Live (I'll try my Best) from the Eclipse Baltic Sailing

I was really hoping to take the river portion of the tour to get us back to or near the cruise harbor, but it was not possible. We waited at HOHO bus stop as the line grew, and 20 minutes later the bus arrived. Another 20 or so minutes we arrived at the cruise terminal around 4PM.

I sat on the balcony watching the other ships depart until 5:15 when the ropes started being pulled back on our ship. I took a shower and got dressed for dinner as we had reservations at Murano. We both did a la carte dining. I had the lobster bisque, goat cheese soufflé, and the lobster tail prepared tableside.

Dinner was good, a little heavy but that's Murano in my opinion. We were offered a discount if we made another reservation to Murano or Qsine, but I declined. For me once a cruise is enough.

We went back to the cabin to watch the sunset.

Someone earlier commented about how beautiful the entry/exit is at this port and they are absolutely right. The channels are narrow with hundreds of islands that are covered in heavy growth trees. The ship is constantly making course adjustments. This must be an exciting port for the captain and pilot to maneuver. It was about three hours since we left port and we still were clearing the channel.

Unfortunately I had to do some work tonight so I skipped the evening entertainment which was a comedy act.

Would I do HOHO again in Stockholm? No. I would have taken a taxi to Vasa, Old Town, and back to the ship. We spent too much time waiting for the overcrowded bus. If we had taken a cab, I feel like we would of been able to see the palace and taken the river cruise.

Pic to end today is the sunset. Have a great one everyone.

What dock in Stockholm did the ship tie to? IS this the port that's far from town? Do you know if the hoho can be boarded at the port? We're taking this cruise next summer and have been following your posts with interest.

4 out of the 5 cruise ships were docked at Frihamnen cruise port including the Eclipse. Both companies that operate the HOHO will take you to the cruise port, eventually....

Absolutely enjoying your review ;) (see how I did that, lol) You mentioned kayaking in New Zealand, hoping you did a review of that trip!

We're also really enjoying your review and since Silhouette follows a similar route next week, it's great to have a recent report. Keep them coming and enjoy the remaining days of your cruise!

Day 7 - Tallin, Estonia

The dailies.

Hi, we are on Eclipse next Saturday with our in laws and my father in law lives jazz - is there anything jazz related in the ensemble lounge any evening, or is the timetable pretty much what you see above?

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Day 7 - Tallinn, Estonia

Woke up to the ship pulling into the port with Oceana and Azamara Journey docked at the other pier. It was interesting to see both ships as they appear to be the same build. Before the trip, we were thinking of switching to the Journey on this cruise as the itinerary was slightly shorter. The Journey also included three days in St.Petersburg which would allow for a day trip to Moscow.

I went down to the dining room, OH ordered room service. I changed my breakfast today to Scottish smoked salmon Benedict, without eating the English muffin on the bottom, to offset the butter fat in the hollandaise sauce.

Our tour today had a start time of 10AM through SPB. This includes a transfer to upper Old Town, walking to lower Old Town with a guide, free time on our own, and a port transfer back to the ship. The paperwork for the tour indicated the meeting point is beyond the gift shops and through the cruise terminal gates where a giant helium balloon is located. We didn't see a balloon but as soon as walked out of the cruise terminal gate the SPB rep was there holding a sign. The balloon is supposed to be a tethered blimp ride but is not operating this year. There were a total of 10 in our tour from the ship. After our group was assembled the representative brought over our guide. His name started with an I and sounded like “Ingekert”. I know I totally botched it.

We boarded our bus to upper Old Town driving by a small theme park and the guide pointing out some buildings including the national theater. One building he mentioned was a hotel. During the time the Soviet Union was in control of Estonia, the hotel was open with 24 floors. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the hotel had 25 floors for occupancy. The reasoning? One floor was secretly occupied by the KGB.

The bus ride took about 10 minutes and we were at the outside of one of the many stone walls that protected upper Old Town.

This was where the nobility and upper class lived. As he was talking about the wall, a rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. Rain was not forecasted for today. We walked down the cobblestone street where we saw a Russian Orthodox Church. The facility is going through a restoration, so there was scaffolding covering parts of the exterior.

We were given 15 minutes to explore the church. Photography was not permitted. As we were walking towards to the steps on the church, a deluge of rain started and we quickly ran inside.

We then proceeded to a platform that overlooks the lower Old Town.

Day 7 - Tallinn, Estonia cont'd

Our guide spoke about the period when USSR occupied Estonia during the time of his grandfather. His grandfather’s business was taken over by the government, and he was then sent to Siberia. There is now a plaque to remember some of those who were forced out of the country.

We continued down to the narrowest road in Tallinn.

Old town was built out of stone for fire protection and wood framing was banned. Outside of the stone walls, buildings needed to be built out of wood. The reasoning is that if the city was invaded, they would burn down the area beyond the walls so that they could not be occupied by the invading forces.

We walked by the Holy Spirit Church where the exterior wall has a clock dating back to 1433 and is still functional.

Along the way to the church, we passed by the oldest candy shop in the city which has Tallinn’s speciality, marzipan. They hand paint the marzipan at this store. The treat was also prescribed as medicine to cure a broken heart. We then walked by another oldest landmark, this time being a pharmacy. It is the oldest continuously operating pharmacy since 1422.

Day 7 - Tallin, Estonia cont'd

We then walked through Town Hall Square which was the main marketplace for selling goods. It is now lined with cafes and restaurants.

The tour concluded about three blocks from Town Hall Square. We were given about 1.5 hours to spend time on our own, with our meeting point for the port transfer to be at the McDonald's. The guide pointed out if you get lost, ask someone for directions to McDonald's, as it's the only one in Old Town.

We were starving so we headed back to Town Hall. I wanted to go back to a restaurant the guide recommended, but it was too hard to find. We found a restaurant, and as soon as we sat down the sky became ominous, winds picked up, and it started to pour. The Town Hall which was crowded with people is now empty. Everyone is huddled under a covered walkway along the church.

I tried a traditional Estonian dish of cheese and bacon soup. Thumbs up.

For an entree, I ordered a filet. It definitely was not a filet but didn't taste bad.

After lunch we strolled around town taking pictures.

Day 7 - Tallin, Estonia Final

We headed back to the meeting point to catch the transfer. The Celebrity Daily indicated we needed our passports, but no one ever asked for pier side.

We had dinner in Luminae while the ship departed port. By the end of the dinner, a boat was nearing our window to pick up the pilot who navigated us out of Tallinn.

The next day is St.Petersburg, with an early start and a hellish passport control. We hung out on the balcony.

OH filled out the room service menu for delivery at 6AM and called it a night.

I'm a day behind now on my reporting. Four consecutive port days it's a little hard to keep up.

This was the sunset leaving Tallinn.

Absolutely enjoying your review ;) (see how I did that, lol) You mentioned kayaking in New Zealand, hoping you did a review of that trip!

[emoji2][emoji2] That was our second cruise we had taken. And I think if we had internet it was for a 30 minute package. The itinerary was Auckland to Sydney on HAL's Oosterdam. The exchange rate was terrible against the Australian currency. I just remember $12 for a Big Mac???!!

We're also really enjoying your review and since Silhouette follows a similar route next week, it's great to have a recent report. Keep them coming and enjoy the remaining days of your cruise!

The daily is pretty spot on. I haven't heard any jazz on this trip but you never with the entertainment. They can be switching out at end of our cruise.

Incredible review. Enjoying your journey and photos.

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Woke up to the ship pulling into the port with Oceana and Azamara Journey docked at the other pier.

Both are ex 'R' ships.

I believe Azamara ships were R7 & R8.

Day 7 - Tallin, Estonia Final

 

We headed back to the meeting point to catch the transfer. The Celebrity Daily indicated we needed our passports, but no one ever asked for pier side.

 

 

We had dinner in Luminae while the ship departed port. By the end of the dinner, a boat was nearing our window to pick up the pilot who navigated us out of Tallinn.

 

 

The next day is St.Petersburg, with an early start and a hellish passport control. We hung out on the balcony.

 

OH filled out the room service menu for delivery at 6AM and called it a night.

 

I'm a day behind now on my reporting. Four consecutive port days it's a little hard to keep up.

 

This was the sunset leaving Tallinn.

 

Stunning sunset photo! Please keep them coming.

Day 8 - St.Petersberg, Russia

The daily

9

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Day 8 - St.Petersburg, Russia

The ship arrived in port a little after 6AM. Windstar and Mein Schiff were already tied down. They were most likely on their second day. The U-shaped harbor is so large that the captain and pilot brought the Eclipse into the center of the cruise terminal, and turned the ship around 180 before docking. Our meeting time was scheduled for 9AM.

I needed to get some breakfast for the long day and went down to the dining room. They were closed until 7:30am. I got my backpack ready with water, passport, and tour tickets (required to present it and be registered by the tour group or you need a Visa). Went back down to the dining room to have a quick breakfast and we were off the ship at 8:10am.

At the pier, Celebrity employees were directing the flow of passengers to try and spread out the crowd for passport control. They directed us a line in the 20’s. Passport control is slow here compared to even US standards. If you are a family, the child has to go and hand in their paperwork individually.

There were about 6 in front front of me, and took about ½ to get to the front of the line. I stepped up to the counter and handed my paperwork/passport to the immigration agent. She flipped the passport to the page with my picture, and held the passport next to my face through the glass divider. She looked at the passport, looked at me, looked at the passport, looked back at me. This went on for probably around 20 seconds and it became odd making eye contact with someone so many times. She then scanned my passport, then went back to comparing the picture to my face several more times. Finally she stamped my passport and let me through. I got my passport, went through the gate, and forgot to take the tour ticket with me and left it on the counter. By the time we got outside the terminal, SPB representative was waiting. It was 8:40am and were the last to arrive for our group.

We quickly jumped into the minibus and were on our way. SPB seemed to be the major tour group and they had at least 10 vans for various tours.

Our guide for the next two days is Elena and the driver is Vladimir. As we pulled out of the cruise terminal, there were several tall buildings made out of concrete with zero curb appeal.

Our guide mentioned that the development occurred during the Soviet Union. Each person was given housing through the government for free.

The first part of the tour was a drive around St.Petersburg. We passed by Catherine’s Palace, Hermitage, and headed down Nevsky Prospekt. We drove by several churches, cathedrals, and temples. Each neighborhood has a religious site, but they were all closed during Communism and have now reopened. Basically a religious site was built first and then a neighborhood grew around it.

A couple of interesting landmarks on the street were a former Singer sewing machine building and a real Egyptian monument sitting on the side of the Neva river, the main artery to Saint Petersburg.

Day 8 - St.Petersburg cont'd

The first stop on our tour was Hermitage/Winter Palace. The tour included early admission at 10:15am. The museum has 3 million pieces of art, and only a portion is on display. If someone spent 30 seconds to look at each artwork, it would take 9 years to see all of the artwork.

Entryway staircase to museum.

Unfortunately, I don't remember what each room was used for so I'm just attaching them below. The dresses in the exhibit original ones from the royal family. Catherine the Great had 50,000 dresses, along with 50,000 shoes.

One piece of artwork is a golden peacock on a tree that was a gift. It's a functional clock that depending upon the time, the peacock can spread its wings. They only turn it on for special occasions.

The link to see it in action is here:

We proceeded through all of the artwork that was sectioned off by countries of origin. It becomes overwhelming after a while. This was a section dedicated to the generals who were instrumental to the republic.

Part of the tour included visiting Catherine’s own personal church she had built inside her Winter house.

Day 9 - St.Petersburg cont'd

After touring as much as we could, we exited the Hermitage to a masses of people in the coat check area who would be entering.

The next stop was the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood. The location is where Alexander II initially survived an assassination attempt, but upon exiting his armored horse carriage, another bomb was set off which caused the fatal injuries.

We then stopped at a restaurant for lunch. The pre-fixed meal was a salad, beef stroganoff on mashed potatoes, and a piece of cake that looks similar to tiramisu. The beef stroganoff had an overall unfavorable rating from the group, but I thought it was ok.

After lunch we moved on to the next location Peter and Paul Fortress. This was the location where political prisoners were held, and was fortress to defend against an invasion. Part of the site now houses members of the royal families who were relocated here after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Day 8 - St.Petersburg - Cont'd

Yusupov Palace was the next destination. This was where Rasputin was murdered in the basement. The exterior of the building is under renovations and is covered. There were two rooms where wax figures were used to depict the scenes before the assassination. The figures look very lifelike and I kept looking back to make sure they were made of of wax.

Rasputin was supposedly invited to the wine cellar in the basement for a meal. After that, the storyline varies as to how he was killed. One states that the food he was given was poisoned, but even hours after eating the meal Rasputin did not become ill. He then was shot from the back several times. Even after being shot, he managed to crawl out using the stairs where he eventually was fatally shot after reaching the courtyard.

Prince Felix Yusupov who was involved in the killing, and his wife Irina.

We continued the tour out of the basement to several rooms of the palace. We went to the blue room and the families personal theater complete with multi level seating and a stage with an orchestra pit.

The last stop on the tour was St.Isaac's cathedral. It is smaller than St.Peters basilica in Rome, but it is largest Russian Orthodox Church. There are two smaller chapels to side of the main chapel. Ten pillars are made of malachite.

Day 8 - St.Petersburg Final

After exiting Saint Isaac's cathedral our tour for the day was ending. Some in our tour group had hired an evening driver, and they left our group to explore on their own. Russia has a very strict tourism policy, and without a visa you cannot go exploring on your own. A guide or driver needs to be with you. I did explore obtaining a visa, but there is significant paperwork that needs to be completed and a visit to the nearest embassy is required. Most of the crew do not get off at this port even though it is an overnight spot, as immigration takes too long for them to enjoy anything shoreside. Our room attendant, Freddie once went onshore at the beginning of the season, and he was an hour late getting back on board for his shift due to passport controls.

We arrived back at the ship a little before 5. Passports are again checked and the white slip form that was completed by the officer earlier in the morning was taken. We took a shower and went to dinner at Luminae.

I watched Mein Schiff depart along with Windstar. Pullmantur had docked sometime in the afternoon for the overnight.

Next day our meeting time was 10 minutes to 8 at the cruise terminal. I filled out the room service menu for a delivery at 6AM and called it a night.

Both are ex 'R' ships.

I believe Azamara ships

were R7 & R8.

R6 is now Azamara Journey

R7 is Azamara Quest

R8 is P and O Adonia

Day 9 - St.Petersburg (Day 2)

The daily.

Day 9 - St.Petersburg, Russia (2nd Day) cont’d

The phone rang at 6:00AM to confirm room service was being delivered. No gym/dining room for me this morning, I was lucky I woke up to hear the phone ring.

After breakfast, we showered, and headed out to the the dock around 7:20. We didn't want to be the last two again to arrive for the tour. Passport control moves along much faster the 2nd day. It seems all they look at is the stamp on your passport and the tour ticket confirmation. I lost my tour ticket yesterday, and had to go down to guest relations to have them try and print it out via an email. Unfortunately due to the security measures for their onboard systems, she could not open the link. Luckily I was able to open the link at the computer lab and they had a printer available.

We ended up being the first terminal side.

Our guide and driver had not even arrived. The weather was cloudy, wet, and cool. Elena our guide stated there was no point in looking at a weather report, as they are always wrong. She told us to bring a jacket and umbrella, and if we didn't need them we can leave them in the van during our tours. She stated the weather is so unpredictable in St.Petersberg that it snowed last month in July.

By 8 o’clock our group was assembled, the van arrived, and we headed out. First part of the tour was a river boat cruise. All of the SPB tours met up for this, and we needed two river boats to accommodate all of us. The weather held out so the plastic dome covers for the river boat could be fully retracted.

Once we were onboard, we headed down the Neva river. Our guide Elena ended up being the on board guide for our boat.

We passed by sites we saw the day before including the Hermitage, the Winter Palace, and Peter and Paul Fortress.