A Baltic Un-Cruise
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Ah, the cruise life: room service, dress-up dinners, energetic shows, casinos, shore excursions to exotic locales, games, workout sessions, and a pool. The good life for a week or two.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? If it does, then a cruise is certainly for you.
What if you’d like more of a travel experience and less of a resort one, especially to give those exotic locales the time they deserve to be explored and experienced? Is it possible to enjoy a Baltic cruise without spending so much time onboard?
Yes, it is, by taking an Un-Cruise. Follow a standard itinerary or devise one of your own, but, instead of the typical two consecutive days and nights at sea and one day ashore, flip the time spent onboard with the time spent on land: one night at sea and two or three days on land. How? Use the frequent and reliable “cruise ferries”, which ply the Baltic among several cities and countries and, by traveling with only a carry-on, instead of bags and bags of extra or special clothing which a normal cruise may demand.
What is a cruise-ferry? Essentially it is a one-night cruise: depart in the late afternoon and arrive the next morning, but enjoy a show, the casino, a meal in a restaurant, duty-free shopping, and sleeping in your own cabin during your time onboard. Once you have had enough of the one-night good life, you start a mini-vacation in each of your chosen cities. Repeat as often as desired!
Wisqiti took a recent Un-Cruise to the eastern Baltic during late May and early June. The jumping off point was Helsinki, Finland, after which we sailed to St. Petersburg, Russia, then Tallinn, Estonia, and finished in Stockholm, Sweden. The main reason for this itinerary was the ease of reaching and departing St. Petersburg, although, one could start from just about any of the major cities and go anywhere in the region with comparative ease.
Helsinki, Finland
We chose to rent an apartment in Kamppi (with a creaky elevator for added charm – isn’t there always one?) because of its proximity to the port so as not to miss our first overnight cruise (we needn’t have worried, as Helsinki’s tram system is convenient and reliable) and because there isn’t much of tourist interest in Kamppi, except for the flea market and the Hakaniemi food market hall (recommended, if you are nearby).
After getting acclimated to the neighborhood, we made our way to the city center, where we picked up the tourist board’s self-guided walking tour (there are actually four tours; we chose the first, “History & Architecture”) in order to maximize our time.
Our full day walk started at Senate Square and didn’t go much further than about ten blocks east and north. It featured the Helsinki Cathedral, as well as the Uspenski Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the old port, plenty of art nouveau buildings - original and restored, a walk in the park along the waterfront, close-ups of icebreakers, government buildings old and new, a historic home - the Burgher’s House, and a mouse sculpture, which we were encouraged to find from the outset, and therefore, was always on our minds. Maddeningly, once we arrived near his home, we missed him, being forced to ask passersby for help, a couple of whom (Finns, not tourists), were just as lost as we. (By the way, here, as in every place we visited, we found people to be friendly and helpful, including a misunderstanding on a Swedish tram, which was our fault.)
The next day, we took our own version of a shore excursion, a day trip via bus to Porvoo, a photogenic tourist town about an hour to the east, where some of Finland’s most historic buildings can be found: the red storage sheds along the riverfront, the Porvoo cathedral, and the old wooden town itself, perfect for a stroll on a sunny day.
Our last morning found us at Temppeliauko Church, dynamited from a rock hillside in the middle of the city, an incredibly busy attraction; we were lucky to get there as it opened, as lines are extremely long and bus tours dropped of hordes of visitors every few minutes, it seemed. Later, we had time to visit The National Museum of Finland for a couple of hours for a good overview of Finland and its history.
In the afternoon, we made our way by tram to the ferry port for our overnight cruise to St. Petersburg, Russia on St.Peter/Moby Lines' MS Princess Anastasia. The ferry is run by an Italian-Russian company, but has mostly Russian (mostly pleasant, too) staff and a distinctive Russian atmosphere, with the usual compliment of activities: casino, show, restaurants, etc. The accommodations were basic, but comfortable in our standard cabin. We really didn’t pay too much attention, as the sunset was quite long and the seas were calm, keeping us up on deck a considerable time. More importantly, we were excited to visit Russia for the first time. What would it be like?
St. Petersburg, Russia
Because we booked our hotel and one tour through the ferry company, we qualified for a 72-hour visa-free stay in Russia. There is much written about taking advantage of the visa offer, both good and bad; we can only say we had no problems whatsoever, except for a little bit long customs line to enter the country, which we expected, and, in the end, did not cause us any real delay, as our hotel was the first stop on the shuttle bus to town (the “city tour”) .
Sailing into St. Petersburg’s enormous harbor brought a flood of thoughts and emotions: Peter’s passion to build the city, the excesses of the czars, the birthplace of the Communist Revolution, the siege during World War II, the Cold War, etc. It may sound trite and superficial, but they all came to mind when we were initially looking at the cityscape and they would stay with us over the next few days. St. Petersburg is, without a doubt, a place of great historic significance.
Here, we chose the Sokos Palace Bridge Hotel, again for extra convenience to the ferry and, because it had lots of extras: well-stocked included breakfast, several saunas, jacuzzis, and heated pools for an excellent shoulder-season price. . It was a stop on the shuttle route, unlike having to go to St. Isaac’s Square with everyone else. Leaving town, we were the only ones on the bus It was, however, a decent walk to Palace Square, in front of the Winter Palace, the center of tourist activity. No matter – we had the jacuzzi in the evenings, didn’t we?
The first day, we went to St. Isaacs where we climbed the dome for the city view. Nearby, I stopped in a little store and bought some fruit and water for the day, which turned out to be quite fortuitous, as we walked a ton the rest of the day.
From there, in an attempt to string together several other important sites, we followed the Griboyedov Canal toward Nevsky Prospekt, the city’s main artery. We stopped in to the Kazan Cathedral, where we happened upon the faithful lining up (a long line) to kiss the icon of Our Lady of Kazan. It was moving to observe. Across the street is an art nouveau marvel, The Singer House, resplendent outside and inside the bookstore. Looking down the canal, we spied our goal, The Church on Spilled Blood, so we headed for it. This part of the walk was more crowded, but easy enough. However, we not prepared for the church interior. It is an astounding restoration; every inch covered by mosaics. Overwhelmingly beautiful. After finishing at the church, we decided to squeeze in the last hour or two of the day at the Faberge Museum. Thinking it was only about the famous eggs, we were again not prepared for the diversity and elegance of the objects on display, ranging from cigarette cases to jewelry to icons to a golden mechanical peacock. Stunning workmanship. We walked back to the hotel, a long way, and ended up in the heated pools, to relax and settle in for the night.
The second day was Hermitage/Winter Palace day, plus the opera. We spent five or six hours in the museum with a local guide, paying extra to skip the line and go in early, a good decision. There are far too many artworks to mention, which is why we took our time and saw all of them. Well, we think we saw all of them…
In the evening, we made our way by cab to the Mariinsky Theater, where we saw “Mazepa”, an opera in Russian (with English subtitles) about a Ukrainian national hero. We had the best seats in the house, center orchestra, another wonderful experience.
Our last day brought us out of town to Catharine Palace. Again, we booked a guided tour and skipped the line. We found out other visitors had been waiting in line for four hours. Our tour took ten minutes to get inside. The palace is incredibly well restored, with the highlight being the Amber Room, a small room covered in amber from top to bottom. We walked the grounds and gardens, as well, making it back to the hotel for a quick sauna before catching the shuttle to the next overnight ferry (Princess Anastasia, again) to Tallinn, Estonia.
Was 72 hours enough time in for our visit? Not even close. We want to go back.
Now that we were seasoned cruise-ferry passengers, the trip to Tallinn, seemed more relaxing, but it did include a full twenty minutes getting out of the port of St. Petersburg, which is still signed “Leningrad”. Once again, the size and scope of the city was on display for us. Enormous. There was one hiccup, as one of our boarding passes was lost and we were almost not let off the ship when we arrived. However, the cruise staff good-naturedly let it slide and we proceeded to town, although, technically, since we never checked out, one of us is still on board!
Tallinn, Estonia
We walked from the port to the Suur Rannavärav, the Great Coastal Gate, which happened to take us directly onto the street where our next apartment was, Pikk. Going through the gate truly made us feel like we were going back in time, as, in only a block or two, vehicular traffic was banned, except for the odd delivery van, and because the town was charmingly restored.
Of the cities we visited to this point, Tallinn was, by far, the most friendly to walkers. We circumnavigated the inner side of the walls, stopping at labeled and unlabeled points of interest, including the Ukrainian church, resplendent with its primitive-style icons; we hung out in the main square, along with day-tripping cruisegoers having lunch; we ascended the tower of the Oleviste Kogodus church, with its terrifying narrow walkway atop the tower; we listened to an impromptu concert in St. Nicholas; we climbed the hill to the government buildings, the Alexander Nevsky cathedral, and the splendid viewpoints of the city and region; and, in the evenings, fully enjoyed strolling about this part of town or the next, undisturbed by anyone.
Outside the walls, we went to a flea market and food hall near the main train station and we took a tram to the suburbs to see Kadriorig, yet another Russian palace, although it was rather small. Each time we went “home” to the apartment though, we had a strange feeling of returning to safety, as soon as we entered those old walls. The separation from the modern world was palpable and comforting. We didn’t want to leave.
But, leave we did, the last afternoon, for the overnight cruise-ferry to Stockholm on the Tallink/Silja Line, a party boat, if there ever was one. People also crowded the large duty-free store and left with multiple bags of stuff, truly amazing to watch. Of course, all of the usual types of entertainment one would expect on a modern cruise ship (in three languages, Swedish, English, and Estonian) could be found and enjoyed, as well.
Stockholm, Sweden
Our stay is Stockholm was self-shortened because, we traded a scheduled day there for an extra day in Tallinn, which worked out well for us. Despite pleasant perambulations in Gamla Stan, the old town, an unexpectedly informative and fun visit to the ABBA Museum, the spectacular and overwhelming Vasa, a centuries-old ship recovered from the bottom of the port, and a happened-upon stop at the Riddarholmen Church, the resting place of Swedish royalty, Stockholm did not have the Wow! Factor of the other stops on the Un-Cruise.
Stockholm was our last port of call on the Baltic Un-Cruise. From there, we took a train to Oslo, Norway to continue our trip without overnight ferries, but that’s an article for another time.
Will we take another Un-Cruise, perhaps in the Mediterranean? The answer is a definite maybe. Should you take one? Why not give it a try?