Copenhagen to Rotterdam-Questions

[Italy52]

Trying to decide on a cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary. Have done the Med. and are looking for something different. DH is interested in 12-day Treasures of Scandinavia & Russia (Copenhagen, Denmark-Tallinn, Estonia-St Petersburg (Moscow), Russia-Helsinki, Finland-Stockholm, Sweden-Waremunde, Germany-Arhus, Demmark-Oslo, Norway-Rotterdam, Netherlands).
Has anyone taken this cruise? How did you like the ports? Best time of the year to travel weatherwise? Opinion of Rotterdam? Did you need to obtain visas for any of the countries? If so, did your travel agent do this, or did you have to handle it? Thanks in advance for your help.

[doone]

I did this Baltic's cruise on the Amsterdam back in August 2001. This time of year worked well for us and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I thought it was absolutely spectacular and would highly, highly recommend it. To date, this has been my favorite cruise yet. It is, however, a very port intensive cruise. I'd do this itinerary again in a second.

We did not have to obtain visa's as we were covered by the ship's visa, but if you are going to get off the ship in Russia and do something on your own, you will require a visa. I have heard, however, that if you do book excursions on your own, some of the excursion companies have their own visa's and you will be covered under that, but its best to check first.

We also went to our local travel clinic and did get shots before venturing over there.

[Italy52]

I did this Baltic's cruise on the Amsterdam back in August 2001. This time of year worked well for us and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I thought it was absolutely spectacular and would highly, highly recommend it. To date, this has been my favorite cruise yet. It is, however, a very port intensive cruise. I'd do this itinerary again in a second.

We did not have to obtain visa's as we were covered by the ship's visa, but if you are going to get off the ship in Russia and do something on your own, you will require a visa. I have heard, however, that if you do book excursions on your own, some of the excursion companies have their own visa's and you will be covered under that, but its best to check first.

We also went to our local travel clinic and did get shots before venturing over there.


Doone, thank you so much for your response. We were considering August, sounds like that might be a safe bet. Port intensive is OK by us. Did that on Med. cruise and enjoyed the daily variety. One other question I forgot to ask, how are the seas during August? Are they rough? Know they won't be as calm as the Med. Comprable to the Caribbean? Thanks again.

[lipoppop]

You might want to consider the Norwegian Fjords cruise. did it last June and it was great albeit cold and rainy. Scenery was fantastic. We left from Harwich and ended in Copenhagen on the Westerdam. Teh btob on that cruise was the one you are considering.
:cool:

[doone]

We found the seas pretty much calm, with the exception of a couple of nights, not bad at all. No one got sick. On our cruise, I didn't find the seas to be that much different than the caribbean in March. But we all know how the weather can change. I think you will enjoy this cruise very much.

[FrankenLouis]

Hello...
Greetings from Rotterdam! (My Home). I saw the question about Rotterdam and had to jump in. It looks like the cruise you are looking at ends in Rotterdam, and this would not allow you any time here other than the ride back to the Amsterdam airport. If you wanted to spend an extra day or two in Holland Rotterdam is a great location because you can easily travel to many other interesting places here in Holland and use Rotterdam as your base. Rotterdam is a very interesting city, but it is not like Amsterdam with its old world charm. Rotterdam is also less expensive :) than Amsterdam where many people stay.

The other ports are also great on the cruise you mention. It is a very interesting cruise. The seas should be just fine. The summer months are almost always calm. The winter is the time they are very strong, and no ships come then anyway. Have fun picking a cruise.

[Italy52]

Hello...
Greetings from Rotterdam! (My Home). I saw the question about Rotterdam and had to jump in. It looks like the cruise you are looking at ends in Rotterdam, and this would not allow you any time here other than the ride back to the Amsterdam airport. If you wanted to spend an extra day or two in Holland Rotterdam is a great location because you can easily travel to many other interesting places here in Holland and use Rotterdam as your base. Rotterdam is a very interesting city, but it is not like Amsterdam with its old world charm. Rotterdam is also less expensive :) than Amsterdam where many people stay.

The other ports are also great on the cruise you mention. It is a very interesting cruise. The seas should be just fine. The summer months are almost always calm. The winter is the time they are very strong, and no ships come then anyway. Have fun picking a cruise.

Thank you for your response. Just out of curiosity, what is the weather like in August? Also, we will probably stay an extra day in Rotterdam. If we do, is there a nice hotel not too far from the dock, yet near town, that you would recommend? Thanks in advance for your help.

[LizB1]

Have done this cruise several times and highly recommend it! Also, I believe you cannot go wrong with the beautiful ms Rotterdam (our favorite HAL ship).

I agree with the posters above about the weather and the ports. I would say most anytime during the summer months would be great. One year we did hit heavy seas in June on the North Sea from Rotterdam to Oslo, but I think that was unusual. August should be great.

We stayed at the Rotterdam Hilton when we did both pre and post days for two of our cruises and enjoyed it. This is not far from the Town Hall which is one of the few buildings not bombed by the Germans when they leveled the City of Rotterdam. There are so many lovely small towns around that City too, or you can take a train to Delft on your own. Trains are fantastic and always on time.

If you have an extra day you also might consider staying overnight (at least) in Copenhagen...another wonderful City with so much to see.

Think you have made a wise choice for your 25th Anniversary...have a HAPPY!

[RuthC]

On one cruise or another I've been to each of those ports---with the exceptions of Waremunde and Rotterdam. (Rotterdam is on this year's cruise!:) )
Each and every one of those ports is a great stop in it's own right. Put them all together and it's a fabulous cruise.

In St. Petersburg I recommend setting up private tours with Red October. They're more expensive than HAL, but oh, so worth it. I saw as much in the two days and one evening as all the HAL tours combined. The personal attention and the ability to go to the head of the line gave me the most for my money. Red October gets your visa for you, too.

[Italy52]

Have done this cruise several times and highly recommend it! Also, I believe you cannot go wrong with the beautiful ms Rotterdam (our favorite HAL ship).

I agree with the posters above about the weather and the ports. I would say most anytime during the summer months would be great. One year we did hit heavy seas in June on the North Sea from Rotterdam to Oslo, but I think that was unusual. August should be great.

We stayed at the Rotterdam Hilton when we did both pre and post days for two of our cruises and enjoyed it. This is not far from the Town Hall which is one of the few buildings not bombed by the Germans when they leveled the City of Rotterdam. There are so many lovely small towns around that City too, or you can take a train to Delft on your own. Trains are fantastic and always on time.

If you have an extra day you also might consider staying overnight (at least) in Copenhagen...another wonderful City with so much to see.

Think you have made a wise choice for your 25th Anniversary...have a HAPPY!

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. One question for you, since you have done the itinerary, can you tell me if there is a lot of commute time from ship's docking place to actual city mentioned in itinerary? For example, a ship docks in Civitavecchia but Rome is actually about an hour and a half from the dock. We are trying to limit commute time as it tends to cut down on port enjoyment. Also, we always do a pre and post cruise stay as it enhances the cruise experience. Thanks for your hotel suggestion. Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Italy52]

On one cruise or another I've been to each of those ports---with the exceptions of Waremunde and Rotterdam. (Rotterdam is on this year's cruise!:) )
Each and every one of those ports is a great stop in it's own right. Put them all together and it's a fabulous cruise.

In St. Petersburg I recommend setting up private tours with Red October. They're more expensive than HAL, but oh, so worth it. I saw as much in the two days and one evening as all the HAL tours combined. The personal attention and the ability to go to the head of the line gave me the most for my money. Red October gets your visa for you, too.

Thank you for your reply. I have been reading some of your previous posts on this board and you are definitely a wealth of information. Also, thanks for the "heads up" on Red October. Will definitely keep them in mind.

[FrankenLouis]

Hello...
Hotel New York in Rotterdam! Be part of History. This is the site of the former Holland America Line Office. This is the location where the ships still dock in Rotterdam. In about 1982 this office closed. The site sat empty for 10 years. In 1993 it came to life as an eating place and a Hotel... know now as Hotel New York. It has history history history and it is location location location all at a great price. Much more interesting than the standard Hilton Hotels and cheaper. If you like to walk you can easily walk from here to the city center. In the summer they also have a nice park and huge terrace for eating oustide. It is the perfect place to stay after a Holland America Cruise. I agree with what the other post said about easy to take trips etc to many places around Holland. ( except the part about the trains being always on time.... trust me this is not always so). The train service is still good. I have some nice pictures of Holland and also Hotel New York and some of the ships docked there recently. If you want I can make an album to post. The weather in Aug ... who knows. At least you will have a chance it could be good... and that is not the case now in the winter.

I am excited for you and I hope you make it to Rotterdam.
:)

[Aussie Gal]

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. One question for you, since you have done the itinerary, can you tell me if there is a lot of commute time from ship's docking place to actual city mentioned in itinerary? For example, a ship docks in Civitavecchia but Rome is actually about an hour and a half from the dock. We are trying to limit commute time as it tends to cut down on port enjoyment. Also, we always do a pre and post cruise stay as it enhances the cruise experience. Thanks for your hotel suggestion. Thanks in advance for your responses.
The ship docks very close to the city in Copenhagen, Oslo, Arhus and Helsinki. We walked to all those cities from the ship as they are so close. In Warnemunde we took the ship's excursion by train to Berlin. The station is practically where the ship docks. In St. Petersburg it is a fair distance to the centre but as you will be on an excurison it will not affect you and in Talinn the ship provided a shuttle for us back in 1999 to the old town. We were on the Maasdam at that time.

We also went in August and had great weather with calm seas. It is a wonderful itinerary, but quite tiring as you are forever putting your clocks back and losing an hour of sleep.


Jennie

[LizB1]

Think FrankenLouis's suggestion of the Hotel New York is a good one. It is historic and overlooks the Port of Rotterdam. I hear it is very nice.

Agree with Aussie Gal's post about the piers that are close to town. In Stockholm we had a shuttle bus from the pier into the City and then walked on our own into the Old Town. Had done the tours in the past but enjoyed our own walking tour of the Old Town.

When we were in Warnemunde we also took the train tour into Berlin. Even though it is a looong day we really enjoyed the tour and are glad we did it. My husband did that tour twice, while the second time I did Rostock area but wished I had gone back into Berlin.

Keep us posted and let us know what you decide.

[sail7seas]

We celebrated our 25th Anniversary on Statendam and sailed out of Copenhagen....one of our favorite European Cities. It was an amazing cruise and we had a fabulous time.


We also have cruised into Rotterdam on ms Rotterdam.....on HAL's 125th Anniversary Year. They ran parties on the ship for two days celebrating the Anniversary as she stay docked (at what is now New York Hotel). We stayed for three days post cruise in Rotterdam at the Hilton Hotel and had a wonderful stay. We easily hopped on the train to go to Amsterdam (a city we had visited about 3 times previously).

I highly recommend that cruise. It's wonderful.

[Tatka]

Little advice: Don't go to Moscow when visiting St.Peter... Moscow is nice and interesting, but there is much less to see then in St.Petersbourg (one of the best cities on Earth :D ). I would instead visit Petrodvorets, Pushkino etc.

I would also sail in June to witness white nights.

Enjoy :)

[Ine]

In Rotterdam a ride on a watercab is a nice way to have the transfer to the centerpart of town. Also an organised boattours through the harbor is interesting.
There is also this fastferry that brings you to the old city of Dordrechtand its vicinities. Propably also to the windmills of Kinderdijk.


As mentioned the city of Delft, The Hague or Amsterdam by train is easy to do.

[Italy52]

A big thank you to all who have responded to my posts. DH and I have been very encouraged by what we have read and are leaning heavily towards the Rotterdam and its itinerary. If you don't mind, I will re-read all the posts this weekend and DH and I will put together a list of questions. If anyone feels up to the task, we welcome your comments. Until later..many thanks again.

[Tatka]

You can ask me questions about St.Petersburg...I've been there 2 times (30+ days total and know what not to miss... :)