Back from the Baltic on The Norwegian Dream

[beev]

We just returned from our cruise that departed June 10th...In a word it was "Awesome". We toured St. Petersburg with Alla Tours who not only met our expectations, she surpassed them. It was nice skipping all the tour bus line-up and our "visa-less" entry could not have bee smoother...All the ports were fantastic.

 

The quality of the service and the food certainly impressed us and all-in-all, it was one of the best cruise we have taken and this was number nine.

 

Those of you who have yet to depart can start marking days off the calendar.

[American-in-Belgium]

Hello,

Nice to hear you had a good time. We sail on the Dream at the end of July. We live in Belgium and do not plan to make the trek to and from Berlin. We are also fairly comfortable with European Cities and public transportation, so do not plan to do ship excursions. Between 5 family members we can at least partially converse in German, French, Dutch and Spanish.

 

Tell me about the ports if you will. We booked with Den Rus in St Petersburg, so that is covered. As for the others,

 

Warnemunde: Is there much in Warnemunde itself or Rostock? Is Rostock easy to get to?

 

Tallin: How far is the old town from the pier?

 

Helsinki: How far is the old town from the pier?

 

Stockholm: Been there... saw the cruise ships not far from oldtown area.

 

Copenhagen: How far is the old town from the pier?

[PLG3]

Beev -

 

Welcome home and glad to hear you had a great cruise. My wife and I are on the Dream's last Baltic cruise - the 14 Sept 07 sailing - and we're really looking forward to it.

 

If I may tag onto "American-in-Belgium's" questions, which Alla tour did you book in St Petersburg? We definitely don't want to do the mass ship tour but not sure which of the three "levels" of tours Alla offers to pick or to just go straight to a "custom" tour.

 

Any "picks'n'pans" (specific likes or dislikes) overall?

 

Thank you!

[beev]

Baltic ports and Alla Tours

 

 

First of all, Berlin....The people I spoke to who made the trip arrived back at the ship seemed to

totally exhausted...Out of the twelve hour day, half was spent on the train. We had visited

Berlin before so we passed on any excursion to the city. However if you haven't seen Berlin

before, and feel you won't get the chance in the future it may be a good opportunity to see

one of Europe's most interesting cities.

 

Warnemunde, itself is a charming touristy resort type of town, small and easy to get around.

We did not go to Rostock but it is a fast inexpensive (15 minute) trip by train. The train station is almost

beside the port. We met some folks who went by train and came back by ferry....They seemed

to enjoy the day.

 

Both Tallin and Helsinki have shuttle busses to the downtown area. In both cases the fare is

about $5.00 US one way with a round trip at $8.00US. Both places have Hop on/Hop off

sightseeing busses. But it is important to check the frequency. The complete tours run

about an hour, but in some cases you may want to hop off and you will find you have to

wait an hour before you can hop on again. Both cities are great for just wandering around

the old town.

 

The main part of Stockholm is Gamia Stan....Can be reached on foot from the ship...Try not to

miss the changing of the guard at the palace and The Vasa Museum. We pirchased the

Stockholm card which offers 24 hour free transportation and either free of discounts on many

of the cities museums. It was a mistake to buy this card for the short time we were in port.

It is difficult to read the maps they provide and time limitations restrict the full use of the

card to justify the cost.

 

In St. Petersburg we elected to take Alla's two day moderate tour. It was fantastic covering all the

important sightwe wanted to see. Also if there is something you want specifically to see, if the other

members of you group approve, the guide will try to accomodate you...

For example, for lunch one day, we went to a small neighborhood Russian restaurant for lunch.

There was no parking for big busses so we enjoyed an authentic medium prized lunch of local choices..

 

Do not depend on the ship's information seminars on the ports for any useful information as to the ports.

They are conducted by the onboard "shopping consultant" who concentrates on what to buy and where to

buy it, from a "Cruise Approved" shop.

 

As you disembark be sure to ask at the desk for a local map. And in several cases there is a represenative

aboard to answer any quesions you may have..Once you have your map be sure to mark the pier location

and the shuttle bus pick up point...

 

All in all it was a fantastic experience and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did....

[paulanddarnell]

Thanks Beev! This info really helps. We leave in a little over a month and can't wait.

[American-in-Belgium]

Gee Beev--that's swell.

 

OK I couldn't resist. Thanks for the gouge.

[beev]

Gee Beev--that's swell.

 

OK I couldn't resist. Thanks for the gouge.

 

 

Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your posting?

 

What is a gouge and what is it you couldn't resist?

 

I am sorry if you are displeased with my response to your question..

 

In any event if anyone else has any questions, I will try to answer them.

[paulanddarnell]

Beev,

 

I think he couldn't resist using the "Gee that's swell Beev" from "The Leave it to Beaver Show." I think he was just being funny.

 

Although, when I read "gouge" I didn't know what it was either. Either it is a typo or a very strange use of the word. Looked it up, and it still doesn't make sense to me.

 

One question, did the ship take and keep your passport during the cruise? Or did you have it the entire time?

 

Thanks

[beev]

Beev,

 

I think he couldn't resist using the "Gee that's swell Beev" from "The Leave it to Beaver Show." I think he was just being funny.

 

Although, when I read "gouge" I didn't know what it was either. Either it is a typo or a very strange use of the word. Looked it up, and it still doesn't make sense to me.

 

One question, did the ship take and keep your passport during the cruise? Or did you have it the entire time?

 

Thanks

 

Hi..

 

Maybe you are right in the regarding the quote..

 

At no time did the ship hold our passport, however we did require a copy of the first page to clear Russian Customs. The first day we produced our passport and the photocopy...I believe they kept the copy and returned the actual passport. On the second day we simply showed them our tour tickets and passed right through...As we had taken a private tour with Alla Tours our tickets had been sent to us earlier...

 

Remember as far as the passports are concerned, we are Canadians but the Americans we traveled with had the same procedure..

 

In short. no, the ship did not hold our passports at any time...

[LovesTravelling]

Beev -

Can't speak for 'am in belgium' but I think it was meant as a pun. Remember the series Leave it to Beaver?

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all your trip information and tips - we're on the 7/16 sailing of the Dream and it is so very helpful! Especially your comment on the Stockholm card - I was wondering if it would be worth the cost...

 

We are also booked on an Alla tour in St. Petersburg - strenuous - and are very much looking forward to it.

 

Did you do any sightseeing in Dover before the cruise? I ask that question because we will be arriving into Dover around 10am (by national express coach) and hope to do the castle and cliffs prior to boarding the Dream. I've been told that there is no left-luggage facilities in Dover and we're concerned with what to do with our bags while we explore. On other threads HeinBloed suggested just giving our bags in to NCL when we arrive, go exploring and then boarding the Dream when check-in starts (around 1pm I think). Did you have any experience with this? I'm just worried that NCL may not let us check-in our bags that early?

 

Thanks again!

~Cindy

[paulanddarnell]

Beev,

 

Is there any shopping in the Dover pier? Somewhere I could buy a case of soda and water?

[paulanddarnell]

Beev,

 

I have read some terrible things about customs at Heathrow? I am not sure if that is where you flew to, but if so....was it a really long wait arriving and departing? Can you give me a ballpark of how much time?

 

Thanks again

[beev]

Beev,

 

I have read some terrible things about customs at Heathrow? I am not sure if that is where you flew to, but if so....was it a really long wait arriving and departing? Can you give me a ballpark of how much time?

 

Thanks again

 

Regarding Dover...We arrived at the ships terminal at about 10:AM and after a short wait commenced boarding. Although we had arrived by an NCL coach, I would suspect that after you get your luggage from National Express it will be handled in such a way that it will go direct to your cabin and left outside your cabin door. You can ask NCL personnel (there are lots of them) if you can board later and proceed to explore Dover on your own.

At the terminal itself, we did not see any shopping facilities. I was dying for a cup of coffee but I had to wait until I was aboard...It would probably be wise to buy some water or soda before you board the coach leaving for Dover.

 

As for Heathrow, we flew in and out of Heathrow. We had no problems entering the country, arriving at around 6:30 AM. Lineups were short and we got through easily. We arrived at Terminal Three which was a bit of a zoo in the main part of the arrivals lounge. Arrangements had been arranged to take the NCL shuttle to Dover. Despite the frenzy with so many people running about, NCL signs were easily found with a good number of reps there to herd us to a waiting place and eventually onto the buses.

 

One thing you might want to check out before you leave, perhaps on London Heathrow's web site is their rules regarding carry on luggage. Rules, of course vary from airport to airport and LHR's rules were much stricter than Toronto's. You have to be very careful with carry on liquids, creams, gels etc. Also nail files, nail clippers...anything that could be construed as a weapon...should be packed in your checked luggage.

 

Unlike Toronto, where a woman's handbag is not considered as part of the carry on allowance (i.e. in addition to the handbag, one piece conforming to size and weight standards is allowed), at Heathrow, a purse is considered to be one piece of carry-on. Fortunately my wife's purse fit into the carry on piece of luggage..which qualified as the one piece that is allowed. After boarding the aircraft the handbag was removed from the carry on luggage.

 

I hope that is clear and helps....

[suzy671]

Just a couple of questions, did you leave from Dover and did you stay at a hotel before hand? How did you get to the port?

[beev]

Just a couple of questions, did you leave from Dover and did you stay at a hotel before hand? How did you get to the port?

 

We flew into London the day of departure, so we went directly to the ship. To get to the port we used the NCL shuttle service. Takes about two hours...

[American-in-Belgium]

Sorry for the confusion...

 

Yes, it was meant to be a play on the phrase from Leave it to Beaver.

 

Gouge: Useful information. Scoop. Details.

 

Your post was helpful--Thank You.

[beev]

Sorry for the confusion...

 

Yes, it was meant to be a play on the phrase from Leave it to Beaver.

 

Gouge: Useful information. Scoop. Details.

 

Your post was helpful--Thank You.

 

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me....Your real name wouldn't be Eddie Haskell Would it? Or perhaps your last name is Cleaver?

 

I know before I left for Dover, there seemed to be a lot of questions unanswered, so any info I can offer form someone who has "been there, done that" will be gladly provided...

 

I think you will have a fantastic time....

[paulanddarnell]

Beev,

 

What did you do in Copenhagen? Does the Dream offer a shuttle to Tivoli Gardens on the first night there other than the $79 excursion? Did you hear any reports about the $79 excursion? Also, what time were you able to get off the ship that first night there?

 

Again, thanks so much for answering questions! It really helps my planning (and I love to over plan).

[beev]

Beev,

 

What did you do in Copenhagen? Does the Dream offer a shuttle to Tivoli Gardens on the first night there other than the $79 excursion? Did you hear any reports about the $79 excursion? Also, what time were you able to get off the ship that first night there?

 

Again, thanks so much for answering questions! It really helps my planning (and I love to over plan).

 

We arrived in Copenhagen at about 7.00 PM. We had opted for the NCL canal cruise with drop off at Tivoli. However there was shuttle that took you to and return, from Tivoli and included the admission for $29.00.US. Another option is to take a taxi to the center of town and walk to Tivoli arriving there about the same time as the canal cruise did.

 

The center of town is about a one hour walk from the ship. You should be able to get a map at the reception desk before you disembark.

In the morning we simply wandered around and visited the "Little Mermaid" which is only a ten minute walk from the ship...

[Javatlkrs]

Beev, I just read some member reviews about this ship that concern me. One review said that they suspected that the ship was going to be sold at the end of the summer, and the food quality, service, and entertainment all reflected this. They also mentioned that they thought that there was an outbreak of norovirus on the ship. :eek: I'm hoping that you can give me any reflections that you might have on these issues. We are scheduled for the July 16th cruise.....and after reading these review are very concerned. :confused: We are hoping that you can shed some light on our concerns.

[paulanddarnell]

Beev,

 

Did you enjoy the canal cruise? Did you think it was worth it or close to worth it?

[S&B]

Beev,

We are going on the Dream to South America just two months before she gets sold. Did you think the crew are still trying to spruce up the ship or are they kind of letting it go? We are in a balcony cabin. We chose the Dream because it is smaller and the freestyle dining, even though I know it has its problems.

 

Thanks for all your info.

[beev]

Beev,

 

Did you enjoy the canal cruise? Did you think it was worth it or close to worth it?

 

It was close to worth it...But that is only because of the short time in Copenhagen. There is also a shuttle bus to Tivoli that includes the admission for 29.00US$...

[beev]

Beev,

We are going on the Dream to South America just two months before she gets sold. Did you think the crew are still trying to spruce up the ship or are they kind of letting it go? We are in a balcony cabin. We chose the Dream because it is smaller and the freestyle dining, even though I know it has its problems.

 

Thanks for all your info.

 

There didn't seem to any signs of neglect. We actually found the food and service to be up a notch or two from our previous NCL cruises. We enjoy freestyle dining and like the choice of dining alone or with others. We did not encounter any problems. The most we had to wait at "prime time" was 10 to 15 minutes.

[beev]

Beev, I just read some member reviews about this ship that concern me. One review said that they suspected that the ship was going to be sold at the end of the summer, and the food quality, service, and entertainment all reflected this. They also mentioned that they thought that there was an outbreak of norovirus on the ship. :eek: I'm hoping that you can give me any reflections that you might have on these issues. We are scheduled for the July 16th cruise.....and after reading these review are very concerned. :confused: We are hoping that you can shed some light on our concerns.

 

It is true that the ship has been sold. however there was no signs of any decline in service. There was an outbreak of virus the cruise before us. The entire ship was sanitized and hand sanitizing was compulsory before entering the dining rooms. A spray was set up outside the entrances. Apart from no open salt and peppers on the table, and the staff served us at the buffets, there were no problems. I did not hear of any sickness the week we cruised. That does not mean it didn't happen, but if it was a real problem, the grapevine would have alerted us...

 

Here is a tip..if at any time you think you have an upset tummy...be very, very, sure before you go to the Doctor, or you may be quarantined in your cabin for 24 hours..

 

I would not worry about it....go and have a good time...we did...