Will ships be going to Russia ,doubt it but it is the ''A'' ticket of the Baltic.

[dolittle]

Baltic cruises are great but without S.P.B. a Baltic cruise is not the same . How will they deal with this ,many of the cruises are overnighting in S.P.B. I guess they will add other stops but is this the cruise you booked. Sad that this so, it is a great city and a great stop .

[slidergirl]

If they do, you won't see me setting foot on any of that cruise lines' ships anywhere.  

[Staylv]

I’m sure STP will be off for this year. As a relatively new cruiser, can someone tell me if a replacement port is usually added vs additional sea days? We are scheduled for June 29 on Island Princess with stops in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and 2 days in St Petersburg. Will Princess likely add alternative ports if the whole Baltic region is off? 

[CruiserBruce]

Curious,  did you look around Cruise Critic before you posted this?

[hallasm]

5 hours ago, Staylv said:

We are scheduled for June 29 on Island Princess with stops in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and 2 days in St Petersburg.

I do not think there will be many more ports to visit in Baltic for your cruise - visiting most Baltic ports - could be additional days in Stockholm and Copenhagen - or more sea days.

[John Bull]

Is Helsinki on your itinerary?

 

JB 🙂

[milolii]

NCLH  pulled SPB from its itineraries  the day after the invasion began.  Frank del Rio stated the company is looking for other ports or possible overnights.  The port no longer appears on its website but  shows 2 sea days for now.  The port of Visby has been added to some itineraries 
 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/26880-norwegian-cruise-line-looking-for-baltic-alternatives-russia-calls-in-limbo.html

 

My notice from Princes is that the situation is under evaluation.

[evandbob]

We have our 1st Baltic cruise booked for this October, and yes, St Petersburg has been scratched from our itinerary. 

 

Will the situation worsen and cause other (Baltic) ports to be dropped as well?  We hope not, mainly for the people who live in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.  Our cruise concerns pale in the face of their safety.

[northwestbear]

 While St. Petersburg is certainly an amazing city, the trip is definitely worthwhile without it. Hopefully the cruise lines will substitute ports in other countries to make up for the missed ports. The entire region is so beautiful - I could be equally happy spending 2 days in Riga and Tallin as St. Petersburg for example. 

Edited February 26, 2022 by northwestbear

[KirkNC]

First Covid, now this.  

[slidergirl]

9 hours ago, evandbob said:

We have our 1st Baltic cruise booked for this October, and yes, St Petersburg has been scratched from our itinerary. 

 

Will the situation worsen and cause other (Baltic) ports to be dropped as well?  We hope not, mainly for the people who live in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.  Our cruise concerns pale in the face of their safety.

Well, Putin has said he wants to get back what belonged before.  Those 3 Baltic countries fall under that.  So, it's totally possible that, depending on what transpires in the next 7-8 months, you could have a non-starter of a cruise.  

[HLGW60]

“

 

[ljandgb]

12 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Well, Putin has said he wants to get back what belonged before.  Those 3 Baltic countries fall under that.  So, it's totally possible that, depending on what transpires in the next 7-8 months, you could have a non-starter of a cruise.  

 

Considering Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are NATO members, that would be a much bigger issue.

 

When we were in Estonia 8 years ago, our guide said her family has exit plans for what to do if Russia invaded.  I can't imagine living with that sort of concern.

[evandbob]

On 2/27/2022 at 8:59 AM, ljandgb said:

 

When we were in Estonia 8 years ago, our guide said her family has exit plans for what to do if Russia invaded.  I can't imagine living with that sort of concern.

There is a significantly higher concern with evacuation plans due to military invasion than say a hurricane, tornado or flood, and even less with a fire, but good planning for living through these possibilities should be a must for anyone living in any kind of danger zone.

Edited March 1, 2022 by evandbob

[ljandgb]

While I agree disaster preparation of any sort is good - I grew up in hurricane country, I don't think it exactly compares to invasion by a hostile force.  Not in this day and age.  This isn't medieval times where folks could just decamp to the nearest keep for the duration.

[dolittle]

On 2/26/2022 at 8:21 AM, John Bull said:

Is Helsinki on your itinerary?

 

JB 🙂

Maybe it is just me and we loved the Baltic but Helsinki was kind of bleak and drab . I can not put my finger on what it was but did not live up to the other stops.

[John Bull]

9 hours ago, dolittle said:

Maybe it is just me and we loved the Baltic but Helsinki was kind of bleak and drab . I can not put my finger on what it was but did not live up to the other stops.

 

The very pleasant weather we had on our cruise changed late in our second day in St Petersburg, and Helsinki was absolutely freezing.  We passed on a boat trip to Suomenlinna in favour of a warm cafe and a ride in a warm tram (circular route from the Market Square).

So it was pretty bleak for us too, but we put that down to the weather

 

JB 🙂

[ljandgb]

We loved Helsinki, but not for Helsinki's sake.  Half of us did an excursion to a reindeer refuge and fed the reindeer.  The other half did a speed boat ride to an island offshore.  Their description of the hair raising trip had us laughing until we cried.  Still does, actually.

 

I did think Helsinki, from what we saw, looked clean and inviting.  The biggest contrast from SPB was the tram.  Helsinki's was clean, modern, and well kept.  SPB's was old, rundown, and I'm pretty sure from the 1950's.  It was striking.

[ontheweb]

On 3/3/2022 at 9:54 AM, dolittle said:

Maybe it is just me and we loved the Baltic but Helsinki was kind of bleak and drab . I can not put my finger on what it was but did not live up to the other stops.

I just found much less to do in Helsinki than the other Baltic ports.

[dolittle]

If we had our overnight in SPB canceled I would cancel that cruise post haste .

[John Bull]

12 hours ago, dolittle said:

If we had our overnight in SPB canceled I would cancel that cruise post haste .

 

 

Prior to our Baltic cruise we'd have taken the same view - SPB was the reason we booked, and it was certainly the jewel of outr Baltic cruise.

 

But the Baltic provided so much more.

Stockholm - and its wonderful sail-in, one of the best (and longest) in the world.

Tallinn - super, historic & atmospheric port.

Copenhagen - attractive & laid-back.

And so many other countries (total of nine as well as Russia) & cities to visit.

 

I know of two parts of the world where cruising is head and shoulders above land-trips

- the Caribbean, where your floating hotel takes you from island to island overnight 

- and the Baltic, kinda like the Caribbean in reverse, where you sail the perimeter of a huge pond. So very difficult, expensive and wearying if you try by air, road, rail or even ferry.

 

Its a shame that apparently no ships appear to have have switched an overnight in SPB to an overnight in Warnemunde. Berlin is about 2 1/2 hours by train, and ships depart Warnemunde late into the evening so Berlin is possible in a day - but an overnight would make it so much more worthwhile.

 

Just MHO, as always

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[dolittle]

10 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Prior to our Baltic cruise we'd have taken the same view - SPB was the reason we booked, and it was certainly the jewel of outr Baltic cruise.

 

But the Baltic provided so much more.

Stockholm - and its wonderful sail-in, one of the best (and longest) in the world.

Tallinn - super, historic & atmospheric port.

Copenhagen - attractive & laid-back.

And so many other countries (total of nine as well as Russia) & cities to visit.

 

I know of two parts of the world where cruising is head and shoulders above land-trips

- the Caribbean, where your floating hotel takes you from island to island overnight 

- and the Baltic, kinda like the Caribbean in reverse, where you sail the perimeter of a huge pond. So very difficult, expensive and wearying if you try by air, road, rail or even ferry.

 

Its a shame that apparently no ships appear to have have switched an overnight in SPB to an overnight in Warnemunde. Berlin is about 2 1/2 hours by train, and ships depart Warnemunde late into the evening so Berlin is possible in a day - but an overnight would make it so much more worthwhile.

 

Just MHO, as always

 

JB 🙂

 

 

We did Berlin from Warnemunde it was a long day but worthwhile , We thought we might not get back to this area so do it now, glad we did. Many on tour cruise went to Hamburg and loved it. Overnighting in Warnemunde would make sense. 

[waldorf]

I have done three Baltic cruises, each visiting St. Petersburg each time. If the cruise line drops this, as I hope they do, they could replace it with Lithuania & Latvia or indeed other stops in Poland or visit Oslo, plenty of alternatives. In fact a Baltic cruise without SPB makes it more appealing. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I just got the expected email from Noble Caledonia about my upcoming Baltic Odyssey cruise.  Three days in St Petersburg – gone.  Instead, more time in Gdansk (with an evening concert), Tallinn (also a concert added in the evening) and Stockholm plus new stops in Mariehamn in the Aland Islands and Parnu in Estonia.  Added to the existing itinerary it makes a very comprehensive cruise in the Baltic, while avoiding Russia.  [Of course, they have much more flexibility finding alternative ports, since the ship only has 100 passengers and can dock anywhere.]  We were iffy about visiting Putinland anyway, so it feels like a good act of defiance to spend money in all these neighboring countries without giving him any!

[LindaJ+]

Our cruise dropped St. P. and added Riga and an extra day in Stockholm.