will you be sharing your photos online?
--
jtc
jtamchay@yahoo.com
"Tom K" wrote in message
news:bAYsg.103$Pg1.71@fe11.lga...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Following is a compilation of comments that I sent home about our
> Baltics and St. Petersburg Cruise on the Celebrity Century. It's
> not really a review. Nor very well proof read. If the comments are
> somewhat disjointed and tenses mixed up (present vs. past), it's a
> collection from about 6-7 different e-mails. But it gives a flavor.
>
> Our Itinerary was as follows:
>
> Embarkation: Amsterdam
> At Sea
> Copenhagen, Denmark
> At Sea
> Stockholm, Sweden
> Helsinki, Finland
> St. Petersburg, Russia (2 days)
> Tallinn, Estonia
> At Sea
> Oslo, Norway
> At Sea
> Disembarkation: Amsterdam
>
> Pre Cruise Stay in Amsterdam.
>
> After my all night flight from Newark to Amsterdam, I checked into
> the Sheraton Hotel at the Amsterdam airport. It connects directly
> to the airport terminal via an escalator. Very convenient. The
> airport is about a 20 minute train ride to Central Station in
> Amsterdam.
>
> I met all the members of our group in the hotel lobby at 9:30 am.
> Since my room wasn't ready, I stored my luggage in one of the
> other's rooms. They had arrived a day earlier than me.
>
> We bought train tickets and took the train to downtown Amsterdam.
> We wandered the town for hours, ultimately making it down to the
> Rijks Museum, which has 3 Vermeers and a number of wonderful
> Rembrandts, including The Night Watch. Personally I prefer the
> softer feel of the Vermeers. Many experts consider Vermeer the
> greatest painter of all time. He's my favorite at this stage. I
> used to prefer Monet. but my tastes have changed over time.
>
> For dinner we went to one of the restaurants in Chinatown. So-so.
> Kind of marginal at best.
>
> After dinner we walked with everyone else all around the red light
> district. It's the thing to do in Amsterdam. It's a beautiful area
> in Amsterdam, along tree lined canals. 5-6 Story gabled 17th
> century buildings of various colors, their reflections in the canal
> waters. Like my book says, many tour the red light district, not to
> sample it's multifarious wares, but to experience a few harmless
> visual thrills before heading back to the real world.
>
> Part of the charm of Amsterdam is that it is a bit "seedy". Girls
> in teeny tiny white outfits glowing in blue lights, posing or
> sitting behind store windows. most talking on their cell phones.
>
> The city has an eclectic style. Flower markets include kits to grow
> your own "weed". Amsterdam is kind of the place where. if you don't
> fit in other areas of Europe. you make your way to Amsterdam. and
> you'll fit in just fine.
>
> Tuesday, Embarkation
>
> In the morning we took a bus to the ship. Check in didn't take more
> than 5 minutes. I had pre printed the bar coded sheet. After
> boarding, we walked the ship for a few hours, checking out all the
> changes. Favorite new areas include the Martin Bar, and the AquaSpa
> Café. To add the Café, they removed the Thalassotherapy Pool.
>
> Some members in the group negotiated a cabin upgrade from an inside
> to a balcony, but it didn't comfortably sleep 3. I got one of the
> large new cabins in the aft, up on Deck 12. They asked of I wanted
> to switch.. So I traded my large triple with extra room for a
> balcony. Good trade. I got a balcony and they got extra space.
> Even though we spent a LOT of time in port, I generally kept the
> balcony door open all night - even though it never really got dark
> at night for most of the sailing.
>
> Left Amsterdam and sailed trough the canal/river to the coast. Went
> through a set of locks during dinner (Amsterdam is below sea level
> so you go upward to get to the ocean). We've got a table upstairs
> and near the back, so we could see us going through the lock.
>
> Wednesday, At Sea
>
> We woke up to 8 ft waves and 35 mph winds. It's 1:30 and we're
> sailing northward along the west coast of Denmark. Ship is bouncing
> around somewhat. Not bad, but not calm either. I took a Bonine in
> the morning, and am OK. Others are walking around feeling a bit
> queasy.
>
> Wednesday was a sea day for us on the ship as we sailed from
> Holland, around the north of Denmark, and down to Copenhagen.
>
> There was a Captain's Club Elite High Tea in the Murano's specialty
> restaurant in the afternoon that we all attended. Plus I got an
> invitation to dine with the Staff Captain. He's the assistant to
> the Captain, and had previously been a Captain with both Premier and
> Renaissance. He's only been with Celebrity 2 years. At the dinner
> table there was a couple from Lakewood NJ, and the wife used to be a
> teacher in Woodbridge NJ. Also at the table with the Captain was a
> lady who apparently is the Oprah equivalent on Amsterdam TV. She
> was a piece of work. Rejected 3 bottles of wine at the Captain's
> table because she said they smelled of cork. During the day, there
> was a Texas Hold-Em Poker Tournament in the Casino and Alan, one of
> the members of our group won it. And John won the first Black Jack
> tournament.
>
> Thursday, Copenhagen.
>
> We docked at 7:00 am and were scheduled to leave at 4:00 pm, so it
> was just a day there this time, as opposed to an overnight stay last
> time (when we could do Tivoli Garden at night).
>
> Celebrity is now charging for the shuttle bus to take you to center
> city, not like last year when it was free. We caught a shuttle at
> 8:00.
>
> We went down to Nyhavn, and walked around the city for most of the
> day. Some of us took a canal boat ride. The street that runs from
> Nyhavn is a strolling type street that eventually leads to Tivoli
> Garden. I made it that far, and stopped in the Hard Rock Café
> there.
>
> Later that evening, after dinner, the gang started up a Texas
> Hold-em game in the card room. We sailed away at 4:00 pm.
>
> Around 11:30 we passed under a huge bridge that connects the 2 major
> parts of Denmark together. About a half hour later I was in my
> cabin and heard a large vibrating type town. I looked outside to
> see if was the thrusters on the ship (Century is the ship with the
> vibrating dining room when the thrusters are activated). Instead
> there was a helicopter shining a light on the water near the ship.
> and it continued approaching. It got to the front of the ship where
> it started hovering. They did a medical evacuation. The Captain
> said this morning that the gentleman was stable, and his wife would
> be taken off the ship and brought to him once we get to Stockholm
> tomorrow.
>
> Friday, At Sea
>
> Friday was another day at sea. Yesterday there was no satellite
> connection for internet access, and as a result the computers are
> all crowded today.
>
> This morning they held wine blending and tonight is the Captain's
> Club party. The Captain's Club Hostess left me a message yesterday
> and asked if I'd like to come up for one of the repeater awards (vs.
> remaining anonymous). I said it sound like fun. so I'll see what
> happens tonight. Tonight we made a reservation for the specialty
> restaurant.
>
> Saturday, Stockholm
>
> The sailing in the Baltic Sea was ultra calm. Even more calm than
> the waters south of Cuba. It was kind of like a sheet of glass with
> just a few ripples. But filled with ships going in every direction.
> Any time you looked you could see 5-10 ships within view. Mostly
> cargo ships and some tankers. Very crowded shipping lanes. It
> looks odd seeing the ships on the calm water.
>
> Stockholm is a very pretty city. A nice mix of new and old, plus in
> between. The city is made up of many islands. The sail into
> Stockholm is through an archipelago of like 4000 islands or
> something like that. Lots of summer homes on the water. The area
> has a look very similar to the area around Lake George, NY, only
> it's salt water. Rocky coast line on the islands. Houses have the
> same look as the camp houses. Some are very nice. A few huge. It's
> about a 2-3 hours sail past (through) the archipelago. Once inside
> Stockholm there are many small bridges connecting all the islands.
> The Deutschland was in port with us.
>
> We bought tickets for a hop on hop off bus by the ship and used that
> to get around. There are a lot of streets closed to traffic with
> only pedestrians allowed.
>
> I walked up to the Hard Rock Café, which is up by Stockholm
> University. The area up there looks a bit like Paris. The area
> further down by the harbor has architecture more like buildings in
> Rome.
>
> On one of the islands near the harbor is the "old town", with "old
> timey" winding streets. somewhat like Edinburgh, Scotland. Heard
> that some people saw pick pockets there. There turned out to be a
> Hard Rock Store at the old town, so my long walk up to the Hard Rock
> Café wasn't necessary. but still I had a beer there so it was still
> fun.
>
> The weather today was perfect. About 78 degrees and sunny. I've
> been keeping my balcony door open for fresh air, but today it's too
> warm to do that.
>
> Sunday, Helsinki, Finland.
>
> The ride on the ship continues to be ultra calm. Not really any
> ripples in the water, it's that calm. No need for Bonine since the
> first day.
>
> Last night it was still light after midnight.
>
> After Copenhagen and Stockholm, Helsinki was quite a bit of a let
> down.
>
> We again took the hop on hop off bus from the ship to the downtown
> area. The road to the downtown area passes several cruise terminals
> for the Baltic Sea Ferries, such as Silja Line, Viking Line, high
> speed ferries, etc. The Deutschland was again with us in port. So
> was the Aida, the ship with the big pink colored lips painted on the
> hull.
>
> The downtown area in Helsinki has a flea market type area. There's
> also several nice areas where people hang out. A few streets with
> sidewalk café's, but not nearly as many as in Stockholm, or as
> upscale as Copenhagen. On the bus ride we went past the Helsinki
> Olympic Stadium.
>
> John and I got an invite with the Captain's club gang to go to
> Murano's, the specialty restaurant, tonight. The note came to me
> since I have the most sailings of anyone at early dining. I'm
> taking John as my guest. I'm not sure I'll be that hungry. we've
> eaten so well the past few days, I wouldn't mind something light
> like taco's or whatever. But the price is right. Don't know if
> wine will be included or not (it was).
>
> Tomorrow it's Russia. We've all packed rolls and peanut butter and
> jelly packets to bring with us. They are supposed to give you some
> kind of box lunch. but we're not trusting that.
>
> Monday, St. Petersburg, Russia
>
> We had pre booked an excursion for 2 days with the local company Red
> October. They told us we should get off the ship at 7:00 am.
> Earlier in the week, the ship sent paperwork for where we were
> supposed to meet. Apparently they do that in order to delay you from
> getting off the ship until the ship excursions get to go. Red
> October told us to disregard that and just come off as soon as the
> ship is cleared.
>
> At 7:00 we walked down to the gangway and were told by the cruise
> director that we couldn't get off, and should have been given papers
> on where to meet until we were "cleared" to go. At that point we
> showed him paperwork where people had documented that the cruise
> lines intentionally sabotage the local companies by holding you up,
> even though local Russian officials will let you enter port. About
> a minute after we showed him the paper, he told us we were now
> "cleared" to disembark.
>
> We went through passport control (they keep a paper copy of your
> passport that you get printed at guest relations), and had our
> passports stamped. They also gave us red cards of some kind to keep
> with us and our passports. We were advised to keep our valuables in
> our front pockets to avoid getting pick pocketed. We made a code
> (somebody would say 288 - inside story behind the number that we
> picked) that we all used to alert others in our group while we were
> in crowded areas.
>
> The Hermitage is closed on Monday, so we visited Catherine's Palace,
> including the famous Amber Room, and the Peterhof Palace including
> the gardens and fountains. After that we visited several churches
> including the Peter & Paul. Our tour guide was Aliana, who used to
> be a flight attendant for Aeroflot. Here English was very good, and
> her knowledge of St. Petersburg, it's history and even the art
> collections in the Hermitage were superb.
>
> Catherine's Palace is simply magnificent. Total opulence. Very
> easy to see how the phenomenal opulence of the royals led to the
> revolution in 1917. Just like France, where they took care of Marie
> Antoinette in a similar fashion to the way the Russians took care of
> the Romanov's. It was about a ride of 45 minutes or so getting to
> Catherine's Palace. We left our good watches in the cabin safe,
> rather then wear them in Russia, so times were kind of
> "approximate". I'm thinking we stayed for maybe 2-3 hours at
> Catherine's Palace. Then we got into the bus and drove to
> Peterhof's to see the gardens. The palace isn't anything
> phenomenal, but the gardens and fountains are breathtaking. And the
> water in the fountains is all "naturally" run. No pumps. The water
> comes from holding areas above the level of the fountains, so it
> requires no electricity to run them. The water isn't recycled, so
> it's instead diverted to the gardens on the property.
>
> After Peterhof we drove back into town and visited the Peter and
> Paul fortress and church, where a number of the Romanoff's are
> buried, and the Church of Spilled Blood, where Alexander was
> assassinated. We also visited the Church of St. Isaac. I think
> our guide mentioned that Isaac was the patron saint for one of the
> rulers.
>
> They even took us to a brand new supermarket - kind of a cross
> between Costco and an A&P, where we used the free restrooms. In
> other places they charge US Dollars to use the restrooms.
>
> On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a souvenir place for some
> coffee, vodka, and shopping for matryoshka dolls, lacquer boxes and
> the like. They don't really have the tee-shirt type tourist places
> there. Along the ride, we spotted. again. the Deutchland.
>
> We were gone from about 7:30 am until about 5:00 pm. It was just
> about dinner time when we got back on board the ship.
>
> Tuesday, our Second Day in St. Petersburg
>
> After our first day, we were much more comfortable our second day in
> Russia. Our guide asked us to meet at 8:00 outside the ship.
>
> Our first day in Russia was a bit.. I'll use the term "trepid". We
> weren't quite sure what to expect. We didn't know our guide. We
> didn't know what the country would be like. How things would be
> after all the decades under the hammer of communism. I think we
> were all a bit nervous. A bit anxious.
>
> But by the second day, we were much more relaxed. We really liked
> our guide. And Russia, while unique, wasn't that different from
> other large cities. There are café's along the streets and
> rivers/canals. The architecture reminds me most of Rome. I wasn't
> sure how many pictures I'd take. I wasn't sure if I'd be limited in
> taking pictures. Not sure if there were even things I wanted to
> take pictures of. Well. I think I shot about 600-800 photos of
> Russia alone. The people, particularly the younger ones, are very
> nice and very friendly. All spoke excellent English. All seemed
> very enthusiastic. Sure there were the pick pockets that you need
> to be careful of, and the guys trying to sell you fur hats,
> communist hats filled with pins, books, dolls, etc. But I really
> liked the people once I lost my trepidation. It took about a day to
> do it. maybe if we were there only a day, I wouldn't have come away
> so favorably impressed.
>
> I'm not saying it's a place I'd want to live. I wouldn't mind
> living in a place like either Copenhagen or Stockholm. I don't
> think I'd want to live in St. Petersburg. But it's an area that I
> wouldn't mind visiting for a longer period. particularly the
> Hermitage.
>
> Anyway. back to Day Two.
>
> Since the Hermitage was closed on Monday, we were going to Hermitage
> on Tuesday. We stopped off some quick sightseeing of the city, and
> planned to get to the Hermitage at 9:30. When we arrived, there was
> already a long line at the museum. Our guide called someone on the
> cell phone. and about a minute later we were rushed inside the front
> door, past everyone else waiting.
>
> Since we only had a morning planned for the Hermitage, we focused on
> the major areas and major pieces. We spent time with the
> Rembrandts, the Michelangelo sculpture, the Monet's the Renoirs, the
> Leonardo Da Vinci's, the Picasso's, the Matisse's, Rubens, Rafael,
> Goya, Velazquez. the list goes on and on. I think I could spend a
> week there. The only problem was the museum was so totally packed
> with people. I think there were more people there per room than
> when we went to see the Vermeer exhibit in NYC. Tourism is now the
> biggest thing in St. Petersburg, and the Hermitage is by far the
> biggest draw. Catherine's Palace and the Peterhof Palace are nice.
> but the Hermitage is the Star of the show.
>
> After the Hermitage, we went on a boat ride down the side rivers and
> along the Neva River. It was a lot of fun. people on bridges waved
> and smiled at us. Not like Amsterdam where the totally ignore you
> on a canal boat ride. I think the Russian people are really enjoying
> things these days. Our guide said that things are still very
> corrupt, especially with the current politicians in office.. But 10
> years ago she wouldn't have been able to say something like that.
> She talked about things like the "corruption tax". Like if you
> wanted to buy a house. it costs 60% more. because of all the people
> you needed to pay off. Same with buying a car. During our boat
> ride. again we saw the Deutchland.
>
> After our boat ride, we visited the Yusupov Palace, where Rasputin
> was assassinated. That was a pretty eerie place. They have wax
> figures in the basement where the assassination occurred.
>
> After that, it was off to a place for a last few souvenirs and a sip
> of vodka and back to the ship. We gave Aliana and our driver a nice
> tip from our group, and the driver actually started crying.
>
> Our group exchanged handshakes and hugs with Aliana, and we all took
> a group photo in front of the bus. By 4:30 or so we were back on
> the ship, ready to sail by 6:00 pm.
>
> Wednesday, Tallinn, Estonia
>
> After our two long days in St. Petersburg, we had a short visit to
> Tallinn Estonia, because our next port, Oslo, Norway is a long
> distance away. The sea travel time exceeds what we can do in a
> normal period, so we left Tallinn early on Wednesday and arrive in
> Oslo late on Friday. If you look on a map, it's a long distance to
> cover. We've been in port the last 5 days in a row.
>
> Tallinn, Estonia is one of the Baltic States that is doing
> tremendously well after the fall of the Soviet block. The town has
> an old city area that is simply charming. Very similar, but more
> quaint and charming, than the old city area of Stockholm. Each
> street has pretty colored buildings. There are street café's with
> umbrellas everywhere. Souvenir ships with all kinds of things.
> Even a number of antique ships selling all kinds of metal things
> like wooden handled knives and forks. Tools like grandpa had in his
> basement. Even swords. Many had extensive sword collections for
> sale. And many priced at hundreds or even thousands of $US.
>
> The town area was rather quiet at 9:00 in the morning, but by 11:00,
> it was bustling with thousands of people. all having a great time.
> The locals seem to be relishing in their freedom. They've been
> under Soviet and even Russian domination for so long. One of the
> old churches in town is actually built on the site where a famous
> Estonian was buried. But that's not the whole story. Turns out
> that the Czar had a Russian Church constructed on top of where the
> person was buried. to show that the Russians were in charge!!!
>
> We stopped for a local beer at one of the places under an umbrella.
> It wasn't very good. Not nearly as good as the local beers in
> Denmark or Amsterdam.. which are of course much more famous
> (Carlsberg, Royal, and Heineken).
>
> After our beer, some of the gang wandered back to the ship while a
> few more of us stayed nearly until we sailed (2:00 in the
> afternoon). We stopped at a little shop and had a local dessert -
> strudel with cheese filling and cherries. Really excellent.
>
> I was totally impressed with the charm of Tallinn. Without a doubt,
> the most charming place on the entire cruise. Just a wonderful
> place for a cruise ship visit. Places like Stockholm were so large
> that you felt you didn't see enough in a single day. Tallinn would
> be the kind of place that you didn't need a few days to see. but
> would be a fun place to stop for a day every year or so. So a
> cruise is the ideal way to visit Tallinn. In fact, there were 4
> ships in port with us today - ours as well as the seemingly ever
> present Deutschland, the MSC Lyrica, and the Le Daimant. The
> Deutchland was actually following us almost the whole cruise.
> Everywhere except Copehnagen.
>
> Tomorrow we're still at sea, sailing back up the coast of Denmark.
> And Friday we'll be in our last port - Oslo, Norway. Then it's back
> to Amsterdam, and home.
>
> Friday, Oslo, Norway
>
> With Oslo at the tail end of the cruise, and with only a short stay
> there (1:00 until 7:00 pm), it had all the makings of being
> overshadowed by all the previous ports. Kind of how Bergen Norway
> was a let down after seeing the Geiranger and Olden Fjords.
>
> The sail into Oslo is through a fjord. The Captain told us what
> time to be up on deck. The fjord here was a baby fjord compared to
> the Atlantic coast. Cute, but nothing dramatic like the 3000 foot
> cliffs out of the water by Geiranger. It didn't start out well with
> baby fjords.
>
> But as we sailed into Oslo's harbor there's a gorgeous castle right
> there across the street from where the ship docks. No need for a
> shuttle to the good stuff, like in Copenhagen, or Stockholm.
> Everything is within a 5 minute walk of the ship. The hard rock is
> about 5 blocks from where the ship docks. There are side walk
> café's everywhere. Gorgeous parks. Beautiful plazas. While Tallinn
> was charming. Oslo was charming with Rolex style. Beautiful shops.
> Classier than Tallinn. And much more accessible than Stockholm,
> which is much more spread out.
>
> While St. Petersburg is obviously the reason to book this itinerary,
> and the Hermitage is the Star of the sailing, I think I may have
> actually liked Oslo the best, (discounting Copenhagen, since we
> didn't have an overnight stay like on our Norwegian Fjords sailing
> last year).
>
> Someone in town told one of the people in our group, that because it
> was Friday, everyone was out today. It was a vibrant, small city.
>
> I first walked to the Hard Rock café and got shirts. They didn't
> have any of the traditional white shirts in either large or medium,
> so I got brown shirts in those sizes instead. After getting shirts,
> I sat at one of the street side tables and had a local beer. Then I
> went to a place to get a Norwegian sweater to play golf in during
> the fall and winter. I brought the stuff back to the ship (and
> stopped at the VAT return place before getting on the ship), and
> then went wandering the town and wharf area for the next few hours.
> At 5:45 I started back to the ship to have dinner at 6:00. One of
> the best dinners on board all week. Escargot, mushroom soup, and
> chateaubriand.
>
> Tomorrow we're at sea, and Sunday we fly home.
>
> Saturday, At Sea
>
> The last day on the ship was uneventful. Packing and the like.
>
> Sunday, Disembarkation and Flight Home
>
> For my flight home, I had a 7:30 pm flight from Amsterdam to Newark.
> We were off the ship by 7:00 am, so I checked my luggage at the
> airport, and had the person at the Sheraton where we stayed the week
> before hold my carry on bag. Then I wandered Amsterdam again for
> the day, until I caught the train back to the airport around 4:00 pm
> for my evening flight home.
>
> --Tom
>
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