dileep

You're so right, Juliejoe - I was thinking of Puerto Madryn's excursion, not the one from Punta Arenas. We took a private tour in Punta Arenas - arrived at the penguin reserve well in advance of the ship excursion. We walked about 3/4 mile on a wooden plank path and arrived at many penguin burroughs. We were able to get very close to them, and I got tons of "up close and personal" photos. We also climbed two observation platforms that allowed us to see even more. The only area where we were separated was between our viewing site and the water; I would estimate that we were no more than 20 yards away at that point. Still a great tour, although a bit tiring due to the walking distance.

 

Mike

We enjoyed Seno Otway too. The obervation towers were not as good as shelter by the sea. I saw several taxis with 4 people. There are plenty of taxis and you don't need a guide.

We had a private tour with a guide. Takes just over an hour to get there and walking around the path takes an hour or so depending how much time you spend taking pictures.

The penguins are in the grass and we saw more adults than we did in Punta Tombo. Also watching then dive into the sea was great.

I have booked a Penguins Rookery tour with Whales Patagonia too for Jan 25.

in the main square after 1 pm.

I think the 30kr trip was a hop on hop off water bus, whereas the 50kr ride was a 50 minute guided tour with commentary and no stops.

Correct! we did the 50 minute tour with commentary in 2 languages. The guide was very informative. 1 hour tour for the same price as a beer!

We saw the 30 Kr sign too. Did they have an English narration? The 50 Kr boat did.

Just back and the Impressionist rooms were closed to my intense disappointment when we were there May 29.

That's strange. We were able to go to the Impressionist rooms on May 29 in the afternoon with our RO guide.

There were some very nice Rodin scultures in those rooms.

You may want to tell people what ship you are on in case there are multiple ship in port that day. We had Princess, Celebrity, and Costa next to each other!

Our son went to Tallinn this May on holiday and he thought the people and the town were wonderful . He can't wait to make a return visit .

Tallinn was our top favorite too. Many others on our cruise felt that way too especially since it was a "surprise"!

Returning people who visited the Hermitage.

 

 

Did you notice any of the rooms closed for renovations? Specifically the rooms on the second floor?

I did not notice anything. There is way more there than you can possibly see in the 2 hours that most tours allocate for the Hermitage. I was truly amazed by the Rembrabdts and Davincis they had!

We did spend some time on the second floor looking at the impressionist painters, Gaugin, and Picasso. They place is so big that it is hard to tell that something is closed.

Hi Dileep,

Thanks for the great report! I have friend who are looking at staying at the same hotel in Dover. They were wondering if it was Air Conditioned?

Thanks for any help you can provide on this one!

Elin

It had heat, which is what we needed with temps in the 50's and intermittent rain outside. We woke up and looked out our window and saw the ship docked already at 6:30 am. You see P&P ferry ships and a hydro foil operating too. The floor are slanted and creaky. Location is good and so are the Fish & Chips!

It has a courtesy phone to a cab company. About 4 GBP for cab to the dock.

CF2404 & Dileep - Great information from both of you. Thanks for posting it.

You talked about taking the ferry in Stockholm to the Vasa museum, is there anything there to see if you don't go into the museum?

The Museum is the old ship itslef that sank some 400 years ago houirs into its maiden voyage. It was found 350 years later and hauled up and restored. If you are not interested in the ship, don't go there unless you want to visit the open air museum called Skansen. CF2404 liked it.

The changing of the guard at the Palace in Old Town was quite interesting. The ship's guide says that it happens at noon. We got there after 12:30 and still caught the last half or so.

Old Town has a nice Square with cafes with outdoor seating. The recommended crystal shop has excellent prices. Listen to the Celebrity shopping person on the ship's TV. Good coffee shops too. Cappucino and blueberry muffin was my lunch!

I found the information in Rick Steve's Baltics guide to be the most useful for walking tours in the ports he covers (Copenhagen, Stocholm, Helsinki, Tallinn). I found an old (3 years or so old) guide in my local library and copied the 3-4 pages for each city. Bookstores should have latest version.

The cost of hop on/hop on buses in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki?

 

What particular sights/museums in Olso, Copenhagen, Tallin, Stockholm and Helsinki would you consider a "do not miss?"

 

Any recommended places for light lunches, snacks, coffee, wine/beer and people watching?

 

Is it true the Constellation or Century will not exchange US$ to Estonian kroons or Russian rubles?

We did not use hop on/off anywhere except Berlin. You don't need one in Tallinn to see Old Town. The only remote place of interest is Kadriorg Palace which we did not visit. The tram in Helsinki works just fine and is much cheaper!

In Stockholm, there is plenty to see in Old Town and you can take ferry to Wasa Museum. Did not see a need for HOHO.

HOHO may be useful in Copehagen if you go to the two palaces, but our time in Copenhagen was limited and we chose to do the canal boat ride (1 hour) and explore the area around the pedestrian street.

We had a good breakfast and skipped lunch in most places and just had a beer in some interesting place in almost every port, but could have had lunch along with the beer. Had a late snack onboard after returning to the ship. Proud to say that I lost a couple of pounds!

We carried room service (ham & cheese) sandwiches in Russia to eat on the bus for lunch. Just order them the previous day and stoire in the minibar. They do not provide boxed lunches.

Another comment: we were glad to be in the early seating for dinner. Some of the shows etc were after the second seating for them and i would not want to be up late after a strenuous day of walking. Several with late seating were not too happy:(

The ship does not carry many of the eastern european currencies (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3916853#post3916853

We had perfect weather without rain in all ports and temps in the mid 50s to high 60s. It did rain some nights and on 2 of our sea days at the end.

Celebrity provided complimentary shuttles in:

Copenhagen

Stockholm

Riga (very far, and those who did not get on first set of 5-6 buses had a long wait)

Tallin (but it was a 15 min walk)

Helsinki

No shuttle in:

Warnemunde but Train Station and Hertz counter right at the dock

Klaipeda (10 minute walk to Old Town)

Of course St Petersburg private tour bus/car (******, Red October, etc) was right at the dock.

Local maps everywhere from Celebrity and local agents.

Taxis easy to find in Dover. we walked off the ship at 8:15 am and there were at leat 10 taxis. Took taxi to coach station and rode coach to Victoria station. London hotel (Trafalgar Square) to Heathrow was

Here is what Ann & I ended up doing:

Dover: stayed at Churchill Hotel Best Western (best rates on-line) after driving from Heathrow. Car return about 1.5 miles from Western Docks. Old hotel but comfortable inspite of slanty floors.

Copenhagen: Shuttle to town (15 min) at 8;30 am to King's New Square. ATM near bus drop off. Money change with good rates at entrance to the pedestrian street. 1 hour canal tour for 50 Kr (need local cash) each was worthwhile. Walked down pedestrian street.

Warnemunde: Picked up Hertz car at the dock and 4 of us drove to Berlin (2.5 hours) leaving at 8 am. Parked near the zoo (15 Euro). Took a hop on - hop off bus with about 12 stops (several different companies - ours was Berolinas) for 19 Euro each. Has head phones with commentary in 8 languages. Lopp takes about 2 hours if you don't get off. Car rental and gas cost about 150 Euro (gas was almost half that amount!) split among 4 people. Driving seemed easy (Henry drove).

Stockholm: Took shuttle at 8:45 am for 15 minute ride. Walk4ed over to catch the ferry boat (30 Kr per person each way paid in cash) near Old Town to Vasa Museum to see the old ship (ship's map was incorrect about where the ferry dock was). Museum accepts credit cards. Changing of guard at place from noon to 1 pm. Walked around Old Toen (Gamla stan).

Riga: caught first wave to shuttles to town (30 minute ride). Walked around and shopped. Plenty of places to change money. Local guided tour available but we did not see it; others did. Good quality Amber esp atb the shop next to Amber Museum and it is listed on the tourist map.

Tallinn: the surprise jewel of the trip. 15 min walk or short shuttle ride. Good shopping. Money changers charge $4 fee. Paid $ for purchases and got local money back for beer! Stores accept $ or credit cards.

St Petersburg: ignore the ship's schedule and get off when you want. Immigartion lines were not too long. Red October returned us by 5 pm. Plenty of time to eat and go out for evening shows, but we were too tired. 2 shopping stops. Visited Pushkin, Hermitage, Peterhof (fantastic fountains), Spilled Blood Cathedral, St Isaacs, Yusupov's Palace, Peter & Paul Fortress, ST Nicholas Church, and plenty of picture taking stops. Good guide, but it was difficult to get her to take time to buy camera pass (they charged$4 for a 50 ruble pass when she did get a pass!). Good guide (Alyona) otherwise. Small group of 14 (with Eddie and others) was better than a bus load!Cost was $248 per person for 2 days.

Helsinki: 15 min shuttle to town. Nice walk to Market Square. Local sightseein bus was 22 Euro per person. We bought a 8 Euro group ticket (works for up to 6 people) and rode tram 3T and 3B around town and the ticket covered ferry ride to Semnolinna Island too. Trams run very frequently. Single all day tourist ticket costs 5.4 Euro. Good deal! Hellps to have Euro cash for tram ticket. Vendors in Market Square take credit cards.

Klaipeda: easy 10 min walk into town. Good shopping for Amber and lines or wood items. Big welcome for us (first big ship ever!) from the town and lots of local came to see the ship. Welcome party on the pier with music and dancers. Rather small Old Town with not as much to see as Riga or Tallinn. Easy money change at bank. We decide against 8 hour Curonian Spit tour which would have consumed entire stay and opted instead for Palanga Museum Ce;ebrity tour ($49 each). Reading Eddie's notes, we would have done better just getting a taxi with English speaking driver instead of the 4 hour tour. Walked and shopped in Old Town in the morning.

London: Coach ride to Victoria Station was easy. Would suggest booking on-line as the bus tends to be full. With got to the Coach Terminal half hour early and wre able to get a seat on earlier coach.

Trafalgar Hilton was a great loaction to walk around the West End. Plenty to do within walking distance. Hotel booked a fixed price Black Cab (45 GBP) for us for returm to Heathrow.

All in all a great trip. We used ship's tours only once. Going around by yourself is pretty easy.