Anyone doing a Baltic cruise NEXT summer (2019)?

[lamb616]

We're booked on the Ultimate Baltic cruise on the Norwegian Spirit next August, from Stockholm to Southampton. All of the main Baltic ports are covered, plus out of the ordinary stops in Riga, Klaipeda and Gdansk, PLUS three western European ports following Oslo. 14 countries total on a 15-day cruise. The trip will be super hectic, but we couldn't let an itinerary like that go by.

WoW! That cruise looks amazing.....i was wondering how I missed it in my planning as I would have *definitely* selected that one....... but then I saw that it is too late in August for us. But man.....14 countries in 15 days?!??! I love that. We're doing I think 7 countries in 14 days.

 

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[WeAllLove2Travel]

We are thinking of excursions in St. Petersburg and Helsinki and DIYing for the other ports but I have some time to think about it. We are not planning to go to Berlin on the Warnemunde day but rather go after the cruise so we can spend more time there. By this time next year we will have it all figured out!

 

 

 

Ofallongirl, I think we are on the same sailing. I'm quite on the fence about Berlin. I'm aware that it's 3 hours Away from port but hear it's a pretty, scenic ride. Decisions decisions. Guess I've got time to decide, huh? [emoji38][emoji23]

 

 

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[WeAllLove2Travel]

I booked the Norwegian Getaway 9 day out of Copenhagen on June 7th. They had the free 3rd and 4th passenger available,so I could not let that one pass me by!!

 

 

 

A free third and fourth passenger sounds fabulous! Which ports will you visit on your sailing? I may need to take a peek at that itinerary!

 

 

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[WeAllLove2Travel]

Lol, every day I'm like "375 more days!!" And they're like "yeah, yeah, whatever"

 

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I KNOW! It's just so annoying that they aren't more excited isn't it?! What's crazy is my husband gets so surprised and excited when we get there and speaks about the trips so animatedly when we return! I just can't understand why he's so apathetic during the planning process. Ugh. Oh well!! At least we all have each other to brainstorm and be excited with!!! [emoji2][emoji2]

 

 

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[WeAllLove2Travel]

WoW! That cruise looks amazing.....i was wondering how I missed it in my planning as I would have *definitely* selected that one....... but then I saw that it is too late in August for us. But man.....14 countries in 15 days?!??! I love that. We're doing I think 7 countries in 14 days.

 

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That does look amazing! I'm going to look that one up as well!!

 

 

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[lamb616]

! What's crazy is my husband gets so surprised and excited when we get there and speaks about the trips so animatedly when we return! I just can't understand why he's so apathetic during the planning process. Ugh. O!!! [emoji2][emoji2]

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My XH thoroughly enjoyed all our trips but absolutely wanted NO PART of the planning. He didnt want to know or hear about ANY of the things we were going to do. He just wanted to show up and be surprised. :rolleyes:@@

[elles5]

Also doing a Baltic cruise next year but from the UK and in September but I'm glad to see it's not only me who's already excited. Happy cruising to everyone.

[WeAllLove2Travel]

My XH thoroughly enjoyed all our trips but absolutely wanted NO PART of the planning. He didnt want to know or hear about ANY of the things we were going to do. He just wanted to show up and be surprised. :rolleyes:@@

 

 

 

[emoji23][emoji23] That is hilarious!! It's the story of my life!! [emoji23][emoji23] Glad I'm not the only one dealing with this. I swore this type of thing only happened in my house!!! Lol [emoji38][emoji38]

 

 

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[TrueNorth74]

WoW! That cruise looks amazing.....i was wondering how I missed it in my planning as I would have *definitely* selected that one....... but then I saw that it is too late in August for us. But man.....14 countries in 15 days?!??! I love that. We're doing I think 7 countries in 14 days.

 

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The Spirit is actually doing almost the exact same cruise in reverse (Southampton to Stockholm) at the start of August. That one does miss Oslo, though.

 

If you did your planning before May, you would’ve definitely missed these. NCL was extremely late publishing their 2019 itineraries for the Spirit. Many of us were wondering if the ship was being decommissioned, that’s how late it was.

Edited June 30, 2018 by TrueNorth74

[lamb616]

The Spirit is actually doing almost the exact same cruise in reverse (Southampton to Stockholm) at the start of August. That one does miss Oslo, though.

 

If you did your planning before May, you would’ve definitely missed these. NCL was extremely late publishing their 2019 itineraries for the Spirit. Many of us were wondering if the ship was being decommissioned, that’s how late it was.

 

Wow, yeah, that's why I never saw it, I booked much earlier in the year. The itinerary looks like a dream come true. but I still don't think I would have chosen it. I think the Spirit is too small for me and my kids; I am prone to motion sickness on smaller ships, plus I don't know if there would be enough to keep them busy for 14 nights on a smaller ship. I am jealous of the itinerary though!

[Danish viking]

I would not exactly call the Spirit small :p

[lamb616]

I would not exactly call the Spirit small :p

Lol, maybe not. But I sailed on the Disney dream and the Disney magic, and the Magic was much too small for my liking. I had more issues with the motion and also felt underwhelmed with the overall size of it. So I just think I am more of a "big ship" type of gal, esp. For a 2 week cruise. To be honest, I'm a little concerned that the Explorer is smaller than is ideal for me. I would have preferred the largest mega-ships out there, but we really liked this itinerary

 

 

 

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[Danish viking]

I was sailing in the same waters last year in 3-5 meter waves and winds of around 20 to 25 meters per second, on the Copenhagen Oslo ferry and it went okay. The ship was indeed moving but it was not that bad.

 

In size the Crown Seaways is about 170 meters long and weights around 35.000 gt.

 

Norwegian Spirit is around 270 meters long and weights 75.000 gt or so.

 

So its double up in weight so I don't think that the movement will be do bad.

And the weather is much better in the summer compared to the fall where i was sailing.

[MCWescott]

We just booked the 12-night Baltic on RCCL Brilliance of the Seas while on Radiance between Seward and Vancouver. We have cruised on BOS 3 times as she spends a lot of time in Tampa, our hometown. Very excited to spend pre-cruise time in Amsterdam and post-cruise in Bruges and Ghent. I’m definitely the travel planner in our family and look forward to the next 13 months of researching ports and excursions. It’s great to hear what others are planning!

 

 

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[CrusingFamily4]

This is also me to a "t". Although I just booked this cruise 2 days ago, so my family is not yet sick of me obsessing over it, haha. It probably helps that my girls, twin 9 year olds, are at a summer camp this week. This is our first time sailing with Princess. Up until now, we have been a Disney Cruise family. (6 Disney Cruises)

 

We are traveling July 4, 2019 on the Princess Regal. It is an 11 day cruise.

[MN'smom]

We are booked on NCL Getaway 8/9-8/18/2019. I am so glad I'm not the only one already obsessing about planning more than a year in advance!

[KBS1607]

I’m booked and already excited! We’re doing the 11 day Regal Princess itinerary out of Copenhagen on August 6th.

 

I missed the 13 day Serenade one in my search but my son-in-law has limited vacation days and he’s going to be using them all as it is.

 

We had this itinerary booked in 2007 and had to cancel due to family illness.

[purplesea]

Just returned from a cruise round the Baltic and have booked again for July next year - 361 days to go!

[lamb616]

Wow! Which one and did you book the exact same one?

 

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[purplesea]

Wow! Which one and did you book the exact same one?

 

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Went on Britannia and are sailing on her again with similar itinerary next year.

[tring]

My XH thoroughly enjoyed all our trips but absolutely wanted NO PART of the planning. He didnt want to know or hear about ANY of the things we were going to do. He just wanted to show up and be surprised. :rolleyes:@@

 

I can see why he is an X....... Must admit though I have a really hard time as well, but with a planned approach I tend to get some response, and admit I have been known to suggest a bottle of wine with dinner if I really want co-operation!

 

We are on Arcadia from Southampton early August next year. Itinerary quite refreshing with a mix of cities and quieter ports:- Skagen, Fredericia, Klaipeda, Helsinki, SPB x 2 days, Gdansk, Oslo, Kristiansand. Will be in SPB for two of the heaviest load port days in August, which in itself will be very busy, but will take it easy as we have been to Russia for 16 nights early May this year (River cruise + 2 day hotel stays in both SPB and Moscow). SPB was much quieter than mid summer as the season was only just starting and Viking had our tours arranged well with early entry when reqired.

 

We were looking at an October cruise with Fred Olsen to avoid the worst of the crowds, until we discovered that the fountains are switched off in Peterhof early/mid Oct depending on weather reports, to prevent damage by freezing. Given it will be so busy, we may still delay Peterhof, which is the only biggy we did not see this year. A land stay is very worth while and would recommend it to people who have the time to do that.

[FLCruise7]

[emoji23][emoji23] That is hilarious!! It's the story of my life!! [emoji23][emoji23] Glad I'm not the only one dealing with this. I swore this type of thing only happened in my house!!! Lol [emoji38][emoji38]

 

 

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That's funny! My DH likes being involved in the planning (and then the anticipation) for all of our trips. Of course, after 30+ years, I can pretty much pick exactly what I think he'd want to do. We'll each take a list of tours & pick what we'd like to do & most of the time we pick the same things!

 

Currently booked for 26-day TA from Ft. Lauderdale to Scandanavia & Russia next spring!! We'll be on the Regal Princess.

[Jemnibabe]

That's funny! My DH likes being involved in the planning (and then the anticipation) for all of our trips. Of course, after 30+ years, I can pretty much pick exactly what I think he'd want to do. We'll each take a list of tours & pick what we'd like to do & most of the time we pick the same things!

 

Currently booked for 26-day TA from Ft. Lauderdale to Scandanavia & Russia next spring!! We'll be on the Regal Princess.

 

 

We are on this same cruise and trying to participate on our roll call. Unfortunately, hubby is not a fan of planning but he sure loves to cruise. I, too, know pretty much what he likes but it's still more fun to have others join in the planning fun. See you on the roll call.

 

 

Judy from SW Florida :cool::cool::cool:

[oviattfamily]

We just booked the MSC Poesia out of Warnemunde, Germany for 14 days in July of 2019. I look forward to everyone's excursion ideas and tips.

[spbstan]

Next year is likely to be pretty crowded mid-summer in St Petersburg in the most request cruiser destinations. May is a lot less crowded than June and August which used to be the traditional month-long vacation time for Russian, this year has more bookings than every before for hotels and port calls. The two best months are May and September. May this year was the warmest on record, dating to 1728 when hourly weather measurements were started. Only 2 cloud-obscured days in May while June was cool and rainy. July has been pretty good but all this next week has rain forcast on some of the busiest port days of the year. September has fewer ships arriving, usually has good mild weather and is much less crowd because September 1 is the day, the most loved day of the year for kids in Russia, when they all return to school and greet their teachers with small gifts, flowers or even a poem. Kids seem to love school and their teachers. That means another 300,000 visiting family members are absent. By late September the cycle of frequent school field trips means more groups of kids are in museums and galleries. The kids are very well behaved so they are not a distraction in cultural venues. A late August cruise such that it arrives after Sept 1 is going to be a more relaxed and less crowded few days of exploration. European ships are arriving earlier and leaving later each season it seems. So April to the end of October is the cruise season now.

All the ports are highly variable for weather, rain or wind can come up at any time but if dressed for it, it is still pleasant. If you have a heavy museum/palace/cathedral itinerary, the weather will not make much difference.

One thing that struck me was how many people are planning to book excursions with the ship....it makes no sense to pay twice as much for a poorer more crowded experience. Waiting around for the slowest of 50-55 passengers has got to be very frustrating for younger family members. For 1/2 the cost you get a much more personal experience with any of 30-40 tour operators, all of whom have better reviews than the ships.

Russian tour operators are the only ones authorized to conduct visa-free tours despite what the ship says. They just buy bus tours from an ex-Soviet company Arctur. Many of their guides are 10 years past retirement age. Does anyone have a reason to pay that much for less?