Baltic Cruise Advise!

[Lovincruisin1321]

So far, I'm hearing that Celebrity is the cruise line to go on. Who has cruised the Baltic?

 

Do you have a website, journal, advice?

 

All is welcome!

 

Any other cruise lines??

 

We're 45yrs old.

[Juliadlf]

Haven't cruised the Baltics yet but just booked with Princess for next year.

If we wanted to cruise for 14 days then Celebrity appeared to be a good choice since reviews here on CC as well as other sites were typically positive.

Princess also had good reviews and the itinerary fit with what we wanted to do. The cruise was only 10 days which fit with our plans to do a few days precruise in Copenhagen.

 

Other cruiselines we checked out was HAL,Oceania and RCCL.

 

I'm sure others will have their opinions. Have fun doing your research.

[LHT28]

We did the Baltic with Orient cruiselines...not your mega ship but good food etc...

[Bruin Steve]

It's just my humble opinion, but Celebrity beats Princess hands down...

Better food, better service, roomier ships...

...and we did the Baltic on Princess in 2001...

We also did a Northern Europe on Celebrity this past July...

We were 47 and 42 when we did the Princess 10 night Baltic...most (and when I say most here, I mean like 90% of the ship) of the passengers were DOUBLE our age...

The ship virtually shut down by 10 each night...

Pizza closed at 10...By midnight, all they had at the buffet was coffee, milk and cookies...The entertainment was poor...

 

I hope they've improved in four years, but...They'd have to improve an awfully long wayto match our cruise on the Constellation...

 

The Connie is a marvelous ship...

And Celebrity does an incredible job...

The demographics opn our Connie cruise had a much wider range of ages...

 

And, after all that, it really comes down to itinerary...

 

Here's the July 4, 2006 Star Princess itinerary:

 

1 Copenhagen, Denmark 9:00 PM

2 At Sea

3 Stockholm (Nynashamn), Sweden 7:00 AM 5:30 PM

4 Helsinki, Finland 8:30 AM 6:00 PM

5 St. Petersburg, Russia 6:30 AM

6 St. Petersburg, Russia 6:00 PM

7 Tallinn, Estonia 7:00 AM 1:00 PM

8 Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

9 At Sea

10 Oslo, Norway 7:00 AM 2:00 PM

11 Copenhagen, Denmark 5:00 AM

 

Here's the July 1, 2006 Celebrity Constellation itinerary:

 

Sat, Jul 01 Dover, England Departure Depart 5:00 PM

Sun, Jul 02 At Sea

Mon, Jul 03 At Sea

Tue, Jul 04 Stockholm, Sweden Docked Arrive 9:00 AM Depart 5:00 PM

Wed, Jul 05 Helsinki, Finland Docked Arrive 9:00 AM Depart 6:00 PM

Thu, Jul 06 St. Petersburg, Russia Docked Arrive 7:00 AM

Fri, Jul 07 St. Petersburg, Russia Docked Depart 6:30 PM

Sat, Jul 08 Tallinn, Estonia Docked Arrive 8:00 AM Depart 4:00 PM

Sun, Jul 09 Klaipeda, Lithuania Docked Arrive 10:00 AM Depart 7:00 PM

Mon, Jul 10 Gdynia (Gdansk), Poland Docked Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 3:00 PM

Tue, Jul 11 Warnemunde, Germany Docked Arrive 7:00 AM Depart 9:30 PM

Wed, Jul 12 Copenhagen, Denmark Docked Arrive 12:00 PM Depart 11:59 PM

Thu, Jul 13 Oslo, Norway Docked Arrive 2:30 PM Depart 9:00 PM

Fri, Jul 14 At Sea

Sat, Jul 15 Dover, England Arrival Arrive 7:00 AM

 

Comparison:

 

Stockholm: Princess-7 to 5:30, Celebrity 9 to 5...but, ahhh...Princess puts you into Nynashamn, not Stockholm...You'll spend 3 hours on buses going back and forth and spend $100 extra per person on ground transportation or higher cost excursions...Advantage Celebrity

 

Helsinki: Princess 8:30 to 6, Celebrity 9 to 6...even

 

St. Petersburg: Princess 6:30am until 6 the following day, Celebrity 7 am to 6:30 pm the next day...even

 

Tallinn: Princess 7 to 1pm, Celebrity--8 am to 4pm...Advantage Celebrity

 

Gdansk: Princess 9-6, Celebrity 7-3...Slight advantage Princess

 

Oslo: Princess 7-2, Celebrity 2:30 to 9pm...I'd rather have the afternoon than morning, advantage Celebrity

 

Copenhagen: Princess--embarkation and debarkation, Celebrity Noon to Midnight...Advantage, if you have time to add on, Princess

 

Klaipeda: Princess--ZERO, Celebrity 10 to 7...Advantage Celebrity

 

Warnemunde: Princess--ZERO, Celebrity 7 to 9:30...Advantage Celebrity

 

Dover: Princess--ZERO, Celebrity-- embarkation and debarkation ...Advantage Celebrity

 

At sea days: Princess 2, Celebrity 3...Advantage Celebrity

 

With Celebrity, you get three extra ports that Princess doesn't even stop at plus an extra day to relax around the ship...

 

If you really want extra time in Copenhagen, you can always fly there pre-cruise, spend a few days, then catch a quick flight over to Gatwick and board the Connie...or any of a number of pre-or post-cruise possibilities (Bruges? Paris? Amsterdam? Tour of Britain?) and still get over to Dover relatively easily to pick up the cruise and STILL get a port day in Copenhagen...

 

Others to consider? Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Oceania, among others, all do variations on this route...

[Ine]

There are also some sailings on the then renovated Century of Celebrity Lines leaving from and to Amsterdam.

[Browezilla]

I have not cruised the Baltic on Celebrity, but I have 2 sets of friends that have. They loved it and hope to repeat the trip. One couple was mid-forties, the other was late 30's.

[Lovincruisin1321]

Tell me more about the Orient Lines. I saw reviews that weren't that great, but the itinarary looked fantastic.

[Susan-M]

Bruin Steve: Your answers are great....I think a lot of people who are considering Baltic cruises will find this comparison very helpful!

[njhh]

I posted a long review of our Baltic Cruise on Celebrity Constellation last year, but the boards were re-vamped and it appears to be gone.

 

I think you will not be disappointed with Celebrity. We did the Med on HAL this year and while we had a wonderful time, we had a few criticisms that hit directly at the European cruise experience. Specifically, banking and money conversion - much easier, accessible, and efficient on Celebrity (e.g., Celebrity charged us a nominal fee, HAL charged a hefty percentage.) We never paid for shuttles from the dock on Celebrity - we did on HAL. When we disembarked on HAL, they monopolized the transfer service to the airport, where we had options with Celebrity. In short, when you are in Europe, you are often more dependent on the cruiseline to give you good information and connect you with options for a pleasurable cruise experience. Where we felt well taken care of by Celebrity, we felt taken advantage of by HAL.

 

I know there are loyal HAL cruisers out there, and I apologize if this offends, but it was our honest experience. My husband and I went with my parents, and between the four of us, we were quite unanimous on our opinion of the two different cruise experiences.

 

Nancy

[LHT28]

Tell me more about the Orient Lines. I saw reviews that weren't that great, but the itinarary looked fantastic.

Depends on what you are expecting.

The Marco Polo is an older ship (1964) and the cabins are on the small side compared to the newer hotel ships. Food is good, crew is good, no childrens programs, limited smoking areas.

We enjoyed the cruise with less than 700 pax doesn't take all day to tender ashore.

The crowd is definately older but still a good range of age groups.

 

It is not a mega ship ....the ports of call is why people go there is an avid MP fan club they sail on her many times .

If you post your question or concerns on the Orient forum you will get a better view of the ship.

[chione]

We did the Baltic in Sept on the Constellation and we believe out of 15 cruises this one was among the best we've ever been on.The time in Russia was unreal and we took our tour outside Celebrity which has many advantages You'll be off the ship earlier and the groups are smaller along with the price.We got it thru our travel agency and its defininitly is wlll worth going on. You'll enjoy all of the ports of call. We also hooked up thru the roll call boards for a tour of Berlin.We went on a nice van to and from Berlin and there were 8 of us the price broke down to $200 a couple plus tip.This also was cheaper than the Celebrity tour which goes by train and the feed back wasn't to good plus the train arrived back late. We rented a car to go from London to Dover ($88) becuse there are so many problems trying to go by bus or train with luggage such as amount of bags, weight, etc. Limo service is avaliable @ $300 one way! We came a day early which helped getting on board early and probably would've went 3 days earlier because there's some nice places to see in Dover. Be prepared to see prices much higher than the US there are better bargains on the ship than in the ports. We been on Celebrity 6 times and have never had any problems. The Constellation has to be the best overall among the M series. We're booked for South America in Feb. which will include Rio and carnival.You can't go wrong with the Baltic or the Celebrity cruise line. Hope this was helpfull.:)

[Jane110]

Steve,

 

I'm not flaming you, just showing a "one man's ceiling is another man's floor". And I'm not advocating Princess vs Celebrity. I've been on both and liked them both. I prefer the open seating of the restaurants on Princess. Celebrity still adhere's to the fixed seating.

 

As far as itinerary comparison's, you make some good points, especially with Tallinn and Oslo.

 

However, for me, one of the attractions of going w/ Princess (which we did last year) was the fact that it started/ended in Copenhagen, allowing us a nice 4 day pre-cruise visit in that wonderful city. Celebrity going from/to Dover was a big negative. Been to London many times, and the trip to Dover is a long one.

 

Funny, but the other negative for you is a big plus for me. You like that Celebrity has 3 days at sea and Princess "only" 2. That was also one of our deciding factors. We prefer less days at sea. One or two is nice, but that's more than enough. Though I am factoring in that Celebrity has more days in it's cruise than Princess. But, I loved our days in Copenhagen and wouldn't trade them for Warnamunde or Lithuania. I saw your suggestion about flying to Copenhagen first and then going to London and Dover. But for those of us using FF miles, it's not always so easy to get those open jawed flights. It also adds another travel day and a schelpping luggage day to the trip.

 

You're 100% right about Stockholm though. Having to take the train to and from on a fairly short day in port was a drag.

 

Again, I'm not making you wrong, just pointing out differences to those making the same decisions that you and I did. There's no right or wrong, just what works best for us.

 

 

Comparison:

 

Stockholm: Princess-7 to 5:30, Celebrity 9 to 5...but, ahhh...Princess puts you into Nynashamn, not Stockholm...You'll spend 3 hours on buses going back and forth and spend $100 extra per person on ground transportation or higher cost excursions...Advantage Celebrity

 

Helsinki: Princess 8:30 to 6, Celebrity 9 to 6...even

 

St. Petersburg: Princess 6:30am until 6 the following day, Celebrity 7 am to 6:30 pm the next day...even

 

Tallinn: Princess 7 to 1pm, Celebrity--8 am to 4pm...Advantage Celebrity

 

Gdansk: Princess 9-6, Celebrity 7-3...Slight advantage Princess

 

Oslo: Princess 7-2, Celebrity 2:30 to 9pm...I'd rather have the afternoon than morning, advantage Celebrity

 

Copenhagen: Princess--embarkation and debarkation, Celebrity Noon to Midnight...Advantage, if you have time to add on, Princess

 

Klaipeda: Princess--ZERO, Celebrity 10 to 7...Advantage Celebrity

 

Warnemunde: Princess--ZERO, Celebrity 7 to 9:30...Advantage Celebrity

 

Dover: Princess--ZERO, Celebrity-- embarkation and debarkation ...Advantage Celebrity

 

At sea days: Princess 2, Celebrity 3...Advantage Celebrity

 

With Celebrity, you get three extra ports that Princess doesn't even stop at plus an extra day to relax around the ship...

 

[SaylorGirl]

We just did the Princess Baltic cruise in September, and we loved it. We are younger than you are and contrary to Steve's report that 90% were double there age I would disagree. The ports are so important to us that we could never choose a ship that had all those extra sea days, I hate to waste my time on a cruise being on the ship when I could be in port. Also, you can start your pre or post cruise in Copenhagen which is a plus. In Steve's breakdown he did mention Stockholm as a problem, but the train from Nynashamn is cheap, easy and it adds to the adventure. After we were finished in Stockholm we returned by train to Nynashamn and walked some of the nature trails. As far as Tallin it is so small you really don't need the extra time in port.

 

I'm sure whatever cruise you choose will be wonderful and the Ports of the Baltics are simply fantastic. We were able to get a Visa for St. Petersburg so we didn't have to take a tour and just enjoyed that beautiful city. In fact all of the Ports are easy enough with proper planning to explore on your own.

[Bruin Steve]

I prefer the open seating of the restaurants on Princess. Celebrity still adhere's to the fixed seating.

 

I understand that everyone has different tastes, different desires, different criteria...it's why I started out by pointing out that this was only my opinion. As to "Open Seating" versus "Traditional", that debate could go on forever. I understand why some people prefer open seating...you show up at dinner whenever you want. For me, though, I much prefer the traditional dining experience. It is one of those things that makes cruising different. I get the same waiters each night and they get to know me real fast. They learn by night two that I like Iced Tea--and refilled often...they learn that I only eat plain iceberg lettuce as a salad course...There is no chance at having to wait for a table or feeling rushed since others are waiting...I just feel it helps make the service that much better...and the schedule fits in with show times and other events onboard...but, again, everyone values different aspects for different reasons.

 

However, for me, one of the attractions of going w/ Princess (which we did last year) was the fact that it started/ended in Copenhagen, allowing us a nice 4 day pre-cruise visit in that wonderful city. Celebrity going from/to Dover was a big negative. Been to London many times, and the trip to Dover is a long one.

I agree, it's a long ride from London to Dover...We also did a four-night pre-cruise in Copenhagen before our Princess Baltic...but we also had a flight post-cruise Copenhagen to Heathrow and did a 7 night post-cruise touring Britain...it really isn't that hard to get from one European city to another. I've never felt restricted to do our pre- or post-cruise in the city the ship sails from. Prior to our recent Constellation cruise in and out of Dover, we did a four night pre-cruise in Madrid...

 

Funny, but the other negative for you is a big plus for me. You like that Celebrity has 3 days at sea and Princess "only" 2.

Normally, I would consider more "at sea" days a negative as well...but ONLY if the at sea day is at the expense of a port stop...Here, it's not...It's an extra at sea day IN ADDITION to three extra port stops...Less ports and more at sea is a negative...but MORE PORTS AND an extra at sea day is a major positive...

 

But for those of us using FF miles, it's not always so easy to get those open jawed flights. It also adds another travel day and a schelpping luggage day to the trip.

Actually, our experience with frequent flier miles is that it is EASY to do these extra stops...I am not as familiar with other airlines' programs, but we used American Advantage miles for our flights for both our Princess Baltic cruise and our Celebrity Constellation cruise...For the exact same mileage as for a round trip ticket to Europe, AA lets you make one additional stop in a sort of "triangle" fare...(Note: the rules did change slightly between our 2001 and our 2005 cruises, limiting which cities were eligible for those extra stops).

 

When we did the Princess cruise, we flew into Copenhagen, did our pre-cruise, then the cruise...then we flew out of Copenhagen to Heathrow, spent a week in Britain, then flew nonstop home to LA...ALL for the same number of miles an LA to Europe round trip would have cost.

 

When we sailed on the Connie this past July, we again used AA and got flights LAX to Madrid, spent four nights there, then flew on to Gatwick, spent a couple more nights pre-cruise in London, took the Celebrity transfer to Dover, did the cruise, then back to London for one night and nonstop home from Heathrow again...It was actually all pretty easy...and we had no trouble getting the flights and the cost was the same as it would have been for a round trip LAX to London!

 

Of course, if someone isn't doing an extended pre- or post-cruise--just the cruise--there are FAR MORE and cheaper flights from the US to London--including many nonstops--than there are flights US to Copenhagen...

 

As to the age demographics on Princess, it could very well be that different cruises have different age mixes...and it's the luck of the draw...but on MY Princess cruise, you almost had to feel their was a conspiracy going on...like an AARP Group Cruise or something...We took our kids, then teenagers, and they complained--they met EVERY kid on the ship...and including them, there were 19 of them...total...out of over 2,000 passengers... And, even the entertainment on our cruise was catering to the elderly...it consisted of a Xylophone player (actually the best show they had), a Tom Jones/Englebert Humperdinck wannabe and a comedian who had to be 90 if he were a day...He kept forgetting the punchlines to his own jokes, but the jokes were so old, that the audience knew them and kept helping him out by finishing his jokes...

 

I would hope that my Princess cruise really was the "baseline" and that they couldn't get much worse...To be complete, the ship we were on, the old Crown Princess, was severely inadequate in terms of amenities and condition...and, thankfully, has since been retired from the Princess line...The Star is much newer and much nicer...The crew must have been depressed about having been assigned to that ship because they were among the worst we've encountered, as a group, on any cruise we've been on...The ship also held nowhere close to the itinerary as published...Our St. Petersburg stop was shortened by three hours on the first day and we were late arriving to some other ports...and the times originally published in the itinerary were changed just prior to sailing to leave some ports earlier...

 

The worst was the initial sailaway from Copenhagen...It was originally scheduled for 11:00 pm, but, within 2 days of sailing, Princess changed it to 6:00 pm...With our Copenhagen pre-cruise, we were already gone from home before Princess could contact us (They claim they called or notified everyone, but, even when we got home and checked mail and messages, nothing)...Out TA got notice ON THE DAY OF EMBARKATION...but could not reach us as we had already checked out of our hotel...Luckily for us, we always like to get to the ship EARLY, so we made it in time...My wife had wanted to stick around Copenhagen to eat dinner at some particular restaurant and I talked her into eating on the ship instead...It could have spelled disaster...

 

Yes, I hope Princess can do better...

[phdiva]

I'm also researching a Baltic cruise and had narrowed my choices down to a HAL 12-night (on the Rotterdam) and a Princess 10-night (on the Star). I was leaning toward Princess only because we're young-ish (+/-40) and cruises in this region tend to attrack an older demographic anyways. But, after reading the comments re: Princess, I'm thinking that demographics will not be a deciding factor.

 

<<Please don't think I'm ragging on older people ... my boyfriend's parents are more lively than we are and our TA thinks we'll enjoy HAL as much as we've enjoyed Celebrity and Princess>> ... I'm just looking for some feedback

 

Here are the two itineraries ...

 

Princess

Copenhagen, Denmark

At Sea

Stockholm (Nynashamn), Sweden

Helsinki, Finland

St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia

Muuga (Tallinn), Estonia

Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland

At Sea

Oslo, Norway

Copenhagen, Denmark

 

HAL

Copenhagen, Denmark

At Sea

Muuga (Tallinn), Estonia

St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia

Helsinki, Finland

Stockholm (Nynashamn), Sweden

At Sea

Berlin (Warnemuende), Germany

Arhus, Denmark

Oslo, Norway

At Sea

Rotterdam, Holland

[SaylorGirl]

I'm also researching a Baltic cruise and had narrowed my choices down to a HAL 12-night (on the Rotterdam) and a Princess 10-night (on the Star). I was leaning toward Princess only because we're young-ish (+/-40) and cruises in this region tend to attrack an older demographic anyways. But, after reading the comments re: Princess, I'm thinking that demographics will not be a deciding factor.

 

Please don't let one posters opinion of Princess sway you in your choice. He was on a older Princess ship many years ago, what does that have in common with the newer Star Princess? We were on the Star Princess Baltic cruise less than two months ago and we loved it. Make your own choice but don't just listen to one poster. The buffet does have more than milk and cookies out after midnight, and we had no problems making any of our ports, it was a great ship and a great cruise. Hope you have a great cruise whichever you choose.

[Juliadlf]

I'm also researching a Baltic cruise and had narrowed my choices down to a HAL 12-night (on the Rotterdam) and a Princess 10-night (on the Star).

 

I know exactly how you feel in trying to choose. Age of passengers wasn't a concern for us but how we could get the most out of our 2 weeks was. The convenience of flying in and out of the same airport. We know we are not "sea day people" and 2 is enough for us therefore we'd rather be in a city and experience the history and culture .

 

One thing I could recommend is that you go to the Reviews section and read some of the reviews for each of the sailings you are trying to decide on. It will give you a feel for what the trip may be like but remember it's someones opinion. Both are great itineraries and no matter which one you choose, be sure you do your research on what you really want to see and of course, how much the whole trip will end up costing you. Precruise/Postcruise stays, air, transportation, tours, extras.

 

Have fun choosing. So glad we are over that part.;)

 

Julia

[Lovincruisin1321]

Bruin Steve: I had to chuckle when I read about "Traditional Dining". I completely agree. For me, my waiter knows by day two that I prefer Ceasar Salad with freshly cracked pepper, not to rush my courses and to keep the wine flowing!:D

 

After reading all the invaluable info, I'm leaning towards the Constellation. If any of you have journals posted, I would love to get advice of what to see at the ports, what were the good tours, shore excursions vs private tours. Also, if you coordinate a trip with a group of people from "Roll Call", how do you handle the money situation? What happens if they don't show up for that tour? I'm definitely interested in extending the trip with pre-cruise and/or post-cruise destinations. These are great posts! I knew I could ask the experts!;)

 

Also, the days at sea issue: We cruised the RCI Med. It was wonderful, but exhausting. Up at 5am, rush to breakfast then to meet your tour group by 7am, touring all day, get back to ship by 5pm, short rest and dinner by 8pm. Actually, I welcome some days at sea just to sleep in, have a nice leasurely breakfast, participate in some activities on the ship, meet more people, and enjoy the evening without having to worry about bedtime for next shore excursion.

[Bruin Steve]

If any of you have journals posted, I would love to get advice of what to see at the ports, what were the good tours, shore excursions vs private tours. Also, if you coordinate a trip with a group of people from "Roll Call", how do you handle the money situation? What happens if they don't show up for that tour? I'm definitely interested in extending the trip with pre-cruise and/or post-cruise destinations. These are great posts!

Here's my quick rundown of the ports we visited and what I consider "musts":

Stockholm: We took a ship shore excursion which included a visit to the Vasa Museum and some time on our own. The Vasa Museum is absolutely not to be missed. The Vasa was the flagship of the Swedish Navy from the 1620s which sank on its maiden voyage and was recovered from the ocean bottom in the 1960s COMPLETELY INTACT with virtually no corrosion or rotting...it is absolutely phenomenal. They built the museum around it and you can walk around the ship on various levels and peer in.

 

Helsinki: Rather than take a shore excursion from the ship, we took the shuttle into town and picked up a double decker bus tour from a kiosk on the Esplinade. The points of interest in Helsinki are mainly its churches--not particularly my favorite stop on this route. You could also get a shore excursion to Porvoo, a more historical town nearby.

 

St. Petersburg: We took all of the excursions through the ship, but I've also heard very good things about an outfit called Red October which does private tours both in large and small groups...You can't easily do St. Pete any onther way (like on your own) because they require individual visas. There are usually a number of people on any Roll Call going with Red October. In any event, the two places I consider musts are 1) the Hermitage--may be the world's greatest art museum and housed in the old Winter Palace of the Tsars and 2) Peterhof--the Summer Palace of Peter the Great--absolutely magnificent. Make sure your tour visits the Hermitage in the morning--before they open it to the masses. We also visited the Yusopov Palace and found it very nice and very interesting (It is the Palace where Rasputin was killed). My wife really enjoyed taking in the Ballet (a shore excursion) during the "overnight"...I found the theater to be a little hot and I'm not a big Ballet fan...next time, we'll opt for the White Night river boat cruise show...

 

Tallinn: We eschewed the ship's tours for our own walking tour, using the step by step itinerary in Rick Steves' Scandinavia book...It was pretty much the same itinerary as on the ship's tour, but at our own pace. This is one great little town filled with medeival walls and towers...and it is a virtual requirement you tour on foot as cars really can't get to most places.

 

Gdansk: Suprisingly beautiful. We did a tour through the ship that included some tour and time on our own. Our guide wasn't great, but we really enjoyed the town.

 

Oslo: All of the offered excursions seem to be some combination of the Vigelund Sculpture Park, the Olympic Ski jump, the Open Air Museum and a few other sites in some combination...(we did the combo of those three I mentioned)...Personally, it was not the most thrilling tour...The open air museum is a collection of old Norwegian houses and buildings brought ot the site from all over Norway...The sculpture park was very different...It's the life work of a single artist and his crew and consists of hundreds of strange modern sculptures...The ski jump stop is mostly for the views...

 

Copenhagen: Ahh...We've now been there twice...Once for an extended pre-cruise before the Princess cruise, once as a port stop on the Constellation...As a pre-cruise, we did everything on our own...Picked up a tour with a local guide (actually, Richard, an expatriated American) for the Rosenborg Palace:

 

http://www.ctw.dk/companyprofile.aspx?ID=3226

... toured the National Museum, took a canal boat tour, visited Tivoli and generally wandered all over town for four days...When we did it as a port stop this past July, we did a nighttime canal boat ride through the ship (the night rides were not available except as a shore excursion, but you can pick up the canal boat tours on your own from either Nyhavn or Gammel Stam for a very reasonable price...and I think this is one great view of Copenhagen! I was not overly thrilled with Tivoli--found it overcrowded and noisy and somewhat of a disappointment. The full day we had in Copenhagen in July, we opted to go on our own as we felt fairly familiar with the town...We walked from the ship past Nyhavn (Great little street/marina with wonderfull outdoor bars and cafes), down the Stroget (The main pedestrian-only shopping street) and to the Glyptotek Museum--which is little know compared to other European art museums but actually has a phenomenal collection...If you like art, you should visit.

 

As to arranging tours with other posters over the internet, yes, there is always a risk they turn out to be flakes...On our Med cruise, one of our tablemates had booked an expensive private tour in one port and their pre-arranged partners backed out leaving them to scramble--but they had no trouble finding someone to take the place...

 

Since most guides like to be paid in cash, you just have to arrange for everyone to have their share handy...

 

Arrange to meet your tour partners on the first day of the cruise so you can confirm everyone is still on... I'm sure others will have some better advice on this topic than I can give...

 

Good luck...

[Lovincruisin1321]

Bruin: You are just amazing! Thank you for taking the time to type all of this out. I'm definitely going to take your suggestions. I'm sure the others on this thread feel the same way. What time of year did you go? Our anniversary is in May, we were aiming for June.

[Lovincruisin1321]

Here's my quick rundown of the ports we visited and what I consider "musts":

Stockholm: We took a ship shore excursion which included a visit to the Vasa Museum and some time on our own. The Vasa Museum is absolutely not to be missed. The Vasa was the flagship of the Swedish Navy from the 1620s which sank on its maiden voyage and was recovered from the ocean bottom in the 1960s COMPLETELY INTACT with virtually no corrosion or rotting...it is absolutely phenomenal. They built the museum around it and you can walk around the ship on various levels and peer in.

 

Helsinki: Rather than take a shore excursion from the ship, we took the shuttle into town and picked up a double decker bus tour from a kiosk on the Esplinade. The points of interest in Helsinki are mainly its churches--not particularly my favorite stop on this route. You could also get a shore excursion to Porvoo, a more historical town nearby.

 

St. Petersburg: We took all of the excursions through the ship, but I've also heard very good things about an outfit called Red October which does private tours both in large and small groups...You can't easily do St. Pete any onther way (like on your own) because they require individual visas. There are usually a number of people on any Roll Call going with Red October. In any event, the two places I consider musts are 1) the Hermitage--may be the world's greatest art museum and housed in the old Winter Palace of the Tsars and 2) Peterhof--the Summer Palace of Peter the Great--absolutely magnificent. Make sure your tour visits the Hermitage in the morning--before they open it to the masses. We also visited the Yusopov Palace and found it very nice and very interesting (It is the Palace where Rasputin was killed). My wife really enjoyed taking in the Ballet (a shore excursion) during the "overnight"...I found the theater to be a little hot and I'm not a big Ballet fan...next time, we'll opt for the White Night river boat cruise show...

 

Tallinn: We eschewed the ship's tours for our own walking tour, using the step by step itinerary in Rick Steves' Scandinavia book...It was pretty much the same itinerary as on the ship's tour, but at our own pace. This is one great little town filled with medeival walls and towers...and it is a virtual requirement you tour on foot as cars really can't get to most places.

 

Gdansk: Suprisingly beautiful. We did a tour through the ship that included some tour and time on our own. Our guide wasn't great, but we really enjoyed the town.

 

Oslo: All of the offered excursions seem to be some combination of the Vigelund Sculpture Park, the Olympic Ski jump, the Open Air Museum and a few other sites in some combination...(we did the combo of those three I mentioned)...Personally, it was not the most thrilling tour...The open air museum is a collection of old Norwegian houses and buildings brought ot the site from all over Norway...The sculpture park was very different...It's the life work of a single artist and his crew and consists of hundreds of strange modern sculptures...The ski jump stop is mostly for the views...

 

Copenhagen: Ahh...We've now been there twice...Once for an extended pre-cruise before the Princess cruise, once as a port stop on the Constellation...As a pre-cruise, we did everything on our own...Picked up a tour with a local guide (actually, Richard, an expatriated American) for the Rosenborg Palace:

 

http://www.ctw.dk/companyprofile.aspx?ID=3226

... toured the National Museum, took a canal boat tour, visited Tivoli and generally wandered all over town for four days...When we did it as a port stop this past July, we did a nighttime canal boat ride through the ship (the night rides were not available except as a shore excursion, but you can pick up the canal boat tours on your own from either Nyhavn or Gammel Stam for a very reasonable price...and I think this is one great view of Copenhagen! I was not overly thrilled with Tivoli--found it overcrowded and noisy and somewhat of a disappointment. The full day we had in Copenhagen in July, we opted to go on our own as we felt fairly familiar with the town...We walked from the ship past Nyhavn (Great little street/marina with wonderfull outdoor bars and cafes), down the Stroget (The main pedestrian-only shopping street) and to the Glyptotek Museum--which is little know compared to other European art museums but actually has a phenomenal collection...If you like art, you should visit.

 

As to arranging tours with other posters over the internet, yes, there is always a risk they turn out to be flakes...On our Med cruise, one of our tablemates had booked an expensive private tour in one port and their pre-arranged partners backed out leaving them to scramble--but they had no trouble finding someone to take the place...

 

Since most guides like to be paid in cash, you just have to arrange for everyone to have their share handy...

 

Arrange to meet your tour partners on the first day of the cruise so you can confirm everyone is still on... I'm sure others will have some better advice on this topic than I can give...

 

Good luck...

Bruin: You are just amazing! Thank you for taking the time to type all of this out. I'm definitely going to take your suggestions. I'm sure the others on this thread feel the same way. What time of year did you go? Our anniversary is in May, we were aiming for June.

[Bruin Steve]

Bruin: You are just amazing! Thank you for taking the time to type all of this out. I'm definitely going to take your suggestions. I'm sure the others on this thread feel the same way. What time of year did you go? Our anniversary is in May, we were aiming for June.

No problem...I'm always glad to help...So many others have helped me here as well...

We did the Princess Baltic in August and the Connie Northern Europe in July (Our Anniversary is in July)...Being so far north, the weather is not too hot in summer...but we have encountered some rain both trips in Britain (I guess it always rains there)...Otherwise, the weather's been pretty good both cruises...May might be a bit early in the season, but June sounds good to me...

[kazover40]

Whatever you choose, you must get up at Dawn and go out on deck when negotiating the channels going into St Petersberg it is awesome! With 100's of disused cranes, sea mist, cry of the birds etc it is really quite eerie and a sight that will stick in our memories forever!

[phdiva]

What a great thread! I guess we can't go wrong with whichever we choose.

[kinghw]

We were on the May 21 Connie cruise, the alternate itinerary from Bruin Steve's. One extra day at sea, a stop in Riga, Latvia but not in Gdansk or Oslo, otherwise identical.

 

We had a great time! We don't have a lot of cruising experience but I had narrowed down our choice to the Connie and the Star Princess. I chose the Connie because it was essentially the same price for the extra days, I liked the port order better, and we were anxious to try Celebrity--our first and only other cruise was on the Regal Princess (Canada/NE)

 

The weather in May in Europe is always iffy but we lucked out with many sunny days and almost no rain for the two weeks. The May 7 cruise had been much cooler and drowned in rain.This is always going to be a crapshoot and June should be nicer but rain is always a threat.The last weekend in May St Petersburg celebrates its birthday and kicks off the White Nights, so we were there at a great time. We used DenRus for a private tour (similar to Red October and much discussed on these boards)

and were very pleased with our guide.

 

We were 99% pleased with Celebrity and the Constellation. Our most serious complaint was that Celebrity shaved an hour from their published port stays in two of the ports (Stockholm and Talinn)--Steve mentioned this hapenning with Princess so I wonder how prevalent this is.

 

Also LOL we had a xylophonist (probably the one Steve had on the Crown). I overheard a number of the pax grousing about him the next day but I thought he was pretty good.

 

I thought the art in the public spaces of Connie ranged from bizarre to distracting, and we really didn't connect with the whole Cirque "experience", but let's face it, these items neither detracted from nor added to our cruise experience to any measurable extent. On the other hand, the beds placed at the front of the Cirque bar on 11 forward were a great perch for the cruise through the Stockholm archipelago--on our cruise we went through this from 3:30-7 AM so we pretty much had a great view in a very comfortable place all to ourselves.

 

I thought the food and service on the Connie were first rate and Bruin Steve is right on about the space/passenger ratio--we certainly never felt like we were sharing facilities with 2000 others!

 

And, after the port intensive part of the cruise the two final sea days cruising back to Dover were nice.