Brilliance Cruise to Scandinavia and Russia, planning, cruising and LOT of photos

[lesson]

Hi,:)

What a great detailed summary of your adventure. We are doing the same one in May. Coincidentally we are also staying at the Park Plaza and have also booked with T J travel in Russia. Where did the ship dock in Stockholm? I wanted to catch a bus near the dock to the City Hall. Would you know if that would b e a problem? Also which port did the ship dock at in Copenhagen? Both places seem to have a few ports that they can choose from,

 

Thanks for you help in advance.

[nicecruiser]

Hi Terri,

 

Thank you for wonderful, very detail review. We are thinking about this cruise and I wonder where we have to have local currency with us and where we can use onlu credit card. Thanks a lot, Irina

[Kevin's girl]

Hi,:)

What a great detailed summary of your adventure. We are doing the same one in May. Coincidentally we are also staying at the Park Plaza and have also booked with T J travel in Russia. Where did the ship dock in Stockholm? I wanted to catch a bus near the dock to the City Hall. Would you know if that would b e a problem? Also which port did the ship dock at in Copenhagen? Both places seem to have a few ports that they can choose from,

 

Thanks for you help in advance.

You are going to really like the Park Plaza. The location is great. If you can, I highly recommend the Iconic View. It was so cool to wake up in the mornings staring down Westminster Bridge. I just can't say enough good about T J Travel. We really did feel as though we spent two days seeing the city with friends, and they helped to make life long memories. I am really sorry, but I cant remember which dock we were at in Stockholm. We had booked an excursion through the cruise line to pack in as much as we could, so I didn't pay attention to where we were. The Stockholm Port website says that Royal Caribbean uses Stadsgarden. In Copenhagen we were at the furthest pier possible. It was the Langelinie pier. There was a shuttle offered by the cruise which we had the option of either paying cash for or charging to our cabin. It worked out great. They dropped us off in town and we wandered as we pleased and met back at the same place for a pick up when we were ready. Pick ups were every 20-30 minutes.

[Kevin's girl]

Hi Terri,

 

Thank you for wonderful, very detail review. We are thinking about this cruise and I wonder where we have to have local currency with us and where we can use onlu credit card. Thanks a lot, Irina

Irina,

Most of our purchases were made with the local currency. This did help me to stay within my spending budget. We did of course make a few credit card purchases for things like the canal tour in Copenhagen and several restaurant stops. If you want to shop in any little shops or streeside eateries like the hot dog stand in Copenhagen you will need local currency. We also do not have chip and pin credit cards, so I was a bit more cautious in the use of the cards. Just in case.That being said we had no trouble using our US credit cards anywhere we tried. I did make a point of asking id they would accept the magnetic card before I attempted to purchase anything.

[Melozone]

Loved your review, sad it's over!

[Kevin's girl]

Loved your review, sad it's over!

Thanks Melozone. It was fun to write it. Next review will be on it's way in June :)

Edited February 11, 2015 by Kevin's girl

[CruiseMGM]

Awesome review, glad it percolated to the top of the list so I could read it. We're on the Serenade in June, Copenhagen to Stockholm, and will be visiting many of the ports you visited. Thanks so much for the review and pictures!

 

Best wishes!

[Kevin's girl]

Awesome review, glad it percolated to the top of the list so I could read it. We're on the Serenade in June, Copenhagen to Stockholm, and will be visiting many of the ports you visited. Thanks so much for the review and pictures!

 

Best wishes!

You're welcome. our day in Copenhagen was so relaxing. I had watched Rick Steves and Samantha Brown's shows over and over again to see what all we could see on our own while we were in port. It was so much fun. Have a great cruise!

[cruizers]

Thank you so much for the time and care you took in providing this for all of us. We are going on this trip in May and cannot wait! We appreciate all you had to share with us.

 

Caren

[Slumdog Millionaire]

Summing it all up:

This was an absolutely wonderful vacation. We clicked off many Bucket List items and made lifetime memories. Planning and pre purchasing really helped to make all of what we did a possibility.

We did come home with a small amount of foreign money left over. Some of which I have used as souvenirs and the GBP will be used later when we return to London for our next cruise. I had purchased the Oyster Card for this trip and am happy with that idea because the money left on those cards will not expire and can be used when we return in May.

If there is any way I can help with future plans please feel free to ask. And again' date=' Thank You to all of you that have had such patients and hung in here with me as I finished this review.[/quote']

 

 

Great job with the review.

[Kevin's girl]

Thank you so much for the time and care you took in providing this for all of us. We are going on this trip in May and cannot wait! We appreciate all you had to share with us.

 

Caren

 

Great job with the review.

Thank you both for the kind words. They are good encouragement for the next review :) Caren, I hope you will have a great time in May.

[cruizers]

Thank you! We are so thrilled about this trip and you made it so much more exciting!

 

Caren

[Tad4irsh]

KG -- Thanks again for the great review that has helped get me and my wife excited about our upcoming trip. In your review you mentioned that you guys bought a pre-paid drink package but each had purchased different options. I am leaning toward doing the same because as you and many other have mentioned, the convenience is almost worth the cost of admission alone. But, as a first time cruiser, all of these pre-purchase options, reservations and general "things to think about before your cruise" are getting a bit overwhelming. When you see the price of these packages ahead of time, it gets scary. But I imagine it would be worse at the end of a cruise. So...my question for you: My wife drinks a lost no alcohol....she may have a glass of champaign or wine on the night of our anniversary, but otherwise, she will likely not drink anything else. I enjoy an occasional beer as long as it is good...not a big fan of US Domestic but living in Europe has made me a pretty big fan of English Ales and Belgium/Dutch trappists. When I drink, it would be usually one or two for the whole day. Getting the basic package looks about right for us with the idea that I can just pay per beer if I decided to have one. I expect that I will have at least one per day during the cruise. With your experience and knowledge, do you think this is a good plan or would you recommend doing the same as you did, the refresher plan for my wife and the beer plan for me (I don't really drink wine or spirits/hard liquor). Sorry this has rambled on...but as we get closer, we have more and more questions popping into our heads and based on your review...you seem very helpful and knowledgeable. :) TIA!!!

[Kevin's girl]

KG -- Thanks again for the great review that has helped get me and my wife excited about our upcoming trip. In your review you mentioned that you guys bought a pre-paid drink package but each had purchased different options. I am leaning toward doing the same because as you and many other have mentioned, the convenience is almost worth the cost of admission alone. But, as a first time cruiser, all of these pre-purchase options, reservations and general "things to think about before your cruise" are getting a bit overwhelming. When you see the price of these packages ahead of time, it gets scary. But I imagine it would be worse at the end of a cruise. So...my question for you: My wife drinks a lost no alcohol....she may have a glass of champaign or wine on the night of our anniversary, but otherwise, she will likely not drink anything else. I enjoy an occasional beer as long as it is good...not a big fan of US Domestic but living in Europe has made me a pretty big fan of English Ales and Belgium/Dutch trappists. When I drink, it would be usually one or two for the whole day. Getting the basic package looks about right for us with the idea that I can just pay per beer if I decided to have one. I expect that I will have at least one per day during the cruise. With your experience and knowledge, do you think this is a good plan or would you recommend doing the same as you did, the refresher plan for my wife and the beer plan for me (I don't really drink wine or spirits/hard liquor). Sorry this has rambled on...but as we get closer, we have more and more questions popping into our heads and based on your review...you seem very helpful and knowledgeable. :) TIA!!!

Not rambling at all. I like your wife don't don't drink a lot of alcohol ( and occasional glass of wine or a mimosa) so the Royal Replenish worked very well for me. I do enjoy the sparkling water with dinner and the fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast. The all day coffee, tea and hot chocolate was also great for the cool weather we had during this cruise. My husband on the other hand really enjoys his spirits. We usually counted on $100 per day for our Sea Pass spending before the drink packages became available, so his Premium package is actually a real deal for us. If you figure a craft beer to be roughly $5-6 per beer it may make it easier to decide if a package is right for you. I will say, having a package may allow you to be a bit adventurous and try things you may not try if you actually had to pay for it. I hope this helps.

I didn't remember that this will be your first cruise. If there is anything else I can help with please ask. There is never any such thing as a dumb question.

[Tad4irsh]

We are being a little ambitious with our first cruise...lol But really, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into....so much more to think about then just booking the cruise...it doesn't seem like much different then any other vacation, but there feels like more pressure to make sure we get it right. And what if we forget something??? Will it be too late once we are on the ship if we suddenly discover some hidden item we didn't know about??? In re-reading your report, I think you had four nights of specialized dining? Did that feel about right? We will be celebrating our anniversary on the cruise...is the main dining room better for that, or one of the specialty restaurants? I know, it will be your opinion, and anyone else reading this, please feel free to chime in with your ideas as well. On that note...what can you suggest as a surprise for my wife? I have developed a habit of surprising her with the unexpected on our anniversaries and her birthdays...but I have no idea what to do on a cruise...I have registered our anniversary with our reservation, but is there anything I should ask for? I know you had ordered a bottle of champaign can they do anything else, do you know?

[Kevin's girl]

We are being a little ambitious with our first cruise...lol But really, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into....so much more to think about then just booking the cruise...it doesn't seem like much different then any other vacation, but there feels like more pressure to make sure we get it right. And what if we forget something??? Will it be too late once we are on the ship if we suddenly discover some hidden item we didn't know about??? In re-reading your report, I think you had four nights of specialized dining? Did that feel about right? We will be celebrating our anniversary on the cruise...is the main dining room better for that, or one of the specialty restaurants? I know, it will be your opinion, and anyone else reading this, please feel free to chime in with your ideas as well. On that note...what can you suggest as a surprise for my wife? I have developed a habit of surprising her with the unexpected on our anniversaries and her birthdays...but I have no idea what to do on a cruise...I have registered our anniversary with our reservation, but is there anything I should ask for? I know you had ordered a bottle of champaign can they do anything else, do you know?

You truly just sent me back to reread the last few days of the cruise portion of my review. It seems that I missed one or two of our

specialty dining experiences we. I don't see where I mentioned Izumi. Here we were nearly the only ones in the place so the service was very good, the food very good. They said that the Chef who inspired the restaurant was on board the night we were there and Kevin asked for the chef's favorite dish. His order was completely off menu and was very good. This did not seem to throw anyone. We did Chop's Grill twice which was as always very good. We also did Chef's Table twice. Chef's Table is an amazing experience and as I believe I mentioned, where we celebrated our anniversary. If you let the head waiter know that you are celebrating they will provide something special. We usually do this when cruising as we usually cruise over my birthday and our anniversary.

 

My thoughts for your anniversary would depend on if you want a private more romantic dinner, in which case I would recommend Chops. If you are a foodie and don't mind sharing dinner at a large dining table with say eight other couples, then Chef's Table is really amazing. The wine and food parings are a real treat and the entire experience is like nothing we have here at home ( and we are just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago).

 

I would not recommend getting any of the Romance Packages through the cruise line. They actually used an outside company and as I believe I mentioned in the review it was a nightmare. We had met another couple who also bought a package for their honeymoon and had a similar experience. What port will you be in on your anniversary?

[Tad4irsh]

KG -- I had read other experiences with the romance packages as well that echo your experience so I was already reluctant to try that....while I would prefer a more quiet and romantic setting, my wife is very much a social butterfly that makes instant life-long friends everywhere she goes and for her...I will probably make the Chef's Table reservation for that day. We will be in Copenhagen on the day of our anniversary and one thing we will be doing is the Sandeman's Walking Tour...we try and do a Sandeman's tour everywhere we go because we have enjoyed them so much, but on this itinerary, Copenhagen is the only city they offer. But...that is from 11:00 to 1:30 p.m. which gives us about 3 hours before the tour and two hours after the tour of free time. Of course...we are not tied into the Sandeman's tour.

[Iluvcruising2]

Great review! We have not gone on a Baltic cruise before and it is definitely on our bucket list. Will bookmark this review for future reference, and recommend it to friends going on a similar itinerary!

[Iluvcruising2]

It was a very sobering memorial. We learned that for the Russians' date=' it was not WWII. They called it The Great Patriotic War. This refers to the time of the Soviet Union’s war against Germany and it’s European allies.

This is a short synopsis from Russiapedia that explains why this was such an important place for us to visit and pay our respects:

 

[i']Leningrad’s horrific siege was one of the most lethal in world history. It lasted for 900 days, from September 1941 to January 1944. The city’s civilian population of almost three million refused to surrender, even though they were completely surrounded. By the first winter of the siege there was no heating, no water supply, almost no electricity and very little food. Despite non-stop air and artillery bombardment, the city’s greatest enemies were hunger and bitter cold. Exhausted people collapsed and died. The streets were littered with dead bodies. The only life-line to the mainland was the ice of Lake Ladoga – known as the “Road of Life”.

 

Somehow, the city survived, its heroic resistance summed up in the motto: “Troy fell, Rome fell, Leningrad did not fall”. The blockade took the lives of at least 670,000 people, although some estimates suggest that as many as 1.5 million people died. The city became the symbol of Soviet resilience and invincibility. The siege was commemorated by the Green Belt of Glory, a unique complex of memorials along the historic frontline. You can still see warnings in St. Petersburg advising which side of the street is safe from the German shelling.[/i]

 

We had hoped to bring flowers and leave them here as others had, but given the fact our visit was totally unexpected we were just happy to have made it here at all.

 

Resilience with a capital R. Simply amazing. Thanks for sharing.

[Kevin's girl]

KG -- I had read other experiences with the romance packages as well that echo your experience so I was already reluctant to try that....while I would prefer a more quiet and romantic setting, my wife is very much a social butterfly that makes instant life-long friends everywhere she goes and for her...I will probably make the Chef's Table reservation for that day. We will be in Copenhagen on the day of our anniversary and one thing we will be doing is the Sandeman's Walking Tour...we try and do a Sandeman's tour everywhere we go because we have enjoyed them so much, but on this itinerary, Copenhagen is the only city they offer. But...that is from 11:00 to 1:30 p.m. which gives us about 3 hours before the tour and two hours after the tour of free time. Of course...we are not tied into the Sandeman's tour.

 

Copenhagen is such a pretty city. We really enjoyed our time in the Strøget before everything opened and the area got crowded. Maybe you could arrive there early as we did and enjoy a romantic coffee under a blanket in one of these cafes.

 

 

Then you could be off on your tour.

 

Great review! We have not gone on a Baltic cruise before and it is definitely on our bucket list. Will bookmark this review for future reference, and recommend it to friends going on a similar itinerary!

Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Kevin's girl

[Cat54]

Enjoying your review. This cruise is on our bucket list for 2017.

 

We love the Brilliance. Sailed on her out of Barcelona for our 25 anniversary in 2010.

 

I have spent time today reading the review. I am only on day 2 of the cruise. Looking forward to reading more. Enjoying your pictures.:)

[Kevin's girl]

Enjoying your review. This cruise is on our bucket list for 2017.

 

We love the Brilliance. Sailed on her out of Barcelona for our 25 anniversary in 2010.

 

I have spent time today reading the review. I am only on day 2 of the cruise. Looking forward to reading more. Enjoying your pictures.:)

I'm glad you are enjoying the review. Sitting back reading cruise reviews is a great way to pass a snowy Sunday. I know I have done the same today. 2017 will come faster than you think. This was our second cruise on the Brilliance and we did one on the Serenade a few years ago. I really love the Radiance class ships.

[Tad4irsh]

KG -- it looks like a great area! I'm sure we will love to explore the area as much as we can. Living in Europe gives us a lot of opportunities like that already...this place is amazing!!! But this will be our first time venturing north of our location (other then London). Early mornings in almost any European city is a wonderful thing to experience. I think when we are in Copenhagen, it will be pretty busy for us...running to see as much as we can without wearing ourselves out too much and saving the celebration for the evening back on the ship. Since we have a day at sea following...we can sleep in :) I think that will be our breakfast in bed day. :)

[june1]

To Terri

Wonderful review! Thanks for sharing. You look much younger than 50s. We will be on Brilliance in June doing the same itinerary except for Skagen. We were on a land tour to Scandinavia in 2002. We are excited about visiting St. P. And Tallinn but revisiting Copenhagen and others. We will stop in Iceland on the return trip. We enjoyed your London, Paris (my favorite city) photos.

Put Barcelona on your list if you haven't been there.

June

[Kevin's girl]

To Terri

Wonderful review! Thanks for sharing. You look much younger than 50s. We will be on Brilliance in June doing the same itinerary except for Skagen. We were on a land tour to Scandinavia in 2002. We are excited about visiting St. P. And Tallinn but revisiting Copenhagen and others. We will stop in Iceland on the return trip. We enjoyed your London, Paris (my favorite city) photos.

Put Barcelona on your list if you haven't been there.

June

Thank you June. Iceland sounds like a great way to finish up this itinerary. Barcelona is definitely on the list. There are so many things to see there. It's funny how one's Bucket List grows as soon as you set out to cross things off :)