Emerald Princess Baltic trip report - May 23-June 3, 2013 (with pictures and patters)

[dnylla]

[shkay]

dnylla, Thank you so much for all this information. I am on the June 14 cruise and find all this information very informative and helpful.

 

Thanks again, shkay

[jaainmi]

dnylla, may I add my thanks for your excellent trip report. I am going in July and find your information very helpful. I especially appreciate the scans of the Princess Patters! Not many people go to that trouble and I find so much great information in them. I hope to attend (rather than view on TV) John Lawrence's port lectures and the Patters let me know what times they are so I can plan accordingly before we even board the ship.

 

Looking forward to the other ports! Thanks again!

[dnylla]

dnylla, Thank you so much for all this information. I am on the June 14 cruise and find all this information very informative and helpful.

 

Thanks again, shkay

 

You’re welcome shkay. Good luck with the planning.

 

dnylla, may I add my thanks for your excellent trip report. I am going in July and find your information very helpful. I especially appreciate the scans of the Princess Patters! Not many people go to that trouble and I find so much great information in them. I hope to attend (rather than view on TV) John Lawrence's port lectures and the Patters let me know what times they are so I can plan accordingly before we even board the ship.

 

Looking forward to the other ports! Thanks again!

 

You’re welcome jaainmi. John Lawrence’s port talks were great, well worth attending or even watching on the tv if you missed the live one. There were a couple ports where we had booked activities that we would have liked to change after attending his talks.

[dnylla]

Day 9 – Helsinki (May 31, 2013)

 

Going by the clock my sister and I woke up around our usual time of 6:15/6:20 without an alarm. But we had gained an hour over night and it was getting late enough in the cruise we definitely took advantage of that extra hour of sleep.

 

After getting up and moving we headed to Café Caribe for breakfast. At one point the ship seemed to be moving a little rough, maybe because it was turning or going around something on our way into the dock. After breakfast we went back to our room.

 

When we were researching the ports Helsinki was one that we just couldn’t figure out what we wanted to do. Nothing jumped out at us from the cruise reports I found and none of the Princess shore excursions sounded very interesting either. So I sent an e-mail to the Helsinki tourist office and asked if they would send us any information they had. And did they! We received maps of the city, information for cruise passengers, brochures booklets with information on shopping/museums/sights/etc and a booklet with featuring city walks. If you are unsure about what to do in a port (especially Helsinki) and have time before your departure I would recommend seeing if they can send you information. This definitely helped us figure out what to do in port and we took the map and the city walk booklet with us into town. The city walks booklet had a map of each walk and with sites numbered on the map and a corresponding number in the text providing information. This was really helpful because we did not have to look at a building and try to guess what it might be.

 

We originally were going to take public transportation into town, since it is a bit of a walk, but after reading in Sinppu’s Helsinki thread that the public transportation had changed and there was no direct route we decided to take the Princess shuttle. We disembarked around 7:45 and bought our round trip tickets for the ship’s shuttle (12 USD or 10 euro pp). We were on the first shuttle, which left at 8, and it was not very full. I think it dropped us off near the Swedish Theatre, but my sister took a picture of the spa we got off by and we used that and the Stockmann department store to orient ourselves. My sister wanted to see the icebreaker fleet that was listed in the “historic city centre” walk, so we headed off down the Esplanade park.

 

 

It wasn’t too busy out yet. We walked through the Market Square, or Kauppatori, where the merchants were all setting up for the day. We passed Uspenski Cathedral, with the sun shining right behind it, and turned right at the red brick Katajanokka Warehouses. This stretch of waterfront was along the Guest Harbour and offered some nice views over to Halkolaituri Pier.

 

 

We continued walking along the waterfront, not really following the walking tour at this point, until we came across the ice breakers tied up along Merikasarmin laituri.

 

 

We retraced our steps back past the warehouses, then swung over to Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral.

 

 

I was starting to get warm, so we stopped briefly at the steps of the Cathedral while I removed my cardigan and applied sunscreen to my arms. Then we continued on our way. The “green heart of the city” walk that we planned to do started at the Finnish National Theatre.

 

 

The walk led us past the botanical gardens to the shores of two of the lakes in the center of Helsinki, Kaisaniemenlahti and Elaintarhanlahti.

 

 

It was really nice and peaceful walking along here. There were no large groups of people, mainly Helsinki residents on their way to work or the train station. It was a great break from all the traffic in St. Petersburg. There were also trees along part of the lakeshore, and the shade was comfortable. We took a bridge over the railroad tracks and continued on our loop around the city, this time walking along the shores of Toolonlahti. Following the route on the map, when we reached the “top” of Toolonlahti we crossed the road.

Edited June 10, 2013 by dnylla

[dnylla]

After walking past the Winter Garden we came upon the Olympic Stadium. We walked around the stadium to the other side where the stadium tower is located.

 

 

We went inside and bought our tickets to the top of the tower, 5 euros pp. We were glad there was an elevator, small as it was, because at this point in the cruise we were starting to feel all the stairs we climbed on the Emerald Princess earlier and earlier in the day. The stadium gave us a nice view of Helsinki. We were able to see the lakes we had walked around, with the Helsinki and Uspenski Cathedrals off in the background.

 

 

The platform levels were small, so we were glad that no large groups were up there and we could take our pictures without much difficulty. After descending down the elevator (with a quick stop to use the restrooms) we passed the statue of Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi and continued our walk along the shore of Toolonlahti. The paths we took were paved and had designated pedestrian and bike lanes, making it easy to walk and not have to dodge bikes.

 

We started to encounter more tourists (the Princess tote bag some were carrying is a bit of a giveaway) and figured they were probably heading to the Olympic Stadium tower. After passing the Finnish National Opera and Finlandia Hall we came upon the National Museum of Finland, or the Suomen kansallismuseo.

 

 

I had read about the museum in the information the Helsinki tourist office sent and we were going to go there. But it was a little before 10:30 and the museum did not open until 11:00 so my sister and I continued on our walk. We passed the Parliament building and ended in front of the railway station. Both Sis and I were starting to get hungry so we headed back to the Kauppatori where I knew from reading the posts in Sinppu’s Helsinki thread that we would be able to find what we wanted to eat.

 

 

 

That’s right, we wanted to eat Rudolf (or Dasher or Dancer, Sis and I weren’t picky ;))

 

I had the sautéed reindeer with ligonberry and mashed potatoes while my sister had the smoked reindeer meatballs with potatoes and vegetables. Both were good, although we preferred the smoked reindeer meatballs more. They had a bit more flavor and seasoning than the sautéed reindeer did. The booth had a covered seating area where we ate, and because it was only a little after 11:00 is was not very crowded yet.

 

After we finished lunch we walked down Pohjoisesplanadi heading back towards Mannerheimintie and the National Museum. Along the way we stopped at Kankurin Tupa and looked at their sweaters and souvenirs. The sweaters here seemed to average 150-175 euros, cheaper than Oslo but not quite as good a deal as in Tallinn. That was the only store where we looked at sweaters but I think the others in the area would not be priced too differently.

 

We went back to the National Museum and bought our sticker “ticket”, it was 8 euros pp. The museum has exhibits covering Finland’s history from the Stone Age to the 20th century. It was really interesting. I was surprised how many Stone Age artifacts they actually had. The exhibit descriptions and information were almost always in Finnish, Swedish, and English so we had no trouble reading most of them. Depending on the section there were a variety of items featured in the museum. There were mannequins dressed in clothing styles from some periods, furniture including a throne from when Finland was under Russian control, religious carvings and artwork especially from the middle ages. There were also exhibits about the Saami and a treasury in the lower level with coins and medals as well as some historical arms. The special exhibit that was included in the admission was about historical maps. It was not a large museum but well worth going to, especially since we really did not know much about the history of Finland.

 

After we left the museum we made a quick trip through Stockmann’s department store. Rick Steves had referred to it as the Harrod’s of Helsinki and my sister wanted to see if it compared (she didn’t think so). We went back to where the shuttle had dropped us off and caught the 2:00 one. On our shuttle everyone was seated, but when we pulled away there was already a line forming for the next one.

 

Once we were back to the Emerald Princess we took the stairs up to our room for a little while before walking up to Scoops to get some ice cream. It was much warmer today and there were more people on the deck. We decided we wanted some real food and grabbed a bite from the buffet, sitting on tables outside to enjoy the weather. As our all aboard time passed there was an announcement for four passengers to contact guest services. We decided they must not be onboard or were not scanned in yet. Eventually the announcement was dropped to two names, then one. At this point they started making the announcement in Mandarin (I think). We were by the side of the ship, and looked to see if any of the people arriving at the port took off running towards the Emerald Princess, but they all were meandering towards the Norwegian Star which was docked in front of us. Eventually we started to pull away and never heard anything about a passenger missing the ship so we decided their cruise cards must not have been scanned in when they boarded.

 

As the ship pulled away from the dock we went to deck 7 aft, since we hadn’t watched a sail away from there yet. There was a parade of seagulls following the Emerald Princess as we got further and further from land. Eventually we decided to go inside and watch John Lawrence’s port lecture on Stockholm, even though we were doing another shore excursion there.

 

After the port lecture my sister and I went up to the pizzeria. Our goal to not eat too much was definitely slipping at this point in the cruise, but at least we kept taking the stairs so we couldn’t feel as guilty about over indulging. Sis wanted to have something to eat before she went to the evening’s Stammtisch at Vines. The food at this food and wine pairing was seafood, which I don’t like so I stayed in the room and read. She enjoyed it, even though it turned out to be sushi (which makes sense since Vines offers sushi) and she was expecting baked seafood. After that we lounged around our room until it was time to get ready for bed.

 

Coming up…Stockholm

[dnylla]

[chuck99]

that was my thinking too , I'll bet it doesn't happen very often. Later in the cruise, I think it was the 2nd sea day my sister was playing Bingo and later said the ship tilted some again, but I was in our cabin reading and didn't notice

 

Yeah, the sea was rough on the second sea day. I've got my camera ready this time but unfortunately no disaster

 

 

I had the sautéed reindeer with ligonberry and mashed potatoes while my sister had the smoked reindeer meatballs with potatoes and vegetables. Both were good, although we preferred the smoked reindeer meatballs more. They had a bit more flavor and seasoning than the sautéed reindeer did.

 

Agreed, didn't know Rudolf tasted this good ;). The creamy salmon soup was also delicious

 

[goldie888]

Thanks a lot for your Baltic cruise reviews. We are going there in August! Much excited!

[Pippi_y]

We are going on a Princess Baltic cruise in August and we will be taking some Princess excursions. I appreciate your positive reviews. I think we are taking the exact same tour you did on the second day. I was/am still a bit concerned about the quality of the Princess tours as you don't hear that many positive reviews and most posters recommend private companies for St. Petersburg. It is a relief to see a positive review so hopefully our Princess tours will be okay.

 

Thank you for taking the time to post such descriptive and informative reviews. I really love your pictures - very nicely done!

[dnylla]

Agreed, didn't know Rudolf tasted this good. The creamy salmon soup was also delicious

 

I’m surprised my sister didn’t get the soup too, that looks like the kind of this she would have loved since she likes seafood. Thanks for posting the picture of the second champagne waterfall, we didn't see either one. For the crew's sake I'm glad this one withstood the rougher seas

 

Thanks a lot for your Baltic cruise reviews. We are going there in August! Much excited!

 

Thanks goldie888. I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as my sister and I did

 

We are going on a Princess Baltic cruise in August and we will be taking some Princess excursions. I appreciate your positive reviews. I think we are taking the exact same tour you did on the second day. I was/am still a bit concerned about the quality of the Princess tours as you don't hear that many positive reviews and most posters recommend private companies for St. Petersburg. It is a relief to see a positive review so hopefully our Princess tours will be okay.

 

Thank you for taking the time to post such descriptive and informative reviews. I really love your pictures - very nicely done!

 

Pippi_y, my sister and I were a bit apprehensive about taking Princess shore excursions in St. Petersburg for the same reasons you mentioned. We decided to just go for it, since they suited our interests best. And everything (timing, weather) seemed to work out for us. I hope that your shore excursions go as well as ours did

Edited June 11, 2013 by dnylla

[GailnBrad]

WONDERFUL review!!

[dnylla]

WONDERFUL review!!

 

Thanks GailnBrad! Glad you're enjoying it

[dnylla]

Day 10 – Stockholm (June 1, 2013)

 

Unfortunately Stockholm ended up being our most disappointing port on the cruise, a result of a variety of factors.

 

The first was that this itinerary has a short day in port, with an all abroad time of 1:30 pm. From the beginning my sister and I considered doing a shore excursion because we knew we would be starting to get tired this late into the cruise and the early afternoon departure would limit what we could do. My sister and I had signed up for our shore excursion, the Nobel Prize Museum and City Hall, shortly after we booked the cruise. Once onboard we went back and forth trying to decide if we should cancel it and do Stockholm DIY or stick with the shore excursion. The price of our shore excursion went up onboard so we did not want to cancel it and then change our minds and have to pay the higher price. Ultimately the cancellation deadline passed and we either had to go on it or lose our money.

 

Another factor was what I had read in several trip reviews here on Cruise Critic. Because so many people headed off to the Vasa Ship Museum right away they used public transportation or the HOHO boats, so I was under the impression that we would be docking too far away from the city center to be able to walk there. So I was surprised (and frustrated) when we attended John Lawrence’s port talk on Stockholm and he informed us that it was possible to walk to Gamla Stan from our dock on Sodermalm Island in about 30 minutes (2600 meters). You just follow the light blue line until you are almost there, and when the line ends look up and you’ll see Gamla Stan. (the red line turns left after the crosswalk and I believe goes to the HOHO boats) There were people handing out a couple different free maps by the little gift shop for those who needed or wanted one.

 

 

My sister and I were starting to get tired, and also starting to feel a little of the end of vacation “blahs” so we would have been perfectly happy just walking to Gamla Stan and looking around, or maybe heading to the Vasa Museum then to Gamla Stan. (what could be considered another factor is a mistake I made while researching our trip beforehand. I was so used to looking at opening times in May it did not register until we onboard that this was June 1 and the Vasa Ship Museum started earlier summer hours). The final factor was the fact that the Stockholm marathon was taking place today, with 21,000 runners. While this did not affect us as badly as the run in St. Petersburg it did a little, primarily at City Hall.

 

Now let us move onto our day in port at Stockholm, or at least partial day. We awoke to the gorgeous scenery of the Archipelago outside our balcony.

 

 

Sis and I went up to Café Caribe for breakfast. It was pretty busy again, but since it was sunny we did not mind sitting at a table outside to eat. We docked a little after 7:00 and passengers were cleared to go ashore around 7:20.

 

From Sodermalm Island where we were docked there was a nice panorama of Gamla Stan off in the distance.

 

 

Because we were doing the shore excursion we had a later meeting time. My sister and I actually had a moment of “what do we do with ourselves?” because we were so used to getting off and going. She went down to look at the future cruise information while I enjoyed the view from deck 15 then went down and read in an empty Crooners until it was time to meet to go to our shore excursion.

 

We were supposed to meet in Michelangelo at 9:15, but were there early. We were in group purple 1 and were down to our bus around 9:00. Our first stop was Fjallgatan, one of the highest points in Stockholm. It offered a nice view of Gamla Stan, but honestly I thought that the view from deck 15 (zoomed in) was nicer because there were no buildings nearby to try and avoid getting in the picture.

 

 

 

 

After our photo stop we drove to City Hall, with our guide Tanja telling us about the city and sights we passed. Some of the bus parking areas were converted into areas used for the marathon, so we got off the bus further away and hurried to the City Hall, or Stadshuset.

 

 

Overall, the City Hall was a zoo. Because the marathon would be closing down some of the roads many tours were trying to see City Hall in the morning. We squeezed our way past people who were trying to buy tickets for the guided tours of the City Hall and went into the Blue Hall.

 

 

It was not too crowded at first, but as we were there listening to Tanja more groups filed in. We then proceeded up the stairs, past where the Noble Laureates make their speeches and went into some of the functional rooms.

[dnylla]

The architectural and design styles in the City Hall were interesting and Tanja told us about the inspiration for the choices, often reflecting the Viking and Swedish heritage. At times the rooms were not too crowded, and there was City Hall personnel present to try and keep things moving. Eventually we were outside of the Golden Hall.

 

 

This was definitely crowded, to the point where it became a bit of a challenge to try to look at and get pictures of the walls without large groups of people blocking it. While it was beautiful and there was a lot of background to the mosaics on the walls, at this point Sis and I were done with the crowds. One of the women on our tour said the Hermitage was worse in terms of crowds. I don’t know if she was on a Princess or independent tour. We had fifteen minutes of free time to shop or use the restrooms, and then we met by the tree in the courtyard and found the bus to go over to Gamla Stan.

 

We parked on Riddarholmen and stopped to enjoy the view of City Hall across the Riddarfjarden.

 

 

We passed by the church on Riddarholmen with its lacy spire before walking to Stortorget. Stortoget is the oldest square in Stockholm and the site of the Nobel Museum (as well as the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1520).

 

 

 

Tanja led us inside and gave us some background on the museum. Then we had some free time before she was going to take anyone who was interested on a walk around Gamla Stan. We looked at the exhibit on Alfred Nobel’s life and watched some of the images of Nobel Prize winners moving around on the ceiling (I recognized a couple, including George Marshall and Martin Luther King, Jr.). It was a smaller museum, and at this point Sis was ready to sit until it was time to meet Tanja for the walking tour instead of doing some of the interactive exhibits. I decided to walk around and see some more of Gamla Stan before we met up. I went into the little Wooden Horse Museum that was in the back of a store in the same square, Stortorget, as the Nobel Museum. Then I wandered down some of the side streets, enjoying how one block could be peaceful and calm

 

 

While the next would be busy and full of tourists

 

 

I was back in front of the Nobel Museum at 12:30, where I met up with my sister and the rest of the group that went with Tanja on the walking tour. We saw Stockholms domkyrka, Stockholm Cathedral, and the Royal Palace while Tanja told us a bit about the Swedish Royal family. Then we went down some picturesque streets, and ended up by the metal statue of St. George and the Dragon, a replica of the famous one inside the church. It was starting to drizzle a little at this point, so we went back to Stortorget to pick up anyone who did not join us on the walk and headed back to the bus and back to the Emerald Princess.

 

Shore excursion review: This was our most disappointing shore excursion this cruise. In my experience shore excursions can be hit or miss, and this was definitely a miss. It was interesting to walk around Gamla Stan and see Stockholm’s City Hall (which we probably would not have gone to if Sis and I did Stockholm DIY). But one of the reasons why we booked this shore excursion (and paid the higher price) was that Princess had it labeled with a connoisseur badge on their website. The connoisseur shore excursions are supposed to have groups no larger than 20 people (ours had 28, the second group looked even larger) and these were supposed offer special access or hard to duplicate experiences. I don’t know if the marathon affected our itinerary, but there was nothing on the tour we could not have accomplished DIY, since from what I have read the City Hall offers guided tours.

 

Hindsight being 20/20, we should have gone to talk to John Lawrence during the times he was available to answer questions and inquired about ways to get into Stockholm before the cancellation period ended. Then we could have made a different decision that might have allowed us to enjoy Stockholm more. But you can’t win them all, and we still had a great cruise and enjoyed the rest of our day.

[dnylla]

We were back to the ship around 1:20. Sis and I were surprised to see the pub lunch listed when we received the Princess Patter the night before (we wondered if it was unusually popular so they added it today). Once we were onboard we decided it would be a good opportunity to grab a bite to eat since we had not had anything since breakfast. There was no line at the Wheelhouse Bar and we were quickly seated at the bar. She had the fish and chips again, while I had the chicken curry. It was okay, but could have used more chicken curry and less rice pilaf.

 

We went back to our room for a while. Then we grabbed our rain coats and walked up to deck 15 to listen to John Lawrence’s talk as we sailed down the Archipelago. The rain was coming down at this point, but not so hard that the ice carving demonstration was cancelled.

 

 

Instead it was raining just enough that most of the people watching were under the overhang. My sister and I enjoyed the scenery and listened to John Lawrence’s information.

 

 

Eventually we got tired of the rain and of the people who kept throwing fries to the seagulls, so we went back to our cabin. Around 3:15 my sister went to play Bingo, while I stayed in our cabin and read. Apparently the ship tilted a little again, but I did not even notice. My sister said the crewmember calling out the Bingo numbers commented that all the luck must be sliding to that side of the room. Sis also stopped by Vines to confirm the time for our food and wine pairing that evening. When we signed up for this Stammtisch the receipt we received and the information sheet at Vines both said 7:00. Then Ryan, the Vines crewmember hosting the Stammtisch called the day we were in Helsinki and said it was moved to 6:00 because they were going to do another champagne waterfall at 7:00. Then the day’s Princess Patter said 5:00, so we wanted to make sure we had the right time (it was 6:00).

 

 

We changed and headed down to Vines around 5:45. We were a little early again, and so we listened to the performance by the choir of passengers that had formed. This food and wine pairing ended up only being me, my sister and one other couple. There were six others initially signed up but they had a dining reservation and would not be able to make the new time. We knew how they felt, because when the time was originally at 7:00 Sis and I were going to go to the formal dinner then probably skip desert and go to the Stammtisch instead. But we decided that the Stammtisch would be more fun than formal night.

 

Because there were only the four of us, plus Ryan, it really turned out to be a good deal. This night was the Champagne and Chocolate pairing. Ryan said the Veuve Cliquot was $17.00 per glass at Vines. Our cost for the session was $17.25, for which we received (and drank) multiple glasses of champagne (and could have more if we had wanted since there was still some in the bottles) as well as plenty of pralines.

 

 

As I mentioned I’m not a real big champagne drinker, nor is my sister. Three of the four of us actually preferred the Korbel when we were just drinking the champagne; cheap dates I guess. :D But when we started tasting the chocolates with the champagne I really liked the Veuve Cliquot, especially with dark chocolate. While we were there Ryan offered to show us how to saber champagne. He had put a bottle of what would be used in the champagne waterfall on ice earlier and demonstrated his skill using a knife to break off the cork. Then he gave us a glass of that champagne to try as well. It probably would have tasted fine if we had not been drinking the others, but after the more expensive champagne the free stuff did not taste good. We had a really fun time at this Stammtisch also, enjoying Ryan’s knowledge and the company. (I think Ryan’s contract is up later in the summer, then he’s on a ship sailing out of Galveston, but my sister and I both thought he did a really great job).

 

Eventually the other couple left to make their dining reservation, while my sister and I sat a little longer watching the crew set up the champagne waterfall. It was starting to get more crowded in the Piazza, so we left and went to watch the show in the Princess Theater, “What A Swell Party”. We arrived just as it was starting but had no trouble finding seats in the lower part of the theatre (probably because of the champagne waterfall). I preferred “What A Swell Party” over “I Got the Music”, while my sister was the opposite. After the show Sis wanted to grab a bite to eat to counteract all the champagne so we headed up to the buffet. I got a salad while she got some odds and ends. The buffet was pretty empty again.

 

After we finished eating we went back to our cabin. We received our disembarkation luggage tickets and information with the Princess Patter, a sign that our trip was almost over.

 

 

Next… our second day at sea

[dnylla]

[dnylla]

Day 11 – at sea (June 2, 2013)

 

This morning when we woke up it was foggy out. The sea also felt rougher, this was probably the roughest day we had, although Sis and I are lucky not to be very motion sensitive and it did not bother us.

 

We were up around our usual time, but I think others had taken advantage of getting to sleep in. Café Caribe was pretty empty. After breakfast Sis and I went to walk around the Promenade deck. The front part of the ship was closed off again, so we did our modified horseshoe laps. We spent about 40 minutes walking, and were surprised there were more people than the morning of our first sea day who were out and walking.

 

After walking we stopped by guest services to pick up some envelopes for additional tips and the “consummate host” cards to recommend crew members who did a great job on our cruise. We took the stairs back to our room and started to pack. We really had not bought much; it was more a case of seeing what could go into our checked bags and what needed to be carried on the plane with us. Somehow my sister and I both felt like we had more room in our suitcases then when we arrived :confused:

 

It was around 9:30 and was still foggy out, although starting to burn off. Sis and I decided it was time for a snack and we went to the International Café for muffins, tea (for me), and hot cocoa (for my sister). We found a table without much difficulty and watched as the line for the Onboard Outlet Sale grew from in front of the Michelangelo dining room until it wrapped around the Piazza almost past Vines.

 

Eventually my sister went up to watch MUTS while I walked back to our room and read. We went to the Wheelhouse bar for our third pub lunch of the cruise. The menu was the same as the previous day in Stockholm. I had been hoping for Cottage Pie, but no luck. So I had the Scotch Egg, which was quite good. My sister had the fish and chips again.

 

I think we just relaxed and lounged around before heading to John Lawrence’s port lecture on Copenhagen. We were going direct to the airport, but were curious to see how we did seeing the highlights he covered in his lecture. We were pleased to see we had seen or done many of the things he mentioned. It was also interesting to find out that at least on our cruise there were only 100 or so people who embarked in Warnemunde. Everyone else was getting off in Copenhagen, so John Lawrence modified his lecture some to include transit options to the airport.

 

Following our lecture we went back to our room. I read while my sister took a short nap. She then left around 2:30 to head up to the art auction. She was curious what the navigation map and a couple pieces of art we had seen would be sold for. This art auction definitely went on for longer than expected. She came back around 4 and said it was still going on. We headed up the stair to the buffet, figuring a snack sounded good. I had the nachos, which I had enjoyed on an earlier day, and the peanut butter tart which I’d also recommend.

 

I didn’t write down what we did after our snack, but we probably lounged around the room. We could tell we were getting closer to Denmark because we started to see more and more of the wind farms off the coast.

 

 

Eventually we delivered our special tips and dropped off our crew commendation cards. It was around 5:45 and neither of us was hungry for dinner. So instead we headed back to the Promenade deck and did some more of our modified horseshoe laps. There were less people out then earlier and we spent about 45 minutes out there. When made our first lap water was praying down on part of the deck near the stairs at the front of the boat, but that stopped after a lap or two. Shortly before we went back inside we saw a small boat approaching on the starboard side. We noticed it because it was moving quickly and looked like it was having a rougher ride than ours. It turns out it was the pilot boat, and after quickly pulling alongside the Emerald Princess so the pilot could get aboard it pulled away.

 

After that walking we decided we were ready for dinner. So up we went to Café Caribe. Neither of us were in the mood for a long sit down dinner. With the trip wrapping up we also wanted to get back to closer to our normal meals (neither of us have multiple courses on a regular basis). After dinner we went back down to our room. There was a note that there would be water maintenance from midnight to 4am, with no hot water and possibly no water in some areas of the ship. We wondered if that had anything to do with the water that was spraying on the Promenade deck when we were out there walking. It was early enough in the evening that the lack of hot water did not affect us. My sister and I got everything ready for the next day and placed our bags in the hall. We kept just what we needed for the morning and the flight in our carry-ons.

 

Around 9:30 we started to be able to see that the Emerald Princess was approaching the Great Belt Bridge, which connects the islands of Zealand and Funan.

 

 

So my sister and I watched from our balcony and the bridge came closer and closer, until we passed under it around 9:45.

 

 

We were getting chilly standing on the balcony, so we headed inside after that and soon after went to bed.

 

 

Coming up…disembarkation and my final thoughts/observations

[dnylla]

[dnylla]

Day 12 – disembarkation (June 3, 2013)

 

On our last day onboard the Emerald Princess my sister and I woke up early but dozed in bed until 6:15/6:20. We had plenty of time this morning. We were in the Silver 2 group for disembarkation, the airport transfer for those who had a flight between 3:00-4:00 pm. Silver 2 was one of the last disembarkation times. We were supposed to meet at 9:30, and only those who had a late flight (10:00 am) or the later transfer to the hotels (10:30 am) met after us. The independent arrangements had their own disembarkation schedule, ranging from 5:15 to 10:30. I don’t know how the independent disembarkation times were determined.

 

After getting out of bed and getting dressed Sis and I checked our room one last time to make sure we had everything. We also made sure we had the transfer tickets we were given on the first day with our shore excursion tickets and the “claim check” ends from our luggage tags. After grabbing our final statements and the cruise log from the holder outside our door we took the stairs up to Café Caribe for breakfast. It was around 7:00 and was not too busy. We ate then lingered over our coffee (sis) and tea (me), because there were plenty of tables open and we were in no hurry.

 

Eventually we moved down to Vines and sat at one of the tables, watching everyone in the Piazza. It was around 8:00 by now and the ship was clearing out. Most of the people were like us – cleared out of our staterooms and waiting for our disembarkation times. After about an hour we moved up to Gatsby’s Casino, the meeting point for our group. I don’t remember the exact time, but I think it was close to 9:30 when we took the stairs from the casino down to deck 4 and had our blue cruise cards scanned for the last time. The next time we’re on a Princess ship Sis and I will be gold. We disembarked and went to the bus, which was parked right next to the white tent you go through to embark. As with the shore excursions we gave our transfer ticket to the crew member by the door and boarded the bus. It was around 9:45 when we pulled away from the ship.

 

I think we took the slightly scenic route to the airport. We passed by Amalienborg Palace and could look left at one point to see the opera across the water. Then we crossed over one of the bridges at Nyhavn Canal. Eventually we were on the edge of the city and approaching the airport. The bus dropped us off near terminal 2, where the cruise lines store the transfers' luggage. We went in and showed our cruise cards to get into the Princess section (Norwegian and Costa also had transfers going on this day). We found my sister’s suitcase, then mine.

 

Our flight was on SAS, which left from terminal 3. So Sis and I grabbed our bags and walked over there. I think there were luggage carts available but we could handle our bags so didn’t pay much attention. Inside terminal 3 it was a bit chaotic. Sis stayed with our bags while I took our passports and booking number, maneuvering through the crowds to the kiosk to check in and print our boarding passes. Many European airports make you wait until closer to your flight before you can drop bags, but since it was so busy Sis and I decided we’d get in the SAS luggage drop line and see if we could check ours, figuring the worst they would do is tell us to wait. We managed to get in front of a big tour group and into one of the lines for the counter, behind some Costa cruise people who were being escorted by ship staff (not sure if this is standard for Costa or they paid for an exclusive transfer). Finally we were up to the counter and were able to check our bags, roughly one hour after we left the pier.

 

Because it was so busy in the area we decided to just go up the stairs and go through security. Once through we stopped at the Food Market and used some of our remaining Danish kroner to buy lunch. After that we walked around Terminal 3. There were several places where it branched off that we walked down, as well as a large shopping area with many stores. We finally saw that we were assigned a gate on the screens, so we headed off to the “C” gates. Silly us, we didn’t see that the gate was actually printed on the boarding pass the whole time. Too much time in Europe having to wait for a gate and in the US checking in online before the gate has been assigned I guess :o

 

 

The “C” gates were where we arrived in Copenhagen; we had to pass back through passport control this time going the opposite way. There were a couple shops after passport control, but definitely less to look at. The seating area right by the gate was full and warm, so my sister and I sat in some of the chairs outside it where it was cooler. We also used that opportunity to fill in the emergency contact cards we saw sitting there and that we figured SAS would ask for.

 

Copenhagen is like many European airlines where they have increased security for US bound flights. About 40 minutes (could be less, I didn’t have my notebook out) before the boarding time they made everyone clear out of the seating area and come out where we were. Then they scanned everyone’s boarding pass, checked the passport and collected the contact card (for US citizens). There was also security there, which checked the boarding area after it was empty as well as randomly pulling people aside to go through their hand baggage. Everyone was eventually through and seated in the gate area again. A short time after that boarding began and we were back on our way across the pond, our cruise around Scandinavia and Russia complete.

 

 

Up next…my final thoughts and observations

Edited June 11, 2013 by dnylla

[dnylla]

Thanks for sticking with me through my illustrated novella. It is the first time I’ve written a trip review, so it was a little rough in parts. I’ve caught typos that make me cringe and that I’m sorry I missed while reviewing before posting; unfortunately I’m past the editing time for most of my posts. It was wonderful to get to relive our Scandinavia and Russia cruise, even if we did just return from it. I tried to include information I was looking for while planning and hopefully this review helps future cruisers get some ideas while planning their Baltic trip

 

My sister and I had an enjoyable time on our Baltic cruise and would consider Princess again. The crew of the Emerald Princess did a fantastic job and was always cheerful and friendly. I don’t see either one of us sailing exclusively with one cruise line anytime soon though. Future cruises will likely be determined like this one was based on itinerary and price, not the cruise line.

 

This was a great itinerary. Our favorite port was Tallinn, but Olso, Helsinki, and Copenhagen were also really enjoyable. St. Petersburg was neat to go to, but I think my sister and I both enjoyed our second day, out of the city, more. Warnemunde was nice, but the rainy weather was a bit of a damper. Our shore excursion in Aarhus was unique to the area, and while it didn’t amaze either of us I don’t regret that we did it. I just would have preferred more time in Stockholm instead. Stockholm was the most disappointing port, in part because of how the marathon affected our visit to the City Hall and because I felt like there was several potential sights to see that we missed because of the shore excursion. I suppose that’s just another reason to go back, right :D

 

 

Here’s my thoughts on some of the topics I’ve seen brought up on the forum before. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me and I’ll answer as best I can

 

Our Cabin

It was plenty big for the two of us, even having our beds set up as twins. We did get upgraded twice on this itinerary, but that probably affected our location (from aft to midship) and the size of our balcony (Caribe deck balconies have room for four chairs instead of two) more than the size of the cabin.

 

 

The closet was nice and big, although we ran out of hangers before we ran out of space. There was storage near the closet, in our night stands (the drawers were a little tricky to figure out) and under the desk where we kept our patters and souvenirs. The bathroom was smaller. The size bothered my sister more than me; the bathroom in my dorm room at university was about that size. There is a shelf under the sink and three small ones to the right of the sink for storage. There is also shampoo, conditioner and lotion in little travel size bottles. Jonathan, our steward, was great at bringing more lotion when we started to use it. We hung our towels up on the hooks on the door and reused them a couple times before placing them on the floor. Once they were on the floor Jonathan brought us new ones.

 

I had read in some Princess cruise reviews that the beds were horribly uncomfortable and people would request the egg cartons padding to sleep better. I’m not sure if they changed the beds recently or we just had good luck in ours but neither Sis nor myself had any trouble sleeping. The pillows on the other hand weren’t that great. I was glad that there was a synthetic filled-type pillow in addition to the feather pillow, but it was well used and pretty flat.

 

We used our balcony, not as much as we did on the Disney cruise years ago in the Bahamas, but enough that for us the cost of a balcony room was worth it. We both thought it was nice to be able to see what the temperatures felt like in the morning, as well as watch the ship pulling into port and go out onto the balcony at night once we were in our pyjamas. I’ve never cruised with an inside cabin, only balconies or ocean view rooms, so others may not agree about the cost or getting enough use out of a balcony.

 

 

Clothes

Based on our own travel experience and the advice given by many here on Cruise Critic my sister and I packed layers. In addition to my short sleeve or cap sleeve shirts, I had a light cardigan with ¾ sleeves, a fleece jacket, and a light rain jacket/shell. My sister packed slightly warmer clothes (she lives in southeast Texas, I’m in the Rocky Mountain region) but she also brought a jacket that had a rain jacket exterior and a removable fleece lining. We each packed 3-4 smart casual clothes and a formal outfit (which we didn’t wear this cruise). I’d second the recommendations to bring good walking shoes (two pair are better). I also had a couple pairs to go with my dinner clothes and I think Sis did as well. Neither of us brought capris or shorts. I almost brought a couple sundresses but decided not to. If I had brought them I probably could have worn them on the days in Helsinki or St. Petersburg, but I also like being a little cooler. Both my sister and I packed workout clothes, but we didn’t use them, choosing instead to walk outside around the Promenade deck. We also both brought light gloves and my sister brought a hat just in case. My sister brought a travel size container of Downy Wrinkle Release and we used that on our daytime and dinner clothes.

 

 

Currency

We ordered local currency for the ports before leaving. My sister looked at the prices I had down for various places we were planning to go and then she looked at menus of possible restaurants to get an idea of food prices. She then guessed on the souvenir money we might need and that’s what we took. We ended up having extra money, especially in Russia, and sold back most of the notes we didn’t use on the Emerald Princess (be aware though there is a 4.50 fee and the exchange rate isn’t the best as well as a 10 note or $500 limit). We felt more comfortable knowing we had the local currency ahead of time and didn’t have to rely on the currency exchange machines onboard, especially since they both seemed to be out of order at the same time.

 

One of the ladies on our City Drive tour in St. Petersburg was upset when she got on the bus after we were at the Church of the Savior of the Spilled Blood because she had left her cash on the Emerald Princess and only brought her credit cards on the advice of her friend who was also on the tour. Then when she found something at the souvenir area near the Church the vendor would take euros or USD but not her credit card so she had to hope they would be stopping there on her tour the next day. Just something to keep in mind.

 

 

The Shore Excursions

They were a mix. Overall I was satisfied with the shore excursions we booked. As I mentioned we were most disappointed with the one we did in Stockholm, followed by the Russian Ballet. While I would not book those again there were some that my sister and I really enjoyed and would recommend, including the Two Palaces one in St. Petersburg. My experience with the Princess shore excursions is like the ones from my cruise in the Greek Islands. There one of the shore excursions was really good and the other not so much, to the point where my friends and I went off and did our own thing before meeting the rest of the group back at the bus. I expect this mix is probably a pretty normal reaction (although, like everything else, this is subjective based on the person, their experience, and their expectations :))

 

We booked multiple shore excursions our first day in St. Petersburg. The Princess website recommended at least one hour in between and we had two and a half hours between the city drive and canal tour and one and a half hours between the canal tour and the ballet. This worked out for us, even with the traffic, but if you decide to do the same just be aware that the traffic can seriously impact your return time and may result in you missing one. I’d definitely recommend bringing your tickets with you, in case you do not have time to go back onboard the ship in between.

 

 

The Food

I think maybe our expectations were higher than they should have been. We were not overly amazed by any of the food (and in fact some of what we enjoyed the most was items from the buffet). We are not foodies and I don’t think we’re picky, but what was served seemed to be like what we would get at a restaurant like Applebee’s or Chili’s. It was good, but not worth the many raves I had read. I realize though food can be very subjective and of course it is challenging preparing food for 2800 pax.

 

It should be noted that in the dining room the food was well plated and presented, and the service was very good. Also, as most people who have cruised before or spent time on these forums knows, you either need to buy the soda package or pay for each pop you drink. I’m not much of a pop drinker, so I had no problem with drinking water or an occasional adult beverage, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that iced tea is available for free. The only place we ate that didn’t have it was the pub lunches in the Wheelhouse Bar.

 

My one complaint about the service would be that from time to time we were not asked about what we would like to drink in the buffets after we sat down. Once I think we made it through the whole meal without a waiter stopping by. I had no problem getting up and getting our drinks if we were well into our meal without being asked. If this had happened when the buffet was busy I would have understood. But often it happened when the buffet was not busy and wait staff was just standing around. There were a couple waitresses who always came by and asked us right away what we would like to drink and my sister and I made sure we got their names to fill out consummate host cards for them. Like I said, I have no problem getting my own drink and it is unreasonable to expect them to be right there right away when there are other passengers to serve. But we were surprised that it sometimes took so long that we’d be well through our meal before being asked, especially given the level of service we received on the ship and in the buffet other times.

 

 

Our Fellow Passengers

We seemed to be on the lower age range, which I expected. But I was expecting more retirement age passengers, and it was more a mix of 40s-50s up to retirement age. For the first two-thirds of the cruise I honestly thought there was no one younger than teenagers onboard, but towards the end we noticed a few kids (my sister and I were joking that it had to do with them sprouting up because of the warmer weather and shorter days in port we had in Helsinki and Stockholm). The ship seemed crowded on embarkation day and the sea days, especially the first champagne waterfall attempt. It also became crowded around the boutique tables that were set outside of the shops in the Piazza. Occasionally we got caught up in one of the Japanese tour groups onboard, but nothing too bad.

 

According to the cruise log we received the final day there is a max pax of 3570 and there was just over 2800 passengers onboard our cruise. The Emerald Princess is the largest ship I’ve sailed on, and honestly I’m not sure I’d enjoy a bigger one just because that is so many people. I’ve seen that Royal Princess is sailing this itinerary next year, so I’m glad we went this time. I know that people often prefer the larger, newer ships because they offer more amenities and activities, but I don’t know if more amenities would be a deciding factor for me, which leads to my next topic

 

 

The Onboard Activities

I’m a reader, and can be quite content to relax by sitting and reading. This is especially true since I bought my tablet and can bring dozens more books than I used to pack. On the other hand, my sister likes to be doing things. There were times when she felt that there were not enough activities, usually on the afternoon of sea days and early departures from port. Perhaps this would be different on a less port-intensive itinerary. I don’t have enough cruising experience to know if there were fewer activities than usual or there just weren’t things going on that interested her/us. We did some of the activities, attending art auctions and port lectures as well as the Stammtisch and a couple shows. She also played bingo and attempted some Movies Under the (daytime) Stars. The one things we probably would have changed would have been to have Leif, the art director, talk less about the paintings while trying to upsell certain artists during the art auction, but I expect that’s part of his job.

 

Overall what activities we did attend were nice, but I know she felt like they scheduled some activities and even Movies Under the Stars she was interested in during the day when we were in port. I know others have remarked on the lack of late night activities on this itinerary, but we were usually in bed by then, so I can’t really comment on that except to note that if enough passengers went to bed early like us it might not be worth it, cost wise, for Princess to offer more late night activities on this itinerary.

 

 

Odds and Ends on the Ship

The mixed drinks were not that expensive for being a captive audience. The prices were what I’ve seen at a restaurant or lower depending on the drink.

We took advantage of having fresh fruit in our cabin, which was a nice snack alternative to the buffet or scoops.

 

I brought some spare ziploc bags (never travel without them) and a couple mornings Sis and I would bring pastries back and we’d have a snack for later. This is also an option for anyone with an early disembarkation time-no need to worry about fighting the crowds in the buffet

 

My sister ordered a bottle of wine part way through the cruise and she liked being able to drink it leisurely in our cabin

 

Normally I don’t find anything to buy in duty free shops unless I want some chocolate or candy, but the boutiques onboard actually had decent prices. I bought a bottle of my perfume which was a few dollars less than RRP, without tax. The Clinique prices also looked good, although they did not have what I use. Probably not as cheap as you could find with a sale or coupons, but better than just buying it on a regular day.

Edited June 11, 2013 by dnylla

[Tropical Anne]

I really enjoyed reading about your cruise. It was very informative and gave me lots of ideas for my cruise next month. Great job.

 

For the ports of Aarhus & Tallinn, I am trying to decide on doing a tour or DIY. I am leaning towards DIY as from what I have read the ports are very walkable. I would appreciate your thoughts.

[dnylla]

I really enjoyed reading about your cruise. It was very informative and gave me lots of ideas for my cruise next month. Great job.

 

For the ports of Aarhus & Tallinn, I am trying to decide on doing a tour or DIY. I am leaning towards DIY as from what I have read the ports are very walkable. I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

Thanks Tropical Anne!

 

Tallinn I would definitely DIY. It was nice to be able to go at our own pace and stop when we wanted to. There is plenty of time in port to really get a feel for the city. And from what I read here on Cruise Critic and observed while we were there, a good walking tour (we used Rick Steves) will take you to all the sights most of the shore excursions go to.

 

Unless there is a shore excursion that really jumps out at you I would seriously consider doing Aarhus DIY also. I think that there might be a short walk from the cruise center (and if you dock where we did a shuttle to get to the cruise center) but it seemed like most of the sights were in walking distance.

 

Enjoy your cruise next month!

[dnylla]

I found the sheet that the hospitality desk gave us when we checked into the Hotel Kong Arthur in Copenhagen the day before the cruise. For anyone who is interested, the first group departed the hotel at 12:10 pm. The buses were scheduled to depart every 10 minutes. We were in the green group, the third (and final?) group scheduled at 12:30 but they had us go with the yellow group at 12:20 instead.

 

The sheet also some had general information about the hotel, banks, taxis, sights, etc. along with the embarkation information and the name of the pier where the Emerald Princess would be docked (plus a big, bold reminder to keep your passports and cruise boarding passes with you, not in the luggage the porters picked up – I wonder how many people have done that)

 

The hotel check-out time is listed as 11:00 am (we checked out early around 7am to go walk around the city so I couldn’t remember for sure). Based on what my sister and I saw when we returned it looked like if people did not go out into Copenhagen like we did, they sat in the hotel seating areas waiting after check out.

[nbc]

What was your overall impression of the Hotel Kong Arthur in Copenhagen? We are staying there in Sept before our transatlantic with Princess.