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My family and I have been cruising for two decades, since our kids were small. Now that they're working, it took two years of planing to come up with a cruise that worked for all of us.
We chose the Baltic as a location with many fascinating ports, and chose Azamara since we prefer small ships which can dock in the center of town, and overnight in port so we could really see the town.
Our cruise started with flawless flights on SAS business class from the US -- great seats and great cocktails ! We coordinated two flights so we all arrived in ARB within 45 minutes of each other, and then took a personalized guided tour before boarding the boat (note to RCCL -- you should have this as an option for those arriving in the early AM before boarding is allowed).
The ship itself was a great size -- large enough to have a variety of public rooms and a nice sized suite, small enough to be easy to navigate around, with no need to use the steps (except after a some very long days of touring in Russia).
Food on the ship was excellent as well. I would rate the buffet as the best we've had on any cruise -- always fresh, multiple to -- order stations, and it never felt like a compromise to eat there rather than a longer, sit down meal. Aquilina, one of two prime restaurants was nice, but there was really no need to spend extra. And the little grill had great burgers and chicken wings all day.
I'll comment on the ports under port reviews but make one major comment here -- if you're making the effort to get to St. Petersburg spend the extra money for a personal guided tour -- either from the cruise or a Russian based agency (several are reviewed on other sites, we used, and recommend Alla tours)
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