Things you wish someone told you before your first Baltic cruise

[gato4]

This is a wonderful thread. I'm posting just to keep it close to the the top so I can copy information. I am having difficulty finding a walking tour of Bruges that I can print. We're taking a minivan cab into Bruges, and I was hoping to find a guided tour. We won't be there for the one offered by the tourist office. We'll do a tour on our own, but had hoped for local commentary.

 

 

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[yliebert]

I just read this thread from end to end and appreciate the many tips I copied and pasted over to Tripit.

We don't leave until July, but with wind chills in the negatives it was nice to remind myself that summer will come round again.

 

Capsu,

We will also depart in July. We are on the Emerald Princess leaving July 26th. How about you?

Yoletta

[hollanders]

We did this cruise in June 2013. It was a great trip with a lot of interesting things to see. We have a few observations and tips.

 

It is a very busy cruise as you are in a different port every day except one so you are go go go all the time. Some have wondered about the second day in St. Petersburg. Depending on your choices of tours, usually the second day is about half what the first day is.

 

The biggest and most important thing we can tell you is to not use the ship's tours as they are very pricey and you don't see as much as you would with a local tour.

The best tour company in our opinion is Alla Tours in St. Petersburg. Alla offers tours in all the ports you will call on. You can get a 5 city package for $575/person, which is way cheaper than individual tours. She is excellent to deal with, all the guides in all cities speak very good English. Check out her website at alla-tour.com. There are very good descriptions of the various tours she offers.

 

The other important suggestion is; you do not need a Visa for Russia as long as you are signed up with a registered tour company. So, don't fall for the ship's story that you do and spend unnecessary funds. All you need to enter Russia from the ship is your passport and proof that you have signed up for a tour. Also, the Russian customs officers will not speak to you so don't worry when they just sort of stare at you. If you speak to them they normally will not respond, so just stand there at the check in booth and it will be done in a few seconds.

[Essexlass2]

I have also read this thread from the beginning and appreciate all the information gathered from it.

 

We have booked with Alla for the two days in St Petersburg on our forthcoming cruise and are really looking forward to it. We were very impressed with their efficiency in the booking process. However, my DH asked a question that has never arisen on any CC board that we have ever read - what happens if somebody books a 2-day tour and, knowing that you don't have to pay until the morning of the second day, perhaps falls ill before they can take the second day's tours or even decides they are just not going to turn up for whatever the reason. I hasten to add that we would never willingly do that, but its an interesting question.

 

Any thoughts, answers or suggestions?

[hollanders]

I guess only Alla can answer the question. To make it worse, what happens if you book a tour in Tallinn and St. Petersburg and don't show up for the second day in St. Pete? I would like to think that it isn't a problem and that people do the right thing.

 

Now, in my case, I did fall sick and couldn't make the second day. My wife went on the tour, told Alla the situation and she didn't charge us for my second day. She really didn't have to do that, but she is a very nice person. You will enjoy meeting her, I am sure.

[Windazzler]

This is a wonderful thread. I'm posting just to keep it close to the the top so I can copy information. I am having difficulty finding a walking tour of Bruges that I can print. We're taking a minivan cab into Bruges, and I was hoping to find a guided tour. We won't be there for the one offered by the tourist office. We'll do a tour on our own, but had hoped for local commentary.

 

 

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Where did you get info on the minivan from the ship into Brugge? Thank you.

[Giantfan13]

I have also read this thread from the beginning and appreciate all the information gathered from it.

 

We have booked with Alla for the two days in St Petersburg on our forthcoming cruise and are really looking forward to it. We were very impressed with their efficiency in the booking process. However, my DH asked a question that has never arisen on any CC board that we have ever read - what happens if somebody books a 2-day tour and, knowing that you don't have to pay until the morning of the second day, perhaps falls ill before they can take the second day's tours or even decides they are just not going to turn up for whatever the reason. I hasten to add that we would never willingly do that, but its an interesting question.

 

Any thoughts, answers or suggestions?

 

This question has come up here every so often. All the tour operators in St Petersburg want their reputation to be the best, so if some one willingly wants to cheat them out of their money by not showing up on the second day, I would assume they would eat the loss. I believe all the tour companies except one collect the money on the second day and they believe people are honest and will abide by their agreement. No one signs anything, they do not ask for a deposit (which I truly believe should be done), it is all on the honor system.

If, as you asked, are sick and cannot make the second day tour, that is up to the company themselves how they would handle it. If you do not go, they will not charge you.

Since they do not have any credit card info, there is no way they can make you pay if you do not show up. In all the time I have been on these boards, I have never heard of anyone doing that intentionally, but I'm sure it does happen.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[The_Big_M]

This question has come up here every so often. All the tour operators in St Petersburg want their reputation to be the best, so if some one willingly wants to cheat them out of their money by not showing up on the second day, I would assume they would eat the loss. I believe all the tour companies except one collect the money on the second day and they believe people are honest and will abide by their agreement. No one signs anything, they do not ask for a deposit (which I truly believe should be done), it is all on the honor system.

If, as you asked, are sick and cannot make the second day tour, that is up to the company themselves how they would handle it. If you do not go, they will not charge you.

Since they do not have any credit card info, there is no way they can make you pay if you do not show up. In all the time I have been on these boards, I have never heard of anyone doing that intentionally, but I'm sure it does happen.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

We were actually charged on the first day with SPB tours.

[gato4]

Where did you get info on the minivan from the ship into Brugge? Thank you.

 

I got the info from our roll call. I'm using Rony's taxi ronystaxis.com. The 8-passenger cab is €100 for the round trip. There is also Snel taxi. Someone on our roll call is using them. Both companies have good reviews.

 

 

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[riansgrammy]

My DH and I will book private tours for Berlin & St Pete. We'll do a ship's tour in Oslo. I know we can walk around Tallinn on our own, and probably Aarhus. What about Helsinki & Stockholm? For Stockholm, it looks like we dock in Nynashamn. Are there shuttles into Stockholm? This is a Princess cruise.

 

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Vicki

[yliebert]

My DH and I will book private tours for Berlin & St Pete. We'll do a ship's tour in Oslo. I know we can walk around Tallinn on our own, and probably Aarhus. What about Helsinki & Stockholm? For Stockholm, it looks like we dock in Nynashamn. Are there shuttles into Stockholm? This is a Princess cruise.

 

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Vicki

 

We are doing HOHO in Helsinki and Stockholm

Yoletta

[Essexlass2]

We're doing the HoHo in Helsinki but walking into Stockholm as our ship will dock not too far away.

[Desdichado62]

What about Helsinki & Stockholm? For Stockholm, it looks like we dock in Nynashamn. Are there shuttles into Stockholm? This is a Princess cruise.

 

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Vicki

 

I don't know if the ship has it own shuttle.

 

However if it don't you could always transport yourself to Stockholm with the commuter train (pendeltåg / "J" ).

The journey will take about one hour.

 

You can search connections at these link;

http://reseplanerare.sl.se/bin/query.exe/sn?seqnr=1&ident=ih.02163852.1391017461&OK#focus

 

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Fiskargr%C3%A4nd&daddr=Stockholm+Centralstation,+Stockholm,+Sverige&hl=sv&ie=UTF8&sll=58.902019,17.954482&sspn=0.005104,0.016512&geocode=FUfCggMdZOsRAQ%3BFaZNiQMd_IcTASkVM-V6YJ1fRjEyzsC7L7TC8A&oq=Centralst&t=h&dirflg=r&ttype=dep&date=14%2F01%2F30&time=7:00am&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ls&z=10&start=0

 

 

I don't know where the ship's tender boats will drop you off but the station is located here;

 

https://maps.google.com/?ll=58.901134,17.951341&spn=0.001276,0.004128&t=h&z=19

[Jonza]

My DH and I will book private tours for Berlin & St Pete. We'll do a ship's tour in Oslo. I know we can walk around Tallinn on our own, and probably Aarhus. What about Helsinki & Stockholm? For Stockholm, it looks like we dock in Nynashamn. Are there shuttles into Stockholm? This is a Princess cruise.

 

Helsinki is easy to do on your own. I suppose that you are on the Royal Princes as you are docking in Nynäshamn. In Helsinki the Royal will dock at berth LMA in the Jätkäsaari side of the West Harbor. It would be about 30 minutes walk to downtown. Public transport options are tram line 9 at West Terminal about 500 meters from the berth and tram line 8 about 600 meters to another direction from the berth. HOHOs will likely swing by the ship. Many of the ships berthed there last summer did also have shuttles. The availability and price of the shuttles is up to cruise line.

[Giantfan13]

We were actually charged on the first day with SPB tours.

 

That surprises me to no end. I know so many people who have used SPB tours and no one ever said they had to pay on day one.

 

Did you pay in cash or with a credit card?

 

Right off their web site, if you pay in cash you pay on day 2 of your 2 day tour, but if you are using a credit card, then you pay on day one.

 

You can pay in cash (USD, EUR or RUB) on the morning of the second tour day in St. Petersburg.You can pay by credit card (Visa or Mastercard) on the first tour day in St. Petersburg

 

Cheers

 

Len

Edited January 30, 2014 by Giantfan13

[shipmatesforlife]

I just read this entire thread and found very helpful information.

I had a question that perhaps someone who has been to Copenhagen could help me with. We will be sailing into Freeport pier which I hear is a rather new pier without public transportation. Would anyone know how to get to a pick up location for the HOHO bus. That being said, has anyone done the HOHO there and would you recommend it? We are doing a b2b with the switch in Copenhagen so we don't have much time.

Thanks for your help.

[Desdichado62]

I just read this entire thread and found very helpful information.

I had a question that perhaps someone who has been to Copenhagen could help me with. We will be sailing into Freeport pier which I hear is a rather new pier without public transportation. Would anyone know how to get to a pick up location for the HOHO bus. That being said, has anyone done the HOHO there and would you recommend it? We are doing a b2b with the switch in Copenhagen so we don't have much time.

Thanks for your help.

 

See this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1772831&page=70

[north-bound]

My DH and I will book private tours for Berlin & St Pete. We'll do a ship's tour in Oslo. I know we can walk around Tallinn on our own, and probably Aarhus. What about Helsinki & Stockholm? For Stockholm, it looks like we dock in Nynashamn. Are there shuttles into Stockholm? This is a Princess cruise.

 

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Vicki

I don't think there will be any shuttles to go from Nynäshamn to Stockholm. But when a ship docks in Nynäshamn they will usually offer a DIY tour that takes you to the centre of Stockholm, where you will be able to go on your own, and then the coach will to you back to Nynäshamn at a set time.

 

If they offer this kind of tour I think it is the best option.

[riansgrammy]

I don't think there will be any shuttles to go from Nynäshamn to Stockholm. But when a ship docks in Nynäshamn they will usually offer a DIY tour that takes you to the centre of Stockholm, where you will be able to go on your own, and then the coach will to you back to Nynäshamn at a set time.

 

If they offer this kind of tour I think it is the best option.

 

Thank you so much. The Stockholm tours for this cruise haven't been listed yet. I'll be on the lookout.

Vicki

[Lorileeca]

There is an incredible Tour Company called TJ Travel that looked after all our tours on the Baltic cruise and they were wonderful. The guides were very knowledgeable and spoke English perfectly. They were always on time and i can not say enough good things about them.

 

Lori & Brenda

[Teacher912]

Love your photos, Terri.

[oceanlovinmama]

Leaving at the end of May for our Baltic cruise. Anybody have any experience with the weather this time of year?

Are there opportunities to do evening activities during the summer nights in SPB, or vodka tastings?

Are the nesting dolls generic looking or do they have storybook characters or religious figures?

We are going privately with Alla so our lunches are not included in our two day tour, should I purchase it from them in advance or do it on our own?

Thank you!!

[bjrose]

Just back from the Baltics and just wanted to let everyone who is about to go that I had no problem using my US credit card in any of the countries. I used it even at a local mom and pop type market to get some water and soda pre cruise in Copenhagen. Just had to mention that I didn't have a pin and never had a issue. I used my debit card at the ATM's though (again no issue at any ATM).

 

Regarding getting currency in advance, I didn't find it necessary. Once I landed in Copenhagen I went to an ATM. I did have a few Euros left over from a previous trip, but easily found ATM's in Germany and Tallin (didn't look in Helsinki as I already had enough Euros). In Russia everything was priced in Rubles, Euros and US dollars so need to get Rubles. As for Stockholm, I just used my credit card, but again if I needed a little cash I saw plenty of ATM's.

 

My one bit of advice would be to be prepared for any weather. Germany was very cold and rainy and everywhere else was warm and sunny. I'm talking T shirt weather. Our first day in Russia was about 80. I wish I had bought a small tube of sunscreen as I did get sunburned on my face from all the great weather we had.

 

For those about to leave - enjoy your trip it is a fantastic trip with wonderful sites and experiences.

 

Did you have currency for tips in rubles, kroners inthe scandinavians??

bjrose

[sayaguru]

This is a wonderful thread. I'm posting just to keep it close to the the top so I can copy information. I am having difficulty finding a walking tour of Bruges that I can print. We're taking a minivan cab into Bruges, and I was hoping to find a guided tour. We won't be there for the one offered by the tourist office. We'll do a tour on our own, but had hoped for local commentary.

 

 

Brugge is lovely to just wander around. There are lovely little restaurants and bars (try one or two of the hundreds of differnt beers). Get on one of the many canal boats. I love Brugge. Ghent is my favourite though if you were staying longer (we travelled there previously).

 

We couldn't book a taxi but had no difficulty finding one at the port. We just arranged for him to meet us in the square at a certain time o take us back.

 

We are booked on a Baltics tour. Very excited. Thanks for the tips everyone.

Edited April 8, 2014 by sayaguru

[MarGG]

My DH and I will book private tours for Berlin & St Pete. We'll do a ship's tour in Oslo. I know we can walk around Tallinn on our own, and probably Aarhus. What about Helsinki & Stockholm? For Stockholm, it looks like we dock in Nynashamn. Are there shuttles into Stockholm? This is a Princess cruise.

 

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Vicki

 

We did the HO HO bus in Helsinki. It is very convenient. Takes you to all the main attractions.

In Stockholm they also have a HO HO bus, but we did not use it as the most interesting place there is Gamla Stan and most of it is a walking area. So we preferred to spend more time there. As for the Vasa Museum - it is on Djuragarten island. We used a boat (ferry) to get there. It goes from Slussen and is part of the public transport in Stockholm. You may Google "Duragarten Ferry".