Baltic Cruise 2012

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St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia

Cruising the Baltic Sea was as wonderful as I expected.  Every destination was special, but by visitingso many in one trip I really experienced the region and learned about theirrelationships with each other and the sea. Here’s a quick summary of my trip:

• 3 days in Stockholm at the Scandic Grand Central
• 11-night cruise on the Crystal Symphony
• 3 days in Copenhagen at the Scandic Copenhagen

Crystal Cruises' "Journey of the Czars" itinerary included theseports of call:

• Tallinn, Estonia
• 3 full days in St. Petersburg, Russia!
• Helsinki, Finland
• Warnemünde, Germany

St. Petersburg was as amazing as I expected, but the Amber Room at Catherine's Palace was mind blowing. I knew I'd love Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and wandering the Old Town of Tallinn, but was surprised how much I liked the canals of Stockholm and the architecture of Helsinki. All the Scandinavian ports were clean and charming (most of themclaiming to be The Venice-of-the-North).  The people spoke English, were friendly and extremely blond.  The politeness extended to pedestrianetiquette too — folks would stand at a red light with no cars coming from anydirection and still not cross until the light changed to green.  It’s really hard to do (tick, t-i-c-k,t…i…c…k), but I got better at it as the trip progressed.

A magical evening at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark

The weather was bizarrely excellent — 60-75 degrees andmostly sunny every day. All the guides swore it was cold and raining all summeruntil I arrived. The trip definitely challenged my linguistic skills, which arenotoriously terrible even in the few languages I studied in school. By theend, I was the Great Pronouncer — confidently reading street signs withphonetic American-English, give or take afew letters. Or syllables. 
FYI: I won the flights on SAS Airlines and the Scandic Hotel stays from Cruise Baltic while attending a CLIA cruise conference in April 2011. I took several of the Cruise Baltic educational seminars at the conference, but this trip taught me so much more about this beautiful and fascinating region. And I was hosting a Signature Travel Network group of 83 guests on the Crystal Symphony. Don't I have the best job?!