Best Baltic Cruise? - not NCL or Crystal

[DUHCAR]

Looking for a great Baltic cruise next July. Want a 7 to 11? day cruise of the Baltic. Must include St P. and the usual stops. Bonus points if some of Norway included :-)

 

I like ones that start in Stockholm and end in Copenhagen (or vice versa). That way you can explore each of these cities on your own before and after the cruise. And that is why I have eliminated NCL (starts and ends on Copenhagen w/ just on day in Stockholm) and also Crystal (they expect you to stay on the ship go a day before and after sailing).

 

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!

 

John

Toronto

[cirman52]

What ever cruise you pick, make sure that you at least over night in Sy. Pete, way too much to see in 1 day.

[paul929207]

Definitely 2 days in St. Petersburg. If you are not exhausted when you sail from St. P, then you have wasted too much time. There is so much to see.

[CruiserBruce]

Holland America has several Baltic cruises of different lengths in that time frame. Eurodam, for example does a 10 day roundtrip out of Copernhagen with a stop in Stockholm and an overnight in St P.

 

Adding Norway to the Baltic adds a lot of days, so don't expect anything under 12 days.

[LHT28]

Agree 2-3 days in SPB is a must

If you add Norway to the mix you will need to add days

 

Pick the itinerary & the ship that suits your budget

 

Enjoy

[Hoyaheel]

We were booked on Pacific Princess for a 12 night northern Europe in 2009. I'm still sad we had to cancel that cruise:mad: HAL and Princess are the lines we like because of the available smaller ship sizes (and price - Oceania and Regent have some lovely options too but at a higher price point) But ship size is an added requirement of ours that I realize many don't share.

 

Europe is so popular - there seem to be tons of itinerary options for you!

[DUHCAR]

What ever cruise you pick, make sure that you at least over night in Sy. Pete, way too much to see in 1 day.

 

All of these cruises spend two days in St. Petersburg, so that is not a factor.

 

I'm looking for recommendations on which cruise line

[Hoyaheel]

 

I'm looking for recommendations on which cruise line

 

Which cruiselines have you enjoyed before, and for what reasons? If you spend more than an hour on cruise critic, you realize that we all have lines we like and specific reasons (even if not articulated) why we like that line.....

[Keith1010]

I would look up what cruises are offered using a Travel Agency search engine.

 

Keith

[LHT28]

All of these cruises spend two days in St. Petersburg, so that is not a factor.

 

I'm looking for recommendations on which cruise line

Everyone will have a personal preference

They are all good in different ways

You have to decide what works best for your needs/wants

My favourite is Oceania some of their sailings have 3 days in SPB

 

Enjoy whatever cruise you choose

 

Lyn

[DUHCAR]

Which cruiselines have you enjoyed before, and for what reasons? If you spend more than an hour on cruise critic, you realize that we all have lines we like and specific reasons (even if not articulated) why we like that line.....

 

We have enjoyed Uniworld, more than HAL. And river cruises over the big ships, but this time it makes a lot of sense to use a big ship to cover these ports.

 

Liking Oceania, SevenSeas and Silversea so far. Next is to do a spreadsheet to figure it all out.

 

And hopefully some have been on several different lines and have some prejudices that they would to state.

[Essiesmom]

Most of the cruise lines do a round trip, returning to the same port...Not like the cruises in the Med that start in one port and end in another. But there are several out there besides Crystal that sail between Stockholm and Copenhagen.

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/fromstockholmsweden-jul2013.html

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/fromcopenhagendenmark-jul2013.html

[Hoyaheel]

Most of the cruise lines do a round trip,

I'm not finding that to be true, when I look at a consolidator website, checking Northern Europe cruises that include St. Petersburg....I find many that are one-direction.

 

Regent & Oceania - there are MANY threads (in both those fora) comparing the two lines. I'm interested in both lines, so I've read them:p

[kestrel]

We picked HAL for our Baltic cruise many years ago because of the excellent itinerary. Besides 2 days in St.P we only stopped in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallins, and Warnemunde.

 

Since then Princess Cruise improved their Baltic itineraries to be very similar to HAL's. Check both cruise lines to see whether any interests you.

[alcpa1]

We sailed on The Journey last year. It is an Azamara ship, part of the RCI family.

We had three nights in St. Petersburg docking within sight of The Hermitage. Only the smallest ships can achieve this. They are ships of Seabourn, Regent, Oceania, Silverseas, Crystal and Azamara. These docking sites (on either bank of the Neva) will give you many extra hours to tour.

We overnighted in Stockholm on our return to Copenhagen.

In Helsinki we docked in the middle of town, within sight of the Marimekko store.

I know the itinerary for 2012 changed to Stockholm departures for one thing but do look at the itinerary for next year.

They do sail to Norway on other itineraries.

You will need a longer cruise to include Norway to St. Petersburg, etc. Look at departures from Amsterdam or England.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ship and the itinerary and highly recommend Azamara.

[Hoyaheel]

. They are ships of Seabourn, Regent, Oceania, Silverseas, Crystal and Azamara.

 

And two still belonging to Princess (Ocean and Pacific - same R ships as Oceania and Azamara- hence the itinerary I had booked on them a couple years ago......

[jtamchay]

last year we did a Baltic on Oceania Insignia...14 days. We departed from Stockholm and spent one night aboard the ship before we left Stockholm. We had not cruised Oceania prior to this cruise. We selected the cruise based solely on the itinerary and the small size of the ship. The casual atmosphere we wanted and very port intensive.

Three days in StP was still not enough.We also visited Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga,Visby,Copenhagen, Berlin/Warnemunde,Kiel Canal transit,Amsterdam, Bruges/Zeebrugge and into Dover. It definitely hit the highlights of that region. We also had lengthy stays in the ports and plenty of time to get around on our own and with small private tours.

Would I recommend the Oceania for you...I don't know you...but the itinerary I would recommend with the caveat that all things are not perfect but this ships tries hard... and we would cruise Oceania again for the itinerary that best meets our needs.

Have fun choosing...

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I would go with Princess or Holland..