Who has taken the Baltic itinerary and would you do it again?

[Petert]

Hi Westcoastcruiser,

 

We have sailed out of Dover twice with Celebrity on the Constellation, and both times we have stayed a couple of nights in Dover. We stayed at the Best Western Churchill, which is an older hotel located just above the harbor and across the harbor from the cruise terminal. We had rooms with a balcony that we used to watch the Constellation as she docked on sail day. The hotel is a few blocks from the city center, and the city is fairly small but interesting. There is a hop on hop off bus (stops right outside the hotel) that takes you around the points of interest, of which the castle above the white cliffs is the major stop.

 

The hotel has a nice pub just next to the lobby, and a cold complimentary buffet in the dining room. A typical English breakfast is also available for about 9 pounds. There is a nice patio area of the lobby overlooking the harbor. If you have a choice you may be interested in Gatwick airport, which is closer to Dover, and not as crowded as Heathrow. I managed to get a group together and hired a minibus out of Dover at a reasonable price. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help.

 

Peter

[emeyers]

San Fran:

 

Like Texed and CruisingChick we are also on the July 1, 2006 Constellation Baltic/Russia cruise. Great itinerary. Why not join us on our roll call. We're planning some exciting shore excursions, especially in St. Petersburg.

 

Ellis

[eppe]

In a heart beat we would do it again. Loved St. Petersburg and could have spent more time there. We had a Visa and did not do the excursions off the boat. You can look for a guide in Russia or join a group call Red October.

 

:(

[Al_Frescoe]

Further to my post of yesterday, I contacted ***** to question their itinerary. Their reply:

"Thanks for writing! The Celebrity Constellation will be docking in Stockholm rather than using the port of Nynashamn. We have made sure to update our Web site to reflect the accurate port of call."

 

Glad to hear that X will still be in Stockholm proper next season. Thanks for the follow up Susan.

 

Skåll from Stockholm

 

Al

[gsarnow]

We just got off the Baltic trip on Century round trip from Amsterdam last week and we loved it but we did run into a storm on the Baltic and it was very rough for about 24 hours; the rest of the cruise was smooth. We loved the trip and also booked with Red October in St. Petersburg. That was the only tour we booked. We did the others on our own quite easily.

The food was excellent and in our opinion it is much better than Princess.

[dbh62ark]

Yes, we sailed the Baltics in 2003 and loved it so much we're doing it again this year. But I wouldn't recommend Celebrity due to the itinerary changes they pulled on the Baltics passengers this year. You can see my roll call board around page 3 for details and my post right before this one. There's no excuse for Celebrity's handling of the itinerary changes this year for our sailing and for the poor quality of the revised itinerary. Be warned.

 

I also agree with those stating that although I love the Princess ships, the issue of docking outside Stockholm and not having the scenic sailing in the archipelago is enough for me to choose another cruise line. Stockholm and the scenic cruise in that area are absolutely fabulous, and the more time is better there.

 

There are a lot of cruise lines sailing the Baltics now, so you won't have a problem finding something that's good. If your budget allows, Oceania has some wonderful itineraries and offers a 3-day stop in Russia, which is a HUGE advantage on this itinerary. The only thing that I didn't like about Oceania this year (you can probably guess by now that we have been cruising Europe for 11 years, so I THOROUGHLY research before I book!) is that they sailed mid-week for 14 nights long. We could only take approx 11 business days consecutively off work this year (and we have a holiday), so sailing mid-week didn't work for us considering the fact that you lose a day in transit (leave Tuesday afternoon and arrive Europe Wednesday afternoon). We would have loved to have had a few extra days pre- and postcruise, but 3 consecutive weeks off this year was not possible and would have been needed for Oceania.

 

We're mostly motivated by itinerary, so this is just my opinion and hope you'll find a cruise that's right for you.

 

Have a great next trip,

Donna

[phillipahain]

We did the Baltic on Constellation in 2003

Fantastic cruise

Superb ports

Docked in town at each port

St Petersburg is awesome but do take a tour with Red October not Celebrity and insist its tailored to see ALL the sights by eating packed lunch (order stuff from room service ) in the van ( take lunch for your guide and driver too )

 

That way you can fit much more in

[Druke I]

Haven't done the Baltic with Celebrity, but:

 

Did the Baltic, 5-99, NCL's Norwegian Dream. Not wild about the ship, but loved the itinerary.

 

Doing it again 8-31-05, on Oceania's Regatta, and looking forward to it.

 

Choice both times was based on going through the Kiel Canal, a beautiful part of Germany, and something the larger liners can't do - size restrictions.

[Queenk2]

Hi Ellis,

I am back from my vacation in the Med...we had a fabulous time as I saw that you did on your trip! I am now going to get serious about planing this one! I have been in the Norht Sea befoe and experienced no problems..cannot wait for July1!!!!!