driving21 Posted February 3, 2009 #1 Share Posted February 3, 2009 We are sailing on the Princess in July to Scandinavia & Russia etc.Has anyone been on this cruise if so were there any excursions to recommend and what was the weather/temperatures like in these countries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLS Posted February 3, 2009 #2 Share Posted February 3, 2009 We are sailing on the Princess in July to Scandinavia & Russia etc.Has anyone been on this cruise if so were there any excursions to recommend and what was the weather/temperatures like in these countries? Sorry can't help with the weather, we went in Sept. However the Ports are wonderful. Highly reccommend doing a private tour in St Petersburg. We used Red Oct, but have asl heard good things about DenRus. (They can match you with other to save money) It's a very Port intense trip so wew did soem on our own. Estonia is as easy one (you can walk to the Old City from the Ship) Helsinki has a great Hop on hop off bus and we also took the ferry to Sommelina Island. Stockholm is beautiful (we have friends there so can't say anything about tours since they took us around) Oslo is too short a stop. Great City , do see the Viking Museum. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driving21 Posted February 3, 2009 Author #3 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for the info.We have been told that you require a visa to go on private tours in Russia so we are going to stick with the ships excursions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTGirl Posted February 3, 2009 #4 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for the info.We have been told that you require a visa to go on private tours in Russia so we are going to stick with the ships excursions. I think that all the private tour companies arrange for your visas. We did Alla Tours with Victoria as our guide. Victoria now has her own company. She is very good. There is probably a lot of information about her and the other tour operators on the Baltic board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192 There is a lot to do in Stockholm. There is a visitor center right at the pier. We got a Stockholm card and used it for transportation and admission to several attractions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driving21 Posted February 3, 2009 Author #5 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Hi thanks for your help.Do you need to have your visa organised before departing on the cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edste Posted February 3, 2009 #6 Share Posted February 3, 2009 If you take a ships tour the visa in Russia is arranged for you. Make a copy of the front of your passport because it is collected in Russia when you leave the ship. We were there in the beginning of August and it was unusually hot. We stuck with the ship's tours in Russia and Poland but did all the other ports on our own. Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egit Posted February 3, 2009 #7 Share Posted February 3, 2009 We did the Denrus value excursion in STP. It was excellent, you do not need your own visa Denrus arrange it as a block visa. We had no problems at all leaving the ship. The ship information is very misleading. All the ports were wonderful. We were there in August and had lovely weather hot and sunny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted February 3, 2009 #8 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for the info.We have been told that you require a visa to go on private tours in Russia so we are going to stick with the ships excursions. Not true. If you sign up for a tour with DenRus, Red October, etc., they will take care of the visa requirements. Cruiise lines will often word things to make it look like you must take a ship's tour. If you want to tour on your own, you need to secure a visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted February 3, 2009 #9 Share Posted February 3, 2009 We are sailing on the Princess in July to Scandinavia & Russia etc.What was the weather/temperatures like in these countries? You can go to http://fp.homestead.com/weather.html and see weather links to the ports being visited on this itinerary. At each link, you can pick a day in the past and see what the weather was like at that time. Of course, like the stock market, past performance of weather is no true prediction of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennbr9 Posted February 4, 2009 #10 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Thanks for the info.We have been told that you require a visa to go on private tours in Russia so we are going to stick with the ships excursions. Would strongly advise you to use Denrus or Red October. They handle the visa issues for you. You are in a small group vs a large bus load of Princess people. You see a lot more in each day as you go to the front of the line or get into sights early ahead of Cruise Bus Herd. You will also pay more through the Cruise line and see less. Denrus was very professional and we greatly enjoyed it. In two days we say Catherines Palace, Peterhof, the Hermitage, Spilled Bllod Cathedral, the other Cathedral ( drawing a blank on the name), had a Canal tour of St. Petersburg, two nice lunches, took the Hydrofoil from Peterhof, and a couple other things I will think of when I post this:-) Anyway, two full days for sure. We were there in 07 and had a group of 11 Cruise Critic people from our Roll Call. We also sat as a group of eight at dinner. All pre arranged through conversing on the Roll Call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grannycb Posted February 4, 2009 #11 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Check out the Roll Call section for your sailing date on the Emerald Princess. You may be able to join others on some of the tours. Also, visit the Ports of Call/Europe/Northern Europe & Baltics section for more information. Have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLS Posted February 4, 2009 #12 Share Posted February 4, 2009 You will have a grand time--especially if touring in a small group with DenRus or Red Oct .they do handle the Visa needs and do NOT believe what the Ship will tell you about waiting for all ships tours to depart before you can. We just waited until the Ship was cleared by the Russian officials and we simply walked off straight into the Russian Immigration. All you need is your tour ticket, passport and the officials could care less if you're on a Ship Tour or a private one. Enjoy St Petersburg it is an amazing City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted February 4, 2009 #13 Share Posted February 4, 2009 All you need is your tour ticket, passport and the officials could care less if you're on a Ship Tour or a private one. And a Xerox copy of the photo page in you passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alabama ghost Posted February 4, 2009 #14 Share Posted February 4, 2009 We rented a van with a guide and driver from Princess for one day during our stop in St. Petersburg several years ago and it was the best tour we had for the entire Baltic trip. There were 8 of us, a family group, and we determined where we wanted to go, didn't have to wait in any lines and our guide was great. We'd do this again in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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