About to book Baltic Eurodam

[VAtravelers100]

We've been on one other HAL cruise - Alaska Inner Passage a couple summers ago, and now we're about to book the 10-day Gems of the Baltic for June 24, round trip from Copenhagen. We're so excited about this itinerary!

 

I think we'll book guaranteed rooms like we did the last time (the upgrade fairy struck last time, maybe we'll get lucky again). We'll want verandah rooms I think, because that is what we had one our one and only cruise, and we liked it a lot.

 

Does anyone have suggestions about:

 

1. Whether to book directly with HAL - that's what we did last time, and it seemed to work nicely, but wondering if anything has changed.

 

2. What category cabin to book?

 

I know we'll want to sign up for the anytime dining option. I think that's the only thing we have to know for sure right when we book, right?

 

I'll appreciate any other advice or words of wisdom. Thanks so much!!

[KirkNC]

We have always found a 5-10% savings booking through a TA. As to the room, that is too much an individual thing for me to give advice.

[VAtravelers100]

Thanks for your quick reply! I'm from NC originally, by the way. Wow, that would be a significant savings since we need two cabins. Can you recommend a tour company (via personal message if that's not allowed on the forum)?

[Krazy Kruizers]

There isn't any way to send private messages on this site.

 

We use a TA that works for a very large travel agency. We prefer that as too many small agencies just can't seem to make it anymore in these tough economic times. And we do not like online TA's.

[VAtravelers100]

Oh, I didn't know that, thanks. I appreciate the thoughts on agencies. I am hesitant to add the complexity of selecting an agency since we've never worked with one in the past. I wouldn't know how to make a good choice there in terms of reliability, cost, and likelihood of upgrade from a guaranteed cabin.

[VAtravelers100]

Any thoughts on which cabin to book guaranteed? I realize we may very well get the class cabin we book, so we need to select one we're happy with. In our one previous experience the upgrade fairy moved us all the way from VF to SZ on the Zuiderdam. Maybe she'll visit again. Any ideas for meaningful differences among the verandah levels?

 

Any other thoughts to keep in mind about booking this cruise? Thanks!

[swin26]

Any thoughts on which cabin to book guaranteed? I realize we may very well get the class cabin we book, so we need to select one we're happy with. In our one previous experience the upgrade fairy moved us all the way from VF to SZ on the Zuiderdam. Maybe she'll visit again. Any ideas for meaningful differences among the verandah levels?

 

Any other thoughts to keep in mind about booking this cruise? Thanks!

 

VAtravelers100 - after you book, come on over and join our roll call for this trip - Welcome!

[baggal]

After you book, go on to your cruise's roll call and see if you can join with others to book a private tour in St. Petersburg. It will be half as expensiveas the HAL trips and you will get to see twice as much. Some of the companies now offer a discount if you book with them for both St. Petersburg and Berlin (also recommended).

 

Also check the ports of call board. Lots of good information for all the Baltic ports.

[2ptu/000]

We book cruise through Holland America and secure our room and dining time. We then transfer booking to a travel agency that gives us the best deal. We use a large on line agency and have had no problems. We also get our travel insurance through the agency. It is significantly cheaper. If you like to deal with someone via the telephone, you are probably best staying with Holland America. If you like to communicate via email, on line agency is best. I like that everything is written down in a email if any problems should surface. None have. It is important when dealing with an agency to make sure that any money is going to cruise line with out delay. You should get a booking number and be able to see it on Holland America's site. Booking number will stay the same when you transfer.

[CathyK2]

As with Swin, my husband and I are also on the sailing you are considering. As Swin said, make sure you join the roll call for this particular sailing.

 

We too are booking a Balcony Guarantee. Since you say you would like to also have a balcony, I would say that your best bet is to go ahead and go with the Guarantee balcony which will cost the least amount of all balconies. With that said, there are no guarantees that you will get an upgrade, but it also can definitely happen.

 

Two Christmas's ago, we booked five guarantee cabins for a family Christmas gift and HAL was so kind in that they upgraded ALL of us as well as kept all five cabins together. I can NOT guarantee this is common practice with them, but I had heard that they will try to keep cabins booked together, together, even with a guarantee.

 

I do hope you will decide to join with us. I use a Travel Agent that is a special friend but you may want to ask around in your neighborhood to any of your friends that may cruise. They may be able to recommend someone they have had great luck with. Or they could tell you who to avoid. :-)

 

Good luck and keep us posted as to how it goes and again, stop by and join us.

 

Cathy

[bocatraveler09]

Welcome!

 

We are a couple from Florida who will also be on the June 24th cruise. Coincidentally, our only other HAL trip was also to Alaska!

 

Through our roll call, we've put together tours for both St Pete and Berlin, using highly-recommended SPB Tours. We are keeping the groups small (10 people) but do have room for 2 more people. If you'd like to join us, I can give you more info.

 

Susan

[VAtravelers100]

Thanks for all the replies and extra tips! I guess we'll just book directly. It's interesting to hear that you can transfer the booking and pay a cheaper rate afterward. If I learn about a specific agency that seems good, it sounds like we can explore that option even after making the reservation. I had no idea!

 

I'd been reading all about the private tours in St. Petersburg and am totally sold on that plan. We're traveling with my husband's parents so will need to coordinate with them before making any plans on that. But, I'm pretty certain that's what we'll end up doing. We'd need 4 spots, so once we're booked I'll be visiting the roll call to see what's up!

 

I hadn't thought about Berlin yet - whether to do that on our own vs tour.

 

We haven't figured out the cabin plan yet. We were so spoiled in a our first and only experience - we had three cabins upgraded, and they kept us all in a row, which was so awesome. I looked back and saw the upgrade was actually all the way to SS from VF.

 

I can't imagine that we'll actually be ON the balconies all that much on the Baltic Cruise, so I think it does probably make sense to book into one the lowest V cabins guaranteed and then just see if we can get lucky again with an upgrade. This time it's just 2 cabins.

 

Let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our Baltic cruises we found ourselves out on the verandah quite a bit -- for arrivals and for departures especially.

[kazu]

On our Baltic cruises we found ourselves out on the verandah quite a bit -- for arrivals and for departures especially.

 

and when you do the scenic touring, it is very nice:) the islands and if you are doing the Elbe it should be fantastic:)

[baggal]

One more thing: make sure that your specific cruise actually docks in Stockholm and not the port that's about an hour bus drive away. (can't remember the name just now). The sail in (early in the morning) and the sail-out out of the Stockholm archipelago are worth the cost of a balcony!

 

You'll be surprised, at that time of year the weather is warm and the days are long - there are plenty of opportunities to use your balcony.

[VAtravelers100]

Nice to hear that about the weather. I guess having low expectations is safest, but we'll hope to get to spend good time on the balcony. Our only comparison is Alaska, and we managed to spend some time outside there!

 

This cruise does go through the Archipelago and does dock in Stockholm. I knew to check for those things b/c of other posts I had read here on CC. Love it!

[VAtravelers100]

I just realized that we would be departing for this trip on our 10 year wedding anniversary - how fun!!

[Spinner2]

We did a Baltic cruise on the Eurodam last summer (May-June). If you'll click on my blog link below in my signature I think you'll find lots of tour and port information that's still valid; it might save you some research. Everyone has great ideas to share; these are ours and I hope it might be still useful. Up at the top of the page the blog link for this cruise is the May-June 2011 Blog; three cruises down there's a link to the map which has a lot of updated information, too.

[Harley57]

Spinner2: thanks for the link!

 

VAtravelers100: DH, DS and I are also sailing On The June 24 Gems of the Baltic - welcome! As the others have mentioned our roll call is becoming more active. Look forward to meeting you

[Spinner2]

Harley57, our best wishes to your entire Roll Call. I'm sure you'll really enjoy this itinerary; we especially treasured our private St. Petersburg guide but also the little moments of serendipity--totally unplanned opportunities that happened because we looked around, found a knowledgeable local and asked. Or just eavesdropped, in the case of the Nobel Prize ice cream treats! Do try to just get out some of the time in most of the ports and just see what the locals are doing that day. Not possible in Russia, but very do-able everywhere else. See the blog for details.