Getaway too big for Baltics-missed ports? Stockholm? should we take smaller ship?

[elaine5]

I read a number of reviews stating that Getaway was too big for Baltics, with missed ports and docking way outside of Stockholm. We are debating the Breakaway or taking a smaller ship, such as RCCL Serenade. For July 2018, it shows BA as docking in Stockholm. How likely is that to change to Nynashamn? Also, I assume it much harder to get through customs in Russia with a bigger ship?

We would really like to try the BA, but are wondering if it's just too big for the Baltics?

[Cruiser Bruiser]

You might do a little searching for older threads on this topic, as it has come up more than once. Folks might have good advice.

 

Just a couple thoughts from my own perspective: I sailed the Baltic on P&O Arcadia last June. That ship holds 2,094 passengers (versus Getaway's 3,963). It's also adults-only and has a glass-enclosed Lido pool. For all those reasons, I think I had a much more relaxed and less crowded cruise than I would have had I sailed GA. It was easy to get through customs in Saint Petersburg, and we were able to take advantage of a small-group tour offered via P&O that was actually cheaper than privately-booked tours. Keep in mind BA is identical in most respects to GA, so the same crowding issues would apply.

 

It did rain a couple times in June, so it was nice to still be able to use the pool and hot tubs every day. In Stockholm, Arcadia docked within view of all of the major sights and we were able to take a water taxi directly from the ship to the Vasa museum. As we were sailing out through the archipelago in the evening, I saw GA docked quite a long distance from central Stockholm.

 

Good luck with your choice. It's an awesome part of the world.

[txagfan]

Having been to the Baltic’s on a land based tour, I don’t see a lot of upside to a massive boat. I feel the same way about Bliss in Alaska.

 

 

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[Huntingdon1701]

Getaway can reach Stockholm but there is a very small margin of error so any bad weather will scupper it. If sailing directly into Stockholm is very important to you, then I'd suggest another ship.

 

However, we went, unexpectedly to Nynashamn and it didn't cause any problems - the tour providers just came to meet us. It was also quite a scenic port (if you like trees).

 

It took us a couple of hours on day 1 to get through St Petersburg customs on the Getaway, but day 2 only took about 15 minutes.

[HokiePoq]

We did the Baltic itinerary on the Sun. We docked about an hour out of Stockholm.

[rocklinmom]

We did the Baltic cruise on Getaway (BA's sister ship) this past July. We did dock in Stockholm. If we had been moved to the farther port, it would have been a longer day traveling back and forth to the city but still doable.

It did take awhile to get through customs in St. Petersburg, but it wasn't that bad. It would have taken longer than other ports regardless of the number of passengers since their customs agents are pretty thorough. It was worth the wait for us.

Some of the sailings before ours were diverted to the farther port, or missed certain ports, because of weather issues (like on any cruise); and there may have been one that was due to the ship being too large for the diverted port or something like that, I don't remember exactly. It's a risk worth taking I think, and most likely will end up fine. It was definitely a great itinerary and the larger ships do offer a lot more. I wouldn't hesitate to book it again.

[emeraldcity]

We did the Getaway Baltic this past summer (late July-August). Great option.

 

In Russia, we had an 8:30 meet time for our private tour with a (9:00 tour departure) so we headed for customs about 7:30, due to concerns of long lines and delays ... breezed right through ... maybe 15 minutes tops. We had to wait at the tour bus for a few folks who hit a longer line, but were still out of the parking lot just after 9:00. We spent the wait time getting to know some of the other cruisers who were on the tour.

 

As for Stockholm, we didn't miss the port ... and the sail-away was quite amazing. It is pretty tight squeezing between some of the islands, but a smaller ship would be squeezing too

[Highpeaklad]

Regarding Stockholm, a lot of cruisers seemed surprised they were docking in Nynashamn. Looking at the itineraries, the Getaway was always scheduled to dock there. It was clearly indicated they were not docking in Stockholm itself. (There was one early season cruise which was changed at short notice).

Likewise Rostock/Warnemunde - most dock in Warnemunde, but some are across the river in Rostock commercial port which is less convenient for public transport.

The weather is always going to be a major factor in the Baltic, regardless of ship size.

I would book based on the itinerary that works best for you.

We booked based on Stockholm as a necessity ( as my mum hadn’t got in there due to fog 50 years ago) and ended up with Rostock as well.

With a bit of planning, and great weather it all went well, but I think we were lucky.

[Travel R]

We did the GA Baltic itinerary in early July. Weather was horrible. However, we did not miss any ports. For Stockholm, we were scheduled to disembark at Nyshashamn (SP?), so it was no surprise to us [there were some itineraries that did have Stockholm itself listed as a port - but not ours.

 

Speaking to a co-worker that grew up on the Baltic shore in Germany, he said that this year was not the usual. You cannot really predict what next year will bring, but this was not a great year in the Baltics for weather.

 

Disembarking was not so bad for my group, since we did not listen to directions and went down to the exit ramp early. However, there will be a new rule in place for next year where the ship's tours will have precedent to leave first (this may affect you if you take a private tour).

 

Although the weather did not affect our ports, it did affect the enjoyment of the ship itself, which has an open deck (no roof/covering). Our itinerary had almost 4600 passengers, so there were a number of places on the ship that always felt crowded (Atrium & buffet especially) - but most of the time you can avoid or get in front of the crowds by getting to the venues early - or not eating during the busy periods.

 

With the bigger Away ships you do get a lot of extras that you will not get otherwise, such as the many places to eat (complimentary and specialty), and a lot of variation in entertainment.

 

The size of the ship does affect the trip into the port of Stockholm due to the weather - but weather may also affect some of the smaller ships as well regardless of port.

 

If I was to do it all over again - and go with my family (including a teen and tween), I would not hesitate to go on an Away ship. If it was just myself and my DW, I would consider a smaller, more intimate ship - but I would consider it carefully, looking at what the other ship has to offer.

 

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