Cheap Cruise Holidays & Latest Cruises Deals
Thursday 9th Feb 2012
Sign up to our newsletter for all the latest cruise news, reviews, photos and answers...
Baltic Cruise - The Voyager
Baltic cruise - the voyager |
|
| |
|
Reviewed By: Passey, London on 30th Aug 2009
|
| Cruise Line: Regent Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Seven Seas Voyager |
Sailed:
August,
2009 |
| Destination:
Northern Europe
|
Age: 36-45 |
| Cabin: Balcony |
|
Dear all, I thought I'd share the experience of my first regent cruise with you all.
Some background first of all, I'm 37, travelling with my mum who is in her sixties, we've cruised many times before (over 30) but mainly on 'mainstream cruiselines' (inc. RCL, P&O etc)
So, we happened to come across the Regent line at a cruise exhibition event last year and booked spur of the moment on the baltic cruise leaving on 21 August.
21 August
Flight left UK at 7am (and with the time difference) we were landed by 9.30 and allowed to board the ship straight away (about 10.30 by the time we reached the port) Check in was easy, we'd booked H guarantee but were pleasantly surprised to be allocated a D Grade (deck 9 midship) cabin on arrival. Was glad later on the cruise, having spoken to others who were in the aft of the ship and hd trouble sleeping due to vibration.
Got straight off the ship as the cabin wasnt ready and took a short walk to find the Little Mermaid Statue (about 10 minutes walk) away, having completed the obligotory photo taking, spent some more time wandering around the harbour and the local shops before reboarding and finding our cabin. Nice size. We stayed in cabin 953.
That evening went to the compass rose for dinner, which I really enjoyed, the food was plentiful every night, with a wide variety of choice, always served piping hot. My only slight complaint is that you could end up suffering from a severe Vitamin C shortage!! There was a distinct lack of vegetables on my plates! (one night I was highly amused to see I had been served with 1 (yep just 1) slice of carrot!!!)
Day 2 - Visby
Arrived at Visby about lunchtime, we took advantage of the free shore excursions and completed the tour - 'a taste of Gotland'. Visby was a nice enough town, however the tour did not meet expectations, we had a short coach ride and ended up at a local farm where we were promised local beers and a selection of local delicacies, this ended up in reality being a small square of cheese per person and a thimblefull of rhubarb juice!! - still the settings was nice enough. We then drove back to Visby, got off the coach at the top of the town for a guided walk, however this is where we left the tour. Despite good descriptions of cobblestones and walking distances int he guides, the tour consisted of persons using zimmer frames and walkers, who struggled considerably. This resulted int he tour frequently having to wait 15 minutes or more for persons to catch up. We decided that we would enjoy it more going on our own and left the guide and made our own way around the town and back to the ship.
That evening - compass rose again, followed by an evening in the voyager lounge, litening to the 'spontaneous duo' - a two peice group who sang mainstream music
Day 3 Tallin - estonia
Woke up to pulling into Tallin. Tour today - 'Soviet Navy and KGB' - Excellent tour - cant recommend it highly enough, we had a very inofrmative guide who delivered personal stories of the soviet occupation of estonia, visited the cemetary, then onto the maritime museum for a look at the inside of a submarine and ice breaker - very interesting. The climbing in and out of the submarine was a fun experience and I have some great photos of my 60 something year old mother trying to negotiate the ladders!! Onto the museum of occupation, which was poignent and a credit to those who run it. Followed by a short tour around the really very pretty town.
All in all a great day - loved Tallin and would certainly consider going back
Day 4 - St Petersberg
Took the 'Highlights of St Petersberg' trip which was one of the best of the week, St Petersberg is a beautiful city, with masses to see, this tour gave a great overview with plenty of photo stops and 15 minutes in a souvenir market for shopping.
We treid Prime 7 tonight and I have to admit being a little disappointed, food wasnt anything special and all in all I think I preferred the Compass Rose.
Day 5 - St Petersberg
So today we spent the morning ont he ship, then int he afternoon visted Yusoprov Palace and took a canal cruise. The palace was stunnign and it was a real interesting tour. The canal boat ride was lovely (if a little long) we had lovely weather for the cruise.
Tonight after te experience fo Prime 7 we cancelled Signatures reservations and decided to eat in the compass rose instead.
Day 6 Yep we're still in St Petersberg
Busy day today, took a tour to the Hermitage this morning - great, wonderful, fascinating. Spent three hours wandering around the museum, with a guide highlighting the most interesting pieces. The tours were allowed early entrance, which was great because by the time the public were allowed entry the place got a little crowded - word of advice, wear your best walkign shoes - the place is massive!!
In the afternoon we took a tour entitled metro and shopping, this involved a ride on the subway, and then visted a local food market and souvenir shop. The metro was very crowded, but a good experience, the food market however was not pleasant, quite dirty and not masses to look at, the souvenir shop was a useful stop at the end of three days in Russia.
Now for some tips. Many of our fellow passengers had booked either 2 or sometimes 3 tours per day but ended up cancelling many of them having got very very tired by day 3. Also the talk on the ship was that many persons were 'palaced out' having tried ot visit all of the palaces, they were very jaded. Try and vary your tours to see a variety of areas of interest.
Day 7 - Helsinki
Loved Helsinki - am already looking at how I can go back. Took the tour entitled sailing adventure in themornign. A 2 hour tall ship cruise around the harbour - this was very nice but preferred the afternoon when we were dropped off in town, had the opportunity to walk about a local market on our own, wander around the town and then make our own way back to the ship - a lovely relaxed wonderful afternoon.
Day 8 - home from stockholm
Booked a transfer from the ship to the airport (good greif - it was expensive - 70 dollars per person) however disembarkation was efficient and the flight home very comfortable
All in all this was a fantastic cruise, saw a huge variety of places.
The good: the food was plentiful, the service was exceptional, the cabin spacious, those little extra touches above and beyond the mainstream cruiselines made a difference. Met some wonderful people ( a little strange being just a handful of brits aboard a ship made up predominantly of americans, but our fellow passengers were for the most part courteous, friendly, and welcoming)
The not so good: 3 days is far too long in St Petersberg, prticularly if you dont get your own visa and cant get off the ship on your own. Prime 7 was a disappointment. The entertainment was basic but nothing special. (and did I mention the lack of vegetables??!!)
Would I cruise with Regent again - yes absolutely, although I think next time I would plan to visit different areas.
|
| Quality of Food |  |
| | Entertainment |  |
| | Shore Excursions | |
| Free shore excursions - fabulous!! | | Staff | |
| | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| | Cabins | |
| Ship is made up of all balcony suites - very large | | Overall Rating | |
|
Receive a FREE copy
of Fodor's
Complete
Guide to
European
Cruises
|
|
.JPG_thumb.jpg "Atrium Adonia")
Previous Cruise Reviews
