Day 10 – St. Petersburg, Russia (day 2)

We all met at 7:15am to begin the second day of our tour to St. Petersburg.   It was overcast and raining a bit as we headed out.  We stopped by the pink and white Chesma Church (some call it the Wedding Cake church) for photos.  Quite pretty, don’t you think?

On our way out to Catherine’s Palace, we passed American businesses such as Shell Oil, Wrigley, Coca Cola, etc.  St. Petersburg is a growing metropolis.  Some parts of it look like any large US city, other parts are quite depressed.  The museums, palaces and castles are well cared for.

Catherine’s Palace (blue building above) was founded by Peter I for his wife Catherine 1 and rebuilt and enlarged for their daughter Empress Elizabeth.  The luxury of the interior decoration of the palace was created by the bet artists of the XVIII and XIX centuries.  The most famous Amber Room with the walls paneled with amber was completely lost during WWII and is now restored completely.  Below is a replica of clothing worn by Catherine (she depleted the Royal treasury), the Gold Room, the Amber Room, and an example of a ceiling painting in each room.

 

 

We then visited a Jewish Monument erected by the Jewish community to honor those killed by the nazis.  Then a visit to the Great Choral Synagogue.

 

Next, a visit to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, SP’s largest church, which was built between 1818 and 1858.  It is decorated with 14 kinds of minerals and semi-precious stones as well as mosaic paintings.

  

The ceiling of St. Isaac’s Cathedral – a beautiful church with many mosaics.

After leaving the Cathedral, we boarded a canal boat to see the sights along the canal.  We cruised along the canals, going under low bridges, until we reached the River Neva.  Very interesting, seeing the city from a different viewpoint.

We had a wonderful overview of St. Petersburg, thanks to Helen and Red October. 

Tomorrow:  Tallinn, Estonia

Day 8 – 8/28 – Helsini, Finland

Helsinki is the capital of Finland overlookng the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea.  It is a predominantly modern city with approximately 500,000 inhabitants.  Helsinki is a well planned and spacious city with some beautiful buildings in the Senate Square dating from around 1840.  This is where we began our tour:

The six of us found a HOHO bus around the corner from where the ship docked, bought a ticket and began our tour at Senate Square.  There we found the Government Palace, Cathedral, University buildings and the Library.  The Lutheran Cathedral stands on the northern side and was built between 1830 and 1852.  It is a parish church but major State events take place there.

    

We took some photos around the Cathedral and traveled on to the Sibelius Monument.  This unusual monument was created over a period of 6 years using hundreds steel pipes to honor Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

We traveled around the city on the bus for awhile and then decided to visit an Ice Bar.  What fun that was!

 

Lots of fun in Helsinki -

Tomorrow:  St. Petersburg, Russia

Day 7 – 8/27 – Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is the Baltic’s largest port with a population of 1.65 million.  It occupies 14 islands which are connected by over 50  bridges and is often called the  “Venice of the North.” Stockholm’s harbor opens into an archipelago of 24,000 islands and islets.  There are some 50,000 summer homes and chalets that are reached by some of the 250,000 private boats in the City and its suburbs.  It takes a cruise ship approximately 3 hours to make a journey through these islands and affords a visual feast of ever-changing scenery.

I was awake with camera in hand as the sun came up – a beautiful morning of about 60 degrees.  Entering the archipelago has got to be one of the most beautiful sights rivaled only, in our opinion, by the inside passage of Alaska.

 

 

Our group of Bill and Liz and Carl and Ginny decided to hop on the HOHO boats this morning.  We traveled by water to the Vasa Museum.  The Vasa set sail on her maiden voyage in 1628 and sank in the Stockholm harbour.  The wreck was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years under the sea. 

 

After a long walk in the city of Stockholm, we returned to the HOHO boat for a trip back to the Jewel of the Seas.

Tomorrow:  Helsinki, Finland

Day 6 – 8/26 – Day at Sea

Woke to another beautiful morning.  The temperature is somewhere in the 60’s but still very windy.  Not so windy on the aft balcony and the sun is warm there.   We have 4 loungers  on our balcony and still have more than ample room.

Another bowl of fruit was delivered today!

For breakfast we had coffee in the concierge along with some fruit.  Busy getting ready for the slot pull!!  

Slot Pull – Everyone put in $18 and got back a whopping $6.75. :( but we had  lots of  laughs. :)

Luncheon – Around 30 couples had lunch in the private dining room – what a nice time for us all.

Cabin Crawl – We crawled for about an hour around the ship where we saw most categories of cabins ending in the Owner’s Suite thanks to Linda and Dennis.   

Another  nice day at sea.

 

Tomorrow:  Stockholm, Sweden

Day 5 – 8/25 – Copenhagen, Denmark

This morning the temperature was about 60 degrees and very windy.  We had breakfast in the D/D+ Dining Room.

We dressed in layers and headed out with friends to the HOHO bus, or the JOJO bus – Jump On, Jump Off as they called it here.

Some of the highlights of Copenhagen were the canals, colorful businesses and homes along the water, and the changing of the guard at the Palace.  The Little Mermaid is on loan to China at the present time, so we were not able to see her.  A replica is in Tivoli Gardens but we did not have time to see the Gardens.

   

Had a good day.  The weather would have been better if not for the wind.  Tonight is casual and maybe I’ll try the casino.

There are 33 D+ members on board for the Baltic; there will be 159 D+ on the TA according to the Concierge, Nedere Reid.

 

Tomorrow:  Sea Day – Slot Pull, CC Lunch, and Cabin Crawl

Day 4 – 8/24 – Day at Sea

The day began a little bumpy as we were entering the North Sea.  I was feeling a little quesy so took a bonine and was fine from then on.  The weather never got any worse and the sun came out in the afternoon.

We had breakfast in the Concierge this morning.  We then made it up to the 13th floor where we had the M&M.  Clo presided and Captain Stig Nilsen attended.  Afterward we had a gift exchange where I was lucky enough to get Betty’s embroidered bag.

Captain “Stig” will stay on for the TA.  Clo will be replaced with Simeon Baker, the Hotel Director will be Michael Landry, Mary Ann Yao will be Loyalty and Cruise Sales Mgr.

For those reading this who will be on the TA, Clo told me today that the M&M for the TA will be in the Safari Lounge on the first sea day at approx 10:45.  She says the numbers are increasing each day and are now up to 270 or so.

We had a good afternoon getting reacquainted with the ship and old friends.   We have received snacks and sweets from the Captain, Loyalty Ambassador and a fruit basket from I don’t know who.  We don’t have much more room for more… lol

Tomorrow:  Copenhagan

Day 3 – 8/23 – Jewel of the Seas

Woke to a beautiful day in Harwich.  The sun is shining.  We packed again and headed off to the local store to spend some remaining pounds.  The front desk person called for a taxi and we headed off to the ship.

We caught up with Bill and Liz in the D+ checkin line which only took a few minutes.  We had a nice lunch in the Windjammer and we all chatted with friends we had met in Harwich.  They let us in our rooms at 1pm.  We unpacked, glad that we were finally here!!!!

At 3pm we have a Meet and Greet with people we had met on Cruise Critic.  Again, so nice to names with faces. 

Darlene, Barb, Betty and Clo, the Cruise Director.

Darlene began the thread; Barb, the designer of our website; and Betty kept our thread going.  Thanks to all of you.

Bill, Liz (southerncomfort), Carl and Ginny (ninecuties)and Del and I went to Chops the first night.  The food was out of this world – we had a Rack of Lamb and I do mean a Rack – soooo much food.  There were probably 3 tables being used in all of Chops – so no problem getting reservations with our coupons.

After a busy day we walked through the casino, lost our $3 and went to bed.

Tomorrow:  Sea Day and Meet and Mingle

Day 2 – 8/22 – Harwich, England

After flying 8 1/2 hours from DFW to London, we were tired but excited about actually being in London and having the flight behind us.

We collected our luggage, found our driver and we were on our way to the Premier Inn – about a 2 hour drive.

We had decided early on that we would not spend any time in London as we have done most of the touristy things before.  Of course there are always more sites to see, but we’ll leave those for another cruise.

We arrived at the Premier Inn and took and quick nap.  We walked across the street and bought soft drinks and miscellaneous items to take aboard the ship. 

This evening we had dinner with 3 couples on our cruise who we had met on line on Cruise Critic.  It’s always fun to put names with faces – we all had a wonderful time.  I had to have fish and  chips with mushy peas.  :)  

Tomorrow:  Boarding the ship and our Meet and Greet

Day 1 - 8/21/2010 - DFW Airport

We've made it from IAH to DFW airport.  The plane to London departs at 7:45.  We are luxuriating in the Continental President's Club until about 7pm.  (Thanks to our Continental credit card)

Our nice neighbor Jahn graciously offered to take us to the airport and retrieve us on 9/18.  How nice is that???

Hope all of you who haven't left as yet, have safe travels.

Will post when I can.

Tomorrow:  London - travelling to the port of Harwich - Meeting up with new friends at the Premier Inn.

The Cruises

On August 21, 2010, we will fly from Houston to London on American Airlines to begin our B2B cruises on the Jewel of the Seas.  This will be the first time we have been to the Baltic states.  We will begin this fabulous cruise in Harwich, England and cruise to Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and ending in London.

The second leg of our journey finds us again in Harwich, England and cruising to France, Ireland, Iceland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and ending in Boston, Massachusetts.

We feel the highlights of these cruises will be St. Petersburg, Estonia and Iceland.  As we near the end of the cruise, I will look back to see what the real highlights were.

Now, come along with us on the following YouTube Videos.

YouTube - Jewel of the Seas video "12 nt Scandinavia Russia Cruise" ex Harwich

YouTube - Jewel of the Seas video "14 nt Westbound Transatlantic" ex Harwich