Looking for Recommendations for Shore

[Budge]

Hello, I am new to the board. My wife and I are booked on the Crown Princess for the Baltic tour at the end of May. I've read about a dozen or so posts of past members who have given reviews on their cruise and shore experiences. They have been very helpful. However, we have a few additional questions and I would welcome any comments or recommendations.

 

1. My wife is interested in purchasing a Faberge egg in St. Petersburg. We have booked a group tour with Alla Tours (based on recommendations from Board members.) Has anyone purchased any such item while in St. Petersburg? Any recommendations? What things should we be thinking of/watch out for? We are not thinking of spending thousands, maybe around $500.

 

2. After much reading up and looking at the cruiseship-offered land tours, we have decided not to take any of their tours for other cities. If we were to take any of their tours, they would be in Oslo and Stockholm. However, given the short amount of time we have in both cities, do you think we would be better served to take tours or should we do it on our own?

 

3. We are interested in buying some glass work in Oslo. Any recommendations for stores there? Can we get glass work (at a decent price) in town or do we need to take the factory tour?

 

4. Any other general recommendations would be welcome.

 

Thanks. Budge

[kaisatsu]

I can't address all of your questions, but I'll give you some feedback for Oslo!

 

2. After much reading up and looking at the cruiseship-offered land tours, we have decided not to take any of their tours for other cities. If we were to take any of their tours, they would be in Oslo and Stockholm. However, given the short amount of time we have in both cities, do you think we would be better served to take tours or should we do it on our own?

Oslo is a very easy city to explore on your own. A bit expensive at times, but definitely easy to get around! I made a Google Map a while ago that has the main cruise ship piers marked along with some of the major sights and useful transit routes: Oslo Cruise Port Guide

 

According to the Oslo Port Authority's schedule, it looks like the Crown Princess is scheduled to dock at Akershuskai. This will make getting into town extremely simple, since Akershuskai is just a few minutes walk from downtown.

 

3. We are interested in buying some glass work in Oslo. Any recommendations for stores there? Can we get glass work (at a decent price) in town or do we need to take the factory tour??

The Hadeland Glassworks factory is an hour's drive from Oslo, so I don't know if you'd be able to see much else if you opted for the tour. I can't say more than that, since I've never actually been there! Maybe we'll check it out some weekend!

 

However, there are definitely places downtown that would carry pieces. I wouldn't really expect the factory to offer significant discounts, since everything in Norway is pretty expensive anyway. My first recommendation would be GlasMagasinet (Stortorvet 9; marked on the Google map). This department store has a fairly large section of Hadeland glass, right near the entrance. They also have a decent gift section carrying Norwegian and Norway-related products, including Norwegian pewter. Another place that I believe carries Hadeland is Steen & Strøm (Kongens gate 23; also on the map), another department store in downtown Oslo. They have a lot of great Scandinavian design home products, but I feel they carry fewer local Norwegian products.

 

If you have any other Oslo-related questions, feel free to add them to this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=738225 and I'll do my best to answer them!

 

Have a great trip!

-Meg

[Sue G]

Hi

 

We did the baltic 2 years ago and the only port where we did dhip excursions was St |Petersburg. Stockholm is easy to do on your own as is Tallin. Helsinki we caught the shuttle into town then explored on our own. We had been to STockholm before but for both here and Tallin we used Rick Steve's walking tours which proved very successful - in fact I acted as guide for about 6 fellow passengers and he gave enough info about each location to make it interesting.

 

We purchased russian dolls, music box and carved bear in St Petersburg. As you are on a private tour they may be able to take you to where you can purchase your egg but most guides have their "own" shops that they take visitors to as they normally earn commission on anything you buy.

 

Sue G

 

Enjoy the trip.

[Lair Bear]

In Tallin, Estonia, (if you have that as one of the ports) you might consider a walking tour as described below.

 

 

http://www.*****.com/tallinnwalk.html

 

Sometimes it may be better to do a ship tour when the amount of time in port is short and the traffic heavy. You don't want to miss the boat.

In Gdanzk, for example, with only six hours ashore, take one of the ship tours.

[Budge]

Thanks to you all for your insights and recommendations. We'll definitely take them to heart.