Ship advise needed!

[jmlh]

My husband and I are planning a cruise to the Baltic (to include St. Petersburg)for next summer. We are trying to decide between the Jewel of the Seas (RCI) from Harwich/return and the Century (Celebrity) from Amsterdan/return. We are also wondering if folks actually use a balcony very much on this itinarary. An inside cabin on Oceania (Dover to Stockholm) could also be in the running. We would appreciate any comments from people who have done any of these cruises. Many thanks.:)

[dbh62ark]

We are leaving for our 2nd Baltics cruise tomorrow to sail on the Constellation, so we obviously like the Baltics a lot. We decided to go ahead and get a balcony for this trip (we evaluate on a case-by-case basis) based on the fact that we'll have 4 days at sea. I'll let you know when I get back whether or not I think it was worth it, and obviously that's not an easy question to answer because usage varies, the level of importance varies from person to person, weather varies (you can check wunderground.com or weather.com for averages but obviously that's just a vague idea of what you can expect on your particular cruise).

 

Just based on what you wrote, I would go for the Oceania. Stockholm is spectacular, and the idea of a postcruise stay there is very enticing. Also, Oceania docks for 3 days in St. Petersburg as opposed to 2 days like the other lines in 2005, and I assume that they'll be doing the same next year. More time is better in St. Petes. We have not been on Oceania, but that line is high on my "wish list" for the future, and I do think that it is not for everyone. If you love elaborate shows, art auctions, etc., you may need to stick with Celebrity or RCCL to be happy on your cruise. My husband and I could care less about that kind of stuff and sail based on itinerary and the ports, so Oceania is very appealing to us.

 

There are so many variables in this decision, so perhaps if you post more information on your likes/dislikes, you'll get some great advice from the wealth of travel experience available on these boards.

 

Happy trip planning,

Donna

[dbh62ark]

P.S. If you post this question on the Baltics boards on this site, it will be reviewed by many more Baltics cruisers, and they are very helpful. :)

[jmlh]

Hi dbh62ark,

 

Thanks for your reply. I will take your advise and post on the Baltics board.

We are certainly considering Oceania although it is more expensive (therefore the inside cabin). We have had outside cabins on previous cruises but our thinking is that the weather may not be too warm further north.

Our tastes seem similar to yours - we like to sightsee, enjoy good dining and catch the occasional show. I look forward to hearing how you enjoy your cruise!

[LHT28]

I vote for Oceania also...less people, good food, no formal clothes required to haul around.

If you want Las Vegas shows though you should take one of your other choices.

[dbh62ark]

no formal clothes required to haul around.

Oh yes! I can't believe I forgot to mention that because that's a huge issue at my house right now. We find Celebrity to be pretty stuffy and uptight on dress codes as compared to the more casual freestyle dining on other ships in Europe that seem to be more compatible with port-intensive itineraries. Celebrity definitely has a certain market, but 3 formal night plus 4 more nights with jackets for the guys is WAY too much for me! :)

 

Donna

[dbh62ark]

no formal clothes required to haul around.

Oh yes! I can't believe I forgot to mention that because that's a huge issue at my house right now. We find Celebrity to be pretty stuffy and uptight on dress codes as compared to the more casual freestyle dining on other ships in Europe that seem to be more compatible with port-intensive itineraries. Celebrity definitely has a certain market, but 3 formal night plus 4 more nights with jackets for the guys is WAY too much for me! :) There's really not much in the way of alternate casual dining either for Celebrity as compared to other ships like Princess and RCCL.

 

Donna

[soraya]

Hi, We had a balcony for our Baltic cruise at the end of August. We didn't use it as much as on a Carribean cruise, but we did use it. I especially enjoyed having breakfast in the ports - although a few are working ports and not very pretty. We only had two sea days and I did think long and heard about a balcony. It's a very intensive trip though and there isn't a lot of relaxing time, so I wouldn't say it was a must have. If it hadn't been such a great deal, I would have felt I'd wasted my money.

[JodiBB]

We went on the Baltics Cruise in August of this year and used our balcony every day..whether it be as we were coming in to port or leaving port, it was a wonderful way to see the views without leaving our room...

 

During the afternoons, when we went back to our room to rest, we sit out on the balcony and let the sea air relax us...