Overnight in Helsinki, Tallinn, Aarhus.

[Megabear2]

We have just received an itinerary change informing us our itinerary has changed and we have more time in port.  Looking at the details it appears we now have two extra overnight stays, one in Tallin and one in Aarhus.  We also have an overnight in Helsinki.

 

We are quite pleased the ports are unchanged despite the time in Tallin now being split over two days but shorter on the original day.  These two extra overnight stops are currently not showing any excursions. I wonder whether anyone has overnights in these ports and if there are any suggestions on what we could think about doing to make the most of these evenings? Also I know some of you have been able to find approximate departure times on some sites. I'm interested in tye definition of "afternoon" times any guidance much appreciated. Thank you.

 

Our new itinerary is

 

Kiel  Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon

At Sea

Helsinki  Arrive Early Afternoon, Overnight In Port Helsinki  Depart Afternoon

Tallinn  Arrive Evening, Overnight In Port Tallinn  Depart Afternoon

Visby  Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon

At Sea

Klaipeda  Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening

Bornholm  Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon

Aarhus  Arrive Early Evening, Overnight In Port Aarhus  Depart Early Evening

Skagen  Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon

At Sea

Southampton

[showingdiva]

If you haven't been before, Den Gamle By in Aarhus (an open air museum) is really good.   For those who haven't, think York / Jorvik.

[Megabear2]

31 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

If you haven't been before, Den Gamle By in Aarhus (an open air museum) is really good.   For those who haven't, think York / Jorvik.

Thank you.  Every port on this itinerary is new to us so we haven't a clue!!

[Northeastcruiser007]

45 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

If you haven't been before, Den Gamle By in Aarhus (an open air museum) is really good.   For those who haven't, think York / Jorvik.

I agree Den Gamle By is a must see... we visited last month.

 

It has been greatly extended since we last visited 20 years ago... It now incorporates reconstructed houses and streets, not just from very old times, but also from the 1970s and up to 2014, giving great insights into Danish life.

 

Allow lots of time..  we were there about 3 hours and could easily have been there much longer.

 

It doesn't have a 'ride' like Jorvik but in my view it is a more satisfying day out.

[tring]

We like nights In port, but sounds like you may not have a lot of daytime.   Afternoon departures can be very early, especially after an overnight.  We have an afternoon departures in Saint John as a second day because we will skip Bar Harbor, but when we booked on Aurora last month the sales lady looked it up and said we leave at 2.30pm. Looking at the excursions for that day, they are going out earlier than the first day, so a number are due back at 2.30pm, so perhaps more like 2.30pm last on board time.  Excursions will be a good guide, when they come out, but you can also email P&O for port times, I did it for our US/Canada cruise last year and got a response a month or so later.   I think late afternoon is about 5pm or 6pm, so The latest likely is probably about 4pm, or 4.30pm but could be soon after midday of course.  

 

We have been in Tallin on a later departure with Fred, he does a number of late departures.  It is a lovely town, definitely a night off the ship imo, especially in the summer.  Lots of bars and restaurants and quite lively.  We have not been to Aarhus, but Helsinki is a big city of course so should be fun, albeit pricey.

 

Edited June 18 by tring

[Mollag]

53 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you.  Every port on this itinerary is new to us so we haven't a clue!!

Don’t get too excited about Tallinn if it’s the same as the last cruise they just sailed from Helsinki at 1900 arrived at Tallinn at 2300 so don’t think there’ll be much to do that time of night, not sure what’ll happen in Aarhus

[Northeastcruiser007]

For Helsinki first day I'd consider getting the cheap 15-minute local ferry to the island of Suomennlina - beautiful! It is World Heritage listed.

 

Museums there would probably still be open in the afternoon, and then you could still walk round and explore outside in the early evening, with no pressure to rush back to the ship.

[Megabear2]

53 minutes ago, Mollag said:

Don’t get too excited about Tallinn if it’s the same as the last cruise they just sailed from Helsinki at 1900 arrived at Tallinn at 2300 so don’t think there’ll be much to do that time of night, not sure what’ll happen in Aarhus

What will be will be ... we had nothing planned save in Skagen so everything is a bonus.  We didn't pick the cruise or know anything about the destinations as we are joining our relatives.  I'm sure I will find plenty to enjoy wherever we go.  Just nice to go somewhere different.

[tring]

I have just been told by P&O they have had a policy change from last year and will not give times for legal reasons.  It always was accompanied by a disclaimer as times can change of course, but there goes. 

 

Port authority sites may be able to help with port times, will sort out any links that I may have, but will probably not be today.  I know they are available for some Danish ports, possibly including Aarhus.  Port sites not always easy to find, but have had some from kind posters on the "ports of call" section, if I had more been able to search them.

 

The shore excursion times should eventually help as well, as I had mentioned.  We love the Baltic ports, been a few times and booked another for 2026, which I am now thinking may change, but we love overnights, so fine for us.

 

 

Edited June 18 by tring

[Mollag]

18 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

What will be will be ... we had nothing planned save in Skagen so everything is a bonus.  We didn't pick the cruise or know anything about the destinations as we are joining our relatives.  I'm sure I will find plenty to enjoy wherever we go.  Just nice to go somewhere different.

We did a similar itinerary last year but no night stops and missed our last two ports Skagen and Copenhagen because of weather and went to Cherbourg instead. We’ve no excursions booked but planning on doing a boat trip in Helsinki a lot cheaper than P&Os one and providing the weather is better than last year. Visby is lovely just to walk around as is Tallinn although the weather wasn’t brilliant there  either, like you say hopefully we’ll enjoy wherever and whenever we go. 

[CountryStyleMe]

3 hours ago, tring said:

I have just been told by P&O they have had a policy change from last year and will not give times for legal reasons.  It always was accompanied by a disclaimer as times can change of course, but there goes. 

 

Port authority sites may be able to help with port times, will sort out any links that I may have, but will probably not be today.  I know they are available for some Danish ports, possibly including Aarhus.  Port sites not always easy to find, but have had some from kind posters on the "ports of call" section, if I had more been able to search them.

 

The shore excursion times should eventually help as well, as I had mentioned.  We love the Baltic ports, been a few times and booked another for 2026, which I am now thinking may change, but we love overnights, so fine for us.

 

 

you can tell what time you are going to depart going off of what time the last shore excursion departs the ship on the day (also taking in how long the coach takes to from the ship to the destination and from the destination back to the ship again). 

[dronnygirl]

Just back from a Baltic cruise and loved all the ports.  We did no trips as every port is so easy to explore yourself as long as you are mobile.

Helsinki - there is a port shuttle at 10 euros return. It drops you near the market square. We walked round the corner to the ferry to Soumonlinna island, there are 2 ferries and the public transport one is HSL. The ferry runs every 15 minutes and takes 15 minutes to get there. It's 3 euros for a single or 9 euros for a day ticket which also covers the trams. The island is a fortress and is free to enter, there is a tourist info and toilets and they give you a map. You can walk across the island but we walked round by the sea. It was beautiful, loads of lilac trees and wild flowers and many massive cannons left from many wars. We spent 2 hours but could have easily stayed longer.  We returned to Helsinki and walked to the main square to see the cathedral.  From the square we took a no.2 tram to the rock church Temppeliakkio and returned by tram.  Looked at the Uspenski cathedral and, after waking walking round the market, it was time to return to the ship.   Hope this has been useful

[tring]

2 hours ago, CountryStyleMe said:

you can tell what time you are going to depart going off of what time the last shore excursion departs the ship on the day (also taking in how long the coach takes to from the ship to the destination and from the destination back to the ship again). 

 

That is what I was referring to when I mentioned shore excursions.  The start time of the excursion + length of excursion tells you that.  As I said, we had been told by the P&O onboard sales lady that we are due to sail from Saint John at 2.30pm, but a number of excursions are due to return at 2.30pm, so sounds more like 2.30pm last on board time, so presumably will sail at 3pm or thereabouts.

 

 

Edited June 18 by tring

[tring]

21 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

What will be will be ... we had nothing planned save in Skagen so everything is a bonus.  We didn't pick the cruise or know anything about the destinations as we are joining our relatives.  I'm sure I will find plenty to enjoy wherever we go.  Just nice to go somewhere different.

 

Found some port schedules, but worth keeping an eye on as may not have been edited with the changes yet :-

 

Helsinki   https://www.portofhelsinki.fi/en/passengers/information-for-passengers/international-cruise-ships/  this does not show Aurora at all , but does say at the bottom of the page that ships can appear close to the time, when port agents up date the details on the database, so probably worth checking nearer the time.

 

Tallinn    https://www.ts.ee/en/cruise-schedules/   Shows you are in at 23.00 and leave 17.00 the next day, but if you leave Helsinki early, may not have been edited yet.

 

Aarhus   I cannot find anything with a cruise schedule for here.

 

I always search for the port authority sites as can also list where you are docked.  I have found at times that port sites do not change details after a cruise schedule has been changed.  Other times I have seen changes on the port authority sites, when the cruise lines has been insisting they have not changed.  All depends if they are good at updating their systems, but often a useful extra source of information imo.

 

Enjoy the cruise.

[Hezu]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:48 PM, dronnygirl said:

Helsinki - there is a port shuttle at 10 euros return. It drops you near the market square. We walked round the corner to the ferry to Soumonlinna island, there are 2 ferries and the public transport one is HSL. The ferry runs every 15 minutes and takes 15 minutes to get there. It's 3 euros for a single or 9 euros for a day ticket which also covers the trams. The island is a fortress and is free to enter, there is a tourist info and toilets and they give you a map. You can walk across the island but we walked round by the sea.

Actually, HSL tickets cover not just Suomenlinna ferry and trams, but also busses, local trains and metro. And regarding the last mentioned: this summer the metro line is split in two separate sections as the metro station at the central railway station is under renovation and thus the western part of the metro line ends at Kamppi and the eastern half terminates at University of Helsinki metro station and to travel between the two you must walk or take a tram. And strictly speaking Suomenlinna is not just one island, but group of islands, also worth a note: although it is historical site, it is still a part of Helsinki where some people live and thus while wandering around it is wise to not go on gated private areas (backyards, gardens etc.).

[Mollag]

Has anybody noticed on the new itinerary it says we don’t arrive in Helsinki till the afternoon? We haven’t had anything yet so unsure what’s going on