scubacruiserx2

The Celebrity Today for Germany .

And a first look

Hi Joe,

I have just started to read this thread. Hope all is well with you and Pat, will catch up soon.:D

Hi Mic , and welcome aboard ! :) :D

Just saw a program on that ship on 'Mighty Ships', it is the one they use for putting up and maintaining the wind turbines.:D

We really like the Mighty Ships series , but it's been mostly the Olympics on the telly here .

After breakfast , but before lunch , we headed down to the Russian Bazaar . You can tell when you've been on the ship for a long time when you've lost touch with the news from around the world , and you begin to measure time by what meal of the day it is !

It looks like we weren't the only ones rushin to find a bargain ! But , alas , they were no bargains to be found !

In fact , Tyler's hat for which we paid $ 11 , was $ 30 on the ship ! It was at this point that we wished that we would have done a quick , last 15 minute , shopping spree before our 6 pm departure time in SPB . However , we did find a couple of nice specialty items for some special people .

It was really nice to have a quite day at sea before our long , day trip to Berlin and dinner was also nice and easy . Bread , butter and condiments were now on all the tables in the MDR and full self service at the buffet .

I've posted one in the past. If it was mine, it was this one where I Photoshopped flowers over my panties because it just felt strange to post a picture of my undergarments!:eek:

 

I think that your Photoshopping has a more interesting selection of objets d'art than my photobucket stickers ! ;)

 

I felt sorry for my steward. He had to dodge my underpants for two days!:p

I don't know for sure , but I suspect , that during his career - he may have seen a lot stranger things than your flower arrangement . :eek:

Joe,

You each will be Select with 150 points p.p

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/membership/captains-club-overview

 

Just watch that they credit you both, I was awarded the points, but after Adrain became Elite they no longer credited him, until I contacted them. They said he was no longer a member!!

We've done the same number of cruises.

Thank you Jackie . We did check and we're both now select . Thankfully , your vigilance was rewarded and is a positive example to be emulated - if necessary , and we're certainly happy that it turned out well ! :) :D

I agree with you on this. I'm Elite on Celebrity (because I'm Diamond on RCI), and even though we take advantage of the laundry perk I still have quite a few things I won't send out because I don't want them washed in hot water and/or dried on high heat.[emoji5]

 

I end up washing by hand and having a clothes line strung across my cabin for the two+ days it takes things to completely dry in the Caribbean humidity.[emoji12] People say they don't want to take time to do laundry on vacation, but I'd much rather put a load in, sit on my balcony, transfer clothes to the dryer, sit on my balcony again, and be done with it than play limbo with my undies for two days![emoji23]

 

Cindy

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If I recall correctly , I first saw the clothes line on one of your threads ! :cool:

We had hoped for the $ 45 laundry bag challenge , but that didn't happen and so the hand wash / line dry was a plan B . Patty did do some more laundry , and so It was mostly clean by the time that we got back to Southhampton , because we still had almost a week left in the UK , post cruise .

Yes that is an area that Celebrity and Royal could do better on.....but you should be getting close to Elite on Celebrity now since you've been doing longer cruises with them....

 

Glad you saw a bit of sun anyway as you left SPB!!

 

Your pictures continue to amaze....:)

 

We may have to try that "Martini Flight"......after 10 of them though I will need a taxi to get me back to my room!!! HA!!:D

I'm not sure about Elite . We have 150 points each from 3-14 day cruises . Their web site says 300 , but we're not sure if that's p.p. or combined .

We noticed that it always seemed to be sunny when we were away from the land and rainy inland . :confused:

Thank you , the light really helps with the photos !

They are mini Martinis , about half size . And I'm sure that you wouldn't be the first person to have a crash landing , after a Martini Flight !! :) :D

The free bag of laundry (x2) is certainly worth while!:)

It surely is a nice perk . :) :D

We have it on Carnival and Princess ( and they both have self service laundry ) and that's one of the reasons why we have more cruises with both of those cruise lines . We also like HAL which also has the self serve option . And other luxury cruise lines like Seabourn and Regent also offer self - service .

On the Celebrity web site they ask and answer the following question .

What is Modern Luxury?

The world has changed. Tastes have changed. Maybe luxury vacations could use an update as well. Modern luxury is airy spaces with all the right, tasteful details, restaurants where the design is just as important as the cuisine, intuitive service with a keen eye for detail , and doing as much or as little as you choose .

Thus , according to their definition , it should be about having options , like a choice to DIY . It's kinda like cruise ships trying to restrict private shore excursions in SPB . They can't get away with it on shore , but at sea , it's a different story . :p

Celebrity's laundry prices

Our solution

We're not elite , does it show ? :) :D

It was sure nice after 3 busy days of touring to have a day at sea . The day began in a most delightful way with this sight and a cup of coffee .

The weather was beautiful and sunny !

And after reviewing the laundry prices , we opted to hand wash and open the curtains and door for some air drying .

We had hopes that the $ 97 saved on laundry would go a long way at the Russian Bazaar , later that morning .

After dinner we found the next day's Celebrity Today in our cabin , for a day at sea .

Ty wanted to play video games and Pat and I went down to the Martini Bar for a Martini Flight .

We had enjoyed a visit and the entertainment there on our TA also on the Eclipse . Video clip :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVhB8Sia7Ng

And we enjoyed 10 different mini Martinis on that evening .

The singers and dancers were performing some Queen songs on the stairs and on the deck below .

Video clips :

And almost immediately , this ship came bouncing toward us at a high rate of speed .

Presumably to retrieve a pilot

About the same time we saw this interesting Ro-Pax ferry the - Finnstar .

Clearing skies in Kronstadt

The beautiful Naval Cathedral

Video clip :

We visited there in 2013

No photos allowed inside , but I found this one online .

And after sailing through the massive flood gates , we were in the open sea ( Gulf of Finland ) .

Video :

How maddening that the blue skies greeted you as you left SPB.

I have a picture which I use as wallpaper on my lap- top of the scene that we saw as we came out of the Hermitage on our second day- a wonderful sunny square!

We just had to laugh when it happened !

Such a a pretty area where so many important sites seem to converge .

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/squares/palace-square/

Palace Square , the Winter Palace , the Alexander Column and the General Staff building - in the rain .

The General Staff Building and building rain clouds .

The sun comes out

The Winter Palace and the spire of the Admiralty where Nevsky Prospect begins .

The facade of the General Staff Building , in the sunlight .

The Winter Palace and the Alexander Column .

After 3 days of cold , gray and rainy the light broke thru less than half an hour from SPB .

Near Kronstadt we saw the Rastoropny lurking . Rastoropnyy (420) – Расторопный -Prompt (1989) –

Decommissioned in 2012. Laid up at Kotlin Island, St. Petersburg. Possibility of modernization and return to active service . Wikipedia

We also saw the Soviet role model the Cruiser Aurora being refurbished .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Aurora

We enjoyed our visit to St. Petersburg from a cruise ship and would only change one or two minor things . The guides , and drivers did a great job and we would award them a silver medal !

A private tour does a good job at a great price , but to us , smaller is better - bronze medal !

But the gold medal is still a stay !

For quality , convenience , and cost in the long run , in our opinion - a stay can't be beaten . Most people remember SPB as the highlight of their cruise and it was on both of our Baltic cruises . And so when we first decided to do a second Baltic cruise , it was to revisit SPB and see some of the things that we could't see on the first visit cruise and spent more time at some of our favorite things . Thus with this realization and a Baltic cruise budget , we found it cheaper and more enjoyable to just stay , and come and go at our own pace , instead of a second cruise .

But because we had our grandson on this trip to Europe and our usual apartment wasn't available - we opted for a cruise , our second , with 3 days in SPB and the tour of the Baltic region , content with the silver medal !

Great review!

 

One observation -- that was not a nuclear power plant. It is a common misconception that cooling towers signify the presence of a nuclear plant but that is not the case. Cooling towers can be used in any power plant that uses steam to turn a turbine to generate power, including coal and natural gas. The cooling towers cool the water that is used to condense the steam. I think the plant you identified is a natural gas plant; see http://irao-generation.com/en/stations/sztecg/

Thanks Durkman , that's great news and good to know . :) :D

At 4:30 pm , and still on our canal cruise , I began to become concerned . We had a half hour ride to the port and less than an hour for our back on board time . It would have made a great photo to see the Eclipse sailing off into the sunset , but one that we don't need . We did make it back to the port with 20 minutes to spare , but when immigration is flagging us thru and no other cruisers in site - it puts a spring in your step . We had hoped to do some last minute shopping at the pier , but we decided to play it safe and board .

And we did see some others , from a cruise tour return later than us . And we found out later ( unofficially of course ) from a crew member , that a hour extra is the maximum wait time . When we did push off at about 6:30 , we noticed a couple of Duty Free stores along the Quay which we had not noticed before .

Video clip :

Under way , next stop , Germany !

On the way out , we saw sloop sailing past a nuclear power plant

and a meteor streaking toward SPB .

Video clip :

And another , it looks like a meteor shower !

Our final turn into the Moyka River is where we see St. Isaac's Cathedral on the left and Yusupov Palace , on the right .

And after passing St. Issac's on our left , we went beneath the world's widest bridge , the Blue Bridge . The Blue Bridge (Russian: Си́ний мост, Siniy most), is a 97.3 metre wide bridge that spans the Moika River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Blue Bridge is the widest bridge in Saint Petersburg and is sometimes claimed to be the widest bridge in the world — a claim, however, that has not been recognized by international reference works, such as the Guinness World Records. Wikipedia

That was how it looked , and this is how it looked on a previous trip .

The Moyka with the Blue Bridge in the distance .

A Moyka reflection .

The cathedral is especially beautiful when the sky is clear !

And up ahead is the famous Mariinsky Theatre , home to ballet in St. Petersburg .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariinsky_Theatre

The video clip :

We now saw a number of famous sites in St. Petersburg . Up ahead where the Fontanka River is crossed by Nevsky Prospect is the horse bridge .

The Anichkov Bridge (Russian: Аничков мост, Anichkov Most) is the oldest and most famous bridge across the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The current bridge, built in 1841-42 and reconstructed in 1906-08, combines a simple form with some spectacular decorations. As well as its four famous horse sculptures (1849–50), the bridge has some of the most celebrated ornate iron railings in Saint Petersburg. The structure is mentioned in the works of Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky . From Wikipedia

Another famous bridge is the Lomonosov Bridge .Named after the great Russian polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, whose advances in chemistry, mathematics, linguistics and literature made him a kind of one-man Russian Enlightenment during the reigns of Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, this beautiful stone bridge crosses the Fontanka River about 300m south of Nevsky Prospekt. From saint-petersburg.com

The next major site was the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas after turning into the smaller Kryukova canal from the Fontanka .

The video clip :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF6eSoxECE4

A boat cruising past the Cathedral

Another beautiful bride , and her groom , getting ready for a photo shoot .

While her photographers were getting ready , she practiced her pose with me , sitting with legs crossed and arm raised , to stop the City Tour HoHo bus thus - catching a ride a ride on her wedding day . This copied the current cover photo on the City tour brochure .

And as we were boarding the bus , the photographers snapped away with us in the bus as the background .

Another beautiful bride in the Summer Garden !

And , returning to our river cruise , we see the Peter and Paul beneath the Trinity Bridge

And returning to a canal , we pass the rear of Mikhailovsky Castle .

Which we saw on our first day ?

Was this the same Neva River in which I had previously seen signs of the Evil Empire lurking in ?

The one and the same , like the Hermitage which we just passed

and , passes beneath the Trinity Bridge ?

And next to the Summer Garden ?

Filled with beautiful brides .

We noticed that they had changed their sign since we had last visited .

This was the empty boat which we passed on

And this was our full boat (Russian only ) !

Which included a ship's photographer

Video of us leaving :

There were many low bridges .

until , passing the Hermitage , we entered the Neva River , where the wind's velocity really picked it :

Peter and Paul Fortress on the Neva River

The next 2 photos are from the Suliko web site . We ate ours so fast that I didn't have time to photograph it - it was that good !

Mengrelian Khachapuri

Dolma ( stuffed grape leaves )

A slight digression using photos from a supra with our friends .

We didn't have the time needed for Suliko to prepare a quintessential Georgian food - Khinkali . It's ground beef and pork with spices in it's broth , in a dumpling with a handle .

Remember how to eat it ?

We also had a stir fry with some delicious spices

And Nellie gave us a beautiful hand - painted vodka decanter which she had made . We treasure our friendship with them !