Live Heading to the Zuiderdam for August 11 Sailing

Wow that was some experience. I would have been worried sick. Something like that, even the hint it could happen is enough for me to book through the ship. Glad it all ended well for everyone.

Thank you for the interesting review.

The piano player is Keith from Canada. His first time on a cruise ship. He has been packing in the crowds every night. Standing room only.

 

 

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Thanks so much for the PB update! (I would have had a heart attack going through you return to the ship experience! Glad you eventually made it!)

Forgot to tell about dinner last night. I had the pan seared red fish and DW has a chef salad. Both were very good. The thing we have to live on HA is there fruit crisps for dessert. First night DW had the banana crisp last night we both had the blueberry mango crisp. Both were super good. This morning we had breakfast room service. Got everything we wanted even the special things we wrote down. And it was super hot. Great attention to detail. Our lunch is always the same - salad bar. It allows us to do dessert at dinner. But currently we are sitting at the outside pool soaking up the sun and happy hour with a daiquiri. Buy one get another for $2.

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Thanks for your continuing reports. We were just on the Zuiderdam a couple of months ago, so it certainly sounds familiar! ;)

Thanks so much for posting about your experiences. Your information will be very helpful in planning our future trip in May 2018.

Hope you have a great cruise. If you het a chance stop in the nar directy across from the Pinnacle restaurant had sau hi to Ernie the bartender. From Jim and Paula from Detroit. Ernie os a blast

Sorry for the miss spelling. Using phone outside

Forgot to tell about dinner last night. I had the pan seared red fish and DW has a chef salad. Both were very good. The thing we have to live on HA is there fruit crisps for dessert. First night DW had the banana crisp last night we both had the blueberry mango crisp. Both were super good. This morning we had breakfast room service. Got everything we wanted even the special things we wrote down. And it was super hot. Great attention to detail. Our lunch is always the same - salad bar. It allows us to do dessert at dinner. But currently we are sitting at the outside pool soaking up the sun and happy hour with a daiquiri. Buy one get another for $2.

 

 

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SO -- is there now Happy Hour at the Sea View Bar?

Great review.

Pictures are wonderful.

Hope you have a great cruise. If you het a chance stop in the nar directy across from the Pinnacle restaurant had sau hi to Ernie the bartender. From Jim and Paula from Detroit. Ernie os a blast

Very happy to see this post. We also fell in love with Ernie at the Pinnacle Bar. He is the best!

Thank you for your review. We are doing same itinerary in June, 2018.

Sorry about your fright in Kiel. We will stay in Kiel and have a wander around.

Forgot to tell about dinner last night. I had the pan seared red fish and DW has a chef salad. Both were very good. The thing we have to live on HA is there fruit crisps for dessert. First night DW had the banana crisp last night we both had the blueberry mango crisp. Both were super good. This morning we had breakfast room service. Got everything we wanted even the special things we wrote down. And it was super hot. Great attention to detail. Our lunch is always the same - salad bar. It allows us to do dessert at dinner. But currently we are sitting at the outside pool soaking up the sun and happy hour with a daiquiri. Buy one get another for $2.

 

 

 

 

 

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uote]

 

 

 

SO -- is there now Happy Hour at the Sea View Bar?

 

 

 

No. It usually is in the crows nest but they had a special even in there and they had it at the Lido bar. Quick walk from the pool

 

 

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Can't wait to read the rest. Doing the Z partial PC in December after the drydock

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Sorry everyone. Running behind due to timing of my free time to write and available internet. Just docked in St. Petersburg. It is 640 am. I will try to update after our tour today.

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So after we soaked up some sun the other night it was gala night. Most folks dressed up. It was very nice. I had lamb chops DW had duck. And dessert was chocolate soufflé with a vanilla sauce. But who wants sauce when you can change if for vanilla ice cream [emoji847]. We saw the production show Billboard - Off the Charts. Probably one of the best shows we have ever seen on a cruise ship. Earlier this year we were on RCCL Oasis. They could learn a lot from HA. We also hung out in the piano bar which was standing room only till about 1130. Also the BB King was doing fun for a few dances. The average age on this cruise has got to be higher than when we sailed the Oosterdam last summer but more lively group.

Yesterday morning we awoke in Tallinn Estonia. Pleasantly surprised at how large and charming it was. We did the 2 hr free walking tour from the Information center. Helen was our guide. She is 23, advertising major and a ball of fire. Cute girl that made a fun tour. Learned a lot of history and a lot about the people. After the tour she gave me directions to a beer hall for good Estonia beer Kaja Kader. Was so much fun and she also showed up with some friends. The we walked to the Kalev chocolate factory for Estonia best chocolate s. good place to go for cheap gifts. Things in Estonia seemed to be cheaper than other places because the income level here is much less. All in all Estonia was a great day with beautiful weather.

Last night was also Le Cirque night. Worth the extra money. Did it last year on the Oosterdam as well. I had the cheatubriand. And the DW had the sea bass. The lobster salad was amazing. Dessert we tried 3 different ones. We like dessert. Hell you only live once! After dinner was a comedian/impressionist singer. He was good. Not great but good. Most people went to bead early cause today is a big day in st Pete. Really looking forward to today. Never in my wildest dreams though I would ever be in Russia.

Anyway, room service will be here shortly. I will update on our day today later. Doing a 2 day tour here with TJ Travel.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums view of the city

So after we soaked up some sun the other night it was gala night. Most folks dressed up. It was very nice. I had lamb chops DW had duck. And dessert was chocolate soufflé with a vanilla sauce. But who wants sauce when you can change if for vanilla ice cream [emoji847]. We saw the production show Billboard - Off the Charts. Probably one of the best shows we have ever seen on a cruise ship. Earlier this year we were on RCCL Oasis. They could learn a lot from HA. We also hung out in the piano bar which was standing room only till about 1130. Also the BB King was doing fun for a few dances. The average age on this cruise has got to be higher than when we sailed the Oosterdam last summer but more lively group.

 

Yesterday morning we awoke in Tallinn Estonia. Pleasantly surprised at how large and charming it was. We did the 2 hr free walking tour from the Information center. Helen was our guide. She is 23, advertising major and a ball of fire. Cute girl that made a fun tour. Learned a lot of history and a lot about the people. After the tour she gave me directions to a beer hall for good Estonia beer Kaja Kader. Was so much fun and she also showed up with some friends. The we walked to the Kalev chocolate factory for Estonia best chocolate s. good place to go for cheap gifts. Things in Estonia seemed to be cheaper than other places because the income level here is much less. All in all Estonia was a great day with beautiful weather.

 

Last night was also Le Cirque night. Worth the extra money. Did it last year on the Oosterdam as well. I had the cheatubriand. And the DW had the sea bass. The lobster salad was amazing. Dessert we tried 3 different ones. We like dessert. Hell you only live once! After dinner was a comedian/impressionist singer. He was good. Not great but good. Most people went to bead early cause today is a big day in st Pete. Really looking forward to today. Never in my wildest dreams though I would ever be in Russia.

 

Anyway, room service will be here shortly. I will update on our day today later. Doing a 2 day tour here with TJ Travel.

 

 

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We used TJ Travel in May. Excellent choice. Had a package with five cities.

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We had a great and full day here in Saint Petersburg. Started the day with room service which came nice and hot. We must be on the part of the ship that gets room service first. We always seem to get it on the very early part of the half hour window. Either way they pay good attention to detail as I changed and make a few special requests.

Out tour was originally scheduled to start at 8 but we received an email the day before we left that they were doing some changes at the port and we wouldn't be allowed off till 845 but they started letting folkes off at 8am. If you have never been here be prepared for long passport control lines. We got in line at 810 and finally got through at 9 am. It is just as long when you come back. I guess they were worried we might not come back. Lol. Any way we had Alex from TJ Travel for our guide. Sorry can't remember the drivers name but he also was really nice and helpful. Started with a quick tour of downtown then off to Peter and Paul church. I won't go through all our stops because if you book a tour with any company they all do the same stops. The church's are amazing works of art. The city architecture was very interesting. For lunch she took us for a quick bite at a place hat does a traditional meat pie. We had a chicken pie, mushroom/potato/ cheese pie and for dessert had a farms cheese pie which was delicious. All for about $8. We ended the day with a tour of the Faberge museum and then a quick walk down the main shopping street. Our group chose to postpone the subway till tomorrow or skip it. After 10 hrs of touring we were beat!!!the weather was picture perfect. We meet the tour again at 830 Wednesday morning.

Tonight we had chicken something for dinner. Had some Indian spices and curry. DW had a shrimp chili dish and Botha were good. The crisp was pineapple. Made it an early night tonight. We came upon our room at 1030.

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Catching up on your reports and pictures.

In our experience at St. Petersburg, the passport lines were much quicker on the second day.

Great pictures.

Enjoying your reports and photos.

Thank you.

We had a great and full day here in Saint Petersburg. Started the day with room service which came nice and hot. We must be on the part of the ship that gets room service first. We always seem to get it on the very early part of the half hour window. Either way they pay good attention to detail as I changed and make a few special requests.

 

Out tour was originally scheduled to start at 8 but we received an email the day before we left that they were doing some changes at the port and we wouldn't be allowed off till 845 but they started letting folkes off at 8am. If you have never been here be prepared for long passport control lines. We got in line at 810 and finally got through at 9 am. It is just as long when you come back. I guess they were worried we might not come back. Lol. Any way we had Alex from TJ Travel for our guide. Sorry can't remember the drivers name but he also was really nice and helpful. Started with a quick tour of downtown then off to Peter and Paul church. I won't go through all our stops because if you book a tour with any company they all do the same stops. The church's are amazing works of art. The city architecture was very interesting. For lunch she took us for a quick bite at a place hat does a traditional meat pie. We had a chicken pie, mushroom/potato/ cheese pie and for dessert had a farms cheese pie which was delicious. All for about $8. We ended the day with a tour of the Faberge museum and then a quick walk down the main shopping street. Our group chose to postpone the subway till tomorrow or skip it. After 10 hrs of touring we were beat!!!the weather was picture perfect. We meet the tour again at 830 Wednesday morning.

 

Tonight we had chicken something for dinner. Had some Indian spices and curry. DW had a shrimp chili dish and Botha were good. The crisp was pineapple. Made it an early night tonight. We came upon our room at 1030.

 

 

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Brings back memories of our visit this past May. Looks a little warmer LOL!

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I'm glad that you are enjoying your cruise. Visiting St. Petersburg is rather grueling with the length of time for tours! It looks as if there were less tourists at Peterhof than when we were there in June. Curious if your guide pointed out the current President's SPB dacha?

Good morning! It's Friday and owe a few days of catch up here. The second day of Saint Petersburg was a fantastic weather day as well. The second day exit at the port was much quicker. Everyone in our group was ready early and by 815 we were on our way. First stop was a nice shop to do some shopping and pay for our tour. TJ travel did a great job out a guide Alex was very friendly and offered real life experiences to understand the daily life of residents. Next we were off to the Hermitage. Make sure if you visit you have early entrance. Some people we talked to on board did not and the museum gets more crowded and extremely hot as the day goes on. The place is huge but beautiful. I am not a fan of museums but it was worth the visit and the 2.5 hrs we were there was enough to get a good flavor without being boring. Then we left for the town of Pushkin (Tzars Village). Nice little town about an hour away. There we saw Catherine's Palace. It is a beautiful place to visit. We also had a traditional Russian lunch of beef stroganoff. Personally I liked the meat pies the day before much better. We spent a few hours touring here and also in the park then it was time to hear back for an all aboard by 430. These 2 days in Russia were very full days. My wife and I being younger than most onboard were beat so I know for some it was very hard. Lots of gravel paths and cobblestones as well as lots of time on your feet with little air conditioning.

That night we did Canaletto for dinner. It was packed. Unlike last year on the Oosterdam where it sat empty most of the cruise. The food was very good. We really tried not to over eat and stuff ourselves. But service was attentive but very slow.

Yesterday we woke up in Helsinki. We just did a free simple walking tour by Northern Lights Tours. We had to take a city charter to town ($24 round trip) but found out later you could have taken the train for $3.50 each way). No big deal. We strolled the esplanade which was a pretty shopping street with a park down the middle. It rained in the morning. From where the bus dropped you to the center of towns was a pretty long walk. So I would suggest if walking a long way before touring is an issue just hire a cab at the port. Seems that HA always docks at the furthest ports. Other ships docked right in the center of town. They were not smaller. But we have noticed this now on this cruise and on last years. HA will always be the furthest away. Any way the tour was ok. We did not go to the Rock church as it is further out of town. Plus I am getting churched out. But we did go into the Lutheran church on the Senate square and the Russian Orthodox Church. And walked through the old core. But in my opinion there is not much to see here. We did have a nice lunch in the food hall on the marina. Had a salmon and rice pie with a good Finnish Beer.

Last night for dinner we sat at an all Australian table. My wife and I had to struggle to understand what they were saying. Gosh it was hard to believe these folks speak the same language. But they were all very nice and had a very nice dinner. I had veal chop which was so tender. DW just had roasted chicken (boring). The crisp was rhubarb crisp which was not as good as the others. It was green rhubarb which I had never seen before.

The BB King was dark. The main show was ballet style---which we listed 3 songs and left. We found seats in the packed piano bar.

Now we are waking up this morning in Stockholm. We have a food tour booked today. Also a free walking tour to do either today to tomorrow as we are here over night. Anyway time to get moving!

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Wonderful write-up and pictures.

For Helsinki, the #14 bus, which is just outside the gate for the pier, goes to central Helsinki. I'm sure where you have docked in Stockholm has made up for it. :)