Baltic Cruise Advise!

[Lovincruisin1321]

o.k. Showed this to my hubby. Constellation in June it is. If anyone else joins this thread, please jump in and share your journies. By the way Bruin, my daughter says you should start your own travel agency! :)

[Juliadlf]

For those looking at what others have to say about their cruise here is the link for the CC member reviews for the Constellation on the website. They are listed by region. Enjoy reading. I know I did.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=272

 

If you want to look up any other cruiseline ship just go to this link

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/index.cfm

[Lovincruisin1321]

Julia: Great site. Been reading the reviews. Actually, reading the reviews reminded me of two more questions:

 

1. What's the best type of cabin on the Constellation?

 

2. What airline would you recommend?

 

After reading some reviews, I'm wondering if August might be a better time to go? I'm a warm weather person, and would love to get a balcony with my stateroom and have use of the outdoor pool on the ship. Opinions?

[Juliadlf]

1. What's the best type of cabin on the Constellation?

 

2. What airline would you recommend?

 

After reading some reviews, I'm wondering if August might be a better time to go? I'm a warm weather person, and would love to get a balcony with my stateroom and have use of the outdoor pool on the ship. Opinions?

 

I know this wasn't directed only to me but hopefully others will respond to your questions as well.

Since I've not cruised on Constellation but have chosen Princess instead I can't comment on your first question. Perhaps the Celebrity board would be helpful?

 

For your second question, depends on what airport your near, which are the carriers who fly in/out of your airport and what time of year you will decide to go. I'm sure everyone has their favorites.

 

Read the reviews for all the ships who do a similar itinerary, not just Constellation, as you will get a feel for the different months people have cruised and what their weather was like. I believe most travel sites have a section that tells you what the typical weather, ie degrees/rain, etc for each port you are visiting over a period of time. We choose August. Temps looked a bit milder but no guarantee.

 

Some cruisers have not posted their reviews in the Review section of the board but have posted directly on the boards for the ports or cruiseline. Great information on ships, ports, tours, hotels, etc. Wealth of information which I, for one, appreciate.

 

Have fun planning.

[cruisemom42]

For what it's worth, my 13 y.o. son and I were on the Star Princess May 25 sailing. We found a nice range of ages among passengers and my son even found a few pals to hang with.

 

We also looked at Celebrity, but decided to go with Princess for reasons already cited (in and out of Copenhagen). However, we also found Celebrity to be much more expensive for the category of room we wanted (e.g., balcony).

 

And while I do enjoy the traditional dining experience of cruising, on THIS cruise in particular, you spend so much time in the wonderful ports that it's nice not to have to worry about being back on board for dinner at any particular time, but rather to enjoy every moment ashore and watching the sailaways, etc.

 

I sugges you also visit the CC Baltic Ports board for great information on these ports. I learned so much and we were able to get around on our own in every port except St. Petersburg.

[saulsberry]

For a different possibility, we cruised the Baltic in June on Oceania's Regatta

from Dover to Stockholm.

 

The ports are much the same as with other lines except that we had 3 days in St. Petersburg, whereas most ships are there for only 2 days. There are so many things to see there, the extra day was really worthwhile. We toured privately with Denrus. There are a number of threads that discuss Denrus and Red October, the two most popular private tour companies.

 

Because the Regatta is a smaller ship-- 640 passengers-- it went through the Kiel Canal. We expected to spend most of the day reading but ended up spending most of our time just watching the pretty countryside slide past.

[kazover40]

As you like traditional dining and being pampered, you might like to check out Fred Olsen. Leaving from Dover, flights to the UK generally cheaper and more of them!

 

The Itinerary is good, and being smaller traditional type ships, they exit the Kiel Canal in Germany, which is amazing!

 

We cruised with them to the Baltic 2 years ago in May and had a great time! Cruised with them twice since!

 

http://www.fredolsencruises.com/fredolsen/process/cruises/details/code=BM142,restrictResults=,year=2006.html

[mcca2]

We are doing the 12 night Scandinavia and Baltics next June on Jewel of the Seas. There is a good review of the cruise on the review board from Host Anne. Check it out.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=11919

 

The Jewel is a beautiful ship and very new. We also plan to do the independant tour of St. Petersburg with a group called Denrus. As with Red October they will take you on a two day private tour of just about everything . Our party of six( so far) will cost us about $300.00 for the two days.

If you are interested check out my thread on roll call Jewel of the Seas June 7 2006. It is also the White Nights Cruise. This occurs between June 11 to July 2

 

Kate

[Queenk2]

We are on the July 1 Connie trip. We decided on this simply because having been to Scandanavia before ,we wanted some new itinerary such asHelsinki, Gydansk etc. We chose July1 because I am a teacher and cannot go in June. Weather was also a deciding factor. Price was way better in June. I like going and coming into Dover. We are on direct flights with Virgin.

[suron]

For anyone considering the Star Princess Baltic cruise you may be interested in the review I have posted on our trip in August. This can be found at www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreivew.cfm?EntryID=12469

 

Another member of our Roll Call for that sailing has also posted a review under the name of Sunprincess and she has also posted some wonderful photos of the trip - these can be found at community.webshots.com/user/sunprincess8

 

You will enjoy Star but be warned that this cruise is very hectic but you will see some wonderful sights. Good Luck to everyone with the planning.

 

We are now in the throes of planning our Rockies Land Tour from Calgary followed by an Alaskan cruise RT Seattle for May 06 on Dawn Princess.

 

Regards from

Suron in Bristol, England ;)

[NDRB]

We really enjoyed our Baltic cruise on the Regal Princess, and very much prefered that it began and ended in Copenhagen. Some of our group actually did disembark a day early in Oslo (very easy to do with Princess), as we wanted to spend 10 days exploring Norway without having to make the long drive back north from Copenhagen.

 

The 35 mile one way commute to Stockholm from the port WAS a REAL drag, though... That was our major complaint with the cruise.

 

While a train also had to be taken in Gdansk (which we easily toured on our own), it wasn't as big a deal.

 

Don't forget that Princess has washer/dryers on all its ships, which is a real plus, especially given the new luggage weight limits!

 

In St. Petersburg, we had a very good experience using Red October for a two day tour- they are super organized and got us into places such as Catherine's Palace without the horrendous wait that other tour groups had. (They have someone from the compnay get there very early to wait in line and hold a spot for the tour participants...)

 

Nina

[travelingmcmahans]

You're welcome to my Baltic Cruise journal. Holland America August 2004.

The highlight for us was St Petersburg. We used Palladium Tours for a private car, driver and guide, which was a great way to go.

 

Have a wonderful time!:)