Mike and Renée
Cruise the Baltic
On Crown Princess
May 30 - June 9, 2008

This cruise had been a dream for a long time. It was very exciting to finally embark on it. Of course two days in St Petersburg is the highlight. We had cruised previously on the slightly older sisters of Crown Princess so we knew we were cruising on a magnificent ship. This review will touch on some of the special features of the ship but will mostly focus on the wonderful ports. We had an easy flight via the polar route to Copenhagen, arriving about noon the day before embarkation.

The cruise begins in Copenhagen. We took a taxi from the airport to Hotel 27, a wonderful Danish Modern hotel located just a block and a half from City Hall, and two blocks from Tivoli Gardens. There we met our friends and traveling companions Pam and Nancy who had arrived earlier in the day. After checking in (and carrying our own luggage as the hotel has no porters), we walked across the courtyard to our first adventure, the Absolut Icebar! We donned parkas and gloves and entered the bar which is at 23 degrees F. Everything in the bar is made of ice, from the bar itself to the actual glasses! The drink of choice is vodka, of course. I had a "Copenhagen cocktail", vodka with watermelon liqueur and champagne. Renée enjoyed a berry liqueur in her vodka. We had a great time, sitting on the wolfskin seat covers of the ice benches and relishing the cold (for a few minutes!!) After that we enjoyed the complimentary buffet snacks at the hotel for dinner, and then went to Tivoli Gardens, where we explored the beautiful setting, listened to the bands, had ice cream, and some even rode the carousel. The next morning we had complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel and then took the HOHO bus and canal boat tour of the city. Click on any of the following thumbnails to see more of Copenhagen.

Hotel 27 room

Hans Christian Andersen statue

Tivoli Gardens

Ice Cream at Tivoli

Carousel at Tivoli

HOHO bus

canal boat

Of course we did not miss the most famous icon of Copenhagen, the Little Mermaid. I did not realize that she actually sits at the edge of the harbor, not in the middle of it. It is possible to get quite close, and even touch her. Following the tour we took a taxi to the port, really quite easy. Then we boarded the beautiful Crown Princess and started to relax!
	The cruise begins with a relaxing day at sea. We had a special get together for the members of the CruiseCritic.com message boards, courtesy of the Special Services department of Princess. It was fun to see all the faces and match them to the screen names of people from our roll call.
The weather was very nice for most of the trip, partly cloudy skies but a bit breezy and cool. We enjoyed all the activities of the ship, and relaxed in the marvelous Thermal Suite. For dinner on formal night, we dressed up and then stood on the balcony to enjoy the light (?) breeze. This first night we went to Sabatini's which is always an outstanding experience on Princess ships of this class.
	Sailing into Stockholm the next morning was beautiful. The ship winds its way through the archipelago for quite some time and it is pleasant to view the passing scenery from the balcony.
In Stockholm, we walked off the boat and at the tourist office on the pier bought tickets for the HOHO boat tour of the harbor. This was a very nice tour, passing the old part of the city, the Vasa museum, and the local amusement park as well as some nice scenery. We enjoyed the tour. However, I do have to say that I don't recommend it, due to mass confusion, disorganization, and disinformation between the shore office, the crew aboard, and the port security facilities. A total lack of communication created some problems.
	The ports come fast and furious on this itinerary. Next day was Helsinki. We had the ship's Cuisine excursion, which began with a bus tour of this beautiful city, and then drove to one of the islands to the famous restaurant SAVU, which means "smoked". This is a marvelous reproduction of an old time inn with wooden beams and a fine coffee pot on the fire.
Here the chef presented us with an array of Finnish delicacies. We sampled smoked sardines, smoked herring, smoked cheese, smoked reindeer, and herring in mustard sauce, with new potatoes. Then we had tea with strawberry, pear, and local berry jams to finish up. It was all very delicious and was a lot of fun to be introduced to local cuisine.
	And then -- the highlight of the cruise -- the Imperial City of Saint Petersburg! The much feared disembarkation and Russian Immigration was actually very easy. The ship's excursion passengers met in one section, the independent tour passengers in another. As we had booked a private tour with DenRus, we waited in the restaurant. The excursion and independent passengers were alternated, much as the ship does when tendering, and the process was really very efficient. We got our gangway passes about 6:45 in Group 6, one of the later groups, but we were off the ship by 8 AM, waited a few minutes in a very short line, showed our DenRus tickets to immigration, and were met outside the immigration building by our wonderful guide, Elena, and driver Valentin in a Mercedes van.
We had independently planned a busy tour, but one which allowed for my slightly limited mobility. We had the usual city drive, stopping at St. Nicholas cathedral, photo ops at St Isaac's and the Church on the Spilled Blood and other city attractions. Then it was time for the wonderful wonderful experience of the Hermitage! Since we were a small group, and with me leaning heavily on my cane, Elena managed to bypass the moderately long line and get us right in. The Hermitage is just one stunning sight after another. Our guide said we walked two miles and I believe it. The one thing we visited but could not photograph was the Gold Room, which is truly marvelous with Scythian and Sarmatian gold, as well as many diplomatic gifts to the Russian government. Click on any of the following thumbnails for our photo page of the Hermitage.

Gilt work

Malachite

Chandeliers

Paintings

Czar's Throne

Inlaid table

Doors

Parquet floor

Next, we visited the Andrew's marketplace, a large neighborhood food market. We explored the produce, the seafood, the caviar, the bakery and the meat departments. Then we visited the deli, where we purchased cherries, cucumbers, cornichons, a sort of slaw, cabbage reddened with beet juice, and a Siberian delicacy called cheremsha, a pickled stalk also known as Siberian onion or bear's garlic. It was all a great deal of fun.

DenRus offers a special opportunity, "lunch with a Russian family". We went to an apartment building which our guide Elena said was a 1950s "Khruschev apartment." The outside was not much to look at, and the stairwells were definitely dingy. However, after climbing two flights of stairs, we entered the apartment of our gracious hostess, Lidia, and were charmed. The flat was tiny, only two rooms with a small kitchen. Here Lidia and her husband had prepared a delicious lunch for us. We began with her husband's homemade borscht, which besides beets contained onions, carrots and cabbage. With a dollop of sour cream it was outstanding. Then we had chicken and new potatoes, along with the deli items we had brought. We finished off with lovely cream puffs. Our hostess was kind and entertaining, and we had a nice conversation with our guide's translation. She explained the difficulties of pensioners "after perestroika." We enjoyed her company greatly and were sorry to leave. Click on the thumbnails for more pictures of the market and the delightful lunch.

Produce

Caviar

Meat

Bakery

Khruschev apartment

Our hostess

	And of course, we had to finish up the day's sightseeing with some shopping. A shot of ice cold vodka is furnished by the store, presumably to put the husbands in a mood to let their wives shop! The store had lovely amber, delightful furs, carvings of St. Nicholas in his sleigh, wonderful dolls, the matroyshka stacking dolls, and lots of tourist items. It was quite a comprehensive place. Then it was back to the ship, where Nancy joined the ship's excursion to the ballet and the rest of us fell into bed to prepare for another long day of sightseeing tomorrow.
The next morning it was much less complicated to disembark the ship. We had a bit lighter day of sightseeing planned, and Elena and Valentin picked up us at 9 AM, making it very easy to walk through immigration where they only checked our passport stamp. This morning we began by motoring about an hour out of the city, through some nice country side, to the village of Pushkin and Catherine's Palace. This is a truly stunning and beautiful place. It is not quite as large, and not quite so many steps, as the Hermitage.
	One of the most famous and stunning rooms is the Amber Room, with the walls and ceiling completely covered with amber. Like much of the palace, it was destroyed by German bombing in WW II and has been completely restored. Upon leaving the palace we walked through the beautiful park and around the lake to return to our van. Click on any of the thumbnail pictures to see our picture page of Catherine's Palace.

Grounds	Palace	Entrance	Crowds!	Clock	Grand ballroom
Dutch tile stove	Continuous doorways	Tsarinas	The Tsar	WW II damage	The park

After the wonderful tour of Catherine's Palace we drive back to the city, and then had an opportunity to ride the famous St Petersburg Metro. Elena explained to us that the stations themselves are considered military assets so we could not take photos inside. We got our tokens, and then rode a long long escalator down down down to the trains, tunneling beneath the boggy surface of St Petersburg. The station where we started was a 1950s station, extremely beautiful, with careful stucco and mosaic work everywhere, in the style Elena called "Stalin Empire," emphasizing military designs. We traveled to a 1970s station, plain and austere.
	Our lunch stop was at Stolle, a great pie place! We had piereski, or pies, of many varieties, including salmon, tuna, pork, beef, and vegetable, as well as apple, berry and luscious lemon! The whole thing cost only about 200 rubles, or less than $10 per person. After a bit more shopping at another wonderful store (and incidentally a rest room stop), we went to the Yusopov palace, which is located right in the city.
This palace is famous as the place where the mad monk Rasputin was assassinated by a group of young nobility, fearful of his hold over the royal family. The palace itself is not nearly so grandiose as Catherine's Palace, reminding one more of the great English country estates. This more comprehensible scale makes it a little gem well worth visiting. The big attraction for many, however, is the dank cellar where Rasputin was first poisoned, then shot, stabbed, and finally dumped in the ice covered river. Dioramas of wax figures recreate the events of that consipiracy. Elena told us the whole story and it is a fascinating bit of history. We then returned to the ship in good time and said fond farewells to Elena and Valentin. I cannot say enough about this terrific tour with Denrus. They were so helpful in designing it exactly to our requirements. They provided the proper documents to make it easy to pass through immigration (in spite of the lies we were told by the ship!) We were able to do things that the ship's excursions can never include, and to do it at our pace in our own way. Our guide was incredibly informed, helpful and pleasant. Our driver maneuvered the dense city traffic with ease. The entire experience was marvelous and I strongly recommend DenRus to anyone going to St Petersburg!!
	Next morning's arrival in Talinn Estonia was a good time to order room service, and relax on the balcony as this beautiful medieval city came into view. Our weather continued to be wonderful and the blue skies were very welcome.
For this port day, the spa was providentially running a special on foot massage! After the two days of walking and climbing stairs in St. Petersburg it was extremely healing.
	The local merchants operated a shuttle bus into the city center which was very convenient. This is one of the best examples of a well preserved medieval city in Europe and was fun to explore.
On returning to the ship we had a light lunch at the International Cafe on Deck 5. This is one of the best kept secrets on the ship. It serves complimentary sandwiches and wonderful salads, including a great shrimp salad, and also desserts. It also sells ice cream at $1.50 for three huge scoops, and caramel apples and tuxedo strawberries.
	Our sailaway from Talinn gave Renéea chance for some sun on the balcony. We had a number of occasions to enjoy the balcony on this trip although the weather was seldom warm enough for this sunbathing! For dinner this evening we chose the Crown Grill, which was well worth the $25 extra charge. The service was outstanding, definitely the most efficient and attentive we had the entire cruise. The food was wonderful. The ladies had steaks or chops, perfectly cooked, and I had three small lobster tails.
Continuing the constant pace of ports on this itinerary, our next stop was Gdynia, Poland. Here we had booked an independent tour with Tours In Poland. We were met by our guide Evelinna and a driver with a nice minibus for the seven of us. We began a drive of about an hour and a half, through the beautiful Polish countryside and agricultural areas. We visited the Nazi concentration camp at Stutthoff. Poland, of course, had been overrun by the Nazis in the first days of WW II, and this camp began as a detention place for Polish dissidents. Soon, however, it was furnished with a gas chamber and crematorium and became part of "The Final Solution." We viewed a well done film showing the evidence of atrocities that occurred here and the trials of the Commandant and other war criminals. Then we walked through the camp, viewing the barracks, kitchens, yards and of course the ultimate horror of the gas chamber and crematorium. Our guide had warned us to be prepared to cry, and I am unashamed to say that I certainly did. For more pictures of the camp click on any of the thumbnails.

Listing "Jude"

Bunks

Sleeping area

Gas chamber

Crematoria

Oven

Gas cannister

Monument

	We then drove back into Gdansk (known to the Germans as Danzig) and stopped in the heart of the tourist area in the old city. Our guide showed us a nice outdoor restaurant, and we asked the waitress to recommend her favorite beer. A glass of Tyskie went down very well, accompanied by Polish sausages, Polish ham and pierogi which were basically folded and filled dumplings.
We visited a beautiful amber shop, also recommended by our guide, and had an opportunity to see how amber is polished, and to smell the resiny scent of the heated rough amber. Here we also had a chance to sample Goldwasser, vodka with flecks of gold leaf floating in it.
Then we had time to explore the old city. At the end of the lane is the world's largest all brick church, and it is very beautiful. However, the ladies seemed a bit distracted by the shopping opportunities. We returned to the ship through a terrific traffic jam, and enjoyed a nice evening and the comedy magic show, one of the few shows we actually got to on this busy trip.
	Then came our second and last day at sea. It was very nice to have time to lounge around the ship and do very little. After morning trivia, we went to the Elite Passengers Lunch with the Captain --except due to the Captain being on the bridge we actually got our photo with the Staff Captain, a very personable Italian! We had a delightful lunch specially prepared by the Executive Chef. Our table was hosted by the Chief Technical Officer (Chief Engineer) who told us a lot about the nuts and bolts of running the ship.
We occupied the afternoon with the Spelling Bee, the Thermal Suite, and then winning at Trivia! Thanks to our Brit Pam for knowing that Edward III was the King at the start of the 100 Years War! Here is our great team: Pam, quizmaster Lisa, Shawnna, Leo, Renée, Don, moral supporter Nancy, and Mike.

Oslo was the last port of call on this cruise. Here we had booked the ship's "Norwegian Adventurers" tour which took us to three ship museums. We began at the Viking Ship Museum to see two restored Viking ships, and the bones of another.	Next was the Fram Museum, where we saw the strongest wooden hulled ship ever built, used by Roald Amundsen and others to travel to the North Pole, South Pole and Greenland.	Finally we reached the Kon Tiki Museum. The first ship on display is the reed boat Ra.	And the highlight was the famous balsa raft Kon Tiki which sailed from South America to Polynesia.
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