Holland America to the Baltics

[macaroni]

What are your opinions on the ships from HAL that sail in the Baltics? I think the Veendam, Amsterdam and Rotterdam go on either 10 or 12 day cruises. We had decided on the Century but started looking at these now.

[shopgirl1964]

Just got back from 10 day cruise on Amsterdam and loved the ship. My mother (who was with me) had been on old Rotterdam and most recently Stattendam, she prefered the Amsterdam. I have a friend who has cruised on literally all of the HA fleet and he says the Amsterdam is his favorite. Did you have a particular question about the ship? I don't think it's touring in the Baltics next year, however, just this year.
Meredith

[mushroom]

We've selected the Prinsendam for July, 2007 - love the size of this ship for the itinerary.

[Bill S]

We did a 14-day Baltic cruise on the Prinsendam last summer--she quickly became our favorite ship! The Prinsendam is able to transit the Kiel Canal, a unique experience and very enjoyable. We have sailed on the Amsterdam twice and until the Prinsendam, the Amsterdam had been our favorite HAL ship. We still like the Amsterdam very much though. The Prinsendam is scheduled for 3 Baltic cruises next summer, on July 10, August 11 and September 8.

[nyc_luver]

I just got off of the Rotterdam to the Baltics yesterday and loved it! The ship was the perfect size and there was plenty to do when we were at sea. I highly reccommend the Rotterdam, and all of the ports we went to were fun and beautiful. If you do go on the Rotterdam and do basically the same ports that I did (start in Rotterdam, then Oslo, Aarhus, Warnemunde, Tallin, St. Petersburg for 2 days, Helsinki, Stockholm, and end in Copenhagen) I recommend that you take the train into Berlin when in Warnemunde. It was 12 days and every day was well-spent.

[Missabby]

We did a 12-day Baltic cruise with HAL's Rotterdam (beginning in London and ending in Copenhagen) back in 1999 and loved that ship - good size. Went to Oslo, Aarhus, Warnemunde, Bornholm, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Pete, and Tallin, We've been on the Amsterdam, too, and like that ship. We had a great time.

[estebofarr]

nyc lover
Could you tell me a little about the trip to Berlin? How much, how many hours, what did you see and did you enjoy it? I'm guessing you took the ship's tour is that right? What about St. Petersburg, did you book a ship's excursion or go on your own?

We are doing this trip next June. Thanks for your help.

[nyc_luver]

Originally Posted by estebofarr

nyc lover
Could you tell me a little about the trip to Berlin? How much, how many hours, what did you see and did you enjoy it? I'm guessing you took the ship's tour is that right? What about St. Petersburg, did you book a ship's excursion or go on your own?

We are doing this trip next June. Thanks for your help.

Estebofarr-

In Berlin the tour was about 8 hours, excluding the 3 hour train from Warnemunde to Berlin, and back. We went on the tour called Berlin By Riverboat and Train. When we first got off of the train, we boarded a bus that took us basically all around the city. We drove around the Berlin wall, and all of the major sights to see. A lot of the sights, however were hard to take pictures of when driving by, and those we were able to take again after we boarded a small boat and saw more things. Then we had lunch at a local resteraunt. Just a few buildings away from the resteraunt, there was a chocolate shop that I highly reccomend you go to. It is amazing to see all of the works of chocolate. Then we went to the Reichstag (spelling?) Building where we got an amazing view of the entire city. We then took a short walking tour back to the bus. We then went to Checkpoint Charlie for maybe 15-30 minutes and we bought souveniours and took pictures at the checkpoint. We then went back on the train. The tour was very well worth it.

In Saint Petersburg, we were there for two days; I don't know if you're going to be, but we took the ship's tour both days. (To have a private tour you have to have a Russian Visa which we did not have.) We did the tours Imperial St. Petersubrg and Glories of St. Petersburg. Both of those were full day tours, as well, and we saw a TON within those two days.

I hope my advice helped!

[dakrewser]

Originally Posted by nyc_luver

In Saint Petersburg, we were there for two days; I don't know if you're going to be, but we took the ship's tour both days. (To have a private tour you have to have a Russian Visa which we did not have.)

Not quite. You only need to obtain your own visa if you intend to tour 'on your own'. Any of the private tour agencies will obtain the necessary paperwork for you.

[Rglad]

Since the boards were so good for my trip planning I will put in my two cents. We were on the Amsterdam, had a wonderful trip. We did NOT use the ship's tours. We did NOT get a visa. Not necessary if you sign up with a private recognized tour company. There is nothing to worry about. We took the Denrus value tour in St Petersburg since we were two people and it was most cost effective to sign on with them. THere were 17 people in the tour, vs 40 or so on the HA bus. We were with a younger crowd since they had all been on cruise critic and found the Denrus tours through this site. We all seemed to know each other from our postings here.

In Berlin we signed up with "Original Berlin walks". Airconditioned ride from the pier and great driver and tour guide. We got two other couples from posting on Cruise Critic making it less money than the train ride tour.

Actually my favorite stop was Helsinki...I bought the most unique things there to bring home and everyone loved what they got.

Hope that helps some of you...
Rhoda

[estebofarr]

Thanks so much for all your replies. Do you remember how many people took the ship's tours to Berlin on the train? I'm guessing a large number. Do you remember if there were many different ship's tours for Berlin or just the one? I wonder if there is anyway for us to access the excursions online or if any of you could send it to me via e-mail? I always would like to know about how much you spent for your ship's tour and how that compares to a private tour. We have hired private tours in other ports, but never with a destination so far away from the port. Thank you again.

[unclerich]

From HAL's website this link will describe current Berlin shore excursions. We're looking forward to the Rotterdam in May 2007.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/dest/p...ode=BER&dest=E

[shopgirl1964]

My mother and I were on HAL Amsterdam last month and did the ship's tour to Berlin. I think there were several hundred people doing various ship's tours. They broke us up into smaller groups and had a local escort who stayed with each smaller group the entire time. It was very well organized. We did the Highlights of Berlin and were on a bus with about 15 or 20 people. Our guide spoke good English. The entire thing was completely effortless.
The ship's excursions filled up quickly, even just the train transfer (without any tour) was sold out early.
Shopgirl1964

[estebofarr]

We are trying to decide what to do and think Berlin is the place to take a ship's tour. thank you for all your replies.

[LaLin]

We had an early August Baltic Cruise on Hal's Amsterdam and loved the ship. The food and service were excellent. The ports of call were also great. We did a private tour with Red October in St. Petersburg and it was the highlight of our trip. We decided to take it easy in Wardemunde and Rostock and were glad we did. We missed Berlin, but needed an easy day to relax. Warnemude is great to walk around. Sidewalk vendors were set up, bands were playing etc. We were there during the tall ships festival. We did the Rostock tour that included a boat ride back to Warnemunde and also enjoyed it.

[Carol1e]

We just returned from the Rotterdam's Treasures of Scandanavia & Russia 12-day cruise -- it ended on July 23rd & I plan to write a review since these message boards were so helpful. However, we're going to Daytona for Labor Day weekend & I just haven't had time. But -- to answer a few of your questions ----

We took the Train & Boat tour to Berlin & I hated it. It should have been a 3 hour ride on the train but took 4 hours because of some problem with the tracks. Also, we were stuck in a great compartment but with 2 horrible parents & their equally horrible children, who swung from the luggage racks, had water fights, etc., etc. I'm sure that colored my experience. The top deck of the boat we were on was full so we spent the entire time transversing the canals staring at stone walls. The descriptions from others on here are essentially true. We did see a lot but most of it was in passing from the bus with trees in the way & pretty hard to distinguish one ministry from another. People who took different tours to Berlin loved it but many people I talked with even complained to the Front Office about this tour.

The ship is great -- not so big that you're lost among all the people & the staff is excellent.

About St. Petersburg, I had heard too much about the ship's tours being so crowded & so expensive so after some research, we booked a private tour with Denrus. It was just the two of us, in a private car with a driver & guide and it was wonderful. We got to go ahead in front of long lines of people & got to see many things the big tours can't take you to. I would highly recommend it.

If you would like any other information, my e-mail is cbat42@aol.com.

Carole