Ultimate Scandinavia Cruise on the Serenade of the Seas Review 7/24/16 – 8/6/16

[Tin can]

Bringing back some fantastic memories for us [emoji846]. Thank you again for posting.

 

 

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[Cat54]

We stayed at the Sheraton Stockholm and it had AC.

 

Thanks Donna, I started reading your review as well. Looking forward to this cruise next year. :)

[Cat54]

Wonderful pictures!

[tutuwahineLV]

enjoying your review, I'll be on the Serenade in a little less than a month.

St. Petersburg is a very bleak looking port, very different than most cruise ports, looks deserted, I'm used to all the buzz and activity of a port, that one looks a little creepy with its lack of vehicles and people moving around..... :eek:

[Donna_In_India]

Hi Kraig - enjoying your review! I have finally started mine. This was such an unbelievably amazing cruise. It's interesting that we had completely different experiences - seems you did all RCI excursions so far (we didn't do any the whole cruise) and that you ate in the MDR every night so far (we didn't eat there at all). Between both our reviews, we should cover it all for future cruisers! :)

[Donna_In_India]

enjoying your review, I'll be on the Serenade in a little less than a month.

St. Petersburg is a very bleak looking port, very different than most cruise ports, looks deserted, I'm used to all the buzz and activity of a port, that one looks a little creepy with its lack of vehicles and people moving around..... :eek:

 

That was very early and not the side where we disembarked. On the other side there were buses, cars, duty free shops/small shops, and....life. :) The worst was Riga, which was actually a lumberyard!

[sdude]

Great review that brings a lot of memories. This is very port busy itinerary with just one sea day but it is well worth.

I should add the service was wonderful and it was hard to leave all behind and return to reality. Topi and his team were great as well as the service in MDR and all around the sip.

 

Strongly recommend Serenade for Baltics!

[Bmorecruiser021]

enjoying your review, I'll be on the Serenade in a little less than a month.

St. Petersburg is a very bleak looking port, very different than most cruise ports, looks deserted, I'm used to all the buzz and activity of a port, that one looks a little creepy with its lack of vehicles and people moving around..... :eek:

 

Enjoy your cruise! We loved the Serenade! Her staff were the BEST we have ever sailed with!

 

Yeah, the Russian authorities used "reclaimed" land and built a cruise port about a half hour (with traffic) outside of St. Petersburg. Makes it seem quite eerie :eek:

[Bmorecruiser021]

Hi Kraig - enjoying your review! I have finally started mine. This was such an unbelievably amazing cruise. It's interesting that we had completely different experiences - seems you did all RCI excursions so far (we didn't do any the whole cruise) and that you ate in the MDR every night so far (we didn't eat there at all). Between both our reviews, we should cover it all for future cruisers! :)

 

Thanks! Im looking forward to reading your review as well:) Yeah we ended up doing most excursion through the cruise line with the exception of Tallin Riga and Klaipeda. Now that photo bucket is cooperating, hopefully i can continue my review, lol :rolleyes:

[Bmorecruiser021]

Hey Everyone,

 

Sorry, technology has not been my friend lately. Finally got photo bucket to download my pictures for the day, fingers crossed my computer doesn't freeze and I can actually get through a day to review, lol

 

So today excursion was:

 

 

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, We thought there would be more touring and less shopping with this excursion, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. We were taken to Nevskiy Prospekt and dropped off by the Church of the spilled blood and told to meet back at the drop off point in 2 hours. Really gave us some time to explore the city, shop and do things on our own. But first we had to get through immigration.

 

 

The picture is blurry but I wanted to show the immigration building that was directly outside of the ship.

 

 

You can see one of the only two shops that were on "our side" of immigration. Made it easy to go buy last minute souvenirs, and the prices were very reasonable.

 

 

I don't think I was suppose to take this picture, but you can see passport control and immigration. They called you up, one at a time, and stamped or looked at your passport along with your excursion ticket or visa/private tour documents.

 

 

On the other side were LOTS of little souvenir shops to choose from.

 

Once we made it outside the building all the busses were lined up and waiting to take us on our excursion!

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

We felt very safe the entire time, however, the first thing our tour operator handed us as we got on the bus was the "in case of emergency number"

 

 

A little unsettling but made us feel even safer. The tour operator was making sure everyone felt welcomed and safe.

 

 

As we headed downtown, I got some good pictures of the beautiful buildings St. Petersburg had to share.

 

 

 

We got dropped off right at a souvenir store, and were told they had free vodka and other liquors to taste inside.

 

 

 

Of course Ali had to try on an authentic Russian hat!

[Bmorecruiser021]

Next we headed over to the Church of the Spilled Blood.

 

 

The streets were lined with carts selling souvenirs. They all looked the same to me but my in-laws seemed to find new and interesting things. One thing I found interesting was the haggling. First the vendors would ask for Rubles, then when we did have any they would ask for Euro or American, BUT the same of each "1 Euro, no? 1 Dollar" made us feel like we were getting a deal from time to time since the Euro is stronger then the dollar, lol.

 

I was getting board with the shopping so I started to head for the Prospekt. Ali joined me.

 

 

 

 

The family caught up to us, and my MIL wanted to go see one of the Cathedrals (the one directly behind Ali in the picture).

 

By then we only had a half hour left and I wanted to do some exploring and shopping. So I headed off on my own and made my way to one of their department stores.

 

 

 

It was very neat. There was a whole labyrinth under the street for when they had too much snow, or it was too cold to walk out side. I found the wheel chair ramps funny (being a special educator.....this would never be ok in the states, lol)

 

I was able to buy some Russian vodka, and chocolates then head back to the meeting point (side note, found the same vodka and chocolates at the souvenir store right outside the ship, and it was cheeper their too!)

[Bmorecruiser021]

So after I had my little adventure I made my way back to the meeting point. When I got on the bus I was surprised to find out that my MIL had not made it back yet. Apparently she wanted to see another Cathedral, even farther away, and she had gotten turned around and lost. Well I had always wondered what would happen if someone didn't make it to the transport, guess I was going to find out. Well when the guide said we couldn't wait any longer and started to pull out, my FIL elected to get off the bus and wait for my MIL. Well wouldn't you know it, as soon as my FIL left the bus and we turned the corner, my MIL appeared. So we picked her up, but were unable to turn around and go back for my FIL. Well not to worry, the tour guide called her boss, and the souvenir shop, that was the meeting place. The shop ended up getting my FIL a cab back to the cruise terminal. It ended up costing him about $10 for the cab ride but other then that, everything was fine. The owner of the company even came by to make sure our family was ok, and that the cab driver charged my FIL appropriately. Very nice service!

 

Knowing that my FIL was alright, I got a few more pictures of the buildings on our way back tot he ship.

 

 

 

Once everyone made it through customs we headed for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was amazing as usual!

[Bmorecruiser021]

 

We finished up desert and I headed up to get some pictures of the city and the setting sun.

 

 

 

We got back to the cabin and found our second towel animal! Alex was spoiling us!

 

Ali went to bed but I stayed up and watched some news. After an hour of no sleep, I decided to take a walk around the ship. Gorgeous moon hanging above the city.

 

 

After a half hour walk I started to feel tired and finally went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day and I needed my sleep.

 

Thats all for tonight guys. I'll continue with day 2 in St. Petersburg tomorrow. Night all:)

[PCWalton1]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review of your terrific cruise. I'm not sure if we will ever make it over to that part of the world again so enjoying seeing it through your eyes.

[PeaceOfCake]

It's so strange to read a review from my home town (Stockholm) but I love it!

Stockholm have three ports: Stadsgården, Värtahamnen, Frihamnen.

(The last two are next to each other) They are all inside the city so the taxi driver did wrong. If you have your recipt left, maybe I can help you with that. But we have taxis that are not connected to any of the major firms, and they do their best to rip tourist of they money.

[easyboy]

 

We finished up desert and I headed up to get some pictures of the city and the setting sun.

 

I love this shot!!! Postcard perfect.

[Bmorecruiser021]

It's so strange to read a review from my home town (Stockholm) but I love it!

Stockholm have three ports: Stadsgården, Värtahamnen, Frihamnen.

(The last two are next to each other) They are all inside the city so the taxi driver did wrong. If you have your recipt left, maybe I can help you with that. But we have taxis that are not connected to any of the major firms, and they do their best to rip tourist of they money.

 

Frihamnen that was the name of the terminal! Thanks! It was killing me, I couldn't remember the name of it. Not too worried about the taxi ride. All part of the adventure. LOVED your county! Sweden was so nice. Wish I could have taken more time off work and spent more days in and around Stockholm:)

[Bmorecruiser021]

I love this shot!!! Postcard perfect.

 

Thanks!

[Bmorecruiser021]

Evening everyone! Sorry For not posting last night. First day back at work was rough. I was so exhausted I just passed out last night.

 

Thursday ~ July 28 2016 ~ St. Petersburg

 

Today was the first day of our marathon, 2 day, intense excursion. Woke up to a beautiful sunrise.

 

 

 

Got some breakfast, met up with the family and headed through immigration.

 

 

As you can see the lines were a lot longer today. But we made it through and found our bus.

 

 

Hopped on board and got ready for our 45 minute drive to Catherine's Palace.

 

 

 

We weren't the first tour group to make it to the palace, so we waited in line for our turn to get in. It was funny, while waiting in line vendors tried to sell us paintings and pictures, but we said no thank you and Im glad we did, we ended up buying a picture Ali liked after the palace, in a street market near by for $20 when the vendors in line were trying to sell them for $150.

[Bmorecruiser021]

 

We made it through the gates and into the court yard. The palace grounds are HUGE!

 

 

 

 

 

They had a band playing while we waited for our turn the enter the palace.

 

 

Once we got inside we had to wear little booties over our shoes to preserve the floors.

[Bmorecruiser021]

Before we exited the bus, and entered the palace, our tour guide gave us ear pieces so she could talk and explain things. The first room we went to, on our guided tour, was the thrown/ball room.

 

 

Absolutely gorgeous. Next we headed to the dinning room.

 

 

Every room we saw was just as ornate, if not more so, then the last one! Out guide explained the the palace had been completely restored after the bombings of WWII. The tour took about an hour and then we headed out back to the gardens.

 

 

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

 

We did a little shopping (Ali got her picture I told you about earlier) and then we headed back to the bus for the drive back to St. Petersburg for lunch.

 

 

Lunch was included as part of the excursion (both days) and today we headed to restaurant right off Nevskiy Prospekt.

 

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

It was a 4 course meal with water, champlain, and vodka to drink and caviar paired with some kind of chicken salad for a starter.

 

 

Borscht for the second course.

 

 

Beef Stroganoff for the main course.

 

 

And apple cake for dessert.

 

 

Thats all for tonight everyone. I'll finish the day and try to start on the next tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening!:)

[Bmorecruiser021]

Hey Everyone! Sorry for not posting the last few days. Life has been crazy! But I promise to finish day 2 in St. Petersburg tonight and then then continue on with the rest of the review tomorrow!

 

So after lunch we got some free time and decided to go back to the Church of the Spilled Blood, and go inside this time.

 

 

 

We got tickets to go in, which was not included in our tour, they weren't very expensive. $10 a person if I can remember correctly.

 

 

Inside we saw the location where the Czar was assonated, then headed back to the bus to drive to the Island of the Czar's where every Czar of Russia had been interned. Along the way we stopped for photos. Got a great one of the Island and the Hermitage.

 

 

Then we headed to the Church.