NCL Getaway Baltic cruise 3rd June

[ighten]

Peterhof Hydrofoil Port So where are we. Its very hard to try to simplify Russian history but basically it was a hugely powerful and rich royalist country before the revolution. It also had extremes - it was hot and warm or bleeding freezing so you had to build a few palaces; one for winter; one for summer and one for your dresses and one for your art etc etc etc .. And basically every Czar that came along decided they needed to do a bit of home improvement/extension on what the previous Czar had built.

 

 

Peter the great started this little homestead for himself as a summer cottage. He had a bit of cash to burn and wanted to impress and had seen Versailles. He also liked fountains (by the way every fountain is powered naturally - no pumps - just pure gravity; and miles and miles of pipes and lakes and pipes and lakes and smaller pipes and pressure.

 

 

Its opulent - its impressive and its vast. The gardens stretch for ever: fortunately we walk around at quite a leisurely pace through the woodland, as its getting warmer and warmer.

 

This is the garden shed Goodbye Peterhof Its soon time for lunch and Elena drives us to a little hotel that has a banquet dining room attached to the back and seems to be a venue SPB use a lot as the car park is full of their mini buses.

[ighten]

Its soon time for lunch and Elena drives us to a little hotel that has a banquet dining room attached to the back and seems to be a venue SPB use a lot as the car park is full of their mini buses.

 

Borscht is served! Lunch is traditional Borscht, Chicken Dumplings and a dessert and is included in the tour price - as are the shots of ice cold vodka to wash it down with. Lots of `down in ones` followed by grimaced looks - when in Rome! (though Elena points out Vodka and Russia is a bit of a myth as the Fins/Polish are the biggest drinkers of it)

 

One tiny corner of the palace Next we are off to Catherine the Great's palace at Pushkin. Clearly having that little summer place that Peter built at Peterhof wasn't enough for Catherine (especially for a lady who had 15000 dresses). Its hard to actually stand in any position to get a sense of scale using the camera of this place so I'm going to borrow a drone photograph from the palace's own web site.

 

The horeshoe of buildings at the back of the lawns were for cooks and servants If you thought Peterhof was a little bit "flashy" - this place is so plush that if you stood still in the rooms for too long you would probably end up coated in gold leaf. Its no surprise to learn Elton John has declared it his favourite place in the world and has performed at several private parties here (wonder if Putin was invited ;)

 

A Dining Room - One of Many Ballroom - Eltons favourite venue Nice little surprise on the way back - it was planned but we didn't realise just how much fun this would be. Elena has decided we must have a trip on the St Petersburg Metro System as there is nothing like it in the world.

[ighten]

Nice little surprise on the way back - it was planned but we didn't realise just how much fun this would be. Elena has decided we must have a trip on the St Petersburg Metro System as there is nothing like it in the world.

 

 

After a quick recon and distribution of barrier tokens we are fully instructed and ready to go. If we get separated we have to head to an unpronounceable station thats a few stops down the line. The trains run strictly every 60 seconds in each direction and the doors are allowed to be open at the platform for 6 seconds (it must be great fun in the rush hour). It's beautifully clean & efficient, unlike NYC.

 

This - is a platform, the pillars are cut glass!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every station is slightly different in design with classical marble and frescoed decoration all styled in iconic communist motifs. Chandeliers hang from the ceilings - the subway in Soviet times was considered to be the Palace of the People and was to be decorated as such with statues of the working man from various industry decorating throughout.

 

 

 

 

Its 6pm by the time we return to the ship - a simple process to get back through immigration. A fantastic few drinks in the sun on the Waterfront Deck and a great meal again finishes our first great day in Russia. The Getaway stays here overnight for another full day in marvellous St Pete.

 

 

Once again if pics are missing they are on the blog - though I think I have now got my head around the workaround (if not the formatting)

[ighten]

Day 2 of St P - again I'll split it into sections to try to keep all the pics together

[emeraldcity]

Thank you so much for this review. I am spellbound.

 

I leave in six days time for Europe and will be taking this cruise later this month, so I'm getting a little glimpse of what to expect (altho I'll be in an inside cabin).

 

You've already answered one of my questions ... a sit-down dining option on boarding day for lunch! That was one of the big positives I found on the Pride of America. Royal Caribbean only offers the buffet and the quick lunch counter service for boarding day lunch.

[oncruisecontrol]

I'm really enjoying your review. You have a witty writing style. Very enjoyable to read. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Seminole1975]

Awesome review! Following along. Love the pictures!

[ighten]

Thx .. ps I havent forgot about day 2 ST P - for some reason I cant get on my own blog from this laptop to copy it - I will try later when I get home

[stp108]

Thanks for your review and great pictures. We are sailing this itinerary in September and can't wait. I imagine the weather will be not quite as nice for us.

[ighten]

 

 

Welcome to Day 2 in St Petersburg. The fantastic Elena today takes us back to the embankment where we are loaded onto a river boat for a quick tour of the river and canals with commentary. This may have been better if we took a smaller boat and got to experience the side canals but the best buildings are right on the waterfront and impressive they are, including the KGB headquarters.We're on our best behaviour!

 

 

 

We get a close up look of the Aurora battleship which is placed directly in front of the Naval College. A typical St P building beautifully rendered in sky blue. In fact a lot of the buildings have recently all had a nice new coat of paint in St Petersburg (mainly due to the fact Putin claims it to be his birth place and has directed a lot of rubles here.

 

 

 

The Hermitage also looks great from the river. Remember Catherine the Great from yesterday - this is Winter Palace. There are also several more palaces behind that you can't see which are all now part of the Hermitage Museum complex - more on that later as its our last stop.

[ighten]

The Hermitage also looks great from the river. Remember Catherine the Great from yesterday - this is Winter Palace. There are also several more palaces behind that you can't see which are all now part of the Hermitage Museum complex - more on that later as its our last stop.

 

 

 

First Stop is St Isaac's Cathedral whose golden dome can be seen wherever you are in St Petersburg. A little unusual for a Russian Orthodox church in that it lacks the onion domes and seems more like a European cathedral. Inside the mosaics are an absolute joy to behold.

 

 

 

 

For lunch we drive into the city to what is best described as St Petersburg's version of Harrods food hall. A wonderful art deco building that sells everything from tiny little patisseries to tins of caviar you would have to sell your car to buy.

 

Kupetz Eliseev's Food Hall

[ighten]

In the basement next to the bakery we have a champagne lunch which includes a mushroom soup to rival the 'bistro restaurant' on the ship, a sort of creamy chicken goulash like affair and is finished off by a freshly made vanilla patisserie that is heaven on a plate.

 

 

 

Inside Kupetz Eliseevs Food Hall Next stop is the Spilled Blood Cathedral - Russian Orthodox church with its enamelled and gold leaf onion domes, when in Russia!

 

 

 

interior Spilled Blood cathedral.

Once again every inch of the inside is covered in wonderful mosaics, gold leaf and iconography.

[ighten]

Next stop at Yusopov Palace which is located in the center of the city on the banks of the Moika inside is of course lavishly styled. It's a manageable size compared to the other palaces too.

 

 

However it is famous for being the spot where the plotting and eventual murder of Rasputin took place in December 1916 - Rasputin was poisoned, then shot but eventually drowned after dragging himself as far as the river.. Elena gives us the full history of the palace which belonged to Felix Yusupov and the story of Rasputin; he was more a political advisor than a crazy monk. One thing you must not miss is the private theatre - decadence gone wild. Rasputin was buried at Catherine's Palace, Pushkin but was exhumed after the October Revolution and cremated.

 

 

 

Next we're off to the Hermitage. A collection of winter palaces which now houses several museums. If you spent time looking at every item displayed it would take every day for 5 years! Elena has rightly decided we should concentrate on the collection of Impressionist Art because you wont see any of these originals anywhere else and of course the Faberge rooms.

 

Van Gogh

 

If you're wondering why you won't see many of these Picassos, Renoirs, Degas etc anywhere but here it's because they are basically un - repatriated **** loot. The Germans stole them from conquered European countries; later they ended up in St Petersburg when the ****s occupied it, then when the Russians liberated St P the paintings stayed here. There's a good chance if they ever did go on tour that they would not be coming back unless quite a few European countries start playing swap shop and return certain missing Russian art treasures.

 

 

It really is a stunning; the Faberge collection occupies a smaller set of rooms and is jaw dropping. Items range from the most intricate diamond encrusted crowns to simply enameled cigarette cases to of course, the eggs.

 

Its here that we finish the tour and head back to the ship in good time for dinner. Nothing booked tonight so we head to Savor for dinner (our favourite MDR room) where a bit of a line has developed and they are handing out complimentary champagne (ok - sparkling wine) whilst awaiting a table. Dinner is excellent and as we eat we slide slowly out of St Petersburg.

 

 

As the sun sets and we pass the island of Kronshtadt, ( naval base) and MSCs Magnifica puts her foot down and sprints past us - I think they have to get back to Copenhagen whilst we have a leisurely jaunt across the Gulf of Finland north/west to Helsinki.

[ighten]

Thanks for your review and great pictures. We are sailing this itinerary in September and can't wait. I imagine the weather will be not quite as nice for us.

 

I think its pot luck - we certainly were not expecting it to be this nice and sunny

[emeraldcity]

The Fabrerge collection is included in the tour?!! That's a real bonus. I wasn't expecting that. Halfway done packing. I'll be on my way in a couple of days.

[ighten]

The Fabrerge collection is included in the tour?!! That's a real bonus. I wasn't expecting that. Halfway done packing. I'll be on my way in a couple of days.

 

We were on the SPB 2 day deluxe.. Yes it is

[Glory_h]

Thank you for sharing this!

[ighten]

Day 7 - Helsinki

 

 

 

 

 

A cloudy but still quite warm morning in Helsinki. We have not booked a tour here (we decided to use our cabin credit for the Vasa trip in Stockholm tomorrow - its the one thing we want to see and it just saves us the hassle of the train). Back to Helsinki - getting into the city is quite simple as a tram stops practically opposite the ship - just follow the coloured lines on the floor - though they do appear to have built another station even nearer to where our ship is but not updated the floor line.

 

 

A quick look at some port guides and tourist maps tells us if we take the tram all the way to the railway station we can head out to the rock church then double back to the senate square then the market and harbour covering most of the sights.

 

 

The railway station itself is worth a look. Built in a Art Deco with a neo classical Russian twist its dramatic and bold and reminds me in some ways of the metro entrances in Paris. Very Nouveau.

 

 

A quick check with a Japanese couple who tell us we are heading in the correct direction for the Rock Church (Temppeliaukio) though as the map doesn't really show where the front is we end up practically on top of it without knowing.

 

 

This actually proves to be a stroke of luck and a top tip. There is a small cafe built into the side, it's accessible through a rather small door; if you didn't wander around to this side you would not see it from the church entrance. Here the bathrooms are empty and you can buy your church admission tkts from the cafe counter at a discount. When we walk around to the front entrance for the church we simply walk pass the two huge queues - one for the ticket booth and one for the bathrooms.

 

 

It feels a bit more like a church inside a concrete box rather than hollowed into the rock - it's very starkly lit with floodlights (perhaps that's the Lutheran style). Today there just happens to be a guest gospel choir singing but other than that it really is an in /out visit.

 

[ighten]

 

We head back the way we came towards the senate square a lovely area in the oldest parts of the city. Here we find the Government Palace and Helsinki Cathedral all presided over by a statue of Alexander II. One thing the Senate square is missing though is anywhere to sit outside enjoy the surroundings and sip a nice strong coffee. So after some time inside the Cathedral (again very stark and brilliant white walls - the Lutheran style obviously is not one of high decoration but simple classical lines) we head towards the old harbour and the market.

 

 

 

If you want to buy fresh fruit the markets your place - if you want to buy tourist tat or that wolfskin coat you promised yourself for the winter, look no further. But if you want a nice coffee you'll have to wander a little further down the harbour.

 

Yummy! With coffee in place we can relax and take in the sights of the pretty harbour all overlooked by the Orthodox Cathedral Uspenski. I was going to say relax but today of all days there is a military trade fair taking place in one of the parks and two Dassault Rafale fighter jets are constantly flypasts over the harbour. Still lots of free baseball caps, keyrings, pins and tote bags are yours for the taking courtesy of Rafale Aviation.

 

Uspenski from the inner harbour

Inside the Uspenski

 

We walk back along the harbour passing the old lighthouse boats. The jets are still roaring above and at the far end of the peninsula we can see the giant icebreakers docked and resting for the summer. Hard to imagine when the weathers like this that the Baltic Sea would be literally impassable in places if not for these vessels.

 

Back on board for afternoon sun, nice.

We eventually find ourselves at a tram line that seems to be pointing in the correct direction, a quick look at the map and the tram numbers has us heading back to the ship in time for a late lunch on the sun deck.

Dinner tonight is at Cagneys - not as good an experience as it has been on previous occasions - though the food was excellent as usual. The staff seemed just a little overstretched with the restaurant this busy. Also the design of the room for this ships version of Cagneys is not quite as spacious as on others. It has the usual stern view windows but the design having to incorporate the (unused) outside eating areas makes it feel a bit more corridor like and certainly more noisy. I had the veal chop - superb though far to big ;) - Jack feasted on the surf and turf (now lobster free unfortunately).

[PhillyTravelBug]

A stunning review so far. The photos in Russia are quite beautiful. I will do this itinerary some day.

[pr0pel]

What's a wolfskin jacket? Is it literally a wolf skin jacket or a local brand of winter coats sort of like north face?

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[ighten]

What's a wolfskin jacket? Is it literally a wolf skin jacket or a local brand of winter coats sort of like north face?

 

Its literally made from the skin/fur (tends to be lambskin outer and wolf fur inner) - it will also literally cost you a fortune and there are a lot of fakes or Turkish imports (lower quality) so buyer beware. Bizarrely I have just realised my rucksack is indeed a Jack Wolfskin brand so I can see what you mean ;p