Baltics... again!

[devon girl]

We're off in just under 2 weeks on Arcadia to the Baltics, & are just sorting out our excursions. Have booked some for Helskini & Copenhagen, but searching through this site, looks like they're are some good diy tours available using the HOHO buses instead. Can anyone who has been to these places tell me if P & O provide shuttle buses from the ports & is there any charge for them? Thanks.

[scrozuk]

We're off in just under 2 weeks on Arcadia to the Baltics, & are just sorting out our excursions. Have booked some for Helskini & Copenhagen, but searching through this site, looks like they're are some good diy tours available using the HOHO buses instead. Can anyone who has been to these places tell me if P & O provide shuttle buses from the ports & is there any charge for them? Thanks.

 

I know this has the same itinery as what our family had in May on Ventura, mainly because a colleague of ours was going on your cruise.

 

You should be able to find my review on our Baltics cruise, and at the bottom, there should be a review of the ports as well.

 

Personally, I feel that you could probably do most of the sights on your own pretty much, apart from St. Petersburg.

 

Copenhagen, if you get the allocated P&O berth, you should be able to walk for a little while and be at the Little Mermaid statue. Then you're not far from the centre of town, so if it's a nice sunny day, would make a good walk and chance to stretch the pins.

 

Stockholm. We arranged to go to the Absolut IceBar independently, and we walked there ourselves, through the old town area. It rained hard that day, so we were in and out of the shopping malls. Hopefully you'll get better weather. Word of advice on way into Stockholm. GET UP EARLY! There's a fantastic archipelago on the way in, and well worth getting up for. Or you could catch it on the way out, or both. We had to tender to shore, but it was like a five minute ride, then you could simply walk into town.

 

 

Helsinki, we were a bit further out, and there was a shuttle to the town. Think it was $15 per adult, children free. It's about a 15-20 min walk into town from the port, but as I wasn't sure about where we were, took the shuttle into town.

 

St. Petersburg, I think should defer to either taking the shore excursions with the ship, or, as someone no doubt will say, you can book a private shore excursion through companies like Red Oktober, Anastasia, Lallatours (sp?).

 

Did notice that P&O now have it where you can hire a private excursion through them, which includes trips to the sites in the city. Can't remember if they included entrance to say Hermitage et al. Word of advice, get the big tour of the day out the way the first day. Peterhof is definitely worth a visit.

 

Tallinn, was a free shuttle ride into lower town, where you could walk around, and we found this to be the best stop out the lot. There are loads of sights to see that you can do yourself, wonderful views, and the people really friendly. We stopped for a drink at the Olde Hansa, a great medieval style pub. Really authentic. This we found on the Vana Turg.

 

Oslo, you are practically berthed on the city, right by the city hall, so again, you can find your own way around quite easily. There are harbour tours going out less than 15 minutes walk from where you berth, and you can either take a boat ride out to the Fjords in the aread, 1hr or 2hr trips, or you could catch a boat from there as well to the Bygdoy area to see the Viking ship museum.

 

Kristiansand, you can walk into the town yourself as well, but it's very much a brief stopping point before coming home. There are trips you can take to a museum out of town, but we were quite happy just to chill out in the shops for one more time. That and we weren't sure what the weather was going to do that day.

 

Best bet it to Google each location. If you give me a while, I might be able to post up some of the city websites, which will have maps, and also if there's any indication where you may be berthed at each city.

 

Scrozuk

p.s. I know P&O give you some maps onboard, but sometimes by going to the local tourist websites, you can get some maps with more detail and sights that aren't detailed on P&O's maps, e.g. the KGB headquarters in Tallinn!

[scrozuk]

Mea Culpa,

 

Seems that my friends cruise to the Baltics differed somewhat from ours. You don't go to Kristiansand, but you go to Bruges and Gdansk.

 

Also seen that you go to Oslo first, but you don't berth at the Akershus, but rather the Flipstad point as you'll also have Queen Mary 2 there as well. Still not too far out. Have a look at this map.

 

http://www.oslohavn.no/english/cruise/

 

Gdansk, I can't seem to find Arcadia in the port listing. But I think it might be the Oliwskie Quay.

 

Stockholm, just had a look and you're not listed there either. Bad thought came to mind and found that instead of docking in the centre of town, you are scheduled to be docked in Nynashamn, which is about an hours drive away. I hope this changes for you, because that would be a killer. Stockholm's Port website is :-

 

http://www.stoports.com/

 

Tallinn's website is :- http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/

 

Not going to work out where you might dock in St. Petersburg, can't find it on the port website. Hopefully someone could help out here. With the larger ships you had to dock slightly further out, but the smaller ones can go further into the city, and experience less traffic congestion.

 

Helsinki - You'll be in the West Harbour like we were, so again, a simple shuttle bus into town, and everything is within easy reach. http://www.portofhelsinki.fi/default.asp?docId=13051

 

Copenhagen has you down in berth c190, which I think is just as I said it was, a short walk from the Little Mermaid statue. Interestingly, on our tour, the guide was saying that Copenhagen were 'lending' the statue to China for a year. Why on earth would they do that.

 

Worth checking the Copenhagen website for further info. http://www.cruisecopenhagen.com/

 

Scrozuk

[tinkwings]

How did it go? we are doing this cruise in May 2010???

[devon girl]

It was excellent, a lot to pack in to 14 days! The best bits, St Petersbury, especially the excursion to the Hermitage in the evening, (altho we heard good reports about the ballet & folklore evening as well), Tallinn also good, as was Stockholm altho we docked an hour outside, Oslo, Gdansk & Copenhagen. Bit disappointed with Helsinki, tho after such a busy schedule we were a bit shattered by the time we reached there, the weather wasn't great & it was a Sunday, so not a lot doing!! We thoroughly enjoyed it, no complaints, oh & everybody was dressed up on formal nights!!! & my oh shirts came from matalan!:)

[tinkwings]

:)

It was excellent, a lot to pack in to 14 days! The best bits, St Petersbury, especially the excursion to the Hermitage in the evening, (altho we heard good reports about the ballet & folklore evening as well), Tallinn also good, as was Stockholm altho we docked an hour outside, Oslo, Gdansk & Copenhagen. Bit disappointed with Helsinki, tho after such a busy schedule we were a bit shattered by the time we reached there, the weather wasn't great & it was a Sunday, so not a lot doing!! We thoroughly enjoyed it, no complaints, oh & everybody was dressed up on formal nights!!! & my oh shirts came from matalan!:)

:) Good to hear you had a great time.....did you do the excurions for all the ports with P & O or did you venture out on your own?

Any top tips? Was the food good? x

[devon girl]

We did P & O excursions in Oslo, tho I think it would've been relatively easy to do on your own, but we enjoyed it nevertheless (can't remember what it was called but it included the viking ship museum & vigeland sculpture park), also did one in Stockholm, as we docked an hour outside, it seemed sensible, St Petersburg we did tours both mornings, & the evening at the Hermitage, not to be missed, & also took excusion to Ghent from zeebrugge, this wasn't our cup of tea & we maybe wished we'd done something else. Gdansk was easy on our own, was nice place, as was Tallinn, & Copenhagen. Helsinki was a bit dull for us, but Sunday & being tired didn't help! My tip would be to use internet & these boards & the port ones to find out what's in each place, & then decide what you want to do. We had a fabulous time, & I've already said I'd be ready to do the same cruise again in a few years time! Another thing to remember is the clocks go an hour forward 3 nights at the beginning, so for me who's not usually a late niter, coping with retiring at midnight at the earliest & losing an hour, it took an afternoon nap to sort me out!!!

[devon girl]

food was good, I'm a coeliac, so have a gluten & wheat free diet, & I was catered for really well. There was always a good choice, & whilst I've read reports of bland food in the restaurants, we couldn't fault anything. We used the main restaurant at breakfast too, didn't fancy the scrum in the buffet, & this always worked well, even on early morning excursions.

[tinkwings]

Thank u devon girl x:)

[tinkwings]

One other question what did you do about all the different currencies for each country? :)

[devon girl]

We took Euros & some Danish & Estonian money, but there was no need, everywhere took the Euro, & to be honest, we used very little currency. (Everywhere is very expensive, especially Helsinki) In St Petersburg, there were people selling souvenirs (not sure if they were official sellers) at the palaces etc, & they all took Euros too. If I went again, sorry, when I go again, I'd only take Euros.

[scrozuk]

We took Euros & some Danish & Estonian money, but there was no need, everywhere took the Euro, & to be honest, we used very little currency. (Everywhere is very expensive, especially Helsinki) In St Petersburg, there were people selling souvenirs (not sure if they were official sellers) at the palaces etc, & they all took Euros too. If I went again, sorry, when I go again, I'd only take Euros.

 

Yeah, it is expensive in that region, but we all knew that already.

 

About the souvenir sellers in Russia. I remember when going to the Peterhof (btw, if you get the chance to, then this is the trip you MUST do as it's a fantastic place!), we were waiting in the queue and over our radio headsets the tour guide was telling us that we shouldn't buy from them.

 

Mainly what they do is sell you russian dolls or whatever at inflated prices, but take Euros. So you give them a 10 or 20 Euro note, and they give you change. Then later on they come up and tell you that the Euro note you gave them was counterfeit, so you then feel obliged to give them a different note, while they give you the 'original' that you gave them. What turns out is that you have already given them a good Euro note, they give you back a duff one, and then you then give them another good Euro note.

 

So be warned. What you could do to protect yourself is to mark any Euro notes you give out, so if they come back later you can look for your mark on the note. That and don't buy from the souvenir touts.

 

Scrozuk

[tinkwings]

Yeah, it is expensive in that region, but we all knew that already.

 

About the souvenir sellers in Russia. I remember when going to the Peterhof (btw, if you get the chance to, then this is the trip you MUST do as it's a fantastic place!), we were waiting in the queue and over our radio headsets the tour guide was telling us that we shouldn't buy from them.

 

Mainly what they do is sell you russian dolls or whatever at inflated prices, but take Euros. So you give them a 10 or 20 Euro note, and they give you change. Then later on they come up and tell you that the Euro note you gave them was counterfeit, so you then feel obliged to give them a different note, while they give you the 'original' that you gave them. What turns out is that you have already given them a good Euro note, they give you back a duff one, and then you then give them another good Euro note.

 

So be warned. What you could do to protect yourself is to mark any Euro notes you give out, so if they come back later you can look for your mark on the note. That and don't buy from the souvenir touts.

 

Scrozuk

 

TOP TIPS - Thank You :)