My husband and I began planning our 11 Day Scandinavian & Russian cruise over a year ago. The trip was planned as our one year anniversary celebration and we invited my sister and brother-in-law to join us. Overall I think that the cruise was mediocre but the ports were so great that it made up for it. The only port we missed was Oslo because of a strike in the city.

Booking process: I booked online during a promotional week and was promised a $50 on-board credit. Once my sister booked her trip, I e-mailed my contact at Princess to ask that our two parties be sat at the same table. This went fine. One week prior to the embarkation my sister was notified that they received an upgrade from an interior to a balcony room. I contacted Princess to ask why I hadn't received an upgrade since we had booked first. I was told that I didn't mark that I would like one and there was nothing they could do other than add me to the list. Two days later I received an upgrade to a window room. I later found out on the cruise that they took away our $50 on-board credit in exchange for the upgrade. So, basically my sister was able to get a balcony for free and I was charged $100 for a window.

Flight/pre-cruise hotel: I booked air independently through Scandinavian Airlines. The flight was as comfortable as possible and the Copenhagen airport was very easy to navigate. They have a line of taxis waiting to take you downtown. I had booked two nights at the Grand Hotel in Copenhagen. We then arranged a taxi to the ship on embarkation day. Read more