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So the 25th and 26th of October are a couple of sea days before we get back to Tilbury. Peter will run his classes and I will run around Peter, but generally, it's a relaxing couple of days.
On the first day, outside could be presented as a good example of Peter's "Tonal Study". It's grey. A grey sky and a deeper grey sea. It's not warm either. Peter has managed to pick up the latest cruise cold. (It seems one goes round every cruise), I've fought it off it seems, with no more than a little bit of a tight chest. Trouble is, by the end of the day, he was knackered and not up to formal night. We did get out for dinner a little later than usual and then were able to stay up just long enough for the next bit.
On the night of the 25th, we travelled through the Kiel Canal. It's a shame we went through at night, because obviously we couldn't see much, and not only that, we would all be too busy getting a bit of sleep to even try. The thing is, it's a canal, and we had to go through a lock, which was a whole new experience for me.
The Marco Polo was painstakingly manoeuvred very slowly and carefully into the lock, and then the water level probably only changed a few feet. Never mind I can now say we have sailed down the Kiel Canal, even if the only bit I actually saw was the start. Peter's cold got the better of him, and it was time to go downstairs.
Our second sea day was relatively uneventful. I decided to get me hair cut whilst I'm on board, I thought I might as well, seeing as I am always waiting for Peter's class to finish. Once again the ship's hairdresser has done a brilliant job, for no more than I would pay back home. I've read a book and a half, these last two days and Peter ran his classes again.
The final night of this cruise ended with the Ship's Show Team putting on a fantastic show called "Scenes from the Cutting Room". The show team are usually pretty good, but I think they excelled themselves last night. I was very impressed with the Charlie Chaplin routine at the beginning put on by the dance troupe, and then the Wizard of Oz compilation was awesome.
And finally, for this cruise, I have to mention the cooks and the food. It seems to have improved since the last time we were on board, but that isn't what I wanted to show. The following pictures are the food art carved out by the various chefs (or maybe it's always the same chef), they are quite awesome.
So that was it, our Baltic Cities Cruise. I think I would like to do it again and see all the things I didn't get a chance to see last time, particularly in St Petersburg.
We'll stay on the ship when we get to Tilbury, and go out again on it's next cruise "Land of the Northern Lights". We're off to Norway and another load of new experiences. Just absolutely FANTASTIC!
So the 25th and 26th of October are a couple of sea days before we get back to Tilbury. Peter will run his classes and I will run around Peter, but generally, it's a relaxing couple of days.
On the first day, outside could be presented as a good example of Peter's "Tonal Study". It's grey. A grey sky and a deeper grey sea. It's not warm either. Peter has managed to pick up the latest cruise cold. (It seems one goes round every cruise), I've fought it off it seems, with no more than a little bit of a tight chest. Trouble is, by the end of the day, he was knackered and not up to formal night. We did get out for dinner a little later than usual and then were able to stay up just long enough for the next bit.
On the night of the 25th, we travelled through the Kiel Canal. It's a shame we went through at night, because obviously we couldn't see much, and not only that, we would all be too busy getting a bit of sleep to even try. The thing is, it's a canal, and we had to go through a lock, which was a whole new experience for me.
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| Approaching the Lock at the start of the Kiel Canal. The red lights on the right hand side are the "out" gates which are closed at the moment. The Marco Polo has to get into the lock using the left hand lane. |
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| Look how close we are to the walls of the canal! Actually, it's a bit deceptive, because we had a little more space on the other side. But the ship has to be tied up when the lock gates shut, which is why we are very close to the side. |
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| Another, much smaller ship pulls in behind us and the lock gate closes. |
Our second sea day was relatively uneventful. I decided to get me hair cut whilst I'm on board, I thought I might as well, seeing as I am always waiting for Peter's class to finish. Once again the ship's hairdresser has done a brilliant job, for no more than I would pay back home. I've read a book and a half, these last two days and Peter ran his classes again.
The final night of this cruise ended with the Ship's Show Team putting on a fantastic show called "Scenes from the Cutting Room". The show team are usually pretty good, but I think they excelled themselves last night. I was very impressed with the Charlie Chaplin routine at the beginning put on by the dance troupe, and then the Wizard of Oz compilation was awesome.
And finally, for this cruise, I have to mention the cooks and the food. It seems to have improved since the last time we were on board, but that isn't what I wanted to show. The following pictures are the food art carved out by the various chefs (or maybe it's always the same chef), they are quite awesome.
 |
| Chef working at the back of the bistro, look at the fish carved out of a melon on the left. |
So that was it, our Baltic Cities Cruise. I think I would like to do it again and see all the things I didn't get a chance to see last time, particularly in St Petersburg.
We'll stay on the ship when we get to Tilbury, and go out again on it's next cruise "Land of the Northern Lights". We're off to Norway and another load of new experiences. Just absolutely FANTASTIC!
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