Cruises with multiple embarkation ports

We're cruise veterans, having sailed over a dozen cruises on several different cruise lines. While we've seen people doing B2B cruises, we've never been on one where people can start their cruise from different ports. Specifically, we're looking at doing a Baltic cruise next summer, with embarkation ports of Copenhagen, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. How does that work?

 

Does Princess reserve certain cabins for people starting their cruise from a certain port? For traditional dining, are you seated with people who may have started the cruise before you and will end before you? Is it preferable to start your cruise from one port over another?

 

I'm sure there are lots of other questions I'll have, so please let me know the answer to these questions and any others you think I should know about. Any info from people who have sailed this cruise would be welcome too. Thanks.

We did the exact cruise. We got on Berlin(actually the port is Warnemunde). There were only about 250 of us so boarding was a very quick easy process. We were traveling with friends so we sat together. We were asked before the next embarkation port if we wanted to change tables (Head Waiter) but didn't.

Princess releases different cabins for each embarkation. So when you book even if a cabin from the first embarkation is available, you can't have it and must take what is available for yours.

We loved our cruise, and stayed on for the transatlantic.

We did the exact cruise. We got on Berlin(actually the port is Warnemunde). There were only about 250 of us so boarding was a very quick easy process.

I was on the same cruise but boarded in Copenhagen. As said, blocks of cabins are reserved for each embarkation port. A good TA can get around this.

Yep, blocks for each port the entire season and for the bumper transatlantic cruises. We did a Baltic last year. Our TD table for 8 had four Copenhagen (including us) and four Warnemunde passengers. Can't really remember the first four Warnemunde passengers but the four who joined us for the last eight nights of our cruise were great.

 

A full muster drill was done at Copenhagen. Passengers boarding at Warnemunde and St. Petersburg had their own private one (similar to the late arriving passengers drill they usually do) in one room with the rest of us unaware it was going on.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We just did this cruise and loved it. Copenhagen is a great port to embark, close to airport and cruise port. Berlin has the advantage of a great city for pre or post cruise, but it is a long way to the port and you do it before and after cruise.

 

We used SPB tours for Berlin and St Petersburg and were very happy. DIY in other ports. Euros work in Berlin, Tallin and Helsinki - did not need local currency in any other ports and in fact could have skipped Euro with the exception of SPB restaurant for lunch in Berlin.

We did the same cruise. We and most other passengers boarded in Copenhagen. A few hundred in Warnemunde and very few in St. Petersburg. You never notice the changes. Princess does allocate certain cabins for these ports and then releases them as the sailing dates approach.

If you want to tour Copenhagen or Berlin pre or post cruise board at Copenhagen or Warnmunde. Note that Berlin is three hours from the port so you must plan your transfer carefully. It is more difficult to board in St. Petersburg. You must obtain a Russian visa to do so. Flights are also more difficult.

We also did the Baltics cruise out of Copenhagen. We did notice some passengers with luggage entering the itinerary port. We were at ATD so it had no effect on us.

Thanks everyone, and please keep the responses coming.

 

It sounds like it's not really a noticeable difference having people start their cruise from different ports. Is the feel of a Baltic cruise just different as it is so port intensive? The most port intensive cruise we've ever been on was a Southern Caribbean, with a different port every day with only one sea day. But we were back on board by 4:30 every day.

 

Are things really different with late nights in port, as well as the overnight in St. Petersburg? Is there no evening entertainment, and is there just open seating on the late nights?

 

I think we'll start out of Copenhagen. My daughter was abroad this past semester, and her weekend in Copenhagen was her favorite trip. It sounds like we have to spend more time there.

On our Baltic cruise we started in Copenhagen and there was a lot of people embarking the ship with us. The rest of the embarkation ports we were on shore tours so it did not impact us. They did have nightly evening entertainment but, we did not go to most because we were so tired after a long day in port. We did see the Russian folk dancers which I highly recommend. The one thing that we really enjoyed was The Enclave if you are on a ship that has this feature I would recommend looking into it. After a long day of touring it was refreshing to go to The Enclave before dinner to soak our aching bodies. We are doing an Emerald Isle cruise in May and already plan on booking The Enclave for that trip.

The numbers I heard last year were about 90% boarding at Copenhagen, 5% at Warnemunde, and 5% at St. Petersburg. The late night at Warnemunde and the overnight at St. Petersburg were ATD for all (although we sat at our regular table at roughly our regular time with our regular table mates for both). The late night port call at Oslo had normal traditional dining for those with it. There was a local troupe that performed the night of the overnight in St. Petersburg.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If by "evening entertainment" you mean shows in the theatre, a singer in crooners, a comedian in the Vista Lounge, etc., then, yes, there is plenty of evening entertainment on the Baltic cruise.

 

I did this cruise this year, for the second time. The first time, in 2013, we boarded in Copenhagen after spending a few days there touring the city. This time, we boarded from Warnemunde, also after a few days of touring Berlin. It's quite a hike from Berlin, but not difficult. It's also quite inexpensive if you're going via the regional trains.

 

You could easily spend a few days in either city with the feeling that you could have been there another week. I know that, should we do this cruise again, I hope to embark from Copenhagen so I can see more of the city. Having written that, an advantage to boarding in Warnemunde is that there are far fewer people lining up to board. When we arrived at around 2pm, there were only about ten people in line ahead of us (boarding commenced at 1pm).

 

You cannot go wrong with this itinerary, nor with either embarkation point. :)

One issue to consider is what will happen if a ship cannot dock in a city that is being used for embarkation/disembarkation. I believe this situation is extremely rare, and that Princess has been offering this itinerary option for the past several years and have never missed an embarkation port. However, NCL just started offering their passengers the option of boarding either in Copenhagen or Germany on their Baltic cruise, and a few weeks ago the Getaway was unable to dock in Germany due to poor weather. They couldn't skip the stop altogether, since people needed to embark/disembark, so they cut the stop in Tallinn so they could have a day in Germany, but unfortunately due to the distance they needed to sail to the following port they could only stay in Germany from 9-2 (note: I'm not 100% sure about their port times, but posters on the NCL forum stated that they did not have enough time to travel to Berlin, and because the Schwerin castle didn't open until 10 am, they didn't have enough time to visit Schwerin either. So for them, they basically lost two days since they didn't get to do what they wanted in Germany, and their ship skipped Tallinn altogether. But as I said in the beginning, I do believe this situation occurring is extremely rare, and I've never read about it happening on Princess.

 

What has been an issue for Princess is that the Royal/Regal ships are very large ships that may have difficulties docking in Stockholm. The sail in to the archipelago in Stockholm is gorgeous, but technically very challenging, especially for large ships. The Regal/Royal sometimes are scheduled to dock in Nynashamn instead of Stockholm. Even if your ship is scheduled to dock directly in Stockholm, please be aware of the possibility that if weather is poor, ships (especially larger ones) will need to be diverted to Nynashamn since they cannot safely dock in Stockholm itself. Normally, the cruises give you more time in port in Stockholm if you dock in Nynashamn rather than Stockholm (ships docking directly in Stockholm usually have a shorter day there since they must travel very slowly in and out the archipelago). I would just strongly recommend anyone traveling in a large ship in the Baltics to research how they'd prefer to get from Nynashamn to Stockholm ahead of time because there is a chance of a diversion. Sometimes cruise lines offer excursions that consist of transfers to the city center. Other passengers prefer to have the private company that handled their St. Petersburg tour lead their tour in Stockholm (those companies keep an eye on docking schedules and will automatically meet you in Nynashamn if your ship is diverted). The cheapest option is the public train, which is (I believe but you should confirm) about a 10 minute walk from where you dock.