Baltic Cruise in Summer from UK - Which Cruise Line

[mactire]

We are considering a cruise to the Baltic from the UK in Summer 2013 and would like input on which cruise line is best for us to use.
We have only ever been on one cruise to the Caribbean last month with Thomson.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done the Baltic on Princess, Holland America and NCL.

I would not recommend NCL -- JMO -- we don't care for "Freestyle" cruising.

Our cruises to the Baltic on Princess and HAL were great.

[mactire]

Thanks for that prompt reply.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is Freestyle Cruising. We saw one of the NCL ships somewhere in the Caribbean last month and it had that slogan painted on the side.

[AnDeNo.UK]

We did the Baltics on NCL's Jewel and loved it.
Free style is, you choose the time/place when/where you want to eat.
Free style suits us. We've done free style on a couple of ships and I've got to say, NCL comes out tops, the food was excellent no matter where we dined.
Whichever line you choose, you will love the Baltics, it's by far my favourite cruise to date.

[John Bull]

Baltic is all about the ports. Check time in port & especially make sure its 2 full days in St Petersburg - a few are there for only one day.

JB

[Talisker92]

I would suggest you find one that calls at Oslo. To miss the sculptures in Frogner Park would be a shame!
We have a story and pictures about our Baltic Cruise in 2010
http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebui...europe2010.pdf

[jdvmd]

Originally Posted by mactire

Thanks for that prompt reply.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is Freestyle Cruising. We saw one of the NCL ships somewhere in the Caribbean last month and it had that slogan painted on the side.

We did the Baltic on the NCL Sun and had a tremendous times. One of my favorite cruises to date (have done 50+). Freestyle means you don't have a set dining time, you eat when you want and with whom you want. Wear what you want.
The Baltic is a very port-intensive itinerary with early, early mornings and late, late nights. You will be exhausted. We appreciated the fact that we didn't have to dress up to the nines in order to eat dinner and rush back for a 6 p.m. dining time.

[Suzanne123]

Originally Posted by Talisker92

I would suggest you find one that calls at Oslo. To miss the sculptures in Frogner Park would be a shame!
We have a story and pictures about our Baltic Cruise in 2010
http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebui...europe2010.pdf

I really enjoyed your review. Thanks for posting.

[Wormy53]

We had wonderful cruise to the Baltics on the Star Princess - just like Talisker! The only thing I would change if I had it to do over again - pick a smaller ship that sailed up to Stockholm, instead of taking the trip over there on bus and not getting to go by all the archipelago (I just LOVE the way the Swedish pronounce that!) This was one of my favorite trips. Have a great time!

[Scrapnana]

Loved my Celebrity Baltic Cruise.

[frogsgirl]

We did the Baltics on Celebrity Eclipse last year, loved it!

The Eclipse departs from Southampton & I believe there is a current promotion on for inclusive drinks package, maybe worth a look.

Enjoy the Baltics

[crzycruzer]

My husband & I went on the Baltic & Northern Europe cruise on the Celebrity Century in 2006 and it is one of our most memorable cruises. We booked an independent tour with a company in St Petersburg, Russia to take us around for 2 days. It was high intensive, but we figured we'd only do this tour once in our lifetime so we went for it. It was well worth the money & time. I don't know if there could ever be a bad cruise.

[jocap]

I think most of the major cruise lines sail to the Baltic from the UK in summer....Thomson from Newcastle or Harwich; P&O and Cunard from Southampton; Fred Olsen and Cruise and Maritime from various ports, plus several US ships from S'ton, Dover etc. If you enjoyed the Thomson experience, check their web site; if you want a different sort of ship/experience, collect the brochures then ask a cruise specialist TA.