Baltic Cruise

[ormy]

We have booked Baltic cruise next July and wondered if anyone can help with ports of call and are they DIY or not - I do know its best to do Thomson trips in St Petersburg - otherwise we will need to apply for a visa.

The ports are as follows :- Oslo. Gdynia. Helsinki. Stockholm. Karlskrona. Warnemunde and finally Kalundborg. We definitely need assistance with these, sure some of you seasoned cruiser will be able to help.

[Tina.w12]

In St. Petersburg it is possible to book independent tours, I did it a few years ago, the tour company sorts visas out included in the price. I highly recommend Derus it wasn't cheap but really worth the money. The visa situation is that you just can't walk out of the port without a guide!!!

[Rkoz1122]

We went this summer on the Emerald Princess. In Helsinki we got on the Hop on Hop off and got off at the town square and explored - worked out great and inexpensive. In Gdynia, we found the lowest cost, longest duration city center tour - used it to get to and from Gdansk - ditched the tour once we got to the beautiful historic city center and enjoyed the sights, shopping, cafes, etc until it was time to find the tour group for the bus ride back to the ship. Gdansk is roughly a half hour bus ride from the pier. The tour cost was lower than the estimated cab fares.

 

We also did the Hop on, Hop off in Stockholm, but weren't real happy with it - if we were to do it again we'd take a relatively short cab ride to their historic city center and explore on our own on foot. The rest of our ports were different than yours. Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[kruzseeka]

Oslo is one of our favourite cities. There are two areas where ships berth - one across from the Opera House, the other on the opposite side of the promontory between the Opera House and the main part of the city. It's very walkable and whichever area you are berthed you really need to explore both as there are sites of interest in both areas. Do walk over the top of the Opera House roof. Quite an experience. The other thing I'd highly recommend is a visit to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. It's amazing - how anyone can convey so many human emotions from blocks of granite is staggering. It's extensive, free and imho a must see in Oslo. It's easy to DiY. From the city map you can download or should get on board, go to the Tourist office in the main Parliament(?) Palace(?) Square for directions. We caught the metro to the Park and walked about 400m from the station to get there. Better still is the tram which stops right outside - we caught that going back to the centre and would have got it to go there had we known where to get it but that's something you could find out at the Tourist Office. Enjoy - fab city!

 

Gdynia is really the stop to go to Gdansk. When we went we were the first ship to berth at the new port but I'm not certain whether that was Gdynia or Gdansk itself. Sorry, bit hazy on that one but whichever, you will need transport into Gdansk as the ports are a few miles out. We did the ship's trip not sure about taxi availability or price. Very interesting and picturesque city.

 

Helsinki is another easy DiY but depending on where you're berthed you probably will have a shuttle to the centre. There is a tourist tram the 3T (or 8T? - best do a bit of research to confirm) which is a circular route. You catch it in the centre near the glass/conservatory style café and we catch it and get off at the nearest point to the Sibelius Park and have a wander round there. Then if you are OK walking wander back via the Rock Church, Central Station (never looked in but apparently has notable architecture), then onto Senate Square and back down to the centre and have a look at the market on the Harbour. If you have time you might also go to the Uspenski Cathedral which is the Russian looking church on the hill overlooking the Harbour. So much to see and really no need to do a ship's trip as you can easily do it independently. Just equip yourself with a city map and you will find it very doable. We did all the above in one day and on foot the first time we went. We were shattered and now use the tram one way but another lovely city.

 

Stockholm has a number of different berthing spots - again likely you will have to shuttle in although there is one berth where you can pick up a water bus to a more central point. Again all possible DiY. Highlights - the old town called Gamla Stan, nearby is the Parliament building and Palace and round the waterfront and over the bridge is Djursgarten where the Vasa Museum is found. That's an impressive place too. We walked there but again you can get a water bus. So again plenty to see without doing a trip. The stay in Stockholm is usually fairly short because they have to leave early enough to clear the Archipelago with the pilot before it gets dark. But the real excursion here is the sailaway. Don't miss it - it's magical and lasts for hours. There are fewer islands the further you get from Stockholm so definitely worth being on deck for at least the first hour or two especially if there's a sunset over the aft.

 

Kalundborg is the stop for Copenhagen but it's a good hour away. We did the Thomson Copenhagen on Your Own trip which allowed us to explore on our own. Copenhagen is a good walk around city too and the canal trips from Nyhavn are worth doing. There's quite a bit of walking here but I'm sure there are Hoho buses too. Kalundborg itself is quite a pleasant little place we stayed there once because we'd been to Copenhagen several times but I'd advise you go to Copenhagen if you haven't been before as the architecture is impressive and there are plenty of places to see.

 

 

Warnemunde is the port for trips to Berlin. We've done it but it's a very long day - about 3+ hours each way. It's a huge city too - 8x the area of Paris we were told. We saw a lot but it did feel whistle stop and a lot of time on the coach. The alternative is to get the train just round the corner from the berth and go into Rostock about 20 mins away. Have a look round there (you're train tickets covers the tram from the rail station into the centre about a mile away) then come back and spend the afternoon in the charming seaside town of Warnemunde. Pretty river front, wide expanse of beach and quaint houses behind the waterfront area. Our friends recently went there but not on Thomson and they berthed across the water - if that happens I would suggest you get the transfer to Rostock then the train or boat up the river to Warnemunde and do it that way round.

 

I haven't been to your other port. But apart from St P which you go accepting you have to do ship's trips or private tour firms, all other ports are extremely easy to do yourself and I'd recommend doing that.

 

We've been on this trip 4 or 5 times - yes, it's that good! Hope you enjoy visiting the Baltic it as much as we do. Enjoy.

[ormy]

Thanks everyone - but please keep them coming.

[Nannyannie]

We did the Molly train in Warnemunde, the boat trip in Stockholm, also enjoyed the ballet in St Petersburg in the evening. The first time we have been to a ballet but thought it wonderful. All trips were through Thomson and we really enjoyed them.

[dab1952]

In St. Petersburg we did the 2 day tour with SPB Tours. It was absolutely fabulous, very full days but we saw everyting. Great local guide (Max) small group of 18 and very little queuing. They sorted out the visa,s

[kruzseeka]

In St. Petersburg we did the 2 day tour with SPB Tours. It was absolutely fabulous, very full days but we saw everyting. Great local guide (Max) small group of 18 and very little queuing. They sorted out the visa,s

 

We've been to St P a number of times so would prefer to do a private tour if we go again to perhaps see some places not covered by the ship's excursions eg the Metro. If you don't mind me asking, how much did that cost and were you able to have any input on the itinerary or did you choose from a selection of pre-determined tours?

[dab1952]

The cost was about £180 pp, dollar equivalent. It seems a lot but it was great value. The guide (Max) had a set itinery but constantly asked us if there was anything else that we wanted to see. We travelled on the metro, he provided the tickets. We did all the usual palaces and cathedrals, travelled up to Peterhof via the hydrofoil, did a city walk etc.

Great trip

[kruzseeka]

Thanks :) That sounds just the kind of thing we would want to do. That price isn't out of the way really as if you did two full day ship excursion it would be in that order so I think it's pretty good value. I'll keep that on file and if we get Max that would be a bonus.

[ormy]

I have emailed SPB Tours regarding our two days in St Petersburg and they suggest this post to see if anyone may be interested in joining a small group for a two day extensive tour of the city. They have offered me a 2 day tour for the two of us for 500us dollars each, which seems a bit pricey, a small group would be much cheaper. The cruise departs Newcastle on July 15th. 2017.