Our pre-cruise hotel in London was nothing short of fabulous. The hotel was new, beautifully furnished; immaculately clean facility with the nicest hotel staff I’ve ever known. The complementary breakfast was a feast fit for a king. This was a great beginning to our 12-night sailing.
Once onboard the new Carnival Splendor we began the first evening with our meet and greet cocktail party. The event was a definite clue as to the rest of the sailing. FUN! FUN! FUN! I did get a shoe thrown at my head during the scavenger hunt, thanks Phil. Hopefully; his actions were just an indication of his enthusiasm.
We traveled to Copenhagen, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Amsterdam. Each port we stopped at was more amazing than the last. The different cultures of people along with the fascinating history of each County were childhood dreams come true. Long days of walking, searching for lost cruisers and much needed time for souvenir shopping for Diane and Brian made for dinner conversation each evening.
One of my favorite ports was St. Petersburg, Russia, barely 300 hundred years old. The city is known as the “Venice of the North” with its many canals and waterways. So much to see in two days was almost overwhelming. The most memorable stops were The Hermitage museum, the Winter Palace and the Summer Garden and Palace of Peter the Great and of course the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood with its brightly colored onion domes.
Another favorite port was Amsterdam. So unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The magnificent art museums, Ann Frank’s house, “coffee houses” where smoking marijuana is accepted and the famous Red light District. Our river cruise was wonderful, informative and relaxing. For me, it’s a definite place to return some day.
Back onboard the ship, exhaustion didn’t seem to stop anyone from having a great evening. Unbeknownst to the group; we had John, a professional “Karaokest” who entertained us nightly with his vast array of song selections. We could always count on Dee to dance the night away in the disco. One night, to everyone’s surprise, for no apparent reason, one of our cruisers came to dinner dressed as Elvis. I believe our “Wine Tasting” party will long be remembered by the crew of the Carnival Splendor!
I know that many people in our group made friendships that will last a lifetime. I hope to see everyone in our group again, aboard another SinglesCruise.com adventure.
And to Sandy, our newest Singles Star, I’m just sayin’ it was a great cruise.
