Breakaway - Live 7/22

[TheDougOut]

I'm only here for the food porn.

 

 

Get ready... as later today we’ll be having the infamous tour-provided “packed lunch”.

 

We’re currently at Moderno and the kids are eating as if the great famine is approaching.

[TheDougOut]

For St. Petersburg Day 1, you have to sign-up for a disembarkation time, and we were quick to get Group A (8:00 AM). Groups A and B were called to meet in the theater, and the line extends back through O’Shes and the casino.

 

[TheDougOut]

Apparently group assignments are meaningless other than an effort to control the flow of guests to the theater. They line you up row by row into sections, and then release one section at a time. We’re in the far-right section, so we’ll be here for awhile.

 

 

Edit: apparently this process is only for guests with private tours, and it’s possible those with NCL-booked excursions are meeting elsewhere. The middle section is now being cleared.

Edited July 26, 2018 by TheDougOut

[TheDougOut]

9:45 AM and we’re through immigration and rolling with our guide Dmitri...

 

[TheDougOut]

On our way to the Hermitage Museum, and we pass over a river with a submarine and warships lining up for practicing a parade that will occur later.

 

[TheDougOut]

Entering Hermitage Museum...

 

 

 

 

[TheDougOut]

A chandelier in one of the receptions, weighing in at over 3 tons...

 

 

Ballroom...

 

 

 

Church...

 

[TheDougOut]

Hall celebrating victory over Napoleon...

 

 

[TheDougOut]

Throne Room...

 

 

[TheDougOut]

The da Vinci room, housing two of his paintings...

 

 

 

[TheDougOut]

Raphael Hall...

 

 

Dmitri tells us the crowds are very lite today, as many visitors are lining the river for the naval parade...

 

 

Every-so-often the building rocks from a booming cannon outside.

 

The priceless painting, “Sue Waking Gab From Sleep”...

 

[TheDougOut]

Rembrandt Hall...

 

 

 

[TheDougOut]

 

 

[TheDougOut]

Egyptian Room...

 

 

On our first (blind) date almost 10 years ago, I took Sue to an art gallery where she laid down beside a sarcophagus to compare sizes...

 

 

This post brought to you by Match dot com.

[TheDougOut]

Leaving Hermitage, and walking out into Palace Square to meet the van...

 

[TheDougOut]

Arriving to Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood...

 

 

Girls being girls...

 

 

Heading in...

 

[TheDougOut]

 

 

The Church was built on the location where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated by two bombs in 1881, with the original cobblestones where he fell preserved...

 

[TheDougOut]

Leaving the church and heading to lunch...

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, apparently a little nicer than a packed lunch...

 

 

Edited July 26, 2018 by TheDougOut

[welove2cruise2014]

 

 

 

 

Home.

What is the other ship on the 3rd photo? I couldn't decipher it. Thanks!

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[TheDougOut]

What is the other ship on the 3rd photo? I couldn't decipher it. Thanks!

 

That’s the Mein Schiff.

Edited July 26, 2018 by TheDougOut

[TheDougOut]

Borscht...

 

Chicken Kiev, is our uneducated guess...

 

Russian Twinkies...

Edited July 26, 2018 by TheDougOut

[El_Rolfo]

Seems Mein Schiff is having the same stops as you now, as I see both it and Breakaway will arrive in Helsinki on Saturday (along with AidaDiva). If I have time, I'll drop by the ships to take some photos.

 

PS. keep up the good work with the reviews and pics! Request: review of frozen mojitos!

[micmacmissy]

 

Mein Schiff 1 has been docking beside you in Tallinn and it will be with you again in St. Petersburg …

 

What does Mein Schiff mean in English?

 

That used to be the Celebrity Mercury, which we went on for our first cruise. It was such a small, gorgeous ship! (Of course back in the 90's it seemed huge.)

[TheDougOut]

On our way to Catherine Palace, which is a 45-minute drive away...

 

[El_Rolfo]

That used to be the Celebrity Mercury, which we went on for our first cruise. It was such a small, gorgeous ship! (Of course back in the 90's it seemed huge.)

 

Actually: The old Mein Schiff 1 has already been replaced by a brand new ship, and the old MS 2 will be replaced next January (replacing one still being built in Finland).

 

From Wikipedia:

 

MS1: Marella Explorer is a Century-class cruise ship owned and operated by TUI Cruises previously sailing at Mein Schiff 1 until 2018. Before joining TUI she cruised as MV Galaxy with Celebrity Cruises before

 

MS2: In 2008, after some eleven years in operation as Mercury, she was renamed Celebrity Mercury. In 2011, she was transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between TUI AG and Celebrity Cruises' owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. At the same time, she was renamed Mein Schiff 2.