My Trip Report: Brilliance of the Seas (12 night Baltic, May 18 2015)

[jkrislc]

Thank you for posting a review.

 

Any advice on prebooking specialty dining? Is it best just to wait until one gets onboard? Were there specials being offered?

[wolfganghowell]

Silent Bob has gone silent. Don't you hate it when real life gets in the way of a cruise review?

[silentbob007]

Sorry for disappearing. Had to make a near 10 hour drive to Arkansas today. Tomorrow I will get the meat of the report done, starting with stops and tours. :)

[silentbob007]

Thank you for posting a review.

 

Any advice on prebooking specialty dining? Is it best just to wait until one gets onboard? Were there specials being offered?

 

Bookings seemed very soft. They came around and offered a few specials (maybe 25% off ... not sure about exact number) during dinner a few nights. You can probably wait until you board to book unless there is an extra special date/time you want to lock in.

[KingHal]

Thanks for putting this together. Really enjoying it so far, and looking forward to the remainder.

[silentbob007]

Tours

 

Planning

 

For most people, I'm assuming, a Baltic cruise is a destination cruise. You choose this itinerary because of the ports of call and your desire to see things on land. For me, this is a departure from Caribbean cruises where I've been there, done that, and hardly plan to get off the ship at most stops. It sounds jaded and awful, I know, but it also highlights the contrast of a destination cruise when it comes to cruise planning ... I needed to get an idea of what I wanted to do in the ports and come up with a budget for tours.

 

Peterhof Fountainsby cmong, on Flickr

 

The most important stop for most, I'd wager, is the stop in St. Petersburg which is a 2 day event. This is where I started my (very late) planning and where I'd recommend others start as well.

 

St. Petersburg is different from other ports on this itinerary (and any others I've been to in the world so far, actually). You must have a Russian visa in order to progress through immigration control. In order to get this visa, there are two options: go on a tour or get your visa stateside (which is a very long and expensive process from what it looks like). Royal Caribbean warns about the visa requirements and words their warning in such a way that it sounds like you must book a tour through RCI in order to receive a cruise passenger tour visa. This is not true. Independent tour operators in St. Petersburg can also acquire cruise tour visas for passengers. There are a few limitations to these cruise visas. You must be in a tour group. There were no opportunities to wonder off or do your own thing. You cannot stay overnight on land. Once your tour is over, you cannot head back out on your own. In other words, when you visit St. Petersburg, plan on booking tours or having a docked "sea day".

 

Cathedral, Wire, and Coke by cmong, on Flickr

 

As I may have mentioned before, my dad and I sometimes hate spending money. However, we knew we were going to shell out some cash for these tours. At first, my dad was insistent that we only book an RCI tour for safety considerations. However, at the end of the day, we followed our usual routine for long, hired tours overseas and went with an independent operator. There are several names that popped up when I started looking at St. Petersburg tours: Alla Tours, SPB, Red Oktober, TJ Travel, etc. After researching the ports of call boards here and reading Trip Advisor, I booked us on a two day comfort tour with Alla Tours. This was all done online through their website and they were very good at communicating with us through the site (using what was similar to a CSR discussion post system). The tour required no money down as we would pay at the end of our first day in St. Petersburg. We had to provide full names (matching passports) as well as our passport numbers so that the cruise visa could be applied for and entered into the immigration system. Even booking a month out, there were tour spaces and the visas were obtained without issues. Alla Tours provided clear instructions about how/when to meet the guide and also provided tickets that needed to be presented with immigration when leaving the ship.

 

Peterhof Flowers by cmong, on Flickr

 

The reason we ended up going with Alla was pretty simple ... they had great Trip Advisor reviews as well as a great reputation on this site. Other companies did as well, don't get me wrong. Besides that, we have found that reputable independent operators are simply the way to go. They cost about the same (or less) than cruise operators but you a) tend to get more and b) tend to have groups of 10-20 instead of 40-60. This makes a big difference when it comes to interaction with the guide, waiting for everyone to come back after free time (though as I mentioned, not really an issue in Russia), and visiting attractions without a huge milling group.

 

St. Isaac's Cathedral bycmong, on Flickr

 

Alla also offered tours for many of the other Baltic ports we were stopping at with discounts for the more tours booked with them. For ease, we booked 3 tours with them (Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Stockholm) and figured we'd tackle the rest on our own. All tours were paid in St. Petersburg so we actually went on the Tallinn tour without paying anything. A gratuity was recommended for the driver and tour guide (amounts were given). When tours were paid for, credit cards (MC, Visa) were accepted without upcharge (price charged in rubles) which really saved having to carry a bunch of cash.

[Carolla5501]

Thanks for all the info. I am doing the Serenade 7 day cruise which covers several of the same ports. (I am doing St. Petersburg on my own and the visa wasn't that bad, except that I got the wrong kind and will now have to get a hotel and remain overnight in St. Petersburg... could be worse! )

[silentbob007]

It may have been that I was looking so late that the visa cost was huge because it has to be expedited. As you mention though ... there are so many visa types that you have to make sure you get the right one and follow it or there can be consequences (according to both the US and Russian government sites).

[silentbob007]

Copenhagen, Denmark

 

 

I had read that Copenhagen was fairly easy to get around in so we opted not to sign up with Alla for our first stop. Since it was also the first stop this season, many of the customer relations crew were not quite sure about the city either (I'm sure this changes as time goes on). However, there was plenty of help from other travelers in the Concierge Lounge and the dining room.

 

Little Mermaid by cmong, on Flickr

 

In the end, we opted for the Hop On - Hop Off (HOHO) bus. We went with the Stromma busses (Grey Line) which were 175 DKK per person (about $26). The HOHO busses knew the ship was in and altered their route to have busses waiting for tour passengers. We did not make any reservations and just walked on and paid with credit card. We had a little bit of wait as they tried to fill the bus, but we were eventually whisked away to the Little Mermaid Statue which was the closest standard stop (and was near the end of the tour). The bus parked for passengers to get photos and loaded everyone back on in 5-10 minutes and then proceeded to take us to the central stop near City Hall Square. At this point, everyone was expected to debus and then switch to one of the various lines that were operating from that point. There was a bit of confusion here as obviously the operators were trying to figure out which busses were running a standard loop and which would return to the cruise terminal to shuttle more passengers into the system. It looked like whether you could stay on that original bus depended upon chance ... some became route busses and others stayed shuttles. Just be prepared that any seat you may get from the ship may only be temporary.

 

Nynhavn by cmong, on Flickr

 

The busses themselves seemed well maintained. Everyone was handed cheap, packaged earbuds upon boarding and could plug into the sound system at their seat. There were a variety of languages available. The bus had a top and a bottom tier with the bus's roof able to be retracted in case of warmer weather. It started out closed on our bus but was opened later in the day. The bus also provided free wifi so feel free to bring your phone/tablet if you want to download some emails as you ride around.

 

 

We were fairly conservative with our day as we did not have a lot of interest in the secondary routes. We got off a City Hall Square to take pictures and wander. Tivoli Gardens is right in that area (though it did not open until 11 or noon as it was a weekday). We headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe to grab a pin for my mother (this usually provides an diversion and a little bit of purpose when we visit new cities).

 

City Hall Square Copenhagen by cmong, on Flickr

 

After that, reboarded a bus and took the loop around listening to the commentary about Denmark, Copenhagen, and the sites (and I answered a trivia question later on the ship thanks to that commentary). We got off at the Nyhavn stop to walk along the canal and again wander. This seemed like a popular place to grab a beer and/or a bit of food and sit in an outside cafe. We then walked to the Amalienborg Palace to see a bit of the grounds then headed in the direction of the ship to catch the HOHO bus again.

 

Young Danish Guard by cmong, on Flickr

 

We ended up not finding the bus stop, but by the time we were back at the Little Mermaid statue we decided just to walk back. All in all, I'd say it would be a 30-40 minute walk from the ship to City Hall Square and about 15 minutes to the Little Mermaid.

 

Copenhagen by cmong, on Flickr

 

It was definitely walkable, though you'd miss a bit of the commentary about what the sites are. We did not see a whole lot or pay admissions ... it was more of a stroll to get a feel for the city. Honestly, in a few days in St. Petersburg, we would get cathedral, museum, and palace'd out anyway.

 

Brillance docked in Copenhagen by cmong, on Flickr

[grhunter]

Bob, it seems that we could walk off the ship and grab a HOHO Bus without reservations. Is there more than one company at the dock?

[silentbob007]

There seemed to be two companies ... Stromma and RedBuses (though both busses seemed to be red to me).

[Hobie]

Thanks for your review.

 

I'm taking this itinerary in August and also have signed up with Alla tours in St. Petersburg.

 

I look forward to reading the rest of your review.

[silentbob007]

Brilliance in Tallinn Estonia by cmong, on Flickr

 

Tallinn, Estonia

 

Tallinn was our second port of call but our first stop where we took an Alla tour. Our directions for meeting the guide indicated that we needed to walk outside the port gate and look for the person with the Alla sign. It was a bit of a walk to the gate (past the ship, shopping, parking lot, etc). When we got to the gate, there were several tour operators holding signs but no one from Alla though we were a bit earlier than the directions indicated. This was something that would be repeated throughout the trip. I think that most passengers are nervous about getting off the ship and finding their tour operator so they get off early. Alla tours stated they would have someone there 15 minutes before the scheduled departure and pretty much that was exactly when anyone would show up. Other tour operators seemed to get there a bit earlier than that ... it's not a deal (they did show up when they said), but especially for your first tour, you are always wondering if you are in the right spot, if the company will show up, etc, when you see other tour guides already there.

 

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - Estonia by cmong, on Flickr

 

For Tallinn we booked the 5 hour grand tour. While the tour cautioned that there would be a lot of walking, let me just be clear ... this was a walking tour. In hindsight this is clear when going back and reading the description and documents, but it was not what we were necessarily expecting. We were picked up by a small bus and driven to Old Town which is at the top of a hill. From there, we had a three hour walking tour down the hill with a very knowledgable guide who took us to photo points, told stories about the different buildings and events in Tallinn's history, and provided insight into the culture of the town. Our guide (and I can't for the life of me remember her name at this point) spoke very good English and really knew her stuff.

 

Neat Iron - Estonia by cmong, on Flickr

 

After taking the tour, a walking tour is about the only thing that makes sense to see what we did ... lots of small alleys and tight roads. I can say that we were not the only ones surprised by the walking aspect as we had most of our group leave the tour about two-thirds of the way through because they were getting tired, losing interest, and for some, could not stand that we were passing so many shops without a chance to duck in and do some shopping. That's fine ... four of us finished up the tour which ended at the flower market at the front of the old town. From there, we had a few options ... we could take off on our own or return in two hours and take the bus back to the cruise terminal. Since we were tired and not that interested in shopping, we simply walked back to the cruise terminal from there ... about a 15 minute walk or so.

 

Near Nevsky Cathedral - Estonia by cmong, on Flickr

 

So was it a good tour? Yes, but again, it was essentially a walking tour. We certainly learned much more about Tallinn than we ever would have on our own. We did not see much of the "new" town but I don't think that's generally the attraction. The tour was well-thought out though ... start at the top and walk downhill from there.

 

There is a HOHO bus available in Tallinn, but as far as I can tell, it could only drop you at various places along the edge of the old town. I certainly never saw one on the streets up there while we were walking.

 

Tallinn by cmong, on Flickr

 

In the cruise terminal area there were lots of craft tables set up selling many things we saw in the city. There was also a standard duty free building selling clothes, local liquor, etc. You could also pick up rubles if you wanted to have local money before entering Russia. The currency of Estonia was the Euro.

[cinnamon]

FYI.

When we visited Tallinn in 2008 we took the HoHo. For us it was interesting seeing the old Soviet block housing out of town and also the more recently built modern city, plus out into the countryside a little. We finished with being dropped near the top of the Old Town and walking down ourselves, interspersed with church visiting, a couple of shops and refreshment stops. We ended picking up the bus back from the lower part of the old town to the cruise terminal.

[lovesthebeach2]

While Silentbob007 ( chris) tends to be warm all the time, I tend to be cooler especially in the ship. I always pack one or two long-sleeved "shipshirts" because I'm always a bit cold. Must be either metabolism or old age--- hmmm, I'll pick metabolism.:)

 

We were just on Brilliance in April and I was only chilly when in the theatre. Otherwise I was never cold. I brought a light sweater and never wore it.

[silentbob007]

St. Petersburg, Russia

 

The Brilliance overnighted in St. Petersburg and offered passengers almost two full days (morning arrival, overnight, 6 PM departure) in the city. As I mentioned earlier, we booked a 2-day tour with Alla Tours based on various recommendations. I will not give a blow-by-blow account of the tours because, frankly, it's a whirlwind ... we saw a lot of stuff. However, I will hit the highlights and you can feel free to ask any questions if you are curious about a specific piece I have left out.

 

St. Isaac's by cmong, on Flickr

 

Debarkation

 

As you may imagine, debarkation was a bit chaotic. Almost everyone onboard had tours and thus almost everyone onboard wanted to get off the ship seemingly at the same time. Those with ship tours, of course, had meeting times/places on board and (I'm guessing) exited the ship near the theater. Everyone else got off at deck 4. The general meeting time for most independent tours, I believe, was from 8-9. Our tour was to start at 8:30, with the guides showing up by 8. The ship cautioned that it may take as much as an hour to get off the ship and get through security, so because of this, we headed down to exit the ship around 7 AM.

 

Fountain at Peterhof by cmong, on Flickr

 

I am unsure if they did not allow passengers off the ship (at least with private tours) until 7 or if there was some kind of delay as when we arrived on deck 4, the line extended from the exit across the stair lobby and down the hallway into the deck 4 dining room. Thankfully, crew members were around and seemed to be managing the line fairly well ... they mostly were not allowing those coming down the stairs or out of the elevators to force their way into the line ... it is a pet peeve of mine when passengers push into the middle of a line from the elevators/stairs because they don't want to go to the end (which means that the line never moves for those at the end who are doing what they are supposed to be doing ... ugh).

 

Main fountains at Peterhof by cmong, on Flickr

 

Right after 7 AM though, the line started moving very quickly. We exited the ship and climbed down to the dock on a movable staircase (the theater exit was accessible). Once off the ship, we proceeded to walk to the terminal building. At this point, there were multiple immigration kiosk lines and an immigration employee who was attempting to get people spread out and lined up properly.

 

Peterhof canal to the sea by cmong, on Flickr

 

The immigration process itself seemed very rigid. You queued behind a red line until the passenger in front of you exited and a progress light changed from red to green. Then, one passenger at a time, you approached the kiosk, passed a barrier, then presented your passport and tour ticket. Then, for seemingly a varying length of time, your passport is examined and (I'm assuming) your cruise visa is accessed by the immigration agent. At some point, a slip is printed with your name (and other info ... to be honest I did not look at it) and it is tucked into your passport. The rearmost visa page of the passport was then stamped and you were waved through the line.

 

Stairwell at Catherine's Palace by cmong, on Flickr

 

This may have been one of the most awkward immigration encounters I've ever had (and I'm guessing purposefully so). First of all, as our luck would have it, we had what had to be the slowest official on duty that day. She would take at least twice the amount of time per passenger (we found out after joining the line) than others. When it was finally my turn, there was at least two full minutes of staring at my passport, looking at me, looking at the computer, looking at my passport, looking at me ... etc. The whole time I'm trying to figure out where to stare ... do I look at her? Do I look at her in the eyes? Do I look off to the side? Silly, I know ... but what else was there to do do?

 

All in all, we were through everything by probably 7:40. The lines at the kiosks got progressively longer as we waited, so we evidently did beat the rush. If you get in the back of the wrong line, I can definitely see that process taking an hour, especially if there are large family groups in front of you. I'm guessing children were not expected to approach alone, but spouses, etc., definitely were.

 

Catherine's Palace by cmong, on Flickr

 

Once we cleared immigration, we had a few minutes to wait for the Alla Tours people to show up. There was a long row of duty-free shops inside the terminal to browse and these shops offered pretty much what all of the other tourist shops offered in the city. There was also a smaller pre-immigration duty-free store if you wanted to do some shopping but did not have a visa or did not want to go through that process.

 

Our guide arrived right when scheduled, 8 AM (30 minutes early) and since everyone was anxious about getting through immigration, our entire tour group had arrived by 8:15 or so.

[lcumpire]

Your description of the immigration experience is very helpful

[SilentDad]

The name of the Alla tour guide in Tallinn was Helen. I took notes. : )

[Dick and Jane]

This is a terrific trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write out all of your experiences. I jumped on one of your suggestions and purchased my visitor Oyster cards online. Usually I wait until we get to London to take care of this but I like the idea of having them in hand as soon as we arrive.

[cruiseclues]

Thank you for your detailed Photo Review. :):):):)

[phonequeen]

Thank you,For this helpful guide. As we are not able to walk long distances, we would like to go and come on our own. If we take a hop on hop off or bus, is there a way to pay or do I need to get the currency for that particular country. I don't plan on using much cash, mostly credit cards but I hear it is expensive getting small amounts of currency for each country. Is there a way to do this at the different ports? I don't think I would need more than $30 or so. Is this an unreasonable amount? I hate to have too much left over.

[Donna_In_India]

Thanks for sharing! We'll be on the Serenade next year with 3 days in St. Petersburg (yay!). We'll likely get our own visas and either do it all on our own or go with Tours by Locals. Price is similar to Alla, etc. and it's a completely private tour - no waiting for anybody :) and more importantly I'm choosing exactly what we want to see/do.

 

Thanks for the info about Talinn...we're planning to do that tour but will have a 7 year old so not sure how much walking she can handle especially with no shopping breaks. Oh wait, that's me. :p

[negc]

We did the same comfort tour with Alla two years ago and were very impressed with their service and attention to detail. Would not hesitate to recommend them to others. Your description of the immigration officials matched mine and they were not as welcoming as most of the other Russian people we encountered.

[Carolla5501]

Thank you,For this helpful guide. As we are not able to walk long distances, we would like to go and come on our own. If we take a hop on hop off or bus, is there a way to pay or do I need to get the currency for that particular country. I don't plan on using much cash, mostly credit cards but I hear it is expensive getting small amounts of currency for each country. Is there a way to do this at the different ports? I don't think I would need more than $30 or so. Is this an unreasonable amount? I hate to have too much left over.

 

 

Which port? This is not an option for most of us in St Petersburg unless you previously obtained a Visa.

[Donna_In_India]

Carolla5501 - are you going with a tour group or did you decide to do it all on your own? The tours seem to go to places we don't want to go and not go to places where we want to go. I'm seriously considering going on our own...