1994 Cruise on the Baltic Sea

By Glen Nygreen, August 24, 1994

THE SHIP: Renaissance IV is a beautiful ship. It rode smoothly even when traveling at 17 knots in turbulent seas. 94 passengers and no motion sickness. The crew was considerate, pleasant, hard working. The food was delicious and the waiters accommodating. We suggest you can recommend this organization unhesitatingly.

THE HOTELS: The D'Angleterre in Copenhagen was disappointing. Beverly and I had a small room (the others were larger and more attractive). It was hot and humid, no fans were available (they quickly ran out), and whether on the front or the side of the hotel it was too noisy outside to sleep until well after 3:00 AM. The transfer company was not very communicative, about which the hotel complained. It was good we had this experience at the beginning of the trip.

The Grand Hotel in Stockholm was a different story. Again we bad the smallest room and the others were larger and more attractive. Despite the street noise - the Water Festival was still on) - we slept very comfortably. The breakfasts were superb. The location could not have been improved upon. The transfer company was excellent and present in the hotel lobby longer hours. This was truly a grand and well managed hotel.

THE PORT VISITS:

Visby: a delightful small town with a rich history. We walked the town (did not take the tour) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A medieval festival was soon to take place and there were costumed young people roaming the streets unselfconsciously. It was a good first visit.

Tallinn: an impressive, poor but recovering, plucky city. No Russians visible. Little evidence of the German devastation and the Russian occupation. Took the tour and it was well worth it. Quite a bit of walking involved.

St. Petersburg: Friends had warned us we would find it depressing and we did. The decay is frightful. We took three of the five tours and perhaps should have taken a fourth. The Hermitage and the Winter and Summer Palaces were impressive. The Goodwill Games were recently concluded and there had been attempts to remove the street beggars and homeless during that event. We spent one afternoon on our own traversing the Nevsky Prospekt and examining the retail scene. The residents we talked with - those who could speak some English - were friendly, frank about their problems, recognizing their greater "freedom," impatient with the pace of progress, and "so soon forgetful of how it had been." Worth the two days devoted to this city.

Helsinki: a beautiful city, small enough to walk about so we did not take the proffered tour. The Finns are gracious. The birch-smoked salmon was delicious. The vegetables offered for sale were the most attractive anywhere. The spirit evidenced was an effective antidote to depressing St. Petersburg.

Stockholm: Everything about these two days was exhilarating. It was the last two days of the annual Water Festival and the streets were jammed. There was something going on continuously and it was fun. We took the "transfer tour" so that when we reached the Grand Hotel at the end of the tour we did not have a long wait to get into our rooms and we were oriented to make best use of our time afterward. We did not take the later tours and, I suspect, few people did.

SUMMARY

There is little more to be added. Based upon our experience the landing at Copenhagen and ending with Stockholm is the preferred direction. Air flights were crowded. We were negatively impressed with British Air on the way over and better served by Delta on the .return. If Beverly and I were traveling alone I think we would try to fly either Business or First Class for the added comfort. It did appear to us that Renaissance Cruises didn't handle the air flight arrangements very well but this was the first year of such an offering so perhaps next year they will do better.

It was the trip of a lifetime and overall functioned exactly as we had hoped.

 

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