What are the best excursions for our Baltics Cruise July 2018?

Hello fellow Cruisers!

Lee and I are going to be aboard the NCL Breakaway next July for an 8 day Baltics cruise.

Oslo, Stockholm, Talinn, Berlin, and of course St. Petersburg.

What specific places of interest should we make a note to visit?

Also, we see the ship excursion to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg is $450/person.

We are considering purchasing our own visas and then ordering the same tour with an online tour company.

Is it worth doing? We have heard you cannot just go ashore without a visa.

The tour voucher of private tour operators in St. Petersburg serves as entry permit and is inclusive of tour cost. Could cost you more if you get it on your own. Check the websites of SPB Tours, Alla Tours, TJ travel and other recognized operators. Cost is under $300pp for a 2 day tour.

Talinn, you can do it on your own to the old town

Vasa Museum may also interest you.

We only did a walking tour in Oslo just outside the port.

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Although some say it’s easy to get a visa and tour St Petersburg on your own, there are as many that mention how difficult it was.

We went with SPB and as most tour operators do in St Pete, they also take care of the visa requirements, included in the price. They also are granted early entrance to the Hermitage which was wonderful to avoid the masses that showed up shortly after we entered. We also toured many other venues.

Our guide was a history/art teacher who really enhanced the experience with her knowledge.

In Oslo walk up the road a bit & take the ferry over to the musuems Kon Tiki etc..

Get the transportation pass at the dock in the tourist building it allows entry to several attractions

http://www.visitoslo.com

Visit the fort right by the dock

Just do some research before you go

Another vote for SPB, toured with them in June. Also agree that Talin can be done on your own, easy walk to the old town

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports. He tells you what there is to do/see in your ports, how to do it DIY and how much you can do in the time you have in port. EM

I sent email to SPB and if you reserve your excursions before end of December, they offer you additional discounts.

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What might be the best for others may not be the best for you.:)

You are getting good advice take it .

"Stockholm, Talinn, Berlin, and of course St. Petersburg"

Stockholm: Our ship docked next to the local small ferry dock. We purchased a round trip ticket and went to the Vasa museum and then on to the old town with palace. Your ship may dock somewhere else much further away and you need to take public transportation to get to the center.

Tallinn: Ship provided a shuttle to the old town where we walked early in the morning. With another large ship in port, the small and very cute old town became really crowded after 11 am.

Berlin is a two hour bus ride away from the port. You need to take the ship's excursions or visit port towns much closer to the dock with public transportation. Pre-booked private excursions are also available as far as I know.

St. Petersburg: We booked with TJ, a private company, excellent service. Like others have said before, these tour companies provide the visa which is included in their price. You need to book well ahead of time and provide your passport information. When going ashore, immigration will want to see your passport AND your tour voucher. The cruise port is in the middle of nowhere, no taxis waiting since everybody has pre-booked a tour..

Berlin...as Flordiana has said, its a long way from the port. It is farther than Rome is from Civitavecchia.

Most of the tour companies that offer St. Petersburg visa free two day tours, also offer tours of other cities on the Baltic Itineraries. If Berlin is a must, that might be a way of seeing it more economically.

That said, unless Berlin is very important to you and you think you’ll never get back, I’d give it a miss as a shore excursion. You can get a flavor of German culture in the towns of Rostock and Warnemunde that are much closer to the port (depending where you dock) and more right sized for a port day.

You could also consider seeing Berlin pre or post cruise using cheap low cost carriers once in Europe. It might only take a one way flight if you arrange your TA flights by going into Berlin and out of Copenhagen (or vise versa).

Another vote for SPB, toured with them in June. Also agree that Talin can be done on your own, easy walk to the old town

While Tallinn is easy to do on your own, if you are booking St. P with one of the major tour agencies such as SPB, check and see how much their discounted walking tour in Tallinn is when combined with your St. P tour. Will probably only be about $25 pp additional and you will appreciate the guide's comments plus the fact that you will be driven up to the top of the old town and only have to walk back down the hill to the dock.

Even the large cruise ships dock in downtown Oslo and it easy to get around on your own either walking to the fort and Resistance Museum or taking trams around town. Stockholm is also easy to do on your own with taxis, HOHO bus and/or HOHO boat to the Vasa Museum and Gamla Stan (the old town.)

Berlin is about a 2.5 hour bus ride one way from the port, so a ship's tour may be best.

My family of four went on the NCL Getaway Baltic cruise last May. We used TJ Travel in St. Petersburg and booked the two day city, museums, hydrofoil, gardens and churches tour. The fee included the 2 day visa and was 1/2 the cost of the same NCL tour. Our guide was excellent, the mini-vans used were new Mercedes, we had early VIP access to the Hermitage museum, each guest was given an iPod that acted as a receiver for the tour guides lecture so you could hear everything clearly, even in the noisy museums. The best part was they did not require any upfront deposit for the booking and payment was made on the last day of the tour !! Highly recommend.

St Petes: Book a 2 day tour with an independent agent (TJ travel recommended) very cheap and easy. Did the Hermitage,St Catherine's Palace, Hydrofoil and others. We also booked a night Vodka tasting tour but most other people booked the Bolshoi ballet.

Tallinn: No need for a tour. HOHO buses go straight to the old town. Make sure you go to La Hansa there

Oslo: Cruises dock near the city. Grab a quick taxi/HOHO that can take you to the sculpture park (IMO the best attraction) and everywhere else. No need to book a tour.

Stockholm: Not been so cannot say here

Warnemunde(Berlin): Your ship will dock 3 hours away from Berlin so you can book the train or a coach tour. However, if budgets are tight then Warnemunde is quite a beautiful fishing port with lots of restuarants and things to keep you busy.

Oslo We got the Oslo (tourist) Pass and followed the following itinerary:

07:00 Tourist office by central station to get Oslo Passes (we put in at Langkaia rather than by the Akershus)

07:30 Vår Frelsers Gravlund to see the Munch and Ibsen graves

08:30 Oslo Radhus

09:30 Vigeland Park

10:30 Vigeland Museum

11:00 Munch Museum

12:00 National Gallery, National History Museum, Ibsen Museum

13:30 Akershus fortress, Resistance Museum, Old Christiania, Armed Forces Museum

15:00 Return to ship in plenty of time for 15:30 “all aboard”

We have been to the Viking Ship Museum, Fram, and Folk Museum on a previous visit. We wanted this visit to be Munch heavy because DW is related (her Great, Great Grandfather was Munch's Great Uncle). Definitely a city you can DIY.

Berlin: Day tour with SPB. Not a city I would try to do without being on a ship sponsored or reliable private tour.

St. Petersburg: Two days of touring with private tour company Alla. Again, not a city I would do without a ship or private tour due to the visa situation.

Tallin: Think we took a free shuttle to the old town, walked up to Toompea and back down to the old town, and then walked back to the ship. Delightful town and very doable without a guided tour.

Stockholm: Took a taxi to the Vasa museum, then walked to Skansen. Took a bus back to Gamla Stan and the Royal Palace, then took the T-Bana to Södermalm to try Tunbrodsrulle at Maxi Grillen (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=917693) and then went back to the ship at Stadsgården. Watch out for the taxis in Stockholm, they are apparently notorious - make sure you know what you're paying and agree to it with the driver before you even step in. And note that for some ships Stockholm can be a tender port!

We did SPB in all the Baltic ports last year and could not have been more pleased

Another vote for SPB.

We also did a walking tour arranged by them for Tallinn. I know most people say you can do it yourself there but we really gained so much from our guide and would recommend hiring someone. I talked with others who did DIY and they missed out on a LOT of stuff that we got to experience.