Vision of seas excursions - baltic

[Gath]

We have never cruised with Royal Carribbean before and would appreciate any advice on excurions booked via them or independantly for our trip to the Baltic on 25 May 2013. We are visiting Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and St. Petersburg. Also any tips would be welcome. Many thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

There is tons of info on each port down the board, particularly about private tours. Many people do private tours, and they are a great way to see things in a more efficient and user friendly way.

 

As we don't know your interests, budget and limitations, we can't recommend much for you. It would be helpful if you do some reading, here, and on the RCI website for offered excursions, decide what interests you, and then perhaps develop some more specific questions.

[blonde1981]

Well I can't recommend anything since I'm not going until August 2013 but so far I have booked a private tour with TJ Travel in St. Petersburg and a day trip to Top Gun Tallinn to shoot a variety of Russian/Soviet guns with a drop off in Old Town afterward to walk around on our own.

 

Still thinking about Stockholm and Helsinki. We have 2 days pre-cruise in Copenhagen so I'm trying to figure out what to do but I did find a free city walking tour online with Sandman's. I believe there is a free tour in Tallinn as well (different group) but it conflicts with our plans for the day.

[Cornishpastyman1]

We have never cruised with Royal Carribbean before and would appreciate any advice on excurions booked via them or independantly for our trip to the Baltic on 25 May 2013. We are visiting Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and St. Petersburg. Also any tips would be welcome. Many thanks.

You've got the big one sorted with one of the superb independent St Petersburg companies, which is great. If it's any help here's what I did on my own in 2010 at your other ports.

 

COPENHAGEN

 

The cruise ships all dock in roughly the same area. I took a no. 26 bus to the centre and then walked around. I booked the canal tour at the Tourist Information Centre in the centre because I wanted the 1 pm tour. It cost (then) 60 DKK. Down at the Nyhavn canal there was a tour for 30 DKK which I now hear is very similar and satisfactory but you take your chance on availability. Even at 60 DKK it was still a cheap day out as other than the bus fare and a drink that was all I spent. I walked back to the ship along the bank past the Amalienborg, Little Mermaid, (or rather a non-functioning video feed from Shanghai where she had gone for 6 months) Gefion fountain and Royal Pavilions. It is about 1.5 - 2 miles if you do that, with the big cruise ships always in sight so you can't go wrong, although of course you can get the no. 26 bus again if you want or it's raining.

 

I loved Copenhagen although as with all the Scandanavian ports it is ruinously expensive (to a Brit) so give the breakfast a good hammering before you set off !

 

TALLINN

 

In many ways the perfect cruise-location stop, being a short walk from the docks - head for the spires and it's 10 minutes maximum to 'Fat Margaret', and is very easy to walk around, with plenty of stopping points for those who need it. Tallinn is a lovely capital city, with plenty to enjoy in a day. Easy to find free wi-fi here too.

 

HELSINKI

 

Beautiful city, very under-rated. I took the shuttle from the dock (or 25 minute walk - don't waste your precious time with this) to the city centre. The shuttle was not associated with HAL but cost (from memory) 8 Euros/ $10 return, last one at 4 pm. It drops you at the top of the Esplenade. Walk down to Market Square (600m) and get an all-day travel ticket for 8 Euros which is good for the trams, trains and the ferries. Ride the tram 3T to where you want to go, hopping on and off as you wish - Rock Church, Sibelius Monument, Olympic Stadium etc. If you are tight for time don't bother going inside the big white cathedral in Senate Square as the outside is by far the most impressive part of it.

 

General Sights

 

I ran out of time to go to the stadium because I spent 2.5 hours at this :

 

Suomenlinna (Fortress of Finland)

 

The ferry ride takes 12 minutes and leaves every 15 minutes (from Market Square)

 

STOCKHOLM

 

General Sights

 

I hope you sail into Stockholm 'proper' but we docked at Nynasham (sigh) which is an hour's coach to Stockholm and we missed passing through the Archipelago. There's nothing good to say about that :(. I'd take the cheapest ship's transport to Stockholm. You might be able to do it a bit cheaper by public transport but it's not worth the worry. It's a longish transfer and has potential for traffic disasters. Grit your teeth and go for the security of the ship's coach. You can do Stockholm on your own easily enough, including, of course........

 

Royal Warship Vasa at the Vasa Museum

 

Everyone goes to see Vasa, and rightly so. Our coach dropped us off at the Opera House and we walked along Strandvagen Boulevard (at 1.58 in the 'General Sights' video) to the Vasa Museum. To be time-efficient here head for the front desk to find out the time (in your language) of the terrific 25-minute film of the discovery and recovery of the great ship. Then head for the theatre 5 minutes before 'showtime'. The guided tour of the ship is well worth doing too.

 

Allow 75 minutes here if you get lucky with the show and tour, and 90 if you don't. Superb museum.

All the best, Tony

[aussiehoppy]

Cornishpastyman1

 

Your write-up is fantastic - thanks for sharing.

[dogs4fun]

We have never cruised with Royal Carribbean before and would appreciate any advice on excurions booked via them or independantly for our trip to the Baltic on 25 May 2013. We are visiting Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and St. Petersburg. Also any tips would be welcome. Many thanks.

 

You will love the Baltics!

 

We booked our tours of St. Petersburg & Berlin with Alla Tours and our tours were simply outstanding. In comparison to the ship tours, we found the tours offered by Alla to be more intimate (group size was limited to 16), less expensive and more comprehensive.

 

http://alla-tour.com/

 

All other ports we DIY. However, if you prefer guided tours in all the ports you mentioned, Alla offers package tours in those cities.I believe that I read on one of the threads that Alla is currently offering her package tours at a discount. You can check-out the various options on the website listed above.

 

In all fairness, there are several good local tour companies in Russia. I would suggest that you contact the ones most frequently mentioned on these boards to see which best meets you needs. IMHO, all are superior to the ship tours.

 

TIP: Our 2 days in St. Petersburg were the highlight of our cruise! NOTE: You do not need a Russian Visa in Saint Petersburg although the cruise line may "scare" you into purchasing their shore excursions in Russia by leading you to believe that you do need a visa. All of the local tour companies will provide you with a "visa waiver" (Russia has 72 hour visa-free entry for cruise passengers provided they are booked with a licensed tour company) .

 

Stockholm: Try to be awake for viewing your passage through the archipelago. It is gorgeous. Make sure that you visit the Vasa Museum & Gamla Stan ... my two favorites in Stockholm. :)

jill

.

[teacherman]

We did Baltics 5 years ago on HAL. I agree that sailing through the archipelago is a treat. I was on Vision 3 weeks ago. It is the size of ship that can do it. I hope it does. We like to tour "on our own" as much as possible. We used Rick Steve's book on Scandinavia. It gives simple informative walking tours which you can do. It also gives some "hints" on saving time and money while you tour. We did all ports like this, except St Petersburg. we were there 2 days. We joined with others on our Roll Call to do a private 2 day tour with Red October. It was great, although by the end of it, we were exhausted. I definitly recommend Catherine's Palace, one of the most beautiful things I have seen. We are not big on museums, so we did not enjoy the Hermitage, but it was included with our tour. It just depends on what you want to do. BE CAREFUL...while standing on the top deck watching the sun come up early in the morning on a sea day, very alone, I made the decision to do less work and more travel. I got home and turned in my retirement papers. I have never regretted that decision. Have fun.

[Cornishpastyman1]

Cornishpastyman1

 

Your write-up is fantastic - thanks for sharing.

Thanks, you're welcome. It was taken from this longer review http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1666677 which features my St P experiences at the beginning. The key thing, which we all stress, is to use any of the superb independent companies here, and not give the ships' offerings a second thought. have a wonderful trip, Tony

[SoBaycruiser]

 

COPENHAGEN

 

The cruise ships all dock in roughly the same area. I took a no. 26 bus to the centre and then walked around. I booked the canal tour at the Tourist Information Centre in the centre because I wanted the 1 pm tour. It cost (then) 60 DKK. Down at the Nyhavn canal there was a tour for 30 DKK which I now hear is very similar and satisfactory but you take your chance on availability. Even at 60 DKK it was still a cheap day out as other than the bus fare and a drink that was all I spent. I walked back to the ship along the bank past the Amalienborg, Little Mermaid, (or rather a non-functioning video feed from Shanghai where she had gone for 6 months) Gefion fountain and Royal Pavilions. It is about 1.5 - 2 miles if you do that, with the big cruise ships always in sight so you can't go wrong, although of course you can get the no. 26 bus again if you want or it's raining.

 

I loved Copenhagen although as with all the Scandanavian ports it is ruinously expensive (to a Brit) so give the breakfast a good hammering before you set off !

 

All the best, Tony

 

Tony,

 

So many people have mentioned using bus 26 and yet isn't there the hassle of converting money and finding a place to buy a ticket for a single bus ride? Did you bring Krones with you? Did you buy a 24hr pass beforehand? Was the ticket purchasing location obvious? Or is it a machine and you had a smart chip credit card?

[Cornishpastyman1]

Tony,

 

So many people have mentioned using bus 26 and yet isn't there the hassle of converting money and finding a place to buy a ticket for a single bus ride? Did you bring Krones with you? Did you buy a 24hr pass beforehand? Was the ticket purchasing location obvious? Or is it a machine and you had a smart chip credit card?

I had a very small amount of DKr with me for sundries like a drink or small souvenir etc. I can't remember the fare, but it's only 2 miles so it couldn't have been much. At worst you could get a few Dkr from the ship. It'll be at a lousy rate of course but not really a big deal as you'll only want £20/$30 worth. And you pay the driver as you get on the bus.

 

This is all from my memory and it was nearly 3 years ago, so maybe someone who has done it more recently and can come on with more up to date info, but it will not be any problem for you. Happy New Year.

[Giantfan13]

We have never cruised with Royal Carribbean before and would appreciate any advice on excurions booked via them or independantly for our trip to the Baltic on 25 May 2013. We are visiting Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and St. Petersburg. Also any tips would be welcome. Many thanks.

 

You have already gotten some great info for your cruise. We did all the same ports, but we only did a tour in St Petersberg, opting to do all the other ports on our own. We simply like to go at our own pace, stopping when we want, and seeing things that we just want to see. Of course, you, or others may prefer to be on a tour, but one very good piece of advice, stay away from any ships sponsored excursions. They are simply way over priced, take you to their stops, and you travel in such a large group you will not see half of what each port has to offer.

As I said, we did a private tour in St Petersberg. We used SPB Tours for this experience and we simply could not have been happier.

http://www.spb-tours.com/

Working with Viktoria, the owner, was such a joy. And if you want to do tours in some of the other cities, SPB offers tours in several of the other ports. And they give a nice discount the more tours you book with them.

 

The Baltics is such a wonderful cruise. Very port intensive but memories that will last you a lifetime

 

Here are a few of my pixs for you to enjoy

 

In Copenhagen, you will want to visit the Nyhavn section, and take the Canal Boat tour

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster248.jpg

 

Another wonderful stop is Rosenborg Castle where you can view the Crown Jewels

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe332.jpg

 

In St Petersberg, when you visit Catherine's Palace you will be welcomed by a Russian band

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe671.jpg

 

In the Hermitage you can view some of the world's greatest art works.

Leonardo Di Vinci Madonna and Child

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster944.jpg

 

In Helsinki, you will want to get to Market Square. From here head off to Senate Square where you can view the Lutheran Cathedral

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe1062.jpg

 

And in Stockholm, which was our favorite port, be sure to spend time in Gamla Stan. A maze of narrow, cobblestone streets, some teeming with tourist and others, nary a soul. S!top and have a bite to eat and just take it all in

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe1265.jpg

 

Cheers

 

Len

[dogs4fun]

 

I loved Copenhagen although as with all the Scandanavian ports it is ruinously expensive (to a Brit) so give the breakfast a good hammering before you set off !

Great "turns of phrase" and, alas, so true. :D

jill