Scandinavia and Russia Cruise

8^th - 20^th June 2012

Itinerary: Harwich - Copenhagen - Stockholm - Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Tallinn - Gothenburg - Harwich

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The Jewel is a beautiful ship. You can see the sea from almost everywhere on her, even from some of the lifts. The weather in the UK had been lousy, cold and wet. The sailaway was cold. The captain had warned us of 12 - 15 foot high waves, but I didn't notice a thing. The first real day of the cruise was a sea day and quite cool. A few hardy souls did lie by the pool, but wrapped up. The Cruise Critic 'Meet and Mingle' party was held on this day and afterwards most of us had lunch together and then some of us went on a cabin crawl. The captains welcome aboard party was held in the evening. I was trying My Time dining for the first time, and it worked well, I much prefer it to fixed dining.

Our first port of call was Copenhagen. The weather was cold but dry. I walked into town, past the Little Mermaid which was about 400 yards from where we moored. I continued on by the Gefion Fountain and along the harbour to the Amelienborg Palace. The palace is actually four identical palaces on a square and is where the Danish royal family live. I passed through Nyhavn, the old sailors haunt, to the main shopping street. As it was a Sunday, Copenhagen was closed! Towards the end of the street is the Town Hall and a little further on is the Tivoli amusement park. I went in and the gardens were quite pretty, but it wasn't worth ten quid! Later that evening we passed under the Great Belt Bridge, which connects the island that Copenhagen sits on to another island. We appeared to be very close to the bottom of the bridge, but I guess appearances can be deceptive.

The next day was another sea day, and I took part in the art walk round the ship. All the art work was specially commissioned for the liner and was themed. It cost over four million dollars. There was a welcome back party for previous cruisers.

The second stop was at Stockholm. It was sunny. I had intended to do this on my own, but at the last minute I booked a Museum and City tour. This turned out to be a mistake. A few other liners were in Stockholm at the same time as us. We had docked a little late, which meant that by the time we got to the museum there was a long queue of coaches to get in. Our guide decided to do the city first and then the museum. We only saw Stockholm from the coach and only had one chance to get off and take photos. The Vasa museum was very interesting and I could have spent a lot more time there. We then returned to the ship, which meant that by the time I'd had lunch and as we had an early sail away, there wasn't really much time left to go back into the city, so I stayed on board.

Helsinki was our next visit. The weather was sunny all day. I took a shuttle bus into the town and then went on a bus tour. I then saw the Lutheran Cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral, Senate Square, Kauppatori Square, Presidents House and the Rock Church. The latter is a church, partly built into a rock. It was a nice city to visit.

Our fourth port of call was St. Petersburg. We were berthed here overnight and six other ships were visiting at the same time. This was the only place where we had to pass through customs every time we got off the ship. They didn't make you feel particularly welcome. St. Petersburg was built by Peter the Great. It is full of huge palaces, cathedrals and theatres. I took a two day tour and it was so tiring, but well worth it. In the evening of the first day I went to see the ballet. It was Swan Lake, but wasn't the best version I've ever seen. On the first day we saw a farmers market, Yusupov Palace, St Isaac's Cathedral, had a boat ride, saw the Peterhof gardens, took a hydrofoil back to the city and saw the Church of our Saviour on the Spilled Blood and the St Peter and Paul Fortress. The Yusupov Palace is where Rasputin was murdered. St Isaac's was very ornate inside. The Peterhof gardens were full of fountains, and there is one place by a bench where people used to sit and suddenly get wet. They thought it was when they trod on a certain stone, but actually it was a servant working a tap! The Church of the Spilled Blood was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. The St Peter and Paul Fortress is where most of the Tsars are buried.

The second day was a little less hectic. We visited a gift shop (sigh) and then a trip on the subway. We then went to the Winter Palace at the Hermitage Museum. This was really interesting and a huge place. They say if you spent 1 minute in front of each object, it would take you 11 years to see everything. Our final visit was to Catherine Palace. We walked in the park and through some of the rooms, including the famous Amber Room. The weather was sunny on both days and St Petersburg was well worth the visit.

Our next port was Tallin. Someone I spoke to on the ship called it the sleeper hit of the cruise. It's a small town and we moored about a ten minute walk away. I took another guided tour and we saw Lauluväljak, the song festival grounds, a Russian war memorial to both World Wars, statue called the mermaid, although she was more of an angel and finally the old town. The old town was amazing, I saw Toompea Hill and Government House, Parliament, St Olav's Cathedral, Kiek in de Kok (peek in the kitchen) and the Freedom Monument. I ended up in the Market Square and ate lunch and had a glass of Saku Estonian beer in the sun. A place well worth a second visit.

The next day was a welcome sea day. Then our final port was Gothenburg. This was a nice little town and I saw Masthugget Church, a statue of the waiting wife (waiting for her sailor husband to come home, he never did), the botanical gardens and Gustavos Adolphus Square. I took a stroll down the main shopping street and had lunch in The Hard Rock Cafe, making it my 20^th HRC! We had a band on the sail away. The day had been sunny, but it rained for the sail away. The captain warned us of more high waves, but again I didn't notice any.

The final day at sea was cool. There was an ice sculpture demonstration on deck 11 at midday and I again took part in the trivia quiz, which once again I managed not to win! It was a good cruise and I loved the ship. I met lots of interesting people and had a great fun.