The Jewel...Our Ship

So far, I've only written about the ports of call, but a big part of our trip was all of the fantastic nights on the ship. I think the highlight for me (and I'm sure Mike will disagree) was the night of the Quest Game show. I'm really a "joiner" and I like to participate in all of the game shows and activities. Mike pacifies me most of the time, but he really didn't know what he was getting into during the Quest! It's basically an "Adult" scavenger hunt. The items started out calm...a woman wearing mens shoes, 2 belts, 2 mens shirts...then it started to get a little risque'...a man with lipstick, 2 womens bras (I pretty much ripped Kialee's off her!), 2 pairs of mens pants, and finally...the whole kit and kaboodle. Mike had to wear my bra, lipstick, make shift earrings and carry my purse! Needless to say we won the whole thing and got some backpacks to show for it.

Our last day on the ship was a sea day, and we had big plans for it! Earlier in the cruise, we won a tour of the galley at a "Make-A-Wish" charity auction, so we started the day with the executive chef in the kitchen. We really enjoyed seeing the kitchen and it was well worth the donation!

After that, we put on our drinkin' shoes and started our pub crawl. It was our goal to hit every bar on the ship and have at least 1 drink. 12 bars later we were going strong!

Fjord Country...Oslo

Our last port of call...Oslo! Honestly, by this day, I was ready to go home. I was tired and just didn't have it in me to do much else! I really think we're getting spoiled living here. Every city looks like every other European city, all the Old Towns are pretty much the same...A palace is a palace, a cathedral is a cathedral! We took a little boat ride through the Fjords with our group from St. Petersburg which was a ice and relaxing way to spend the morning. Our ship docked right in the heart of the city and right next to us was a medieval fort. After our boat ride, we went back to the boat for lunch and then to the fort to explore. Then we took a walk around Oslo. All 4 of us were pretty beat, so we headed back to the ship to get ready for formal night.

Wonderful, Beautiful Copenhagen!

Chris had been to Copenhagen several times before so he acted as our tour guide. We got of the ship bright and early in order to get to the "Little Mermaid" statue before the crowds. As Chris said, it's probably the most overrated attraction in Western Europe. The statue itself was only about 6 feet tall and was really not very special. A few hundred feet BEFORE the famous statue is another statue of a mermaid that was a lot more impressive.

We walked the entire city, and Chris knew everything about the Danish Royal Family, various monuments and buildings and all of the history of the city. Around 10AM we headed to Tivoli Gardens which is a little amusement park in the middle of the city. It really was a fun way to spend the day. By this time we were really churched and palaced out so some roller coasters were really a welcomed change.

Stockholm--Our Favorite!

I'm not sure if it was that we were still on a high from the 4th, but Stockholm was hands down our favorite place! We didn't have anything planned, but we decided to get off the ship and take a walk to the Vasa Museum. Kialee and Chris had a "Europe" book and it pretty much said that the THE thing to do and see in Stockholm. The Vasa is a 16th Century ship that they recovered from the depths of the ocean in tact 500 years later. It was really cool to see how ornate the ship was and the sheer size of it. Unfortunately, not many people were able to voyage on the Vasa as it sunk on it's maiden voyage! It was a pretty cool museum though. From there we headed to the "Old Town" for some lunch and to walk around a bit. There really isn't much to say about the city, but that it was just gorgeous!

4 Expat Americans + 1 4th of July = 2 Nights of Obnoxiousness

4th of July in Helsinki was about as American as we could possibly have made it. We actually started celebrating at midnight on the 3rd in order to ensure we had a whole 24 hours of Americana. On the 3rd we visited our friend at the piano bar on board and Mike gave him $5 to play God Bless America at midnight. We really made quite a spectacle of ourselves standing with our hands over our hearts singing our little hearts out! Not that the margaritas that night had anything to do with it!



The next day we were in Helsinki all in full on Red, White and Blue. Well, Mike had on a "We The People" Tshirt, but he was patriotic nonetheless. The four of us had made a pact to each have a red drink, white drink, and blue drink sometime during the day. As Mike and I had been to Helsinki before (see blog in December) we knew that there really wasn't much to do in the city. We brought Chris and Kialee to the Church on the hill (only thing worth seeing there) and then decided to take a pub tram around the city. Helsinki's public transport is overground cable cars. In the summer one of these cars is sponsored by the Finnish Brewery Koff and takes you on a tour around the city. The best part is that there's a pub on board! All Mike kept saying was how wonderful it would be if his commute everyday was like this one!

After our pub tram tour we headed back to the boat to get ready for the night's activities. Mike donned his USA flag cufflinks, and I my red white and blue dress and then headed to the lounge to meet up with Chris and Kialee who were also all decked out. What nobody knew was that not only were we dressed in red, white, and blue, but I had brought flair! Blinking necklaces, sequined Uncle Sam Hats, beads, the works!




It was a fun evening. Before dinner there was a big celebration on board with a balloon drop for the 4th. We were like celebrities. People we didn't know were taking out pictures. At dinner, little kids were calling Chris Uncle Sam. After dinner we went to take a professional portrait to immortalize our evening. Then, it was back to the piano bar for a night of patriotic fun. We really made spectacles of ourselves, but I think it was warranted. We all miss the USA a lot, and on it's birthday we really felt the need to celebrate!

Back in the USSR (part 2)!

On the second day of our semi-private tour of St. Petersburg, we did less time in the van and more time on foot. We had an early admission into the Hermitage which is the 2nd biggest museum in the world--2nd only to the Louve in Paris. They say that if you were to look at every item for 10 seconds you would be in the museum for weeks! The most interesting thing was that Catherine the Great has been quoted as saying, "These are my treasures, for my eyes only"---no wonder they had a revolution! Talk about selfish! After spending a few hours in the Hermitage we went to a Russian restaurant for lunch. It wasn't really Russian food, really just a piece of grilled chicken and some rice with some salad. Even our guide said that they make the meal to the tourists tastes. I don't know though, I was ready for some beef stroganoff or chicken kiev!



We then went to a couple of churches. We visited the Church on Spilled Blood which was the most colorful church I'd ever seen. The interior was exquisite with the walls and ceiling being nothing but mosaics. Millions and millions of little tiles covered every inch of the place. The second was St. Isaac's Cathedral which is a symbol of St. Petersburg with it's giant golden dome. This was a much more subdued church with a little less glitz and glamour, but no less grand.



Next, it was off to the Peterhof Palace. This place's claim to fame was that it was the place where Rasputin met his demise. The palace was beautiful, and the Rasputin story only came into play toward the end of our tour there. I think they could have played it up a little more.




All in all, it was quite an experience to be in Russia. They still are really behind the times, and sure there is great wealth, but that certainly doesn't trickle down the the actual working stiffs. While they have food and regular goods readily available, unlike in Soviet times, they are very expensive. Our tour guide Elena was very cryptic when I asked what she did before the tourist boom after the Soviet reign. Our group decided to assume that she was with the government in some capacity. Her English was outstanding and she would never get in any pictures! As like we've learned in a lot of the Eastern European countries we've visited, with all the churches they have, religion is pretty much nonexistant among Russians. It was explained to us that the Soviets took away their religion. They were to believe in communism and the Soviet way and that was all. It really is a shame though, all of these beautiful buildings all over the place for a country of non-believers. I suppose I can't fault them though. Fewer and fewer people go to church weekly if at all. We, ourselves haven't been to church since our wedding over a year ago!

Back in the USSR!

Thanks to the website, cruisecritic.com, before we even joined the ship, we had met some people that we did a two day private tour of St. Petersburg with. There were a total of 10 of us in a van with our tour guide Elena and driver Andrey for the duration of our time in Russia. This was probably the best thing we did on the trip. The private tour meant that we didn't have to wait for busloads of people, and our guide, Elena, must have been tied to the KGB or something, because people just seemed to move out of her way and we cut EVERY line we came across!




We met up with the tour guide at 7AM and proceeded to do a 2 hour overview of the city in the van. It was still really early in the morning and not very crowded when we arrived at our first destination, The Peter and Paul Fortress. We walked around and took some pictures and then went into our real stop here which was the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Not only was this a beautiful church, but also the final resting place of many Russian royals including both Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.
At this point in the day I was REALLY thirsty, unfortunately we didn't have any rubles to buy some water. I asked the tour guide when we would be getting a drink and said I could have my drink out of my lunch box. I said, "No thank you" not wanting to waste my drink before lunch and quite sternly the tour guide said, "Fine then, you will suffer!"...I guess that was just her Soviet upbringing coming out!




After the fortress we boarded the bus again and headed to Catherine's Palace. This was the grandest place I've ever seen. The sheer expanse of it was breathtaking. Granted, I have never been to Versailles, but people were comparing it to that. In fact, it was Catherine's hope that it would rival Versailles in it's scale and grandeur. The highlight of the palace was the "amber room" as we entered Mike said, "Are you getting an overwhelming craving for butterscotch?" and he was right. It looked as though the walls were painted with butterscotch, but in all actuality they were covered in mosaics made completely of different shades of amber. Unfortunately, it was forbidden to take pictures in the Amber Room, but the memory will last a long time.

Finally, it was time for lunch and I could have my bottle of water! We ate boxed lunches of chicken salad crepes and Russian cookies and chocolate bars on the way to the Summer Palace. Surprisingly, the lunch was quite good and we were happy to have something to eat. It had been a long day since we'd started!




What was waiting for us at the Summer Palace was definitely worth the long day! They are known for their fountains here, and they are some of the most spectacular fountains I've seen! They even had fountains that the children could play in! After we'd had our fill of the fountains, we took a hydrafoil back to St. Petersburg. We then, at the request of some people on our tour, visited the Choral Synagogue which is the 2nd largest synagogue in Europe. I wasn't really impressed with it much, but what I did find interesting and a little funny was that George W. Bush had paid it a visit a few years ago, and they pretty much had a shrine up to recognize his visit.

Then it was off for a little shopping and back to the boat...just to have to wake up and do it all over again!

And then there was Tallinn

Another day, another port! We had an organized tour at this port as well. We'd signed up for "Countryside Cycling and Old Town Walking Tour". Well, the "countryside" was a circle around a housing development. It was more like riding in Greenbrook Estates than in the Estonian "countryside"! It was a nice day and a great day to be outdoors so we didn't complain too much...UNTIL...they brought us to an open air museum. What it was, was an park where they recreated Estonian country life throughout the ages. 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, etc. We were a little ticked when we were spending soooo much time here. The worst part of the tour were the two families on the tour with us. They were a group of about 10 people, 4 adults and 6 teenage boys. The boys were absolute terrors racing the bikes and skidding out in front of people for shits and giggles. At one point one of them skidded next to me, and I really had to bite my tongue not to give him a verbal lashing, but I figured I was the grown up and his mother should really be the one to discipline the little bastard. Not sure why I thought that though, the parents were almost as bad as the kids! At one point we stopped somewhere for a traditional Estonian snack and some tea, and when everyone was ready to go...all 50 people in the group, the father was in the bathroom. We waited 15 minutes for him---I guess the snack didn't agree with him! At that point the tour guide gave us some free time to wander the park. I knew this was going to be a disaster with the 6 derelicts roaming around. Sure enough, they were late. Not only were the kids late, but the parents as well. The one mother even asked me "Have you seen the boys?". First of all lady, I don't even KNOW you. Second of all, shouldn't YOU know where your own kids are. Instead of saying that though, I just said, "No" and left it alone. The kids finally showed up COVERED in mud...LITERALLY COVERED! They said they fell off a cliff...urgh!

After the whole bus filled, we headed to old town. We were really excited to see the old town as it looked beautiful from the ship when we woke up. When we got there we went into a church and through a few streets to the town center when our tour guide gave us an hour to "do our own thing". At this point we abandoned the tour and went to get some lunch. We wound up at a beer haus, where we each had a liter and some nice bratwurst with sauerkraut. After lunch it was another quick walk around old town and then walking back to the ship. I'd have to say that Tallinn really TRIED to be like Amsterdam, but it was just too small to measure up. Don't get me wrong, it was a very pretty place, just not a whole hell of a lot there.

Day 3: Klaipeda, Lithuania

Our first day was welcomed with open arms! Quite frankly, I was getting a bit of cabin fever, and there are only so many times you can play "Name that Tune" in succession. When we arrived at Klaipeda, I went out to the balcony to get my first impression of Lithuania. Let's just say there's not much to be impressed with, but I figured no port is ever that exciting, so I was still looking forward to our day in Lithuania.

We joined our tour at 10AM and hopped on the bus to the Soviet Nuclear Missile Site. What we didn't know was that we were in for an hour and a half bus trip to a lake first! The four of us were SOO bored at this stop, and quite frankly we weren't sure why we would have stopped there in the first place.




Our tour guide clearly saw how bored we were and must have decided to manage the expectations of the Nuclear Missile Silo. She just kept saying that this was never meant for tourism. When we arrived we were all ready to knock Mike upside the head (this excursion was his pick) when we saw the following:




What a surprise we got though! This was such a cool thing to see. First we climbed down some steps and entered a bunker type building. The Soviet soldiers had teams that used to take 12 hour shifts being in the bunker, being on call just in case they had to shoot the nuke. What I found most interesting is that the Lithuanian government hasn't done anything to upkeep the site. They are waiting for the EU to give them money, but it doesn't seem like that's happening any time soon or at all for that matter. A boy standing in front of me in one of the corridors put his hand on the wall to steady himself--part of the wall crumbled under his hand!

In the rooms where the soldiers slept, they have a few rudimentary exhibits, but the most interesting thing was a poster they had on the wall that showed the soldiers how to identify different military planes from the US, England, Germany, etc. I suppose this was to help them shoot down the right ones!

We went from room to room, seeing the electric generators, exhaust systems, where they stored the fuel, etc. The highlight of course was seeing the chamber where they actually kept the rocket. Obviously, there's no rocket there now, but they pretty much left everything else.




To enter the chamber we had to climb in this little passage which was a little difficult for me with my short legs, and a little difficult for Mike with his long legs---not sure it was EASY for anyone to get in there. Once we were inside, there was a railing that went around a large circle with a giant pit in the middle. We found out later that the pit is where the rocket was and was 27 meters deep. We also found out later that where we were walking was just a grate that went around the chamber. After seeing the wall crumble earlier, I was eager to get out! When it was my turn to exit, it took me three tries to get my way out (I was scared!). On the third, I think the tour lady was getting a little annoyed with me, so she grabbed my leg and pulled me down! I found out later that she had to do that with Mike too! After that, we had time to walk around the site a bit. Then it was another hour and a half ride back to the boat and we cut it close getting back before it was "All Aboard" and we were off to Estonia!

Back from our Cruise!

We got back from our cruise on Thursday, and I'll be writing about a port a day until the blog is done...otherwise, it's just going to be too long!

DAY 1:

We left Harwich (pronounced Harrich), England on June 27. We took a bus from Victoria Coach Station to our ship! Mike and I, along with our friend Chris and Kialee, who also joined us on the cruise, polished off 3 bottles of champagne on the 2.5 hour bus ride there! What a way to start your vacation, right? Unfortunately, the bathroom on the bus wasn't in working order, so when we arrived, it was almost an emergency situation for all three of us!

When we finally sorted ourselves out at the restroom, we joined the line to check-in. This was probably the smoothest check-in we've ever had on a cruise ship. Then we headed to our rooms quickly. The room was probably a little smaller than we've had on other cruises, but we were fortunate enough to have a room with a balcony so that added to the square footage greatly!

We then went to check out our table for dinner and were really peeved to find out that we were at a table for 10 even though we asked for a table for the 4 of us. We asked for a change, but were told it wouldn't be possible until the 2nd day. No worries!

Kialee and Chris came to our room for a "Sail-Away Party". We each had gotten a bottle of champagne delivered to our rooms---Champagne count now at 5! It was gray and cloudy as we left England, but we didn't mind. Mike, Chris, and Kialee were off work for 2 weeks, and me--well, I was just happy to be out of London for awhile! Surprisingly enough, this was the last grey and cloudy day we'd see for the next 2 weeks!

When we got to dinner that night we were joined by another 2 couples...There were the Christian Youth Ministers from Albany and a couple from Portsmouth, England. We never found out what she did, but he claimed to be the "Jack Bauer" of London for you "24" fans. We came to the conclusion that if he really was "the man" in the counterterrorist unit he wouldn't be spreading it around. It made for an interesting dinner though. It was a little awkward with the Christian Ministers on the other end of the table...we really felt like we had to watch our mouths and it was just not much fun.

After dinner we went to a bar onboard and had a few drinks. We'd have 2 sea days ahead of us to get to know the ship, so we turned in pretty early.



DAY 2:




We got room service breakfast and ate watching the sea on our balcony. How relaxing! Then it was off to find out if we'd gotten our change in table. WE HAD! Praise the Lord! After we knew we had gotten that all straightened out, we went to see what there was to do that day. We attended a champagne art auction (Champagne Count: 6), participated in some trivia, and attended a wine tasting, etc. Day 2 was our first formal night and we were excited to get dressed and ready to go. Mike especially loves wearing his tux, so he was in his glory. We got dressed early and went to take some formal pictures which actually came out nicely. Then, we went to the Captain's Welcome Reception (Champagne Count: 7) and then off to our 8:30 Dinner seating. We were out our new table and were excited to see that we had a window table with just the 4 of us. What we didn't notice at first was the table of 15+ next to us. Our waiter, Dragos from Romania, came and welcomed us and told us that we and that table of 15+ were the only ones in his section. He then introduced our asst. Waiter, Royston from India and took our orders. It's important to really get to know your wait staff on these cruises because they take care of you the whole vacation. If you get to know them, and let them get to know you, the service improves. On formal nights, the cruise line suggests that men wear a jacket and tie and women wear cocktail dresses. Tuxes are optional, but Mike and Chris both opted for them. Unfortunately, not many people really took the "suggestions". When the large table next to us arrived them were all slobbily dressed and VERY demanding of our waiters. They were even slipping mickeys in their drinks which is against ship policy. Dragos explained that they were Colombian and that it was in their culture to do that...not sure I get that though. That night we went to the first song and dance show. How can I sum it up? The singers were piss poor! The leading male reminded me of Jack Black in "School of Rock"...he even looked like him! The dancers were better, but the show really suffered. The one shining moment of the show was when the Cruise Director, Bobby Brown (That was his name, I kid you not), auctioned off several things for the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation. Between pre-dinner champagne, wine with dinner, and now drinks at the show, Mike and I were "Happy" to make a donation. We set our limit at $150 and finally won something--The Galley Tour. Chris and Kialee also made a donation and would be able to join us--More on the Galley Tour on Day 10.

Day 3: More of the same as Day 2. This was another sea day as we were going all the way to Lithuania on one shot. Trivia, Seafood Shack, Buffets, Bars, Name that Tune, etc.