This was the second time on Celebrity Eclipse and we had a thoroughly fantastic cruise. We were lucky enough to have a Classic Package, free parking and half-price gratuities as part of this package, and then the Icing on the cake - the additional bonus of being offered the opportunity to upgrade to Concierge for a reasonable extra cost. Not a bad start to the cruise, before we left port.

We had booked private excursions at our first four ports of call, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Tallinn and St Petersburg. We were glad we did because the input from our guides really made the history of each place come alive. In Tallinn our guide shared his own personal tragedy of his father's banishment to Siberia, for standing up for his rights in a time when Tallin was part of Russia. When answering questions from our group, he admitted that many of his countrymen were worried about what was happening in Ukraine so we had a much better feeling for the culture we were visiting.

In St Petersburg, our guide was asked about unemployment in the city and she explained that, as people who didn't work did not get any money, employment was currently running at about 7%, and she shared with us that she had obtained her University Degree in Tourism and Languages, but this had then to be supported by training in each of the Palaces and Parks which was then re-tested every year, except for the Hermitage which was every 3 years. The result was that she was probably the best guide we have ever been with in over 24 cruises. Read more