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Getaway Baltic Cruise Highlights With Photos


marbleski
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This is an awesome review - so detailed and informative plus excellent pictures. Looking forward to more and a Great big Thank you!

 

TSUmom and CasdeM appreciate your comments. Glad to be of help. St. Petersburg and Russia has such a fascinating history. I had a chance to sort out the rest of my St. Petersburg photos in folders for each site. Here are few more photos.

 

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. WOW inside and out. Each side has a different view. We stopped by for photos one day and visited it the second day.

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Boat Tour

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Hydrofoil going the other way. Hardly had time to get a picture

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Street Vendors near the Quay with Sphinxes

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Thank you so much for posting. We are enjoying reading and really nice photos! We sail in a few days on July 1st!

 

Have a great trip. It should be nicer now with the leaves on the trees and the flowers in bloom. I had five of these six pictures uploaded and accidentally closed out of CC. Had to upload them again. Second time around........

 

A photo from the City Tour

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Subway ride. Escalators are long ride down. Subway stations are like museums. Be sure your tour includes the subway.

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Saint Isaac's Cathedral

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Saint Isaac's Cathedral

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Peter and Paul Fortress

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Peter and Paul Fortress

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We were on the June 13th sailing. We were able to sit in a sunny spot on the deck wearing pants and a light sweater. It was much cooler in the shade, but there were quite a few people in the pool and hot tub anyway. I would guess that it would be warmer in July.

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What did you do for lunches while on St. Petersburg tours? We are thinking of Best tours, but it looks like the two day intense tour which it looks like you took, doesn't say anything about breaks for lunch? Als wondering if that TShirt tourist booth near dock took credit cards or USD or Euros? Thanks

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We are on the ship sailing the Baltic in early July. So excited!. My question is it warm on the ship when you're walking around or is it chilly? Is it warm enough around the pool to lay out around the pool?

 

It was chilly outside while at sea. July will be warmer and it should be nice on the sea days. If the sun is out and you find a place protected from the wind I think it will be quite nice to lay out in the sun. The cool wind from the Baltic Sea will have a bit of chill, especially in the shade.

 

One sea day we relaxed on a lounger at the adults only deck wearing long pants and t-shirt. We had to stay in the sun however and wear our light fleece to and from the lounger. There were a few people using the hot tub. On the plus side there was plenty of space to find a place to sit and two lonely bar tenders at the bar. You should have the best of both, warmer temperatures but still plenty of space to find a lounger when and where you want.

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You may have said this already and I apologize if I missed it. Did you do any of the NCL excursions, or did you book third party. We now have some shore excursion credit and I'm looking at options. I hate to lose money, but my experience with NCL excursions in the Caribbean is that they were just 'okay'.

 

I'm really enjoying your pictures. I did search for your camera type. I want to purchase a new point and shoot as I have a Nikon D50 and I'm not sure I want to lug it around. I'm a wanna be photog, I'd love to do it, but I'm just not that good.

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What did you do for lunches while on St. Petersburg tours? We are thinking of Best tours, but it looks like the two day intense tour which it looks like you took, doesn't say anything about breaks for lunch? Als wondering if that TShirt tourist booth near dock took credit cards or USD or Euros? Thanks

 

Our tour was intensive, as we planned. First day we purchased food from a kiosk near the subway station and ate in the van on the way to the Peterhof.

 

Second day we ate here.

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We had no set lunch plans. Once we got hungry we told our guide we wanted to try Russian food and she made a few calls and arranged this place as it was near the canal boat tour. We were rushed eating as we did not allow enough time. It was not the fault of our guide as we decided at a moments notice to have a sit down meal knowing full well that we would be rushed.

 

I suggest you decide early in the day and make arrangements for a meal if you wish to dine in. Better still make the request to Best Guides and they will put it on your itinerary.

 

The kiosk at the port terminal took Euros, Rubles and visa. All prices were marked in both the Euro and Ruble. There were no USD prices on the items. We had Rubles and Euros and used both. Not shore about using USD at the port kiosk but we used our USD to tip the guide and driver.

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You may have said this already and I apologize if I missed it. Did you do any of the NCL excursions, or did you book third party. We now have some shore excursion credit and I'm looking at options. I hate to lose money, but my experience with NCL excursions in the Caribbean is that they were just 'okay'.

 

I'm really enjoying your pictures. I did search for your camera type. I want to purchase a new point and shoot as I have a Nikon D50 and I'm not sure I want to lug it around. I'm a wanna be photog, I'd love to do it, but I'm just not that good.

 

We did not do any NCL excursions. St. Petersburg is the only port we booked independent tours. The remainder were do it yourself with our oldest son using his cell phone for maps, GPS, and local transportation.

 

The D50 is excellent, my first DSL camera. I used mine extensively as the boys were growing up. I upgraded to the D7100 Christmas 2015 as my D50 had a few minor issues. At 6.1 mega pixels my D50 takes as good pictures as the D7100.

 

Some of my pics at Catherine's Palace (outside ones) were with my iphone 5. The newer model phones take even better pics. Inside pics would be tougher with the iphone as some sights have low light. Forget the point and shoot as they will have the same issue in low light. Use your cell phone and for the must have photo sights take the D50 along. D50 is pretty decent in low light, just open your shutter to maximum and crank up your ISO to the maximum and keep your flash off.

 

I am no camera expert but hope I have been of help.

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We did not do any NCL excursions. St. Petersburg is the only port we booked independent tours. The remainder were do it yourself with our oldest son using his cell phone for maps, GPS, and local transportation.

 

I need to learn more about using my iPhone in Europe. Did OS have a special data plan and/or apps to help with the above? We use AT and T. Thank you in advance.

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In terms of point and shoots, there ARE models now with 1 inch sensors that take great low light pictures for such small machines. I'm in Copenhagen right now pre cruise and I have the Canon G9X (Sony RX100 is another option)-great results so far.

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Hi there, I would be interested in any info you can give me on airport transfers on the return to Copenhagen. What times they run and prices? We have an early flight back 10:50 so trying to decide if waiting and booking an NCL transfer or book a van for us to meet us on arrival at the port. Any info welcome

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Thanks so much for your amazing pics and detailed review!!!

I am reliving my trip from the star last year.

Funny because when I booked the cruise I barely heard of Tallinn and that was my favorite port. I agree warmunde was beautiful and for me a very nice surprise:-)

Question did u have to get a visa in Russia? We didn't with the ship tour. I know some private companies would get them as well.

Did I read correctly your son had a night on the town there? Was your visa including that?

Thanks

Kerri

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We did not do any NCL excursions. St. Petersburg is the only port we booked independent tours. The remainder were do it yourself with our oldest son using his cell phone for maps, GPS, and local transportation.

 

I need to learn more about using my iPhone in Europe. Did OS have a special data plan and/or apps to help with the above? We use AT and T. Thank you in advance.

 

 

OS had a sim card sent from Germany to his place of stay in Switzerland. He paid 5 Euros per week for 500 mb of data (no text or phone calls). We used WhatsApp or facebook messenger to keep in contact with him while he was travelling and we were at home in Canada.

 

The sim card did not work in Russia or Hungary. We did not need it in Russia as we were on a tour with a guide and driver. To keep in touch with us from Budapest he had to find free wifi.

 

Other than Russia it worked fine in the other ports. Germany was a little different,. As soon as we crossed into Germany from the Czech Republic the 5 euro a week package did not work, he used the same card but had to buy a monthly data package from a German carrier.

 

A bit complicated for me, but for his age group it's just routine.

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We did not do any NCL excursions. St. Petersburg is the only port we booked independent tours. The remainder were do it yourself with our oldest son using his cell phone for maps, GPS, and local transportation.

 

I need to learn more about using my iPhone in Europe. Did OS have a special data plan and/or apps to help with the above? We use AT and T. Thank you in advance.

 

 

OS had sim card sent from Germany to his place of stay in Switzerland. He paid 5 Euros per week for 500 mb of data (no text or phone calls). We used WhatsApp or facebook messenger to keep in contact with him. It did not work in Russia or Hungary. We did not need it in Russia as we were on a tour with a guide and driver. To keep in touch from Budapest he had to find free wifi.

 

Other than Russia it worked fine in the other ports. Germany was a little different, he used the same card but had to buy a monthly data package from a German carrier. As soon as we crossed into Germany from the Czech Republic the 5 euro a week package did not work.

Edited by marbleski
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Hi there, I would be interested in any info you can give me on airport transfers on the return to Copenhagen. What times they run and prices? We have an early flight back 10:50 so trying to decide if waiting and booking an NCL transfer or book a van for us to meet us on arrival at the port. Any info welcome

 

NCL has tranfers, not sure of the cost as we got a taxi to the Generator Hostel and not the airport. I believe the NCL shuttle was available for flights departing after 12:00 or 12:30. There were plenty of taxis.

 

The CC Baltic ports page has lots of good information and hopefully someone will jump in and be of better help.

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Thanks so much for your amazing pics and detailed review!!!

I am reliving my trip from the star last year.

Funny because when I booked the cruise I barely heard of Tallinn and that was my favorite port. I agree warmunde was beautiful and for me a very nice surprise:-)

Question did u have to get a visa in Russia? We didn't with the ship tour. I know some private companies would get them as well.

Did I read correctly your son had a night on the town there? Was your visa including that?

Thanks

Kerri

 

Best Guides tour company supplied the visa papers. Upon booking the tour we sent our passport information on the required forms and within a few days the tour tickets arrived via email. We printed the tickets at home and showed the tickets at customs and that was it.

 

The evening tour was with a different company. Can't remember the name at the moment as our CC tour mates arranged the night time pub crawl for the students.

 

There were five booked on the tour and they met up with a pub crawl tour (with none cruise passengers). After the pub crawl the five of them watched the bridge opening with the tour company they hired.

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OS had a sim card sent from Germany to his place of stay in Switzerland. He paid 5 Euros per week for 500 mb of data (no text or phone calls). We used WhatsApp or facebook messenger to keep in contact with him while he was travelling and we were at home in Canada.

 

The sim card did not work in Russia or Hungary. We did not need it in Russia as we were on a tour with a guide and driver. To keep in touch with us from Budapest he had to find free wifi.

 

Other than Russia it worked fine in the other ports. Germany was a little different,. As soon as we crossed into Germany from the Czech Republic the 5 euro a week package did not work, he used the same card but had to buy a monthly data package from a German carrier.

 

A bit complicated for me, but for his age group it's just routine.

 

Wow. Complicated for me too. I actually read about getting a special sim card in Rick Steves guidebook. I think I am going to call AT and T before I go. My son switched to T mobile who apparently has a great international plan, but he is in Europe for 6 months; me only 2 weeks. Thank you so much for the information! This thread is keeping you busy!!:D

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Wow. Complicated for me too. I actually read about getting a special sim card in Rick Steves guidebook. I think I am going to call AT and T before I go. My son switched to T mobile who apparently has a great international plan, but he is in Europe for 6 months; me only 2 weeks. Thank you so much for the information! This thread is keeping you busy!!:D

 

My brother's son lives in Germany and he had the sim card for travelling outside Germany. He sent it in the mail a few days before oldest son left for Switzerland. It was the cheapest option as our international plans in Canada would have cost much more to have access to that much data for OS travels around Europe.

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OS had a sim card sent from Germany to his place of stay in Switzerland. He paid 5 Euros per week for 500 mb of data (no text or phone calls). We used WhatsApp or facebook messenger to keep in contact with him while he was travelling and we were at home in Canada.

 

The sim card did not work in Russia or Hungary. We did not need it in Russia as we were on a tour with a guide and driver. To keep in touch with us from Budapest he had to find free wifi.

 

Other than Russia it worked fine in the other ports. Germany was a little different,. As soon as we crossed into Germany from the Czech Republic the 5 euro a week package did not work, he used the same card but had to buy a monthly data package from a German carrier.

 

A bit complicated for me, but for his age group it's just routine.

 

You should switch to T-Mobile. The plans includes free data roaming in 140+ different countries.

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You should switch to T-Mobile. The plans includes free data roaming in 140+ different countries.

 

Yes, it seems the default t-mobile plan has great international coverage. I thought about getting it for a month for 1 line but that will run me $70+ -- which may not be worth it. Too bad their prepaid service does not include this.

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You should switch to T-Mobile. The plans includes free data roaming in 140+ different countries.

 

Would be a nice but we do not have T-Mobile. A great for option for our neighbours south of the boarder. Our carrier has very high add on rates for packages in Europe. OS German sim card was our best option.

 

Great TIP for US residents to look into.

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