On Northern Europe Itineraries in Summer are many kids?

[kitkat343]

We absolutely did not need a tour to get to Vasa early - we simply left the ship as soon as it docked, caught the HOHO Stromma boat that went directly to Vasa and arrived when it was completely empty. From June 1st - August 31st, Vasa opens at 8:30 in the morning. Assuming your ship docks early, and you can either catch a taxi or bus at Frihamnen you should be fine. If you prefer a tour, that is completely up to you but we really didn't have any trouble getting around Stockholm via public transportation (which is included with the Stockholm card, along with admission to Vasa and many other museums. If you are planning on visiting a lot of expensive museums a Stockholm card is worth it).

Edited March 23, 2015 by kitkat343

[angeleyes27]

We were in Stockholm last summer. The ship tried to scare us into using their tours. However, as soon as we got off the boat, we got tickets for the HOHO boat. We got to the Vasa before the crowds and had it almost to ourselves for an hour. We then took the HOHO boat to Gamla Stan. We bought tickets for the HOHO bus, which I would NOT recommend. It took them over an hour to get to Ice Bar as they sit and wait until the bus is full. We walked back from Ice Bar to Gamla Stan in 15 mins, a very easy walk. The boat also goes to the port.

[BigJH]

Hi,

I know Disney sails to this area especially with frozen mania.

 

But they are soooo pricey. I am wondering if the other lines have many children in the summer. In my head this might be an "older person" itinerary and I'm worried there won't be many kids onboard.

Thanks

Kerri

 

We (my wife and two children 12 & 7) are going to Scandinavia with Princess at the end of May and the Fjords with P&O at the end of July, my understanding is that both sailings are very nearly closed for children, so there will be approximately 300-400 children on each sailing. Weve been to the Fjords twice before and The Baltic once, all three times there was a good balance of passengers on board including children, for us, it's not all about water parks and theme parks, as the kids love the various things to do.

[PossiblyMaybe]

This is a great thread, thanks so much! We are doing 6/11 RCL 12 night this year with our 9 year old daughter.

 

Scandinavia will be very kid friendly but St. Pete is making me nervous ... If it were just me and hubby I could do a pound the pavement 2 day deluxe tour, but with her in tow the pace would be too brutal. Am thinking of doing other ports DIY and saving that $ for a private semi-custom tour. Anastasia Travel showed a kid friendly itinerary on their site which I may check out ...

[Desdichado62]

This is a great thread, thanks so much! We are doing 6/11 RCL 12 night this year with our 9 year old daughter.

 

Scandinavia will be very kid friendly but St. Pete is making me nervous ...

If it were just me and hubby I could do a pound the pavement 2 day deluxe tour, but with her in tow the pace would be too brutal.

Am thinking of doing other ports DIY and saving that $ for a private semi-custom tour. Anastasia Travel showed a kid friendly itinerary on their site which I may check out ...

 

I agree on that, the other ports are usually fairly easy to DIY and with a little planning there shouldn't be any problems.

 

If you need advice for Stockholm, read the thread linked in my signature and ask if you have any further questions.

[kitkat343]

"This is a great thread, thanks so much! We are doing 6/11 RCL 12 night this year with our 9 year old daughter.

 

Scandinavia will be very kid friendly but St. Pete is making me nervous ... If it were just me and hubby I could do a pound the pavement 2 day deluxe tour, but with her in tow the pace would be too brutal. Am thinking of doing other ports DIY and saving that $ for a private semi-custom tour. Anastasia Travel showed a kid friendly itinerary on their site which I may check out …"

 

We brought our 3 year old to St. Petersburg last August, and he really loved it. He says his three favorite cities are NY, Stockholm and St. Petersburg. We did a private comfort tour, and added a subway stop (my son loves trains) and canal tour (he loves boats too). Children really love the fountains at Peterhof (especially the trick ones that will soak you), and you should have lunch at Stolle for really good, quick meat or dessert pies. You should bring a change of clothes or swimsuit if your daughter wants to go into the fountains. My son lasted an hour at the Hermitage, and they have a cafe on the ground floor with internet accessible computers you can rent. Best Guides has a children's tour in which they will take the children through some of the highlights of the Hermitage, and then supervise the kids at the internet cafe while the parents view the artwork. We had a private tour with a different company, so we saw the paintings I was most interested in first, and then after an hour I took my son to the cafe where he was happy eating cake, and my husband got to view the impressionist wing that he really wanted to see.

 

We were able to easily DIY all of the ports on the Baltic cruise (we didn't travel to Berlin), and chose a private tour just for our family in St. Petersburg. I would strongly recommend that families chose this option if they can afford it, since it was what made it possible for our toddler to enjoy St. Petersburg. The tour guide moved us quickly through museums (Catherine's palace is lovely, but gets a bit repetitive, so we raced through some of the middle rooms and were still able to see the highlights.) Whenever my son started to get tired or fussy, we stopped to feed him.

 

With a 9 year old, you could let her help plan the trip to see which attractions she'd most like to see if you are going on a private tour. For a younger child, you can make a book with pictures of the attractions you will be visiting.

 

The only warning I would pass along is to try to take it easy in Talinn, which is often the stop prior to St. Petersburg. Most visitors spend the day walking throughout the lovely historic Old Town, but this can be tiring the day before St. Petersburg. I read a review of one family whose kids were so tired after walking all day in Tallinn, and then running around St. Petersburg the first day that they refused to get off the ship for the second day in St. Petersburg and stayed in the kids club. You can cut down on walking in Tallinn by taking a taxi from the port to the top of Toompea hill and then walking down the hill through the Old town. Pedicabs are available, and it is interesting to see the historic buildings on a ride. Also, there is a 20 minute train ride through the historic streets of Tallinn that you can pick up at Kullassepa street just next to tourist information booth. It had mixed reviews on trip advisor (the "train" is on wheels over cobblestone streets) but my son loved it, and we actually thought it was pretty pleasant to sit and watch the town go by.

Edited March 31, 2015 by kitkat343

[PossiblyMaybe]

Thanks so much for your perspective, it's super-helpful & making me feel more at ease about the whole thing!

 

It hadn't even occurred to me that tag-teaming with tour guides on kiddo duty while visiting museums was an option. And my daughter would LOVE playing in those fountains!

 

Adding Best Tours to my massive research list now ... thanks again!

[kitkat343]

Here is Best Guides information about their children's tour and even if you don't choose them you might want to incorporate some of these activities into your visit: http://www.bestguides-spb.com/children-page.html

 

We went with a different company since I booked a month in advance and didn't find out about them ahead of time, but others on cruise critic have been happy with them.

 

Also, please note that my signature below has a link to my review of the entire Baltic trip, which might be helpful for you to see what my son liked in the different port cities.

Edited April 1, 2015 by kitkat343

[luv2gonow]

We (my wife and two children 12 & 7) are going to Scandinavia with Princess at the end of May and the Fjords with P&O at the end of July, my understanding is that both sailings are very nearly closed for children, so there will be approximately 300-400 children on each sailing. Weve been to the Fjords twice before and The Baltic once, all three times there was a good balance of passengers on board including children, for us, it's not all about water parks and theme parks, as the kids love the various things to do.

 

This is really good to hear:D

Thanks everyone

Kerri

[luv2gonow]

"This is a great thread, thanks so much! We are doing 6/11 RCL 12 night this year with our 9 year old daughter.

 

Scandinavia will be very kid friendly but St. Pete is making me nervous ... If it were just me and hubby I could do a pound the pavement 2 day deluxe tour, but with her in tow the pace would be too brutal. Am thinking of doing other ports DIY and saving that $ for a private semi-custom tour. Anastasia Travel showed a kid friendly itinerary on their site which I may check out …"

 

We brought our 3 year old to St. Petersburg last August, and he really loved it. He says his three favorite cities are NY, Stockholm and St. Petersburg. We did a private comfort tour, and added a subway stop (my son loves trains) and canal tour (he loves boats too). Children really love the fountains at Peterhof (especially the trick ones that will soak you), and you should have lunch at Stolle for really good, quick meat or dessert pies. You should bring a change of clothes or swimsuit if your daughter wants to go into the fountains. My son lasted an hour at the Hermitage, and they have a cafe on the ground floor with internet accessible computers you can rent. Best Guides has a children's tour in which they will take the children through some of the highlights of the Hermitage, and then supervise the kids at the internet cafe while the parents view the artwork. We had a private tour with a different company, so we saw the paintings I was most interested in first, and then after an hour I took my son to the cafe where he was happy eating cake, and my husband got to view the impressionist wing that he really wanted to see.

 

We were able to easily DIY all of the ports on the Baltic cruise (we didn't travel to Berlin), and chose a private tour just for our family in St. Petersburg. I would strongly recommend that families chose this option if they can afford it, since it was what made it possible for our toddler to enjoy St. Petersburg. The tour guide moved us quickly through museums (Catherine's palace is lovely, but gets a bit repetitive, so we raced through some of the middle rooms and were still able to see the highlights.) Whenever my son started to get tired or fussy, we stopped to feed him.

 

With a 9 year old, you could let her help plan the trip to see which attractions she'd most like to see if you are going on a private tour. For a younger child, you can make a book with pictures of the attractions you will be visiting.

 

The only warning I would pass along is to try to take it easy in Talinn, which is often the stop prior to St. Petersburg. Most visitors spend the day walking throughout the lovely historic Old Town, but this can be tiring the day before St. Petersburg. I read a review of one family whose kids were so tired after walking all day in Tallinn, and then running around St. Petersburg the first day that they refused to get off the ship for the second day in St. Petersburg and stayed in the kids club. You can cut down on walking in Tallinn by taking a taxi from the port to the top of Toompea hill and then walking down the hill through the Old town. Pedicabs are available, and it is interesting to see the historic buildings on a ride. Also, there is a 20 minute train ride through the historic streets of Tallinn that you can pick up at Kullassepa street just next to tourist information booth. It had mixed reviews on trip advisor (the "train" is on wheels over cobblestone streets) but my son loved it, and we actually thought it was pretty pleasant to sit and watch the town go by.

Thanks for all the great info!!

Here is Best Guides information about their children's tour and even if you don't choose them you might want to incorporate some of these activities into your visit: http://www.bestguides-spb.com/children-page.html

 

We went with a different company since I booked a month in advance and didn't find out about them ahead of time, but others on cruise critic have been happy with them.

 

Also, please note that my signature below has a link to my review of the entire Baltic trip, which might be helpful for you to see what my son liked in the different port cities.

 

I will check out that website and read your TR

Thanks:D

Kerri

[cruisin_momof3]

We just booked a 12-night Russia and Scandinavia cruise on Celebrity Silhouette for July 2016. We'll have three kids ages 10, 8, and 5 with us. Hoping to hear that there will be some more kids on board!

[PossiblyMaybe]

Here is Best Guides information about their children's tour and even if you don't choose them you might want to incorporate some of these activities into your visit: http://www.bestguides-spb.com/children-page.html

 

We went with a different company since I booked a month in advance and didn't find out about them ahead of time, but others on cruise critic have been happy with them.

 

Also, please note that my signature below has a link to my review of the entire Baltic trip, which might be helpful for you to see what my son liked in the different port cities.

 

Your trip report was great! Which tour company did you use, if you don't mind my asking? I'm totally sold on private tours now and am creating a list of places to email.

 

We are 2.5 months out from sail date -- hopefully there are still spots available!

[kitkat343]

Please note that there is no independent babysitting available in the Hermitage (although what an amazing idea and parents would probably pay a fortune if museums set up a temporary drop off daycare like at a gym). It is just a service that according to their website Best Guides can offer on their tours (which is still a great idea).

 

 

PossiblyMaybe -

 

Thanks so much. We booked a private tour with SPB (I didn't find out about Best Guides in advance since I booked the cruise six weeks prior to sailing). Our personal experience with SPB was mixed, although most reviews on cruise critic and trip advisor are overwhelmingly positive, and I think a lot depends upon the individual tour operator you get. Our tour guide worked really hard to rush us through the less interesting parts of sites so our son was able to see and enjoy everything in St. Petersburg. She also advised us on which sites to bring our stroller (including surprisingly the Hermitage, where it turned out to be quite useful - our son has generally outgrown the stroller at home, but it was helpful to have it as an option on the trip).

 

We had some difficulties when our tour guide suggested we move time from day two to day one, since the weather was lovely on the first day and there was a prediction of rain on the second day. We had seen the outside of the Church of Spilled Blood that morning, and she suggested we go visit the inside during the extra time on day one. Our canal boat tour was scheduled for day two, and I thought it would be better to move the canal boat tour to day one to take advantage of the perfect weather instead of being inside of the cathedral.

 

We had requested ahead of time that our canal boat tour be booked with a smaller boat that goes through the canals, instead of the Neva river, which some reviewers had stated was a better experience. Our tour guide stated that this would not be possible because the water levels were too high. She also stated that the next canal boat tour would be departing in two hours (we were just leaving Catherine's palace, so it would take an hour to get back to St. Petersburg). When I questioned her on this since my understanding is that there are many different canal tour operators, she said there was only one English speaking tour, and their next boat left in two hours. We told her we would be fine taking a Russian language tour, and to please find one that departs soon after we would arrive in St. Petersburg. In the meantime, my son fell asleep in the car, which was very good since he still naps (usually 2-3 hours a day and he'd been touring the city quite happily from 8 am until 3 pm and I was worried he might melt down soon if he didn't sleep. When we arrived at St. Petersburg, we asked our tour guide when the boat would depart, and she told us "it leaves as soon as it is filled." So I woke my son up, and we started to get ready to leave the car. After my son was awake, the tour guide told us the boat wasn't actually leaving for another hour. My husband was extremely angry at this point, since we would have let our son sleep (and the tour guide has young children, so we would expect her to understand why it isn't a good idea to wake a toddler up only to make him wait for an hour to do something). She was angry and told us she didn't think she should be expected to replan tours without notice. I didn't want to fight with her, but I did think that during the one hour car ride from Catherine's Palace to St. Petersburg it should be possible for a tour guide to plan a canal boat tour, and if she cannot, then in a company as large as SPB she should be able to call her office and request assistance from a more senior tour guide or a secretary with internet access. When my family landed in Copenhagen, the weather was beautiful and we immediately checked into the hotel and left to go on a canal cruise. I had never been to Copenhagen, but I got directions from a TI, took a bus to the canal stop and boarded a boat without a problem. Thankfully, my son woke up happy, and we visited Palace Square while we waited for the boat's departure time. But we did wind up on the canal boat we had told our tour guide we didn't want to be on since it left so late. It did seem a little concerning that she had pushed so hard for this one company when there are so many available in St. Petersburg. We always book private tours when traveling with our son since we would hate to ruin anyone else's vacation if he has a tough time on a tour, and previous tour guides have been much more flexible. However, SPB is a huge company with a ton of positive reviews. And again, in our tour guide's defense, I really did think she worked very hard overall to try to help us enjoy our trip to St. Petersburg.

[familycruzinnewbie]

I am curious about pre/post cruise plans, and how Iceland was worked in. I am really interested in a Baltic cruise but afraid it may be too exhausting. If you are in SPB for 2 days you really want to explore for 2 days but most cruises have full days at other ports before an after. If you only do a one day tour what do you do for the other tour. Are you allowed to do things on your own or must you be with a tour guide in SPB. My parents did a cruise that stopped in Egypt for 2 days 5 years ago. After a very long tour day they decided to just hang by the pool the following day.

 

I am a huge pre-planner and I love a great deal, though not sure if that is possible in the Baltic cruises particularly where they don't do price drops until closer to sailing. Which cruise lines do a good job in this area regarding duration, itinerary and good location ports but are not that expensive (relative I know). Thinking kids will be 15 and 17, so sounds like there would be many kids in the range.

[Desdichado62]

familycruzinnewbie, unless you apply for and are approved a visa for yourself, you have to be with the tour guide at all times when you disembark the ship.

[kitkat343]

familycruzinnewbie I booked my cruise 6 weeks out since we didn't know if I would be pregnant. All of the cities (except St Petersburg) can easily be DIY, so if you are certain you will take this cruise at some point you can actually do most of your planning prior to booking the cruise.

 

The highlight of this cruise is the ports, and many of the itineraries are similar, which means that you have a lot of flexibility in terms of selecting a cruise if they haven't sold out. Some things to watch for are - the Princess Royal/Regal cannot dock directly in Stockholm, requiring a tender and extra train ride, which might be harder for a family. When you dock in Nynashamn instead of Stockholm, you will also miss the sail in from the archipelago. There are some limited itineraries that spend 3 days in St. Petersburg, and rarely itineraries that either spend 2 days in Stockholm or begin in Copenhagen and end in Stockholm, which would give you extra time in the two cities most travelers loved the most. But most of the itineraries are very similar, so if price is your most important consideration you will have a lot of flexibility in terms of a cruise line.

 

Last August, Norwegian was less expensive than other lines (I don't know if that is generally the case, or due to our last minute planning). The food without a surcharge was not terribly impressive, but we factored in the cost of specialty dining prior to booking the cruise and it was still cheaper than the alternatives. The rooms were adequate, and the service was excellent. I wouldn't have wanted to splurge on this trip, since it was all about the ports. There were only two sea days. If you want or need to book last minute I'd just wait and see what is left, and pick the best itinerary (Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Copenhagen are generally the highlights for most cruisers, so make sure you have as much time as possible in these cities. Some people love Berlin, and others will skip it due to the long travel time from the port).

Edited April 8, 2015 by kitkat343

[maggipie]

This is a great thread, thanks so much! We are doing 6/11 RCL 12 night this year with our 9 year old daughter.

 

Scandinavia will be very kid friendly but St. Pete is making me nervous ... If it were just me and hubby I could do a pound the pavement 2 day deluxe tour, but with her in tow the pace would be too brutal. Am thinking of doing other ports DIY and saving that $ for a private semi-custom tour. Anastasia Travel showed a kid friendly itinerary on their site which I may check out ...

 

Hi PossiblyMaybe

 

We did a Baltic in 2007 with then 3 yo son and 7 yo daughter (Celebrity Century), most ports on our own, very doable. We did take the ship tour in Stockholm (to make getting to Vasa and Astrid Lindgren´s Näs easier) and used Denrus (took their Complete Deluxe tour) for our 2 days in SPB, which was super busy, but kids were actually fine (maybe because napping son slept through some of the tedious parts?). My daughter was into Heelys at that time which may have helped (and no one chastised her to walk, not roll, as they do at Disneyland, though she was careful not to roll around in churches/museums!)

 

Doing again in 63 (!!!!) days on Celebrity Eclipse, and booked a private tour with Anastasia. They are having a fantastic special now, 50% off private tours, supposedly because the dollar is so strong against the ruble, and kids even get a discount on top of that! I was able to book a 2 day all inclusive private tour for my family of four, at a price less than the deluxe group tour I had been looking at (with Alla and SPB). The only thing I was a bit leery about is I had to prepay, but they have great reviews and have been around for some time, and I figure I can always request Bank of America (used that credit card) to help recoup any losses if there is any trouble. My son is super excited that we'll be able to make a stop at the Artillery Museum, definitely not a site on the group tours!

[ljandgb]

How did we work Iceland in? While we were looking for flights, Icelandair has a ticket that allows you to stop in Rekjyavik for as long as you want before continuing to Copenhagen (where our cruise starts.) You then return to the US straight from Copenhagen without having to go back thru Iceland. It turn out the return flight would have required an extra night in Copenhagen at the end of the trip as it left very early the day we returned to port. Unfortunately we need to be back in the US immediately after the cruise, but we were so enamored of the idea Iceland that we decided to use a different set of flights to get there and back.

 

So, we will fly into Copenhagen. Don't leave the airport but board a flight immediately for Iceland. Flights to and from are fairly cheap. We'll spend 2 nights in Iceland than fly back to Copenhagen 3 days before our cruise starts. We are poking about town that first night in Iceland, then taking a private tour to the south coast the second day, followed by Viking portraits. It will be a long day but I'm hoping well worth it. We found the tour provider on Tripadvisor after contacting several. This operator seemed the most responsive to catering to our multigenerational group. The plan is to see a volcano, glacier, puffins, Icelandic horses, and go swimming in an out of the way geothermal pool after a small hike. We are staying at the Rekjyavik Residence Hotel, which has an apartment that sleeps 8, but which has a front desk staff available (instead of a standard apartment/VRBO set up) and which will deliver breakfast to your room. With our group it was easily 2/3's the cost of a comparable number of required hotel rooms.

 

Copenhagen will have more down time. There are 6 in my family, plus my parents. We are staying across the street from Tivoli and after researching it, I think we will get a Gold Membership to the park. For us, it is the same cost as going once, but we'll be able to go every evening if we choose, with every subsequent visit "free" as it were. Something I'm certain my 9 yo ds will be thrilled with. Since the sun sets so late by then, we might as well go do something in the evenings. Our plans are to explore Copenhagen the first full day, and then ride the train out to Lejre living history museum the second. We board the ship at 12:30 the next day, so will even have time to eat lunch somewhere in town one last time if we find somewhere we really like.

 

I hope that's what you were asking. ;)

[familycruzinnewbie]

Yes thanks. I guess looking at a map, Iceland is not really close to Denmark. We do want to go there, and we do want to go on a Baltic cruise, just didn't think the two worked together. We live in Newfoundland and when the Iceland economy was doing well they had direct flights for shopping tours here, being the closest North American city. Icelandair still flies from Halifax, NS so I guess it's an option for us. There are only direct flights from here to London and Dublin, so will most likely be doing a layover for a few days somewhere.

[ljandgb]

Well, coming from Texas, Copenhagen seems really close to Iceland!

 

It's all relative.

 

I'm also a travel junky. Any add on I can stick onto a vacation, I will, until dh finally tells me we're at our time/money limit.