Going Ashore in St. Petersburg Russia

             On a Baltic cruise, one of the most keenly anticipated ports of call is St. Petersburg, Russia.  Indeed, because the port is so popular with passengers, most ships stay overnight thus giving passengers two days and a night to see the city.

            The reason that St. Petersburg is so popular is that it is so rich in history, art and culture.  Founded by Peter the Great, this city was the physical embodiment of Peter’s ambition to take Russia from being an insular, medieval society into a modern Western European power.  As a result, the city center is full of grand public buildings, palaces and canals that make it beautiful to behold, especially in summer.

            These same buildings were also the setting for the more turbulent side of Russia’s history.  It was here that the key events in the Russian Revolution took place.  Also, the city suffered the most lethal siege in world history during World War II.

            St. Petersburg has become more welcoming to cruise ship passengers in the last few years with the opening of a multi-million dollar cruise ship terminal complex.  However, unlike other Baltic ports outside of Russia, passengers need a visa if they want to explore independently.  This leads most passengers to take shore excursions because, subject to certain condition, foreign cruise passengers do not need a visa if they are on a tour with a recognized travel company.  Such tours can be organized through the ship or directly with the travel company.

            Most shore excursions fall into either of two broad categories: tours of the city center and tours going to the palaces located in the suburbs surrounding St. Petersburg.  If the ship is staying overnight, there are often evening tours to cultural events such as the ballet or folk dancing.

            The most popular destination in the center city is the State Hermitage Museum.  It is housed in a complex of buildings but its heart is the Winter Palace.  The palace is an impressive building in itself - - it was the winter residence of the czars and they spent lavishly on their home.  In addition, according to Soviet historians, it was also the scene for some of the most dramatic events in the Russian Revolution. 

While its architecture and history are reasons enough in themselves to visit the Hermitage, the most compelling reason is the art collection.  Begun by Catherine the Great, there are few collections in the world - - perhaps the Louvre, the Metropolitan, and the Vatican – that are on a par with the Hermitage in terms of breadth and quality.

Of the tours to the suburban palaces, my pick was the Peterhof Palace.  This palace was begun by Peter the Great as a summer residence and his hand can still be seen in the numerous fountains and small palaces on the grounds.  However, the opulent Grand Palace was created for his daughter the Empress Elizabeth.  As Peter intended, Peterhof impresses the visitor with one magnificent sight after another.

Beyondships’ guide to St. Petersburg is at http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-port-st-petersburg-russia.html  Our feature article on the Peterhof begins at http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-port-st-petersburg-russia-peterhof.html

Inside Celebrity Eclipse - - talking with the Captain, Hotel Director and Jacques Van Staden

This week we take an inside look at Celebrity Eclipse. Eclipse is Celebrity Cruises latest ship, entering service late last April. She is the third os Celebrity’s critically acclaimed Solstice class ships. These are large ships (122,000 gross tons) but carry only 2,800 passengers. (A mass market ship of the same size would probably carry a thousand more guests). This means that there is more room per passenger and more room for luxurious features and detailing.

It is a firmly held belief of Beyondships that regardless of the physical beauty of a ship and regardless of its features, the quality of a cruise experience depends to a great extent on the people who actually operate the vessel. Accordingly, the site presents interviews with ship’s officers, management and cruise line executives so that you can read what these people have to say about what they are doing with their ships.

To that end, this week the site features three new interviews with key players on Celebrity Eclipse.

First, there is a conversation with the master of Celebrity Eclipse Captain Panagiotis Skylogiannis. Captain Skylogiannis was responsible for bringing not only Eclipse into service but also the first ship in the class Celebrity Solstice into service. He takes great pride in both ships but Eclipse is his personal favorite. My conversation with him is at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-captain.html

Second, Hotel Director Simon Weir is in charge of practically all of the services that touch but the guests’ cruise experience from the accommodations to the entertainment to the dining. He has brought out all three of the Solstice class ships and is able to discuss how the product has evolved. In his view, Eclipse does not really compete with other cruise ships but is comparable to luxury hotels on shore and he seeks to ensure that Eclipse does not come out second best. My conversation with Mr. Weir is at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-HD.html

Third, Jacques Van Staden is the celebrity chef who in 2007 left that world in order to become Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations for Celebrity Cruises. In that position he not only oversees the restaurants on the existing Celebrity ships but develops new ideas for dining venues. Celebrity Eclipse debuted the latest of his ideas, a revolutionary restaurant called Qsine. This dining venue differs from all other cruise ship specialty restaurants in its menu, presentation and décor, combining the familiar with the unexpected. Chef Van Staden talks about Qsine at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-VanStaden.html

Cruise Tip #1 Seasickness

Is seasickness something to be concerned about in considering a cruise?

Seasickness is a form of motion sickness. Given the right weather conditions, any ship can move around. After all, ships are moving objects traveling across a liquid medium. However, modern cruise ships bounce around less than airplanes or automobiles.

Most cruises take place in relatively tranquil waters such as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Furthermore, using modern weather forecasting equipment, ships try to avoid bad weather. Indeed, there are financial incentives to do so. The shops and casinos on board make no money from passengers who are sick and if people have a bad vacation experience they are unlikely to come back. Moreover, since it requires more power to keep up speed in a rough sea, there is an added fuel cost to charging through bad weather not to mention the additional wear and tear on the ship.

Often seasickness is psychological. People think: “I am on a ship, therefore, I should feel seasick.” In extreme cases, this leads people to complain of seasickness when the ship is still tied to the pier. Accordingly, Jacques Le Tallec, Hotel Director of NCL’s NORWEGIAN DAWN, says: “It is most important to keep the people busy. If you keep them busy, they have no time to think they are seasick.”

There are times, however, when a ship unavoidably encounters bad weather. A number of medical remedies are available. However, as I have never taken any of them and am not a doctor, I am in no position to recommend any or comment on their efficacy.

Some ships will handle rough weather better than others. This ability is not necessarily correlated with size. When the first QUEEN MARY was built in the 1930s, the designers assumed that a ship that large would be stable in the water. However, on her maiden voyage it was discovered that the ship rolled severely (i.e., moved sideways). The roll was eventually reduced when stabilizers were added to the ship in the 1950s.

Today, all modern cruise ships have stabilizers. These devices are shaped like airplane wings and can be extended out from the sides of the ship while at sea. When a wave pushes the ship one way, the stabilizer angles itself so as to exert pressure in the opposite direction. Stabilizers can eliminate up to 80 percent of a ship’s roll.

Unfortunately, stabilizers do nothing to eliminate pitching - - the motion made when the front of the ship goes down and the back goes up and vice versa. The better a ship is at cutting through the waves, the less it will be subject to pitching. Consequently, a ship that is designed with a long, narrow bow will do better in such situations than one with a wide, blunt bow. This is because a ship with a blunt bow will attempt to climb over the wave thereby causing the bow to rise more or will be forced downward thereby causing the stern to rise more than if the ship cut through the wave.

If feasible, the officers will set a course so that the waves are striking the side of the ship rather than the bow because that brings the stabilizers into play. Sometimes, this is not possible.

So, where is the best cabin location if one is concerned about sea sickness? The point on a ship that is least subject to pitching and rolling is in the center of the ship down by the waterline. Think of a ship as an inverted pendulum anchored at the center of the ship. The further you go up the pendulum, the greater the arc. Thus, when the ship is rolling, a cabin on an upper deck is going to move more to either side than one on a lower deck. Similarly, the closer to the front or back of the ship a cabin is, the more it is going to move up and down when the ship is pitching. Since the center of the ship at the waterline is the most stable place on the ship, that was where the designers of QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 choose to put that ship’s hospital which includes an operating room.

The fact that the most stable point on the ship is often occupied by equipment, crew quarters or the lowest grade cabins, is a clear indication that seasickness is not that great a problem on cruise ships. If it were otherwise, the greatest demand would be for the most stable cabins and the most expensive cabins would be interior cabins on the lower decks rather than exterior cabins located on the highest decks often at the front or back of the superstructure.

Finally, selecting a cabin based upon its relative stability is an illusory precaution against seasickness. A ship’s cabin is not like an airline seat where one is going to be in it most of the trip. On a cruise people move about, go to the restaurants, shows, pools and public spaces. The fact that people do go about the ship is another indication that for most people this is not a problem.

Cruise Line Fleet Cuides

There is a great deal of information out there about the ships in the fleets of the various cruise lines. However, I thought it would be useful to put together some charts which would allow readers to quickly see the relative age, size and design of the ships within the different fleets.

Accordingly, I have added what I call "Fleet Guides" to my website. These list the ships in the line's fleet in reverse chronological order by the date in which they entered service.

In addition, the guides list the gross tonnage of each ship. Gross tonnage is a measure of a ship's revenue producing volume rather than its actual weight. However, it is the standard measure used when people are referring to the size of a ship. Thus, with the gross tonnage figures, a person can see the relative size of the ships.

Next, I have listed the class of the ship. Class usually refers to the ship's design. Two ships are in the same class if they were built to the same design, perhaps with some minor variation. Therefore, if one knows the classes of a group of ships, one will know which ships were built to the same design. This can be particularly helpful if one has traveled on one of the ships in a cruise line's fleet and wants to know which other ones are like that ship.

Wherever possible, I have added photographs that I have done of the ships in the different fleets. In addition, there are links to the pertinent section of the site for those ships which I have done a detailed profile.

I hope you find this useful. http://www.beyondships.com/Cruiseshiphome.html