BEST SCANDINAVIAN CRUISE

Best Scandinavian Cruise – Baltic Ocean

With Viking blood in our veins we knew we needed to take the best Scandinavian Cruise to satisfy our adventurous spirit. Planning a year-long round-the-world Adventure of a Lifetime journey had to include visiting Scandinavia and the Viking Homelands. The Baltic Ocean is bordered by Denmark, Sweden and Finland on the North and Germany on the South. Of special interest is Saint Petersburg Russia on the East. Visions of the Czars, revolutions, the former Soviet Union, Catherine the Great and the Hermitage really caught our imagination.

Transfer to the Ship

We were full of anticipation as we landed at the Copenhagen Airport to begin our cruise to a part of the world completely new to us. Clearing passport control and customs was an easy and fast process. After claiming our luggage, we needed to find a taxi to the port terminal. To our surprise, there were Holland American crew members throughout the luggage area coordinating transfers between the airport and the ship. We had not arranged for transfer assuming we would just grab a taxi. Starting our day at 2:30am with little sleep had us dog tired. Happy doesn’t begin to describe how easy the process was to join the ship’s transfer group. They took our luggage and directed us to the comfort of a luxury motor coach for the 40-minute ride to the terminal. The ride even provided a leisurely glimpse at some of the sights in Copenhagen.

Boarding Process

At the Holland American terminal, we enjoyed a surprisingly expedited boarding process. A hostess checks us in and issues our cabin ID keycard after we clear security. The ship’s photographer takes our pre-cruise picture and we head up the gangplank to our new floating home. We just took a cruise a couple of months earlier with a different cruise line. We appreciated Holland American’s personal attention with no lines and expedited boarding. Our other experience had us waiting in a crowded terminal for nearly two-hours and shuffling through long lines from station-to-station before we could board. We immediately appreciated the personalized VIP treatment Holland American provided to begin our adventure.

Ports of Call – Our Approach

This 10-day cruise has 7 ports of call as it circles the Baltic Ocean. Unlike many of our fellow cruisers, we are traveling for the entire year and choose to explore on our own terms. This is in contrast to many shipmates who are on a 10-day vacation from work and want to have their experience packaged for them. Signing up for the excursions offered by the ship is a good way to have a curated experience with little effort. All you do is climb on the bus and look left or right when the guide points and listen to the stories along the way. Many excursions also include a couple of picture stops at the more significant sights on the tour.

On a ship’s excursion, when you exit the bus to walk the old town, see a sight or get on-ground for a tour the guide carries a ‘lollypop’ sign. This is a tall colorful sign usually with the ship’s logo or a number on it. All 60 to 80 people on the bus trail behind the guide trying to see and hear the points of interest being highlighted.

Our approach is a little different. We like to explore on our own as we’ve discovered much of the fun and adventure in traveling is the experience of discovery. We will research a port to figure out what it has to offer and the main must-see sights. However, walking around the town gives us the opportunity to stumble into unique experience and truly get a feel for a location.

Tallinn Estonia

Tallinn’s terminal is just a short walk from the downtown. After hopping a tram for a short ride through the town, we arrived at Kadriorg Park. Entering the park we were greeted by a large swan pond surrounded by flowers, benches and a quaint outdoor cafe.

In the center of the pond is a gazebo on a small island. The overall park is large at 176 acres, almost twice the size of Disneyland in Anaheim.

We strolled along the main promenade leading from the entrance to the Presidential Palace in the heart of the park. Along our walk we were treated to sweeping views through the tree studded rolling greens.

The upper garden is beautifully laid out in symmetrical paths criss crossing at fountains. Marking the far edge of the garden is a long white ‘mirage’ wall with a fountain featuring Neptune. The mirage wall makes it appear that there is nothing beyond that point yet at a higher level are more gardens and the grounds of the Presidential Palace.

There are other areas of the park we enjoy including Rose Hill, Concert Square and watching kids play in the Youth Park. We engage in a little people watching from a bench and take in the natural beauty of the park. The park is so large we are sad we do not have time to visit some of the other areas within the park like the Japanese Gardens, the English Landscape Park and the lower gardens with canals. We make our way back to the outdoor cafe at the entrance. Enjoying both a perfect latte and some free Wifi, we then catch the tram back to the center of the Old Town.

Tallinn Old Town

The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is considered to be one of the best preserved medieval cites in Europe. With human settlements in the area dating back 5,000 years, Tallinn began around 1219ad. The name Tallinn is Estonian and believed to come from Taani-Linn meaning Danish Town. The Old Town is walled and cobble-stoned and home to souvenir shops, cafes and a large defensive tower. A couple of key sites are the Gothic Town Hall which sits on the towns main square and St. Nicholas Church dating back to the 13th century.  We conclude that one day is not enough to explore Tallinn’s old town. We will need to come back for a longer visit.

Saint Petersburg Russia

Saint Petersburg is the only port on this cruise that requires a visa. We found three options to meet this requirement. Applying for a visa directly from the Russian Embassy has several hoops to jump through, requires time and has significant cost. Alternatively, a visa is not required IF you join a cruise ship excursion or book a private tour through an approved Russian tour operator.

Wanting to insure the greatest experience for our time in Russia, we opted to book a private tour. This turned out to be a wonderful experience because the operator matched us with two other couples from our cruise ship. We enjoyed the comfort of a new Mercedes van, Andrew our driver and Natalia, our English-speaking guide. Natalia insured we had a wonderful experience, and with only six of us, was able to provide a highly personalized guided tour and answer all our questions. She is a University Professor of Russian Literature, but also has a strong expertise in Russian history.

From Russia With Love

Saint Petersburg proved to be a striking and interesting mix of new and old. A large city that is geographically spread out, we found much of the city to fit a stereotype of a no frills, grey soviet concrete block construction. There was very little in the way of bright colors in most areas of the city.

In contrast to the greyness, many of the palaces and sites we visited were brightly colored with heavy gold leaf. A term we frequently heard to describe this was how luxurious the palaces were. This painted the contrast between the former rulers and Czars and to common people of Saint Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg – Day 1

Our first day included a driving tour of parts of Saint Petersburg, a stroll along the Nevsky Prospekt main shopping street, a tour of the home of Peter the Great at Peterhof Palace and gardens, lunch in a traditional Russia restaurant and a walking tour of Catherine the Great’s Palace.

Nevsky Prospekt

Nevsky Prospekt is the main boulevard through St. Petersburg lined with shopping, dining and nightclubs.

Peterhof Place

Peterhof Palace is a group of several palaces and gardens commissioned by Peter the Great.

These palaces and gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and sometimes referred as the “Russian Versailles”.

Catherine the Great’s Palace

Catherine Palace was built in 1717 when Catherine I of Russia decided to build a summer palace.

The palace is designed in a Rococo style and more than 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the stucco façade. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Saint Petersburg – Day 2

Even though it was July, our second day began even greyer than the first. Heavy winds, grey clouds, and ultimately rain played against the greyness of the city’s buildings and backdrop. We learned this greyness is very common much of the year. The pervasive greyness had an impact on our outlook and experience. This caused us to wonder what impact it would have on someone living here year-round. We were left with a sense that day-to-day life could prove to be a dreary existence here. A visit to a brightly colored church with ‘luxurious’ finishes could prove to be a highlight of the week for locals.

On our second day we toured the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Hermitage Museum along with other sightseeing around Saint Petersburg.

Church of the Savior on  Spilled Blood

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in March 1881.

The church was built between 1883 and 1907 and funded by the imperial family. Its architecture looks back to medieval Russian period in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It is different than the other architecture and buildings in Saint Petersburg.

The church has over 7500 square meters of mosaics thought to be more than any other church in the world.

Hermitage Museum

Empress Catherine the Great founded the Hermitage in 1764 when she acquired an impressive collection of paintings from a Berlin merchant. It has been open to the public since 1852.

The State Hermitage Museum houses art and culture and is the second-largest museum in the world.

The Hermitage Museum houses 3 million artworks…today we spent about 3 hours seeing some Italian Renaissance masters…Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael as well as ancient Greek and Egyptian artifacts. Natalya, our Russian guide said if you were to spend one minute viewing each item at the Hermitage it would take 16 years to see it all.

Besides the art, each room of the museum is richly decorated with ceiling frescos, sparkling crystal chandeliers, intricate inlaid wood floors and silk draperies. Truly a sumptuous experience!

Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors.

Helsinki Finland

The long days exploring Saint Petersburg left us exhausted. We make the decision to skip going ashore in Helsinki. Instead we treated ourselves to a spa day onboard filled with relaxation and pampering. This rejuvenating therapy would serve us well as we prepared for Stockholm tomorrow.

Stockholm Sweden

We feel Stockholm is a gem in the Viking crown of Scandinavia. Of all of our ports of call on this cruise, Stockholm was our favorite. We were sad to have to leave and vowed to return for a longer visit adding to our travel bucket list. Our adventuresome spirits are engaged by the town being laid out across 11 islands connected by over 50 bridges.

This easily walk-able town has postcard perfect brightly colored houses, the Gamala Stan (old town) enticed us with picturesque old buildings and winding narrow streets opening to plazas with sidewalk cafes and water at every turn.

Walking through the Palace offered views of the Royal Guard performing their duties with emotionless faces and stern expressions. We were startled when a woman stepped to close to a guard post and the soldier loudly barked ‘HALT!’, step back. The woman was even more startled both by the command and his posture changing from that of a nutcracker to his weapon rising to the ready.

Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany

Warnermunde is the small port town on the coast. A 3-hour train ride from Warnermunde will get you to Berlin. Berlin is a destination we are looking forward to exploring in depth possibly staying there for a few weeks. However, rather than endure six hours of train rides there and back for a rushed glimpse at this world class city, we choose instead like many of our fellow cruisers to catch a local train from Warnemunde to Rostock.

Rostock – Neuer Markt

The short 20 minute ride delivered us to a modern train station with tram connection to the heart of the old town. Rostock is not very old as it was leveled by bombing during WWII. However the city was re-built and much of the facades and architecture were true to the earlier historic design. This created a feel of being in an Old Town. The main square’s Rathaus (town hall) proudly shows off its Gothic and baroque architecture.

St. Mary’s Church

A visit to St. Mary’s Church transports us back to the 15th century. The church is famed for its astronomical clock. However, we are intrigued by the design of a crypt featuring a reclining skeleton with heavy symbolism. Our imaginations run wild imagining the true meaning of the carvings.

We spend a significant amount of time taking in the visual splendor of St. Mary’s. We know that tour groups from our ship have only hurriedly been ushered in and rushed out, we are pleased we chose to skip the organized tours so we are able to explore deeper and at our own pace.

Rostock offers visitors a wide pedestrian mall lined with shopping, restaurants and a centerpiece fountain. The fountain has dancing waters much  to the delight  of many children who play at the edge as their parents attempt to keep them dry. Reaching the end of the mall we pass a university and arrive at the Kulturhistorisches Cultural Museum. Housed in a 13th Century monastery, the museum offers a number of exhibits featuring paintings, coins, cultural artifacts, furniture and items from every-day life. Relaxing on a bench in the inner courtyard, we enjoy a glimpse of the quiet reflective solitude of monastic life.

Returning to the Warnemunde port, there is a small tourist village with many souvenir shops. We enjoy some cold refreshments in the German biergarten before returning to the ship.

Kiel (Hamburg), Germany

We arrive in Kiel after a cruise up the Kiel Fjord (Kieler Förde) to arrive at the cruise ship terminal. Kiel Germany, like Warnemunde is a small port town and a connection point for Hamburg Germany. Again, we choose to skip the many hours of train ride to visit Hamburg, instead we elect to walk ashore and explore Kiel on our own. Kiel was a major naval port during WWII being the home of Germany’s Baltic Fleet. Allied forces bombed these targets devastating the town.

We walk along Holstenstraße (Holsten Street) thought to be one of the longest shopping streets in Germany. We stroll the pedestrian mall from end to end popping in and out of the many shops. Our senses are piqued by the smells from the numerous restaurants and food stands along the street. A German bretzel with sea salt calls to us.

Anchoring the town center is the 13th century Nikolaikirche or St Nicholas’ Church. The massive exterior of the church is all brick looking like the centuries old church, while the inside is like another world. The church is modern and minimalist on the inside. Beautiful light dances around the church through the stained glass windows. There is an interesting chalice of candles in a zen-like sand base.

We are treated to a breathtakingly beautiful sunset as we sail away from Kiel. Red sky at night, sailors delight.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The typical Baltic cruise we took is a 10-day cruise beginning and ending in Copenhagen. However, we booked a combination cruise that combines the 10-day Baltic with a 14-day Iceland Midnight Sun cruise.  Holland America Cruises markets these combination voyages as “Collector Cruises” and it makes for a broader cruise experience.  Today, the majority of the ship’s passengers will disembark the ship and new passengers will come aboard.  Unfortunately, this means our charming dinner companions Michael & Beryl from Southern California and Stuart & Donna from Florida won’t be with us on the next leg of our cruise.  We had many interesting conversations over dinner with these nice folks!  Safe travels!

We decide to tour Copenhagen by catching the Hop-on Hop-off bus which conveniently picks up cruise ship passengers at the cruise pier. We did not make any prior arrangements for this tour.

Freetown Christiana

We heard of Freetown Christiana and knew we had to explore this sight. Christiana is an international community and commune with about 1,000 residents. Originally it opened in 1971 when squatters occupied some abandoned military barracks. The community is an arts community of free spirits with an open acceptance of cannabis, however hard drugs are prohibited.

The community enforce three rules: No Hard Drugs, No Firearms, and No Vehicles. There are many stands offering handicrafts, art, cannabis, and food. The experience of walking through is a little like visiting an open-air museum, except this is a vibrant active community. It is a little gritty and may not be for the faint of heart. The smell of pot hangs heavy in the air in some areas and we are sure a contact high is easily possible.

Nyhavn Waterfront District

The Nyhavn 17th century waterfront was another popular area on our must see list. The Nyhavn waterfront was originally a fishing area. Today it is an entertainment district lining the canal with restaurants, sidewalk cafes and taverns. We strolled end to end on both sides of the canal. It’s a warm day and the whole district is congested with visitors making it literally hard to walk around or see much.

We had to visit The Little Mermaid before making our way back to the ship. Hopping off the bus we ventured around the harbor area making our way down to the statue of The Little Mermaid.  This is a classic shot of the famous bronze statue.  What you can’t see are dozens of tourists milling on the shore below the rock posing for pictures with the ladyfish.

The Journey Continues

Upon our return to the ship in Copenhagen all of the new cruisers for the next 14-day journey to Iceland and the Midnight Sun were on-board. We began the next leg of our adventure with a sail away.

This 24-day cruise will be the longest we’ve taken to date. We feel excited having already been on-board for 10-days. Many of our ‘new’ fellow travelers look tired having flown long distances with little sleep to begin their 14-day cruise. We are emphasizing this as it is possible to string together multiple cruises end-to-end making a longer cruise.

Journeying forward we will visit Norway, Iceland, Danish and Scottish islands in the North Atlantic. We will also sail into the Arctic Circle visiting the land of the Midnight Sun.

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