Derek in the Baltic

We are now on our way back to Southampton, the air has turned cool and damp once again, and we have just passed under the Great Belt Bridge with just inches to spare. As with any trip it's time for a few general observations. We found that the food has been rather hit and miss, especially during the first few days, another sign of the inevitable cost cutting no doubt. Although not affecting us greatly, it has been disappointing to see that shuttle buses to the city centres have either been withdrawn completely, or are subject to a charge, or are run in conjunction with the hop on hop off bus company. That is more cost cutting for sure. The evening shows we have either seen before or, with one exception which was a celebration of Burt Bacharach's music, have just not appealed although entertainment shows in the smaller lounges have been good. On the plus side, the staff and crew have been as helpful and friendly as always and the ship is spotlessly clean throughout. The seas hav...

As the ship docks in the port of Gdynia which is an hour or so away from Gdansk, we opted to take the coach up to the latter city. I  was pleasantly surprised by Gdansk. It had been pretty much flattened during the war but has now been rebuilt, the new buildings being sympathetically styled with the older buildings that survived the bombardment. The old town has been in existence since medieval times and is reminiscent of Tallinn, although less hilly. Parts of the old city wall still remain, as do a number of the original city gates.  Within the walls, the main street and town square were thronged with tourists and locals alike admiring the impressive Cathederal and City Hall Building and listening to some very talented buskers The terrace alongside the river is particularly picturesque and is lined with small restaurants and cafes, interspersed with jewellery shops selling the regions most valuable natural resource, amber.  The old town is not particularly large and afte...

The weather forecast for Helsinki had not been great for some time and upon opening the curtains we saw that the sky was an ominous, dreary grey. Undeterred, we found our umbrellas and headed out, jumping onto the local bus just outside the terminal and with the intention of getting into the central station in the middle of the city. Having been to Helsinki a couple of times before, we knew where we were going...or at least we thought we did. Just one more stop and we would be there....but the bus turned in a different direction and before we knew it we were heading out into the country.  By now, the rain was falling steadily and we thought we would just wait and see what happened....at least we were staying dry and getting a nice view of the Finnish countryside. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty...surely we would soon be at the end of the route and be turning around and heading back into the city. An hour later we pulled into a small town and shopping outlets and thankfully turne...

For many, the two day stop in St. Petersburg is the highlight of the Baltic cruise, and indeed, for the cruise lines it is the same as unless you are on an organised tour where no paperwork is required, as the bureaucracy involved in getting a full Russian visa is second to none. Thus we booked the ship's excursions for both days. The first day we boarded a coach (driven by Sergei, obviously, and who did actually resemble a meerkat), and made our way to one of the jetties on the city's many waterways so as to complete a hat trick of canal cruises. It's definitely a way of seeing a big city from a different viewpoint, especially if your particular interest is Russian architecture. It wasn't a particularly busy afternoon although we did make the obligatory stop at the church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, one of St. Petersburg's more familiar landmarks. For those guests not going ashore for an evening at the ballet, a troupe of Russian folk singers and dancers gave ...

I do like Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It dates from medieval times and the old town has well preserved city gates and ramparts surrounding a large town square and innumerable little narrow streets and alleyways. Although busy and thronged with tourists, the town has lost little of its character and charm. The gift shops are stocked more with local handicrafts than fridge magnets and tee shirts, although there is a nod to the importance of tourism as many of the servers in the restaurants are dressed in national costume.  However, before exploring the town we had headed for the harbour museum, primarily a maritime museum built under the concrete domes of Tallinn's seaplane hanger which dates from 1916. As interactive museums go, it was excellent especially for children young and old. The main exhibit was the submarine Lembit, the pride of the Estonian navy when it was launched back in 1936, and visitors can now clamber through the hatch and have a glimpse of what life was like ...

Today's port of call was Stockholm. As scenic cruising goes, the sail in to and sail out of, the Swedish capital is as picturesque as any in the world. For over two hours, the ship meanders along narrow waterways and weaves in and out of the hundreds of pine covered islands of the archipelago. Most of these islands are uninhabited whilst others have just one or two expensive looking summer residences along with equally expensive looking powerboats moored up at wooden jetties. Crown Princess was berthed a fair way out from the centre of the city and more by accident than design we found ourselves on the first shuttle bus traveling from port to city centre. Having been to Stockholm a couple of times before, we wanted to do something a little different, so taking a leaf out of our Copenhagen experience, we bought tickets for a two hour boat trip around the islands that make up the bulk of the city and its suburbs. This was an excellent and relaxing way to see parts of the city that we...

Following a day at sea and our first formal night, Tuesday's port of call was Copenhagen and we had set ourselves a target of taking a canal cruise and then getting to the top of three of the tallest buildings in the city (the Church of St Saviour, the Town Hall and the Round Tower). The ship's berth was about a half hour's walk into town, but as it was a lovely sunny day and the route took us past Copenhagen's iconic Little Mermaid statue, it made a very pleasant start to our task. This was our first visit to the city since 2008, and it was immediately obvious how much development and construction had been undertaken along the waterfront.  Anyway, we found our way to Nyhaven (or "new harbour" for any non Danish speakers) and to the ticket booth for the canal cruise. The next hour or so was spent wending our way along the city waterways and ducking under very low bridges (made even lower than usual because of an exceptionally high tide). It's a very relaxi...

If it's Sunday, then it must be Belgium....or to be more precise, we must have arrived in the port of Zeebrugge. We had debated whether or not just to have a wander around, but in the end decided that a trip to the WW1 battlefields would be more educational as well as being something that should just "be done". Thus, after an hour or so on the coach we had out first stop at the Tyne Cot cemetery. One cannot fail to be both moved by the sheer number of headstones, most unnamed, but also by the way the cemetery is immaculately maintained by the Commonwealth Graves Society.  A short ride away was the next stop, the Menin Gate memorial at the entrance to the town of Iepers (or Ypres as it was known during the time of the terrible WW1 battles). Every evening at 8pm the local fire brigade plays the Last Post at the Gate, invariably to a large crowd. Unfortunately timings did not allow us to stay for this ceremony but it is undoubtedly an emotional occasion.  At both Tyne Cot an...

We killed a little time having breakfast and a brief wander around in West Quay before our cab to the ship was due to arrive. It duly pulled up at the hotel at noon and 40 minutes later we were in our stateroom. Not bad at all. The layout of Crown Princess is almost identical to the Emerald Princess the last Princess ship that we were on last October, so orientation was not a problem. Navigator of the Seas was berthed a short distance away from us to starboard, whilst on the port side was the Baltic Breeze, which despite sounding like a new signature cocktail, is in fact, a giant car transporter. The usual lifeboat and safety drill was completed and then Capatn Stenzel (reassuringly the same captain as on the Emerald last time) announced that the refuelling was laying longer than expected and the sailaway would be delayed by 90 minutes as a result.  Undeterred, we decided to use the time wisely by venturing up to the elite members only lounge in the Skywalkers bar and partaking of ...

There were no delays to our flight and by noon we had checked in to our hotel in Southampton. We had not planned on doing too much on the first afternoon and as it was extremely hot and sultry, did even less! A quick look around West Quay was followed by dinner and a couple of refreshing pints of Montana Red at the White Star tavern and then an earlyish night. Next morning we took the train along the coast to Poole Harbour and caught the little ferry across to Brownsea Island. The island is now National Trust property but it's claim to fame is that it was the site of the first ever scout camp way back in 1907. Claire had long wanted to make a pilgrimage to this spot and thus now fulfilled that ambition. The Island is a haven of peace and tranquility, made even more pleasant today by the warm sunshine and lack of wind. It is also a nature reserve and is one of the few places left in Britain where one can spot the extremely rare red squirrel. We did manage to see one, but it was a bi...

An e mail flyer arrived in my inbox with an offer too good to refuse and so, within an hour, a decision had been made and the booking completed. This is definitely a big advantage of being retired! Thus, early in July we will be boarding the Crown Princess in Southampton and setting sail on the seven seas once again, (well, two of them at least, the North and the Baltic), and heading to more northern latitudes. Although there are no new ports of call for us on this cruise, the Baltic and Scandinavian cities always offer a friendly welcome and we shall do our best to explore sites and attractions that we have not been to before. As always, I shall do my best to offer a few personal observations and insights along the way (internet connectivity allowing).