Map of the Baltic Sea area between Gdansk, Poland and Baltijsk, Russia, with cruising route marked in red. For a larger view, click on the image. The smaller map below is of the destination area, and will not enlarge.
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Our ship, the catamaran Szafir. It was very well outfitted inside. There was a restaurant, bar, disco bar, lounge and open deck on top. There was also two well stocked "Duty-Free" stores aboard. No larger view for this one |
The great Westerplatte Memorial as viewed from the dock. Erected to commemorate the heroic actions of the defenders of Poland that took place here at the beginning of World War II, 1st to 7th September, 1939. Again, click on this photo to see a larger view. |
The upper, open deck of the Szafir was a popular place to be during the crossing to Baltijsk. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny. On the return it was cloudy and stormy. That is Danuta with the big smile, dead center of the photo. Again, click on the photo to see a larger view. |
Here is our last look at Poland. It is on the Gulf of Gdansk and you are looking at the Gdansk, area in the rear with the large buildings, known as Zaspa. Visible also on the far right is the new pier built in the early 1990's. Again, click on the photo to see a larger view. |
Our first view of the Baltijsk area of Kaliningrad, Russia. (This is our second visit to this area, and we traveled even further along the channel than we did this time.) Again, click on the image for a larger view. |
The north side of the channel entrance. Again, click on the image for a larger view.
So, Let's get on to the pages showing the Russian Naval ships located at Baltijsk.
Just click on the arrow
Upgraded 1 May 2004
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The best reason I could find for the fare being zilch. This ship the Poseidon IV was doing exactly the same tour as the Szafir. So competition, not for the 10 Zloty (about US$2.50) fare, but for the much greater profits from the so called Duty Free sales drove them to compete for passengers. As I did some comparison shopping from their lists of prices, I do find that the dollar cost of goods was in fact lower for the same items on the Poseidon. However, since they gave such a horrific lousy exchange rate from Zlotys to Deutchmarks, that the Poles with only Zlotys paid more than on the Szafir. (All prices on that ships were in DMs, while those on the Szafir were in Zls) Lesson learned. Convert your Zlotys to Deutchmarks before going aboard. Again, for a larger view click on the photo. |