Any advice on a Baltic cruise?

[Kancruze]

We're cruised a few times before but never in Europe. DH and I know absolutely nothing about cruising there but are intrigued by St. Petersburg.

 

Another couple and ourselves are thinking of the Sun in the Baltics next April for 12 days. We love the Sun and its crew so it would a real treat. However, is it cold and dreary in April? Also it seems that there are a lot of places to cover in 12 days. Is the itinerary rushed and exhausting?

 

Anyone had the privilege of doing this cruise? Your help and advice would be appreciated.

[Ms belp]

That is on my "to do" list. It is supposed to be wonderful!:)

[Bennett'sCruise]

This is a great cruise ... on a great ship. We did it last year ... early June ... on the Jewel. Our weather was on the cool side but still very nice ... no rain. Sorry, don't know about April.

It is a very port-intensive itinerary. But every port is extremely interesting. It was on our list for a number of years and now have wonderful memories and pictures ... which, btw, I was just looking at this afternoon. :)

[Ms belp]

This is a great cruise ... on a great ship. We did it last year ... early June ... on the Jewel. Our weather was on the cool side but still very nice ... no rain. Sorry' date=' don't know about April.[/font']

 

It is a very port-intensive itinerary. But every port is extremely interesting. It was on our list for a number of years and now have wonderful memories and pictures ... which, btw, I was just looking at this afternoon. :)

 

Ooh, pictures!:) Can you post some?:D

[Kancruze]

Ooh, pictures!:) Can you post some?:D

 

Yes, please Bennett's, that would be wonderful and also thanks for the reply. And Ms belp, thanks for the encouragement. I've noticed you do that a lot.:)

[mummsie]

we just got off the Jewel about 3 weeks ago. What a fantastic time we had and St. Petersburg is just amazing. We did the den rus tour - we basically missed all the crowds all the way through - they were really good :-) - mummsie

[sjbdtz]

Tonnes of pics from the Baltics in my Webshots (see link in my signature, below.)

[lhall85917]

Great itinerary, I would guess it would be a little cool in April but still enjoyable. This is a great cruise to do a lot of excursions on your own - there is a lot of great advice on the ports of call boards. I have a few pics in the links in my signature.

[NCSunshine]

Ihall, thanks for sharing your photos.. great book and great photo's.. We are in an AB penthouse and can't wait.. really looking forward to the cruise. I'll show the kids your photo's before we leave so they can get some idea of what we will be seeing.

 

the only port we have an excursion booked for is St. Petersburg.. one each day.. with the ship. (with 3 children, we didn't want to spend a ton of money and be out sightseeing for hours at a time.).. Helsinki we are visiting friends and the others we will likely do on our own things.

[Kancruze]

I appreciate everyone for sharing your photos and good advice. Cruising in the Baltics looks and sounds wonderful.

 

Does NCL have a couple of ships there? I know that the Sun will be there next year cause we just got off an Alaskan cruise on her. But some of you said that you went on the Jewel too? What was that like? Is the Jewel bigger than the Sun?

 

We're new to NCL but sure have met our match. We love freestylin'. I'm also glad I found these boards with all you cruisin' nuts!! lol You're chock full of advice. Thanks.

[Hunding]

I appreciate everyone for sharing your photos and good advice. Cruising in the Baltics looks and sounds wonderful.

 

Does NCL have a couple of ships there? I know that the Sun will be there next year cause we just got off an Alaskan cruise on her. But some of you said that you went on the Jewel too? What was that like? Is the Jewel bigger than the Sun?

 

We're new to NCL but sure have met our match. We love freestylin'. I'm also glad I found these boards with all you cruisin' nuts!! lol You're chock full of advice. Thanks.

 

The Sun is replacing the Jewel in the Baltics next summer.

[mummsie]

I appreciate everyone for sharing your photos and good advice. Cruising in the Baltics looks and sounds wonderful.

 

Does NCL have a couple of ships there? I know that the Sun will be there next year cause we just got off an Alaskan cruise on her. But some of you said that you went on the Jewel too? What was that like? Is the Jewel bigger than the Sun?

 

We're new to NCL but sure have met our match. We love freestylin'. I'm also glad I found these boards with all you cruisin' nuts!! lol You're chock full of advice. Thanks.

they only have one ship at a time. They are swapping back next year to the Sun I believe. I much preferred the Sun - nicer ship and more friendly but still had a good time on the Jewel - no cruise is a bad cruise :D - mummsie

[cp556]

Another couple and ourselves are thinking of the Sun in the Baltics next April for 12 days. We love the Sun and its crew so it would a real treat. However, is it cold and dreary in April?

 

 

Looks like Norwegian Sun will sail to Europe on April 26 on a 15-day Transatlantic, and her first Baltic Capital cruise will be May 11 ...

[Lanalei]

We are doing the Baltics on the Aug. 2 sailing. Did you do the Denrus Value Tour? If so, did you feel rushed with the itinerary?

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Lynda

[mummsie]

We are doing the Baltics on the Aug. 2 sailing. Did you do the Denrus Value Tour? If so, did you feel rushed with the itinerary?

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Lynda

Yes we did the value tour. It was very rushed but there is so much to see in such a little time. It just gave you a taste of everything - especially the Hermitage. I highly recommend it though. Just we warned - the toilets in Russia aren't that good and the toilet paper is really bad. Hint - take your own :D. We had lunch at the Russia Club opposite the Church of the Spilled Blood and the toilets really have problems coping with the number of people.

It also takes a long time to get off the ship - The Russian government have just changed their policy and I think they had some sort of arument with NCL so they are doing a go slow. We noticed there was another ship tied up just down from us and people were going quite quickly through immigration from that ship. - mummsie

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Know what Russian toilet paper and John Wayne have in common?

 

They both rough, and tough, and don't take spit of anybody!:)

[Kancruze]

Yes we did the value tour. It was very rushed but there is so much to see in such a little time. It just gave you a taste of everything - especially the Hermitage.......

 

Was this in St. Petersburg? Do you go to any other city in Russia? Were the people friendly and speak much English? So many questions? :o

 

I'm glad that the Sun will be cruising in the Baltics. Some of the crew told us that and since we liked them & the Sun so much we thought we'd look into it.

 

Sure glad to have found NCL since frankly DH was not going to cruise anymore cause he wasn't wearing suits or tuxes while he was on holiday!! Foot Down!! lol So I dress up on notso formal nights and he wears khaki's. Makes us all happy.:)

[Kancruze]

Know what Russian toilet paper and John Wayne have in common?

 

They both rough, and tough, and don't take spit of anybody!:)

 

hahaha That is funny Magnolia Blossom! I guess I'd better bring a roll of Charmin'.

[mummsie]

Was this in St. Petersburg? Do you go to any other city in Russia? Were the people friendly and speak much English? So many questions? :o

 

I'm glad that the Sun will be cruising in the Baltics. Some of the crew told us that and since we liked them & the Sun so much we thought we'd look into it.

 

Sure glad to have found NCL since frankly DH was not going to cruise anymore cause he wasn't wearing suits or tuxes while he was on holiday!! Foot Down!! lol So I dress up on notso formal nights and he wears khaki's. Makes us all happy.:)

 

Yes this was St Petersburg. No you don't really go anywhere else. First day we were taken by bus to the Metro where the tour leader gave us a token to do a train trip. I think we went about 3 stops and then got off and back on the bus. Then we went out of town for about 30 minutes to see one of the main palaces.

 

The tour guides spoke excellent English as did the wait staff where we went for lunch. They also drop you at a souvenir shop (they also spoke English). They also accept Euro or USD for their goodies which made it easy - we didn't bother getting any local currency. All questions are welcome.

 

We ate at Tsars most nights - that's the dress up free restaurant - but all you need is a shirt with a collar and anything non jeans for the guys :D. We love to dress up normally but because we were travelling from Australia the luggage restrictions are much stricter so we didn't have the luxury of space to put good clothes in. - mummsie

[Kancruze]

Thanks Mummsie. It sounds like you had a super time. I'm sure that we've made a good choice to go there so now we just have to figure out when and how much. I think I'll just wait a bit and see if I can pick up a deal. :D That would be nice.

 

In the meantime, I'm going to check out all the ports on the boards here.

[Lanalei]

Mumsie,

 

Thanks for your advice. One more question - how fast did the guide walk? Was it at a comfortable pace or did you have to scurry to keep up? My husband, I would say, walks about 2 miles per hour. Do you think that is fast enough? I would love to do the Value Tour rather than pay double for a custom tour but I don't want to be sorry that I chose the wrong tour.

 

Thanks.

 

Lynda

[mummsie]

Mumsie,

 

Thanks for your advice. One more question - how fast did the guide walk? Was it at a comfortable pace or did you have to scurry to keep up? My husband, I would say, walks about 2 miles per hour. Do you think that is fast enough? I would love to do the Value Tour rather than pay double for a custom tour but I don't want to be sorry that I chose the wrong tour.

 

Thanks.

 

Lynda

It was quite fast - a few people had trouble keeping up especially up the stairs. Apparently its on their web site that if you are slow at walking this tour is probably not the best option. Maria the guide mentioned it a few times. There were a few times when she offered alternatives for the slower folk and we just met them at a predecided place. We had no problems as we are fit competition ballroom dancers. - mummsie

[ben55124]

We were on the Jewel Baltics cruise in May 2008. It was cool -- usually highs around 60 F. Take a jacket. It is enjoyable if you don't expect to lay out at a beach. You will see ports most people never visit.

 

Lots of daylight -- sunset at midnight.

[orchid72]

Another couple and ourselves are thinking of the Sun in the Baltics next April for 12 days. We love the Sun and its crew so it would a real treat. However, is it cold and dreary in April? Also it seems that there are a lot of places to cover in 12 days. Is the itinerary rushed and exhausting?

 

We did this cruise in early May, so I can't really say what what the weather is like in April; however, I will say that while the temperature in May was a bit on the nippy side, we had absolute sunshine practically everyday (my husband and I actually got a bit sunburned - silly us did not put sunscreen on). Having said that, though, I think the weather in the Baltics could be a bit unpredictable, so just prepare for cold and damp too....

 

Also it seems that there are a lot of places to cover in 12 days. Is the itinerary rushed and exhausting?

 

There were a lot of places that we covered in 12 days, but I did not feel rushed and/or exhausted. Yes, one had to get up pretty early in the morning, but we just went to bed early (there really were no lively parties that tempted us to stay up late anyway). Also, you get 4 sea days out of the 12, so you do get some down time. I found the 12-day Baltic cruise more relaxing than the 7-day med cruise (which we found to be a little bit more port intensive), but I enjoyed them both thoroughly.

[Kancruze]

There were a lot of places that we covered in 12 days, but I did not feel rushed and/or exhausted. Yes, one had to get up pretty early in the morning, but we just went to bed early (there really were no lively parties that tempted us to stay up late anyway). Also, you get 4 sea days out of the 12, so you do get some down time. I found the 12-day Baltic cruise more relaxing than the 7-day med cruise (which we found to be a little bit more port intensive), but I enjoyed them both thoroughly.

 

Thanks for this orchid, I was really wondering how intensive it is cause one of us is quite slow!! It sounds so exciting though that I'm sure we'll all be so agog that we won't notice until we collapse at night. lol

 

I can't wait but I think we'll be going in either May or early June as most of you have suggested. A whole lot warmer. :D