NCL Norwegian Getaway - Baltic Capitals: July 9 - July 18 (combined)

At the suggestion of a few more veteran Cruise Critics I will combine the rest of my trip onto this one thread. Please take a look at my other threads of the pre-cruise in Copenhagen along with Day 1 and Day 2 (Berlin).

My next post will be for the relaxing day at sea ;p

Day 3: Day at Sea

One of the many things that attracted me to this cruise was how it was kind of spaced out with strong activity days then less activity days which allowed you to recharge, sleep in a little and truly enjoy the experience. I get up early every day in my regular life usually by alarm, it's nice to have those moments that you don't. With that in mind here was our schedule for Day 3:

6:00p- Taste Restaurant

7:30p- Million Dollar Quartet

Pulling the curtains tight and making sure that the balcony door was locked, we all slept in until mid-morning. With the early and long day in Berlin with a late dinner we needed to charge up knowing that 2 long early days in Russia was just on the horizon. We all went to breakfast at the Garden Buffet then pretty much roamed and took in the Getaway for the day. I'll take this time to review some of the things on board.

Hot (warm) tubs: On deck 15 there are adult only and family tubs. If a kid gets in the adult one, they are promptly whistled out. That was refreshing that it was enforced. The hot tubs aren't hot but are clean and many times unoccupied. The adult pool next to them was rarely used as well.

Smoking areas: I addressed this in a previous post but the Getaway does a good job of having an area to go to. Deck , next to the hot tubs, pool and bar. The question is always posted of whether the smoke interferes with the other areas. My wife smokes, I do not. I was able to walk around the area or even in the area without being "smoked out". Usually in smoking areas you see people walking by holding their nose or waving their hands but with this area it wasn't overwhelming to the outside. It was well done.

Giant Chess: Deck 8, forward. This was usually unoccupied. We walked by it a few times then played once. People stop to watch. It was fun. My 16 year old is good and had me on the ropes early but I prevailed and crushed her. ;p

Complimentary restaurants:

Garden Café: Deck 15, aft. I will usually go to restaurants for dinners and buffets for breakfast. The Garden Café is very nice. They had a huge selection of foods that varied day by day. It is there too that you can get the hard ice cream at no add'l charge. Seating is plentiful, silverware is at the tables. Breakfast: For breakfast they had a create your own omelet area (4 of them I think), tons of bacon, sausage, hash browns etc. along with all the breads, fruits and cereals that you could wish for. Being a large ship breakfast could get busy for sure. Once you know where to get what you want, it's easier. I found that hitting the forward portion of the buffet was best and using the drink station (coffee/tea/drinks) just outside of the café worked best. We sat outside of the buffet to better enjoy the scenery and fresh air. It's also less crowded and noisy outside as when it is busy, it's loud. Lunch: We went for lunch a few times and they had a very nice salad bar and grill. My daughters being vegetarians they ordered a veggie burger once. It took 5-10 minutes but it also guaranteed that it was fresh. I ordered a turkey burger, also 5-10 minutes. It was good and again, fresh. The selection was large with many Asian, grill, pasta, deli, vegetable selections. It varied but every time was excellent. I particularly liked the curly fries and the waffle fries. Dinner: We never ate dinner there but I did stop by for an order of fries and oh yeh, a steak. ;) Everything was good. The area was always immaculate and well maintained. If more formal sit down meals aren't your thing than you will surely enjoy the Garden Café. Note: the aft elevator drops you off right in the middle of the buffet. That said, it also is a great way to carry multiple coffees (the cups stack) and multiple plates back to your stateroom without navigating the stairs.

O'Sheehan's: Deck 7, mid. We went here for lunch a couple of times and a partial dinner once and full dinner once. The food is good and the environment is cool. It seems like a TGIFridays or one of the chain restaurants to me but that is fine. It's a nice casual alternative. I had a burger there, nachos and even broccoli soup. All of them were good. My cut on this restaurant is probably also the positive for some. It was loud due to the location. The bar outside stayed busy but more so it is in the Atrium area which stays busy with Deal or No Deal, 55 seconds etc. at any given time. The area is active which is cool but if you are looking for a quiet sit down meal, ask to be seated far in the back. We walked in every time without a wait. This is also 24 hours which is appealing as well.

Bowling/mini-arcade: in O'Sheehan's area but on the starboard side. We bowled a few times. It cost $5 a game with a swipe of your card. There are two lanes and it stayed open most of the time. We didn't wait to play any of the times we played. This are duckpin lanes that are shorter with the pins being held on my ropes. It was a neat design. I recommend doing it as it was a lot of fun. Around that area is also additional games. Just outside of the bowling area is a smoking area fyi.

Shanghai's: Deck 7, aft. We went here once for our 2nd dinner. There is usually a wait so don't plan on popping in. We waited about 20 minutes with our pager and had nachos at O'Sheehan's down the deck while we waited. It is a neat free restaurant. Seating is on long tables so you will be sitting next to some fellow cruisers most likely. We met a nice family from Florida. Note: there are a lot of Americans on the cruise but less % than a Caribbean cruise. You order by marking a sheet, one per group. Keep in mind that these are orders of food, not individuals. Meaning that you get more than one dumpling, more than one spring roll etc. We had a good amount of food and liked all of it.

Taste/Savor: Deck 6 aft. Yes, two different restaurants but pretty much the same. They rotate menus but you will get a lot of the standards there, steaks / chicken/ pastas etc. We ate at Savor twice and Taste once. Good food, good portions, request a window seat if possible to enjoy the Baltic. These will be the restaurant of choice in the free options if you like smaller and a little quieter.

Tropicana: Deck 7, aft. This is the main restaurant. It is very large. We went early and were one of the 1st ones there. I liked the Tropicana the most of the free restaurants. Both times that we went there was a live band that played not overpowering but nice backgroundish music. The menu was very similar to Taste/Savor. I had chicken parm 1 time and a steak the next. Both were excellent.

Tip: If you don't know how you will feel after a day in port on an adventure once you return, schedule 2 dinners and determine how you feel and which one is best. I scheduled the Tropicana for both 5:30 and 8:30 for our day in Stockholm. Our tour returned around 4:00 so I wasn't sure how we would feel getting back, tired/hungry/dressy/casual etc. We ended up going to the 5:30 and I cancelled the 8:30.

Tipping: on the ship we did prepaid tips. I'd rather have it paid in advance. As for each individual drink they charge 18% already. Our service was great, don't get me wrong but I was fine with just the 18% that was included and didn't tip any more. Tipping in the various countries is tricky, most will take loose change etc. and honestly many don't take or accept tips. In Russia we had two tours, one accepted a tip at the end of the day, the other handed it right back. In Sweden he wasn't accepting tips. If you see a tip jar put in a little. In Helsinki I gave the bartender a few coins as thanks and he seemed grateful. Tipping overall however is not expected like it is in the US. The theory is that most make a livable wage and don't require the tips to live. Some say that is why service is less attentive however I disagree with that as I had great service everywhere I went.

Sports stuff: Ping Pong- Deck 15. It was available early but then was filled most times after. Mini-Golf- Deck 17-Aft. It was a pretty good course and was available most of the time. Clubs and balls are right there for the taking. Rock Climbing Wall- Deck 16-Aft. We didn't do this. There are specific times for this so check your Freestyle Daily. Ropes Course- Deck 17 Aft. We waited on this although it wasn't always extremely popular, we just didn't find the time until the final day at sea. Unfortunately due to high winds only half of the course was open, meaning that the plank and zip lines were closed. What we did was cool. I recommend doing it before the last day. Weight limit is 300 pounds.

Arcade: Deck 16 Aft. The arcade is pretty good with a variety of old and new games. It is always open. My kids were there a bunch and I went once to school them on Galaga, Ms. PacMan and Guitar Hero

Casino: My wife and I went almost every day. The slots seemed to be looser earlier in the cruise but that could be my imagination. We both did ok losing only a bit and were actually up at one time. It is a mixture of smoking and non-smoking with a variety of table games and a fair amount of updated and older slots. It was fun, but don't expect to pay for your cruise with your winnings.

Thanks for your review - we are taking same cruise Aug 14 and love hearing details in advance! I typically think of cruising with shorts and swimsuits, but this sounds like more of a pants and T-shirts and light rain coat cruise - would this be about right? Also with my son a picky eater, I'm a little concerned about him eating on our SPB tours - I'm wondering if the buffet has those prepackaged cereal boxes that he could take off ship with him? This is our first NCL cruise and husband was thinking of bringing dress pants and dress shoes for dinners but I told him to save the suitcase room and just bring khakis and his walking shoes for dinner - would this fit in with the "free styling" restaurant atmosphere - we are only doing the free dining room dinners.

Hi skatie. We always bring the packaged cereal for our son. He was 3 when we did this cruise and if your son is young my review might be helpful and is included in my signature line. You should also try to eat at Stolle in St. Petersburg - its fast and delicious meat vegetable or fruit pies in dough. I think a picky eater might really like it. The menu is online,, although not all pies are available every day

Nice feedback on the different tipping cultures.

Hi Skatie- yes, there are the cereal boxes. We did the same for an easy snack. In our Russia tour we had lunch that included a fairly simple soup and potatoes of some sort. In addition our entrée was beef stroganoff which is fairly tame so you may be ok. Load up on a full breakfast before and you can survive is my thought. Both of my daughters are vegetarians so we prepared them to maybe not eat during the day but they always found something. We didn't have the ability to "explore" and find other eateries in Russia (your tour is your visa) so having a backup might be a good idea. That said, we did sneak in a hot dog outside of the Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood.

Weather- I'm a shorts wearer and I wore them often but I always had a light jacket in my backpack. 2 of the days I wore jeans. My family wore long pants mostly with an occasional shorts put in but again had at least a light coat in their bag. On our canal ride in SPB I brought an extra sweatshirt and it got grabbed up quickly by my underdressed daughter. The Freestyle Daily will give you the weather the day before so you have a chance of dressing correctly. Mostly we were in the mid 60's so it was comfortable for many. Bring an umbrella for each member of the family so that you don't have to buy 3 in Berlin like I did, haha. It rained in both Berlin and Tallinn. Pack good walking shoes as you will, even with being on a tour bus, walk 3-5 miles a day.

I think you are smart to only have your husband pack khakis. I packed polo shirts versus tshirts more so that they double as my day shirt and dinner shirt. I had dress shoes for dinners but I overpacked fancy clothes.

Finishing out our Day at Sea.

We went to Taste for dinner and it was very Savor-like. The menu was the standard and the food was good. Even though I'm downing the Taste/Savor a little it is still wonderful. It is a nice alternative to the buffet in my opinion in atmosphere mostly.

Million Dollar Quartet: I booked this show as soon as available online and I recommend you do the same. It will be completely booked so the earlier the better. My original show was cancelled so I had to reschedule once I was on the ship (they hold a certain amount before the ship sails and more once on board). Of all of the shows this one is overall the best rated by the 4 of us. It wasn't my favorite but it was a close 2nd. For my wife and daughters it was their favorite hands down. It is well done and a can't miss. Note: the performers are all over the ship as there are not a high amount of performances. For my daughters it was like seeing a rock star.

I'll review the other shows at this time so you can compare:

Cirque Dreams and Steam: This is an up-charged event but keep in mind that it includes a very good dinner. This was my favorite show. With the amazing costumes and amazing Cirque-like feats of strength and wonder I recommend this show to anyone. If you are a Cirque fan you will like this show for sure. Our meal was steak and shrimp. The girls had some sort of pasta that they loved. Dinner, then the show. I highly advise getting there early to not only get a better seat in the Illusionarium but also to be able to take in and get photo ops with the performers.

Burn The Floor: This is a hard driving dance show that we all liked but didn't put in our top few. Lots of music, drums on the stage, and tons of excellent dancing. We tried to keep along with a storyline but at the end I don't think that there was one, haha. Book it and go is still my thought as it was well done.

Beau Tahana: This "comedian" and pianist kept us giggling in many different shows. We caught him in Fat Cats, Mojito Bar and other places. He has a great wit and is a great pianist. I put comedian in quotes because he isn't a stand up or formal comedian, just a witty guy that is a must see. Have a drink and hear his commentary while he plays. Also, he mentioned Cruise Critic so we CC'ers know that "they" are reading. Grab a seat and sit awhile.

Fleetwood Mac tribute- by Into the Drift: This talented couple (of performers) played thru the collection of songs by the band flawlessly. If you don't have solid plans, go in and check them out, they are very good. (We also saw them at the Tropicana) playing during dinner.

Howling at the Moon Dueling Pianos: This show gets a lot of overwhelmingly positive feedback so don't let my comments stop you. I was disappointed. They didn't "duel". It was more of duel pianos where the two of them play with each other, not against each other. Years ago there was a bar called Little Ditties that used to do Dueling Pianos. That was more of what I expected. These folks are talented for sure but it seemed that as the night went on, the only requests played were those that came with large tips. Ok, I know, that's how "the world works" but I still didn't like that aspect of it. Go see it based on other people's reviews but if you expect them to "duel" you will be disappointed.

Deal or No Deal: This is played in the Atrium area at least a few times over the cruise. You have the ability to play along (or even get called) if you buy a $20 card. It was fun and is very popular. If you want a seat, get there early.

55 Seconds: Their version of "Minute to win it" in the Atrium area. Meh...it was ok. Probably best suited for the 10-15 year old crowd. The people had fun playing and the crowd seemed into it. I ordered a beer at the adjacent bar and planned my next move.

Escape- The Big Top: This event is very popular. We tried to go a few times going stand by with no luck. My suggestion is to sign up at the box office Day 1 4:45-6:00 which means right after you muster at 4:00.

Bingo: "a show" of sort, we played bingo at the end of the cruise hoping to win some big money or even a free cruise. We didn't but still had a lot of fun.

There are many other shows that we just couldn't make it to so I can't comment on any others.

Photo Gallery: Swipe your card to see the photos taken of you and "yours". We were happy with the photos and bought so of them on the last day. You will also have a binder of your photos. Your card will give you your location. The funny part is finding other people in your mix of photos. We had a few that felt like family after a while.

Day 4- Tallinn

Arriving at the latest of any port, 9:00am, everyone got a good chance to see us dock. Flawlessly the ship was positioned and the ship was cleared, a little early. We did not have any tours planned in Tallinn and decided to tackle it by walking the city on our own. Doing our research we saw that there was the upper and lower parts of the city so we decided to walk thru, head up, then down different streets to take in the short time we were there. All aboard at 4:00pm made for a short day. (the shortest time in any port)

After breakfast at the Garden Cafe' we got on land around 10:00 to a light rain. It wasn't hard pouring rain but steady. Luckily I had brought our 4 umbrellas (3 from Berlin) so we were prepared. Getting to the gift shop just outside of the dock I discovered that I had forgotten my wallet back on board. A quick run back and we were ready to go around 10:30 with it now a bit more foggy and rainy.

The walk into town was longer than I had expected at maybe 10-15 minutes and we just followed the crowd. My first observation of Tallinn is that it's not just the old city medieval look that was expected but that of a vibrant city with newer buildings and such. As we got into the old town it then changed over to a really neat quaint town. Cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings are everywhere. We chose to enter on Pikk Street which took us straight into the town square area. As you got closer the crowds of cruise folks were lining the streets. (I think that there were 3-4 ships in port). The rain had stopped which was great. We stopped to get lunch just short of the market at a nice quaint outside (and inside) café. We got a burger, some sort of rare meats, risotto and some sort of beet dish. All of it was ok to good but the environment was why we went. Right out on the street you could envision years ago how this has changed. Wrapping up lunch with a few pilsners :beer-toast: of local Moodne we made our way into the market area.

Wow. In seeing Rick Steve's and other shows describing the market I didn't expect it to be so so crowded. We may have hit it at peak Summertime but anyway, for me it was quite a bit overcrowded. We quickly bought some amber, good price, strolled around a little than took the path to the upper town area. If you have difficulty walking or are in a wheelchair, this is not for you. It is a bit of a climb but was worth every bit of sweat and effort that it took :D We kept going up until we hit the fort/monastery area. Beautiful views especially now that the weather had cleared and the sun was out. We bought and ate some unique nuts, orange/chili walnuts, and moved on towards Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Taking it in a bit we moved on to more of the upper town of Toompea. Walking over to St. Mary's Cathedral and in we were awed by the church area with it tombs and wonderful wooden carved coats of arms. There is an admission to the church and tower ($8 euros perhaps) but you can take it in for free just inside the door. Here is the catch... you can't take photos. We decided to do the tower climb and guess what, if you pay admission you can take all of the photos you want ;p. We took it all in, the beauty, the history, the tombs, then made our way up the tower. Wow. What a walk of spiraled stairs. It reminded me a bit of the Our Savior's Church tower in Copenhagen as well as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Very, very cool. Once you make it to the top you are rewarded with an unbelievable view of Tallinn. I highly recommend this.

Done with the tower and being time weary we decided to have another beer (and waters) right around the corner. Saku :beer-mug: this time. Making a left we headed down on a larger road. Back into the market area we diverted a little ending up a little further away from our shipbound path. Note: some parts of Tallinn have free wi-fi. We all stopped and pulled some emails etc. on our way back.

Walking thru the tourists shops just outside of the port we were rolling back around 3:45. When we got there we saw long lines. If you missed getting anything Estonian you can do it here. Managing the queue, we bought a couple of beers and sodas and drank them in line. Back on the ship around 4:15, we departed soon after. We were not the last on.

Overall I liked Tallinn (especially St. Mary's Cathedral) but was a bit taken back by the tourism side of it. I understand that they are making a living off of the tons of cruise ships that come and go but I was more hoping for the unspoiled medieval town as described. You can find it for sure if you look past the sale side of it.

Back on ship we had two scheduled events, dinner at Cagney's at 5:30 and Burn the Floor dance show at 7:30. Cagney's would only be for me and my wife as a steak house isn't the place to take vegetarians ;) . We both got dressed up after showers. This was one of the two specialty dinners that we would have.

Quick notes about the cabin: Showers, good sized, glass door. Good not great pressure but showers on a cruise always are refreshing. Size of the bathroom is good. Beds, we ended with a king (2 singles put together) and it slept well. Crisp clean sheets. The girls had a bunk situation with the top bunk down most of the time. Storage was good, closet size was good. Included safe was handy. Only two plugs. We brought an extension cord for additional plugging in. Balcony, smaller in depth than many but very serviceable. We were on the 10th deck so the Waterfront roof was just below us 2 decks. The door on the balcony was heavy and you need to make sure to have it in the open position when opening and closed when at night to avoid whistling.

...off to dinner. The girls ate at the buffet and seemed to enjoy it. We used to iConcierge app (it happened to be working at the time) to keep in contact and meet up with them afterwards at the Theater.

Dinner was very good. I had the filet and my wife had the prime rib. She had the lobster bisque and we both had a nice array of vegetables. My filet was very good. Her prime rib (queen cut) was good but I liked the taste of my filet better. I enjoyed the meal finishing with cheesecake. Overall I was happy with Cagney's but wished that we could have eaten outside (we requested it but it was too windy). I like La Cucina better overall but was still very happy that we chose the specialty dining as one of our free choices. (pre-paid tips was the other)

Meeting the girls at the front we sat and enjoyed Burn the Floor (see my review earlier), having a few beers afterwards up on Deck 15 then enjoying a fairly early night back in the cabin. Tomorrow we arrive early into St. Petersburg for what many would consider the highlight of the trip.

Day 5: St Petersburg (Day 1)

My entire time in school the US and Russia (then USSR) was involved in a Cold War. Never did I ever think that I would have the ability or the good fortune to visit Russia. The next two days were almost surreal and only after reliving thru stories and photos do I fully appreciate my time there.

Day 1 in St. Petersburg was going to be an early one. I opted for the NCL sponsored tour of "Imperial St. Petersburg" which was slated to last from 7:45-4:45. Once back on the ship we also had a planned dinner at Savor at 8:30 and the girls were going to watch Fantastic Beasts in 3D at 10:15 in the theatre.

After grabbing some food from the Garden Café, taking it back to the cabin, we met in the Tropicana around 7:30a. Although arriving around 7:00a the ship wasn't expected to be cleared until 8:00a by Russian customs "due to clearance and immigration officers". Getting into Russia is the most difficult of any of the ports. You must carry your original passports with you.

From the Freestyle Daily: "GOING ASHORE.... Passports: Guests are required to carry their original passports in Russia. Guests who require Russian Visas may proceed ashore only when participating on organized group excursions (if the vessel's stay is less than 72 hours). A valid passport and respective tour ticket is required. Officials will stamp your passport on their pier. Allow yourself enough time to complete the processing (in) order to be on time for your tours."

So, most of the ship required a tour ticket to be allowed into Russia. Nervous from all of the stories we left the ship as one of the first groups (NCL groups are let off first) and got into line (there are maybe 20 booths/lines) with maybe only 5-7 people in front of us. There are not a lot of direction and everyone seems a little uptight (cruisers and immigration officers :D). We tried to figure out if they were doing one by one or if families went up as a group. (of our 4 times thru we did it as a group 2 times (tried another and got pushed back to one by one) and individuals the other 2. I guess it would depend on ages but families with younger children should try to go as a group. Going as a group I put all of the passports on the ledge with the 4 tickets as well. (split them out by person and ticket). She processed mine first as I handed it to her first. No words, just a lot of typing and looking at the screen. After a minute or two she was satisfied and returned my passport and ticket with a visa in the newly stamped passport. I went to leave the area and the gate was red (closed) when I pushed on it and she switched it to green and I was out of the area waiting for the rest of my family. One by one but standing as a group the rest of us went thru the same thing. No words, just motions. Thru in maybe 5 minutes total we were happy that we didn't get delayed.

Walking out we followed the green indicators ("cleared" I think or something like that) to the port shopping area. Here is where we ended up getting stamps and mailed postcards. Here also (along with the immigration waiting area) are bathrooms. Not wasting time we followed along the buses looking for the right one. Finding it and welcomed aboard we were on our journey. Or so we thought ;p We waited and waited, then waited more. It appears that a few got caught up in the process (as told in other people's stories). We waited for awhile then pulled out they back in grabbing the last of our group. At this point it was about 8:45a-9:00a. The Baltic in general is known for it's non sun days however we must have hit it very lucky and had two beautiful sunny days (mid 60s to low 70s).

We started our bus ride with excellent narration from our guide. Her English was very good as she had been studying English in school basically her entire life. She had also gone to many years of college as well and described her schooling and answering any questions eagerly. She was born after the fall of the USSR but she did a great job of describing the differences using her grandmother as the example. One statement stuck with me about her grandmother. "she had money but nothing to buy". Our bus passed by the new stadium that will be used for World Cup and the under construction Gasprom Tower (will be the tallest in Europe).

We were on our way to the Summer residence of Kings and Queens, Petershof Palace, and the Petershof Fountains (Gardens). During the ride we were given our headsets. This became invaluable not only in the narration but also in that if you can no longer hear her, you are not in her area :D.

The palace and accompanying grounds are beautiful and we were told that the fountains were on. (In Versailles last year the fountains were off when we visited) so that little fact was a good feeling. After being in line for maybe 10-15 minutes total we pushed thru hitting bathrooms inside before herding into the area where you get your booties. The flooring in Petershof is made of unbelievable ornate woods with most every room being different. The booties that slip on over your feet are in hope that the woods will be protected for the ages. Note: No photography is allowed in the Palace. (we did sneak in a few shots but there are many employees looking to stop photography. If you do it, be stealth like we were :evilsmile:. The palace is wonderfully adorned in gold with crystals, mirrors, painting and everything ornate. Peter attempted to out do Louis' Versailles and I feel that it was just a touch better. Some of the rooms were just breathtaking. At the end of the palace tour is some time for buying souvenirs (they take credit cards and euros if you don't have Rubles like us).

Out of the palace we started our walk thru of the Petershof Fountains. They are as wonderful as the photos show, with the gold sparkling and the gravity fountains spraying in every direction. Truly a highlight. Unfortunately we felt a bit rushed going thru and got photos but didn't have really anytime to sit and enjoy. We lost her voice in our headsets often and were constantly bringing up the end of the line. If you have a chance to spend more time there, do so.

Rushing thru to the end of the garden area we picked up our hydrofoil. I had never been in a hydrofoil before and booked this trip with the bonus of doing so. This is a popular means of transportation for the touring crowd. We rushed to get to our hydrofoil then waited in the heat. Arghh. I would have loved to have had the 15 minutes waiting for another group, enjoying more time at the fountains but with these tours you are gathered and herded. Trying not to complain but.... I guess that I am. Overall, Petershof was one of my top sites for the whole trip.

Day 5: St Petersburg (Day 1)

 

I opted for the NCL sponsored tour of "Imperial St. Petersburg" which was slated to last from 7:45-4:45.

I am curious. Did you do tours both days through NCL? I have been reading ALL of the Baltic reviews since I am on that cruise on the Breakaway next June. You are the first that has used an NCL tour. May I ask why? Was the itinerary better? The guarantee that you wouldn't be left behind? It appears that the groups are larger. I am just curious as I try and narrow things down. Thank you! Great review, BTW!

Hydrofoiling back you get a great chance to see a lot of the city in a different perspective. After docking, we boarded our bus again and made our way to lunch at a local restaurant. The lunch was traditional Russian with vodka and champagne. We had a nice soup, some interesting salad and good conversation with our tourmates. Our main dish was "beef" stroganoff with some potatoes. My girls as vegetarians had some sort of eggplant pasta type dish with potatoes. We all enjoyed our meals. The restaurant had a bathroom that I only mention because the bus did not. (Later my wife asked what kind of meat was for lunch, the tour guide said "some sort of boiled meat". ;p No matter, it was good.

We stopped on Vasilievsky Island for a 10-15 lookaround. We got a good view of additional buildings and towers but then were back on the bus. From there we went to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. It was gorgeous and worth the drive and time. The mint is also in the area but we did not visit that.

After some more driving around we drove past Our Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral (we go inside tomorrow). We did stop for about 15 minutes to look at it but outside was pretty crowded and knowing that we would be back the next day, we moved on.

Another quick stop at a tourist shop, then back to the ship.

All and all a wonderful first day in St. Petersburg

Thank you for your detailed review. We will be on the Getaway in October for a TA. We are looking forward to it and are glad to hear that it is a wonderful ship.

I am curious. Did you do tours both days through NCL? I have been reading ALL of the Baltic reviews since I am on that cruise on the Breakaway next June. You are the first that has used an NCL tour. May I ask why? Was the itinerary better? The guarantee that you wouldn't be left behind? It appears that the groups are larger. I am just curious as I try and narrow things down. Thank you! Great review, BTW!

It does seem that CC'ers don't use the tours thru the companies as much for sure. I felt comfortable working with them. I was able to compare the available tours and book thru my reservation and manage it thru my same representative etc. which was nice. My tours were refundable if we didn't make port for some reason. I guess it was the ease of keeping it all together as well as the advantage of knowing that they were reputable. A benefit was that we were first off of the ship which did not play in my decision but was a nice bonus. Not in the Baltic but in the past when I have done non-cruiseline tours I felt a little open and vulnerable. Having a 14 and 16 year old with us we felt more comfortable this way. We are comfortable traveling but some things we like to be a little herded. That said, I know that I could have saved money if I went elsewhere. All 4 of our tours were handled well without flaws in anyway. It is also why I went with transportation thru NCL from Copenhagen to the airport.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of why I went with it thru NCL.

Finishing our 1st day in St. Petersburg it was refreshing to know that the next day we were back on land in Russia. Besides land/sea cruises I've never stayed in port overnight. Even though you still have to be back on the ship eventually, it's nice to know that the ship isn't leaving, that night at least.

In the port, for the smokers out there, there is a smoking area signed, "Place for smoking", just past the shops and right in the corner of where the buses leave.

We had dinner reserved at Savor that night but having already been to there and Taste we opted to go for an earlier dinner at the noodle house, Shanghai's. This is a busy complementary dining place and we had to get a beeper. The alert is good for 1 deck up, 1 deck down, so don't stray too far. We went to O'Sheehan's down the deck a little and ordered nachos. The nachos arrived, and as we were finishing them up our beeper flashed and we were off to Shanghai's. I reviewed Shanghai's earlier in this post but overall we were very pleased and it was worth the 15-20 minute wait.

Being in port most things are closed on the ship for shops and gambling. After dinner we watched the "55 to stay alive" show (reviewed previously... meh) at 8:00 then the girl's roamed around then going to the movie Fantastic Beasts in 3D. We decided to take in a little more of Beau Tahana's funny piano show in the Sugarcane Bar (previously called by me as the Mojito Bar). After that we had a few beers on deck then retired back to the room. The girls came back later saying that they enjoyed the show.

Tomorrow: Day 6: St. Petersburg- Day 2

Tipping: on the ship we did prepaid tips. I'd rather have it paid in advance. As for each individual drink they charge 18% already. Our service was great, don't get me wrong but I was fine with just the 18% that was included and didn't tip any more. Tipping in the various countries is tricky, most will take loose change etc. and honestly many don't take or accept tips. In Russia we had two tours, one accepted a tip at the end of the day, the other handed it right back. In Sweden he wasn't accepting tips. If you see a tip jar put in a little. In Helsinki I gave the bartender a few coins as thanks and he seemed grateful. Tipping overall however is not expected like it is in the US. The theory is that most make a livable wage and don't require the tips to live. Some say that is why service is less attentive however I disagree with that as I had great service everywhere I went.

Thanks for this. I asked in a different thread but to get a final verdict, did you tip your porter when embarking? It's funny about tipping in SPB since all the tour companies mention that tipping the guide and driver is not included and goes to great lengths to tell you how much to tip.

jinteso, look on Trip Advisor for tours in St Petersburg. We were on a RCCL cruise last summer, and used Alla Tours for our two days there.

We were extremely satisfied. Saw more than those who had taken the ship tours and at a cheaper price! We were able to plan our own itinerary and had early entry into all of the attractions. No worries at all about coming back to the ship on time. They are professionals who know the system. Another highly rated tour company on Trip Advisor is SPB tours. Check them out.

jinteso, look on Trip Advisor for tours in St Petersburg. We were on a RCCL cruise last summer, and used Alla Tours for our two days there.

We were extremely satisfied. Saw more than those who had taken the ship tours and at a cheaper price! We were able to plan our own itinerary and had early entry into all of the attractions. No worries at all about coming back to the ship on time. They are professionals who know the system. Another highly rated tour company on Trip Advisor is SPB tours. Check them out.

Thanks for the additional info.

Thanks for this. I asked in a different thread but to get a final verdict, did you tip your porter when embarking? It's funny about tipping in SPB since all the tour companies mention that tipping the guide and driver is not included and goes to great lengths to tell you how much to tip.

I did not tip the porter as he more seemed like the first customer service person in the chain. He was less like the traditional porter at the airport and in fact we moved our luggage to the conveyer belt. Hard to describe but he didn't feel "tipable" and more seemed like the next people in the process.

We did try to tip her (Day 2) and she denied it, unsure why. The tour guide in Sweden was denying people before we got there so we didn't have the exact same circumstance.

I also did not tip the drivers that took us to the airport, or Helsinki. Again, it didn't seem like a tipping situation.

I did not tip the porter as he more seemed like the first customer service person in the chain. He was less like the traditional porter at the airport and in fact we moved our luggage to the conveyer belt. Hard to describe but he didn't feel "tipable" and more seemed like the next people in the process.

 

We did try to tip her (Day 2) and she denied it, unsure why. The tour guide in Sweden was denying people before we got there so we didn't have the exact same circumstance.

 

I also did not tip the drivers that took us to the airport, or Helsinki. Again, it didn't seem like a tipping situation.

The pier porters in the US hardly do anything either -- other than roll a cart full of luggage to the belt. In fact, we've always had to put our own luggage on the carts and they still expect a tip. Anyway... good to know about how it is in Copenhagen.

As for the tour guides,I would just find it strange if they refuse the tips as every single site says it's about 10% of the tour, plus a smaller fee for the driver. Plus, who would really turn down $100+ in cash but we'll see!

Day 6: St. Petersburg (Day 2)

Today our tour isn't until later in the day. I opted to have a more casual morning (it is in fact a vacation, not a get the hell up early every day ;p). Planning for maximum without killing yourself to exhaustion is my theory. I love the sights but also love being on vacation and relaxing.

Our schedule today was our tour, Spilled Blood Cathedral & Waterways, from 1:45-6:00pm. The ship departs at 7:00pm so our tour ends shortly before the all aboard at 6:30. We also have our first dinner in the main main dining room, the Tropicana, at 8:30p.

Going thru the immigration process was much easier today. I think mainly because of the timing but perhaps also that we met at the shops and buses past customs instead of a central location inside the ship. We ate food at Garden Café in the morning. Some of us got breakfast, the others lunch. I think that would mean that it was maybe 10:30-11:00. Not sure but it worked. We headed out and were thru with no line (only 3 booths were even open) in about 5 minutes. With the extra time we bought post cards and stamps and put them in the mailbox right there in the shopping section.

Meeting our bus around 1:30p a few more people joined us and we were off. Driving thru the city the tour guide gave us more history and snippets of this fascinating city. We arrived to our canal boat. It was your standard canal ship with indoor and outdoor seating. We chose outdoor (fold up chairs) and they offered blankets. Although the temperature was low 60's, once the boat started moving it got chilly for most. I had brought an extra sweatshirt knowing that at least one in my group would want it and sure enough, it was snatched up quickly. Higher temp people, I wore shorts.

St. Petersburg by canal is amazing. You are right there soaking in the culture, breathing in history, it was intoxicating. All of the bridges are so low that you cannot stand as you pass. The "Venice of the North" is what some call it. Add Copenhagen, and others to that list. Out into the Neva river the wind picks up a bit but the views are incredible. We got a beer :beer-toast:(24 countries and counting) and some chips as one of us didn't eat as much as they should have :'). If you have a chance to do the canal tour, do it. We did a boat ride on the Seine last year and although the sites aren't as famous, the feeling was the same. The canal ride was over, returning to the same place and back on our bus.

From there we went to the highlight of the tour, Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. Getting a glimpse of it the day before I was ready to see the inside. With our earphones on our tour guide made her way to the entrance to get our admission tickets. We took this opportunity to get a hot dog from an outside vendor. Apparently the chips were not enough for my "starving" wife. :rolleyes: Losing signal with our tour guide we rushed in as the last guests of the tour with our half eaten hot dog in my pocket. (the hot dog was just ok by the way)

Inside and wow. I had thought that it would be amazing but wow, incredible. Tons of photos, tons of stories, tons of history. Czar Alexander II was mortally wounded at this spot thus the name. Having read up on the history, it was quite an experience. I expected a large crowd and was correct as many, many tours are going on at one time. It is truly spectacular and a must see in my opinion. Shuffled out (a good amount of time) and we were greeted by the street vendors (come here, come here, do you want to pet my pigeon?, do you want... etc.) As stated by our tour guide, these are the cons, the pickpockets and those to watch out for. We pushed thru and onto the bus.

After driving for a bit, Friday traffic was a beast, we stopped at St. Isaac's Cathedral (more so the equestrian statue outside) for a quick 10 minute lookaround. It was nice to see if even from the outside and for a short while. Back on the bus and then to as the tourguide described, "I do not pick out the places that we go for souvenirs", to a huge shop. I don't remember the name but as you walk in they give you vodka and some red drink that tastes like Vicks 44 to loosen up the purse strings. :')

One million nesting dolls later and every tourist thing possible later we left spending mostly on magnets and candy. The chocolate was very good and not too much money. A nice variety. It was a nice shop but honestly I was touristed out. I was tired of being hawked to. Again, I understand but I was done as was the rest of my family.

A short drive back to the ship and our stay sadly was over in Russia. It was very very enjoyable and I feel very fortunate to have visited such a beautiful country. Note (from before): When trying to tip this tour guide she denied the tip. Again, unsure why.

Back and thru customs and onto the ship quickly and without any issues. It was about 6:15 and the ship would pull out soon. Dinner was to be at the Tropicana at 8:30. My wife went to the room to nap while I schooled my daughter on Guitar Hero in the arcade.

Back to the cabin and my wife was "done for the night". The three of dressed up and went to the Tropicana. I liked this main dining the best. Perhaps the energy of a larger crowd or of a band but I found it nicer. I had the chicken parm and my kids had some sort of eggplant I think. Everyone was happy with the meal. I ordered also the same dinner for my wife. The waiter made sure to have it delivered 5 minutes after we got back. Like clockwork it arrived perfectly (at no charge) and my wife woke up for a 2nd wind after power napping. Note: this was a first for me, ordering a room service from the dining. In addition, we also had "doggie bags" from Cagney's earlier in the trip that we ate later. I never had asked ever before and thought it was interesting.

Everyone was filled up and the ship is on it's way to Helsinki. We had a few beers on deck then back to the cabin to call it a night. Goodbye St. Petersburg....

Tomorrow... Helsinki, Finland.

I want to thank you for the effort you are putting in this review. I've read it with great anticipation as we're doing the same cruise in mid-August. Thanks so much!!:)