Arcadia to the Baltic part two

Reports about cruises on Arcadia

Topic author
Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Arcadia to the Baltic part two

#1

Post by Whynd1 »

Sunday 24th July Tallin

Wasn't sure if anything would be open as it was Sunday but the port talk said it would be so off we went on the shuttle again.

The shuttle dropped us off at the Vera gates ( not sure if that's how you spell it) and we walked into the market square.There was a market taking place and I bought some hand made glass Christmas decorations. A warning here it is very cobbled with large cobbles and we found out later from the ships nurse that one man tripped and broke his ankle and two ladies had broken their arms. There was very little side pavement to walk on and it made my feet ache also looking down to see where you were going was wearing. Anyway we walked through the old town and up the steps up to the top of Tallin it was a very warm day and there were lots of cafes and restaurants open so we had coffee, beer and cake at a small café where all the staff were wearing medieval costumes. Back on the shuttle to the ship for some sunbathing and a relaxing evening meal ready for or marathon in St Petersburg.

Monday 25th July St Petersburg Day 1

We had booked the Simply St P excursion here through P and O which was £222 over two days (minus loyalty discount).

We had to be in the theatre for 7am ready to go off for Russian immigration. You handed over you passport and excursion ticket and they stamped the passport and slipped a ticket into the passport which you handed over at the end of day. All fine and didn't have to wait too long to get through.

We were in mini buses with groups of 16 and the guide. Firstly off to St Catherines palace ( this would be closed the following day) a huge place with huge ballrooms all covered in white and gold, no brick walls just glass windows. After out tour here approx one and half to two hours we went onto the Peterhof gardens with the magnificent fountains. We arrived here to find we only had 15 mins yes 15 mins to eat our provided packed lunch which was a sandwhich meat, cheese pickle and mayo, a banana some small cake and a carton of fruit juice and a bottle of water. You are not allowed to take water into either St Catherines palace or the Hermitage and as the temps were 28 degrees on both days this caused us all a bit of a problem with dehydration. It stated in the schedule that we were to have free time here but not according to our guide nyet !1 so off we went round the gardens a walk which took about an hour and a half to the hydrofoil ride back to the city. This took about and hour and the sit down was most welcome. Then it was off to the St Peters and Paul fortress and I'm afraid we had all had enough by then . This is where the Czars are buried. Back onto the minibus then for the stop at the state run souviner shop for a vodka. I don't like vodka but did have a sip to say I drank vodka in Russia. We crawled back up the gangway about 6pm and had dinner in the buffet that evening.

Day 2 The Hermitage

This was truly wonderful so many works of art and paintings you could hardly take it all in and the gold room and the chapel were just stunning. It was very busy and very hot and stuffy and I felt quite faint for a while .At one time Voltaire was the curator of this museum.

Anyway from there we went to the restaurant for a Russian lunch (on this day we were down to 13 of us). All the groups ended up at the same pace so it was very busy. Lunch was potato salad, beef stroganoff, a very heavy cake and awful coffee. There was however some blinis with caviar and a glass of champagne. Russian musicians serenaded us if you could call it that.
from there to the church of the spilled blood where Alexander 2 was killed that was also so busy you could hardy move your arms up to take photos.
A lovely river cruise followed which took about an hour what a treat to sit in the fresh air we also went down some canals and then came back on the river where the Russian fleet was in for Navy day the following Sunday for a visit by Mr Putin. All the sailors were on deck in full dress rig for an inspection, our guide was so impressed that even she took photos. She was very pro Putin and what a marvellous thing he had done by getting the Ukraine back for the Russians. Then off to the local food market which even the guide said was a waste of time and then onto the Russian metro. We were given a coin to slot into the machine and then went down the escalator to one of the deepest stations in the world so she said where we caught a train for one stop(very fast) and then changed onto a different line for another two stops,the metro is very ornate with high ceilings and carving on the walls of Russian ships.

When we came up outside sadly a lady from another group had fainted and their guide had not realised so we stopped and called our guide across. It was agreed when helping her to stand up that we had space in our mini bus that we would take her back with us, but then their tour guide turned up so that wa okay.

You do have to be reasonably fit on this tour to keep up with the face pace set buy the guides. Anyway we got back about 6pm we were almost the last tour back and we managed to make it down for dinner and just had a quiet drink that night and rested our feet.

we knew it woud be very hectic but the heat and humidity just about finished us all off.

User avatar

GillD46
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3364
Joined: January 2013
Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales

Re: Arcadia to the Baltic part two

#2

Post by GillD46 »

While the sights were obviously splendid, the tours actually sounded far, far too hectic - for me to enjoy anyway. You did well to cope.
Gill

Return to “Arcadia Cruise Reports”