Baltic Cruise Ports Are They Worth The Visit

[Giantfan13]

I have just booked a Baltic cruise today which takes in Stockholm, SPB, Helsinki, Warnemunde, Copenhagen and Kristiansand, we will do a ships tour in SPB on both days probably as this would be a way of getting a visa, but wondered how easy the other cities would be just exploring the local port areas in a wheelchair?

 

As several have already said, at least try and contact some of the private tour operators in St Petersburg and explain your situation and ask what they can do for you, When I hear people 'settling' for ship's tours over private ones, I just cringe. Why be cheated out of seeing so much more, experiencing so much more in St Petersburg, because they want to go with a ship's excursion. Some one already mentioned that Alla accommodated therm. I'm sure some of the others do the same thing. PLUS, if you do book with them, they could set up other cities for you also. They all understand not everyone is as mobile as others, and some just need help. if they ignored this part of the population, their business would dramatically decrease.

As I said in another thread, you have nothing to lose except a few minutes writing an email. It might be the best email you ever sent.

 

Cheers

 

Len

Edited June 13, 2014 by Giantfan13

[sarar]

Thanks Len, Alla tours are all booked up now, but I am waiting to hear back from other companies.

 

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[DoulaAnn]

I've seen people refer to all the ports as being great with one exception -- Gothenburg (sp?). I can find nothing on this port from Rick Steves or in any of the other books I've read. What is there to see? Am hoping to do DIY.

 

Thanks for all the great information, everyone.

 

Ann

[Giantfan13]

Thanks Len, Alla tours are all booked up now, but I am waiting to hear back from other companies.

 

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Sara

 

We used SPB Tours and I have heard many people say that if they needed to get on a tour, SPB will find them one, even if it is from another ship.

 

I don't think I have ever heard of a tour company saying that all tours are booked up for a particular day.

 

Check out SPB Tours https://www.spb-tours.com/

 

Also, check your roll call for that ship and date. From there, see if you can join a group or try and start one yourself.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Desdichado62]

I've seen people refer to all the ports as being great with one exception -- Gothenburg (sp?). I can find nothing on this port from Rick Steves or in any of the other books I've read. What is there to see? Am hoping to do DIY.

 

Thanks for all the great information, everyone.

 

Ann

 

I've been to Gothenburg many times and I think it is a nice city although not as nice as Stockholm and Copenhagen.

 

See this post for more info: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41314676&highlight=gothenburg#post41314676

 

The only problem is that some ships docks quite far from the city which mean that it takes a while to get to down town.

 

Bus/tram tickets are supposed to be sold at this place if you dock at Arendal:

http://www.vasttrafik.se/#!/biljetter-priser/har-koper-du-biljetter/har-koper-du-biljetter/dockside-kiosk-volvo-arendal/

 

But I don't know if this is correct and what their opening hours are.

[SparkleBee]

Gothenburg is a pretty little Swedish city. It's pleasant enough to walk around for a few hours, however it's really not special enough to warrant a stop. I'd have MUCH rather have had that day in any of the other ports. also, if you are on Princess (and maybe others) it's a 30 minute bus ride into town.

[spbstan]

I visited almost all the Baltic capitals before visiting St Petersburg first in 1976 and occasionally visit them still(except Helsinki which I regularly go on shopping trips to) and found them all interesting, clean, neat and organized but fell in love with St Petersburg on my first visit when it was Leningrad and visited every chance I had until moving there from California 12 years ago.

All the Northern Capitals are relatively small cities and are pretty good walking DIY programs if you do a little research.

St Petersburg is in another league however. It must be the cultural capital of Europe, or the world with more access to the arts, theater, music, museums etc than any place. Cruise port calls are so limited in time that they focus on only history of the Imperial era but any interest you might have is probably the focus of some museum or festival. So if you have a special interest such as Ballet or a hobby like WWII history or wood carving, photography etc, you can create a special itinerary that focuses on it.

Any of the larger more established tour operators can create a highly non-standard itinerary for you, something not available from the expensive crowded ship sold tours.

An example; a casual friend brought her teenage daughter on the cruise and was afraid the sight seeing of old palaces would be boring for a teen. I knew the daughter was serious about her ballet classes she had been taking for 5 years so I suggested a tour focused on ballet and they had a company they read about doing ballet tours in their local newspaper, create a tour that combined general with ballet specific activities. They got to go backstage at the Mariinsky Theater, see a major performance, visit the most famous ballet school and meet top students of the world's most famous ballet school, and take a 1/2 day master class with a world famous ballet teacher. They used Denrus but others might be able to do the same. So whatever special interests you have, you can get opportunities to explore them at a higher level than just about anywhere.

St Petersburg is the jewel for many reasons, not just old restored palaces.