May 26 Getaway Baltic Review

[kapitman]

Good afternoon, I am walking around like a zombie today because I just flew home last night from a fantastic European Vacation. I don't plan on making this a huge photo review, but more of a review of the cruise with a few photos thrown in for good measure. (Hopefully I figure out how to attach photos) We had originally booked a mini-suite but had the opportunity to bid for an upgrade and ended up getting the Two-room Forward Facing Haven Balcony (not the two bedroom unit). We bid $510 per person for the upgrade, which was $10 more than minimum, and I think the $10 difference is probably what won the room for us from all those who bid minimum of $500. We ended up in room 10706 and I will review the room, too. Overall I loved this cruise, but definitely has some things that could be improved upon by Norwegian. With that said - I did buy Future Cruise Certificates. This was my favorite ship I have ever cruised on in my 7 cruises.

 

We embarked in Warnemunde, Germany, while most people on our cruise embarked in Copenhagen the day before. We took the regional train from Berlin to Warnemunde but had to change twice due to construction on the line we had originally booked. We ended up on the Sbahn from Friedrichstrasse to Oranienberg then the train to Rostock, and then s-bahn to Warnemunde. On the way to the train station one of my suitcase wheels broke off and this made the transfer much more difficult than it would have been otherwise. (It would not have been as bad with properly working suitcase wheels.) The walk from the Warnemunde train terminal to the ship was WAY farther than I thought, and required stairs up and down with luggage. I would love to see NCL offer a service to drop off bags at the train station. The check in process was quick and easy due to most guests embarking in Copenhagen. (Side note - there was no separate check-in for Haven guests there, but it was not necessary) We were on the ship by 2:30 pm and had lunch at the buffet.

 

Being a part of the cruise critic community, I attended the Cruise Critic roll call meet and great (in Tropicana at 11am on Sea Day 1). I also organized and ran a slot pull with the roll call, too. The casino host was ok to work with, but not nearly as friendly as the last two cruises that I ran a slot pull. (She did not even come over during the event to say hi to the guests or check on us - I was not impressed) During the meet and greet we were told by the captain to come to him if we had any issues and not just come home and post them on cruise critic. (He also said...he had heard on here that he had struck something with the ship during the Trans-Atlantic cruise - and denied that report) I liked that he said to come to him, but really doubt that opportunity exists. (as he has bigger things to worry about)

 

The cruise director Andre was friendly, outgoing, and funny. With that being said, I found the activities on this ship to be lacking. I loved the ship and all that she has to offer, but felt the activities that were inside and free were VERY lacking. There were plenty of fee based activities, and the ship has a huge array of activities that are outside, but this was a Baltic cruise and quite windy and cool for outside activities on most days. We did manage to do the Rock Climbing Wall, Ropes Course with Zipline and Walk the Plank, Water slides and Mini-Golf during the cruise as we lucked out with weather for most of the trip. I will admit that I was truly bored on the 2nd sea day of the cruise. (so much so that I lost way too much money in the casino BEFORE noon) I usually love to do trivia and contests but found that the number of trivia activities was less than any cruise I had been on previously. I also love karaoke but NCL MUST get a better selection of songs and offer more times. Classic karaoke songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Sweet Caroline, and Unchained Melody were not on the list of songs - and they had NO ABBA!!! NCL definitely has ground to make up in this area. The shows were awesome!!! Unfortunately I only saw a portion of Burn the Floor during dinner in the Tropicana one night, but heard from everyone how awesome it was. Cirque show had my jaw on the floor for a whole hour - AMAZING!!!! The food at Cirque was ok, but show itself was phenomenal! Million Dollar Quartet replaced Legally Blonde for the Broadway show and it was a fantastic show with great singers. There was a married couple that sang in the evenings mostly in Fat Cat, and a girl who often sang at the Sugar Cane Mojito Bar. Both of them were fantastic acts!!! I also attended Howl at the Moon one night and they were pretty good. As a musician myself, I was really impressed with the singers on this ship. We went to the Comedy/Magician show one night and walked out 25 minutes into it as it was boring and just not that funny. OVERALL Entertainment - Cruise director - funny and nice. Singers/Shows were great. Comedian lousy. On-board free activities could be fun, but lack of free activities inside left a lot to be desired.

 

I loved that you could go from one end of the ship to the other without having to go up or down decks to miss a dining room, etc. The restaurant choices were abundant, although most were for a fee. My favorite bar was the Mojito Bar. The Atrium was nice, but was really noisy most of the time. Service at the bars was good and drinks were mostly very good. You can get a lot for the UBP choices no matter what anyone says. And - if you want a drink that costs more, you just pay the difference. We checked out the Ice Bar and while it was fun, I would not pay $20 to do it again.

 

Overall dining experience was good. I was happy to come home only up less than two pounds as much as I drank and ate. Teppanyaki experience was great!!! Great show and delicious food. Cagney's was delicious as well. Haven dinner and breakfast experience was fantastic too. (BTW you can bring up to 4 additional guests for dinner in the Haven but it is $35 a head for non-Haven guests.) Main dining room and Buffet were typical cruise fare.

 

Our Room was AMAZING! I can not get used to the Haven, but I totally could! We only splurged because my best friend turns 60 this year and we got the upgrade (upsell because some of you will point that out) bid. We were in 10706. The king bed (which can not be split) was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on in a cruise. Halfway through we had them make up the sofa bed to switch off on (since one of us snores a lot) which was very firm - but better after they added an egg-crate. The room was about 400 square feet with living room/dining room, bedroom, and huge bathroom with shower, tub, separate vanity, and toilet room. The Butler, LEO, was just plain AMAZING!!!! He helped us with anything we asked for. He would get our entire group of friends off of the ship in every port - avoiding the main elevators and crowds. We got treats every day left in the room. Also we had gatherings in our room to play cards against humanity and once for sailaway and he brought us snacks, sandwiches, cookies, and cups to share with everyone. He was a great host and one of the highlights of the ship for us! Our room attendant Arlene also did a great job for us during our cruise.

 

I will write more about the ports and add some pictures as I can. Need to take a break from the computer to finish post-trip laundry and stuff. Hope this review will help you in some way.

[kapitman]

Here are a few pics to start...it's a pain to resize them so will not be posting port pics...I am happy to answer questions about ports or the ship, too. We did the ports on our own with the exception of St Petersburg.

[nt13]

Thank you so much for this review! What was your favorite bar on the ship, if you had one?

 

 

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[Seminole1975]

Thank you so much for doing this! I am glad you liked MDQ!

 

I am interested in doing most of the ports ourselves. Our son, Kurt, plays Carl Perkins in MDQ so I have tasked him with being our tour guide when we go in September.

 

However, I am very interested in what you did in the ports. We have an excursion planned in St. Petersburg, but that is it. I am thinking about doing a boat theme, going on a boat ride in every port. It seems like there are boat tours you can take in every port but Tallinn. I am doing a lot of research. I hope the weather cooperates.

 

We too are staying in the Haven and plan on having a dinner in our room one night as our son cannot go in the actual Haven. Sounds like you had a a lot of fun!

 

Hope you get rested up!

[Kealy]

Off to a great start. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

[kapitman]

Thank you so much for doing this! I am glad you liked MDQ!

 

I am interested in doing most of the ports ourselves. Our son, Kurt, plays Carl Perkins in MDQ so I have tasked him with being our tour guide when we go in September.

 

However, I am very interested in what you did in the ports. We have an excursion planned in St. Petersburg, but that is it. I am thinking about doing a boat theme, going on a boat ride in every port. It seems like there are boat tours you can take in every port but Tallinn. I am doing a lot of research. I hope the weather cooperates.

 

We too are staying in the Haven and plan on having a dinner in our room one night as our son cannot go in the actual Haven. Sounds like you had a a lot of fun!

 

Hope you get rested up!

 

Thank you! Your son was fantastic! We loved the show...and saw them in O'Sheehans after the second show that night!

 

You could DEFINITELY get a boat ride in every port. (Except maybe Tallinn) I have attached the trip plans I arranged for my friends and I in Tallinn and Helsinki if you would like to use any of them... My other friend planned Copenhagen...It is easy on foot...you could do HOHO, but wait time can be long between stops. We walked Gothenberg as well. (no major plans there - and you will probably port in Stockholm instead) We went on to Norway on our own after the cruise and did Norway in a Nutshell, including the overnight sleeper train back to Oslo from Bergen. I spent 2 days in Prague (my new favorite city in Europe) and 3 days in Berlin (including a day trip to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp near the Oranienberg S-bahn Station)

Helsinki Day Tour.docx

TALLINN WALKING TOUR.docx

[kapitman]

Thank you so much for this review! What was your favorite bar on the ship, if you had one?

 

 

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Depends on what you like to drink!!! Personally I liked the Sugarcane Mojito Bar the best...I like their flavored mojitos and they often have a great piano player/singer there, too.

[kapitman]

You will see what we did in Tallinn and Helsinki in Post #6. Feel free to use those as guides.

 

Tallinn has very winding roads, so it is easy to get turned around. Just sign onto wi-fi somewhere and get directions to the port from wherever you are...then turn roaming back off) We visited the KGB Museum in the Hotel Viru, a 2 hour chocolate making class at Kalev Chocolate Store (a 5 minute walk from the Viru) then a walk through town. It is a beautiful Old Town, including the Town Square, Freedom Square, Cathedral, and Viru Gates. I would love to return to Tallinn to spend more time, too. There is a pretty good sized mall there at the Viru if you forget something or need something for the ship (my suitcase broke so I replaced it here and then drug it through town)

 

For Helsinki, the ship will try to sell you $15 bus tickets to the city center, but you can get an all day ticket for the Trams for 9 Euros and move at your own pace. Take Tram 9 from the port and it is a 5 minute walk from the ship. (There are colored lines to follow from the ship to the tram stop!) The people in Helsinki were probably the nicest of anywhere on the trip! It is really an easy to navigate on your own city!

 

Tallinn

[rocklinmom]

This is great so far! We are doing this same cruise in July. I am wondering which shore excursions you did in St. Petersburg?

[pinkpanther52]

Hi Kent, it is Kent I think.

 

I was on this cruise as well so will chime in with a few of my thoughts.

 

I did not participate in the Slot Pull but loads of folks said it was really good.

 

I enjoyed all the ports. Did not go into Berlin as I can fly quicker ;)

 

Customs at St. Petersburg I think were more efficient than the first cruise, No time at all to get through but it took 40 mins to get back ON the first day - maybe we were just unlucky.

 

The Moijto Bar was my favourite, loved Burn the Floor, Shanghi Noodle Bar was fabulous.

 

I really enjoy the second sea day but then I am more a curl up with a book kind of lass than doing activities and being from Scotland I did not find it too cold :) :) and I had the Spa pass which for this cruise I thought was really good.

 

The service in the bars was excellent and loads of options on the UBP. I enjoy Andre

 

For some reason service in Taste was much slower than in Savor.

 

I enjoyed Andre's Harry Potter quiz and the Mystery escape room but otherwise was just happy to relax.

 

The bad points!!

 

The Garden Cafe was Carnage, Absolute Carnage, did I say Carnage!!!

 

Gothenburg, was a very very poor choice by NCL Corporate. Arrived pm which was not ideal and our tour (the only one through NCL) was therefore caught in rush hour traffic. Very poor choice in MHO.

 

The noise level on the pool deck for sailaway in Copenhagen and several other occasions was excruciating.

 

Apart from that (and some very very obnoxious folks ( but hey that's not NCLs fault) no one on the role call I hasten to add)

 

I really really enjoyed the cruise.

 

Jackie

[moosec1]

How was the actual sailing, calm sea or lots of rolling, want to be prepared!

[pinkpanther52]

Very calm seas for us but could be anything in the Baltic you really can't tell.

 

One other point I have remembered the NCL transfer INTO Copenhagen was a good buy 15$ but you got a later disembarkation

[Seminole1975]

KA-Thank you for the detailed walking tours in Tallinn and Helsinki!! I printed them out. Is there a shuttle from the port to the Town Hall Square in Tallinn?

[Seminole1975]

The noise level on the pool deck for sailaway in Copenhagen and several other occasions was excruciating.

 

So glad you enjoyed the cruise!! Where is a good place for Sail Away?

 

Diane

[pinkpanther52]

I was in the Spa or the at the Waterfront for the sailaways :)

[kapitman]

How was the actual sailing, calm sea or lots of rolling, want to be prepared!

 

Smooth - really only felt the boat moving more than normal on one day.

[kapitman]

KA-Thank you for the detailed walking tours in Tallinn and Helsinki!! I printed them out. Is there a shuttle from the port to the Town Hall Square in Tallinn?

 

I do not remember them offering one, but I KNEW what we were doing and the walk was not bad!!

 

Regarding sailaway, a friend had an aft balcony with 150 square feet balcony, so our butler brought stuff to our room (snacks, cups, napkins, juices) and we pooled our free champagnes and toasted from room 9320!

[Seminole1975]

Wonderful! Thanks!

 

 

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[kapitman]

Here are some pics of our Suite 10706. We loved our cabin on this cruise and it was truly a splurge for us. The room is a long ways from the elevators if you do not like to walk, and is not in the actual Haven, but is a Haven suite with Butler and Concierge services. This room did get noisy at times when docking in the mornings due to location. We should have charged for tours, as many of our cruise critic roll call folks wanted to see it.

[Travel R]

Thanks for your review.

 

Also thanks for the Helsinki & Tallinn tours - they will come in helpful!

 

If possible, would you please post copies of the dailies?

 

FYI - another person from the cruise posted that there was a band playing some ABBA songs in the atrium one night (although it was not mentioned beforehand). I plan on visiting the ABBA museum when in Stockholm.

 

Three weeks - can't wait!

 

Thank you,

 

Travel R

[Clarea]

Thanks for the interesting revew and photos.

[hhk1234]

This is great! Thank you for the Helsinki and Tallin walking tour info. Can you post the same for Copenhagen? We are going in july and can't wait!

[kapitman]

Thanks for your review.

 

Also thanks for the Helsinki & Tallinn tours - they will come in helpful!

 

If possible, would you please post copies of the dailies?

 

FYI - another person from the cruise posted that there was a band playing some ABBA songs in the atrium one night (although it was not mentioned beforehand). I plan on visiting the ABBA museum when in Stockholm.

 

Three weeks - can't wait!

 

Thank you,

 

Travel R

 

I did not save the Dailies...sorry. Yes they did a ABBA trivia one night during our show reservations. If we had gone to Stockholm instead of Gothenberg - ABBA museum would have been included for me, too!!

[kapitman]

This is great! Thank you for the Helsinki and Tallin walking tour info. Can you post the same for Copenhagen? We are going in july and can't wait!

 

I did not plan our day in Copenhagen...we did a little HOHO and a little walking on our own. The Red Line would take you to most important stops Make sure you make it to the Cathedral, Amalienborg, the Little Mermaid (it's tiny-but it's a landmark), and Nyhavn! Also - plan a meal at Copenhagen Street Food!!!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

Keith