Sailed on the Eurodam,Gems of the Baltic,6/12-22/09. Cabin 10004 was really great. We knew the weather would be cool, so no balcony was needed and we loved the extra room in our spa cabin.The highlight was St. Petersburg which is the primary reason we took this, our 11th cruise. We did alot of research prior to the trip and knew right away that taking a private tour was the best bet for seeing everything we wished to see during our two day stay. We picked Red October and were extremely pleased with this company from our very initial contact. The two of us had our own driver and tour guide and saw everything we wanted to see since we set our own itinerary with Red October prior to arrival.We NEVER waited in any of the lines to get into the palaces,catherdals, and even scheduled a ride on the metro and a visit to a farmers market to get a real feel of the city.The Eurodam is a lovely ship but somehow seems smaller than similar ships.The fresh flowers everywhere are impressive and HAL does provide excellent service and very friendly staff everywhere on the ship.We eat all our meals in the dinning room and the food was very good.HAL ships don't offer much night life and their shows simply don't compare to other cruise lines, but there is a pleasantness on HAL that is very enjoyable.We also met some really nice people aboard from all over the world.We took HAL shore excursions at all the other visited ports and had good experiences. In Kiel, Germany, we really recommend a tour called "Castles,Lakes and Roses" unless you just have to see Hamburg.The Baltic Sea ports are well worth a visit and The Eurodam is well worth your consideration.