I have just come back from my one week Baltic Cruise with Regent on Seven Seas Voyager. Considering the wealth of information I found for this trip on this forum, I think it is only fair that I contribute my own experience for others to benefit. This review is quite extensive, so I am splitting into different parts dealing with my experience pre cruise, on board, ports / shore excursions and post cruise. To put my experience into context, I was travelling with my parents who both turned 60 this year with my mother having limited mobility i.e. she can walk unaided for short periods at a slow pace but is not wheelchair bound in her day-to-day life.
Pre cruise
I had researched different cruise lines prior to booking with Regent. The reason I chose Regent was I quite liked the itinerary as it has only 1 sea day. Plus the fact that the fare included the shore excursions was a bonus. Lastly, I wanted a suite with a balcony and when I took into account the cost of the suite with the shore excursions, gratuities, drinks, air fares and port transfers, Regent’s cost was good value for money. If you are likely to do private shore excursions and/or port transfers and are happy to take a smaller cabin without a balcony, then I wouldn’t recommend Regent.
Booking with Regent via my travel agent was a smooth process. I could access my booking on the Regent website within a couple of days with all the information on the suite, air travel and shore excursions on offer being available. Regent sent me a booklet with the shore excursions along with their schedules in order for me to decide which shore excursions to choose. The booking for shore excursions opened promptly 6 months before the sail date and I was able to choose the excursions of my choice. I had a few queries regarding the shore excursions which were promptly answered by the Destination Services that helped in choosing excursions that were appropriate for us.
We are vegetarians and I was highly concerned about the vegetarian food that would be available at the restaurants. I sent a request via my travel agent to Regent notifying them of our dietary preferences which was promptly acknowledged. I didn’t book any of the dining venues for which reservations were needed as we intended to dine at La Veranda, Compass Rose and Setti Mare for which no reservations were needed.
As mentioned before, my mother has difficulty walking for long distances and I enquired with Regent if they could arrange for a wheelchair (that I was willing to pay additional charges for) but they categorically refused as it was not their policy to do so. I looked at various websites online from where I could hire a wheelchair for my trip and have it delivered to the ship but I couldn’t find a website that would do so for the itinerary I had chosen (the ones I spoke to could do only US and UK ports for some reason). I discussed with my mother and amended a couple of shore excursions to those we thought she could manage.
Embarkation
At the time of booking, I was given a choice of a land programme that involved arriving in Copenhagen the day before the ship was due to sail with accommodation in a 5 star hotel. As we had been to Copenhagen before, we decided to land in Copenhagen on the day of embarkation which reduced our overall fare by £300 per person. Regent suggested we take an early flight with British Airways from London arriving in Copenhagen at 0930. Our flight landed on time and Regent’s representative was waiting for us after Immigration. We collected our bags promptly and were escorted to the taxi rank for our transfer to the port. Seven Seas Voyager docks at the Langeline Pier which is about 30 minutes from Copenhagen airport during off peak hours. We were at the docks by 1100 but Regent hadn’t started the embarkation process yet. So we dropped off our bags and walked along the pier into the centre of town. We were back at the ship by 1400 and promptly embarked. After passing security, we headed to the Constellation Theatre where we checked in. Please note that each member of your party needs to be present at check in. After collecting our room keys, we headed up to la veranda where a buffet lunch was being served. It was busy but we got a table promptly on arrival. We headed to our suite where we found a bottle of champagne ready for us with our bags which was a pleasant surprise.
Onboard
Rooms: Before going through the ports and shore excursions, here is a short summary of what to expect on Seven Seas Voyager. We were in a category F room. The pictures on the Regent website are a fairly accurate representation of the room that we were in. The room was comfortably sized with a walk in closet, balcony and a bathroom with a bath and a separate shower. The fridge was well stocked and the closet was big enough with a locker for us to unpack our clothes and empty our bags. The rooms do not have an ironing board and iron. However, they are available in the laundrette.
Communal Areas: Because the rooms are well sized, I found the communal areas not very crowded which was great. The pool deck and jogging track are great. I particularly enjoyed having a drink at the Horizon Lounge and reading the newspapers in the Library. The casino and the discotheque didn’t look very popular though.
Restaurants: As mentioned before, due to our dietary preferences, we were restricted to dining at La veranda, Compass Rose and Setti Mare. The lunch buffet at La Veranda was ok. We found the vegetarian selection there for both breakfast and lunch strictly OK. We decided not to dine at Setti Mare as again the vegetarian selection wasn’t too interesting for us. On the first night, we spoke to the hostess at Compass Rose about our predicament and she arranged for us to be served a vegetarian meal of our choice prepared to our liking which was over and beyond our expectations. The food was excellent and we couldn’t be more grateful to the staff and the chefs at Compass Rose for accommodating our needs.
Room Service: We ordered a snack from the Room Service a couple of days. The Room Service selection is pretty good. However, it does take ages for food to be delivered.
Entertainment: We found the entertainment on the Voyager to be top notch. The entertainment programme each evening was excellent with the Bond Night and Le Cirque being the highlights. I highly recommend visiting (or viewing on TV) the enrichment lectures. The presenter of these lectures on our cruise was excellent and her presentations onScandinavia and Russian History provided us with a great insight to the ports we were visiting. I was disappointed with the TV programming with nothing of interest to watch. Also, the casino was generally dead on most nights which wasn’t surprising as I guess most people were tired after a long day of sight seeing.
Shopping: We had a reasonable amount of onboard credit when we booked our cruise some of which we used for shopping on board. My mother purchased some jewellery which she quite liked. The only word of caution is that as one would expect, things on board cost a lot more. My mother purchased a Russian nesting doll set in St Petersburg at a significantly lower price (I guess some of this is down to the quality of goods offered).
Staff: The staff onboard are excellent across all sections of the ship. Everyone greets you with a warm smile and makes you feel welcome on board the ship.
Ports / Shore Excursions:
Copenhagen: As mentioned in the Embarkation section, we decided to head into Copenhagen from the pier. The walk into town is along the pier and it passes by the Little Mermaid which is about 15 mins from where the Voyager docks. We walked another 25 mins to get to Nyhavn by which time my mother was very tired. In hindsight, we should have chosen the hop on hop off bus which could be boarded right opposite where the ship was. Do note that there are two bus companies that offer this ride but only one has free wifi on board. We had some ice cream in Nyhavn and decided to take a 1 hour boat trip around Copenhagen which cost around €10 per person. The boat ride was open top and took us around Christianshavn, Christianborg Palace (where the Danish Parliament sits), Amalienborg Palace (where the Queen resides), the National Library, the Opera House amongst other major sites in Copenhagen. If you are willing to skip visiting Tivoli Gardens, Rosenborg Palace and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek then I believe the boat trip is a great way to see Copenhagen in a limited space of time. After the boat ride, we decided to take a taxi back to the port which cost us ~ €10. Surprisingly, the boat company, the ice cream vendor and the taxi driver – all accepted Euros from us. The only downside is that any change is returned in Danish Kroner. We really enjoyed our brief time in Copenhagen and the views of Copenhagen from the pool deck as the ship sails out are breathtaking.
Warnemunde: This was the second port on the cruise and like everyone else we were debating whether the 3 hour bus ride to Berlin is worth it. Whilst I had been to Berlin before and loved the city, my parents hadn’t been and were really keen on visiting it. Regent offer 4 different excursions here of which one is Berlin on your own which is free and the others that are to be paid for. We decided to go for the Streets and Canals of Berlin tour. The itinerary covers highlights of East and West Berlin including panoramic sightseeing around the Victory Column, Tiergarten, Gendarmenmarkt (photo stop), East Side Gallery (photo stop), Alexanderplatz, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamerplatz (lunch break on your own), Schloss Charlottenburg (photo stop), Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate (photo stop), Unter den Linden and a boat trip that passes by the Reichstag, Hauptbahnoff, German Chancellor’s residence and Museum Island. After the tour and before returning to Warnemunde, we had an hour’s free time to do shopping at KaDeWe which is continental Europe’s biggest departmental store supposedly. The guide on this tour was excellent and her commentary was highly informative. The tour is well timed and one gets a great overview of the city. The boat trip was interesting and gives a different perspective to the city. Also, the coach stops on the drive to and from Berlin for comfort stops where Regent pay for you to use the bathrooms which are very clean. We had a lovely guy escort us on the bus who grew up in Warnemunde and shared some of his childhood experiences of growing up in East Germany. Berlin is the iconic city of the Cold War and to miss it on this itinerary would have been a shame. The bus ride is long and boring but completely worth it if you have never been or are unlikely to make a separate trip to Berlin, especially as we had a sea day the following day with plenty of time to relax and get ready for the following ports. Also, do note that if you have on-board credit from Regent, it can be used to pay for the Regent choice shore excursions. However, you will need to pay for them upfront at the time of selecting the shore excursions and go to the Destination Services to cancel the original booking, claim a refund and use the on-board credit to purchase the same excursion again. If the excursion is waitlisted you may find that you have been bumped down in the waitlist. So always check prior to cancelling that the excursion is not waitlisted
Tallinn: Tallinn is a lovely city, best explored on foot. The port is about a good 30 min walk from the Old (Lower) Town. In addition to the shore excursions, Regent also put on shuttles to and from the Old Town. The shuttles do not run at the same time intervals but on an average, run every 30-45 mins with a gap around noon. Amongst the excursions available, we decided to go for the Upper Town and Rocca Al Mare excursion. The reason for choosing this over the more popular Old Town and Concert excursion was that the Old Town tour involved walking on uneven cobbled stone paths which my mother wouldn't be able to cope with. Also the Old Town tour didn't cover the Upper Town which one has to visit to take in the iconic panoramic Old Town skyline views from the viewing points. Rocca Al Mare was pleasant surprise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our tour was running behind schedule, so the guide had to rush us back to the ship instead of dropping those of us who was wanted to be dropped off in the Old Town. We headed to La Veranda for a quick lunch and my father and I took the shuttle into the Old Town. We had done our research online and printed off the very popular Rick Steeves' walking tour which was very valuable in making our way around the Old Town. We spent about 90 minutes in the Old Town and walked back to the ship instead of taking the shuttle. Tallinn has a fairy tale like quality to it and can easily be explored in half a day. It is extremely manageable to get around it on your own. Destination Services onboard provide a free map of the city which is very handy. Also, the highlight of this city has to be our fabulous guide who was absolutely hilarious!
St Petersburg: St Petersburg is a lovely city and exceeded every expectation we had. Identifying the excursions for this port involves careful planning and lots of compromises as it is just not possible to do all the major highlights of the city. We knew that we wanted to visit all of the three major sights - the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace and Peterhof. However, Regent's free excursions are organised such that one can only do two of the three highlights in two days. An alternative is to do the Regent Choice excursion of the Grand Imperial Evening of the Tsars that goes to Catherine's Palace in the evening of the first day in St Petersburg allowing one to do the Hermitage and Peterhof in the morning of the other days. Also, Regent's online booking system does not allow you to select excursions that commence less than 90 minutes before the excursion you have already booked concludes. However, I got in touch with Regent if they could let me book excursions that had a 60 minute gap between them. Regent replied that they could book these excursions for me provided that they won't be liable for us missing any excursions should the first tour not return on time which I thought was fair of them to say. Following this discussion, my 2-day itinerary included doing the free Hermitage excursion followed by the free Yusupov Palace and Canal Cruise followed by the paid for Grand Imperial Evening of the Tsars on Day 1 and the free Peterhof Palace and free Cathedrals of St Petersburg excursions on Day 2. I checked with Regent if their local tour operator in St Petersburg could arrange for a wheelchair for my mother in the Hermitage and Catherine's Palace (which I had researched and knew had wheelchair access). However, they again refused and I knew for certain my mother would be unable to handle these excursions. I, therefore, cancelled all my excursions with Regent on Day 1 and organised a private tour for the 3 of us with SPB Tours. I contacted all the major tour operators and sought a quote from them for a 1 day itinerary with my wish list of places to visit. SPB were the most accommodative and marginally cheaper than the other tour operators. I worked with them to come up with the itinerary that included a sightseeing tour of the City (1 hour) , Catherine's Palace (90 min), Canal Cruise (1 hour), the Hermitage (2 hours), Yusupov Palace (1 hour) and Peter and Paul Cathedral (1 hour) with wheelchair for my mother. In hindsight, this was perhaps the best decision I made on this trip as a) we got to "visit" a lot more places than I would have otherwise and b) we got to "see" the places we visited. Seriously, Catherine's Palace and the Hermitage were swamped with different cruise line tours and I seriously wonder how anyone "sees" anything on these trips with hordes of people milling around you. Due to the group comprising just 3 of us, our guide was able to weave us through the crowds swiftly. So here's a low down of what we saw and thought of each place:
City Sightseeing Tour: I had discussed with guide that we were visiting the cathedrals the followig day, so she organised for us to visit the beautiful St Nicholas' Cathedral in the morning and a photo stop in front of St Isaac's Cathedral and a stroll on the Nevsky Prospect in the one hour we had.
Catherine's Palace: All three of us absolutely loved the interiors of the palace which have been painfully restored since WWII. I wouldn't suggest missing out on Catherine's Palace for the world with the Ball room and Amber room being the highlights. Do bear in mind though the queues here are horrendous and the palace does have wheelchair access.
Canal Cruise: Compared to some of the other boat trips we did on this trip, this was perhaps the most lacklustre. However, you do get to see the impressive architecture of the City along the Neva River. In hindsight, I might have dropped this excursion to spend more time at the Hermitage.
The Hermitage: Again, all three of us absolutely loved the Hermitage. Both the venue and the art collection are par excellence. At times, one wonders what is more beautiful - the piece of art on display or the room in which it is displayed. Our brief tour here covered the grand stair case, the Peacock clock, the Throne Room and art by Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Monnet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezzane, Matisse and Picasso. Again, we had done our research online and had discussed our interests with SPB tours beforehand to decide what could be seen in our brief time at the Hermitage. Again, please do note that the Hermitage Museum has wheelchair access.
Yusupov Palace: One can get "palaced" out in St Petersburg and by the time we got to Yusupov Palace, fatigue had begun to set in. We were aware that Yusupov Palace did not have wheelchair access. My mother decided to browse the gift shop whereas my father and I did a quick tour of the palace where Rasputin was assassinated. The private theatre in the palace is the highlight here. Again, if pressed for time, I would suggest dropping this from the itinerary.
Peter and Paul Cathedral: We were absolutely thrilled when SPB tours confirmed that we could visit the Peter and Paul Cathedral on our 1 day tour. The cathedral is the burial place of the Russian Tsars and the architecture here is breathtaking. I would categorise Peter and Paul Cathedral as one of the must-visit places in St Petersburg.
We had some time to spare before heading back to the ship and we asked if we could be taken to a souvenir shop as my mother wanted to buy the Russian nesting doll (matryoshka) set. The driver and the guide took us to a shop that had an amazing collection to suit all budgets ranging from EUR10 to EUR1000! My mother was very pleased with her purchase (which we later found on the ship being sold for almost double the price) and also were surprised that the shop accepted Euros.
We returned to the ship by 1930 giving us time to go to our rooms, freshen up and return for dinner.The ship bore a deserted look as most of the people had headed out for the evening excursions. We had an early night and were bright and awake for the second day for which we had retained our following free Regent excursions:
Peter the Great's Grand Palace - Peterhof: This is the day weather turned on us. Until this, the weather on the cruise had been great for the Baltic Sea but the heavens literally opened on us this morning. However, we managed to get into Peterhof before the other group tours had arrived and were able to visit the palace in peace and tranquility. The fountains are switched on daily at 1100, so do make sure that you stick around for the fountains to come on as they are truly breathtaking. Yes, Catherine's Palace with its amber room has more impressive interiors but the gardens of Peterhof are worth visiting in their own right and put the palace of Versailles to shame.
St Petersburg Cathedrals: My mother decided to skip this tour as she was knackered after a day and half of intense sight seeing. This tour takes you to visit the interiors of St Isaac's Cathedral, Kazan Cathedral and the Church of out Saviour on Spilled Blood. St Isaac's Cathedral is the third largest cathedral in the world after St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome. The sheer scale of the building is amazing. Kazan Cathedral is an active orthodox church and deeply spiritual. However, the highlight of this tour is the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood with its amazing mosaics. My father and I perhaps enjoyed this tour the most.
Prior to this cruise, I had spend a lot of time researching St Petersburg and it did pay off. We were able to see everything we had intended to. I genuinely believe that some amount of background research into this city will help you make the most of your limited time in this wonderful city.
Helsinki: After 2 intense days in St Petersburg, we were looking for an easy shore excursion. We decided to go for Picturesque Porvoo as it would not allow us to visit the Finnish countryside enroute but also included panoramic sightseeing of Helsinki with time to spare in the Senate Square. We got to see all the major highlights of Helsinki excluding the Sibelius Monument and the Rock Church. The Finnish countryside is very pretty and we had glorious weather which was the icing on the cake. Porvoo is very pretty but extremely tiny. We walked around the town and grabbed a snack in one of the cafes. On the way back, we stopped in Senate Square where the beautiful Lutheran church is located. The port is about a 20 minute walk from downtown Helsinki which in its own right is a very compact city. We enjoyed Helsinki a lot more than we had expected to as it had been described to us all the dullest port on this itinerary which it certainly wasn't. Again, this is a port where Regent provide a shuttle into downtown Helsinki. Also, I highly recommend getting on to the top deck an hour before the ship is due to dock int Helsinki as one gets an amazing view of the Helsinki harbour and skyline as the ship weaves through the tiny islands with cute summer houses. I have read on these forums that Regent just tend to add more buses if a shore excursion was waitlisted. This certainly was not the case in Helsinki as two of the shore excursions were waitlisted but I don't believe more coaches were made available. So if you know there is an excursion you want to do, get it booked as soon as it is available to book. Also, it might be worthwhile not to do the Harbour cruise and Suomenlinna sea fortress excursions as you sail right past the fortress on your way out of the harbour.
Stockholm: A couple of days before disembarkation, we were sent around a form enquiring about our disembarkation plans. For those with their flights departing later in the day, Regent offered to put on a shore excursion in Stockholm enroute to the airport. The excursion is free for those who have booked flights and airport transfer with Regent. We decided to go for this excursion as the ship docked in Stockholm at 0800 and our flight was due to fly out at 1530 and we were absolutely glad that we did this excursion. We got a walking tour in Gamla Stan (Old Town), photo stop at a panoramic viewpoint and a comfort break at the City Hall during our 2h30m excursion. By no means did we do any justice to Stockholm but it is a port we plan to visit in its own right in the future but it was better than just heading straight to airport. Also, like Helsinki, I highly recommend getting up early to see the ship sail through the archipelago.
General Comments: Before cruising with Regent, we had doubts about the quality of their "free" shore excursions and were concerned about being herded around like cattle. However, we have nothing but praise for their shore excursions. The Destination Services team are excellent, well versed and run a smooth operation. The shore excursions tickets are available in your room when you first check in with the time you need to be present in the Constellation Theatre to collect your bus allocation. The waiting times are spread out to ensure that there is no overcrowding in the Theatre. Apart from St Petersburg where everyone was a bit wound up about getting ashore asap, this process worked in all other destinations. We were asked to take our passports ashore in all the cities except Helsinki. In St Petersburg, instead of allocating a bus in the Constellation Theatre, Regent announce the excursion departing and allocate the bus after clearing immigration. Immigration in Russia was a breeze and was easy on both days (even when we were doing the private tour on day 1). The coaches Regent put on in each port were great and extremely comfortable. Except for the St Petersburg Cathedrals tour, all of the other excursions had coaches which were 75% - 85% occupied with seating at the front reserved for those with walking difficulties.
We were highly impressed with the quality of their guides (except for the one in Helsinki who spoke nonstop to and from Porvoo) who were polite, courteous, spoke excellent English and provided their own personal insight to their cities.
Disembarkation
The night before the ship was due to sail in to Stockholm, we were sent the new luggage tags for our bags which were to be placed outside the room for collection prior to 2300. The ship arrived at the Frihamnen Pier a few minutes after 0800 and our group was due to disembark at 0840. We arrived in the Constellation Theatre about 15 mins prior to that after breakfast and were promptly called out. We disembarked with a hint of regret that our wonderful time on the Seven Seas Voyager had drawn to an end. Our luggage was waiting for us in the collection area which we promptly identified and walked to the coach for our Stockholm tour enroute to the airport.
I would like to thank everyone on these forums who took the time to answer my numerous queries over the last couple of months. We had a lovely time on this cruise and are already thinking about our next itinerary :)
Review of the July 28 – August 4, 2013 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Baltic Cruise
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Posted
I have just come back from my one week Baltic Cruise with Regent on Seven Seas Voyager. Considering the wealth of information I found for this trip on this forum, I think it is only fair that I contribute my own experience for others to benefit. This review is quite extensive, so I am splitting into different parts dealing with my experience pre cruise, on board, ports / shore excursions and post cruise. To put my experience into context, I was travelling with my parents who both turned 60 this year with my mother having limited mobility i.e. she can walk unaided for short periods at a slow pace but is not wheelchair bound in her day-to-day life.
Pre cruise
I had researched different cruise lines prior to booking with Regent. The reason I chose Regent was I quite liked the itinerary as it has only 1 sea day. Plus the fact that the fare included the shore excursions was a bonus. Lastly, I wanted a suite with a balcony and when I took into account the cost of the suite with the shore excursions, gratuities, drinks, air fares and port transfers, Regent’s cost was good value for money. If you are likely to do private shore excursions and/or port transfers and are happy to take a smaller cabin without a balcony, then I wouldn’t recommend Regent.
Booking with Regent via my travel agent was a smooth process. I could access my booking on the Regent website within a couple of days with all the information on the suite, air travel and shore excursions on offer being available. Regent sent me a booklet with the shore excursions along with their schedules in order for me to decide which shore excursions to choose. The booking for shore excursions opened promptly 6 months before the sail date and I was able to choose the excursions of my choice. I had a few queries regarding the shore excursions which were promptly answered by the Destination Services that helped in choosing excursions that were appropriate for us.
We are vegetarians and I was highly concerned about the vegetarian food that would be available at the restaurants. I sent a request via my travel agent to Regent notifying them of our dietary preferences which was promptly acknowledged. I didn’t book any of the dining venues for which reservations were needed as we intended to dine at La Veranda, Compass Rose and Setti Mare for which no reservations were needed.
As mentioned before, my mother has difficulty walking for long distances and I enquired with Regent if they could arrange for a wheelchair (that I was willing to pay additional charges for) but they categorically refused as it was not their policy to do so. I looked at various websites online from where I could hire a wheelchair for my trip and have it delivered to the ship but I couldn’t find a website that would do so for the itinerary I had chosen (the ones I spoke to could do only US and UK ports for some reason). I discussed with my mother and amended a couple of shore excursions to those we thought she could manage.
Embarkation
At the time of booking, I was given a choice of a land programme that involved arriving in Copenhagen the day before the ship was due to sail with accommodation in a 5 star hotel. As we had been to Copenhagen before, we decided to land in Copenhagen on the day of embarkation which reduced our overall fare by £300 per person. Regent suggested we take an early flight with British Airways from London arriving in Copenhagen at 0930. Our flight landed on time and Regent’s representative was waiting for us after Immigration. We collected our bags promptly and were escorted to the taxi rank for our transfer to the port. Seven Seas Voyager docks at the Langeline Pier which is about 30 minutes from Copenhagen airport during off peak hours. We were at the docks by 1100 but Regent hadn’t started the embarkation process yet. So we dropped off our bags and walked along the pier into the centre of town. We were back at the ship by 1400 and promptly embarked. After passing security, we headed to the Constellation Theatre where we checked in. Please note that each member of your party needs to be present at check in. After collecting our room keys, we headed up to la veranda where a buffet lunch was being served. It was busy but we got a table promptly on arrival. We headed to our suite where we found a bottle of champagne ready for us with our bags which was a pleasant surprise.
Onboard
Rooms: Before going through the ports and shore excursions, here is a short summary of what to expect on Seven Seas Voyager. We were in a category F room. The pictures on the Regent website are a fairly accurate representation of the room that we were in. The room was comfortably sized with a walk in closet, balcony and a bathroom with a bath and a separate shower. The fridge was well stocked and the closet was big enough with a locker for us to unpack our clothes and empty our bags. The rooms do not have an ironing board and iron. However, they are available in the laundrette.
Communal Areas: Because the rooms are well sized, I found the communal areas not very crowded which was great. The pool deck and jogging track are great. I particularly enjoyed having a drink at the Horizon Lounge and reading the newspapers in the Library. The casino and the discotheque didn’t look very popular though.
Restaurants: As mentioned before, due to our dietary preferences, we were restricted to dining at La veranda, Compass Rose and Setti Mare. The lunch buffet at La Veranda was ok. We found the vegetarian selection there for both breakfast and lunch strictly OK. We decided not to dine at Setti Mare as again the vegetarian selection wasn’t too interesting for us. On the first night, we spoke to the hostess at Compass Rose about our predicament and she arranged for us to be served a vegetarian meal of our choice prepared to our liking which was over and beyond our expectations. The food was excellent and we couldn’t be more grateful to the staff and the chefs at Compass Rose for accommodating our needs.
Room Service: We ordered a snack from the Room Service a couple of days. The Room Service selection is pretty good. However, it does take ages for food to be delivered.
Entertainment: We found the entertainment on the Voyager to be top notch. The entertainment programme each evening was excellent with the Bond Night and Le Cirque being the highlights. I highly recommend visiting (or viewing on TV) the enrichment lectures. The presenter of these lectures on our cruise was excellent and her presentations onScandinavia and Russian History provided us with a great insight to the ports we were visiting. I was disappointed with the TV programming with nothing of interest to watch. Also, the casino was generally dead on most nights which wasn’t surprising as I guess most people were tired after a long day of sight seeing.
Shopping: We had a reasonable amount of onboard credit when we booked our cruise some of which we used for shopping on board. My mother purchased some jewellery which she quite liked. The only word of caution is that as one would expect, things on board cost a lot more. My mother purchased a Russian nesting doll set in St Petersburg at a significantly lower price (I guess some of this is down to the quality of goods offered).
Staff: The staff onboard are excellent across all sections of the ship. Everyone greets you with a warm smile and makes you feel welcome on board the ship.
Ports / Shore Excursions:
Copenhagen: As mentioned in the Embarkation section, we decided to head into Copenhagen from the pier. The walk into town is along the pier and it passes by the Little Mermaid which is about 15 mins from where the Voyager docks. We walked another 25 mins to get to Nyhavn by which time my mother was very tired. In hindsight, we should have chosen the hop on hop off bus which could be boarded right opposite where the ship was. Do note that there are two bus companies that offer this ride but only one has free wifi on board. We had some ice cream in Nyhavn and decided to take a 1 hour boat trip around Copenhagen which cost around €10 per person. The boat ride was open top and took us around Christianshavn, Christianborg Palace (where the Danish Parliament sits), Amalienborg Palace (where the Queen resides), the National Library, the Opera House amongst other major sites in Copenhagen. If you are willing to skip visiting Tivoli Gardens, Rosenborg Palace and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek then I believe the boat trip is a great way to see Copenhagen in a limited space of time. After the boat ride, we decided to take a taxi back to the port which cost us ~ €10. Surprisingly, the boat company, the ice cream vendor and the taxi driver – all accepted Euros from us. The only downside is that any change is returned in Danish Kroner. We really enjoyed our brief time in Copenhagen and the views of Copenhagen from the pool deck as the ship sails out are breathtaking.
Warnemunde: This was the second port on the cruise and like everyone else we were debating whether the 3 hour bus ride to Berlin is worth it. Whilst I had been to Berlin before and loved the city, my parents hadn’t been and were really keen on visiting it. Regent offer 4 different excursions here of which one is Berlin on your own which is free and the others that are to be paid for. We decided to go for the Streets and Canals of Berlin tour. The itinerary covers highlights of East and West Berlin including panoramic sightseeing around the Victory Column, Tiergarten, Gendarmenmarkt (photo stop), East Side Gallery (photo stop), Alexanderplatz, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamerplatz (lunch break on your own), Schloss Charlottenburg (photo stop), Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate (photo stop), Unter den Linden and a boat trip that passes by the Reichstag, Hauptbahnoff, German Chancellor’s residence and Museum Island. After the tour and before returning to Warnemunde, we had an hour’s free time to do shopping at KaDeWe which is continental Europe’s biggest departmental store supposedly. The guide on this tour was excellent and her commentary was highly informative. The tour is well timed and one gets a great overview of the city. The boat trip was interesting and gives a different perspective to the city. Also, the coach stops on the drive to and from Berlin for comfort stops where Regent pay for you to use the bathrooms which are very clean. We had a lovely guy escort us on the bus who grew up in Warnemunde and shared some of his childhood experiences of growing up in East Germany. Berlin is the iconic city of the Cold War and to miss it on this itinerary would have been a shame. The bus ride is long and boring but completely worth it if you have never been or are unlikely to make a separate trip to Berlin, especially as we had a sea day the following day with plenty of time to relax and get ready for the following ports. Also, do note that if you have on-board credit from Regent, it can be used to pay for the Regent choice shore excursions. However, you will need to pay for them upfront at the time of selecting the shore excursions and go to the Destination Services to cancel the original booking, claim a refund and use the on-board credit to purchase the same excursion again. If the excursion is waitlisted you may find that you have been bumped down in the waitlist. So always check prior to cancelling that the excursion is not waitlisted
Tallinn: Tallinn is a lovely city, best explored on foot. The port is about a good 30 min walk from the Old (Lower) Town. In addition to the shore excursions, Regent also put on shuttles to and from the Old Town. The shuttles do not run at the same time intervals but on an average, run every 30-45 mins with a gap around noon. Amongst the excursions available, we decided to go for the Upper Town and Rocca Al Mare excursion. The reason for choosing this over the more popular Old Town and Concert excursion was that the Old Town tour involved walking on uneven cobbled stone paths which my mother wouldn't be able to cope with. Also the Old Town tour didn't cover the Upper Town which one has to visit to take in the iconic panoramic Old Town skyline views from the viewing points. Rocca Al Mare was pleasant surprise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our tour was running behind schedule, so the guide had to rush us back to the ship instead of dropping those of us who was wanted to be dropped off in the Old Town. We headed to La Veranda for a quick lunch and my father and I took the shuttle into the Old Town. We had done our research online and printed off the very popular Rick Steeves' walking tour which was very valuable in making our way around the Old Town. We spent about 90 minutes in the Old Town and walked back to the ship instead of taking the shuttle. Tallinn has a fairy tale like quality to it and can easily be explored in half a day. It is extremely manageable to get around it on your own. Destination Services onboard provide a free map of the city which is very handy. Also, the highlight of this city has to be our fabulous guide who was absolutely hilarious!
St Petersburg: St Petersburg is a lovely city and exceeded every expectation we had. Identifying the excursions for this port involves careful planning and lots of compromises as it is just not possible to do all the major highlights of the city. We knew that we wanted to visit all of the three major sights - the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace and Peterhof. However, Regent's free excursions are organised such that one can only do two of the three highlights in two days. An alternative is to do the Regent Choice excursion of the Grand Imperial Evening of the Tsars that goes to Catherine's Palace in the evening of the first day in St Petersburg allowing one to do the Hermitage and Peterhof in the morning of the other days. Also, Regent's online booking system does not allow you to select excursions that commence less than 90 minutes before the excursion you have already booked concludes. However, I got in touch with Regent if they could let me book excursions that had a 60 minute gap between them. Regent replied that they could book these excursions for me provided that they won't be liable for us missing any excursions should the first tour not return on time which I thought was fair of them to say. Following this discussion, my 2-day itinerary included doing the free Hermitage excursion followed by the free Yusupov Palace and Canal Cruise followed by the paid for Grand Imperial Evening of the Tsars on Day 1 and the free Peterhof Palace and free Cathedrals of St Petersburg excursions on Day 2. I checked with Regent if their local tour operator in St Petersburg could arrange for a wheelchair for my mother in the Hermitage and Catherine's Palace (which I had researched and knew had wheelchair access). However, they again refused and I knew for certain my mother would be unable to handle these excursions. I, therefore, cancelled all my excursions with Regent on Day 1 and organised a private tour for the 3 of us with SPB Tours. I contacted all the major tour operators and sought a quote from them for a 1 day itinerary with my wish list of places to visit. SPB were the most accommodative and marginally cheaper than the other tour operators. I worked with them to come up with the itinerary that included a sightseeing tour of the City (1 hour) , Catherine's Palace (90 min), Canal Cruise (1 hour), the Hermitage (2 hours), Yusupov Palace (1 hour) and Peter and Paul Cathedral (1 hour) with wheelchair for my mother. In hindsight, this was perhaps the best decision I made on this trip as a) we got to "visit" a lot more places than I would have otherwise and b) we got to "see" the places we visited. Seriously, Catherine's Palace and the Hermitage were swamped with different cruise line tours and I seriously wonder how anyone "sees" anything on these trips with hordes of people milling around you. Due to the group comprising just 3 of us, our guide was able to weave us through the crowds swiftly. So here's a low down of what we saw and thought of each place:
City Sightseeing Tour: I had discussed with guide that we were visiting the cathedrals the followig day, so she organised for us to visit the beautiful St Nicholas' Cathedral in the morning and a photo stop in front of St Isaac's Cathedral and a stroll on the Nevsky Prospect in the one hour we had.
Catherine's Palace: All three of us absolutely loved the interiors of the palace which have been painfully restored since WWII. I wouldn't suggest missing out on Catherine's Palace for the world with the Ball room and Amber room being the highlights. Do bear in mind though the queues here are horrendous and the palace does have wheelchair access.
Canal Cruise: Compared to some of the other boat trips we did on this trip, this was perhaps the most lacklustre. However, you do get to see the impressive architecture of the City along the Neva River. In hindsight, I might have dropped this excursion to spend more time at the Hermitage.
The Hermitage: Again, all three of us absolutely loved the Hermitage. Both the venue and the art collection are par excellence. At times, one wonders what is more beautiful - the piece of art on display or the room in which it is displayed. Our brief tour here covered the grand stair case, the Peacock clock, the Throne Room and art by Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Monnet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezzane, Matisse and Picasso. Again, we had done our research online and had discussed our interests with SPB tours beforehand to decide what could be seen in our brief time at the Hermitage. Again, please do note that the Hermitage Museum has wheelchair access.
Yusupov Palace: One can get "palaced" out in St Petersburg and by the time we got to Yusupov Palace, fatigue had begun to set in. We were aware that Yusupov Palace did not have wheelchair access. My mother decided to browse the gift shop whereas my father and I did a quick tour of the palace where Rasputin was assassinated. The private theatre in the palace is the highlight here. Again, if pressed for time, I would suggest dropping this from the itinerary.
Peter and Paul Cathedral: We were absolutely thrilled when SPB tours confirmed that we could visit the Peter and Paul Cathedral on our 1 day tour. The cathedral is the burial place of the Russian Tsars and the architecture here is breathtaking. I would categorise Peter and Paul Cathedral as one of the must-visit places in St Petersburg.
We had some time to spare before heading back to the ship and we asked if we could be taken to a souvenir shop as my mother wanted to buy the Russian nesting doll (matryoshka) set. The driver and the guide took us to a shop that had an amazing collection to suit all budgets ranging from EUR10 to EUR1000! My mother was very pleased with her purchase (which we later found on the ship being sold for almost double the price) and also were surprised that the shop accepted Euros.
We returned to the ship by 1930 giving us time to go to our rooms, freshen up and return for dinner.The ship bore a deserted look as most of the people had headed out for the evening excursions. We had an early night and were bright and awake for the second day for which we had retained our following free Regent excursions:
Peter the Great's Grand Palace - Peterhof: This is the day weather turned on us. Until this, the weather on the cruise had been great for the Baltic Sea but the heavens literally opened on us this morning. However, we managed to get into Peterhof before the other group tours had arrived and were able to visit the palace in peace and tranquility. The fountains are switched on daily at 1100, so do make sure that you stick around for the fountains to come on as they are truly breathtaking. Yes, Catherine's Palace with its amber room has more impressive interiors but the gardens of Peterhof are worth visiting in their own right and put the palace of Versailles to shame.
St Petersburg Cathedrals: My mother decided to skip this tour as she was knackered after a day and half of intense sight seeing. This tour takes you to visit the interiors of St Isaac's Cathedral, Kazan Cathedral and the Church of out Saviour on Spilled Blood. St Isaac's Cathedral is the third largest cathedral in the world after St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome. The sheer scale of the building is amazing. Kazan Cathedral is an active orthodox church and deeply spiritual. However, the highlight of this tour is the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood with its amazing mosaics. My father and I perhaps enjoyed this tour the most.
Prior to this cruise, I had spend a lot of time researching St Petersburg and it did pay off. We were able to see everything we had intended to. I genuinely believe that some amount of background research into this city will help you make the most of your limited time in this wonderful city.
Helsinki: After 2 intense days in St Petersburg, we were looking for an easy shore excursion. We decided to go for Picturesque Porvoo as it would not allow us to visit the Finnish countryside enroute but also included panoramic sightseeing of Helsinki with time to spare in the Senate Square. We got to see all the major highlights of Helsinki excluding the Sibelius Monument and the Rock Church. The Finnish countryside is very pretty and we had glorious weather which was the icing on the cake. Porvoo is very pretty but extremely tiny. We walked around the town and grabbed a snack in one of the cafes. On the way back, we stopped in Senate Square where the beautiful Lutheran church is located. The port is about a 20 minute walk from downtown Helsinki which in its own right is a very compact city. We enjoyed Helsinki a lot more than we had expected to as it had been described to us all the dullest port on this itinerary which it certainly wasn't. Again, this is a port where Regent provide a shuttle into downtown Helsinki. Also, I highly recommend getting on to the top deck an hour before the ship is due to dock int Helsinki as one gets an amazing view of the Helsinki harbour and skyline as the ship weaves through the tiny islands with cute summer houses. I have read on these forums that Regent just tend to add more buses if a shore excursion was waitlisted. This certainly was not the case in Helsinki as two of the shore excursions were waitlisted but I don't believe more coaches were made available. So if you know there is an excursion you want to do, get it booked as soon as it is available to book. Also, it might be worthwhile not to do the Harbour cruise and Suomenlinna sea fortress excursions as you sail right past the fortress on your way out of the harbour.
Stockholm: A couple of days before disembarkation, we were sent around a form enquiring about our disembarkation plans. For those with their flights departing later in the day, Regent offered to put on a shore excursion in Stockholm enroute to the airport. The excursion is free for those who have booked flights and airport transfer with Regent. We decided to go for this excursion as the ship docked in Stockholm at 0800 and our flight was due to fly out at 1530 and we were absolutely glad that we did this excursion. We got a walking tour in Gamla Stan (Old Town), photo stop at a panoramic viewpoint and a comfort break at the City Hall during our 2h30m excursion. By no means did we do any justice to Stockholm but it is a port we plan to visit in its own right in the future but it was better than just heading straight to airport. Also, like Helsinki, I highly recommend getting up early to see the ship sail through the archipelago.
General Comments: Before cruising with Regent, we had doubts about the quality of their "free" shore excursions and were concerned about being herded around like cattle. However, we have nothing but praise for their shore excursions. The Destination Services team are excellent, well versed and run a smooth operation. The shore excursions tickets are available in your room when you first check in with the time you need to be present in the Constellation Theatre to collect your bus allocation. The waiting times are spread out to ensure that there is no overcrowding in the Theatre. Apart from St Petersburg where everyone was a bit wound up about getting ashore asap, this process worked in all other destinations. We were asked to take our passports ashore in all the cities except Helsinki. In St Petersburg, instead of allocating a bus in the Constellation Theatre, Regent announce the excursion departing and allocate the bus after clearing immigration. Immigration in Russia was a breeze and was easy on both days (even when we were doing the private tour on day 1). The coaches Regent put on in each port were great and extremely comfortable. Except for the St Petersburg Cathedrals tour, all of the other excursions had coaches which were 75% - 85% occupied with seating at the front reserved for those with walking difficulties.
We were highly impressed with the quality of their guides (except for the one in Helsinki who spoke nonstop to and from Porvoo) who were polite, courteous, spoke excellent English and provided their own personal insight to their cities.
Disembarkation
The night before the ship was due to sail in to Stockholm, we were sent the new luggage tags for our bags which were to be placed outside the room for collection prior to 2300. The ship arrived at the Frihamnen Pier a few minutes after 0800 and our group was due to disembark at 0840. We arrived in the Constellation Theatre about 15 mins prior to that after breakfast and were promptly called out. We disembarked with a hint of regret that our wonderful time on the Seven Seas Voyager had drawn to an end. Our luggage was waiting for us in the collection area which we promptly identified and walked to the coach for our Stockholm tour enroute to the airport.
I would like to thank everyone on these forums who took the time to answer my numerous queries over the last couple of months. We had a lovely time on this cruise and are already thinking about our next itinerary :)