Getting off of the ship on the second day was much easier.
Just a quick scan of our passports and we were back in Russia!

Peter and Paul Cathedral lies at the center of the fortress.
It serves as the final resting place for almost all of the Russian emperors and empresses.
Everyone from the founding father (Peter the Great) to the last tsar (Nicholas II) is buried here.

We spent two amazing days in St. Petersburg during our Baltic cruise.
The first morning in Russia started with a very long line waiting to get off the cruise ship,
followed by more waiting in line to have our passports
and tour tickets looked over by customs officials.
After a few stern glances up at me and back at my paperwork,
I was given the stamp of approval to enter Russia.

Read our St. Petersburg Travel Guide

Scandinavia has always been high on my travel wish list, but the task of planning such a trip seemed overwhelming, not to mention expensive! After scanning the latest cruise offers I found two cruise itineraries that caught my eye: the Baltic Capitals and the Norwegian Fjords. Ultimately I decided that the Baltics would provide more variety and 'pins on the map' than the fjords of Norway.
If you still can't decide, then visit BOTH on a back-to-back cruise!

​​Our vacation time was limited to two weeks,  so I was thrilled to find a 7 Day Baltic Capitals cruise that began and ended in Stockholm. It gave us a few extra days to explore Stockholm, which many Copenhagen cruisers had later wished for. We also planned a quick stopover in Norway to take the famous Norway in a Nutshell tour before heading home. 

​Most Baltic cruises begin out of Copenhagen (Denmark) or Stockholm (Sweden) making a loop around the Baltic Sea and visiting ports such as:

• Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Frederica, Denmark
• Stockholm , Sweden
• Helsinki , Finland
• St. Petersburg. Russia
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Riga, Latvia
• Klaipeda, Lithuania
• Gdansk, Poland
• Kiel, Rostock, or Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany