British Isles/Baltic Sea Cruise Recommendations

[nanocats]

I'm planning on a Europe cruise end of June. Since the mediterranean will be too hot for us, we're looking at a British Isle or Baltic Sea Cruise. The following itineraries are available. I don't know much of these ports (just starting research) and would love some advice. We like History/Architecture, such as Castles, Churches, Ruins, and Nature. We (my husband and I) are in our late 20's/30's and I've only been to London and he's only been to London and Paris, so most of this would be very new. Thanks!

 

Rt. London(Southampton), 12 days:

Guerney(St. Peter Port), England

Cork(Cobh)

Dublin,Ireland

Liverpool,England

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Glasgow(Greenock), Scotland

Inverness/Loch Ness(Invergordon),Scotland

Edinburgh(South Queensferry), Scotland

Paris/Normandy(Le Havre), France

 

Rt. Harwich, England, 12 days:

Le Havre(Paris), France

Cherbourg, France

Cork, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Greenock(Glasgow), Scotland

Geiranger, Norway

Flam, Norway

Alesund, Norway

Bergen, Norway

 

Rt. Copenhangen, 10 days:

Warnemunde(Berlin), Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

St. Petersburg, Russia (2 days)

Helsinki,Finland

Stockholm,Sweden

Kiel,Germany (does not go through the Kiel Canal)

 

Rotterdam to Copenhagen, 12 days:

Oslo, Norway

Arhus, Denmark

Warnemunde(Berlin),Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

St. Petersburg (2 days)

Helsinki,Finland

Stockholm,Sweden

[bigwally]

I'm planning on a Europe cruise end of June.

Rotterdam to Copenhagen, 12 days:

Oslo, Norway

Arhus, Denmark

Warnemunde(Berlin),Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

St. Petersburg (2 days)

Helsinki,Finland

Stockholm,Sweden

 

Didn't we just do this? :)

 

Naturally, I recommend THIS one. :D

[nanocats]

Yep, my dates and time changed. I'm leaning towards that one for the Baltic. The two British Isles ones are tempting too as I've always wanted to do them (though wonder if a land trip would be better).

[FinelyRetired]

We'll all likely tell you different things.

 

For me...as my interests are history, castles & nature, I'd pick cruise one on the list. I've done both type cruises separately. If Castles, History AND Beautiful Scenery as a priority, I'd pick the 3 stop Scotland/2 stop Ireland itinerary in a heartbeat.

 

For history & architecture, I dearly loved seeing St Petersburg & Tallin, but saw little Nature/Lansdcape there nowhere nearly as spectacular as the Scottish Highlands & Ireland. And splendid castles/ruins/ANCIENT history to boot!

 

I'll let others chime in and further confuse you! You've got some great choices.

 

Martha

[bigwally]

Yep, my dates and time changed. I'm leaning towards that one for the Baltic. The two British Isles ones are tempting too as I've always wanted to do them (though wonder if a land trip would be better).

 

Being completely honest, the only real drawback to the cruise we're on is the fact that you're disembarking in a different city than embarking. This will mean that you have to book an open jaw airline ticket, which could cost you more than a simple return.

 

Like I said on the other thread, we looked at about every ship traversing Europe for spring. But we were already leaning towards a Baltic cruise AND had some very firm criteria to start with:

 

1) I wanted to visit Amsterdam.

2) My wife wanted to go back to Oslo (I did too, but to a lesser extent).

3) We both wanted to visit Berlin and St. Petersburg.

4) We wanted the St. Petersburg visit to be at least 2 days.

5) I would have liked to either sail from or visit a British port.

 

As you can see from the cruise we chose, the only thing I had to sacrifice was my desire for the British port. The Rotterdam ticks every other box.

 

I think you really have to sit down with your hubby and ask yourselves what you really want to do.

 

That said, there is a lot of safety in choosing a predominantly British/Irish itinerary, in that you won't have any language issues to speak of.

 

The itinerary with the Norwegian ports, the scenery will probably be breathtaking, but my wife (who is Norwegian by heritage) will tell you that part is probably going to be a bit light on archeological sites of historical significance.

 

The other Baltic...well I personally don't see any point to going to Kiel if you're not going through the canal. Plus the one we're on gives you Oslo and Amsterdam/Rotterdam, which were "must do" destinations for us.

[kestrel]

We did Rotterdam to Copenhagen last year, and enjoyed the trip very much. The weather was very nice. It did rain a little, but not too much. We plan to take British Isles and Norwegian fjord cruises in the near future. My opinion is that you got to take all of them :D It does not really matter which one first.

 

We flew open jaw from SFO. It was not more expensive (around $1000+ per person in summer 2007). We flew to Amsterdam instead of to Rotterdam, since flights to Amsterdam were a lot cheaper. Rotterdam is only about one hour train ride away.

[Keith1010]

I think they all look quite good.

 

One suggestion I have is for you to look at the ports of embarkation and disembarkation very carefully and consider flights to and from these locations. I think that would help you to narrow down the list.

 

I think one of the ones that includes St. Petersburg would be wonderful.

 

Also think through which embarkation port might be nice to arrive early to for a pre cruise. We enjoyed a nice pre cruise in Copenhagen and I see that also includes the St. Petersburg itinerary.

 

Keith

[insidecabin]

The first thing I would do is forget Paris as part ofthe cruise, its a long bus ride from le harvre do the normandy beaches or something else local.

 

If you must do paris them look at flying in/out that way or take the train from london and open jaw.

 

There is a Paris to Southampton flight but it never seems that cheap.

 

We have done the round UK 3 times(Princess/celebrity) and we live here

 

Great cruises.

[bigwally]

 

Rt. Copenhangen, 10 days:

Warnemunde(Berlin), Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

St. Petersburg, Russia (2 days)

Helsinki,Finland

Stockholm,Sweden

Kiel,Germany (does not go through the Kiel Canal)

 

 

 

If it helps you decide any, HA just put verandahs on sale for this one - starting at $1899pp. That's $200 less than we're paying on an OV on our cruise. If we hadn't already locked in air I would probably be seriously considering a switch for us!

[nanocats]

bigwally - I'm considering either the 10 day Eurodam (due to the balcony being affordable) and the 14 day Eurodam, though we probably couldn't send any more time before or afterward (maybe a day in London):

 

Copenhagen to Dover:

Warnemunde(Berlin), Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

St. Petersburg, Russia (2 days)

Helsinki,Finland

Stockholm,Sweden

Kiel,Germany (does not go through the Kiel Canal)

Copenhagen

Oslo

Amsterdam

[minke]

If you are prepared to take 14 nights, consider Celebrity's Constellation round trip to Baltic from Harwich. Should be easy to get cheap flights to London & the $ - pound rate is in your favour at moment. 2 days in St Pete's & overnight in Copenhagen. We are on this cruise end July & have done it before in Constellation's inaugral year. Believe me so much to see it's worth going back again for & not a better ship to do it on than Connie.

[goody1]

My wife and I have cruised the Baltic twice before and are doing the Copenhagen cruise next Aug on the Eurodam. Its pretty obvious that we love cruising this region, HOWEVER, since you have never been to Scotland or Ireland I have no hesitation in recommending the British Isles cruise. You'll love the scenery, history and friendly people. To be honest though, the only problem you've got is deciding which one as they are all great itineraries.

[coxswain]

Belfast, Northern Ireland

 

My Home town.

 

 

Hop on hop off bus tour

 

Titanic boat tour ( lagan boat company )

 

A trip along the Antrim coast - giants causeway.

 

 

If you need any advice just let me know !!

 

 

 

 

jj.....

[livefree]

It doesn't HAVE to be British Isles OR Baltic, you know. The Norwegian Jewel and the Tahitian Princess do both (particularly the latter, which stays overnight in Dublin and visits Edinburgh and the Lake District). We're going on May 24, but there are at least a couple more options.

[elceecarr]

Hands down for my husband and self is the British Isles trip. We will be taking our 3rd trip there this year in August! Can't tell you enough how much we love the countryside, people and history of the area. Your decision is what to take this year and then take another one next year.

[TLCOhio]

Yep, my dates and time changed. I'm leaning towards that one for the Baltic. The two British Isles ones are tempting too as I've always wanted to do them (though wonder if a land trip would be better).

 

I'm considering either the 10 day Eurodam (due to the balcony being affordable) and the 14 day Eurodam, though we probably couldn't send any more time before or afterward (maybe a day in London):

Copenhagen to Dover:

Warnemunde(Berlin), Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

St. Petersburg, Russia (2 days)

Helsinki,Finland

Stockholm,Sweden

Kiel,Germany (does not go through the Kiel Canal)

Copenhagen

Oslo

Amsterdam

 

Lots of great options! Many posters previously have offered many good pro/con factors to consider. Having done last summer the departig from Dover to finishing in Stockholm cruising route, you know my leaning. We also had stops in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Tallinn The Baltics are very hard and costly to do via land arrangements. Certain of the stops around England, etc. can be more easily done via land options. There's a clear reason why the cruises in the Baltics are very popular. As Keith also noted, going out of one city to start your cruise and ending at another city, allows more flexibility to explore more both before and at the end of the cruise. St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Tallinn would be our top four favorites from our recent cruise in this area. Much to see and experience! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio