Getaway Baltic Cruise Highlights With Photos

[marbleski]

Helsinki

 

Time to move along to our day in Helsinki. Another nice day. Another DIY. We didn’t have much of a plan for Helsinki. OS was up early waiting for the gangway to open. He was off to take the ferry to the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Meanwhile, we lagged behind and took a later tram from port into town. TIP. You can see the tram stop to your right from the ship. Follow the colored lines on the walkway. Have a few Euros to pay the driver. We met OS 10:30 am at Market Square. OS enjoyed the island and the great views from on the ferry.

 

Market Square is an Interesting place for a look about and chat with the local vendors. The market consists of local souvenirs and clothing vendors. There are also a number of fresh fish and produce vendors. The freshly cooked salmon looked delicious but it was a bit early for lunch. If I were to do a do over I would visit the Suomenlina Sea Fortress but at a slower pace than OS son did. This would get you back to Market Square around 11:30 am. A perfect time to browse the market and try the fresh salmon. Hopefully your visit coincides with the month long wild salmon season.

 

We also visited Rock Church. A great place to sit, relax and check in back home (free wifi). Next we walked through a park, watched some local pre-teens play baseball and found a neat place for a snack on the water (Regatta). A nice setting, great views and warm fire pit for those in need to warm up. From there it was a short walk to the Sibelius Monument. We poked around a few more streets, hopped a bus to a tram stop and made a transfer back to port.

Market Square is on the other side of the fountain

Market Square Kiosk

Behind Rock Church

Regatta Cafe - quiet and peaceful cafe to sit overlooking the water (without fellow cruise passengers)

Views on the walk between the Cafe and Sibelius Monument.

Took this from the tram on the way back to the port. This guy is about a 3 to 5 minute walk from the tram stop at the Port. Would have made a fun pic of me and the boys for my photo book.

[ITMan]

NCL has tranfers, not sure of the cost as we got a taxi to the Generator Hostel and not the airport. I believe the NCL shuttle was available for flights departing after 12:00 or 12:30. There were plenty of taxis.

 

The CC Baltic ports page has lots of good information and hopefully someone will jump in and be of better help.

 

 

Thanks for the response. I have seen posts about shortage of taxis at the port on arrival so want to be sure... someone talked about a 45 minute wait! Also needing a large car for 4 of us and at least 3 full size cases.!

[TVNews]

Enjoying your review and the excellent photos! Any more detail on the train trip between Prague and Berlin? We are travelling this route as well... boarding the ship in Warnemunde.

[ttnc4me]

Hi there, I would be interested in any info you can give me on airport transfers on the return to Copenhagen. What times they run and prices? We have an early flight back 10:50 so trying to decide if waiting and booking an NCL transfer or book a van for us to meet us on arrival at the port. Any info welcome

We just got off the ship & are sitting at CPH now. We have a 10am Lufthansa flight with a layover intra Europe so no customs just yet.

 

It's true that there are very few taxis at the terminal; <10 = 3 vans & maybe 5 or so cars at 7am.

 

Self walk off people were able to leave the ship I saw as early as 6:45am and be picked up by private transfer. This is a good option and likely one I would have chosen since we have 5 in my party. Instead, not knowing the transportation situation, we booked the NCL transfer while on the ship (they push this option hard with literature each day) at $30 per person. We arrived in the atrium at 6:45am, were permitted to get off at 7am, and we got the first bus to the airport which arrived at 7:50.

 

Airport directional signage is atrocious and helpful staff is lacking. Passengers are required to self service scan their own passports first and the machine's scanner was finicky. SAS flight passengers could print their own luggage tags but because we were flying Lufthansa, we had to take the bags to drop off. However, the only signage states SAS which come to find out doubles for all Star Alliance airlines.

 

The line moved fairly quickly. The security bag check line moved just as quickly and we were sitting at the gate ready to board by 9.

 

Hope this helps.

[pr0pel]

We just got off the ship & are sitting at CPH now. We have a 10am Lufthansa flight with a layover intra Europe so no customs just yet.

 

It's true that there are very few taxis at the terminal; <10 = 3 vans & maybe 5 or so cars at 7am.

 

Self walk off people were able to leave the ship I saw as early as 6:45am and be picked up by private transfer. This is a good option and likely one I would have chosen since we have 5 in my party. Instead, not knowing the transportation situation, we booked the NCL transfer while on the ship (they push this option hard with literature each day) at $30 per person. We arrived in the atrium at 6:45am, were permitted to get off at 7am, and we got the first bus to the airport which arrived at 7:50.

 

Airport directional signage is atrocious and helpful staff is lacking. Passengers are required to self service scan their own passports first and the machine's scanner was finicky. SAS flight passengers could print their own luggage tags but because we were flying Lufthansa, we had to take the bags to drop off. However, the only signage states SAS which come to find out doubles for all Star Alliance airlines.

 

The line moved fairly quickly. The security bag check line moved just as quickly and we were sitting at the gate ready to board by 9.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Did they push city transfers? If so, how much were they?

[marbleski]

Enjoying your review and the excellent photos! Any more detail on the train trip between Prague and Berlin? We are travelling this route as well... boarding the ship in Warnemunde.

 

We took train EC174 which departed 10:28 am arriving in Berlin 2:57 pm. If you have not booked your ticket, you can purchase from either the German or Czech site. We used the Czech site, I believe we could choose our seats on this site while we could not on the German site. We booked early to get four seats with a table so we could be facing one another.

 

About 30 to 45 minutes after departure the Elbe River valley will be on your right side. Book seats on the right side. Better still eat in the dinning car at this time and enjoy a lovely meal while travelling along the river. The ride along the river will last your entire meal. Again sit on the right side in the dining car.

 

The train is faster and smoother than via rail. The dining car and food is quite good on the Via Rail (Montreal to Halifax route) but much better on the Czech train. There was free wifi early in the trip but we lost connection by the time we sat to eat. As a result we could not pay by visa. The menu is priced in both Euros and Czech Koruna so you can pay in either currency.

[ITMan]

We just got off the ship & are sitting at CPH now. We have a 10am Lufthansa flight with a layover intra Europe so no customs just yet.

 

It's true that there are very few taxis at the terminal; <10 = 3 vans & maybe 5 or so cars at 7am.

 

Self walk off people were able to leave the ship I saw as early as 6:45am and be picked up by private transfer. This is a good option and likely one I would have chosen since we have 5 in my party. Instead, not knowing the transportation situation, we booked the NCL transfer while on the ship (they push this option hard with literature each day) at $30 per person. We arrived in the atrium at 6:45am, were permitted to get off at 7am, and we got the first bus to the airport which arrived at 7:50.

 

Airport directional signage is atrocious and helpful staff is lacking. Passengers are required to self service scan their own passports first and the machine's scanner was finicky. SAS flight passengers could print their own luggage tags but because we were flying Lufthansa, we had to take the bags to drop off. However, the only signage states SAS which come to find out doubles for all Star Alliance airlines.

 

The line moved fairly quickly. The security bag check line moved just as quickly and we were sitting at the gate ready to board by 9.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Many thanks. It sounds like the ship transfer is a good option.

[marbleski]

Nynashamn/Stockholm

 

Nice walking temperatures again today. Thank goodness because our day started with a 20 minute walk to the train station in Nynashamn. We found out while on the road, via CC that we would be docking at Nynashamn instead of Stockholm. Real bummer, as it threw our loosely planned day out the window or should I say off the ship.

Anticipating this was a possibility, my notes on taking the train from Nynashamn to Stockholm came in handy. Concerned about getting the maximum use of our time in Stockholm we decided last minute to book the NCL shore excursion shuttle to/from Stockholm. Tip - not a good idea. It was sold out with a possibility of additional buses being added. We got the early morning call informing us there was no room on the bus.

 

Back to plan B, the train. As we arrived at the station the train was pulling in and the ticket booth had a long line. TIP - leave the ship as soon as the gangway hits the ground. We noticed a self-service kiosk on the platform next to our train. We had two choices, try the ticket booth line or the empty kiosk on the train platform. Since we had great success using similar kiosks at other places on our trip we beat it to the empty kiosk. Due to the language barrier with the machine, a bit of panic set in as there were many ticket options to choose from. We managed to purchase four tickets of some sort, one transaction at a time. We got the last ticket out of the machine just in time to catch the train. Whew, we were seconds from waiting for the next train.

 

The estimated travel time was approximately 1 hour 10 minutes. It ended up taking about 1 hour 40 minutes. Chatting with a local on the return train and he mentioned the train network has been expanding outside Stockholm in recent years and there are times when trains have to wait their turn to access the main line into the city center. That is probably why we had a few long stops as we neared the city.

 

We exited the Stockholm train station and as luck would have it we exited next to the bus stop needed to get us to the Vasa Museum. The bus pulled in the same time as we arrived at the stop. It happened so fast I did not catch the bus number. Once off the bus, the Vasa Museum was about a five minute walk at the most.

There were two lines at museum entrance, one for groups and one for individuals. The individual line moved faster as most visitors arrived by the bus load. We did the short English Tour (included in the entrance fee) at 11:00 am. TIP - take your ear phone sets if you wish to do as self-guided tour. They have free wi-fi and free bathrooms. Overall, a great museum. I recommend the visit as it was more interesting than I anticipated.

 

From there we walked to the dock just past the Abba Museum and caught the ferry to Gamla Stan. This time our luck ran out and we missed catching the ferry by 30 seconds. They closed the gate to the dock just as we arrived. You can’t win them all.

 

On the plus side we were first in line for the next ferry which arrived about 15 minutes later. Upon boarding there was a stampede to the front of the boat, as many wanted to enjoy the view from the front. The time on the ferry seemed to pass much too quickly and we docked in Gamla Stan in no time.

We spent the remaining time exploring the old part of town as we worked our way back to the train station. It was a bit tricky finding the proper underground entrance to the train station. Mostly because there were a number of entrances and we caught the bus so fast after exiting the terminal in the morning that we never gave much thought to mark our bearings as to where we popped up. TIP - give yourself plenty of time to find your train platform at the end of the day.

The train ride back had quite a few cruise passengers, so there were no worries about the ship leaving us behind. There were no delays and the return trip was on schedule and on time. Be sure to get on the first half of the train as the cars near the back split somewhere along the way and go off in another direction. Walk on the right side of the street on the way back to the ship and there is a small opening in the trees to get a nice picture sitting on a rail with the ship in the background.

Stockholm is far nicer than expected. We could have used much more time. A great port to start or end your cruise. Docking at the S167 Stadsgarden terminal in Stockholm would be so, so, so much better. I hope the cruise gods are on your side and you get the opportunity to dock in the city.

 

Be sure to have a plan B in case you get diverted to Nynashamn. If the boys were not with us to navigate, our day might not have been so much fun. If they weren’t with us it would have been best for us to catch the NCL shuttle.

 

Vasa Museum

On the walk to the Ferry dock

 

Taken from the Ferry

Gamla Stan

 

Gamla Stan

Gamla Stan

[marbleski]

More Stockholm Photos

 

Gamla Stan

 

Gamla Stan

 

Gamla Stan

 

Gamla Stan

 

View from Balcony docked in Nynashamn

 

View from upper deck leaving Nynashamn - sunny but as soon the ship started leaving the wind was a tad cool.

[Seminole1975]

Thank you! I have been looking at Stockholm options today. We dock in Nynashamn. Based on your review have definitely decided to book a tour.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[kpjb]

Great pics! Thanks.

[marbleski]

Great pics! Thanks.

 

Thanks for following.

 

We did and seen a lot over three weeks. Our trip went fairly close to our plan. Krakow, Prague and Berlin were a good mix to tie in with the history of Russia. Many, many, many trip highlights, special moments and great photos for my annual vacation photo book. Our trip provided a brief exposure to some amazing cultures, people and places. Trying different food, beer and wine was an added bonus.

 

We live in a northern climate so we prefer warm weather vacations and cruises. That said, the Baltic temperatures were ideal for walking and exploring. Once back on the ship however, it took some getting used too. Where did all the deck people go! It was opposite to the warm weather cruising we are accustomed too. At sea most were inside and the pool and upper decks were pretty much empty.

 

The Baltic cruise brought us to some great ports. Thanks for following along. There were 3,700 passengers on this cruise and we all experienced similar things but we see things differently. So, be sure to look at the reviews posted by others. Hopefully you can take a tip or two from each of us to make your trip planning easier and your vacation more fun. When you return make a small contribution to CC by assisting others with their travel plans.

 

Any questions send them along.

 

Happy Cruising

 

 

Here are a few pics of the Getaway.

 

 

 

 

[hun]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review and pictures! We're looking forward to our September 1 cruise and this was very helpful!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[TVNews]

We took train EC174 which departed 10:28 am arriving in Berlin 2:57 pm. If you have not booked your ticket, you can purchase from either the German or Czech site. We used the Czech site, I believe we could choose our seats on this site while we could not on the German site. We booked early to get four seats with a table so we could be facing one another.

 

About 30 to 45 minutes after departure the Elbe River valley will be on your right side. Book seats on the right side. Better still eat in the dinning car at this time and enjoy a lovely meal while travelling along the river. The ride along the river will last your entire meal. Again sit on the right side in the dining car.

 

The train is faster and smoother than via rail. The dining car and food is quite good on the Via Rail (Montreal to Halifax route) but much better on the Czech train. There was free wifi early in the trip but we lost connection by the time we sat to eat. As a result we could not pay by visa. The menu is priced in both Euros and Czech Koruna so you can pay in either currency.

 

Thanks for this. Exactly the kind of detail I was looking for... so did you book First Class seats? Looking at the carriage map for EC 174 on the Czech reservation site are the right hand seats at the top of the railcar or the bottom? In second class, the compartments are at the top (aisle at the bottom) but it's not clear which direction the carriages will be facing on the Prague to Berlin journey.

[marbleski]

Thanks for this. Exactly the kind of detail I was looking for... so did you book First Class seats? Looking at the carriage map for EC 174 on the Czech reservation site are the right hand seats at the top of the railcar or the bottom? In second class, the compartments are at the top (aisle at the bottom) but it's not clear which direction the carriages will be facing on the Prague to Berlin journey.

 

 

We booked four 2nd class tickets. On the CZ site you can tick a box to reserve your seat for a small fee. Once you tick the box note just under the box you can select something similar to change your seat. If not, I assume the system will assign you two seats together.

 

Based on my research I thought the front of the car was on the right side on the computer screen. So I picked seats 36 window, 34 aisle and the facing seats 35 window and 37 aisle, with the table in between. I believe were in car 258 or 260. Once we got on board the cars were reversed for our trip and we ended up on the wrong side.

 

All was good as we moved into the dinning car around 11:20 am and we sat on the right hand side. We enjoyed our meal during the two hours or so travelling along the Elbe River. TIP Happy Hour on EC 174 is from 10:28 - 11:55 with reduced prices on lunch and drinks. OS went back for a second meal before we arrived in Berlin and the regular menu prices were reasonable.

 

If you have any more questions sent them along.

 

TIP - Prague taxi drivers exist to separate you from your money. They have one of best public transits systems in Europe. Easy to use, very cheap, clean and very frequent.

[TVNews]

We booked four 2nd class tickets. On the CZ site you can tick a box to reserve your seat for a small fee. Once you tick the box note just under the box you can select something similar to change your seat. If not, I assume the system will assign you two seats together.

 

Based on my research I thought the front of the car was on the right side on the computer screen. So I picked seats 36 window, 34 aisle and the facing seats 35 window and 37 aisle, with the table in between. I believe were in car 258 or 260. Once we got on board the cars were reversed for our trip and we ended up on the wrong side.

 

All was good as we moved into the dinning car around 11:20 am and we sat on the right hand side. We enjoyed our meal during the two hours or so travelling along the Elbe River. TIP Happy Hour on EC 174 is from 10:28 - 11:55 with reduced prices on lunch and drinks. OS went back for a second meal before we arrived in Berlin and the regular menu prices were reasonable.

 

If you have any more questions sent them along.

 

TIP - Prague taxi drivers exist to separate you from your money. They have one of best public transits systems in Europe. Easy to use, very cheap, clean and very frequent.

 

OK great. Have booked seats based on the assumption the front of the rail car is on the left of the computer screen but I guess you never know which way it will end up facing so we'll follow your suggestion re. the dining car.

Hoping to avoid taxis entirely as our hotel has arranged for pickup at the airport and the trip to the train stn.

Thanks for all the help. Did you tour the castle in Prague and if so, did you opt for the limited admission or the full one? Hopefully my questions are at least bringing back fond memories of the trip.:D

[marbleski]

OK great. Have booked seats based on the assumption the front of the rail car is on the left of the computer screen but I guess you never know which way it will end up facing so we'll follow your suggestion re. the dining car.

Hoping to avoid taxis entirely as our hotel has arranged for pickup at the airport and the trip to the train stn.

Thanks for all the help. Did you tour the castle in Prague and if so, did you opt for the limited admission or the full one? Hopefully my questions are at least bringing back fond memories of the trip.

 

It was around 5 pm or so when we arrived at the Castle grounds and the churches/museums were just closing. We wandered around the castle grounds which are quite nice, especially the views. Be sure to visit the Golden Lane area on the grounds. While at the Castle check out nearby Novy Svet to walk the streets lost in time.

 

Prior to visiting the castle area we visited the Lennon Wall and took the funicular to Petrin Hill and the boys climbed Petrin Tower and did the Mirror Maze. Between Petrin Hill and castle we stopped by the Strahov Monastery for a beer brewed at their Brewery. We actually backtracked after touring the castle grounds, Novy Svet and Loreto area and ate dinner at the restaurant at the Strahov Monastery. The walk down the hill toward the river after dinner was also nice, with some neat little shops to browse around.

 

 

Prague Castle

 

 

St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle - this place is massive. Maybe worth a visit inside. By 5 pm the Castle grounds were deserted.

 

 

Golden Lane at Prague Castle

 

 

Novy Svet near Prague Castle

 

 

View of Vltava River and St. Vitus Cathedral taken on walk down from the Strahov Monastery

 

 

View of Vltava River with the Prague Castle in the background taken from Vyshrad Fortress

[Seminole1975]

These are great pictures! You had beautiful weather. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Maere]

Thank you for your review !! My friend and I are booked in September and I feel even more excited after reading about your adventures!!!!

[jenniferandwhatnot]

Hello! I found your review through a search of angled balconies. I have a similarly angled balcony booked (aft, 9th deck), and it appears that it's going to be over a public area, did you have any trouble with noise coming from below?

 

I don't know exactly which public area is going to be underneath as it's on the Encore and plans are yet to be shown on the deck plan, but on the Bliss, Moderno's is right under.

 

Thanks!

[marbleski]

Hello! I found your review through a search of angled balconies. I have a similarly angled balcony booked (aft, 9th deck), and it appears that it's going to be over a public area, did you have any trouble with noise coming from below?

 

I don't know exactly which public area is going to be underneath as it's on the Encore and plans are yet to be shown on the deck plan, but on the Bliss, Moderno's is right under.

 

Thanks!

 

We did not have any noise from the public deck below. However, on our Baltic Cruise the outside areas below our room were rarely used because of the cooler May temperatures.

 

I assume the balcony would hear some noise from below if patrons were outside socializing. I don't think you will hear much inside your room as the balcony door is very sound proof.

 

The angled balcony is great. Our boys had a regular balcony and ours was much bigger and provided great views looking forward.

[jenniferandwhatnot]

We did not have any noise from the public deck below. However, on our Baltic Cruise the outside areas below our room were rarely used because of the cooler May temperatures.

 

I assume the balcony would hear some noise from below if patrons were outside socializing. I don't think you will hear much inside your room as the balcony door is very sound proof.

 

The angled balcony is great. Our boys had a regular balcony and ours was much bigger and provided great views looking forward.

 

This is great info - thank you! I think we will keep the angled balcony on Encore unless it turns out a nightclub will be situated below. Thanks again!