Live from somewhere in the Baltic -- Magnifica May 10

We all wish for once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Our eleven-day MSC Magnifica cruise of the Baltic capitals began yesterday with one that alone was well worth the price of the cruise. Our 9 p.m. departure became part of Hamburg’s three-day harbor celebration, the city’s birthday.

Instead of simply sailing on the Elbe toward the North Sea, the Magnifica took a victory lap and sailed toward the city center. From Altona we passed fishmarket, Reeperbahn’s sin stretch and glided all the way to Hafencity. That redevelopment project, Germany’s largest, is transforming Hamburg’s abandoned waterfront warehouse district to its new heart. It is work in progress. A new university will soon open there, with a new subway station. So, eventually, will a concert hall, long delayed and scandalously over budget.

All along the river were flag-bedecked and lighted ships participating in the festival, beergardens and carnival rides. The exhibit ships blasted their horns; we responded. None of that compared with what we heard from land, though. From the banks, a series of horn-like steam organs followed our progress, playing “Happy Birthday to You.” It was like the music was being played by the ship’s horn. The song stayed with us as revelers cheered. Amazing!

After Hafencity, the Magnifica turned back. We were old hat now. A few more blasts, a few more cheers. We were on our way. We half-expected fireworks, but none were offered, not that night.

When I planned our three-night precruise stay in Hamburg, we had no idea that it would coincide with the harbor celebration. I simply wanted to revisit Hamburg, a stop in 1964 when I, a budding 20-year-old journalist from Finland, worked my ways on a freighter to spend the summer in New York. (For more, http://www.anteropietila.com).

About Hamburg. It is one of the great cities of the world. With its monumental buildings, canals and lakefront parks, it is an amazing city that works and is willing to try new ideas. Every sidewalk has a bike lane. Buses have dedicated lanes. On one transit bus we even saw shelves full of paperbacks, free to anyone to take. It has its share of abandoned buildings, homeless people, drug addicts, panhandlers, sex peddlers and misery. The graffiti epidemic is widespread and destructive.

In some of the ports we’ll visit, we’ll connect with its Hanseatic past, particularly in Tallinn. Later, Hamburg was a major gateway city not only in the German immigration to the U.S., but also the Eastern European.

Since the Magnifica cruise was a follow-up on our 17-day trans-Atlantic on the MSC Poesia from Fort Lauderdale to Kiel, I decided to cheapcharley our three-night Hamburg interlude.

We stayed at Superbude, a budget hotel in St. Pauli that has gotten good reviews. Nothing extravagant, just pleasantly adequate. While in a somewhat grundgy but regentrifying area, it was perfectlly safe, near plenty of cheap eateries. Just across the street, in fact, was a wonderful fish place. Smoked salmon, mackerel, whitefish . . . Because the hotel was on No. 3 route, connections were frequent and easy.

At the hotel we were surrounded by guests far younger than us. Some perhaps strange but well behaved. The hotel rented out bicycles as well as skateboards. Our room was quiet. It overlooked a courtyard and senior center where we could see old folks dancing. The satellite television lineup, surprisingly, did not offer a single channel in English.

One more thing about Superbode. They gladly store suitcases after your checkout, and have lockers -- as well as safes -- for valuables.

After reading disappointed reviews about hop on/off bus tours, we simply bought the Hamburg Card that entitled us to unlimited public transport. By riding around with or without a specific itinerary in mind, we got a good idea about the city and its nearby suburbs. Although heavily bombed in WWII, much glorious architecture remains. History is everywhere.

One day I was strolling through a residential area near the university. Suddenly I noticed tiny markers embedded in the sidewalks. There were hundreds of them, in front of buildings that no longer existed. I was shaken when I realized that they chronicled the last days of Hamburg’s Jewish community -- how and when each family member was deported, which camps they were taken to, and where and when they were murdered.

On May 9, I overheard two elderly Germans on a transit bus. They were complaining that City Hall was flying festive flags on VE Day in celebration of the Allied victory. Why would the city do that, they wondered?

The next day, when the harbor festival began, we happened to pass City Hall again. No flags. But at noon, the police band struck up “Happy Birthday.” It was an oustanding band, much in demand for engagements at civic events, and plays at City Hall every summer Friday. It played a Michael Jackson medley, a James Bond medley, etc. The only German music was by a Hamburg native, Bert Kempfert, who gave us “Strangers in the Night,” “Danke Schoen” and many other hits. As the band played, promoters were giving away free t-shirts. They advertised a musical version of the Sylvester Stallone classic, Rocky, which is playing in Hamburg. “Soon to be on Broadway,’ the shirts promised in German.

Next: First impressions of the Magnifica and its inmates.

Here is the trans-Atlantic trip report http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1831599&page=3

Joining to Magnifica's next cruise from Amsterdam on 20.5. What is the current wine lists by glass selection on Magnifica?

Today being Mothers’ Day, I took my wife to L’Edera, the main dining room on Deck 5. Waffles with whipped cream sounded delicious. But when our orders came, there was no whipped cream. “We don’t have any whipped cream. Maybe tomorrow,” said the waiter.

Welcome to the MSC Magnifica. The contrast with MSC Poesia, which took us across the Atlantic on a 17-day cruise, is stark. A pattern is forming.

When we left Hamburg, we ordered ginger ale. The waiter, an African woman, had no idea what ginger ale was. We repeated the term three times. She looked confused. Then she said, “We don’t have any.”

The next day, my wife ordered a regular Coke at the gala dinner. “We have no regular,” explained our waiter, of undetermined nationality, offering some nasty Coke Light or Zero instead. It later turned out that regular Pepsi would have been available but that choice was not offered.

These three examples underscore two things about the Magnifica. One, there are supply issues. Two, the service is haphazard due to training issues.

Most of our passengers fall into three nationality groups -- Germans, French and Italians (although the elevators announce decks only in English). Yet at breakfast today our waiter had difficulties in reading the menu or understanding orders in any language. Our German table mates had to stammer in English to make themselves understood, an exercise that took several tries.

When we made our cruise bookings, we asked for a table for two. We got it, except that we are seated alone at a table for six. Our two waiters have made no effort to introduce themselves, or find out who we are. Neither has the cabin attendant.

I’m puzzled as to the meaning of this. Is it that U.S.-formatted lines know it is good for business -- and tips -- for the crew to exhibit some friendliness? Is that too much familiarity for Europeans? Is this a class issue (rather than a racial one in the U.S.)? After all, it was quite common in France certainly until the 1950s for patrons to try to get a restaurant waiter’s attention by snapping fingers and yelling, “******!” (Boy). Ditto for Germany, where a clap of hands reinforced the point.

We have never had a bad cruise, and this is not a bad cruise. But if the crew was better trained, it could be much better -- particularly since the cruise director, in five languages, describes this cruise as “fantastic.” In a way, the haphazardness simplifies matters since there will be no need for discretionary tipping. And since we dine at 5:30 p.m., we can make it into the nightly early show without any effort.

Overall, the Magnifica is a nicely designed ship. Except that the elevators are two narrow and small. And the dining rooms, with their big chairs, is too crammed for strapping Central/Eastern European waiters to negotiate. (I knew there was a rationale for employing smaller-statured Asians, aside from slave wages.)

As to passengers, the buffet experience can be daunting. People keep bumping into another without any rational movement patterns. People block food service areas -- and elevator entrances -- just in order to chat with friends holding trays.

I have not yet worked out why it is that some people have this urgent need to enter a lift/elevator before others have got out! or why others have a need to have to continually press the close door button! Impatience maybe ?

When we made our cruise bookings, we asked for a table for two. We got it, except that we are seated alone at a table for six. Our two waiters have made no effort to introduce themselves, or find out who we are. Neither has the cabin attendant.

 

I’m puzzled as to the meaning of this. Is it that U.S.-formatted lines know it is good for business -- and tips -- for the crew to exhibit some friendliness? Is that too much familiarity for Europeans? Is this a class issue (rather than a racial one in the U.S.)? After all, it was quite common in France certainly until the 1950s for patrons to try to get a restaurant waiter’s attention by snapping fingers and yelling, “******!” (Boy). Ditto for Germany, where a clap of hands reinforced the point.

I thought they'd got the level about right on the Poesia - staff were friendly, but not intrusive. If I needed something (be it a new knife at dinner, or a drink in a lounge) I generally just had to glance around to catch someone's eye. I was glad not to be pestered every 30 seconds like in some more American places. "Is everything OK? How about now? Still OK? Was it OK while I was asking is it OK?"

I'm very curious why cruise critic feels the need to hash out garçon like it's a swear word!

I have not yet worked out why it is that some people have this urgent need to enter a lift/elevator before others have got out! or why others have a need to have to continually press the close door button! Impatience maybe ?

As I observed on the Musica, most people in lifts did not appear to know which floor they were on (announcements only in English doesn't help them), which floor they were going to and in some cases they were so engrossed in conversation didn't seem to know that they were in a lift at all until the doors opened. So if you are in the position of waiting for a lift to arrive, the doors open to reveal stunned and shocked occupants turn around to stare at you as if you were rudely interrupting them.

After a couple of occasions early on when I stood aside waiting for the confused occupants to decide whether they wished to get out, and the doors closing with none of us crossing the 'threshold', my strategy changed to involve an element of selfishness. So yes, there were occasions that I got in the lift before some hesitant occupants got out. This was not born of rudeness, merely sensible practicality.

Oh and pushing the close doors button - I do that too. I found that many people have such a hard time deciding/remembering which floor they want they press several buttons in the process. If this is repeated, as it usually is, you end up with the lift stopping on nearly every floor, if not every floor. Pressing the close doors buttons haves the journey time!

Using a lift is like sex; unless each person acts a little selfishly, no one is satisfied.

I got up real early this morning, not wanting to miss any of the scenery of the Stockholm archipelago. For me, a native of Finland whose first “foreign” trip was to Stockholm, this was a sentimental journey. (Finland was part of Sweden until 1807, when a war ended badly and the territory shifted to Russian hands).

Those who have followed my reporting know that I am not particular about cabin categories. An inside is often fine by me, as long as it is large and well-situated. However, on the Baltic I would strongly encourage getting a balcony cabin.

In Hamburg, our portside cabin overlooked the Elbe, giving us a front-row seat on an amazing parade of ships constantly coming and going. All kinds of varieties, from a car carrier to a tall ship. Similarly, I could watch the passing Stockholm archipelago scenery from my bed the moment I woke up.

If you can spare $20 pp., a harbor hop on/off sightseeing boat is your best bet in maximizing a short stay in Stockholm, particularly if your ship ties up at the Viking terminal, as ours did. The all-day ticket allows you unlimited travel on the 1.5-hour circuit that visits landing sites accessible to most important tourist destinations.

We used http://www.royalsightseeing.com whose boats have restrooms, a drinks service and free wi-fi.

On one boat the narration was in Swedish and English, on another in German and English. The problem was the Engish narrator’s enunciation. She pronounced all the destinations and names -- such as the actress Ingrid Bergman and the film director Ingmar Bergman -- in the singsong Swedish fashion, which could make comprehension difficult. That was not the case with the German narration.

On all of our close to 20 cruises -- or more than that since many are B2Bs -- we have only taken a ship’s tour once. That was on the Costa Victoria in Saigon and it was money well spent. MSC Magnifica offers an intriguing alternative that is an option well worth considering: bicycle tours.

Here is the menu on our itinerary:

Stockholm -- 30 km; duration 6 hours; cost 59 euro. Route: Lake Malar, the imposing 19th century architecture Strand; Djurgarden, Vasa Museum, Pavilion Prinz Eugen.

Tallinn -- 30 km; 4.5 hours; 49 euro.

Itinerary: The Tallinn hill and its attractions, including Dicke Margarete, Lutheran Cathedral, Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the song festival area; Olympic harbor.

St. Petersburg -- 5 km; 8 hours; 89 euros.

Royal stables, Kolonistky Park and its attractions; several more parks, etc.

Copenhage --3 km; 4.5 hours, 49 euros.

Royal castle; Tivoli gardens, various other castles, Nyhavn.

Forgot to report that during our approach to Stockholm, the new Viking Grace passed us. It is a novel passsenger/car ferry powered by liquefied natural gas. It runs between Stockholm and Finland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Viking_Grace

Sorry to hear that service has been bad. Hopefully we don't end up being served by the individuals you mentioned on your post.

Have to ask - I hope you gave feedback about the service?

Yes, also sorry to hear that the service has been less than stellar on this ship. I do hope it is not like that for all non US(based) sailings.

Glad you are still enjoying your trip. You have a good attitude about it and I hope it is one that I can maintain as well. We are going on our first MSC cruise next week and I am quite unsure about it, but trying as best as I can to have a positive attitude.

Thank you very much for your daily updates from the Baltic Sea. Must be a great cruise despite some minor service issues onboard. I hope it will improve for you all. The Baltic Sea is wonderful and I love that area. The Stockholm Archipelago is stunning, and the ferry traffic on the Stockholm-Turku and Helsinki lines as well as Tallinn is fascinating. In many ways did the ferries of Viking Line and Silja Line set a new standard for cruiseships and ferries in the 80's and 90's.

Would love to sail on the new Viking Grace. :)

Enjoy your Magnifica cruise:)

In many ways did the ferries of Viking Line and Silja Line set a new standard for cruiseships and ferries in the 80's and 90's.

What about DFDS Seaways? I am pondering of using it.

One of the great pleasures -- luxuries, really -- of Baltic cruising is that most ships tie up within easy walking distance of city centers. This was true in Hamburg (which isn’t even in the Baltic). Although we were parked in Altona, public transit whisked us to City Hall in minutes. This was true in Stockholm as well, where we took a water taxi right from the pier. And today in Tallinn we sailed right into the heart of Estonia’s beautiful capital.

Tallinn is ideal for a short cruise stop. Its walled-in old town is well preserved, reflecting its heritage as a Hanseatic league trading port. As for shopping, Tallinn today has better luxury shopping than Helsinki.Which may be surprising because until 1991 Estonia was part of the crumbling Soviet Union.

Today’s Estonia is not without problems; what country isn’t. But it is by far the most successful of the former Soviet republics. And after centuries of turbulent history that subjected it to Danish, German and Russian domination, it is now charting a course as a forward-looking independent nation. Much to the irritation of its eastern neighbor, Russia, Estonia is part of the NATO; it is in the European Union. Estonia’s biggest problem is an ethnic one. It’s Estonian population is a small one (1.4 million) and it is not reproducing itself. And there is much lingering animosity between Estonian speakers and the former ruling class of minorities whose loyalties continue to be to Moscow, or so Estonians suspect.

All this produced a problem for me. Today started as a sunny but chilly day. I wanted to wear a windbreaker. But while the colors were right -- the blue and black of the Estonian flag -- the emblem and name of the Pingvins were printed on the windbreaker (bought at a U.S. flea market; assembled in Costa Rica of U.S. components, according to the label). And because the Pingvins ice hockey team is part of the Russian Army sport club, the windbreaker, in addition to the logo in Russian alphabets, also had a badge with the old hammer and sickle inside a red star. Would I be beaten up in Tallinn as an enemy agent?

Life is not for sissies. I’m a trained killer. I decided to wear the windbreaker.

x x x

When Estonia declared independence from the unraveling Soviet Union, it hired a retired U.S. Army colonel of Estonian descent to head its military. Nearly simultaneously, Toomas Ilves was elected president. I had in been in touch with Ilves, when the New Jersey resident had been an analyst for Radio Free Europe, the U.S. government funded station that was originally created by the CIA. Later, I shook his hand when he became Estonia’s ambassador in Washington.

One of the first decisions this new government took was to require that each Estonian -- man, woman and child -- acquire an email address. There were not that many computers in the country in those days, but Estonia wanted to be on the cutting edge. Internet was installed in all libraries and many other public places. Today, Estonia is at the cutting edge of e-government, developing new ways of governing in our digital age.

In fact, technology enabled Estonia to cut its ties to Moscow’s satraps. Thanks to the proximity to Finland, Tallinn was with an easy reach of Finland’s television, including its commercial channel. So when “Dallas” was on, everyone in Tallinn was watching it. Because the Estonian language is a cousin of Finnish, people could read the subtitles. Thus television prevented Estonia from being hermetically sealed unlike other Soviet republics.

They also could see and understand the advertising of products that seemed otherwordly in shortage-prone Soviet Union. This created a political problem for the Estonian Communist Party which launched an offensive to counter “American falsehoods” from Finland.

Today, more than 30 vessels every day connect the 80-mile distance between Helsinki and Tallinn. In communist times there was hardly any direct traffic. Whatever took place was routed through Leningrad.

By the time the Soviet Union began unraveling, a far more important global technology had been introduced, largely in Finland. Although Nokia would become the big name, several other Finnish manufacturers had pioneered handheld cellular phones. When Finland built its first cellular networks, they covered northern Estonia. This may or may not have been by design.

In any case, the budding Estonian independence movement was built on the basis of clandestinely distributed cell phones that could bypass the monitoring of the Soviet landline system.

x x x

We took a hop on/hop off tour of Tallinn today. We bought our all-day tickets for 10 euros pp.

During the Soviet times, Tallinn had no zoning. Ratty industrial buildings were right next to ratty apartment buildings in the center of the city. Much of that has been cleaned by now. Department stores, offices and even discos now occupy those of the industrial buildings that have not been demolished. New near-skyscrapers have been built.

Tallinn is a charming city to visit. No one even commented on my windbreaker.

Yes, I know: Leningrad reverted back to its original name, St. Petersburg, more than two decades ago. So why is it that the first sign that greets an incoming cruise ship at the port declares in huge steel letters: Leningrad?

Because Piter, as Russia’s second city is commonly known among residents, happens to be located in Leningrad oblast, a province-like administrative district.

This is only one of the oddities a visitor encounters in Piter.

When we began planning this trip, one of the early decisions concerned the visa. It is expensive because everything the Putin government does is based on reciprocity. If Americans want to charge Russians seeking a visa an arm and a leg, then Russians will tat for tit, so to speak. If Americans outsource the processing of visa applications, then Russians will do the same.

At the time we mulled over this, some posters on CC wondered why we, former five-year residents of Moscow capable of speaking some rusty Russian, would even consider buying package excursions instead of individual visas that would have given us a free reign in Piter.

Well, despite the stringent limitations of a group visa, it was more cost-effective because it included guided tours. We had been to Leningrad several times but never really as tourists. Yesterday we were happy that we arranged for two days of guided tours. Such tours, sold either by a cruise line or several commercial companies, enable visitors to enter Russia and not only cool their heels at a pitiful duty-free store between the ship and border controls.

We were happy for two prime reasons. One: While the British cruise ship, Black Watch, was tied up near the Hermitage along the Neva embankment, the MSC Magnifica (and P&O’s Arcadia) had been directed to the new cruise terminal far from the center. Sure, we could have negotiated trips back and forth with the taxi mafia, but it also turned out that one of the three Neva bridges has been closed for reconstruction. As a result, the whole city is a holy traffic mess. We were delighted to let TJ Tours’s driver handle the headache.

Nothing is perfect. We realized that when we attempted to get maybe $20 worth of Russian rubles for spending money . One would think that a souvenir shop could exchange some money. But they are not authorized to do it. The ship also had no rubles. Instead, we would have to go to an ATM machine. Certain that various handling fees would exceed the amount we wanted to withdraw, we simply said ladna. It’s a Russian term of resignation that means yes or no, depending on the context. What part of nyet do you not understand?

x x x

I am in the middle of reading “The Girl Who Played with Fire,” the final installment of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy. Although the English translation is so bad that i just ordered a Swedish original from Amazon -- because the price was lower than what the book would cost in Sweden or Finland -- the story is gripping. As a result i haven’t slept much, a situation that has been aggravated by a series of time changes that have cut into the length of our nights. So when 5 a.m. came rolling by this morning, I was wide awake and opened the balcony curtains.

Lo and behold, I did that just in time to see something I had always wanted to see: The floodwall system that has been constructed far out in the gulf of Finland to protect St. Petersburg from being inundated by water. The system effectively runs from west of Peterhoff to the opposite shore and will be put into use in emergencies.. It is well lit, surprisingly attractive and looks a bit like an airport runway.

The second attraction that we passed early in the morning was Kronshtadt, the historic naval base. Wikipedia it, if your understanding of Russian history doesn’t explain my fascination.

The lack of sleep took its toll later in the day that started chilly and then turned into mild sunshine charmer. After visiting the stunning Peterhoff and Tsarskoye Selo in Pushkin, I was totally drained when our group returned to the Magnifica past 5 p.m.

I had a lot of admiration for some fellow travelers who wasted no time in putting on glad rags so that they would look presentable tonight at the opera. Swan Lake. As someone once said: Most men deny it, but everyone likes Tchaikovsky, sweet wine and saftig women.

There were six big cruise ships today at St. Petersburg’s new cruise terminal. Two were MSC (Magnifica, Musica). Clearly, Russia’s second city is a growing destination. And why not? There is unequaled beauty and history here. New hotels are being built. Among them are new five-stars as well as conversions of old apartment buildings into hostelries catering to the bottom rungs of the domestic market. Dormitories are also offered, as are the overnight rentals of private rooms.

It looks like the whole city is a huge construction site. Landmarks allowed to deteriorate under the seven decades of communist rule are being reconstructed. Many signature sites are partially under protective wraps, including a wing of the Winter Palace and the tower of the Peter and Paul Fortress. With one of the three Neva bridges closed for reconstruction the traffic is an around-the-clock nightmare.

The Magnifica’s scheduled 7 p.m. departure was delayed for more than 90 minutes. Too many passengers were missing; they were stranded in traffic jams. Beware.

Ours was a great day, a validation of the wisdom of choosing excursions over individual visas. The day was sunny and so warm that a few busty devushkas engaged in a favorite pastime -- topless sunbathing on the lawns of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Our group met at 7:15 a.m.because we wanted to make it to the Hermitage before the official opening. Thanks to this strategy used by TJ Travel, we saw halls of Old Masters without any other visitors whatsoever. By the time we made it to the impressionists, mobs were forming downstairs.

A major change has taken place at the ever-more-popular Hermitage. It has abolished a tradition of Soviet-era museums (still in use at Tsarskoye Selo in Pushkin) that called for protective slippers to be used by visitors. They proved to be a headache; it was easier to spend more money on the care of the floors than administer thousands of slippers.

The two-day tour package we purchased included one lunch; yesterday’s was on our own. But TJ’s clever guide, Maria, recognized that few if any in our group of a dozen had rubles. So she suggested that we go to a restaurant that accepted credit cards. Her idea was warmly endorsed. Except that when our van stopped between an Irish pub and an Indian restaurant -- today’s St. Petersburg is not your grandfather’s Leningrad -- some in the group rebelled. “Please wait, it’s not going to be a Tandoori restaurant,” she pledged.

Instead she took us to “Koleso” (The Wagon Wheel). Some ordered beef stroganoff. My wife ordered chicken Kiev despite my warning that in the Soviet times that dish had proven to be unappetizingly greasy. I chose pelmeny, Siberian ravioli. Everything turned out to be quite tasty. Since no one quite knew what the exchange rate was, we’ll find out the cost of the meals when our credit card statements arrive.

This is one of the peculiarites of bypassing the Russian visa requirement by taking an authorized excursion. There are really no opportunities for spending Russian money so few passengers exchange any.

We traveled in a Mercedes van. TJ Travel provided free water. The bottles had a drawing -- a flying dove -- on labels. The labels also contained a brand name I had never hear: Svyatoi istochnik (holy source). The seal of the Russian Orthodox patriarch vouched for the water’s purity.

I asked our guide, Maria, about all this. “It’s just a brand,” she said. I talked to my wife about how the patriarch’s seal could be turned into a potent marketing tool and profit center, akin to the Jewish symbol K or U certification. “Shut up,” she commanded.

It’s an attitude like that that will keep us from ever from becoming rich.

Hi, I'm enjoying hearing about your ports. I haven't travelled to them (except Hamburg) yet and wish to.

We disembarked Magnifica in Amsterdam on May 9th so wasn't surprised by any of your comments.

We too had supply issues amongst other problems. I gave up asking staff where things were. Just carry your map.

If you like chocolate go to Blue Lagoon and have a Chocolate Brownie Sundae. YUMMO!! And the buffalo wings aren't bad either.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

It is not often that a vacation cruise includes a spy fantasy. But some two hours after the MSC Magnifica departed St. Petersburg, many of the passengers turned into James and Jane Bond wannabes. They crowded the open areas of upper decks to get a good look at Kronshtadt, Russia’s historic fcrtress in the middle of the Gulf of Finland. We saw what the authorities wanted us to see -- a few aging submarines, submarine chasers and assorted other vessels. With everyone taking photos, the Magnifica sparkled like a firecracker.

This key naval base dates back to the times of Peter the Great. As the empire grew, so did the importance of Kronshtadt. During the Bolshevik revolution, a turning point came when the sailors of Kronshtadt changed sides from the provisional government to communists, arresting most officers and shooting them on the spot. During World War II, as Hitler’s forced encircled Leningrad, Kronshtadt stayed in Soviet hands.

Anyone wanting accurate information about the current state of affairs may consult Internet and public satellite photos. I don’t have enough Internet minutes to do that search from the ship. Instead I base much of what I say on memory.

I was stationed in Moscow as a newspaper correspondent in the 1980s, when the Soviet Union increased the importance of Kronshtadt further by turning it into the midpoint of a huge sea wall that stretches from the southern bank of the Gulf of Finland to the north shore. I don’t know how many miles that distance is but is is considerable.

Going to St. Petersburg we passed the sea wall during the darkness of night. I said it was well lit and looked a bit like an airport runway. That’s because, it turned out in daylight, an expressway runs in the middle of the seawall. Since this is not only a military area but also Russia’s border, not just anyone can travel on it. If naval guards don’t check drivers for authorization, the green-hatted border guards do. Smert spionom!

At Kronshtadt, there is a gap in the seawall. The expressway visibly goes into an underwater tunnel on both sides of the gap. Is it 100 feet, or more? I don’t know. But it is wide enough to allow ships to go through. And narrow enough so that underwater gates can be raised to block the gap if the situation warrants.

When the seawall was constructed, Soviet newspapers reported that it was needed to prevent what then was called Leningrad from being flooded. But if the tidal activity of the Baltic Gulf can be halted, so can hostile ships.

Any cruise to St. Petersburg passes both Kronshtadt and the seawall. You just have to know what you are seeing.

What about DFDS Seaways? I am pondering of using it.

They are also very good and especially the cruiseferry line between Oslo and Copenhagen. Both the ships on this line are very similar in size and onboard quality that you will find on the Viking and TallinkSilja line in the Baltic Sea.

We are in Copenhagen today, approaching the end of our Baltic cruise. One overnight and Amsterdam, then onto Hamburg, and it will be over. Time to sum up.

I seriously think that as a cruise line MSC suffers from a bipolar disorder.

Our 17-day voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Kiel, Germany, was plagued by nasty storms. But the Poesia was the cleanest ship we have ever encountered. Everything worked. And because it was repositioning from the U.S. market, certain creature comforts were offered that American cruisers demand: free water in restaurant, coffee and tea automatically served at the end of the dinner. There was nothing opulent about the Poesia but ours was a nice balcony experience for very little money. Total cost $1,300 pp, including taxes and fees but not gratuities.

A reality shock awaited us when we started an eleven-day follow-up cruise on the Magnicia to the Baltic. The price was comparable, about $1,300 for a balcony cabin. Our cabin was pleasant, the ship reasonable clean but it was run in a haphazard and disorderly manner. As North Americans, MSC extended a courtesy that was not offered to European passengers: one free bottle of water each day. But the ship hadn o regular Coke, no ginger ale. Hello? Nickeling and diming all the way. No coffee or tea at the end of dinner, not even for money. “You have to get it from the bar,” we were told.

Is this important? I think it is. If a cruise ship on a consistent basis cannot provide English breakfast or Earl Gray tea at breakast in the buffet, there is something seriously wrong. Yes they were teas, but only havenly flavors, camomille, blueberry and so on.

We tried the MDR for breakfast a couple times. He had beg and pray to get any orange juice. No whipped cream for waffles one morning. This is amateur hour.

The Magnifica is an exercise in studied disorganization. For example, in the buffet the coffee and hot water machine is geographically separated from the ice and water machine. Nothing wrong with that. But why is it that while milk must be obtained at the coffee machine, tea bags, such as are offered, are located at the ice machine. The result: Two choke points, instead of one.

Costa is an expert in this kind of nonsense.

There are only so many coffee machines to serve all the passengers. It gets worse. On several days, the nearest coffee machine had no cups. No cups! (One day some styrofoam cups were available). Overall, this seems to be an area where MSC doesn’t want to spend money. For instance, plastic water glasses come in all kinds of mangled shapes due to extreme high-temperature washing and the line’s refusal to buy new glasses.

I can’t remember any problems with the Poesia elevators, although they are smaller and narrower than lifts on U.S.-format lines. But elevators are a major problem on the Magnifica. The up-and-down arrow signage and chime are so inadequate that people keep missing elevators. They are usually overcroweded. There is lots of piushing and shoving because there is only one control panel for floor buttons.

The only TV channel in English is BBC. For 8 euros a flick you can order movies. At that price, porno becomes attractive.

As to the Magnifica’s fellow passengers, I am glad to get rid of them. A certain nationality -- the sons and daughters of Mussolini -- are particularly obnoxious. In St. Petersburg, one bovine specimen, with the cooperation of her friends, jumped from one passport line to ahead of us. I was raving mad, but decided that any argument might escalate to the point that Russian authorities would become involved. Having lived in Moscow for five years, I decided not to take the risk. So I just fumed inside.

In one area both the Poesia and the Magnifica get high marks. Unlike the Costa Victoria reception desk, MSC’s solved problems in efficient and professional manner.

Similarly, particularly the Poesia was wonderfully maintained. Even the Magnifica outshone P&O’s Arcadia, a regular rust bucket with nasty stains on the hull. (We were parked next to one another in Tallinn).

Overall, we got what we wanted on MSC -- a cheap cruise of interesting destinations. But now that we know what MSC is all about, we will not be rushing back.

Barante ... It has been a pleasure reading both of the threads as you have wound your way to various destinations, after Poesia it is such a shame that the Magnifica has let you down to the point that you will no longer cruise with MSC.

My belief is that some of what happens is down to particular Captains and how they run the ship and treat their staff!

We have been lucky enough to sail twice with the same Captain and Staff Captain on the Ruby Princess one from England and the latter from Ireland,on both occasions there was never a problem with the staff or the ship which was New at the time.

We did however hear from other passengers that on other occasions they had traveled on the same ship with a different Captain and Staff Captain but with many of the same crew and there had been a totaly different feeling around the ship and at times you cut cut the tension with a knife!

Maybe that could be one of the issues with MSC after all 90% plus of their Officers come from their Cargo fleet.

It turns out that some of the information about Kronshtadt was outdated. This thread will set the record straight.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1846119

I see that there is another MSC ship on the Webcam in Copenhagen with you today.

I see that there is another MSC ship on the Webcam in Copenhagen with you today.

If you have noticed, he never replies. He may not be real.

If you have noticed, he never replies. He may not be real.

???:confused:

Overall, we got what we wanted on MSC -- a cheap cruise of interesting destinations. But now that we know what MSC is all about, we will not be rushing back.

If you have noticed, he never replies. He may not be real.

barante

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Join Date: Nov 2002

Location: Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.

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