We love small ship cruising, and the Tahitian Princess carries approximately 700 passengers. We chose this itinerary for the small ship and the ports. Russia has been on the top of my list for quite a while

24 May -arrived in Dublin - First thought- "even the airport is green!!!" - shuttle from airport to ship- so nice to have a smiling face to greet us at the airport. Boarded 4pm - the shower felt so good after an overnight flight - Did tour of ship and remembered our last cruise on the Azamara Quest, an identical ship

The dining room was open seating for the first night - discovered I can live on shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, and salmon, which is offered every evening along with many other choices - our welcome to Dublin was Irish Folklore entertainment

25 May - took advantage of the shuttle offered from the ship into the heart of the city - Sunny - No rain - Amazing for Ireland - Rode the Hop-on, Hop-Off bus around the city-wanted to visit the Guiness Brewery, but didn't have time. The ship was scheduled to depart at 230pm. We walked and found ourselves lost in Dublin, which I found out from others, is easy to do in Dublin. It was getting late, so we took a taxi back to the ship. Everyone is so friendly in Dublin. The taxi driver told us we walked right off the map, which was true. We didn't find any street signs matching the map. The sail away party had to move inside do to rain. Nowâ?¦this is typical Irish weather!

The Tahitian Princess has quite a bit to offer for a small ship:

Complimentary wine tasting
Afternoon tea
Fitness center with aerobic classes
Internet Café

The comedian was really funny that evening and kept us laughing late enough to watch the ship go through the locks on the way to Barrow.

26 May - Barrow - Visited the Dock Museum and returned to ship. Much to my husband's joy, the market was closed on Tuesday. Weather turning cold and windy

We had dinner at one of the 2 alternative restaurants, The Grill, which is a wonderful steakhouse with fantastic service and only an additional $15 per person.

The ship rocked and rolled all night. I laid in bed listening to things crashing to the floor all around the ship while my husband snored like a baby. Our little ship took the rough seas amazingly well.

27 May - A Day at Sea - The seas calmed down and it was smooth sailing. There were so many activities offered that it was hard to decide which ones to partake in

28 May - Rosyth - Edinburgh, Scotland - We toured the Edinburgh Castle, housing Scotland's Crown Jewels and the Brittania (the Royal Families Yacht). Our wonderful tour guide greeted us in Kilts. Lunch was servedata Thistle Hotel. The Scotch serve boiled potatoes, just like the Irish!!

29 May - Another sea day - nice to relax after a full day of touring yesterday. I went to a "Fat Burning" seminar, not condusive to the wonderful meals I have been devoring on board. Lost of passengers were on deck. The day was cold but sunny and the hot tub was bubbling with bodies. This evening the dining room had an Italian Theme and then a 50's & 60's sock hop upstairs in the lounge.

30 May - Copenhagen - What a beautiful day! We left the ship and walked to the Canal Boat Cruise Dock for our narrated canal cruise. We took the shuttle back to the ship and after lunch took the shuttle back to the center of town to get our bearings. From there we walked to the Rosenborg Castle, more crown jewels,,WOW.

31 May - A Day at Sea - Took the galley tour and a culinary demonstration - our days at sea are never boring. The ship presented a 5K Walk to benefit breast cancer. We had 12 participants. What a good feeling upon completion!

01 June - Up at 5am for our Tallin, Estonia walking tour, a quaint litte town with many churches and cobblestone streets. The highlight of our tour was a concert at a monastery and walking through the market, with wonderful hand made goods

02 June - Finally ��Russia��The first day of our 2 day tour, we visited the Peterhof palace and had lunch serenaded by Russian singers and dancers. Pinch me, am I really here? The eveing's entertainment was a Russian folklore show with more singing and dancing. The Russians serve vodka and champagne with their meals. The vodka tasted like cough syrup, but the champagne was excellent.

03 June - The 2nd day of our St. Petersburg tour took us to the Hermitage. I wished we could have had more time there. I don't think you can get through this wonderful museum in one day's timeâ?¦so much to see. It rained and turned much colder the 2nd day, but we were lucky to have many good days in this part of the world.

04 June- Helsinki, Finland - Did you know hello in Finnish is "hey" and goodbye is "hey hey"??? I love Helsinki. This fabulous city is so clean.

You can send your college bound students to University in Helsinki without tuition. You just pay for books and meals. They start with English speaking classes and once they master Finnish or Swedish, they can go on to classes I the local languages. We booked a walking tour and it poured. Our tour guide had written on the back of her raincoat "sorry it's raining", so I guess this is normal weather for Helsinki. We walked for 2 hours and stoppedata pastry shop to get wam and dry. The hot tea was a treat and the pastry so light and flaky. I wished I could have brought some home.

05 June - Stockholm - We didn't get to see much of Stockholm due to our flight leaving at 1pm, but what we did see was beautiful rolling hills and farmland with horses and cows. It was too bad we couldn't have stayed overnight,

Now we have fond memories of our trip and loads of pictures.

Until the next one���..

Written by:  C Kennedy
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