Scandanavia Cruise Compared to British Isles

[stevenr597]

My wife and I are considering a cruise in Northern Europe later this summer on Celebrity. Possibilities includes a cruise of the British Isles which would include England, Ireland, France, and Scotland. We are also considering Northern Europe and St. Petersburg. What are the pro and cons of each? Is one preferable to the other? Thanks for any help you could give to us in deciding.

[ecslady]

I have done both the British Isles and Baltics cruise on Celebrity and you really can't compare one with the other, except for the fact that they are both very port intensive.

 

The ports and countries visited are totally different, so your experiences will be different as well.

 

My suggestion, do both! Good luck deciding.

Edited March 1, 2016 by ecslady

[realnice46]

We have done the Baltics cruise and we loved every port.. St Petersburg is amazing as well as Estonia. I noticed tat some of the

Baltic cruises are staying 2 nights in St Petersburg, we only had 1 night there and we would have loved more. If you choose Baltics crise cruise be sure to book private tours in St Petersburg, a lot less than ships tours.

 

We are doing British Isles cruise this summer so can't say which is better, but I think St Petersburg alone would make the choice easy.

[TeaBag]

We did the Baltics last year on Eclipse and we just received our Shutterfly book, 83 pages of fabulous memories. I agree St Petersburg was awesome. If you chose this cruise be sure to attend the ballet in St P in the evening. Spectacular.

We have not cruised the British Isles and would love to do so. However, we have been all over the place on land vacations and various travels. Love, love the British Isles. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

[Hlitner]

Pro and con is not the appropriate comparison. All the countries and ports are wonderful places to visit. It just come down to what you want to see and do. So you simply have to consider which places you prefer to see.

 

Hank

[bigbenboys]

I had done both. Baltic on RCL and British Isles on Celebrity. As Great Britain is my most favorite areas in the world. I would have to go with the Baltic cruise. I have been looking at doing the Baltic cruise again in July 2, 2017 on Celebrity. They will stay 3 days in St Petersburg. I do think the Baltic cruise was a better cruise over all. If you have never been to London, Windsor and the Cotswolds. Then do a tour of England ending in Southampton. Then take the Baltic cruise.

[england1]

I have done both and loved both. But with the world situation the way it is I would do the St. Petersburg cruise first. With an election happening in November the whole situation could change.

[SPacificbound]

We have traveled all over England, France Ireland & Scotland and we have Northern Europe and Baltics booked for May & June, we have an overnight with two full days in St. Petersburg.

 

You really can't compare the two. The countries are all so different.

 

Just speaking for myself, I have enjoyed all of the land travel we have done in France, England, Scotland and Ireland.

[alcpa1]

We did the Baltic on Azamara with a three night stay in St. Petersburg and docking on the Neva within sight of the Hermitage. The optimum for any Celebrity Baltic would be the longest stay possible in St. Petersburg. The cruiseport is not as conveniently located which forces longer travel time especially to Peterhoff and a few other distant, and wonderful, sights. The other factor of any Baltic cruise is the proximity to coastal sights. Berlin is the exception with 2 /12 - 3 hrs transit via train or us to and from Warnemunde.

We did the English isles on the Infinity and we enjoyed every port but tides made some of the days onshore very short.

Look very closely at port times.

The English isles itinerary also mandate pre-payment of most of our self booked tours. This was not the case on the Baltic cruise.

I too would do the Baltic first and plan on a few extra days in Copenhagen, or any other city of embarkation/disembarkation.

[Blondie008]

We have traveled all over England, France Ireland & Scotland and we have Northern Europe and Baltics booked for May & June, we have an overnight with two full days in St. Petersburg.

 

You really can't compare the two. The countries are all so different.

 

Just speaking for myself, I have enjoyed all of the land travel we have done in France, England, Scotland and Ireland.

 

Thank you for naming our country and not calling it England :) For giving us our own identity as a country - we may be part of the UK but we are a country in our own right.

 

We did the Baltic on Azamara with a three night stay in St. Petersburg and docking on the Neva within sight of the Hermitage. The optimum for any Celebrity Baltic would be the longest stay possible in St. Petersburg. The cruiseport is not as conveniently located which forces longer travel time especially to Peterhoff and a few other distant, and wonderful, sights. The other factor of any Baltic cruise is the proximity to coastal sights. Berlin is the exception with 2 /12 - 3 hrs transit via train or us to and from Warnemunde.

We did the English isles on the Infinity and we enjoyed every port but tides made some of the days onshore very short.

Look very closely at port times.

The English isles itinerary also mandate pre-payment of most of our self booked tours. This was not the case on the Baltic cruise.

I too would do the Baltic first and plan on a few extra days in Copenhagen, or any other city of embarkation/disembarkation.

 

I think you mean BRITISH Isles not English Isles :rolleyes:

[Wiltonian]

As Bill Bryson put it, Britain is a small island. So it's easily tourable on land. The Baltic states are not, taken together, small. Moreover, a lot of British highlights are not near the major ports. If you have the time, do as another poster suggested, and combine a land tour with a Southampton departure to the Baltic.

 

Of course, you need at least a month to "do" Britain . . . . ;-)

 

Stuart

[bogofman]

I'm from the UK ( England) right in the middle and have never been to

 

Scotland :o

 

once to Ireland ( cruise stopped in Cork)

 

Never stayed in London over night, just a few day trips and its only 100 miles away

 

But have traveled extensively over seas for holidays and city breaks

 

Strange isn't it how we don't take advantage of things that are so close to us.

[Bruin Steve]

My wife and I are considering a cruise in Northern Europe later this summer on Celebrity. Possibilities includes a cruise of the British Isles which would include England, Ireland, France, and Scotland. We are also considering Northern Europe and St. Petersburg. What are the pro and cons of each? Is one preferable to the other? Thanks for any help you could give to us in deciding.

 

I've done a few variations...

I've done the Baltic three times--once on Princess, twice on Celebrity (Celebrity is FAR better).

I've done a British Isles/Norwegian Fjords cruise on Celebrity.

And I've done a Iceland/Norwegian Fjords cruise on Celebrity.

 

And I have also toured extensively in Britain...Several times, I have done this pre- or post-cruise. I'll typically fly in a week or more before the cruise and usually pick a region to concentrate on. Actually, first time we did this, we tried to get in the "whole thing" in 8 nights--hired a car and drove to Bath, then up to Northern Wales, then on to Edinburgh, taking a day trip up to Loch Ness and Inverness, then down to York, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford and London (a little hectic, but can be done--distances are not that far compared to US). On subsequent visits, we took 10 days exploring Cornwall, Devon and Dorset before cruising out of Southampton...we spent several nights in Canterbury before a cruise out of Dover...and we spent a week in Cardiff, Wales before another cruise out of Southampton. It is pretty easy to get around England, Scotland and Wales by car...or, if you are afraid to drive, buses and trains work as well--just a little more wasted time.

 

If there's a real reason to take the British Isles cruises, it's to hit those places you can't easily get to by land. We took ours mostly to go to Ireland and Northern Ireland and also because it included stops in Le Havre, France and in Norway.

 

Britain is nice and, at least for us, it is very comfortable...I have family in London--who I try to avoid every trip! ;) ...I speak the language (most of the time), can read the signs, am familiar with the history. It is not quite as exotic as some other destinations. Still, it is an enjoyable cruise. We may take another in one of the next couple of years...but I'm really looking for an itinerary that features at least a couple of ports with which we are not quite that familiar--maybe the Channel Islands--though there are some we would like to revisit.

 

The Baltic, for me, is an entirely different story. SOME of the ports are phenomenal--especially St. Petersburg-which is very rich historically and architecturally...It includes some incredible places and churches as well as one of the finest art galleries in the world. It is worth AT LEAST the two days most ships port there (some cruises give you three). Tallinn and Gdansk are surprising little gems--picturesque, interesting, fun. Stockholm and Copenhagen are extremely charming cities (I spent an extended pre-cruise in each before a couple of cruises...I love both cities). Those, to me, are the highlights...I've enjoyed Helsinki and Oslo, but neither is really a favorite of mine--though you may enjoy them. Riga was a little different and worth visiting. Warnemunde, to me, is disappointing--it's a long bus or train ride to get to Berlin--and I was far from thrilled with Berlin--maybe it was our horrendously bad tour guide, maybe the heavy emphasis on the Third Reich, maybe the long ride to and fro...We had one cruise that had a stop in Rotterdam for Amsterdam--and that is also a GREAT city with so much to see...

 

So, all in all, I guess the real difference is the diversity in ports on the Baltic cruise...and you are getting to a lot of places otherwise hard to reach on a land trip...Whereas the British Isles will be more similar at eac port--in terms of language, food, history, culture (not that there aren't differences in food, history and culture in each port, just that they are more homogeneous.

 

My best advice is to do the Baltic...If it leaves from Dover or Southampton, plan to fly in a few days early and tour a little of Britain on your own.

 

Then, next time you cruise Europe, do a different variation (and a Norwegian Fjords cruise might also be a good choice for that).

[SPacificbound]

I'm from the UK ( England) right in the middle and have never been to

 

Scotland :o

 

once to Ireland ( cruise stopped in Cork)

 

Never stayed in London over night, just a few day trips and its only 100 miles away

 

But have traveled extensively over seas for holidays and city breaks

 

Strange isn't it how we don't take advantage of things that are so close to us.

 

It is indeed. :)

 

I live about 70 miles from Galveston Texas and have no interest in cruising from there.