First of all understand that I am more of a sights and scenery guy as opposed to museums, Palaces etc. I also like to visit to say I've been there, put the pin in the map so to speak. My wife is the opposite. The emerald princess was great, the service and food were fantastic. The entertainment was average.

Our room, Aloha Deck A-205 was great for the 2 of us. We loved the balcony. We traveled roundtrip from Newark to Copenhagen on SAS and they were a terrific airline. First stop was Warnemunde Germany, we did the Alla Tours via minibus to Berlin, the tour was fine, the drive a little long(3hrs each way). My wife liked Berlin, I found it drab, although glad that I visited. Disappointed that Checkpoint Charlie was so commercialized, also disappointed that we were dropped off for lunch at a Shopping mall. It was about 90 degrees in Berlin. I heard that the local Warnemunde tour was great, relaxing and had lunch in a local German restaurant.

Next day at sea was relaxing, the Baltic was flat calm and the temps about 85 degrees. We enjoyed time in the Serenity Spa at the top of the ship up front. Stockholm was very nice, we did the Ship's City tour with skyride then walked around and had lunch in Gamla Stan. Very scenic approach and departure from Stockholm. Very clean city. Helsinki was nice as well, we did the Ship's Home visit, Temppeliaukio Church and City drive. The home visit to the bucolic residence of the "Nurmi" family was awesome. The baked for us, served Finnish coffee and allowed us free access to roam their house and expansive property. Harriet Nurmi's dad drove in the Monte Carlo races in the 1950's and they maintain a fully restored Ford Model T along with other historical collectibles. There is a lake on the property with several sauna's. We loved shopping at Helsinki's market and wished we had more time there. Read more