Northern Europe Cruise - Holland America - Nieuw Statendam - Norway - Russia

It was a 25 day trip that started with one day of travel and then 3 days in Amsterdam followed by 21 days aboard the newest ship in the Holland America cruise line, the Nieuw Statendam before the final day heading home. The 21 day cruise included stops to Norway, Sweden, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and an overnight stop in Russia.

During our visit to Amsterdam we visited both the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum museums and viewed famous works of both Van Gogh and Rembrant. Don't forget to purchase your tickets in advance. During the tourist season, the Van Gogh museum is always sold out for the current day, and you can save time getting into the Rijksmuseum by buying your tickets online.

The highlight of the trip would be the two days in Russia where we visited the Winter Palace which is the site of the Hermitage museum, Catherine Palace, the Church of the Spilled Blood, Peter and Paul Cathedral, Peterhof Palace and Gardens, and Yusupov Palace.

The best unplanned excursion was in Tallinn, Estonia while visiting the old town area we discovered that for all of 3 Euros you could climb the 258 steps to the lookout area of the St. Olaf's church some 200 feet above the old town area. Warning, not for those who are afraid of heights or confined spaces as the stairs were quite narrow.

Stockholm Roof Walk Review - I did the roof walk through a Holland American excursion. You certainly pay extra when doing this vs doing the walk on your own. That said, even with the extra charge, it was certainly an unique experience and was worth the money. You can see several photos in the 4K slide show that capture the experience of walking above Stockholm.

Nieuw Statendam Review - This is currently the newest ship in the Holland America fleet, and it certainly lived up to the standards of rest of the ships. This was the 5th Holland America ship I cruised on, and it follows pretty much the same design as all the others. One of the features I enjoyed the most was the 50" flat screen TV in our Verandah Balcony Stateroom. As with every cruise I've taken on Holland America, the staff was wonderful.

The video which compiled in Proshow Producer features still images from Canon cameras, movies from the Sony RX100 V, and movies and time lapse movies from the YI 4K+ action camera.

You can view more of my European travels at my site.
http://ksimonian.com/Blog/category/europe/