Baltic Cruise - which line is best? which to avoid?

My husband and I are planning a Baltic cruise in May, leaving from Copenhagen, and doing the typical route that includes St. Pete. This will be our fifth time to Europe, but our first in this region. We did a Holland America Cruise in Alaska 8 years ago, and a cruise to the Bahamas (either Royal Caribbean or Norwegian, can't remember) about 5 years ago. We are active people who do not sit around. And I am a vegetarian.

So, knowing all that, we are looking at the cruises offered in the region. I was initially going to do MSC because it also went to Latvia and Lithuania, but the reviews were horrible. I then looked at HAL, Princess, and Norwegian. Princess seems to be the best, but we can't make the dates work, so it's down to 10 day HAL or Norwegian.

My problem? The reviews are all from caribean cruisers - very different! Scant reviews on baltic cruises of these ships that I can find. And the HAL ship they kept saying was going to be dry-docked soon, so I feel like it's a big questions mark now.

We were leaning towards HAL, because I saw some not-so-hot reviews for Norwegian, but we weren't loving HAL on our Alaska cruise. Nothing bad, just hard to get food for me a couple nights, and we would have liked more to do on the days we're stuck on the boat. Although from the sound of it, HAL seems to be among the better ones?

Anybody have feelings/experience on either of these lines in the Baltic? Should I give MSC another look?

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You might want to post on the MSC cruise line board to ask people who have sailed MSC in the Baltic to tell you about their experience. You could do likewise on NCL and HAL.

Keith

Were you comfortable on HAL? If so, go with them. We had a great time on the Baltic with HAL. European cruises can be very active- long days in ports, so you can be as active as you wish.

MSC (and Costa) get poor reviews from Americans & Brits because - surprise, surprise - they're Italian so things are done the Italian way. And they've not been great at attempts to change those things to suit their US/UK guests.

But they're well-regarded in Italy, and MSC have the latest and most-stylish fleet in the business.

If you're prepared to go with the flow (lots of small courses in long drawn-out dinners, lots of pasta, more-reserved staff, no after-dinner coffee, etc) they offer good value. :)

If you go expecting a US experience you'll join those sending in poor reviews. :(

But the Baltic is all about the ports.

Check how long in each port - some ports are only half-day.

I'd avoid those visiting St Petersburg as a single day port-of-call. IMHO it needs 2 days / I evening, preferably 3 days / 2 evenings. For Royal Caribbean there are different cruises with I / 2 / 3 days in St Petersburg.

And I'd avoid those which call at "Stockholm (Nymashamn)". Nynashamn is on the coast, an hour from Stockholm by rail or road. More importantly those ships don't sail the chanel thro the archipelago of islands en-route to Stockholm, one of the world's best sail-ins.

JB :)

Thank you for the good advice! I will revisit MSC - I do like their destinations better....

The Baltics are all about the ports. We sailed on NCL Star, and this was a much older ship and had a wonderful time (the free food wasn't very good, but we knew from the reviews to factor in the cost of specialty dining prior to booking so everything was fine.)

When you say there aren't many reviews have you gone to this site https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/regions/baltics-cruises/ and then filtered by cruise line? It was a few years ago, but I found a lot of reviews available for Baltic cruises.

I'd recommend whatever ship gives you the most time in port, but please note that larger ships (NCL Getaway or Princess Regal/Royal) have a harder time navigating the archipelago into Stockholm and are more likely to get diverted to Nynashamn. It may also take longer to clear everyone from a larger ship in St. Petersburg (they may be giving passengers on ship tours first clearance there to minimize crowds)

Seabourn does a fantastic Baltic and the small ship means you dock in St Petersburg proper rather than out at the cruise port.

We sailed on HAL Zuiderdam in May/June this year and I thought the ship was fine, even though it’s a bit worn compared to when we did its Alaska sailing in 2011. Food was good, similar to Princess and Celebrity level. We enjoyed all the ports visited. The only issue we had was due to bad weather, we didn’t reach Warnemunde until much later. As a result, we only spent a couple of hours in Berlin after a long drive to get there. This is really no one’s fault but it’s disappointing nonetheless. We will have to visit Berlin again.

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See if you can find a reasonable price on a line that might have 1000 or less passengers. Viking, Oceania, Azamara all seem to be more destination cruises but you do pay for better services and their inclusives vary greatly - so you have to really compare. For a larger line, we prefer Celebrity to some of the other large boats. There is no best - someone has a good time on every cruise.

HAL has a 2-wk Baltic cruise on its Prinsendam, their smallest ship (~900), in June and August. That could fit your needs.

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I was on the NCL Getaway, this summer and it was not fantastic. The ship is almost new, beautiful & huge but the food was mediocre. Entertainment was good but the theater is small, for such a huge ship. Not much to do on board but we were never on the ship, anyway. The sea day to get back to CPH was used to pack. It was too cool to really use the pools. NCL has switched the sister ship Breakaway to the Baltics for 2018. We did NCL because the price was right.

The ports were excellent and the time spent in port was good. Two days in St. Petersburg.

You'll have to do some research and decide. Good LucK! No matter which cruise line you take, the Baltic Ports are fantastic!!

P & O and Cunard both depart from Southampton and are excellent. Their Baltic cruises are very well regarded.

MSC (and Costa) get poor reviews from Americans & Brits because - surprise, surprise - they're Italian so things are done the Italian way. And they've not been great at attempts to change those things to suit their US/UK guests.

But they're well-regarded in Italy, and MSC have the latest and most-stylish fleet in the business.

If you're prepared to go with the flow (lots of small courses in long drawn-out dinners, lots of pasta, more-reserved staff, no after-dinner coffee, etc) they offer good value. :)

If you go expecting a US experience you'll join those sending in poor reviews. :(

 

But the Baltic is all about the ports.

Check how long in each port - some ports are only half-day.

I'd avoid those visiting St Petersburg as a single day port-of-call. IMHO it needs 2 days / I evening, preferably 3 days / 2 evenings. For Royal Caribbean there are different cruises with I / 2 / 3 days in St Petersburg.

And I'd avoid those which call at "Stockholm (Nymashamn)". Nynashamn is on the coast, an hour from Stockholm by rail or road. More importantly those ships don't sail the chanel thro the archipelago of islands en-route to Stockholm, one of the world's best sail-ins.

 

JB :)

I agree with the above. Particularly in regards to time spent in port. MSC usually offers a shorter time in ports of call than other ships (catering to primarily English speakers) and, like John Bull said, it "is all about the ports" in the Baltics.

Yes, the MSC ships are quite stylish and they offer some attractive pricing but that is not my primary consideration when cruising in Europe or Asia. I am concerned about how much time is spent in each port of call.

Furthermore, some colleagues sailed on MSC and their one day tour in St. Pete was shorter than the 1 day tour in which my friends participated (sailed on RCCL) simply because the MSC ship departed 4 hours earlier than the RCCL ship. They were quite disappointed. For this reason alone, I would avoid MSC in the Baltics. St. Petersburg is, IMHO, the jewel in the Baltic itineraries.

For me Serenade of the Seas out of Copenhagen is a good choice - I'll also avoid MSC or Costa due to being 'Too Italian. For me the Baltic Cruise highlights are Stockholm archipelago (avoid Stockholm / Nymashamn) - two days in St. Petersburg and also Tallinn.

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Of course Cunard do some wonderful cruises to this area too - you might want to look at one of these also.

We were very happy with Royal Caribbean-Vision of the Seas. Not a huge ship but big enough for lots of activities post-port. Liked that we were RT from Amsterdam so did pre- and post-cruise days there. Met a few vegetarians and they said they always had plenty of food options.

Sue

P & O and Cunard both depart from Southampton and are excellent. Their Baltic cruises are very well regarded.

Also Celebrity go to the Baltic from Southampton. They would be our choice. Ours on Celebrity Silhouette has 3 days in St. P.

Check out Windstar for a wonderful small ship experience. We have not been to this area, but have been on 3 Windstar cruises. I don't think I would want to cruise on any other line.

We will be on the Crystal Serenity in June. We chose this cruise because it is the only one I could find that gives 3 days and 2 nights in SP. That means a lot to me to be able to see SP for a longer period of time. We also will have two days in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Crystal seems pricy, but when you add in all the freebies (Free internet, free laundry, tips included, all beverages both alcohol and non alcohol, and dining twice in the upscale dining rooms) it works for us.

We will be on the Crystal Serenity in June. We chose this cruise because it is the only one I could find that gives 3 days and 2 nights in SP. That means a lot to me to be able to see SP for a longer period of time. We also will have two days in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Crystal seems pricy, but when you add in all the freebies (Free internet, free laundry, tips included, all beverages both alcohol and non alcohol, and dining twice in the upscale dining rooms) it works for us.

Seabourn does the same itinerary with the same inclusions- major difference is that the much smaller ships dock up the River Neva right next to the Hermitage Museum. It was extraordinary overnighting in the middle of the city rather than being out at the industrial cruise port which is a distance from the center of town.

Oceania offers 3 nights in SPB in August. Check it out.

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We went with Royal onboard the Serenade. Great cruise and itinerary - had 3 nights in SPB. I agree that any Baltic cruise really is (or at least should be) about the ports. It's not one of those 'relaxing getaway' type cruises. The entire atmosphere onboard felt so different from your typical Caribbean vacation cruise. It consisted of people truly interested in the destination more than the cruising. Almost felt more like a land tour where the accommodations are on a ship rather than in hotels. It was, shall we say, very 'port intensive' with (if I remember correctly) only 1 cruising day. So the actual ship you go on probably is not the most critical factor. I remember specifically the morning we arrived in SPB, the atmosphere at breakfast was the tensest I can ever recall from being on a cruise. We had been told about how tight the security can be going into Russia, etc. and also with it probably being the highlight of the entire itinerary, everyone was just really jacked up to prepare to make the most of our stay there. But, as I said, it was not necessarily in a relaxed, care-free sort of manner. Rather, very focused and deliberate. Be aware of the insanity that can ensue onboard (at least such was the case on the Serenade) relative to everyone trying to get their rubles a few days before arrival into Russia. It was certainly not the most fun part of the journey. Then, as it turned out, we hardly used many of them and wound up giving them to our Alla guide as part of his tip! It's a fantastic trip though and one that I'm sure you'll enjoy no matter who you go with!

I must put in a plug here for Alla - we traveled with only 11 people, ate at some great restaurants for lunch, and it just seemed like (either through good fortune or else the savvy of our guide) we seemed to get to sites well ahead of the large crowds. Our guide was terrific and took great care of us the entire 3 days.

We enjoyed our Baltic cruise 4 years ago with Cunard. This year we've also chosen celebrity silhouette because of the 2 night stay in St Petersburg.

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I must put in a plug here for Alla - we traveled with only 11 people, ate at some great restaurants for lunch, and it just seemed like (either through good fortune or else the savvy of our guide) we seemed to get to sites well ahead of the large crowds. Our guide was terrific and took great care of us the entire 3 days.

I can also highly recommend Alla Tours - having toured with her several times, the tours (both group and private) are excellent.

My husband and I are planning a Baltic cruise in May, leaving from Copenhagen, and doing the typical route that includes St. Pete. This will be our fifth time to Europe, but our first in this region. We did a Holland America Cruise in Alaska 8 years ago, and a cruise to the Bahamas (either Royal Caribbean or Norwegian, can't remember) about 5 years ago. We are active people who do not sit around. And I am a vegetarian.

 

So, knowing all that, we are looking at the cruises offered in the region. I was initially going to do MSC because it also went to Latvia and Lithuania, but the reviews were horrible. I then looked at HAL, Princess, and Norwegian. Princess seems to be the best, but we can't make the dates work, so it's down to 10 day HAL or Norwegian.

 

My problem? The reviews are all from caribean cruisers - very different! Scant reviews on baltic cruises of these ships that I can find. And the HAL ship they kept saying was going to be dry-docked soon, so I feel like it's a big questions mark now.

 

We were leaning towards HAL, because I saw some not-so-hot reviews for Norwegian, but we weren't loving HAL on our Alaska cruise. Nothing bad, just hard to get food for me a couple nights, and we would have liked more to do on the days we're stuck on the boat. Although from the sound of it, HAL seems to be among the better ones?

 

Anybody have feelings/experience on either of these lines in the Baltic? Should I give MSC another look?

We had the same dilemma and decided it was about the destination not just the ship.We are on Hal Zuiderdam 0n 6-3-2018. We were on the ship in Alaska and it is older and the food was not that great but we will be off the ship so much that it won't matter. Check how long the ships are in port as this can help make up your mind.On this type of cruise smaller is better.