Baltic Cruise: 12th to 26th September on the SoD

[snoopy4]

I am adding a few thoughts here, as this seems to be where most of the activity is.

I am 63 yrs and my husband is 72 yrs. We have previously sailed on the Sapphire once and the Pearl once. The ship, overall, is light and airy, but not American style glitz.

Fortunately we were able to book one of the forward suites, this was a spacious and luxurious cabin with a charming butler and cabin steward, who went out of their way to ensure we had a superb trip. My cynical husband said the cabin and service far exceeded his expectations.

We had friends in a aft suite and we were very surprised how cramped it felt with its' dividing wall. We asked to see other cabins and would certainly consider either deluxe or standard cabins in the future.

We breakfasted in the GDR every day, except when we used room service on trip days. I ate only from the buffet with plenty of fruit of all varieties, wonderful bircher and thick Greek yoghurt, plus wonderful warm croissants. My husband usually had eggs benedict [ his favourite breakfast ]which he thought were amongst the best he had ever eaten!

We found the food to be excellent in terms of quality, choice and presentation, including 2 of the biggest [ and tasty ] beef joints we have ever seen. 

We never had a problem booking speciality restaurants as a couple of times I phoned at 1730 and was able to get a reservation for that evening.

Overall, we very much enjoyed this cruise and preferred it to the other ships we have sailed on, including Saga, it was pleasure to be able to use the library, as on the Pearl, from 0930 onwards there were no vacant seats due to people sleeping, however we noticed on several occasions people using the seats as footrests or placing items on the seats next to them so no-one would sit there. I did however miss the home made cakes, as only cookies and muffins are now served in the library.

We did the 2 day small group tour of St. Petersburg and thought it worth every penny.

In Gothenburg the shuttle bus drops you very near the paddon boats and Ho Ho buses, so very easy to arrange private trips

In Helsinki,  again,  the shuttle drops you very close to the harbour and boat trip kiosks.

In Stockholm we took a taxi to the Vasa museum [ a worthwhile visit, most interesting ] but on return we used Uber at half price. 

At all times we found staff and crew to be very helpful and pleasant sometimes in very trying circumstances. 

Would  we book again? Yes and already have a back to back for the end of next year.

[Glenndale]

Thanks for your review.

We will be doing a Baltic cruise on SoD next June and are looking forward to some new ports.

We have never visited Skagen, Saaremaa or Esbjerg.

I like the fact that Saga doesn’t visit the same old ports that so many cruise lines do.

[sweep]

On 10/9/2019 at 10:59 PM, Glenndale said:

Thanks for your review.

We will be doing a Baltic cruise on SoD next June and are looking forward to some new ports.

We have never visited Skagen, Saaremaa or Esbjerg.

I like the fact that Saga doesn’t visit the same old ports that so many cruise lines do.

We visited Skagen on our SOD cruise. We caught the local bus and then the sand tractor to visit the point where the North Sea and the Baltic meet. It was really easy to DIY and for a fraction of the cost of the ship’s tours

[Glenndale]

We usually do private tours too so I'll keep in mind your suggestion.👍

 

[Glenndale]

On 10/5/2019 at 5:03 PM, snoopy4 said:

Overall, we very much enjoyed this cruise and preferred it to the other ships we have sailed on, including Saga, it was pleasure to be able to use the library, as on the Pearl, from 0930 onwards there were no vacant seats due to people sleeping, however we noticed on several occasions people using the seats as footrests or placing items on the seats next to them so no-one would sit there.

This made me smile, why do people sleep in the library, we notice this on other ships too.

Answers please 😂

 

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I had never seen people asleep indoors onboard any cruise line until our Saga cruise in September. Didn't like to mention it before in case it was described as ageist.

I have seen lots of people with their eyes closed around a swimming pool in the sun, of course,  on other cruise lines.

 

[Glenndale]

On 10/12/2019 at 1:17 PM, Mrs Miggins said:

I had never seen people asleep indoors onboard any cruise line until our Saga cruise in September. Didn't like to mention it before in case it was described as ageist.

I have seen lots of people with their eyes closed around a swimming pool in the sun, of course,  on other cruise lines.

 

Maybe it was too cold in the Baltic to doze outside by the pool?

I’ve seen library sleeping on TAs before.