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St. Petersburg in June?


Petronillus
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DW and I are in the early stages of planning a trip that will include St. Petersburg. I searched this Board for relevant information but found nothing timely and relevant. If I missed something, I will gladly be redirected.

 

Right now we are organizing our thoughts around St. Petersburg a port of call. Neither of us has traveled Northern Europe at all. It seems to me that assuming this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we should visit St. Petersburg as close to the summer solstice as possible (just so that we can experience the "white nights"). If we travel HAL, as is our wont and preference, our choices would be between the 10-day Jewels of the Baltic cruise on the Zuiderdam sailing on June 3 or the 14-day Jewels of the Baltic on the Rotterdam sailing on June 16.

 

I would be grateful for your advice. Are these two cruises good choices, in terms of ships and itineraries? Since we're not constrained to work or school schedules, would we be better off with another time of year? Should we consider a river cruise instead? We will welcome your thoughts.

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I looked at both itineraries.

 

Pretty standard Baltic itineraries and enjoyable.

 

One thing to look at is the port you are embarking/disembarking from and if it appeals to you for a pre or post cruise stay.

 

While I was looking for your itineraries, I came across one other that is worthy of a look at.

 

Prinsendam sails 14 days on June 2nd IIRC and it includes the Kiel canal. Having sailed on her down the Kiel Canal I can honestly say that it is a fabulous experience. Now, that ship isn't for everyone, but if you like the sense of "cruising in the old days" P'dam offers some of that. No bells and whistles, but excellent crew and a lovely little ship that can do things the other HAL ships can't - including the Kiel Canal.

 

We have been to the Baltics twice and it is a wonderful experience. St. Petersburg will leave you awestruck and probably overhwelmed (in the good way) with the extravagance and beautiful art.

 

Tallin is totally enchanting.

 

I don't know if I have helped or not,but I would take a hard look at those itineraries, check out what appeals, which originating port appeals and not be too concerned about exact timing.

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If you are considering Rotterdam or Zuiderdam, I would chose the Rotterdam as it will probably dock near the downtown in Stockholm. I am not sure about the Zuiderdam, it might be too big to dock there.

 

I must also add that on our first cruise to St Petersburg, we missed Tallin which is a gem of medieval architecture due to be trapped in Warnemunde. The Harbor master wouldn't let us leave after all the passengers came back from Berlin due to the high waves on the Baltic.

 

I would agree with Kazu that the Prinsendam might be the better choice. It does the Kiel Canal which is absolutely fabulous. One of the busiest canals in the world. This spring we did it for the second time and it was a kick to see the Prinsendam fans following our ship as we navigated the Kiel Canal from one ferry landing to the next.

 

Also, the Prinsendam goes to Hamburg which we found to be a delight. We did a short ordination tour the day we arrived and then walked all over the city on our own the next. Tours still went to Berlin. And if you wanted to go somewhere else by train, it was possibly without having to worry about being back early as passengers from Berlin didn't get back to the ship until around 11 PM.

 

If you chose the Zuiderdam, you will be docked in the industrial port of Kiel which is at the end of the Kiel Canal. You will not be docked along the Hamburg waterfront. For Zuiderdam passengers Hamburg is more than 1 hour by car or train from Kiel.

Edited by Storylady
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DW and I are in the early stages of planning a trip that will include St. Petersburg. I searched this Board for relevant information but found nothing timely and relevant. If I missed something, I will gladly be redirected.

 

Right now we are organizing our thoughts around St. Petersburg a port of call. Neither of us has traveled Northern Europe at all. It seems to me that assuming this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we should visit St. Petersburg as close to the summer solstice as possible (just so that we can experience the "white nights"). If we travel HAL, as is our wont and preference, our choices would be between the 10-day Jewels of the Baltic cruise on the Zuiderdam sailing on June 3 or the 14-day Jewels of the Baltic on the Rotterdam sailing on June 16.

 

I would be grateful for your advice. Are these two cruises good choices, in terms of ships and itineraries? Since we're not constrained to work or school schedules, would we be better off with another time of year? Should we consider a river cruise instead? We will welcome your thoughts.

 

DH and I are looking at the same thing though we are looking at doing this in 2019. Rotterdam's itinerary is out, but Zuiderdam's isn't at this time. We are looking at a bit earlier as we want to cruise across the Atlantic to begin with. Rotterdam leaves out of Tamps mid April and actually starts the Baltic cruise the beginning of May. We are also hoping to avoid the summer crowds.

 

We have cruised on both ships and prefer Rotterdam. She is older with a wonderful promenade deck and she has lanai cabins. (we prefer them to a balcony) She also feels "comfortable" to us and sails with about 1300 people and Zuiderdam has about 1900. We cruised Rotterdam on a 42 day Ft Lauderdale to the Mediterranean and back to Ft Lauderdale in a Lanai Cabin. We loved every minute on her.

 

Rotterdam spends two days in Stockholm and has the advantage of being 14 days instead of Zuiderdam's 10 days for your cruise.

 

No matter what you decide I hope you have a wonderful trip and I hope you come back and tell us about it.

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I have to agree with both kazu and Storylady with considering the Prinsendam cruise, especially because it includes the Kiel Canal and Hamburg. This alone is a fascinating couple of days and if Hamburg is an overnight stop, it gives you time to really enjoy the city.

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We thank you all! I had not previously given serious consideration to the Prinsendam cruise sailing on June 2, 2018. That's because of the high price and the fact that it's at the outer limit of our window of time (basically, a question of comfortable time away from home, rather than of hard constraints). Your observations are changing my views. I'm checking the reviews on the Prinsendam. Thanks again!

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If you do this cruise, Petronillus, no matter which ships (we've been on them all and done all the ports) remember to see Tallinn on your own (just meander around and make sure to go outside the walls at the far end.) Also, in Stockholm, take a cab to the Vasa Museum so you are one of the first to enter ...both Tallinn and the Vasa were some of the best things about a Baltic Cruise...also loved Kiel Canal, though I hadn't expected to have to be on my feet watching for the "perfect photo" all day...beautiful views all day long! No matter what, enjoy!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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We thank you all! I had not previously given serious consideration to the Prinsendam cruise sailing on June 2, 2018. That's because of the high price and the fact that it's at the outer limit of our window of time (basically, a question of comfortable time away from home, rather than of hard constraints). Your observations are changing my views. I'm checking the reviews on the Prinsendam. Thanks again!

 

I hear you on price point on the Prinsendam but if you do one of the itineraries where she does ports others don't, it can be very worth it IMO. Not everyone agrees of course, but many do.

 

Here is the link to my live thread when we did the Baltics and the Kiel Canal. You may need to fast forward or use the search function but there were lots of comments on the Kiel Canal. Hamburg was fantastic. Just in case it may be of help. I think it was in the day before I started to do a lot of pics though.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1845046

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We were on the Zuiderdam this past June and docked in St.Petersburg June 14-15. The week before there was snow but it was mid 60s and near 70 on the second day. We did dock at Stadsgarden while in Stockholm, which is close to central Stockholm. The HO-HO boat stops right there and travels to the Vasa Museum. For Kiel, the DB Hbf is less than a mile and convenient for visiting the Hanseatic city of Lubeck.

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As Zuiderdam cruises out of Copenhagen, she can do almost the same itinerary in less days than the Rotterdam, even if two days in Stockholm are definitely an asset.

Prinsendam surely might be the best - we love the Prinsendam!! - but certainly the most expensive.

Have you noticed that Koningsdam sails the Baltics at the end of June? We have done the Baltics itinerary on several ships (other cruise lines as well) as well as on Koningsdam in 2017 and can really recommend it even if it's the end of May and not June as you mentioned. Koningsdam stops at the same ports and is a beautiful ship . If you can afford it timewise I'd even suggest booking the 21-day-trip starting at June 20th and includes a 7-day cruise to the Norwegian fjords following the trip to the Baltics. May in that area can be a bit cool , though - on the other hand there are lots of spring flowers, blooming trees and not that many tourists as later in the year. June usually is warmer though and the days are even longer.White nights in St. Petersburg....

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