A Day at Sea and Return to Tallinn

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first of our two days at sea for this first leg of the cruise. Of course, it ended up no less busy than any other day. Three lectures were lined up, all of them interesting, but Monica’s spa appointment conflicted with the astronomer’s first presentation. We’ll have to see if we can pick it up later on the TV.


Since there were major upgrades done to a few areas of the ship during the drydock two weeks ago, here are a few photos of the new stuff:

Pool Deck new furniture, same as Symphony

Looking through the end window of the 'new' Apropos

Penthouse Stateroom from the verandah side

From the entrance way

It was also formal night and the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party. Unfortunately, Captain Glenn couldn’t give his usual greeting – earlier in the afternoon, we noticed that we had sped up considerably from the 8.2 knots we needed to travel to get to Tallinn on time. That was because we were suddenly doing the full 22 knots to get there earlier to offload a medical emergency. We had received the okay to dock earlier and stay overnight, so we arrived at the pilot station just about the time the captain would have been making his speech. In the end, they cleared the whole ship early, giving the passengers permission to go ashore and visit town in the evening. (By the way, the person who had to be evacuated is now okay.)

We didn’t leave the ship. It was formal night, and the Crystal Ensemble was performing one of our favourite production shows, Million Dollar Musicals. So we dropped into the Avenue Saloon after the show and ended up sitting with Jane, the Crystal Society Hostess, for a little while. She has invited us to dinner with her at Prego on Monday.

This morning, we had our walking tour In the Footsteps of Peter the Great. Along with a visit to the old town, we also went to his original cottage and the palace he built for his wife, Catherine I. The building containing the Estonian President’s home and offices stands right between the two, and is surrounded by parkland that used to be the estate Peter the Great bought (yes, bought, not took) when he first came to Tallinn.

Peter the Great's original cottage outside Tallinn

Catherine's Palace that Peter built for his wife

And to finish it all off, we noticed these sheep grazing just off the pier, and couldn't resist the photo op.


Returning to the ship, we prepared for our crazy-busy evening. Captain’s Quarters for cocktails at 5:15, followed by the show at 7:00, the Cruise Critic cocktail party and 7:45 and dinner at Prego (yes, we’ll be there two days in a row!) at 8:30. We’re actually looking forward to the next three days in St Petersburg to get some “rest”!!!