Cruising in the Baltic Sea?

[putte]

Hello

I´m from Sweden and I´m a huge cruise ship fan. I have never been on a real cruise if you don’t count mini cruises between Sweden-Finland in Scandinavia. But this summer I will try my wings on a real cruise.

 

I think Celebrity`s cruise ships looks awesome.

 

Has someone here cruised to Sweden, Stockholm? Can someone tell me how they feelt about that trip?

 

Yesterday I found some really nice pictures of Century and Constellation at www.shipimage.com

 

There can you find nice pictures of them both in the Gallery/cruise ship section. I little help on the way, if you double click the pictures they get bigger.

[leoandhugh]

if you have never done it before , why would you limit yourself to the ships of Celebrity because they "look awesome" we have done several Baltic cruises on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian as well as Celebrity. Our choice is dictated more by itinerary and time in port than by any particular cruise line. That said, we prefer the Radiance class of Royal Caribbean because they have so much glass so you are very aware of always being at sea. Granted the X ships are a good quality product which we have enjoyed but would certainly not limit ourselves just to them. In the past couple of years we have enjoyed Baltic cruises which included countries and ports that are just now opening up like Talinn and Riga and we always look for an overnight in St Petersburg because there is so much to see there.:)

[Host Anne]

Putte ~ welcome to Cruise Critic and the wonderful world of cruising! We did a Baltics cruise two summers ago and loved every minute of it. We visited Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, St. Petersburg and Tallin. It was a wonderful trip with great things to see in every port.

 

We sailed on Jewel of the Seas (a Radiance class ship referred to by Leoandhugh above). We, too, love the Radiance class, but I wouldn't hesitate to sail any of the Celebrity ships doing a similiar itinerary, either. We made our choice based upon the time of the cruise fitting into our schedule. It looks like Constellation and Century are doing the Baltic cruises this summer. I'd be happy on either ship along with any Royal Caribbean Radiance class ship. I personally do not care for Norwegian's "freestyle" cruising so they wouldn't be an option for us.

 

Good luck and let us know if you have additional questions.

[SAN]

Hello Putte,

 

We are sailing on Century this June to the Baltic. I do like Celebrity, but I have never sailed on Century, just her sister ship the Mercury. I have also sailed on Infinity the sister ship of the Constellation.

 

Century is smaller than the Constellation and is leaving from Amsterdam and visiting, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Lithuania. We were suppose to visit Olso, but the itinerary was changed. I am very sad that we are not visiting Oslo, but maybe Celebrity will change the itinerary again.

 

I have visited Copenhagen, Stockholm and Olso, but not the other countries. I have sailed on a ferry that went from Oslo to Copenhagen and the ferries are very much like a cruise ship. I have also sailed on the Norwegian Coastal Ferries to the fjiords with my daugher and son-in-law. They are very much like a cruise ship, but much smalled.

 

My son-in-law, who is Norwegian, is fascinated by cruise ships too. He is able to see them as they pass his flat on the way to Copenhagen. He was able to cruise on the Mercury with us to Alaska and liked it very much. He now lives in Copenhagen with my daughter.

 

Cruising is such a wonderful adventure and what ever ship you choose I know you will have a good time. Good luck!

[spearmint]

Putte:

Leoandhugh have given you some sound advice.

 

Your are correct, in my opinion, in that the Celebrity ships are very good looking. We sailed Constellation in August/06 and were very pleased with the itinerary, which is that same as mentioned by Host Anne. We like both Century and Constellation, but prefer the slightly larger version (Constellation); it has the indoor Thalssotherapy pool and a larger disco area for dancing and a larger area for shops and casino. On the outdoor deck 10, it also has a six-foot deep pool and a four-foot deep pool which is good for one who cannot swim, whereas Century only has two six-foot pools (poor for someone who cannot swim like my wife). The ships are basically laid out the same way. There is not a great difference in the number of passengers.

 

We also like the formal and semi-formal nights atmosphere for dining rather than the casual. The ports-of-call itinerary on this kind of a trip is very important, (whereas in the Caribbean, you might opt to skip ports) but with your first cruise, you will also want to enjoy the ambience of shipboard life, too.

 

We loved the cruise in to and out of Stockholm as much as your lovely city itself. Hope you enjoy cruising as much as we do. :)

[Petert]

Hi Putte,

 

My wife and I sailed on the Celebrity Constellation's Baltic itinerary in the spring of 2005. We found the itinerary to be excellent and the Constellation to be a beautiful ship, with excellent food and outstanding service. There is so much to see in the great ports of call that we will probably repeat this cruise in the next few years.

 

We had traveled this region several times previously using Eurail transportation, and really loved the Scandinavian countries. We sailed on the Silja Symphony from Stockholm to Helsinki back in 1993, and loved the trip and the ship. We also sailed a Russian cruise ship from Helsinki to St. Petersberg, and a Pol Ferry ship from Helsinki to Gdansk. On another trip we took the train from Stockholm to Oslo, and then to Bergen. There is some very beautiful country to see on that trip.

 

The Baltic cruise combines some of the best ports of call we have ever visited with the pleasures of sailing on first class cruise ship. I know you will enjoy the experience aboard any of the ships mentioned above.

 

petert