Eclipse 25th July- Aug 8 Baltic & Scandanavia

Day 0

We had a long journey down to Southampton, mainly due to 50 mph limits imposed by Rd works. The only place that we encountered any traffic of note was close to Southampton. We both needed the toilet, so we stopped at the Service Station; what a good job, as the last 5 miles took us 1 hr. We found the Ibis Budget hotel (ex Etap) without problem and were given a twin 'access' room, with a huge bathroom, which the following morning Adrian flooded due to excessive showering! Not a good design.

Day1

Southampton

Thankfully the weather improved after the very wet journey South on Friday July 24. We had a reasonable continental breakfast at the Ibis budget hotel. The advantage of this hotel was that we didn't have to check out until 12 noon. The disadvantage was that there was no tea/ coffee tray in the bedroom.

We wandered around, calling in at Boots and walking towards the City Berth 101, where we had our first view of Eclipse, our home for the next 2 weeks.

We made for Dock Gate 8 at 11.30 and off loaded our cases, then followed the 'yellow' route to the car park, where we were quickly shown to a parking place, close to the ship. We walked through security, which didn't pick up my replacement knee and were directed to Priority boarding (as we are Elite) We were on the ship within 10 minutes and made for the 'Ocean View' cafe, where we ordered a drink ( Classic Package) We then ate lunch. The rooms were ready by 1pm, so we returned to our cabin to find 1 case had arrived already; the others followed quickly, so unpacking was completed before muster drill. We then went to the Sunset Bar, where we had an informal Cruise Critic meeting. Fortunately the weather was still fine and we left promptly at 4.30pm. Apparently the Americas Cup was leaving Portsmouth, certainly we saw lots of yachts around the Isle of Wight. Also saw a very old ship- possibly from the Red Funnel fleet and a larger sailing vessel, which the Captain sounded his horn to on at least 3 occasions.

At the evening meal, we once again met up with Lynn & David Hall. We were placed in a noisy area at the stern of the ship.

 

Day 2.

Zeebrugge for Brugge

 

We opted to go to Blankenberge.

We were on a shuttle bus by 9am, having purchased return tickets for $14/€12 (£8.43)

The transfer took approx 15 minutes and we were dropped close to the station, behind the church. Other passengers had opted to travel to Brugge , but as we had been twice we decided to go to Blankenberge. We were there too early really, as it was a Sunday, most cafes hadn't opened. It was cool on the coast, although sunny. Eventually we found a coffee shop close to the harbour, which was sheltered. We walked back to the church via gardens ( putting course was snooker style) and the tram track and were back on board by 12.30. By the time we had eaten lunch in the dining room the rain had started.

Tonight was 1st Formal night, the highlight was the tribute act 'The Beatles,' who were excellent.

 

Day 3

Sea Day

We were both ready for a lie in and as we were up later than usual so we decided to go to the Elite breakfast in theTuscan Grill, this was very civilised! They even now have Lactose Free milk. At 10.15 am I went to the Cruise Critic meeting and Adrian went to the Theatre to listen to the Port talk. Then I joined him to listen to the ' Beyond the Podium' lecture entitled 'How Germany emerged.' Unfortunately the visuals were too small to be seen clearly.

Adrian then signed up for the choir. Later I went to the indoor pool, which should be 'Adults only' but unknown to me, between 10-11am and 4-5pm it is open to families, as the weather was too cold for the open air one. Trust me to choose the family session!

In the evening we went to the 'Ensemble Lounge' where a duo were playing stringed instruments.

 

 

Day 4

Warnemunde

 

 

We decided that Berlin was too far, 3 hrs each way on a coach, with possibility of more due to heavy traffic, so decided to do our own thing. We set off at 9.30am and followed the crowd. We had no problem getting off the ship, as we had docked early, so most passengers on tours were already outside. We were stopped and asked if we wanted to get on a bus to Rostock at a price of €29, but as it didn't leave until 10.30, we decided to walk around Warnemunde.

It was cold and rain threatened. We walked to the coast, again the sand was split into sections, as we had seen in Blankenberge, but this time there were no cafes on the shore.

We looked at the inland lighthouse, but as it was a case of climbing 100 steps to the top, we decided against that. I managed to buy some more socks and then we got on the 'Strandbahn' for a 30 minute ride around Warnemunde. When this was finished, we made our way back to the ship for lunch with the intention of taking the bus into Rostock in the afternoon, however the rain started again and we didn't fancy being in Rostock until 5 pm, so instead we went into the solarium- and the sun came out!

 

Day 5

Day at sea

 

We decided to have breakfast in the dining room for the first time and then went to our iPad class, which focused on photography. We attended the Celebrity Captains Club Elite event in the Sky Lounge, were Canapés were served. Then Adrian went to his

choir rehearsal. I went to the Solarium, but couldn't find a seat, so sat in the Aqua cafe & had a salad and read my Kindle.

 

Day,6

Tallinn

 

 

We left at 10am and bought tickets for the Shuttle Bus - €8 return.

We were taken as far as the market and then walked towards the old town. Fortunately it was fine and sunny, so we managed to capture some of the old buildings on camera.

Before long, it started to rain, so we went into St Nicholas church, €3 for Seniors. This was bombed during the 2 nd world war by the Germans, but has been renovated. It was one of the places chosen by the Soviet Union to renovate church Art and this work is still ongoing; we saw some taking place. After spending about 1/2 an hour in the church, we went outside, where we saw some of the guests from the Duke of Wellington ( Southampton- Lynn & David & Trish & Peter.

The rain became heavy, so we went into the 'Olde Hansa' taverna. This was very old, I had to climb up on to a step to sit on the toilet and the water for hand washing came out of an upturned pitcher. There was no electric light and so we drank our beer by candlelight , from clay pots. At least we were in the dry. However, we decided enough was enough , so made our way back to the shuttle bus. I'm not sure how Adrian found it, but we did. We had to have a complete change of clothes.

We then went to the Ocean view cafe for lunch and went back to the cabin for the afternoon, until it became too cold to sit on the balcony.

2nd Formal night.

 

Day 7

St Petersburg Day 1

 

We were up and out of the cabin by 05.30 for breakfast in the Ocean view Cafe. As our tour was due to begin at 7 am, we were on deck 2 by 6.30am, however the ship hadn't been cleared and we had to wait until way after 7 am, people then descended from deck 3, we suspect they were on a Celebrity tour. We joined the line ( only 3 people in front of us) were through customs without delay. We were met by our tour guide Luba from SPB tours and shown to our Mercedes 'van.' Ours was the 'Special Needs.' Bus. There were 4 of us with walking sticks and 2 with Special diets.

City tour:

Statue of Peter the Great

St Isaacs Church ( outside view)

Singer Sewing machine building

Palace square -including a Plaque to a Russian ballerina who lived in the square. Also a rest stop & shopping.

Russian orthodox Cathedral within Peter & Paul Fortress, Adrian held the paddle while the guide bought the tickets. Were were shown the tombs of Czar Nicholas' family, which have recently been buried in the church( since the fall of communism)!

Catamaran ride to Peterhof

Peterhof gardens with fountains - in the rain.

 

Lunch

Travelled to the Czar village to visit St Catherine's Palace, or the 'Summer Palace,' where renovations are still ongoing. The church is still not completed, our guide had not yet been inside.

We then went by bus for Underground Trip to see architecture etc. We travelled 2 stops, to one of the deepest stations so used the escalator to exit- the 'up' one stopped before the top- I really struggled to climb the steps, fortunately it restarted about 10 steps from the top.

Our guide told us that St Petersburg in summer is described as "The Green Winter," or as the guides prefer to call it "50 Shades of Grey."

There are only 60 days per year, when sun can be expected, fortunately we experienced half of one of those days on Day 2.

 

Day 8

St Petersburg Day

 

 

 

 

8 am start time today, so we went to the dining room for the Express breakfast.

We got through immigration quickly today and our bus arrived on time. We started on a Canal trip to see the sights of St Petersburg from the River Neva and canals. The commentary was given by SPB tour guide Alexander, whose English was superb ( he runs an English Speaking school in winter)

We then walked to the Hermitage Museum where our entry time was 9.55 am.

Hermitage until 11.30, our exit was via Palace square- where Luba took photos for couples.

Lunch - choice of mushroom, cabbage, salmon or beef pie. Then fruit pie. They made me Tuna salad and fruit salad.

Palace of Usuperhof ( not able to take photos unless paid $5)

The plot to murder Rasputin with cyinade was executed in the cellars here, but he was strong and fought his aggressors. He escaped, but was later found dead in a nearby park.

 

Upstairs was more my idea of a palace and there was an excellent small theatre. Those of us who had difficulty with steps, were allowed to view the theatre from the gallery. A tour guide came in with a very noisy party. They didn't have the 'Whisper' PA system and Luba asked her to keep the noise down!

 

St Isaacs Church ( we saw it from the outside on Day 1) Again no pews, worshipers stand in the Russian Orthodox Church.

 

The Church of the Spilled Blood.

We were told to leave all valuables on the bus, as there were aggressive salesmen in the area, also pickpockets.The entire church was filled with mosaics, in my opinion it was over the top, I preferred St Isaacs church and the church we saw within St Peter & Paul fortress.

We returned to the ship exhausted, where I was able to take a photo of our sister ship Shilloutte which arrived in port just before we left for our tour.

 

 

 

 

Day 9

 

 

Helsinki.

 

Not the best of 1st impressions of a dock area.

 

The port was well out and we needed to purchase tickets for the shuttle bus ($10)

We were dropped about half a mile from the city centre but walked through some gardens down to the fountain and market, where we saw a different meaning to 'fast food.' Salmon Soup and Reindeer hot dogs.

We then went to the Russian Orthodox Church on a hill. As it was Sunday, a service was taking place, so I was unable to take photos inside the church. There were a few benches however, but the majority of the congregation were standing.

We walked to another harbour, where we found a coffee and quick internet ! The best encountered this cruise, so downloaded my emails.

 

Day 10

Stockholm

I was awake early, so was able to take views of our sail in.

This took at least 4 hrs of sailing through the archipelago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We eventually moored at the Viking Line / Cruise Terminal, a little before 9am, with an immediate announcement that we could disembark.

We decided to book the Hop on, Hop off bus via Celebrity, as we were unsure where to go. I didn't recognise any thing about the port from 2002. We started with a city tour and after an hour reached the stop for the Vasa Museum (10) There was a queue, but it moved quickly, which helped as tickets could be bought using Credit Cards with a PIN number, which we used. I was proud that I managed to follow the instructions, which were in a combination of English, numerals and Swedish- ta Kart I assumed to be 'Take Card.' Anyway, our tickets were produced, much to our relief. It was very dark but interesting inside the museum.

We then caught the Ho Ho bus again and continued the tour, which in total took almost 4 hrs. Arcadia was moored at stop13b-Frihamnen/ Silja Line Terminal. Later on our return through Gamlan Stan, we saw the household cavalrymen/ women on horses.

We returned to the ship and had our lunch at the stern of the ship. It was beautifully warm.

We had been invited to sail away on the helicopter-pad. We had to meet at the fwd lifts on deck 6 and were escorted to the helipad for sail away. There were plenty of passengers there already, which meant that they were all congregated around the rail, so we were unable to get a forward view. Later we went to the Sky Lounge on deck 14 and had a superb view. The total length of the course to the sea was we

L over 4 hrs, where the pilot took charge of the ship. At one stage we just nipped across the path of 2 ferries, when they were docked.

 

Day 11

Day at Sea

 

We decided to have breakfast in the Main Dining Room, on deck 3. I was brought Lactose free milk with my porridge , which means I can put the left overs in my small container, to store in the cabin fridge, for use in Coffee/ tea.

At 10.30 we attended the second iPad Tips/ Tricks lecture, which again was useful.

We had a light lunch in the MDR, Adrian went for his Choir rehearsal at 2 pm and I went for a nap on Deck 5 Port Side in the SUN! At 3pm I went to the Elite Afternoon Tea- what a let down, very few Elite attended. I felt obliged to go as I had requested Lactose free food. All that was available was a type of Swiss Roll, no special sandwiches etc. In the evening we went for our usual drink in the a Sky lounge, where we saw a flash of lightening. Fortunately no more, or rain, but it was very windy near the lifts on deck 14.

 

Day 12

Copenhagen

 

Again I woke early and was able to get a signal on my mobile phone, we are obviously close to the Danish coast.

 

 

 

We watched a DFS ship arrive as we were tying up. We left at 10.30 am and paid for shuttle tickets again. We were taken to the city centre, but fortunately had a map, so knew we were close to Nyhavn, where canal boat rides started. We managed to pay by credit card ( we hadn't exchanged money into Krona) We had an 1 hrs ride under some very low bridges. When we returned, we sat at a canal side restaurant where we purchased an expensive beer 65 kn for half a litre. Also some food, a chicken & bacon sandwich, but the chicken was more like Coronation Chicken. We then walked the length of Nyhavn ( on both sides) before returning to the ship. Before we got on board, we walked to the statue of the 'Little Mermaid' which was erected 100 years ago by the Carlsberg brewery, under an advertising campaign.

 

Day13

Day at Sea

 

 

 

I woke early again, noticed it was light and saw an orange glow in the sky, which was reflecting in the water. Beautiful.

We had breakfast in the main dining room and at 10.30am went to the iLounge for our final session of Tips & Tricks; Francis got carried away and this didn't finish until 12.20. Adrian's Choir rehearsal was scheduled to start at 1pm, so we went to Cafe Bacio for a Latté. They have Lactose free milk here, so we tend to favour it, however today service was slow and when the coffee was served, Adrian's came without milk. He went up to the counter to ask for milk and waited another 5 minutes. By the time the milk was brought (+ another coffee) he had 5 minutes to drink it & I ended up with 2 coffees , one black, one white. This was the first time that I would criticise the service. We also had to wait to have our card returned and then Adrian was offered Mohammad - he said, ' do I really look like a Mohammad?

When he was at choir rehearsal. I went to the pool deck to slack up some sun, but the only free chair was wet, so I went up to Deck 14, where I found a table with an upright chair. However, as I was sitting at a table which was 'reserved' for customers of the Mast Grill, I felt bound to order a drink. I waited here until 1.50 pm, then went to the outside section of deck 14. I was again lucky to find a chair, all be it with a low table, which complete with cups, glasses etc. I eventually asked a Manager, if someone could clear the table, which he immediately started to do, whereupon 4 wait staff converged on the table to clear it. It became obvious that there are not enough staff for a Sea Day ( we have seen Future Sales Staff helping show people to tables in Select dining room in the evening)

Adrian arrived just after 2pm, so we had a leisurely lunch and were joined later by Lynn & David ( Cruise Critic) They were telling us how they found it difficult to find out which bus to catch from the Tivoli Gardens, which would return them to the ship and not just back to the Copenhagen Town centre.

In the Sky lounge in the evening ( 3rd Formal night) we spoke to the Food & Beverage Manager who told us that there are separate kitchens for the Special Diets ( 100 on board this cruise) and the Hotel Director who told us that there over 2000 British passengers (85%) 200 Americans and the rest from various other countries. Lynn had told us that there will be a group of 60 from Australia on the next cruise. The Hotel Manager told that it is difficult to fill ships from UK ( when I said that it was a shame they only had one ship sailing from UK) doesn't sound good for the future!

 

Day 14

Sea Day

Packing Day😰

We went for our last Elite breakfast; I am beginning to think that this is favoured by Americans, as there were never many people attending. Adrian went to the T shirt sale at 10.30am, I went to the iLounge Q& A session which Francis had slotted into the programme. After 10 mins Adrian arrived. After another excellent session, we went to the watch sale and Adrian bought a male and female presentation box ( I was very cautious about buying anything else after I had purchased my new iPad, as I was very close to the limit allowed by customs for personal items for entry into U.K.( £390)

We then went to the dining room for lunch, we spoke to the lady who told us earlier that she had lost her memory. I noticed that she had 2 wrist bands on, which said she was on Celebrity cruises. We had seen her in Tallinn , in the pouring rain. She was trying to get on to the shuttle bus with just a advertising leaflet,; Adrian suggested to her that maybe her ticket was in one of her pockets. Fortunately she got on the bus before it set off.

After lunch we both had a sleep on the balcony ( the sun had come round) Adrian went to Choir rehearsal at 4.15 and I continued to read. The choir concert was at 5.30pm and was well attended.

 

 

After, we went for our final pre dinner drinks session. I am surprised that vouchers were used, as the Sky Lounge was never overly busy.

Another 2 finals, dinner and the show, this time Mick Miller, who was funny.

 

Day 15

Disembarkation Day

I woke at 05.20 to find that we had already docked. Britannia was moored in the QE Terminalq.

 

 

 

Unfortunately mist was surrounding her, our view directly out was better, it looked to be the perfect day.

 

 

 

Disembarkation was prompt and easy, no customs officers or passport control in evidence. No wonder we have illegal immigrants entering UK.

Edited August 9, 2015 by upwarduk

The photos which I had included haven't pasted, hence the spaces!

Mick Miller - excellent old school comic if it's the one from The Comedians in 1970s?

 

He popped up in Peter Kay's excellent Car Share recently

Mick Miller - excellent old school comic if it's the one from The Comedians in 1970s?

 

He popped up in Peter Kay's excellent Car Share recently

 

That's exactly how Sue Denning introduced him.

Thank you for the trip review

Enjoyed your review, thanks. I am doing the same cruise with my hubby next year (19th June 2016) but have never sailed from Southampton before so found that useful regarding parking. Also interesting to hear how people spend their sea days.:)

The review now has photos added, which you access by clicking the links between each day and by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

 

http://cruise.fr.yuku.com/topic/4112/Baltic-Capitals#.Ve8oicR4WK1