Advice on Excursions in the Baltics

[Ohana Cruiser]

Our family with 2 kids (9 & 12), are going on Celebrity Constellation 14 day Scandinavian Baltic Cruise this June.

 

We are first time cruisers and would like shore excursion advice for the ports we are going to.

 

Destinations: Norway, Warnemunde Germany, Tallinn Estonia, St. Petersburg Russia (2 days)), Helsinki Finland, Stockholm Sweden(2 days), Copenhagen Denmark (2 days).

 

We are also open to on board cruise ship advice.

 

We will be spending 4 days before the cruise in London. Any advice on how to structure the day tours or outings? And how about getting around the city?

 

We want to make this trip fun, exciting, and educational for our kids and ourselves.

 

Thanks for the advice!

[kruzgal]

Our first cruise was around the Baltics on the Constellation in 2002, although our children were younger than yours at the time (5 & 8). We loved it and have been on many cruises since.

 

First advice is the obvious one really - do lots of research before you go using the ports of call section, travel guides etc. Even though it was our first cruise we knew we didn't want to do ships tours and so the only place we booked a tour was St. Petersburg. Everything else we did ourselves.

 

Given that we had the children with us every port we tried to do things they would enjoy - Oslo we went to the viking ship museum, Stockholm we went to Tivoli and also another ship museum (sorry the name escapes me), Talinn we loved (best just to wander around the narrow streets and soak up the atmosphere), Helsinki we picked up a bus tour and in Copenhagen we did Tivoli and a stroll around.

 

If you do your planning it really does pay off. I knew before we even got on the ship what we were going to do in each port and how we were going to get there. We have done it this way ever since.

 

Have a great time!

[California Native]

Aloha!

You might want to head over to the ports of call area of the port, in Europe and then Northern Europe.

There a ton of threads over there that will answer your questions.

Also, check out your roll call!

In the meantime, here is a link to our personal travel website and my experiences on 3 Baltic cruises.

The 1st link is my homepage ...

you will find links to pictures of your ports and in the St. Peteresburg pictures I discuss our private tour with Red October

While you are there check out the journal area.

Health will link you to shots info.

Money will link you to currency conversion sheets

Something to Quench your thirst will take you to History of Vodka

The 2nd link is to Baltic Port information..

This covers what we did, how we did it on our own, tours,

things to do check lists in ports and general tips about

the itinerary.

Hope this helps .....

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com/balticcruiseportinformation

[Ohana Cruiser]

Why did you choose not to purchase the excursions from the ship?

 

 

Our first cruise was around the Baltics on the Constellation in 2002, although our children were younger than yours at the time (5 & 8). We loved it and have been on many cruises since.

 

First advice is the obvious one really - do lots of research before you go using the ports of call section, travel guides etc. Even though it was our first cruise we knew we didn't want to do ships tours and so the only place we booked a tour was St. Petersburg. Everything else we did ourselves.

 

Given that we had the children with us every port we tried to do things they would enjoy - Oslo we went to the viking ship museum, Stockholm we went to Tivoli and also another ship museum (sorry the name escapes me), Talinn we loved (best just to wander around the narrow streets and soak up the atmosphere), Helsinki we picked up a bus tour and in Copenhagen we did Tivoli and a stroll around.

 

If you do your planning it really does pay off. I knew before we even got on the ship what we were going to do in each port and how we were going to get there. We have done it this way ever since.

 

Have a great time!

[Ohana Cruiser]

Great web site! Thank you very much for the advice!

 

Aloha!

 

You might want to head over to the ports of call area of the port, in Europe and then Northern Europe.

 

There a ton of threads over there that will answer your questions.

 

Also, check out your roll call!

 

In the meantime, here is a link to our personal travel website and my experiences on 3 Baltic cruises.

 

The 1st link is my homepage ...

you will find links to pictures of your ports and in the St. Peteresburg pictures I discuss our private tour with Red October

 

While you are there check out the journal area.

Health will link you to shots info.

Money will link you to currency conversion sheets

Something to Quench your thirst will take you to History of Vodka

 

The 2nd link is to Baltic Port information..

 

This covers what we did, how we did it on our own, tours,

things to do check lists in ports and general tips about

the itinerary.

 

Hope this helps .....

 

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com

 

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com/balticcruiseportinformation

[Dick in Falls Church]

We went without kids, just the two of us.

In Helsinki, and Tallinn we took the hop-on hop-off buses.

Had been in Copenhagen before, many years ago, so just went downtown.

In Stockholm we went downtown on the shuttle bus and hoofed it from there.

 

 

Last year, we got to Oslo and back to Copenhagen. Took the hop-on hop-off buses both places.

 

Lets you get an overview of the city, with opportunity to get off at any location. Only thing you have to watch for is the closing time, since they don't run late in the evening.

 

Also used a hop-on, hop-off bus in London when there for the first time. Let us get our bearings, and were able to walk most places the rest of that visit and our last time there.

 

The buses, best I recall, run about $35 for a day, and maybe $40 for two days. With both pound and Euro up since we were there, could be more now. Again, best I recall, if you had the stubs from a Stockholm bus, you got a discount in Helsinki--not a great deal, but something.

 

In Russia, we were fortunate to hook up with some others on the Roll Call, and shared a Red October tour for two days. Best I recall, there were 10 or 12 the first day, a few less the second day. Pricing was pretty close to ship tours, but: our guide got us into places the ship tour didn't, got us in ahead of the large groups, was able to find a bathroom when someone had to go (and we didn't have to wait for 30-40 people to get off, line up for a two-holer, and then get back on).

 

Just as a side note--those trips to Scandinavia made the prices of onboard drinks look like real bargains. Open face shrimp sandwich and beer for 2 at Tivoli was something just short of $50. A can of beer in a Norwegian supermarket was about $7.

[smoothy]

Good move to spend time in London before your cruise, between the time change flying over and the hour you lose almost every night while sailing east, its great to have a few days to ease into the time changes. You may want to pick up a tube pass before you go (cheaper than buying it when you are there) as it is a great way to get around the city. I didn't use the hop on/off tour bus, but the regular bus system is very complicated (the map looks like a pile of spaghetti) but the tube is much simpler and will get you close to most tourist stuff.

[Beaniemom59]

We did the Baltic Cruise last August and absolutely loved it. We did the cruisetour that started in Paris-France-Brussels and on to Amsterdam. We found that in any port that we were not going to do a ship excursion that Rick Steve's travel books were priceless. He always includes the information on how to do a tour of the city on your own and gives you step-by-step information as well as information on the hop-on-hop off buses. In Talinn we did what others have mentioned -- just wandered and soaked up the history in the old city. Stockholm we did the Ice Bar and then a walking tour of the old city which was a lot of fun as they have plenty of stories to tell. In Copenhagen we did the hop-on-hop off bus which was so easy to use and economical. You could get anywhere you wanted to go. We did not go to Tivoli; however did visit the Hard Rock Cafe outside the entrace. In Helsinki we took the ship's shuttle to the main area where they have the outdoor market. St. Petersburgh we did the Romanov palaces one day and flew to Moscow the other day. Again, this is a very port intensive cruise and you really need to be well rested as there is a portion of the cruise where you are losing an hour a night due to time changes.

[Bruin Steve]

Our family with 2 kids (9 & 12), are going on Celebrity Constellation 14 day Scandinavian Baltic Cruise this June.

 

We are first time cruisers and would like shore excursion advice for the ports we are going to.

 

Destinations: Norway, Warnemunde Germany, Tallinn Estonia, St. Petersburg Russia (2 days)), Helsinki Finland, Stockholm Sweden(2 days), Copenhagen Denmark (2 days).

 

We are also open to on board cruise ship advice.

 

We will be spending 4 days before the cruise in London. Any advice on how to structure the day tours or outings? And how about getting around the city?

 

We want to make this trip fun, exciting, and educational for our kids and ourselves.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

Ohana,

We took our kids to the Baltic when they were teenagers back in 2001...This year we're going back on our own...

 

How you do each port is really a matter of personal preference and priority...There is nothing wrong with doing any port by shore excursion through the ship...It certainly makes things simple...They deal with all of the logistics for you...They tend not to be appealing to some people due to: 1) money/budget issues or 2) the desire NOT to be on a big bus with 40 other people, which tends to be a problem for some with most, but not all, shore excursions...It tends to bog down at time as you wait for a lot of people to get on and get off the bus...BUT...You don't get lost, you will see at least a fair amount of sites and all the decisions and structure are arranged for you...

 

The other two methods of touring a port are:

1) With a private guide--may be a bit more expensive, but you can cut the cost by sharin with others--not always easy to do when you have kids with you...It does allow you to control your itinerary and timing...

 

2) On your own...For which I really recommend that you do A LOT OF REASEARCH. It is far easier to do in the smaller ports where the sites are close to the pier...

 

As to the specific ports, here's my advice from my personal experience:

 

Oslo, Norway: Not the most exciting of ports...With our kids, we did a Ship's excursion to the Sculpture Park, the Ski Jump and the Open Air Museum...Other excursions will vary a bit with the various "Ship Museums"--Viking boats or the Kon Tiki...The alternative we are likely doing this time is the "Hop-on, Hop-off" Bus--which will allow us to structure these visits on our own schedule at a slightly lower cost.

 

Warnemunde, Germany: For most people, this is a departure point for Berlin...and best to do that as a shore excursion so that the ship deals with the timing of getting you back.

 

Tallinn, Estonia: Great little town and we toured it on our own using Rick Steve's Scandinavia book as a guide...worked out very well. Since we've seen it once, this time we're taking the excursion to Medeival Rakvere. If your kids love Medeival walls and towers, this town has them...Doing it on your own allows you to maintain your own pace.

 

St. Petersburg, Russia (2 days): Here, for practical reasons (Visa requirements) and due to the size and complexity of the city, you simply must have either a tour or a shore excursion. We used the Ship's shore excursions last time, but this time we have put together a private tour with a group of 10 including people from our "Roll Call"...Some of the private tour companies also have slightly larger tours you can sign on to--with maybe a slightly smaller group and a more economical cost...Try contacting Red October, DenRus and Alla and ask if any can accommodate you...

 

Helsinki, Finland: Again, not the most exciting port--the big attractions are the churches...We sis it with the Hop-on, Hop-off bus. This time we're doing a ship's excursion to Porvoo--an old city outside of Helsinki...we haven't been yet but it sounds as though it might have some interest greater than Helsinki itself...

 

Stockholm, Sweden (2 days): Absolutely do not miss the Vasa Museum...It's an old 17th century warship which sunk on it's maiden Voyage and was recovered in the 20th century from the sea bottom remarkably intact...Must be seen...

 

Copenhagen Denmark (2 days): A great town...Definitely take a Canal Boat tour--whether through the ship or on your own...The kids may like Tivoli--an old amusement park with rides and all (though we weren't particularly thrilled)...If you like Art, the Glyptotek museum is outstanding...Our kids just like to stroll and go shopping on the Stroget--the main shopping/walking street...

 

Have fun...

 

Edit: Almost forgot...London pre-cruise...With four days, you have some time...There are a couple of hop-on, hop-off bus companies which make touring London fairly easy...The Tower of London is pretty cool...Also, one night you might want to see about getting tickets for a Broadway type show...There is a ticket booth in Leicester Square with last minute tickets...With that much time, you may wantto find transportation out of town for a day or two nd take the kids either out to Stonehenge or up to Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-Upon-Avon (Neither are more than a "day trip" out of London...

[ISABELLA]

We did Baltic cruise with Princess and our itinerary was a bit different.

It was R/T from Copenhagen. We are not fans of cruiseline tours, so here what we did:

Copenhagen - stayed there before the cruise. Used HOHO bus, took canal tour and visited Tivoli Garden - must see, especially at night.

Oslo - local tour buses right at the pier - city tour, including Vigaland Park for fraction of the cc tour.

Helsinki - not too much to see, we just walked around.

Tallinn - easy to walk around on your own.

Stockholm - if you are docked in town - do it by yourself - Vasa museum - a must, Royal Palace, City Hall museum. Great public transportation.

Russia - use one of the tour agency - Red October or Denrus - save you lot $$.

[Boo's Mom]

Our family with 2 kids (9 & 12), are going on Celebrity Constellation 14 day Scandinavian Baltic Cruise this June.

 

We are first time cruisers and would like shore excursion advice for the ports we are going to.

 

Destinations: Norway, Warnemunde Germany, Tallinn Estonia, St. Petersburg Russia (2 days)), Helsinki Finland, Stockholm Sweden(2 days), Copenhagen Denmark (2 days).

 

We are also open to on board cruise ship advice.

 

 

We want to make this trip fun, exciting, and educational for our kids and ourselves.

 

 

Hello Ohana Cruiser....

We did this exact itinerary, on the Constellation in July 2006.

My children were 10 & 13.

 

Here is a link to my review, which has many details on the tours we took.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=380651

 

It was a huge education for my children.... AND the adults !

Have fun with your research.

[halbfl2]

Did the Baltic in '05 w/Princess. However, we started in London and took the Chunnel train to Brussels and also toured Bruge prior to boarding our ship in Copenhagen.

London--use the tube. There's no reason not to. Get a good guide book and you will have all the info you need telling you what stops to get off at, etc. Don't miss the Museum where Churchill had his bunker during WWII. In 4 days you should have time to go to Windsor, etc. Take the train--no problem.

 

Three things I can think of to see in Oslo are the Kon Tiki, Frogner Park where the Vegeland sculptures are, and the museum that houses the famous painting "The Scream" (it's free). All the Scandinavian cities are exceptionally clean and anyone under 50 or 60 will speak Eng. Their public trans. is fine, and you will be able to get help from anyone.

 

The Warnemunde port is for Berlin. It will be a short trip due to the distance into the city. You may want a ship's excursion here just so you won't be wasting time figuring out how to get around. Don't miss the Checkpoint Charlie museum. There is an Eng. speaking walking tour that takes you to all the spots where the Reich had their buildings, Hitlers bunker, etc. but you may not have time for that and your children may find it boring. I believe the Reichstag is now open, also. The San Souci palace outside of Berlin (in what was E. Germany) is wonderful, but I doubt you'll have time for it. Berlin is VERY interesting. You will be able to see parts of "The Wall" also.

 

Tallin is just a nice place to walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Pretty buildings and views.

 

St. Petersburg is wonderful!!!! You will probably wish that you had more time there. You can arrange a private tour ahead of time. Others have already mentioned a couple of the vendors, but you can google it and get others, and they will give you email addresses for recommendations. If you go this route, you will need to get your own visas before you leave the U.S. from the Russian embassy. Your vendor will walk you through that process. With a private tour, you can stay as long or as little time as you like at the sights. We even had ours take us on a subway ride one stop and back. We had heard that the stations were gorgeous and just going down the escalator is an adventure. They are very deep. Remember, you won't be able to read anything here as they use the Cyrilian (sp) alphabet.

 

Helsinki is like and American city with people speaking Finnish. (they also are fluent in Eng.) There isn't a ton to see here. Another cruises already mentioned the churches, etc. You can walk or easily use public buses.

 

In Stockholm, the big sights are the City Hall where the Noble prizes are awarded and the Vasa museum. Also walking around the old town.

 

Another contributor has already covered anything I would have to say about Copenhagen.

 

You will love this cruise, it's very port intensive, so you will be tired at night.

[spartan21]

We did the Baltic cruise in 2003; did all ports on our own with the exception of St. Petersburg, where we used Red October. As others have said, it's not a place to wander around on your own.

 

As far as London goes, I'd also recommend the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, and the Museum of the City of London, in the Barbican Center. Both are interesting for kids and for adults. I second the recommendation of the Tower of London. The Beefeaters do a great job of making the tour interesting to people of all ages.

 

have a great time!

[Ohana Cruiser]

Aloha,

I noticed you took the Red October tour in St. Pete Russia. We are booked with them. Thanks for all the advice on your website.

 

Have you taken the RO tour in Berlin Germany? It is an all day tour and it is quite expensive for 7 of us.

 

Thanks,

Ohana

 

Aloha!

 

You might want to head over to the ports of call area of the port, in Europe and then Northern Europe.

 

There a ton of threads over there that will answer your questions.

 

Also, check out your roll call!

 

In the meantime, here is a link to our personal travel website and my experiences on 3 Baltic cruises.

 

The 1st link is my homepage ...

you will find links to pictures of your ports and in the St. Peteresburg pictures I discuss our private tour with Red October

 

While you are there check out the journal area.

Health will link you to shots info.

Money will link you to currency conversion sheets

Something to Quench your thirst will take you to History of Vodka

 

The 2nd link is to Baltic Port information..

 

This covers what we did, how we did it on our own, tours,

things to do check lists in ports and general tips about

the itinerary.

 

Hope this helps .....

 

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com

 

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com/balticcruiseportinformation

[embellish]

Ohana,

 

You've been given lots of great advice by the many who have responded and I especially concur with the fine recommendations proffered by BruinSteve & halbfl2. In Copenhagen, we did the ship-sponsored bicycle tour, which was a delightful way of seeing the city (if bicycles are your thing). The overnight destinations are particularly intriguing as they provide you with the opportunity to see those cities at night as well. If you stay in a central location in London, much can be accessed by foot or through a combination of foot and the Tube. Enjoy; it's a lovely itinerary.