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| Member Cruise Review |
The funchal is a small ship that is owned by classic international cruises and who until the summer of 2006 was chartered by travelscope. We were on a baltic captitals cruise and it was magnificant. The ship is small but the variety of entertainment on board was wonderful they had everything from signing comedians to magicians on board as well as the ships own enterntainers. There are several bars on board, as well as a small gym two main restrauants (one sitting for dinner), deck buffet area, swimming pool (outdoor). ample space for sun bathing (not while we were there weather was nice but it was Baltic as we say in Scotland while at sea). Cabins were okay ours was nicely decorated and a reasonable size although I did here a few complaining about the size of their cabins. Day time entertainment consisted of port lectures by the guest lecturer Elspeth Buchannan who was very knowledgeable and seemed like really nice person. The usual how to demonstrations such as napkin folding etc. A film was also shown in one of the bars in the aftenoon. Magic workshops and the usual keepfit and dance classes and deck sports. As well as the usual quizes. Host lecturer in graphology David Bennet was also on board (Im sure he follow me around from ship to ship). There were also arts and craft classes with guest craft lecturers Envening entertainment was an evening quiz in one of the bars, the evening show which varied between the ships own theatre group with the usual west end caberate type shows and the guest entetainers, which included some very talented singers and a magician. The duo called Amethyst also played in one of the lounges during the day and on some evenings very talented. Claudia one of the cruise staff did a Late show one evening (not really one for the kids) but she was very funny and she is very talented never laughed so much in my life it worth going on the cruise just to here her. Ass cruise director Robert Craig also did a show one evening very talented singer. There was also two chat show type evenings (a bit like Parkison only better). The Restraunts had lots of variety and catered for special diets such as diabetic and vegitarian although you had to inform them of any special diets before traveling so that they could cater for you. We went to Copenhagen were we did a ship tour which included a canal tour. To be honest I only really wanted to go to Copenhagen to see the little mermaid statue but there is a lot more to Copenhagen than Hans Christian Anderson. It is a beautiful city and we seen lots and lots of very interesting and beautiful places. Next stop was Stockholm we did our own thing here although we did get the ships shuttle bus into the town which they charged £6 return for. We visited the old town which is beautiful area and should not be missed on any trip to stockholm. We went next to city hall getting completely lost along the way but this just made it all the more exciting we went up the tower at the city hall and it is worth the trek up just for the view over the city. Getting lost had its advantages as we seen buildings that we would never have seen if we had went the right way in the first place. Then we went to Tallin were we again did our own thing but got the ships shuttle but into town at the cost of £3 return we visited the market and the old town beautiful walked up the Toompea to see the Russian church or Alexander Nekoviski cathedral (whatever you want to call it) this is a beautiful area with beautiful views over the whole city well worth a visit and of coure the castle is here also. This is a must see place and I really would love to visit it again as its a wonderful place. Next stop was the Beautiful St Petersburg were we did a ship tour an all day tour which included lunch we did Sightseeing of St Peterburg and a visit to Peterhof. Peterhof is beautiful and I would recommened a visit here the gardens alone a worth a visit. We had lunch here before visiting the main sites of St Peterburg in the afternoon at £42 each this trip was not cheap but was more than worth the money. In the evening we went to a folkloric show which was again magnificant beautiful singing and costumes very talented. Last port of call was Helsinki which again was a nice city with some nice buildings and shops although most of the shops were quite expensive. We again did our own thing and just explored. The funchal mainly attracts older passengers and last year at 27 I was the youngest on board but I knew all this before booking so was neither suprised or disappointed we had a super time on board. There are not really much for kids to do on board although during the summer and other holiday periods they lay on some entertainment for them. The only bad thing about this whole trip was that we had to disembark at the end of the cruise I would have gladly stayed and did it all over again. |
Classic International Cruises MV Funchal May 2006 by sparkieplug24 Baltic |
| CRUISE RATED OUT OF 5 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Cruise Line = Classic Int Cruises Ship Name = MV Funchal Date of Sailing = April 2006 How many cruises have you done = 3 Ship Facilities = 5 Entertainment = 5 Dining Room Service = 5 Spa Facilities = 5 Food = 5 Sports Facilities = 5 Cabin Layout = 5 Bars & Lounges = 5 Kids Facilities = 0 Ports of Call = 5 Type of Cabin = standard inside Overall cruise rating out of 5 = 5 |