Back to the story:
I don't recall the sequence of the next few places, so I will go in no particular order. (In any event my favorite stops were the last 3 in the fjords in Norway).
St. Petersburg: We were docked there overnight and worked out a deal with the other two mashgichim that we can get the morning off of the first day to take a guided tour. Since my friend and I are American we had to either pay for a visa or pay for a tour sold by the cruise, so we opted for the latter. The guide had quite a strong Russian accent but we were able to understand most of what she said. The highlights of the tour were the beautiful buildings around town and the the Russian nesting dolls I picked up there. Interestingly enough, one of the gift stores we entered gave everyone free Vodka- Only in Russia!
Next up was Germany.
In addition to charging the passengers $6500+ for the cruise, kosherica adds on Jewish themed tours that run $200-300 a day. Luckily as a mashgiach, the owner was willing to give me the tours of Berlin and Hamburg for free if I helped him make sure no one falls behind. I obviously obliged.
To take two, full-day tours on consecutive days, I had to do some trading of shifts. In the end I had to work a full day shift one of the days we were just cruising (best deal ever). My friend, who is a kohen, only came on one of the tours since the second one entailed a number of cemeteries.
Berlin Holocaust memorial:
True impact is felt within. One disappears as he goes along
Plaques with the names of Jews who lived there before the Holocaust
Stumbling stones with names are placed in front of buildings where Jews used to live. They are there so when someone stumbles they will see the names and the people won't be forgotten.
Yeshiva in Berlin where we davened mincha.
A piece that remains of the Berlin wall.
I have very few pictures of Hamburg, but here are two:
This is a memorial, but don't remember the details
To be continued with Amsterdam, Denmark and Norway