I am leaving on the Atlantica - 8/14/05

[Zam]

Going to the Baltics for 7 days - If you have any questions you would like me to reseach while I am on the ship, reply to this thread with the question no later then 8/11 and I will see what I can find out for you. I will respond when we return and post a small review if any one is interested.

[silverlu]

I'm leaving on the Atlantica on Sept 4th -- Baltic. I would love any input you have based on your recent experiences...

[Zam]

Just got off the Atlantic on 8/21 – could do a very detailed review but don’t want to bore you. Here are the highlights:

 

 

Copenhagen – Nice city but a little dirty though. Easy to walk and see all the major points of interest and just about everyone speaks English. Money is Danish Kroner but most vendors will take Euro – Dollar not so widely accepted – you just have to ask. Skip Tivoli Gardens unless you are interested in seeing an amusement park. They did have some nice entertainment but thought we could have spent our money a little wiser here. I do suggest a canal tour – they offer two types – one non-stop where you get the highlights of the things around the canals (in English) and a 2nd one where you can get off of various points and go explore. If you have the time, do the trip where you can get on and off the boat. The non-stop is about 50 minutes long – cost is about $15 US.

 

 

Stockholm – Nice city – English widely spoken. Currency if the Swedish Crown but again Euro is accepted too. (You can get Euros on board at a fairly decent rate). We did the city tour with a stop at the Vassar Museum (very interesting museum about an old ship that sank in the harbor on its maiden voyage). The ship docks a good distance from the town center but they run shuttles back and fourth all day long. When you get back on board – find a spot to view the scenery as the ships leaves the area, some great views.

 

 

Helsinki – Another nice city and a little more modern than I expected. English is widely spoken and they use the Euro. We did the city tour again and had a great tour guide and learned lots of things about the area. You could skip this tour and see the city yourself but they do a good job of getting you to all the highlights areas with time left over to shop. Again, there are shuttles back and fourth to the ship

 

 

St Petersburg – Stay with the ship tours here. Reason is that they make sure you get back to the ship before it leaves port. They also get you into the major points with shorter waits. We did the Catherine Palace and Hermitage tour. Both places were very interesting and very beautiful but crowded too (lots of rooms full of gold). The tour desk tried to get us to see something else but we could not skip the Hermitage – too many items there by the art masters and had to go see them. Also, we did not have the 2 hours wait that they talk about in the tour brochure - we went right in. They do allow time for shopping and you can hit a few local markets but watch for pickpockets. Lots of opportunities to buy Russian dolls and vodka if you are into that kind of stuff. As for currency, they take both the Euro and Dollar and will convert on the spot for you. The 9-hour tour went very fast and we were exhausted by the time we got back to the ship. There is time (if you have the energy) to see the ballet in the evening, as the ship does not leave the port until 11:30 P.M.

 

 

Tallinn – Best port in my view. Very old city with lots of history. Take the walking tour of the old city and you will see some really neat stuff. English is widely spoken and they trade in the Estonian Kron but they also take the Euro (which we used everywhere). Could have spent more time here and maybe will go back some day.

 

 

Ship – The ship was nice, very neat and clean. We stayed in a grand suite and had excellent service. The ship has everything that you need (shopping, gym, stores, casino, salon etc) pretty standard stuff with these newer ships. The captain was great and the English hostess – Rose was awesome.

 

 

Food – Very European with lots of tasty sauces and a good variety. They always offered some type of fish, pasta and beef but remember that they do not do steak like we are used to – it is fried not grilled. The prime rib however, (served on the night when we in Russia) was the best I’ve had on a cruise. They also offer the Club Atlantic for an additional $20 for a really fine cuisine meal but I thought the stuff in the dinning room was just as good. Try it if you want but you won’t miss much if you don’t. The wine list was good too – we bought the wine card and got 6 pretty good bottles of wine

 

 

Ethnic Mix – of the 2,000 passengers, 150 spoke English – most others were Italian and only spoke their language. At times we did feel very outcast. During the entertainment they try to make the English-speaking group fell included but the numbers are just too overwhelming. The kids program can be a little tough because there is generally only one other English speaking kid in the group and that can be intimidating. All of the crew does speak English so there are no problems getting things you wanted. They did group us with other English speaking groups on all tours and when dinning and we met some great people.

 

 

All in all it was a great cruise – hope this helps you – let me know if you have other questions.

 

 

Z

[silversells]

Thanks so much for the rundown of the cruise...we are leaving on the same cruise September 4. How was the weather? I have heard the formal nights are over the top (a European tradition) but what is attire at the dinner table on a regular night? Are men expected to wear sport coats or is a open neck or golf shirt OK? I guess we are in for a real Italian experience. I love to listen to the language but don't understand much of it. Did you find that you were seated with other American speaking guests or did you have to find your way at dinner also? Average ages of cruisers???(I realize this can change from date to date)

You have no idea how helpful this is to us. We have cruised many times but never on Costa and not on the Baltic route.Thanks in advance:D

[Luv2Trvl!]

Zam,

 

Thanks for the review! A few questions:

 

What time did the ship arrive in Stockholm and how long did you have to explore the city? The shuttles in Stockholm - do they go all the way to the city center or would we have to take a train or bus? How long would it take us to get to the city? How long was your city tour?

 

Did your tour in St. Petersburg include lunch in a restaurant? How was it?

 

In Tallinn, did you get the walking tour from Costa or arranged it on your own? Does Costa provide shuttles in Tallinn?

 

What is Club Atlantic on the ship - an optional restaurant? About food on the ship...did you happen to see sushi anywhere?

 

Did you have 2 formal nights and how were people dressed? What kind of entertainment did Costa provide? Dancing, I would assume, was one of them. Did many people dance? What kind of dancing - Latin, Ballroom, etc? Was there a Toga night and how was it?

 

Any suggestions on what would be a good time to board the ship in Copenhagen? We're arriving a day earlier and trying to decide if we should check-in with the ship the first thing on Sunday morning (and then go back to the city again), or just explore the city as much as we can before boarding the ship in the evening.

 

Thanks

[Zam]

Dear Silversells:

 

 

Weather was good when we went – I guess it has been raining a lot in the Baltic but everywhere we went, we had sunshine about 65 to 70 degrees F. It can be hit and miss – hopefully you will get sunshine too.

 

 

Formal nights – Monday night (at sea day) and Thursday night (Tallinn). Not very “over the top” and I was kind of disappointed in the attire worn by all the other passengers on formal nights – we were 2nd seating and there were only a handful of us in tuxedos. Also, only a few more in suits and a lot with ties and no jackets and a lot with no ties at all. As for the women, there were a lot of nice dresses but also a lot of pant suits on formal night. It was way too casual for a formal night in my view. We like to dress up for dinner – would have been nice if the rest of the passengers did too. The Captain and his crew ate 2nd seating on the formal nights – we were right next to his table and I think he appreciate the fact that we were dressed for the occasion – after all he was in his formal attire too! As for the other evenings – very casual with a lot of polo shirts but no shorts and t-shirts.

 

 

Table seating: we were at a table of only English speaking guests – two from Australia and two from the States. All nice people – Costa does a pretty good job at keeping the English-speaking people together – otherwise the Italian would overwhelm you.

 

 

Average age: Probably about 45. Not too many older guests – only saw a few on our cruise. Lots of kids too. Everyone was pretty active.

 

 

As for the “Italian experience” be ready to be a little pushy. There were many times when we were standing in line (either to go into port or in line at a buffet or a show) when a group of Italian speaking people decided they needed to be in front of us. It happened over and over and most of the other English-speaking people on board that we talked with had a similar experience sometime during the cruise. In fact we all started grouping together in line so that no one could get around us. I don’t think they were trying to be rude or pushy, I just think that was “normal” to them and they didn’t realize what they were doing – probably the way they are raised and we are just not used to it.

 

 

If you have any other questions before you go, let me know. If you want to email me please do so at zambini215@hotmail.com. When you get back, let me know how your trip was – I am interested if your experience is similar to ours. Have a great time!

 

 

Zam

[Zam]

Dear Luv2Trvl,

 

 

 

Here are answers to your questions:

 

 

 

Stockholm arrival time was around 8am. The trip into Stockholm is very pretty and if you get up early (we did because our bodies had not adjusted) you will see some very beautiful sights in a peaceful setting (our ship was very late sleeping). Lots of small islands dotted with homes, etc. If you don’t get up early, the ship leaves the same way it came in so you can see the sights in the afternoon. The ship docks about 2 miles from town but they run shuttles all day long to the middle of town (there is one every 20 – 30 minutes). Ride is about 10 minutes at most. We took a tour to the Vassar Museum and small city tour. It was about 4 hours so we had enough time to explore and shop on our own after the tour was done. When the tour was done, they will drop you in the middle of the city and show you were the shuttles back to the ship are loaded. Very easy to get around. I think the ship leaves around 4pm and the line to get back on board gets very long at around 3:45.

 

 

 

St Petersburg: The tour did include a lunch – it was a big place where all the tour buses go for a “Russian” lunch and entertainment, Food was pretty basic – boiled chicken over white rice with some smoked salmon, caviar and ice cream. They do serve everyone (including by 16yo son) a shot of vodka and you finish it all off with a glass of champagne. The hardest part about the lunch was the smokers who light up in a very crowded room. We went outside at that point to get away from the smoke (that was the only time we had problems with smoking during the entire trip). Note, the tours in St Petersburg all start early (our call time was 7am) so don’t stay up late and drink the night before like we did. I think we got to our room at 1:00 a.m. plus the 1-hour time change so we only had a few hours of sleep before a very busy day.

 

 

 

Tallinn – this was our favorite stop. The walking tour was the best. They take you by bus to the top of the city and you walk from there with your guide to the bottom. It was a great place and has a great old city feel. Would like to go back and stay at this city for a longer stay to explore more. Again, they run shuttles back and fourth to the ship all afternoon long.

 

 

 

Club Atlantica: this is their “special” restaurant designed to show you exception cuisine and really fine service. It does cost an additional $20 unless you are in a suite – then it is included. We ate there twice (once on the Captain) and found the food to be good – but not great like I was expecting it to be. The service was good but not any better then you get in the normal dining room but it was a lot more intimate. If you are in a suite, try it; it is free, otherwise, save your $20. One note, the Crème Brule served there for dessert was the best I’ve ever had. As for sushi – the closest I saw was the caviar served at various special functions but I was not looking for it.

 

 

 

Formal nights – Monday night (at sea day) and Thursday night (Tallinn). Not too many people really dressed up. We were 2nd seating and there were only a handful of us in tuxedos. Also, only a few more in suits and a lot with ties and no jackets and a lot with no ties at all. As for the women, there were a lot of nice dresses but also a lot of pant suits on formal night. It was way too casual for a formal night in my view. We like to dress up for dinner – would have been nice if the rest of the passengers did too. The Captain and his crew ate 2nd seating on the formal nights – we were right next to his table and I think he appreciate the fact that we were dressed for the occasion – after all he was in his formal attire too! As for the other evenings – very casual with a lot of polo shirts but no shorts and t-shirts

 

 

 

Entertainment: There was always something to go see and do. Shows were okay but because of the different languages – they have to translate everything and you just have to be patient. There is dancing in several places on the ship. Most lounges have a dance floor but the Dante Club is the place to go for more modern rock-n-roll type stuff. There is a ballroom on deck 3 where they were doing some ballroom as well. Lots of options all over the ship. We tried to visit them all at one time or another but because 2nd seating was so late (9:30) we usually didn’t finish dinner until 1100 pm and the show would start at 11:45 so it left little time to go dancing – unless we wanted to be really tired the next day. Also, there was not a Toga night – they only do that in the Caribbean.

 

 

 

Copenhagen and boarding the ship: We got in on Saturday morning and had time to explore the city that afternoon and evening. On Sunday there is a lot of time to explore in the morning as well and we did a canal tour) but they start the buses to the ship at about 1:30 in the afternoon (are you staying at the Admiral?) We stayed in a suite so had express embarkation so didn’t have to wait in a very long line. They did tell us that if we wanted to go back into Copenhagen after we boarded, we could – you just have to take a taxi. The ship does not leave part until about 6:00 pm. We were on board at about 3:00 and that gave us enough time to visit the city and then gave us time to unpack and explore the ship before we left port.

 

 

 

As I told Silversells, if you have any other questions before you go, let me know. If you want to email me please do so at zambini215@hotmail.com. When you get back, let me know how your trip was – I am interested if your experience is similar to ours. Have a great time!

 

 

 

Zam

[Luv2Trvl!]

Dear Zam,

 

Thank you very, very much for your informative review and answers! They cleared up many things for us. I will certainly share our experiences when we get back!

 

I was asking about Stockholm because it seems that Costa has changed our itinerary slightly. Instead of staying in Stockholm from 8 am to 5 pm, our tickets (and MyCosta website) say 9:45 - 4. This leaves us even less time in the city. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Costa is staying so close to the city. Other ships, like Princess, arrive into Nynashamn port (for Stockholm) and it takes passengers about an hour by train or cruise bus to get into the city. Not knowing that we're only minutes from the city center, we pre-registered for a tour with Costa (sounds like the same tour as you did). I guess, we'll need to decide if we still want the tour or not.

 

We're going to be in Tallinn on Friday, so I guess, our 2nd formal night will be then. It's nice that they spread the formal nights out.

 

We're staying at The Square Hotel near Tivoli. We arranged the hotel ourselves, which should gives us more time to stay in the city (if we can find where to store our luggage).

 

Did you have a Costa transfer on the way back or did you get a taxi? How long were the lines and how much time did it take you to get to the airport?

 

Thanks a bunch!

[Zam]

We let Costa do the airport transer coming and going. When we went home they loaded us on buses at about 9:45 am (we had a noon flight) but they didn't leave the dock until about 20 minutes later (no one knows why the delay). When we got to the airport, there were about 50 people standing in line and only 2 windows open to check people in. They finally opened more windows and it took us about 60 minutes to get through the line which only left us about 35 minutes to get through security and to our gate - it was a little close but we made it. If you can get off the ship earlier and take a taxi you might save time but I guess they've been doing this a long time and haven't had too many problems.

 

Also, you are right - Tallinn was Friday - not Thursday like I posted earlier.

 

Zam

[Luv2Trvl!]

We're back from our September 4th sailing, but I wish we could stay on the ship forever :) . The weather was excellent, warm and sunny in every city. We enjoyed this cruise more than any other cruise we've been on. Not sure why, considering that a few things were worse than on Princess.

 

We enjoyed every city we visited, with those that we explored on our own the most. That would make Helsinki, Tallinn, and Copenhagen our favorite ports of call. In Helsinki, a ferry ride to Semolina (sp?) island made our day. I only wish we left more time for it.

 

In Stockholm we took Costa's most popular tour, but unfortunately, had a very, very bad guide. In St. Petersburg we had an excellent guide with only 10 English-speaking people on the bus, and about 13 German-speaking with their tour guide. Since the two guides could not talk at once on the bus, I suspect we only got a half of the story. However, in the two museums that we visited, we had our own private group - only 10 people! We also didn't have to wait at all to enter any museums (St. Isaac and Petrodovets).

 

On this sailing we had 500 English-speaking guests. Does anyone know how many guests were on the ship total? I don't think it was full.

 

On formal nights even Italians didn't dress up too much. Luckily, Zam warned us about that!

 

I agree with Zam about the ship - very nice and clean. Loved the decor, especially murano glass throughout the ship. Our obstructed view cabin exceeded our expectations. The cleaning service/lady in the cabin was excellent. Can't say the same about the service in the dining room/restaurant, which was consistently worse than on Princess. The food in the main restaurant was tasty. I especially liked the soups. The seafood was not as good as on Princess though. I don't particularly like Italian desserts, with the exception of tiramisu, which they haven't served even once.

 

The buffet was not available for dinner at all. So, when we didn't want to pay extra $ for optional restaurant, we were stuck with eating in the main dining room, where it took us close to 2 hours to finish our dinner. One time when we had our lunch in the dining room, it also took us 2 hours. After 5 pm when we would return from our tours, the pizzeria and other stations always had the same limited selection. It would have been nice if Atlantica had better food available when most of the people came back to the ship hungry. In fact, on the days when we were in port, Atlantica could serve lunch at a later time.

 

Shore lecturer (the guy to ask questions about exploring ports of call on your own) was steering people into getting the bus provided by Costa, even in those ports of call where it was unnecessary. He didn't know or didn't want to tell anything about public transportation, which was easily available in some ports (and for much less $ I should add). In general, we got impression that Costa was trying to make money at every opportunity: expensive bus (by local transportation standards), slightly exaggerated walking times from the port to the cities, as advertised in the daily paper (and hence, many people took the Costa's bus even in Tallinn), more expensive drinks (as compared to other ships), etc. All cruise companies try to make money, but this seemed less apparent to us on other ships. Not sure if correct, but doesn't Princess have a free bus in their European ports of call?

 

Funny thing about shore lecturer, English hostess, and many others - they all left their designated "table" hours 10-15 minutes before the end of their time, while some also started late. I guess, that's an Italian thing which even English hostess quickly picked up?

 

All in all, I thought Princess had a better organization and service. I didn't particularly enjoy the final day when we had to leave our room at certain time and wait for disembarkation in a lounge. Also, one midnight buffet that we attended was poorly organized: people had to wait a long time to enter and couldn't take good pictures of the food. Nevertheless, we didn't let these and other little things affect our trip. We loved it!

 

Since this was probably Atlantica's last Scandinavian sailing before it starts its Mediterranean itinerary, I didn't offer any useful info about ports of call and such. If you have any questions, please feel welcome to ask me.