Just back from Baltics cruise on Grand Princess

[Hulagirl]

Julie: That is a difficult one. We were in Hillerod on a Sunday and just about everything was closed except for the castle. We really enjoyed seeing the castle and walking around the grounds. In Helsingor the town was fun and the castle was very interesting along with being right on the water. There were no gardens to look at if that interests you though. I really enjoyed the town of Helsingor though. I liked sitting there on the bench looking out at Sweden and watching the boats and ferry's also. Helsingor was highly recommended by the gentleman at the hotel and we almost passed it by, but are so glad we didn't. I just don't want to tell you definitely go to one place over the other, but I liked Helsingor the best for the town and the location. But if you like the gardens, go to Hillerod.

 

Now wasn't I a big help????? They are both wonderful and I don't think you will go wrong. I love being on the water and Kronberg sits right out there at the point of land.

 

Good luck with your decision. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed our days in Denmark. It was one of the best parts of our whole trip.

 

Hulagirl

[Eken]

Hi!

 

I just wanted to add to KathyMG's inforamtive post that I recommend that you take the commuter train. Not only is $69 very expensive for the transport but riding the train does'nt take longer than going by car or bus. Also, parts of the road between Nynashamn and Stockholm is in a terrible condition and as a native Stockholmer I wouldn't drive on it unless I had to. I read in the newspaper this morning that they are not planning to rebuild the road until somtime in late 2005. So my advise is to stay away!

 

Maria :)

 

 

As many have pointed out, the Grand being such a large ship docks far away from city center. That was true in Copehagen and St. Petersburg, and for Stockholm, it's Nynashamn, which is 1 hr. outside of Stockholm.

 

In Sweden Princess wanted $69 per person to transport you to Stockholm! We got off the ship in Nynashamn, walked 10-15 min. to the train station, and got on a train to Stockholm for $12.50 per person. The ticket allowed you to use all the transportation in Stockholm. We took the bus to the Vasa Museum, ferry to Gamla Stan, and train back. All for $12.50pp. WORD OF WARNING. ON MANY OF THE RETURN TRAINS TO NYNASHAMN THEY REMOVE THE LAST FEW CARS, AND ONLY THE 1ST ONE TO 2, MAYBE 3 CARS CONTINUE ON TO NYNASHMN. SO WHEN YOU BOARD SIT IN THE 1ST CAR. THEY DO ANNOUNCE THIS, BUT YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION. OUR SHIP WAS LATE LEAVING NYNASHAMN, AND WE WONDERED IF IT WAS ALL THE POOR PEOPLE WHO WERE ON THE TAIL END OF THE TRAIN.

 

St. Petersburg was fascinating. You dock a good 5 miles from city center, and the end of the dock area is a good 1 1/2 -2 miles from the ship. We know because we walked it one night! We did have visas, but also took several tours with Red October. Our guide was great! She got us in everywhere with no wait. We walked up to the door of the Hermitage about 5 min. before it opened and were whisked inside. We must have been in there for 30 minutes before we even saw anyone else. Definitely do the Hermitage 1st thing, it opens at 10:30AM. Not only does it get crowded, it gets hot. Red October was definitely the way to go. We had a small group, 6 of us, and it was perfect. Once you start touring with really large groups, it's hard to hear, and you can't move through as fast, therefore you see less.

 

We took a hydrofoil to Peterhof, which is the way to go. The traffic coming in and going out of St. Petersburg can be horrendous. I know the ship's tours are by bus, but if you are traveling independently take the hydrofoil.

 

The Grand is a nice ship, (needs a little work) but if I had to do it all over again, I'd go on a smaller ship. Not because it was crowded; we found it spacious enough to handle 2600 people. But many of the ports are set up to accept smaller ships, which would have been so much easier in all these places. You spend entirely too much time getting in to the city center and back.

 

The weather did hold out for us. Some cold days, some warmer (70), some rain, some sun. Do take warm clothes and layer. Even though the temp. didn't get below 60 most of the time, it's a humid climate, so the cool air feels colder, especially if the wind kicks up. We just layered and carried an umbrella. The rain never lasted very long. Several people have mentioned shorts. The only people I saw in shorts were tourists. Keep in mind that it is considered inappropriate to enter churches and cathedrals with shorts on in many of these places. I think a safer choice is light-weight cotton slacks. We certainly did see tons of blue jeans, though.

 

These were beautiful countries. I think the real pleasant surprises were Tallinn, Estonia, and Warnemunde, Germany. Tallinn is a charming, squeaky clean, medieval city. Warnemunde's a small harbor town, with a Cape Cod feel to it. We did a bicycle tour in Warnemunde. This was a Princess tour. Great fun and scenic. You bicycle through a forest by the beach. It was wonderful.

 

I'm sure I didn't cover everything. If you have any questions, let me know. It was a great trip. You should all thoroughly enjoy it.

 

Kathy

[CruisePlease416]

Julie,

I have been appreciating all of your messages. Regarding Helsingor vs. the other place you mentioned, I know nothing about the other place, but from my reading it looks like we can do Louisiana Museum, which is supposed to be fantastic, and then go on to Helsingor. We are also going to try to see a beach that same day. Let me know what you decide. Have a great trip.

Bobbie

[juliejoe]

Hello CruisePlease416,

 

Unfortunately - the day we will have to take a train out of Copenhagen to visit one of the castles and see the countryside is a Sunday. We will probably follow our original plan and go to Hillerod - to see Frederiksborg Castle. After doing searches on the castles (Kronberg in Helsingor and Frederiksborg in Hillerod) we decided on the Frederiksborg. There is an all day tour that Sunday from Copenhagen that goes to those 2 and passes by another. We were originally going to take the tour, but decided to cut our time outside of Copenhagen to 1/2 day. There is so much to see and do just in the city that I wish we had planned for more than 3 days. As Hulagirl said, the gardens at Frederiksborg should be nice for a stroll and I'm guessing both towns will be pretty much closed down that morning.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise! Be sure to come back and post about your experiences.

 

Julie

[Hulagirl]

Julie: I knew I was spelling the name of the castle wrong in Hillerod, but have been so tired since we got back I just didn't have the energy to look up the right spelling. Basically you can plan on most of the things being closed in all of Denmark on Sunday. I'm talking stores for this. They just don't open on Sunday anywhere. The shopping street in Copenhagen is very easy to walk that day because the only things open were the restaurants and the ice cream stands. That is why Hillerod was so deserted. The only place open is the Sweater Shop right were the bus will drop you off for the castle. I had read about it in one of my books and we stopped in. Very nice people. The sweaters there are the same as the shop in Copenhagen, but for a cheaper price. That is why my Denmark book had said, but it was nice to see for myself. You will enjoy the castle that day.

 

We almost passed on Kronberg at Helsingor. Everything I had read just didn't sound that great. Was so glad we went. So much better than I had imagined. It truly is a not to be missed place in my opinion. The gentleman at our hotel said the same, but I was convinced until we got there.

 

Just remember, on Sunday many things are closed. The palaces and castles all seem to close at 5:00 on most days also.

 

Hulagirl

[KathyMG]

Thank you Hulagirl and KathyMG for all the great info!!

 

Do you have any tips on getting off the Grand in St. Petersburg to meet the Red October guide? Should we just make our way down to the gangway? What level is it on and is it located towards the aft or stern of the ship? Any info would be of great help.

 

Thanks again.

 

When we disembarked it was on level 4. They have signs indicating where to go. Your Red October guide will be waiting for you outside of the custom's booth, which is directly across from the ship. Everyone has to go through customs and have their passports stamped. Then you meet the guides.

 

Have fun.

[japiscopo]

We leave in about a month for the Baltic on Radisson. Have a few questions. Also thanks for all the information, it was great

 

Hulagirl: How long a train trip is to Helsingor? We only have about 2 full days in Copenhagen and want to see some sights there, but your description of Helsingor sounds great. On the map it seems far. Can it be done in a morning?

 

Kathy: Did you do the hydrofoil to Peterhof with RO. We are touring with them for 2 of our 3 days in St. Pete. Is it faster to get to Peterhof on the hydrofoil then driving? Does Laura at RO recommend this? Was it your idea, or hers? How much time did you save?

 

How was the RO store? Was it worth to do serious shopping there? I've requested RO to take us to a store called Babushka, but that's the second day and RO is the first. Are the markets as good as RO's store?

 

Thank you both for anyinfo you can give. I'm wrapping my info now and love when I hear new stuff to ponder and read.

 

Mary Lou

26 days and counting

[Hulagirl]

Hi Mary Lou: The trip to Helsingor only took abot 40 minutes one way on the train. We were on the train that stopped at many of the small towns, so there could be a train that doesn't have so many stops. Bu even so, we got there very quickly. They have trains that run all the time, so I doubt you would have any trouble doing it in the morning. We walked over to the station and there was only leaving in a few minutes. Their rail system is so good and easy. When you walk out of the train station, you can see Kronberg to your right. It was a pretty quick walk, about 10 minutes and we were inside.

 

The tour we were on took us to a couple difference shopping areas and then the Red October store. The other places were outside vendors which really did have some decent stuff. Be very wary of the carved santas and also the laquer boxes though. Most of these are cheap knockoffs. The Red October store also has the cheap stuff and then in a back room are the real things (they say). After going to the talk on the ship I realized that there is a real difference, although hard to tell at times. Price is definitely a determining factor though. I bought a music box from one of the vendors outside of Peterhof and then decided to buy one for my mother-in-law later on. So I found one at RO. When we got home I realized how much nicer the one is that I bought from the vendor at Peterhof. My daughter wanted a doll that we bought at RO which was nicer than the vendor. So you just have to look and buy where you think you like the product the best. I really wouldn't limit myself to just buying in one place. They all have some good and some lesser quality things.

 

Hope this helps. You will love St. Petersberg and Denmark. The Baltic area is beautiful. What a wonderful ship to be doing this cruise on. I'm envious.

 

Hulagirl

[japiscopo]

Thanks Hulagirl for the info. Maybe once we have seen what we want to we may go to Helsingor for a morning on the day we will be embarking the ship. We don't sail until 11p.m.

[juliejoe]

Hulagirl - Thanks for your posts! :)

 

While in Copenhagen 3 days pre-Baltics cruise, we'll go to Hillerod as planned -but - duh - it just dawned on me - we can go to Helsingor too! :D We are doing B2B cruises and on turn around day in Copenhagen, we'll have that full day! We can disembark - catch the train and go to see the Kronberg Castle and Helsingor. We'll still have time to get our laundry done than afternoon.

 

I probably would never have connected the dots and made the effort to find a time if you had not posted such good comments about your experiences there.

 

Julie

[CruisePlease416]

Kathy, or anyone else on Grand who used Red October,

Did you have any problems disembarking early in St. Petersburg?

Thank you

Bobbie

[Hulagirl]

Glad I could be of some help.

 

Julie you helped me 3 years ago with our Med cruise, so I feel good about returning the favor.

 

Hulagirl

[mek]

japiscopo - We did a Denrus tour in St P. We noticed the hydrofoil going out to Peterhof and if I had it to do over again, I would go on it instead of driving. Really not much to see along the way with the exception of one georgeous large church and many of those depressing Soviet apartment buildings. Especially if you have three days, I would plan the hydrofoil, besides, it probably doesn't take much more time than driving.

[yazoosail]

Can Anyone where the train station is in Gdynia, in relation to the pier? Also in Nynashahm, as we like to go on our own, and have found european trains to be trustworthy.-- thanx--Dennis

[mek]

Gnydia was the one port where Princess strongly advised that we not take the train because of security issues, and while I tend to be skeptical about this kind of thing, I took them seriously this time. Apparently there have been several incidents,(muggings) involving tourists. Unless you speak Polish and can really blend in, I would either take a ship's tour or use a cab.

[scubadiver77]

Are there any shops close to the port in Gdynia. Our tour to Gdansk isn't scheduled until 11:45. We would have a couple of hours to do something.

[vtrav]

I paid us dollars in all ports or Euros. If the country takes Euro's i'd use them as alot of prices are quoted in euros and it makes it easier. But I used US dollars almost everywhere. They give you change back in the country's currency. In Russia, you need money for the bathrooms, but alot of people just gave a US dollar and got back rubles. Bathroom is about 30 cents. It's so little and made a good souvenier.

 

In denmark and sweden I did get some of those countries money. The ship has a machine that you can exchange money at so if you want to you can just get it on the ship. I would get mostly Euros. If you take the ships tours don't expect to have more then 10 minutes anywhere to shop. You can't spend alot in 10 minutes.

 

Also, most shops take VISA, but don't like to for small purchases. I think it's considered kind of rude.