Jewel of the Seas - Scandi/Russia 12 Night

[windjamming]

Has anyone ever sailed this route? We are considering this itinerary but are concerned that with flight, excursions and extras the cost could run >$5k per person if we go with a D1/E1.

 

If anyone has done this before, could you kindly assist me with:

 

1. Did you go with excursions (either RCI or non-RCI) or did you go around the cities yourselves?

2. Given the opportunity, would you have exchanged the cruise with a land-based tour (which is substantially less expensive and gets you into the cities directly, rather than the nearest port)?

 

Thanks in advance -

K.

[NancyIL]

We'll be on this cruise 7 weeks from today! When we booked it last May, you could still shop around for the best price. We chose an inside cabin, and my in-laws chose a D1 for about $2500/pp. We are using frequent-flyer miles for our air, and the in-laws are paying about $900 for cruise air from Chicago. We are using a private tour company, DenRus, in St. Petersburg. Others use Red October. For the other 5 ports we will do our own thing - thanks to Rick Steves' Scandinavia 2005 book. If you visit the Baltic Ports board you will get lots of helpful info about this itinerary.

 

On this cruise you dock at the cities you are visiting. There are no 2-hour bus rides to get to the city, as there can be on Mediterranean cruises. I think a Baltic cruise is a great way to get a brief overview of the cities you are visiting. You can always return later and spend more time in an area.

 

I'd have to disagree that a land-based tour would be less expensive. Scandinavia is EXPENSIVE! A rail pass for travel, hotels, meals, and sightseeing would probably cost as much or more than this cruise. Or are you thinking....bus tour like COSMOS? Those provide basically bus transportation, hotels, some meals, and some sightseeing.

[windjamming]

Thank you Nancy! I will definitely look at using FF miles, as well as the Rick Steves book. Looking forward to your review when you get back!

 

Happy cruising!

[NancyIL]

I just looked at Cosmos travel packages - http://www.cosmos.com - and they have an 11-night land tour called "Focus on Scandinavia." The price for July 2, 2005 (the same date as our Baltic cruise) is $1419/pp plus $1074 if they provide your airfare. You get your transportation, hotel, 11 breakfasts and 5 dinners, and a good deal of sightseeing: http://www.cosmos.com/Default.aspx?tabid=382&section=vacations&content=itin&trip=56910&tourcode=6910 They also have a 15-night "Jewels of the Baltic" tour for $1879/pp (same approx time) that is somewhat similar to many Baltic cruises.

 

Cosmos is one of the least expensive tour companies. You can spend much more if you go with Globus, American Express, or a number of other tour companies. I think a bus tour can be a good way to see more of the interior of a country, and prepaying in US dollars also helps your budget. Do you want to hit the highlights of a few ports, or spend more time in several cities? Do you want to travel between cities on a bus by day and sleep in hotels, or sail on a boat by night - with an occasional sea day?

[madforcruising]

Yes I´ve done this cruise on the Jewel last year and will be on it again in less than two weeks.

 

I choose to go again because it was such a great trip and there is still so much to see and do.

 

If you are interested there is a review of the trip on my website (the links are below in my signature).

 

Last year I went only on RCI excursions, this year I go mostly on my own but have booked St. Petersburg excursions with Red October.

 

This cruise gets you to the cities directly.

 

Oslo:

You are docked directly in front of the Akershus Castle and a leisurly five to ten minute walk (viewing distance) to the City hall. There are hop on/off buses at the pier for those with no tours booked.

Definitely have to visit Vigeland Sculpture Park.

 

Copenhagen:

You´ll be in walking distance to the city again, though a little further than in Oslo. Few steps from the ship to the Little mermaid. Nice walk along the harbour front to the City, while passing the home of the Royal family on the way. Again tours available at the pier.

 

Stockholm:

Again the city is in viewing distance and you still can walk but it will take you maybe 1/2 hour of walk. There are shutle buses to the City provided for something about $4 one way.

 

Helsinki:

Here the ship is docked a litle outside the city in a more industrial harbour area. There is a shuttle provided again to go into the city. Once in the city again very easy to walk around on your own.

 

St. Petersburg:

The ship is docked in a harbour area and it´s impossible here to reach the city on your own. For St. Petersburg prebooked tours are an absolutely must. Either cruiseline tours or privately prebooked. Without a tour prebooked you need a Visa to go ashore. You won´t be allowed to exit the ship without tourtickets or a russian Visa. When booking a tour with a company other than the cruiseline pay attention to the fact that they handle all necessary immigration stuff to get you from the ship into the country.

Even if you choose to get a visa and visit the city on your own you´ll have problems to get into the city. There is NO transportation from the ship to the harbour gate. And it´s a long way. From the harbour gate it´s still a long way to the city. I wouldn´t recommend that.

 

Tallin:

Again the ship is docked very close to the city but there is a complimentary shuttle to the city provided too.

Tallin is a very nice, clean and well restored city. Nice to walk around the medival streets. Easy to do on your own. Very friendly people.

 

I can highly recommend the Itinerary and the ship.

Why would I do the itinerary a second time and the Jewel a third time if O couldn´t recommend it.;)

 

Any other questions? Fell free to ask.

 

Of course you can probably count on a new review in about 4-5 weeks.

 

If there´s anything specific I can´t answer now I might be able to check out.

[DON M.]

Yes I´ve done this cruise on the Jewel last year and will be on it again in less than two weeks.

 

I choose to go again because it was such a great trip and there is still so much to see and do.

 

If you are interested there is a review of the trip on my website (the links are below in my signature).

 

Last year I went only on RCI excursions, this year I go mostly on my own but have booked St. Petersburg excursions with Red October.

 

This cruise gets you to the cities directly.

 

Oslo:

You are docked directly in front of the Akershus Castle and a leisurly five to ten minute walk (viewing distance) to the City hall. There are hop on/off buses at the pier for those with no tours booked.

Definitely have to visit Vigeland Sculpture Park.

 

Copenhagen:

You´ll be in walking distance to the city again, though a little further than in Oslo. Few steps from the ship to the Little mermaid. Nice walk along the harbour front to the City, while passing the home of the Royal family on the way. Again tours available at the pier.

 

Stockholm:

Again the city is in viewing distance and you still can walk but it will take you maybe 1/2 hour of walk. There are shutle buses to the City provided for something about $4 one way.

 

Helsinki:

Here the ship is docked a litle outside the city in a more industrial harbour area. There is a shuttle provided again to go into the city. Once in the city again very easy to walk around on your own.

 

St. Petersburg:

The ship is docked in a harbour area and it´s impossible here to reach the city on your own. For St. Petersburg prebooked tours are an absolutely must. Either cruiseline tours or privately prebooked. Without a tour prebooked you need a Visa to go ashore. You won´t be allowed to exit the ship without tourtickets or a russian Visa. When booking a tour with a company other than the cruiseline pay attention to the fact that they handle all necessary immigration stuff to get you from the ship into the country.

Even if you choose to get a visa and visit the city on your own you´ll have problems to get into the city. There is NO transportation from the ship to the harbour gate. And it´s a long way. From the harbour gate it´s still a long way to the city. I wouldn´t recommend that.

 

Tallin:

Again the ship is docked very close to the city but there is a complimentary shuttle to the city provided too.

Tallin is a very nice, clean and well restored city. Nice to walk around the medival streets. Easy to do on your own. Very friendly people.

 

I can highly recommend the Itinerary and the ship.

Why would I do the itinerary a second time and the Jewel a third time if O couldn´t recommend it.;)

 

Any other questions? Fell free to ask.

 

Of course you can probably count on a new review in about 4-5 weeks.

 

If there´s anything specific I can´t answer now I might be able to check out.

We are on the Jewel, July 14. Hope you have a great trip and will report back about the entertainment, food, CD,et al. What do you think of a 30 min. train ride from Copenhagen to see Fredricksborg castle?

[windjamming]

NancyIL- would much rather prefer stay in the same bed every night and wake up in a different city every morning! Hmm...the enthusiastic reviews here are very much pointing me to cruising it -

 

madforcruising - thanks for the great reviews! Will certainly refer back to it as we proceed in our planning.

[madforcruising]

We are on the Jewel, July 14. Hope you have a great trip and will report back about the entertainment, food, CD,et al. What do you think of a 30 min. train ride from Copenhagen to see Fredricksborg castle?

 

Thank you. I´ll report back for sure about the trip.

I can´t tell you about Fredericksborg castle. I opted for staying in the city and not going very much further into the country. But I can imagine that it could be interesting to go there. 30 min. ride sounds not bad too.

[madforcruising]

 

madforcruising - thanks for the great reviews! Will certainly refer back to it as we proceed in our planning.

 

You are welcome. Enjoy your planning, to me it´s part of the fun too.

BTW for my upcoming cruise we have a Roll Call going there might be some information for you as well, especially towards flights and a stay in London.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=118491&page=1&pp=40

[NancyIL]

NancyIL- would much rather prefer stay in the same bed every night and wake up in a different city every morning! Hmm...the enthusiastic reviews here are very much pointing me to cruising it -

 

madforcruising - thanks for the great reviews! Will certainly refer back to it as we proceed in our planning.

 

That's great, windjamming! If I were you, I'd decide on a date and cabin ASAP and put down a deposit. The rates aren't going to get cheaper!

 

If you decide to use FF miles, be prepared to reserve your flights as soon as you are able - which is usually 330 days before your travel date. Last year I booked our outbound flight as soon as I was able, and had it on hold for 2 weeks. Then I booked the return flight when it was 330 days out. I don't know if all FF miles work the same way, but on American Airlines you get one stopover within Europe - in addition to your final destination. We originally planned to fly to Edinburgh before going to London, but could've chosen just about any city in Europe where an American Airlines partner flew! (Months later we dropped the pre-cruise trip to Edinburgh, and will spend just 1 night before and 2 nights after the cruise in London.)

[sanbmet]

We were on the same cruise with Madforcruising last year, and we agree, it's a wonderful itinerary. We did ship tours since it was our first trip to Europe. We always enjoy the cultural and historical information that the cruise tours provide and found that in all instances we got a wealth of info that we would not have gathered on our own in the time that we had in each port.

 

The sails up into Oslo as well as through the archipelago in Sweden were wonderful since there were so many villages and islands along the route.

 

There was a festival in Talinn when we were there so it was really crowded but it is really a great medieval town.

Ditto the info for St Petersburg. We went with ship tours which were 8 - 9 hour tours and packed a lot in. The guides once again were excellent. We had heard that there was a gentleman on our cruise who just wanted to get off the ship inthe port to say that he had been on Russian soil but since he did not have a tour or a Visa, he was not permitted to do so. It was the only port where we had to carry our passports and go through immigration.

 

If we didn't have so many other trips on our "list" we might have booked this one again!

[brigidfreeman]

I just booked the Jewel's trip for next May 2006. Very excited.

However, just how cold will it be? Want to be prepared.

Looking forward to all reviews of the trip.

[madforcruising]

It´s always hard to tell about temperatures especially for next year.

 

To give you an idea I looked up the temps for the region right now and they range from 33°F to 39°F (Low) and 51°F to 64°F (high).

[Kaylas Mom]

I have been waiting for months to book the Jewel for July 2006, but was shocked by the prices. I mean SHOCKED!!!! After much conversation all weekend, my extended family has decided to instead do the Star Princess -- it's a lovely ship and the same basic itinerary squeezed into 10 nights. We get all the same ports (which was our real reason to travel) plus Gdansk, but lose 2 sea days. Longer time in Copenhagen. All in all, we are happy although I really wanted to try out the Jewel. Just so you know -- changing lines, we are savings $3,700 on two D1 balconies (that's category BA balcony on Princess.) I figure that money will pay for everything else plus leave change.

[windjamming]

Holy cow! That's $1850 saved per room! Why do you think there's such a huge difference betwen Princess and RCI?

[NancyIL]

Holy cow! That's $1850 saved per room! Why do you think there's such a huge difference betwen Princess and RCI?

 

You can still find discounts on Princess cruises, but very few on Royal Caribbean. Our Jewel OTS cruise would cost $934/cabin (Cat. N) more for the same dates in 2006 than for our cruise in 2005, and much of that is due to Royal Caribbean's no-discounting policy. We saved quite a chunk of money with our online travel agency when booking this cruise.

[que sarah sarah]

We are about to book this cruise for May 2006 . I was interested to read your review . We are from Northern Ireland and the temp isn't a problem for us . The friends we are going on the cruise with are from New Jersey and they are wondering if it will be cold at that time of year .

If I have any questions relating to the Baltic's cruise I will be it touch .

Thanks

[DON M.]

I have been waiting for months to book the Jewel for July 2006, but was shocked by the prices. I mean SHOCKED!!!! After much conversation all weekend, my extended family has decided to instead do the Star Princess -- it's a lovely ship and the same basic itinerary squeezed into 10 nights. We get all the same ports (which was our real reason to travel) plus Gdansk, but lose 2 sea days. Longer time in Copenhagen. All in all, we are happy although I really wanted to try out the Jewel. Just so you know -- changing lines, we are savings $3,700 on two D1 balconies (that's category BA balcony on Princess.) I figure that money will pay for everything else plus leave change.

For Aug. 2006, a dot com TA is showing a balcony availabilty for $7,200 per cabin including air from Los Angeles for Princess. The RCl web-site for this same cabin and same time of year is $8,000. For two cabins a savings of $1600 but 10 days vs. 12. I think the air and when and where you look does make a difference.These prices can change day-to day hour by hour.

[Kaylas Mom]

Que Sara Sara,

 

Hey! We're in Northern Ireland, too. In south Belfast. Fancy meeting you here!

 

Yes, basically I could not find any discount anywhere off the RCCI cruise which was $7,700 for a D1 with a child fare included. Princess still allows TA discounting, and by booking on line I got, what in my humble opinion, is basically the same cabin and the same itinerary (less two days but with an extra, very interesting port) on an almost equally nice ship for $6000 on Princess. I would care more, but we are basically in this cruise for the ports. And the Star Princess looks wonderful. But I envy you Jewel passengers. That ship looks outstanding!

[JodiBB]

We're booked for the JOTS Scandavian tour this August!! We booked Red October for St. Petersburg, but all the other cities, we're going it alone. We've bought transportation/attraction passes for Stockholm and Oslo. We'll probably buy Helsinki's, but we're undecided yet and Tallinn's can only be bought at shore (vs. over the internet).

 

We've been using Rick Stevens' book to determine what we're going to see.

 

We can't wait!! We have a D1 cabin with a balcony and we're staying in London for 3 nights pre-cruise...have a London pass as well!!!

[sailor moon]

This is the one cruise I really want to go on. I guess I will have to save up more money!

[que sarah sarah]

What were the dining times on the Jewel Baltics cruise ? In the Med on Brilliance it was 9.00pm second seating.

 

Kaylas Mom ... hello from sunny Bangor.

[Kaylas Mom]

Que Sarah Sarah.....

 

If you ever want to chat cruises....call me on 02890 386 106 at the US Consulate!

 

Cathy

(Kayla's Mom)

[que sarah sarah]

We have booked today for 14th May 06 a Scandinavia and Russia cruise on JOTS .Managed to get a D1 cabin £20 cheaper than an E1 .

This is sooooooooooo far away hope we can pick-up a bargain before 2006

Now I must look and see if there is a M&M for this thread yet

 

Cathy I did give you a call today to touch base but you had just left . My E-mail address is

sarah.cather@btopenworld.com

[que sarah sarah]

Our youngest son (who lives and works in Leciester )is just back after a 10 day holiday in Tallinn . He told us it is a beautiful place and the people are so friendly .He is talking about returning to Tallinn again later this year .He better start saving .;)