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Serenade of the Seas 7N Baltic Cruise Review Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St Peter


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Recently completed a 7N cruise in the Baltic Seas on the Serenade of the Seas. The ports of call were as follows:

 

Day 1 - Copenhagen, depart 5pm

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - Stockholm; arr 9am, depart 5pm

Day 4 - Tallin, Estonia; arr 9:30am, depart 5:30pm

Day 5 - St Petersbury; arr 7am, depart 7:30am

Day 6 - Helsinki; arr 7am, dep 2pm

Day 7 - At sea

Day 8 - Copenhagen, arr 7am

 

This was a cruise of many firsts for us. First time on Serenade of the Seas (The only other Radiance class vessel we have sailed on was the Brilliance some years back). First time sailing from Copenhagen, first time to Stockholm, to Tallin... the ports were all new to us. You get the idea. Super excited we were.

 

Coming from Singapore, we originally planned to fly to Copenhagen on Singapore Airlines. However, the prices of the Turkish Airways flight (via Istanbul) was too good to ignore, and saved us about US 1,400 in total, so we decided to try Turkish delight instead. It turned out to be pretty good and I will show you some videos of the flight once I get those sorted out.

 

After the cruise, we flew to London where we spent a few days and then flew back to Singapore (on Turkish, via Istanbul).

 

This time round, my review is video-heavy, because I was trying out my new video camera. I will embed the videos on this thread as I go along. We only got back to Singapore a couple of days ago and today, I have gone back to office (with lots of stuff to clear), so pardon me if the updates are slow. But I assure you that I have tons of video footage of the ship as well as what we did in the various ports (all DIY, didn't join any ship's tour), so hopefully some of the information would serve as a useful reference.

 

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

 

I managed to get two videos done to whet your appetite. More will follow later.

 

First video, let me show you the cabin we stayed in. Cabin 1054. Oceanview Family Stateroom. What's the big deal about 1054, you may be wondering? Well, see the video to find out more... (it is huge)

[YOUTUBE]SOe2UQj8j1E[/YOUTUBE]

 

Second video shows you what was available for lunch in the Windjammer on embarkation day. Yes, food and more food!

[YOUTUBE]-u20W48-QH4[/YOUTUBE]

 

More later. Have a blessed day ahead.

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Thank you for the information about Serenade! We will be on her in December- so I'm enjoying reading all information about the ship! THANK YOU!!

 

Thanks for your comment. Plenty more videos and info to come. I just need time to sort them out. Cheers!

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Looking forward to more since we will be on Serenade in a few weeks. Can you provide details on the public transport you used in Helsinki? I thought I had read that there wasn't any (apparently not true). Thanks.

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Nice videos! Thanks for sharing.

 

Just a little info tidbit. That cabin was originally the old CL on Serenade. They

moved it to the VCL deck and turned that area into the family suite you enjoyed.

Looks like it turned out well for families indeed! :)

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Looking forward to more since we will be on Serenade in a few weeks. Can you provide details on the public transport you used in Helsinki? I thought I had read that there wasn't any (apparently not true). Thanks.

 

Responding to Capn Jack on Helsinki. We took Bus number 14 into the City Center and then took it back again. We relied heavily on Rick Steve's guide for this cruise and found it most useful. However' date=' we couldn't find a Tourist Information kiosk to buy the whole day ticket so we ended up purchasing tickets directly from the driver. They accept Euros and even give change! The cost was 3.2Euro per adult for a one-way ticket. The ride into town took about 15 minutes, and it certainly felt too long to walk. There were many other cruise passengers taking the bus.

 

The challenge with Number 14 is to know which stop to drop, and this was also mentioned in Rick Steves's guide. There are two options. One is to drop at the bus station stop (I can't remember the name) and take a short 5 minute walk into town. The other option is to take the bus to a stop where you could walk within 3 minutes to the Rock church. We did the latter, but we were too early at that church to enter.

 

Anyway, I would strongly recommend you getting a copy of the Rick Steve's Northern Europe ports guide to take a read on how he did Helsinki. We basically followed his walking tour (albeit backwards). Take note that the maps he uses in his guide are not easy to use (because they are not detailed enough). I walk using my smart phone GPS function with a downloaded app. We took the bus back to the cruise port from the bus station stop (it took a while to find though)

 

Alternatively, if you want to play it safe, just use the shuttle mounted by the ship. It is 12 Euro return. A bit more expensive than the public bus (6.4 Euro return) but it is undoubtedly more convenient.

 

I made a short video of the bus stop outside the cruise port and the walk back. Have expedited this and uploaded so that you can take a look. Hope this is useful.

 

[YOUTUBE']hfxPkoqoOZE[/YOUTUBE]

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We were on this cruise and took the #14 into the city and bought the all day pass for 8E from the driver. We used this to take the ferry to Sommalinea (5E) so it paid for itself in just those 2 trips.

 

We actually left the Old Market, crossed the street and hopped on the #2 tram for a while and then walked along the park and then ended up following the #14 bus route back to the ship. 70 and sunny and it probably took 30-45 but a nice walk and my husband loves the boats.

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We were on this cruise and took the #14 into the city and bought the all day pass for 8E from the driver. We used this to take the ferry to Sommalinea (5E) so it paid for itself in just those 2 trips.

 

We actually left the Old Market, crossed the street and hopped on the #2 tram for a while and then walked along the park and then ended up following the #14 bus route back to the ship. 70 and sunny and it probably took 30-45 but a nice walk and my husband loves the boats.

 

Awesome! I didn't know we could do that. Yes, the whole day pass allows you to take the tram too.

 

This is very useful information. Thanks.:)

Edited by Iluvcruising2
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We're going on the Serenade in August, and the videos are really appreciated. Reading people's reviews and descriptions is helpful, but actually seeing things for yourself is even more helpful. It's almost like being there! It also helps me to get (more) excited for the trip. I can't wait to see the rest of your posts.

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We're going on the Serenade in August, and the videos are really appreciated. Reading people's reviews and descriptions is helpful, but actually seeing things for yourself is even more helpful. It's almost like being there! It also helps me to get (more) excited for the trip. I can't wait to see the rest of your posts.

 

Glad the videos are useful. What is the itinerary of your cruise?

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Continuing my review, let me go back to the first day when we arrived in Copenhagen. Our flight on Turkish Airlines landed at Copenhagen Airport in the morning, around 10am. Immigration clearance unfortunately took a while because there were only 3 passport control counters opened, but that was still ok.

 

We managed to get through and retrieve our bags and it was time to make our way to Hotel Bethel. Having done our research, we decided to take the metro from the airport to Kongens Nytov station. We bought a 24 hour ticket from an automated machine (take note the machine required a pin for my credit card) which cost 80DKK per adult, if I remember correctly. The plan was to fully utilize the 24 hour ticket for the journey next morning, via public bus, to the cruise port too. I think the time stamp on our ticket was close to 11am, so that worked. Our kids (both under 12) could travel for free.

 

The walk from the airport to the metro station was easy, and I don't recall walking more than 10 minutes. Of course we had to drag our luggage, but we were used to that. The train ride to Kongens Nytov didn't take too long either, 15 - 20 minutes thereabouts. From the metro station, we then walked to Hotel Bethel, using my GPS. Not difficult, though some of the paths are cobbled so it makes pulling the luggage a bit more challenging, but we had plenty of time.

 

The taxi fare from the airport to Hotel Bethel would be around 275DKK.

 

As our room wasn't ready, we left our luggage and went for a walk in the glorious sunshine, and also got some lunch at a McDonalds close to the Kongens Nytov station. This video shows you some of the scenes from this leisurely exploration of the immediate area around Hotel Bethel.

[YOUTUBE]J7cYA0usF3Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

Hotel Bethel has been very well reviewed on the various review platforms and it certainly lived up to its reputation as a clean and inexpensive hotel in a great location. The breakfast was better than expected, so that made us happy. The reception staff were very helpful too. This is a video I made of the hotel room and breakfast. Enjoy!

[YOUTUBE]vvCHnoh8sz8[/YOUTUBE]

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In this next short video, you will see more random scenes from Copenhagen as we walked around exploring the place. We didn't plan to visit any sights as we needed some rest after the long flight. But the walk was good to stretch the legs. Plenty of activities on the river.

[YOUTUBE]1r6Liseofvo[/YOUTUBE]

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We are doing a 3 night pre-cruise stay in Copenhagen, and then going on the 8 night Norwegian Fjord itinerary. Keep those videos coming, they're great! This trip is to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday (last year), and this itinerary was his choice. I did the research and planning. I hope we like our hotel as much as you liked the Hotel Bethel.

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Thanks to singinalot, Ladyarli, VegasCrossfire, IsanTom and others for your nice comments. Glad that the info and videos are useful. I cobbled together various clips and put together this video on how we got ourselves from the hotel to the cruise port. We decided to take public bus. The 80DKK per adult 24 hour pass (I think it was for zones 1-4) covered both our arrivals into Copenhagen and also this bus ride to the cruise port because both trips were within 24 hours of each other. Here is the video.

[YOUTUBE]-rzBe1mSZQ0[/YOUTUBE]

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Thanks a lot for the Helsinki info, Iluvcruising2. Exactly what I was looking for. Our cruise is Stockholm to Stockholm, but we are adding a couple of days in Copenhagen after the cruise. We are also staying at Hotel Bethel so your videos are great. Enjoying your report.

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I booked 1054 yesterday because of your YouTube video. I didn't realize how current that post was. I want to thank you for posting. You pointed me to a room even the agents at rcl don't know about. Ill be thanking you when I sail next May. Best regards I loved your enthusiasm in the video. So did my kids. We are all excited.

Edited by quandrea
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