain your weight! But on the other hand drinks cost a lot on board. Beer was nearly $9 and whiskey $11 as was a glass of wine. You had to buy your water which was $3 a bottle and cokes and coffee much the same. So it wasnt hard to spend your daily allowance which we worked out at $50 a day. There was plenty of free food and drink of course around meal times and we drank the water generated by the ice left in our room. The water was lovely. They make it themselves on board ship! Food in the main dining room was good and the buffets in the cafeteria were outstanding. But they were more crowded than the main dining room so we opted for getting served our meals.
While it’s true the ship is big and there’s are a lot of people on board there are plenty of places to hide, chill, get involved or just sit and listen to music. We loved the shows and went to every one. We had an early sitting, 5:45pm so we caught the first show at 7:30. Once or twice it was a bit tight and we had to miss our pudding!
We had 6 port calls but did not get off at all the stops as we wore ourselves out!
It rained in Oslo which was a shame. But this is a very accessible port and the Norwegians are so very friendly and helpful. We walked to where you get the water bus/ferry that takes you to the Viking Museum. Enjoyed the boat trip and the museum was ok. If it hadn’t been raining we would have done the Folk Museum. And I think it is better to take the bus to the museums and the boat back so you don’t have to walk up hill from the ferry dock.
Copenhagen was the next port but we didn’t get off. I know, how bad was that? But we were so tired we couldn’t face the early start and then having to pay extra to shuttle 10 mins into town. Be prepared for lots of extra expenses. It was too far to walk and not really walkable anyway. So we didn’t see The Little Mermaid or the colourful harbour but had a good time enjoying a quiet boat. Apparently Steffi Graf is the Godmother of the ship. Lovely art work on the walls too.
A day at sea and then we stopped in Tallinn. Wonderful port, walkable from the ship and the Old Town had a great atmosphere.
We took a little picnic with us and ate it in a park. The buildings were lovely and so were the flowers. And it was comfortably warm.
St Petersberg was the next stop for two days. I have already exhausted the subject of the painful immigration process which spoilt the start to the visit. Beautiful buildings, not enough time to see everything. Glad we saw it but I won’t be going back.
On to Helsinki but again we didn’t get off as we were shattered from Russia and enjoyed the next sea day as well. In fact we love the whole cruising thing. Our last stop was Skagen and that was fabulous as the sun chose to shine. The people were super nice and in spite of the high cost of everything we had a fabulous visit.
Disembarkation in Southampton was amazing. Best port ever. Efficient, fast and organised. We were grateful for George and Anna braving the very confusing road system in Southampton however, to pick us up. I picked up a bug on the last day and have been poorly every since. But that is a small price to pay for two weeks of cruising. Looking forward to our trip to Australia and New Zealand. Thank you for joining us on this trip. We will be spreading our wings again in the new year.
The other problem is that it is all about upselling now. Every time you turn around they are trying to sell you something you don’t need. We bought the drinks package and regretted it as we felt we had to drink to break even. This isn’t a good thing if you are trying to maintain your weight! But on the other hand drinks cost a lot on board. Beer was nearly $9 and whiskey $11 as was a glass of wine. You had to buy your water which was $3 a bottle and cokes and coffee much the same. So it wasnt hard to spend your daily allowance which we worked out at $50 a day. There was plenty of free food and drink of course around meal times and we drank the water generated by the ice left in our room. The water was lovely. They make it themselves on board ship! Food in the main dining room was good and the buffets in the cafeteria were outstanding. But they were more crowded than the main dining room so we opted for getting served our meals.
While it’s true the ship is big and there’s are a lot of people on board there are plenty of places to hide, chill, get involved or just sit and listen to music. We loved the shows and went to every one. We had an early sitting, 5:45pm so we caught the first show at 7:30. Once or twice it was a bit tight and we had to miss our pudding!
We had 6 port calls but did not get off at all the stops as we wore ourselves out!
It rained in Oslo which was a shame. But this is a very accessible port and the Norwegians are so very friendly and helpful. We walked to where you get the water bus/ferry that takes you to the Viking Museum. Enjoyed the boat trip and the museum was ok. If it hadn’t been raining we would have done the Folk Museum. And I think it is better to take the bus to the museums and the boat back so you don’t have to walk up hill from the ferry dock.
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