I was looking for a cruise of the Baltic on the smallest ship I could get away with and still be at sea (rather than on a river) Our travel agent recommended this or Viking, but Viking did not have the itinerary we wanted. We were not disappointed with our choice.

The food on the Marina was outstanding. Servings were small enough that you really didn't gorge on food - just the right amount. We only did one of their shore excursions - in Klaipeda, a port in Lithuania. I wanted to see some countryside which we wouldn't do in other ports - so picked Soviet Missile Silo, in the middle of a national park (who knew?) !!

The trip was interesting and informative, but on the whole Klaipeda was not much of a port - I guess you could say you had been to Lithuania..... An important reason to choose this cruise is that three whole days were spent in St. Petersburg, which many ships do not do. We chose SPB tours - they were efficient and knowledgeable, and cost about ⅓ the price of the ship's cruises. Russian goods for sale on the ship were pretty expensive - wooden painted spoons I picked up in the shop just before getting on board (not a cheap place to buy....) were $3 each. On board ship, they were $11! Alcohol was expensive - hardly a bottle of wine worth less than $70, so we had to be careful. We would use this line again - the service and ambience were great. And.... NO photographers trying to take your picture everywhere!!! In fact, not a photographer to be seen! Bon Voyage