Baltic Ports Review on RSSC Voyager

[mborchgardt]

Just returned about a week ago from a Baltics cruise on RSSC. Our experiences with the ship are posted on the RSSC board. Following are our impressions about the ports we visited.

 

Copenhagen

 

We started with an extra day pre-cruise in Copenhagen. Our flight from DFW via Newark arrived in Copenhagen around 7:15 AM. We were able to clear Danish immigration fairly quickly although there was somewhat of a line. We collected our luggage and then grabbed a taxi to drop off our luggage at the hotel. The taxis we used in Copenhagen took credit cards with a 10% surcharge, but we thought it was worth it to save the limited Danish currency we brought with us for tips at the hotel and snacks once we started exploring. We chose to stay at the D’Angleterre Hotel – reportedly the best hotel in all of Denmark. I’ll get to that in a moment. We walked around Nyhavn for a few minutes and then caught a canal sightseeing cruise to get an overview of the city from the water. Our time in Denmark was the only time we were actually cold on the entire trip and we were glad we had our packable rain jackets to tide us over until we could get into our luggage for our coats. We then hit some of the highlights in Copenhagen walking along the Stroget and hitting the major palaces/castles in town. After a short nap, we walked over to Tivoli and wandered around there for a while. We thought Tivoli had a very nice atmosphere. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Tivoli and then grabbed some ice cream and cotton candy (“candy floss”) for dessert on our way out. We wanted to see a little of the countryside so the next morning we headed to the train station and caught the train to Frederiksborg (sp?) to see the royal castle there. We managed to catch the bus from the train station to the castle with little trouble and the driver was nice enough to point out our stop for the castle. All in all, we spent as much time traveling to/from the castle as we did at the castle, but it was an enjoyable side trip. After returning from Frederiksborg, we walked back to the hotel, picked up our luggage from the bellman, and took a taxi to the pier. We asked the driver to stop at the little mermaid on the way so that we could take a quick picture. We were underwhelmed.

 

As for the hotel, the location was great. The room was a nice size, but not in line with the price in our opinion. The hotel staff was helpful, but we had to wait each time we needed to ask a question of the front desk staff or the concierge. There was also some noise in the street around 3 AM – car alarm, loud talking. Granted, the hotel can’t control that sort of thing, but it did affect our overall experience.

 

We did enjoy our time in Denmark and would definitely consider a land-based trip back some day to explore further.

 

Visby

 

Visby, Sweden was the first stop on our cruise. We anchored around 11:30 and then were able to tender over to the town beginning around 12:00. We grabbed a quick lunch on the ship and then headed over. It was nice to stroll around and enjoy the medieval ruins and other sites. I was a little disappointed that we we’re able to walk along the top of the walls (or at least didn’t find a place to do so). We were in Dubrovnik several years before and enjoyed the view of the town and the sea from the ramparts of the old wall. We spent about 2 ½ hours walking around and then headed back to the ship for an afternoon nap.

 

Tallinn

 

We disembarked after breakfast and took the complimentary shuttle for the short ride from the pier to a point just outside the lower town. We followed Rick Steve’s walking tour around the lower and upper towns, stopping in many shops along the way. My wife has a small collection of miniature turtles of various sorts and we found a nice amber turtle to add to the collection. We made it back to the main square around lunch time and had lunch at one of the outdoor cafes that line the square. By lunch the mostly cloudy skies of the morning had turned to beautiful mostly sunny skies. To my wife’s chagrin, I wanted to retrace some of our walking tour to retake a few pictures in the improved light provided by the sunny afternoon. After that, we decided to walk back to the ship rather than going back to catch the shuttle. Along the way we passed the very tall Lutheran church near the edge of the lower town. We went in and I opted to climb the stairs to the top of the bell tower for the sweeping views of the town. The viewing platform consisted of 3 wooden boards attached to the sloping, pointed roof of the bell tower. There was a railing and it seemed very sturdy, however it was a little intimidating. There was quite a crowd at the top and because of the very narrow walkway, I spent more time than intended just waiting to make my way back around to the door back into the bell tower. The views were great, though, and I did get some very good pictures of the upper and lower town, the towers of the medieval wall, and the ship at the pier.

 

We made it back to the ship once again in time for a short afternoon nap.

 

St. Petersburg

 

This was the focal point of our trip and it did not disappoint. After reading several travel articles and reports on this board, I decided that the best way to see St. P would be with a private guide and driver. Last September or October, I began corresponding by e-mail with Red October. They proposed a 3-day itinerary to fill our 3-days in St. P. Because this was an anniversary cruise for us and a change to be away from the kids and work, we wanted to make sure that we had a chance to relax as well as sightsee. So, we asked RO to condense the tour for 2 days so that we could spend the 3rd day in St. P on the ship. About a month before the cruise, we decided that we also wanted to go to the ballet on our 2nd evening in St. P. Based on our request for Swan Lake, RO secured tickets for us and also made dinner arrangements. We were concerned that it would be too rushed if we tried to make it back to the ship for dinner between our day of sightseeing and our evening at the ballet. As it turned out, our ship was docked very close to town near the first bridge over the Neva and we probably could have made it back to the ship for an early dinner without any problem. More about the dinner later.

 

After disembarking the ship on the 1st day with no problem from the ship’s staff or Russian immigration, we met our guide and driver at the pier. I had not realized from other reports that the guides and drivers basically work freelance for a variety of tour companies. Not that it mattered – I just had picked up on that fact in my research.

 

Our guide, Marina, was very amiable and knowledgeable. Her English was also very good. The driver did not speak much English, but it really wasn’t necessary since our guide took care of all the communication with him. He amazed us with his driving skills (especially in reverse) several times during our 2 days. Our car was a late model E-class Mercedes that was clean and fairly well maintained. The driver had some difficulty starting it a few times, which worried us a bit, but the car always started within 30 or 40 seconds and we were on our way.

 

We opted out of pre-arranged lunches to make more time for sightseeing. More about that later as well.

 

We requested more time to be allotted to walk through the beautiful parks and gardens at Peterhof and Catherine Palace, as well as making time to shop for a few specific items. All of our requests were accommodated by RO and our guide.

 

We began with a driving tour of the city in the morning stopping at important sites along the way. Our guide asked if we wanted to get boxed lunches. We asked if it might be possible to stop for a quick lunch at a café. She took us to a small café serving Russian food that was quite good and fairly quick. She seemed pleased with our decision to eat at a café rather than going with the boxed lunches. Our driver seemed somewhat surprised at our invitation to join us for lunch. He ate very little but seemed to appreciate the invitation. After lunch, we took the hydrofoil to Peterhof. The grounds and fountains at Peterhof are truly amazing. We drove back to town, stopped at a few more sights, and then returned to the ship.

 

Our second day started early (8 AM) with a drive to Catherine Palace. We arrived in Pushkin a little ahead of schedule and were able to stop briefly at the palace of Nicholas II. This palace has not been restored and were not able to go inside, but it was very interesting to something that didn’t appear to be on the standard tour route. We still made it Catherine Palace early, but it worked to our great advantage. Per our request to spend more time in the gardens, our guide took us on a 1+ hour tour walking tour through grounds. Since the palace had not yet opened, there was no one else around. It was truly incredible. The weather was also stunning – mostly sunny with a few beautiful clouds rolling through the sky. Our guide even seemed to greatly enjoy the experience. After a tour of the palace, we drove back to St. P. The only hitch in our entire tour occurred upon our return to St. P. RO had schedule us to visit the Church on the Split Blood; however, it is always closed on Wednesdays. Our guide seemed somewhat perturbed with the RO office and called for guidance as to what to offer us an alternative. She was directed to take us to another functioning cathedral in St. P. which turned out to be a nice experience as well. Our afternoon finished with a 3-hour tour of the Hermitage. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the art and seemed to have a strong appreciation for the arts as well.

 

Throughout the two days, she took us to several stores so that we could look for Russian porcelain, reproduction Faberge items, and Russian food items to take as souvenirs. As she noted our interest in certain items along the way, she would then take us to other stores offering a better selection of these items or better prices. I was impressed with what seemed like a sincere interest in helping us find the exact type of items we were interested in.

 

Our dinner at Demidov restaurant arranged by RO was good, but not outstanding. In retrospect, I wish we had let our guide choose a restaurant after we were in the city rather than pre-arranging. No one at the restaurant spoke English (or at least didn’t to us), so we were somewhat isolated. The food was tasty, but not spectacular (especially for the price for dinner compared to the lunches we had in St. P).

 

The ballet was very interesting and a good experience. Our seats were fairly good; however, unfortunately, two people with unusually large heads and hair sat in front of us so my wife and I both had stiff necks after the performance from straining to see around the giant head people. Our guide and driver were waiting for us after the performance right in front of the theatre. The seemed tired – as were we – but always were very cordial and polite.

 

All of the reports I had read in advance were true about RO. We were able to skip to the front of lines at almost all sights. The driver always dropped us off right at the “front door” and was waiting for us close by when we were ready to move on. He always got out of the car and opened the door for my wife when we were getting in/out of the car. We chose to pay cash for our tours. I was a little uncomfortable carrying all that cash, but it worked out fine. The process at the RO store took a little longer than I expected, but I gathered it might have been because of our ballet tickets and dinner arrangements – not sure.

 

While it was sad to leave St. P, we definitely felt like our choice to use RO was the right choice. We had a wonderful experience through the very efficient, but relaxed sight seeing.

 

Helsinki

 

Helsinki was a bit of a disappointment after St. P. But then almost anything would be. I had printed off the map of the 3T tram route – the tourist tram. We were able to catch the tram right at market square. Although the ship offered a complimentary shuttle into town, the weather was nice and we decided to take the 10-15 minute walk into town. We hopped off at a few stops to see the sights and then walked through the main shopping streets of town. The city was nice enough, but nothing really caught our interest. But again, we may have just been tired and still starry-eyed from St. P. Perhaps the most memorable experience of Helsinki actually happened on the ship. The Captain and Executive Chef went to market square and purchased some fresh strawberries and chantrelles that made their way into special dishes in Compass Rose that evening. The views of the Helsinki harbor with its sailboats and little, cozy islands were also very charming.

 

Stockholm

 

After disembarking, we caught a taxi to our hotel in town. The taxi, like Copenhagen, accepted credit cards for payment. I had made reservations at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, so we dropped our luggage with the bellman and headed out for some sightseeing. We took the subway out to Drottingham Palace, the official residence of the Swedish royal family. It was a very picturesque palace situated on the water in a park-like setting. The ride out to the palace as a bit longer than we had expected, but was still probably worth it. Upon arriving back in town, we strolled through the old town and toured the royal palace in town. We then took a canal tour via boat which was a nice way to relax and enjoy the views. We had a nice dinner at an outdoor café recommended by the concierge a few blocks from the hotel. It was a very nice evening to enjoy our last night before returning home. The only mild shock was that a nice, but definitely not extravagant 3-course meal at an outdoor café set us back $150+. We left the hotel at 7:30 AM the next morning and made it to the airport around 8:15 AM for our 10:15 AM departure despite some road construction along the way.

 

The Grand Hotel was nicer, in my opinion, than the D’Angleterre in Copenhagen (and ironically less expensive). The room we were assigned had a strong smoke smell despite being labeled a non-smoking room. We cannot tolerate cigarette smoke, so we returned immediately to the front desk and politely reported the situation. The gentleman at the front desk was very apologetic. After a few minutes apparently looking at various things on the computer terminal, he upgraded us to a room on the top floor with a view of the harbor and the royal palace. The room was smaller than the room we had reserved, but I knew from my research that these rooms were quite a bit more expensive than rooms without a view of the harbor. We happily accepted the smaller room in exchange for a beautiful view from the top of the hotel.

 

I’ll be happy to answer any questions or provide additional info if I have it or remember it.