What I wish I'd known before I left

[Trip4Me]

Julie,

I will check out reserving a van for Bruges. I think some cruisers on boards have suggested reserving van in the ports and it sounded like a good idea. But I am not sure what happens if the ship changes the itinerary at that last moment. From your response and others, SPB Tours seems to be the go-to place for St Petersburg. I think I feel safe enough to book that one on line.

 

Was the weather warmer than usual for your cruise? I thought that far north the weather would be cooler. How were the evenings? Did you need to pack clothes for warm weather and cold?

 

Tallinn - took the ship's shuttle to the gate by the flower shops. We used a combination of Rick Steve's, Eyewitness Guides and *****' walking tours.

http://www.*****.com/tallinnwalk.html

 

http://www.*****.com is an excellent resource and he's very nice about answering questions; he's on these boards.

 

This website looks interesting, thanks.

[Trip4Me]

Cadburysmom,

You seemed to like the ship excursions. Did you find any that were not worth the time or you would have rather done a different one? It is hard to get a feel for which ones are a must do and others to avoid. I really like the chance to hear from others who have been on the cruise to get their thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Bruin Steve]

A couple of notes on your areas of concern...

 

Weather: On our four Northern Europe cruises (all in July or August, three Baltic, one British Isles/Norwegian Fjords), we have found weather to be somewhat hit or miss...We had great weather all through this one (except for a little rain and cold during our precruise in England)...I was able to be comfortable in shorts and T-Shirts in every port. However, it's not always the case...We had wind and rain in Stockholm in 2008...In 2005, we had some rainy days in Britain and Ireland and I had to buy a jacket while touring in port one day...

 

My advice is to pack as if the weather will be warm and sunny...but to bring along a couple of extra items: A nylon hooded windbreaker and a pair of elastic waisted nylon "wind pants" that you can slip on over your shorts...carry these with you while touring ports in your bag or knapsack...They don't take up much space in your luggage or your bag and don't weigh much--but will keep you warm and dry if needed...

 

As to the private guide/shorex thing, note also that in some of these ports private guides may either be prohibitively expensive or difficult to find...or both. In those cases, the shore excursions are just fine and definitely simpler and less stress for you. St. Petersburg, of course, has a booming private guide industry. As noted, SPB is very good and Viktoria is great to work with. I have also dealt with Red October on one of my previous Baltic cruises and though they were pretty good as well.

 

In Warnemunde, again there are a few tour companies to work with and SPB (for Berlin) will give you a discount if you book both ports with them. Others on our cruise used "Friends of Dave" (for town closer to Warnemunde) and he gets good reviews here.

 

But, in the other ports, you may find private guides at reasonable prices hard to come by...

 

In Copenhagen a few years back, we toured with this guy:

 

http://www.copenhagenwalks.com/1024x768/default.htm

 

...and thought him to be pretty good...

Not sure how much time he has to do completely private tours as he also maintains a schedule of group tours...but you can try emailing him and asking...

[julieawill]

CadburysMom - I was sorely tempted to take the rooftop tour. I'm so glad you liked it, I will definitely do that if I'm ever in Stockhom again.

 

Trip4Me - We had record-breaking heat in Northern Europe the first week of our trip. I googled it when I got home. They broke a 200+ year old record in Sweden and a 75-year old record in Finland. They had to evacuate some trains in Germany when the temps rose to over 140 degrees (the AC broke down). A couple of days before we arrived in St. Petersburg, they measured the temps at 120 degrees in the Rembrandt room. It was insanely hot! Way too hot even for denim shorts. My go-to outfits ended up being linen shirts and light cotton shorts or capris.

 

You are going to have such a great time!

[Maryandi]

BruinSteve awhile back you recmmended The Dutch Travel Advisor for Amsterdam. I wanted to tell you 'Many Thanks'.

 

We will be using Edwin and he designed the tour as we wanted it , we are happy with our choice.

 

Just have to wait until we get over there.

 

MaryAnn

[Trip4Me]

Steve, Thanks for the Copenhagen site. The walking tours look very interesting. I like your suggestion for carrying light weight wind/rain clothes in a back pack. I would much rather have the cooler even wet weather compared to what Julie experienced on her trip.

 

Julie, I was reading about the weather and was greatful my trip is a year out. I just hope the weather doesn't repeat the record breaking numbers next year. I guess I will plan on warm weather outfits and bring along some cool weather cover ups just in case.

[Bruin Steve]

Julie, I was reading about the weather and was greatful my trip is a year out. I just hope the weather doesn't repeat the record breaking numbers next year. I guess I will plan on warm weather outfits and bring along some cool weather cover ups just in case.

 

The funny thing is that Julie and I were on the SAME cruise! And we never thought the weather was anything other than perfect...

Of course, coming from Southern California, whatever the weather was, it was cooler than back home for us...

And we usually travel in the Mediterranean that time of year, so, compared with the Med, the Baltic IS cool...

 

I really would not worry at all about heat and the Baltic...Rain is always a concern because you need to be prepared ...

But, all I'd say about heat is to make certain that any pre-or post-cruise hotels have airconditioning--not always the case in London or Stockholm or other area ports...and maybe avoid the Ballet in St. Petersburg--that theater, when packed with people--and no AC--can be like a sauna...We did the Canal Boat tour at night in St. Petersburg--which made for a lovely evening...

[Trip4Me]

Thanks Steve - I didn't even consider checking to make sure the hotels have air conditioning. I guess even the more modern ones may not have AC.

[2ndsailing]

We were also on the Baltic cruise with Steve and Julie. Had a fantastic time!! We were in the group that did the tour with "Friends of Dave" -- it was wonderful and we would recommend him.