This was my 3rd trip with Grand Circle. My previous trips were a land trip (England, Scotland and Wales) and a riverboat trip (Cruising Burgundy to Cote d'Azur). I loved the two trips mentioned above but didn't feel like this recent trip (the Grand Baltic Sea Voyage) was worth the money. Given the expense of this trip ($9000), I had VERY high expectations since I saved three years to go. Unfortunately, like I mentioned, it was not worth the hard, earned money that I paid. The ship was very small (it dwarfed the huge cruise liners that went by us) and the sea was so rough that most people were sick. Thankfully, I had plenty of Dramamine to make like more bearable.

The food and wine on board was not as I had expected either. One evening they served us all steak that was so tough and grisly that you couldn't even eat it. The table wine that was included was sub-par at best. The crew were all mostly great. There were a few "unprofessional" moments by one or two of them that had you shaking your head. But most were pretty awesome, they had positive attitude and where lots of fun to chit chat with.

The ship (even though it was small) was actually really nice and clean. I did not like the dinning room being at the bottom of the ship with mere port holes to look out. Dining during rough seas was almost unbearable as you watched the horizon appear and then disappear as the ship pitched and rolled. Some nights we hung on for dear life while eating and in bed! Aside from that....Having a smaller ship did have it's advantages... we were able to port directly at each town and did not have to be tendered in. The doctor on board, whom a lot visited for sea-sickness, was very wonderful and she came directly to your room if you needed immediate attention. Read more