oksteveou

I am a bit of a foodie.  Besides the licorice (which I love and will definitely load up on--and no one else in my family likes it--so it is all mine!!), any other US customs-friendly food items (e.g., jams, cured meats, candies, etc.) in the Baltic countries that are particularly good and are harder to find or more expensive in the US?  Thanks.

On 7/28/2018 at 7:29 AM, ljandgb said:

Cedar, linen, wool items in Tallin. There's a nice line of vendors on the pier with good prices and selection. Not the place I typically like to shop, but this time was very good. It seemed everyone took credit cards, FYI. One of the vendors had felted wool hats in the shapes of animals. Very whimsical. I got a goat hat and my kids die of embarrassment every time I wear it.

 

Licorice in Copenhagen. The Danes (and Scandinavia in general) have a thing for licorice.

 

I found a shop in Gamla Stan (Stockholm) that had nice clogs - wooden sole, leather upper, lignonberries painted on them. I get compliments every time I wear them.

 

Nesting dolls in SPB - the good ones have a story or sequence of pictures painted on the dolls' belly. I also bought beautiful painted lacquer boxes that made nice gifts for the family, on a prior trip to Russia.

Thanks for the top regarding licorice in Copenhagen!  I love licorice and wasn't aware of the Danes' affinity for it.  I'll definitely be on the look-out for some.

FYI, my family of 4 has booked Best Guides' Best of the Best mini-group tour for June 2019, and we cannot wait!  Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and information!

Question:  not knowing everything that is included in their "city tour" each morning, is that portion of the tour likely to include a stop at the Peter & Paul Fortress?  If not, would it be feasible/worthwhile to ask if they could include it?  I don't know if the logistics/distance would preclude it.  I don't need a tour of the entire fortress, I really just would like to see the tombs of the Tsars.  Thoughts?  An easy stop?  Way out of the way?  Not worth the effort?  Thanks again.

I would also be curious about this.  When will you be there?  We will be there mid-June 2019 on NCL Getaway.

Main differences I see:

Happy Tour has much shorter city driving tour (30 minutes vs 90 minutes both days for Best of Best, which is mostly why the Happy Tour ends an hour earlier on Day 1 and starts an hour later on Day 2).

Happy Tour drives to Peterhof (60 minutes) while Best of Best takes Hydrofoil (30 minutes).

Happy Tour includes a "Citizens Walking Tour" vs. a Boat tour on the canals on the Best of Best.

The last 2 differences are the main reasons why we switched from the Happy Tour to the Best of the Best.  We like boats!

If you click on these links, you can compare the itineraries yourself:

Best of the Best:  https://www.bestguides-spb.com/best-2day.html

Happy Tour:  https://www.bestguides-spb.com/happytour-2day.html

Steve

By the way, if anyone cares, I think we are going to switch to the "Best of the Best" minigroup tour.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

My family has booked a minigroup "Happy Tour" with St. Petersburg Best Guides on June 11-12 on our NCL Getaway Baltic Cruise.  They offer some evening options that I would love some advice/feedback on for anyone who has experienced them.  The options are the ballet, a folk show and a classical music concert.  I've seen a lot of other threads about the folk show, so I think I know what that is like.  Are these ballet and classical music performances full performances offered to the general public, or are they abbreviated and canned performances aimed squarely at cruise ship passengers or tourists generally?  If the latter, how long do they last and are they any good?

Also, Best Guides offers a complementary White Nights evening tour.  Can anyone speak to that tour and whether you enjoyed it or not?  Thanks!

A free third and fourth passenger sounds fabulous! Which ports will you visit on your sailing? I may need to take a peek at that itinerary!

 

 

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We're booked on that same cruise on the Getaway. Ports of call are Copenhagen, Wernemunde, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen. We booked it for the same reason. For a family of 4, it's hard to beat NCL's 3rd and 4th passenger (nearly) free promotion. We book a minisuite so we have a little larger bathroom.

I found out today it will be $279 US each for our 12 day. I was on the fence, but you've helped convince me. Thanks. It looks like a lovely sanctuary away from the crowds I keep reading about. Do you remember what the hours were like? Are they consistent, or does it close during certain periods of the day etc.? Are you given a separate access card, or is it programmed into the one you receive when boarding?

As previously noted, the hours are 8-10 daily (but closes at 8pm the last night of the cruise). They put a sticker on your key card when you check in that allows you to enter the thermal suite.

One other nice perk to the thermal suite pass for me was the ability to use the nice and spacious showers in the men's locker rooms to clean up for dinner vs. traipsing back to my cabin in a wet bathing suit. Enjoy!

BonnieH is spot on. The thermal suite on the Escape is heavenly and highly recommended. I think there is a glitch with their web site because I couldn't book it on-line either. But I called and they booked it for me over the phone at $199. My wife booked on board for $219. Although there were a few heated lounger hogs the first at sea day, there was generally plenty of room for all and it was a quiet oasis on an otherwise crowded and often loud ship. This was by far the best thermal suite I have ever experienced.

We booked the "Cruise Ship Special", a 5 hour private tour through Sailing With Friends. One nice thing about private tours (which cost more, of course) is they leave when you get there and come back whenever you want to come back. And they go where you want to go.

The water also tends to be calmer and clearer in the morning than in the afternoon.

Mahahual is certainly not a shopping mecca, but I think it is definitely worth the cheap cab fare to get there and back. I would much rather spend my time there than at the artificial port at Costa Maya. Unless you are also stopping at Cozumel or PDC, you can at least buy some Mexican vanilla there.

My wife and I really enjoyed the art auctions (watching and buying) on our last Princess cruise and are looking forward to attending and buying again on our next cruise.

Cannot speak for other cruise lines or other ships, but our experience on the Emerald Princess was wonderful. No games or hidden mark-ups. They were always very clear as to whether you were bidding on originals or limited editions. There was no competitive bidding at all (every piece was purchased for initial bid price), so no funny business with plants. Frames and shipping were included, so no gouging there.

We loved it, did our research when we got home and believe that we paid less than market value (in some cases, we paid not much more than the value of the frame). And a couple of years later, we still love the pieces we bought! We can't wait to do it again!

Can't speak for other cruise lines, but I am confident that the auctions on Princess are legit. And they are fun and feature a lot of beautiful art!