Mediterranean or North Sea Cruise Recommendation

[sagosto63]

I am looking for a recommendation for a Mediterranean or North Sea for my family of 4 (40/36/5/2). We have cruised on Carnival/Princess/RCCL with various ports in Caribbean with the last 5 cruises being on RCCL Oasis/Quantum classes. Our kids love the water RCCL has a separate pool for swim diapers. I want to change things up and looking for a change. I'm open to anything as long as it is kid friendly. 

[1025cruise]

Those particular itineraries are more for the ports, than the ship. Find an itinerary you like, then find a ship.

[sagosto63]

8 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Those particular itineraries are more for the ports, than the ship. Find an itinerary you like, then find a ship.

 

Thank you. I noticed MSC is much cheaper than other similar itineraries. Any particular cruiseline or itinerary you can think of that would be more kid friendly?

[kitkat343]

Pardon my ignorance, but when you say North Sea does that mean a Baltic cruise?  That's a wonderful itinerary for kids - most of the ports are very close to the cities, so you can easily DIY except in St. Petersburg and possibly Germany if you choose to visit Berlin (which can be done on your own, but is a bit more challenging logistically).  My signature line includes detailed reviews of my cruises; we did that one with a 3.5 year old, who loved it an insists we should go back since his brother didn't get to see anything since he was in my belly at the time.  Please let me know if you are considering a Baltic cruise since there are a few more recommendation I'd make (we booked that cruise last minute and I didn't know about all the kid friendly stuff everywhere - I found most of it in time but not everything) 

Edited February 7, 2019 by kitkat343

[sagosto63]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

Pardon my ignorance, but when you say North Sea does that mean a Baltic cruise?  That's a wonderful itinerary for kids - most of the ports are very close to the cities, so you can easily DIY except in St. Petersburg and possibly Germany if you choose to visit Berlin (which can be done on your own, but is a bit more challenging logistically).  My signature line includes detailed reviews of my cruises; we did that one with a 3.5 year old, who loved it an insists we should go back since his brother didn't get to see anything since he was in my belly at the time.  Please let me know if you are considering a Baltic cruise since there are a few more recommendation I'd make (we booked that cruise last minute and I didn't know about all the kid friendly stuff everywhere - I found most of it in time but not everything) 

 

Yes but I am open to literally anything. I am being vague intentionally so I don't miss out on any opportunity. 

[kitkat343]

Great.  So the advantage of the Baltics over the Mediterranean is that it will be much cooler, and it is generally quite easy to reach all the cities from the ports, except for St. Petersburg and Germany if you choose to go to Berlin.  In Germany if you don't want to travel all the way to Berlin, you can visit Scwerin castle as long as you don't arrive on a Monday when its closed, or explore the cute local towns of Rostock or Warmenude or visit the nearby Moli steam train.  In St. Petersburg, I'd highly recommend a private tour for just your family since you can control the itinerary and skip through lesser rooms in museums so your children will stay happy for longer.   There's so much to see that a private tour will maximize your time.  

 

My son's favorite parts of the Baltic cruise were the Moli steam train, the fountains at Peterhof, visiting the subway in St. Petersburg, Vasa, the open air lemur exhibit in Skansen,  and exploring Tallinn.

 

The things I didn't know about which aren't in my cruise review were:

there is a dog sled excursion outside of Helsinki

Best Guides has tours geared for children in St. Petersburg  

there is a huge museum of model trains in St. Petersburg.

 

Oh, and my kids also loved visiting Norway.  That's completely different - a lot of gorgeous nature instead of museums but something else to possibly consider.   

[kitkat343]

Great.  So the advantage of the Baltics over the Mediterranean is that it will be much cooler, and it is generally quite easy to reach all the cities from the ports, except for St. Petersburg and Germany if you choose to go to Berlin.  In Germany if you don't want to travel all the way to Berlin, you can visit Scwerin castle as long as you don't arrive on a Monday when its closed, or explore the cute local towns of Rostock or Warmenude or visit the nearby Moli steam train.  In St. Petersburg, I'd highly recommend a private tour for just your family since you can control the itinerary and skip through lesser rooms in museums so your children will stay happy for longer.   There's so much to see that a private tour will maximize your time.  

 

My son's favorite parts of the Baltic cruise were the Moli steam train, the fountains at Peterhof, visiting the subway in St. Petersburg, Vasa, the open air lemur exhibit in Skansen,  and exploring Tallinn.

 

The things I didn't know about which aren't in my cruise review were:

there is a dog sled excursion outside of Helsinki

Best Guides has tours geared for children in St. Petersburg  

there is a huge museum of model trains in St. Petersburg.

 

Oh, and my kids also loved visiting Norway.  That's completely different - a lot of gorgeous nature instead of museums but something else to possibly consider.   

[sagosto63]

9 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Great.  So the advantage of the Baltics over the Mediterranean is that it will be much cooler, and it is generally quite easy to reach all the cities from the ports, except for St. Petersburg and Germany if you choose to go to Berlin.  In Germany if you don't want to travel all the way to Berlin, you can visit Scwerin castle as long as you don't arrive on a Monday when its closed, or explore the cute local towns of Rostock or Warmenude or visit the nearby Moli steam train.  In St. Petersburg, I'd highly recommend a private tour for just your family since you can control the itinerary and skip through lesser rooms in museums so your children will stay happy for longer.   There's so much to see that a private tour will maximize your time.  

 

My son's favorite parts of the Baltic cruise were the Moli steam train, the fountains at Peterhof, visiting the subway in St. Petersburg, Vasa, the open air lemur exhibit in Skansen,  and exploring Tallinn.

 

The things I didn't know about which aren't in my cruise review were:

there is a dog sled excursion outside of Helsinki

Best Guides has tours geared for children in St. Petersburg  

there is a huge museum of model trains in St. Petersburg.

 

Oh, and my kids also loved visiting Norway.  That's completely different - a lot of gorgeous nature instead of museums but something else to possibly consider.   

 

I am intrigued with the Baltic especially St. Petersburg. My biggest concern is will my kids have fun given they love the water. I am not sure they will appreciate the sights like the parents will.

Edited February 8, 2019 by sagosto63

[Essiesmom]

Likely they will love it.  the Med is about history, churches, ruins...You don't go to the Med to go to the beach.  And when you do, the beaches are not like the Caribbean.  Go for the Baltic.  EM

[angie7911922]

On 2/7/2019 at 10:20 PM, sagosto63 said:

 

I am intrigued with the Baltic especially St. Petersburg. My biggest concern is will my kids have fun given they love the water. I am not sure they will appreciate the sights like the parents will.

 

My kids loved, and I mean LOVED, the Baltic. St. Petersburg was amazing. We used Anastasia's Travel, and they were very good at making sure our tour was "kid friendly". We got to see everything we wanted to see, the kids were entertained, and we all got back on the ship tired and happy. Definitely would consider taking the kids to the Baltic.

[alise007]

We did the NCL Baltic RT from Copenhagen in summer 2014 beginning of August with the overnight in St Ptbg.  I have a great tour company that was reasonable and coordinated everything.  It was cheaper than getting our own visas and trying to do it ourselves.  

 

I had wanted to book the MSC option but we had short notice to plan when our time in Germany got extended and the cheaper inside cabins were booked.

 

To be honest the inside cabins were great.  It was our first time not having a balcony or window.  BUT the sun is out til like 11PM so it helps for sleeping.  The beach in Germany was still quite frigid but trying to run down to Berlin for the day is NOT worth rushing.  We spent 3 days there and barely scratched the surface in Berlin.  And its a lot of wasted time taking the train from Warnemunde.  We rented a beach cabana and just enjoyed the sand and walking around.  SO it looks like the new ships sailing in the Baltic are significantly improved over the small/older Star!  SO in that case---pick where you want to see the most or cooler weather!  Seeing the SUN out til almost midnight is quite awesome!!  

 

I loved loved loved Talinn Estonia.  Climbed up to the top of the church steeple and could see the walled city.  wandering around alleys and cobblestones

 

Stockholm was great--spent most of our time at the Vasa museum.  It was quite fascinating to see the ship restored and to hear all about it.

 

Helsinki--the church in the rock was a neat place to see inside.  I think we just did a HOHO bus in several of the places. It was cheap transport and we could pick and chose if we got off or not.   They would have people at the dock selling the tickets and we just picked one.  

 

We then took the NCL Epic in the fall for the Western Med.  

 

My kids were 6 and 8 at the time.  My daughter said she preferred the Med cruise (she is almost 11 now).   But that was because she liked Pompeii.  My son in 2nd grade had been studying ancient civilizations and we got to see the Coliseum in Rome as well. We loved Barcelona and added a day before/after but wish we had more time there.  Definitely plan and buy tickets for the Sagrada Familia in advance.  Plus go up to Park Guell.    We took the train from Cannes to Nice.  It was beautiful just wandering around again.  They were having a train strike in Italy so was afraid to push our luck getting to Monaco bc they run the train in that area.  Things you would never have to think about unless you live in Europe!!  We were used to public transportation strikes in Germany but usually at least one service was always running either buses or the trains/trams but not both.  

 

The Baltic one for me was a HUGE bucket list item because I wanted to visit Russia badly!!!  

 

I would love to visit Norway but it is super $$$$ so will save that cruise for another time. 

 

The kids also enjoyed the Blue Man Group on the Epic.  Even tho it was a newer and bigger ship we actually prefer the Dawn and Star for size.  My kids have fun in the kids club and it wasn't as busy on the Baltic.  They even performed a circus show in the theater on the last sea day.  They had a fun time and learned all kinds of neat tricks.  

 

From Russia with love,
Viktoria and the SPB-Tours Team
SPB-Tours, Reg. No 003341
office tel. No +49 (30) 695188-17

Visit us on the web:
www.spb-tours.com

 

As fas as the Western Med cruise we just partnered up with another family with kids similar ages and traveled to places on our own using public transportation or found non ship options.  We had a bus service from the port to Rome.  The water was too rough and weren't able to port into the stop for Pisa/Florence.  I love Gaudi so we enjoyed wandering around Palma to see the cathedral and then old town area.  

 

We don't do hot sun and excessive heat--3 of the 4 of us are pale red heads!  So we wouldn't even consider Med in the summer.  

 

I will be honest and say that parts of Italy can be a bit rough looking and feeling.  We never had any issues but just be aware.  They like to harass tourists especially Americans!!  LOL   

 

SO my kids liked BOTH itineraries but they would pick the one with the best SHIP!  I loved NCL relax dress code, no set dinner times etc....it makes packing so much easier and we also had laundry serve fill the bag 1/2 way thru so that helped.  

 

Feel free to ask any other questions and I have a TON of pictures and can look up other things we did as well.  

 

Cheers

Shannon

 

 

[sagosto63]

5 hours ago, alise007 said:

We did the NCL Baltic RT from Copenhagen in summer 2014 beginning of August with the overnight in St Ptbg.  I have a great tour company that was reasonable and coordinated everything.  It was cheaper than getting our own visas and trying to do it ourselves.  

 

I had wanted to book the MSC option but we had short notice to plan when our time in Germany got extended and the cheaper inside cabins were booked.

 

To be honest the inside cabins were great.  It was our first time not having a balcony or window.  BUT the sun is out til like 11PM so it helps for sleeping.  The beach in Germany was still quite frigid but trying to run down to Berlin for the day is NOT worth rushing.  We spent 3 days there and barely scratched the surface in Berlin.  And its a lot of wasted time taking the train from Warnemunde.  We rented a beach cabana and just enjoyed the sand and walking around.  SO it looks like the new ships sailing in the Baltic are significantly improved over the small/older Star!  SO in that case---pick where you want to see the most or cooler weather!  Seeing the SUN out til almost midnight is quite awesome!!  

 

I loved loved loved Talinn Estonia.  Climbed up to the top of the church steeple and could see the walled city.  wandering around alleys and cobblestones

 

Stockholm was great--spent most of our time at the Vasa museum.  It was quite fascinating to see the ship restored and to hear all about it.

 

Helsinki--the church in the rock was a neat place to see inside.  I think we just did a HOHO bus in several of the places. It was cheap transport and we could pick and chose if we got off or not.   They would have people at the dock selling the tickets and we just picked one.  

 

We then took the NCL Epic in the fall for the Western Med.  

 

My kids were 6 and 8 at the time.  My daughter said she preferred the Med cruise (she is almost 11 now).   But that was because she liked Pompeii.  My son in 2nd grade had been studying ancient civilizations and we got to see the Coliseum in Rome as well. We loved Barcelona and added a day before/after but wish we had more time there.  Definitely plan and buy tickets for the Sagrada Familia in advance.  Plus go up to Park Guell.    We took the train from Cannes to Nice.  It was beautiful just wandering around again.  They were having a train strike in Italy so was afraid to push our luck getting to Monaco bc they run the train in that area.  Things you would never have to think about unless you live in Europe!!  We were used to public transportation strikes in Germany but usually at least one service was always running either buses or the trains/trams but not both.  

 

The Baltic one for me was a HUGE bucket list item because I wanted to visit Russia badly!!!  

 

I would love to visit Norway but it is super $$$$ so will save that cruise for another time. 

 

The kids also enjoyed the Blue Man Group on the Epic.  Even tho it was a newer and bigger ship we actually prefer the Dawn and Star for size.  My kids have fun in the kids club and it wasn't as busy on the Baltic.  They even performed a circus show in the theater on the last sea day.  They had a fun time and learned all kinds of neat tricks.  

 

From Russia with love,
Viktoria and the SPB-Tours Team
SPB-Tours, Reg. No 003341
office tel. No +49 (30) 695188-17

Visit us on the web:
www.spb-tours.com

 

As fas as the Western Med cruise we just partnered up with another family with kids similar ages and traveled to places on our own using public transportation or found non ship options.  We had a bus service from the port to Rome.  The water was too rough and weren't able to port into the stop for Pisa/Florence.  I love Gaudi so we enjoyed wandering around Palma to see the cathedral and then old town area.  

 

We don't do hot sun and excessive heat--3 of the 4 of us are pale red heads!  So we wouldn't even consider Med in the summer.  

 

I will be honest and say that parts of Italy can be a bit rough looking and feeling.  We never had any issues but just be aware.  They like to harass tourists especially Americans!!  LOL   

 

SO my kids liked BOTH itineraries but they would pick the one with the best SHIP!  I loved NCL relax dress code, no set dinner times etc....it makes packing so much easier and we also had laundry serve fill the bag 1/2 way thru so that helped.  

 

Feel free to ask any other questions and I have a TON of pictures and can look up other things we did as well.  

 

Cheers

Shannon

 

This is great info thanks. I am steering away from the MSC cruiseline given how cheap it is. Something seems off. Any reason why you used a tour guide instead of cruise excursions?