We hear the ship's engine revving and feel the movement as we roll back and forth. Wanting to savor every bit of rest we can muster before tackling Helsinki, I close my eyes and wait until the engines stop which would signal we're docked. But that never happens and through our room speaker, the captain makes an announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. Due to gale force winds and a forecast of deteriorating weather conditions, ...

Today we sleep in until 6am and, after breakfast and passing through immigration once again, we are outside the gate waiting for Olga, Vladimir and our tour bus to arrive. Right on time, they pull in and we board. Our audio receivers that we used yesterday are back on our seats along with the usual bottle of water. The earphone devices are great as it lets us hear Olga as she describes each of our sites as we walk around. There's a microphone on board the bus...

Up this morning at 5:30am. It's going to be a nice day, sunny and in the low 70s. Mom is not excited about going into Russia. Actually, she's been dreading it for months. We will be with a guide the entire time as required by Russian immigration and our our guide team is rated #1 on Trip Advisor. So Mom prepares to go, under protest, into St Petersburg. St Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. It was established by Peter the Great in 1703. ...

This morning we get to sleep in a little later as our ship won't dock in Tallinn, Estonia until 10am. We have no planned tour other than to walk around the old town. Tallinn is the capital and largest city in Estonia. Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved and intact medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This sounds good and after breakfast, we head out from the ship toward town. The ship is here for only 6 hou...

Up this morning at about 8 and straight to breakfast. Afterward, Mom heads poolside for the big sale while I work on the blog nearby. Later Karen heads down to deck 3 to check out some shops and I stay nearby, continuing to work on the blog using my newly purchased Internet minutes. I repair two previous days, complete a third and send all out. Finally!It's a beautiful sunny day in the low 60s. The sea is as smooth as a lake and we spend time out on the rear...