St Petersburg

Ships photographer

Now it's toooo hot - 90! After an hour getting through customs we started our 2 day tour with 3 other couples (two American, one Liverpudlian) on an SPb mini bus tour we had arranged on the Internet. A young student Alioli was our guide.

First it was Peterhof Palace gardens and fountains, then Catherine's Palace (at Pushkin) preceded by a quick photostop tour of the other main city landmarks. We had a fast food lunch of savory pancakes The sunny weather was good for the sights but very hot and tiring as we were stuck in Pushkin's carnival traffic for about an hour. Magnificent golden palaces and fountains, puts our NT heritage to shame. The very stressed young guide found it difficult to cope with a mutinous tourist group at times. We even ran across a road where a marathon was taking place to get to the Hermitage museum!!!

Helsinki

Lovely sunny day. We took the shuttle bus to the city centre and walked down the main boulevard to the  harbour side with its market and then up to the Russian church. We followed a military band to Senate square and did a bit of souvenir shopping. We had lunch at City Hall staff canteen (don't ask!) but it was a real bargain. Sun shone all day and it was warm! Nice sail away with the sun setting at 11:25pm, We are so far north now it doesn't get dark at all!

Stockholm sailaway

A highlight of the cruise, so far, sailing between the thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm archipelago. Five hours of beautiful scenery in the evening sunshine on route to Helsinki. Very exclusive summer retreats on the islands.

Now I have another 100 photos to sort out! But its a nice problem to have.

Stockholm

Cloudy but warm. Shuttle bus dropped us in town by the opera house and we walked into the adjacent old town area known as Gamla Stan. Bought shares in coffee shop and had free coffee - well it seemed like it. We took a ferry to Vasa Museum to see the jaw dropping restored ship wreck. The massive flagship went down in the harbour in 1628 on its maiden voyage. We had an expensive roll and coffee in the cafe. Walked back to shuttle bus stop along the harbour front passing the royal palace, government house, etc. taking photos. Rosemary took lots of photos of trolls  - she will explain if asked.

All at sea - again

Cruising from Germany to Sweden today. First it rained, then it cleared, then the fog came down and now it's windy but at least the evening sun is appearing. Plenty to do on board but the lawn is now too wet for the golf tournament. Just have to hit the cocktails until we dock in the morning.

A grey day in Rostock

Another winters day, this time in Germany. Rostock and Warnemunde would both be very nice places in the  sun, but we made the best of them with a walk around and a lunch time snack.

Warnemunde is on the coast and has a nice pleasure harbor and beach, but it was a bit too cold and breezy for a paddle.

It poured with rain in Berlin (one of the day trips). 

All at sea

A sunny day cruising between Belgium and Germany, the long way all around Denmark. Watched the Corning glass blowing demo on the lawn and a bit of sun bathing on the balcony.
Had dinner in the sea view cafe for a change, it was almost deserted. Due in Warnemunde at 9:30 tomorrow.

Zeebruge - Sunday

A miserable start to the day so we stayed on board (we have seen Bruges in the rain before!) and explored the ship which is very big and spacious, but its open plan atrium is very noisy in the evening.

Brightened up later as we left for Germany. DJ needed for the formal dinner tonight.

We are off

Rosemary on our balcony

Left at 5:00 pm Saturday after a long drive delayed by a traffic accident for 45 nail biting minutes on the A34. Miserable weather, the ship looks great, just unpacking as we cruise past Isle of Wight. 

Next stop Zeebruge in 168 miles, hope its a bit brighter tomorrrow morning.

This is our 2013 Cruise Blog

This is a companion to our motor home blog roemin around and I will be using it for our forthcoming Baltic cruise.

Our "boat" this time is the Celebrity Eclipse and we have a state room (ie cabin) in the middle of the lower deck at the back. Its so cool to watch the wake as we cruise along.