West Coast Cruizers

Hi,

Thank you for the feedback. I actually booked exactly what you did before I even read your post. I have already booked local tours/HOHO on line and I'ts amazing how much you can save compared to Princess.

How early can we get off the ship in each port? Most of the local tours starts at 10/10:30 and if there is a good travel time, I wonder if we can make it in the middle of the town?

Did you get to see a lot from the HOHO? My kids are much younger but they always seem to enjoy the HOHO everytime we travel.

Thanks again.

To the family with kids, we're a family with 2 kids too, only mine are older than yours, 14 and 12. Here's some of what we did, so you can check if it works for you.

 

Stockholm - Took the HOHO ferry. There are 2 companies and their reps are right there at the dock. It was pretty easy to buy tickets from them. The boats were only a few meters away. Cost was 100KRR for adults, 50 for kids. We went over to Old Town then walked to the Royal Palace. Changing of the guards was great especially for kids. They liked the big horses and the band. Took the ferry to Vasa Museum. Entrance ticket cost was 95 for adults, kids were free, so you really save a lot over cruise tours.

 

Helsinki - went with HOHO buses ($34 for adults, 20euro for kids, yes, used 2 diff currencies to pay since I didn’t have enough) but if I can do a do-over, I'd probably use the shuttle service to town.

 

St. Petersburg – went with Denrus. The tour can get pretty tiring. My 12-year-old was practically sleeping through Hermitage.

 

Tallinn - walked on our own. The town is quite near to the dock.

 

Gdansk - used Princess gdansk on your own tour ($34 for adults, $24 for kids) and just walked around town ourselves. Just took it easy, kids got the tall soft-serve type ice cream and loved it.

 

Oslo - the HOHO takes a long circuitous route. It's easier to take the tram #12 to Vigeland and back, then take the ferry to Viking Ship museum. There is a 10-15 min uphill walk to the museum We bought the dagskort ticket which is good for all public transport for the day. Around $10 for adults, $5 for kids. You can get the tickets right at the tourist shop as you get off the ship. Viking Ship entrance : Family of 4 ticket was 125NOR, cheaper than getting 2 adults at 50 and kids at 30. So total cost for family of 4: around $50.

 

Hope this helps!

Thank you, thank you!!!

We will cancel the tour with Princess and will do it on our own. I think it's the most practical way to do it because it includes transportation and free entry to most of the attractions.

I have bought my Copenhagen card which will come in the mail.

I am planning to buy Stockhom card, Helsinki card and Norway card on line.

However, I have to pay 12 euro by mail for each country or pick up at tourist office.

The Stockholm Tourist Office is located on the corner of Kungsträdgården, just opposite the NK department store. Do you have any idea how far it is from the port?

Helsinki Expert, Tour Shop at the Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau Pohjoisesplanadi 19 FIN-00100 Helsinki

Tourist information offices in Oslo; one by the Central Station (open 365 days a year), one by City Hall (open all year) and one at the cruise ship terminal (open when cruise ships call).

Do you know if there are tourist offices next to the port except for Oslo (which has one)? Since we only have 8 hours in the port, I don't want to waste our time figuring out where the tourist offices are just to pick up the card.

West Coast Cruizers

West Cost Cruizers:

 

here's the information on the stops for the two HO/HOs we used in case you want to plan their usage.

 

Stockholm (web site www.sightseeing.se - then go to Stockholm and click on the British flag to show the page in English). The ferry HO/HO boats stop at:

A. Nybroplan

B. Vasa Museum - seeing this recovered warship is definitely worth doing.

C. Skeppsholmen - museum of modern art and far Eastern Antiquities

D. Tivoli Grona Lund (free entrance is included in the adult ticket for HO/HO)

E. Cruise Berth/Viking Line

F. Stadsgarden 158-160

G. Old Town

H. The Royal Palace - definitely try to see the changing of the guard. The band and guards ride in on horseback - makes for great pictures.

 

Price is 100 kr per adult.

 

Oslo HO/HO (website www.citysightseeing.no) - this website is in English and shows the route and stops. Some of the stops include: stop 9 is at the Royal Castle and the Ibsen museum. Stop 12 is the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Stop 14 or 16 is the Viking Ship Museum. Adult tickets are $33, children (ages 5 -15) are $15 each or a family ticket is $90.

 

For other HO/HO locations, try their official site (http://www.city-sightseeing.com) and go to the country or city you are interested in.

Thank you for a different perspective that you wrote about your recent Baltic cruise. We are going in July and I have 4 and 6 years old children who has previously cruised to Europe with Disney.

Is it do-able to do the cruise on our own using the pass and Ho-Ho buses?

Although I have reserved every single tour with Princess in every port, I'm still looking for someone who can give me a different perspective regarding doing it on our own with our children so we can have a full control of our time and I know we might need to sacrifice some attractions, but if it's worth the costs and convenience, we will do it.

Can you leave the kids to the ship on port days? (If they don't like to go for sightseeing?

We were also on this Baltic cruise and enjoyed it very much.

 

The Emerald Princess did not use tender service at any of the ports. We were at dockside every day. Getting on/off the ships was very quick - if you wait thru the first 30 minutes or so for the initial rush to get off of the ship, you'll be fine.

 

In Poland, Princess does not offer a shuttle service to Gdansk. However, there are several taxis available just off of the gangway that you can hire either to drive you to Gdansk or take you around the area on a private tour. We hired a driver for the day for our 4-person party for $250 (you negotiate the price up front) and went around Gdansk as well as visited a German concentration camp that's about 40 minutes from Gdansk (I don't remember the price to drive only into Gdansk but Lawrence mentions it in his port lecture). Our driver lived in the US for 5 years and spoke very good English. He made an excellent tour guide and went around Gdansk with us pointing out the sights in the main tourist areas. We also visited the Solidarity memorial at the shipyard gate and made some other stops on the way back to the ship. We would definitely recommend this over the organized tours. The concentration camp was not on any of the Princess tours and we felt like that was one item everybody should visit if they have the opportunity.

 

In most of the other ports, you can catch a Princess shuttle into downtown for $5 or $6 each way. Many of the ports are perfect for walking around town on your own instead of taking a formal ship tour. Tallinn in Estonia is a quaint town to visit and walk thru. If you do want to get around the towns, you can usually find a Hop On/Hop Off tour bus near the ship that you can buy a one-day pass for and see much of the city from. Only place we had trouble with them was in Oslo. In Oslo, they run different size buses on the loop, and had buildups of people waiting to be picked up at the more popular stops (they also had one break down and leave all of it's people at one stop). Allow more time for pickup than the every 30 minutes they tell you when you buy the ticket. They also don't announce all of the stops - at the Viking Ship Museum they didn't even open the doors when they pulled up to the stop sign near it. We had to ask the driver to let us off.

 

Here's some information on the different ports I'd posted last week, where we docked, and the price for Princess shuttles.

Stockholm - departure from pier at Stadsgarden 167 to downtown with drop-off and pick-up on Stromgatan Street, next to the Opera House. Shuttle travel time 15-20 minutes. Adult Prices - $11 round trip, $7 one way

 

Helsinki - departure from pier at Nernesaari Cruise Pier C to downtown with drop off and pickup at Erottaja bus stop in front of the Swedish theater. Travel time approx. 15 minutes. Prices - Roundtrip $10, one way $6. Children 11 and under with paying adult are free of charge. We used this service in Helsinki and covered the city and sites with no problems.

 

St. Petersburg - no shuttle (for obvious reasons because of visas).

 

Tallinn - Departure from the end of the pier to the Mere Boulevard in the Lower Town. Shuttle time 10 minutes. Price - one way $6. No round trip fee.

 

Gdynia - Princess didn't have shuttle service. Taxis are available in the parking area about a minute from the gangway. Many of the taxi drivers speak English and take US currency. The port lecture will give you plenty of useful information on prices for taxis to Gdansk or to other locations in Poland. We hired a driver for the day that spoke good English (he'd lived in Chicago for 6 years) and went to various locations (including the preserved concentration camp from World War II that is worth visiting).

 

Oslo - no shuttle service. You're in the middle of town.

As for the internet service on-board, the connections are much worse than the service we saw last year on the Emerald. This year, in the Internet Cafe, there were many days when up to 20% of the computers were unavailable due to service problems. And there were problems printing out boarding passes - there were numerous problems trying to print passes from SAS. Some computers would have connection problems repeatedly and make you start over (and over) while the one next to it would work fine. Also had problems with people logging off of the computer and then trying to log on at another computer and being denied because it said they were still logged in.

 

Wireless service was available. When we weren't trying to print boarding passes, we usually used our laptop in our cabin (we were in Caribe 327). Had good signal strength there the whole cruise. Connection speed with the internet was still slow (about like the internet cafe - imagine you're using a dial up modem for the speed).

 

We also would recommend the port lectures - these were easily the best ones we have seen on a Princess cruise. John Lawrence was very informative. If you can't catch his talk during the day, catch the rebroadcast in your cabin to help plan your day in port.

Hi, Thank you for the very detailed feedback about your recent Baltic cruise with princess. We are on the July cruise,a family of four with 4 and 6 years old kids and we had cruised only Disney in the past.

I have booked every single tour with Princess and it will cost a lot if we bring the children in every port. Is it advisable to do it on your own for some/most of the ports? Would you advise to take the children to the port?

Do we need local currency for every port? Not sure if you have kids, how are the kid's program?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Grace

I was on the first Emerald Princess sailing to the Baltic this May. The following is not a review, but covers some topics that those on this itinerary this summer might be interested in knowing.

Of course, all of the information here is accurate for the May 16 cruise. Some of it (staff, MUTS, trivia prizes, etc.) may change over the summer.

Port of Copenhagen

The ship departs and returns to Fryhavn (Freeport). This is not the area near the Little Mermaid. The closest train station is Nordhaven, about a 10 minute walk from the dock. The station does have an elevator if you have luggage.

If you take a train from/to the airport, you will need to change trains at central station.

Cost of a taxi from the airport is about $50. Credit cards and Danish kroner are all that are accepted.

On disembarkation day, Princess offers (in addition to an airport transfer) a transfer to the central train station for $20 at 8 AM and at 9:30 AM. This was not advertised. Buy tickets at the shore excursion desk.

On a Saturday, there were 30 cabs at the dock at about 8 AM. Sorry, I did not look on the Tuesday when the Baltic cruise ended.

Staff

Captain - Giorgio Pomata

Cruise Director - Neil Chandler

Executive Chef - Christian Carbillet

Neil did an excellent job in scheduling activities from lectures to games to entertainment. There was always something to do if you did not just want to relax.

All staff (including Purser’s desk) were always helpful.

Paseengers

There were 27 children in mid-May. This is, of course, before school is out for the summer.

650 of the passengers had been on the trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise for Fort Lauderdale.

There were 1873 Captain’s Circle members (those who have sailed Princess previously): 1086 gold, 591 Platinum, and 196 elite. That meant about a thousand sailing with Princess for the first time.

The most traveled passenger had 644 days (57 voyages) on Princess.

Most of the time the ship did not feel crowded. One big exception is at the atrium when the sale tables were out. It was often difficult at those times to make your way past that pinch point.

Red vs. Blue

As on the other Grand class ships, the rugs on the port side (even numbered cabins) have a red stripe while the rugs on the starboard side (odd numbered cabins) have a blue stripe. When you get off an elevator, just look for the red or blue stripe to know which side to go to.

Formal Nights

There are two formal nights, one on each of the two sea days.

The Champagne Waterfall was built at the same time as the Captain’s Welcome Aboard party on the first formal night.

Shore Excursions

There was almost always a long line at the shore excursion desk. Avoid this line and save time by booking your Princess shore excursions online before the cruise.

Internet

As far as I could tell, the Internet was available the entire cruise, at least any time I wanted to access it.

The signal in a cabin varied according to Cabin location. I was on the trans-Atlantic segment on the Riviera deck just aft of the center elevators and had a strong, usable signal at all times. For the Baltic segment, my cabin was just forward of the center elevators on the Caribe deck and the signal was too weak to be used in the cabin.

The allowance for platinum and elite status was $100. This bought you 250 minutes + 30 bonus minutes if you signed up for the $100 package on embarkation day. Package minutes could be used both in the ship’s Internet café and on your personal laptop.

Money conversion

An ATM (US $) is located in the casino.

There were several foreign exchange ATMs near the atrium on decks 5 and 6, but not all were working. The exchange rate is poor compared to what you can get at an on shore ATM. For example, on the days that I used a shore ATM to get Euros, I was buying Euros for $1.33 each. The ship’s ATMs Euros were costing $1.41 each plus a $3.50 service charge.

Food

The Da Vinci dining room (6th floor, atrium) was open from noon to 1:30 PM on embarkation day, a good alternative to the buffet that day. This is the same dining room that is open for breakfast and lunch. On some days, the dining room was at capacity for lunch and there was a wait to get in.

Dinner hours:

Anytime dining (Da Vinci and Michelangelo (5th floor, atrium) 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM.

Traditional dining (Botticelli, 6th floor aft) at 6:15 PM and 8:15 PM. (OK first timers - the only way to get to the Botticelli dining room if you are on deck 5 or 6 at the atrium or forward of the atrium is to go up to deck 7, walk all the way aft, and then go down to deck 6. )

I had traditional seating, so I do not know if there were any lines at the anytime dining rooms. However, I never heard anyone complaining about having to wait there.

Sorry, I do not know what the dinner theme was each evening.

Entertainment

There were four production shows: "What a Swell Party", "Motor City", "I Got The Music", and "Boogie Shoes." All but the "Boogie Shoes" had three performances. 8:30 PM and 10:30 PM (or 7:15 PM and 9:15 PM) the first night and 9:15PM the second night. "Boogie Shoes" only had the two first night times.

Bands: Princess Showband, Bruce Gordan Quartet, Emerald Quartet, Temperature

Also the classical Astoria Strings.

Comedians, physical comedians, ventriloquist, body balancing.

Crooners bar piano player/singer was Manda Vincent. At various times also had piano players in the Piazza and in the Adagio Lounge.

Main Piazza performer was Rob Alton, a BMX bike acrobat on at least three days.

MUTS movies included "Mamma Mia", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Confessions of a Shopaholic", "He’s Just Not That Unto You", "Bride Wars", "Marley & Me", "Nights In Rodanthe", and "Yes Man." No doubt some of these will change over the summer. In mid-May, at least, it was very cool on deck in the evening, and MUTS was not well attended. Most of the MUTS movies were shown the next day on the in-Cabin TV,

Activitiies

The usual Princess activities which include games (Taboo, Trivia, Pictionary, etc.) demonstrations (fruit and vegetable carving, towel folding, ice carving, Martini making), sports (Ping Pong tournament, golf chipping, basketball shootout, etc.).

There were no (none, zero, zip) luggage tags as prizes at trivia. Prizes included Princess pens, luggage straps, magnets, tote bags, and small inflatable ships. However, there is always the chance that a new supply of luggage tags will make its way on board.

Of course there was Bingo and wooden horse racing, And the art auctions.

And "elevator roulette." The players gather by the aft elevators on deck 7 and using (free) chips bet on which of the four elevators will be the next one to stop at that floor.

Lectures

Not to be missed are the Port lectures by John Lawrence. These are informative lectures, not sales pitches, and the Princess Theater is often overflowing for them. If you are on a tour, the lectures help you understand what you are going to see. If you are doing a port on your own, the information is essential. A DVD of his port lectures is available in a Princess shop for $20.

Unfortunately, a couple of the lectures are scheduled while many people are still on shore, but they are usually broadcast later on the in-cabin TV.

John also gives a couple of lectures on historical topics. He also gives some commentary from the Bridge during scenic sailings into/from a port.

Our voyage also had a lecturer who spoke about international trade. I assume there will be different lecturers over the course of the summer.

 

Ports

Weather was good in most ports. Temperatures in mid-May were generally in the 50s and 60s. There was a light rain in Copenhagen most of embarkation day. Mostly sun and some clouds in all the other ports although some had some short periods of rain.

Only going to comment on a couple of the ports:

St. Petersburg

People who booked Princess or independent excursions (DenRus, Alla, Red October) were all happy with their tours.

You are no doubt aware that you cannot tour on your own unless you have obtained in advance a Russian visa. Further discouraging individual touring if you do have a visa is that the port is located away from the city and there is no public transportation available.

If you book a Princess tour or a tour with one of the recognized tour operators, then you do not have to obtain a visa as the tour operator will take care of this. Do not worry if you have an independent tour (DenRus, etc.) when you read Princess notices that seem to say you must have obtained a visa if you are not on a Princess tour.

This year, Russia has a form to fill out to give to the immigration officer. Princess will supply the form which has identical information to be entered in two places. Read carefully how to fill it out.

Naturally, everyone on an independent tour wants to disembark as soon as possible the first morning in St. Petersburg. Of course, the Princess tours also need to start. Princess suggests that those not on Princess tours go to a designated dining room, obtain a number, and then wait for your number to be called to disembark. This is not necessary. Once the ship has been cleared, you can disembark by going to one of the gangways being used.

This year the ship docks in a new port where there are more immigration booths than in the past, at least six, maybe eight. Thus, the lines are not as long for clearing immigration as they have been in past years.

The booths are labeled by Princess as for Princess tours or independent tours. You can ignore those signs. The immigration people do not care what type of tour you are on. You will need to present your passport, the filled in immigration form, and your tour ticket (which acts as your visa).

We, as in the past, also presented a Xerox copy of the picture page of the passport. I do not know if this is still a requirement as this sheet was immediately returned by the immigration officer. It is possible that the new immigration form replaces the need for the Xerox copy. However, if the Patter says you need the copy, then have one available. Although the Purser’s desk will make a copy for you, I suggest bringing one from home as the line at the Purser’s desk is very long for the several days before St. Petersburg as people line up for making copies.

The immigration officer will return one half of the immigration form and a plastic card that serves as your visa for the day. Both of these items are turned in when you return to the ship that day. (The line to go through the emigration booth can be long, depending how many booths are open.)

The second morning does not have much of a problem leaving the ship for independent tours. Just allow 10 minutes or so for the immigration line. For the second time, you only need to present your passport and the tour ticket. You will again be given the plastic card that serves as your visa for the day and which again will be collected when you return to the ship.

By the way, do not lose your passport while on tour. You will not be allowed to reboard the ship without it, but must remain in Russia until a replacement is obtained.

Traffic in Saint Petersburg was horrendous. In the first day, our tour bus was due back at 5:30 PM but did not make it back until 7 PM. On the second day, when the ship was supposed to depart at 6 PM, Princess tour busses were still returning at 7:40 PM.

If you have booked an evening excursion the first day, either Princess or independent, bring your evening tour ticket with you on your day tour. You may find it necessary to go directly to your evening tour bus upon returning from the daytime tour. You may not have the time to wait on lines to emigrate, return to the cabin, and then go through immigration again.

Princess does have a Russian folkloric group in the Princess Theater the first night in St. Petersburg (8:30 PM and 10:30 PM). It is also shown live on MUTS and on the in-cabin TV the following day. A very good show. Those who went on Princess or independent tours to an evening folkloric show also enjoyed their experience.

Be very careful about pickpockets in St. Petersburg. Many tours stop at an outdoor souvenir market where you must be extra vigilant. Also be careful in the museums.

Oslo

One of the best tourist deals for those who are 67 years or older is the Oslo Pass at the senior rate of 76 NKr (less than $12 at the May exchange rate) which includes any Oslo transportation you would need as well as admission to just about any museum or attraction you would want to see. You can get the pass (credit cards accepted) at the tourist information counter in the terminal building. The counter (on the right when you enter the building) did not open until 7:30 when we were there, but may open earlier now that the season has started.

For visiting the Viking Ship Museum, I recommend using Bus #30 over using the ferry as the bus drops you off right in front of the museum. I also recommend using Bus #30 to go from the Viking Ship Museum to the Kon Tiki and Fram museums. Using the ferry to return to downtown Oslo from the latter museums is a good option.

As an alternative to the excellent walking tour John Lawrence suggests, I suggest the following activities which can be accomplished during the limited time the ship is in port:

a) Tram #12 to Frogner Park and see the Vigeland sculptures.

b) Tram back downtown and then bus #30 to visit the Viking Ship Musuem

c) Bus #30 from the Viking Ship Musuem to visit the Kon Tiki and Fram musuems

d) Ferry to downtown to visit City Hall

e) Visit the Akershus fort which is next to where the ship is docked

On days when there is a City Hall tour at Noon, the tour can be substituted for the visit to the Akershus fort.

 

Miscellaneous

All four of the aft elevators go down to deck 6 (Botticelli dining room) and up to deck 18 (Skywalkers). Only the aft starboard elevator goes all the way to deck 19 where the jogging track and miniature golf are located.

The "Ultimate Ship Tour" is offered on the Emerald Princess for $150/person. Sign up at the Purser’s desk ASAP if you wish to do this.

"Chef’s Table" is offered for $75/person. Call the dining hotline (Ext. 6219) ASAP if you wish to do this.

Cabin TVs are flat screen. It is easy to access the extra electrical outlet (US style) that is behind the TV.

Access to the viewing point on deck 15 forward on top of the bridge is open while in port. Just go to deck 15 and walk all the way forward.

 

The Future Cruise office was busy with a waiting line almost all the hours it was open.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.