Been There Done That Too…

NCL

// January 5th, 1999 // Comments Off // Hate'm, NCL

Norwegian Dream Nightmare
Scandinavian Capitals 1998.

The unforgivable sins that assured we would never come back to ANY NCL branded ship! (more…)

St. Petersburg – Day 2

// September 2nd, 1998 // Comments Off // Russia, Scandinavian Capitals '98

Our second day in St. Petersburg our guide picked us up at the ship and we headed a further a field to Tsarskoe Selo (formerly Pushkin) and Catherine’s Palace. On the way we passed a monument that surprised us.It marked the spot where the Nazi’s had been stopped during WWII. We never realized that the Nazi’s had penetrated so far into Russia, we were even more suprised to learn that they had virtually stripped the palaces (including the gold guilding and frescos) in Tsarskoe Selo during their 3 yr occupation. It’s a pretty drive once you get outside St. Petersburg, mostly rolling green hills. Tzarskoe Selo is a pretty and quiet town, with tree lined streets and parks. We were greated at Catherine’s Palace by the official furry meet and greet committee. (more…)

St. Petersburg – Day 1

// September 2nd, 1998 // Comments Off // Russia, Scandinavian Capitals '98

St. Petersburg, Russia – We were afforded two wonderful days in St. Petersburg. Russia is a little different than other ports, in most places you either need to secure a Visa, the ship is able to secure one for everyone, or you don’t need one. Russia puts a special twist on this: As long as we are on an excursion that is offered by the ship we don’t need a Visa, if we choose to go ashore independently we need a Visa. This is one place that we didn’t feel comfortable doing our own thing, because I don’t know the Cyrillic alphabet, which makes reading Russian a little difficult… we also weren’t really keen on visiting the sites with 400 of our closest friends. The ship offered a nice alternative: (more…)

Tallin, Estonia

// September 1st, 1998 // Comments Off // Estonia, Scandinavian Capitals '98

Our first port on the Scandinavian Capitals Itinerary was Tallin, Estonia. Tallin is popular with tourist for its “fairytale” medieval walled city. First however, we got to see the “scenic” port area. Like most ports that the cruise ships we take arrive at, it’s more for freight than regular passenger service, and not exactly scenic (unless you consider cargo ships, containers and silos scenic). (more…)

Kiel Canal, Germany

// September 1st, 1998 // Comments Off // Germany, Scandinavian Capitals '98

After leaving Dover and crossing the English Chanel (The Dream swerved sharply in the middle of that crossing at about 1am to avoid hitting another ship… A year later at the end of this same itinerary, during the same shift, she did hit another ship… another reason not to sail NCL) we arrived at the mouth of the North Sea end of the Kiel Canal to begin our transit. (more…)

London – On the Way to Dover

// August 31st, 1998 // Comments Off // Scandinavian Capitals '98, United Kingdom

We flew into London a few days early to sample all that one of my favorite cities in the world has to offer: Theatre, wonderful restaurants, historic treasures, and a character all it’s own. I had even more fun in London than I normally do, because I got to show my Aunt and Uncle all the wonders of my favorite city. (more…)