A big hunk of my ancestry is from Sweden, and ever since a Swedish cousin came to visit 20 years ago and invited us to a Swedish homecoming, I've wanted to find out more about Scandinavia and the general region that includes the Baltic states and a part of Russia--St. Petersburg.

We set sail from Copenhagen in perfect weather, and other than one rainy evening when leaving St. Petersburg, we enjoyed almost ideal weather--perhaps a tad warm for the Baltic. On top of that we had what the locals call "White Nights," early dawns and light until about 11pm. One folk dance we went to in St. Petersburg got out at 10:30, and as we bussed back to the ship, people were out walking in a late afternoon light--couples, families, individuals. From our balcony onboard, we had spectacular views almost 20 hours per day.

Our suite booking allowed us to board early, and it was the easiest imaginable. Once on board we had to wait until our suite was ready, but we were able to enjoy all of the public areas and explore the ship in the meantime. After lunch, we went to our stateroom, and our butler came by and introduced himself and asked if we needed anything, which we did--some distilled water for the cpap and a converter to plug it in. Since we had both a butler and stateroom attendant, things got a little confused but it was all taken care of. Read more