Nautica Baltic cruise: praise and warnings

First, a caution. We had planned for our own independent shore excursions in almost every port. Twice our plans were thrown into disarray because the Nautica berthed at a location remote from the center of town. This came as a surprise because we had read in Rick Steves's "Guide to Baltic Cruise Ports" (an otherwise valuable book) that cruise ships dock near the town center.

Second, a complaint. We had arranged to be met in St. Petersburg by a local guide service--Best Guides--which said they could take care of our visa requirements. And so they could, and did. Nevertheless, Oceania emailed us many pre-trip warnings that unless we obtained a visa from the Russian government (a cumbersome process) we would not be allowed to disembark except on Oceania's own group trips. This was absolutely false, and in my opinion an attempt to pressure us into purchases we did not want or need.

Now to speak in praise of Best Guides. In the course of assembling an itinerary, I conducted extensive email correspondence with Dariya in their office, receiving courteous treatment and expert advice. No payment was required ahead of time. In St. Petersburg, we were met each morning (we had three days there) by Olga and a driver, who took us around to all the places on our itinerary. She was knowledgeable and kind to us throughout. We're glad we made two visits to the immense Hermitage--the first to see the Old Masters, the second to see the Impressionists. We're also very glad to have seen the Faberge Museum. And the Church on the Spilt Blood (as the name is often spelt) is a phenomenon not to be missed.

As to our other shore excursions, I can offer a few tips. In Riga, the Art Nouveau District, Alberta Street in particular, is delightful. In Helsinki, do walk on the Esplanade, a lovely shopping boulevard with a park down the middle of it. In Germany, while some of our fellow passengers made the long schlep to Berlin and back, we elected to stay in the delightful port town of Warnemunde and the nearby city of Rostock. In the latter, following a tip from Rick Steves, we sought out the little-visited, very grim Stasi Documentation Center. This museum evokes the oppressive reign of the dread East German secret police. A good deal less cheery than Alcatraz, but a valuable education.

As to the Oceania Nautica herself, we're highly satisfied repeat passengers. Our stateroom, amidships on the port side of deck 8, was thoroughly comfortable and had more storage space than we needed. The restaurants are fine (the Polo Grill best of all) and the service punctilious. The ship is well maintained and attractively decorated. Our favorite of its public rooms is the hushed library, with its gents-club-style leather furniture and charming coffered ceiling.

Thanks, good information. Sounds like you had a nice trip.

Thanks for the information. We'll look into this company for our port call next year. Oceania is not alone in implying that you have to be on a cruise line sponsored excursion in St P, the other companies do it as well. CC members have a leg up on making excursion decisions thanks to the information shared on the forums.

Thanks for the information. We'll look into this company for our port call next year. Oceania is not alone in implying that you have to be on a cruise line sponsored excursion in St P, the other companies do it as well. CC members have a leg up on making excursion decisions thanks to the information shared on the forums.

+1

Probably the best benefit of CC is sharing of information. Regular followers tend to be much better informed about their cruising options and choices and would be well aware of this tactic by Oceania (and other cruise lines) for SPB.

OP - thank you for all your valuable information about Baltic ports.

Tucsonian, Love your city! My mother lived there for 25+ years and we visited on a regular basis. Don't like it at 120f.

We are doing Nautica in the Baltic 8/18, even though we have been to St. Pete before. We are excited, but wonder which of the Republics you enjoyed the most.

Also, in that part of the world we have found private excursions expensive. How were any ship excursions you sampled?

Thanks

We were on Nautica earlier this summer and had three Russian ports on that cruise. We also got repeated warnings about needing a visa but I don't recall being told that unless we had a visa we would only be allowed off the ship if we were taking a ship's tour. It could be that the warning was in the message and I ignored it because I knew it wasn't true.

On this cruise we did indeed use ship's tours in Russia but when we were in Russian ports in the Black Sea in August 2012 we only had private tours and never had a problem leaving the ship.

Mura

Mura, Please see the post right before yours. Appreciate your answers!

First, a caution. We had planned for our own independent shore excursions in almost every port. Twice our plans were thrown into disarray because the Nautica berthed at a location remote from the center of town. This came as a surprise because we had read in Rick Steves's "Guide to Baltic Cruise Ports" (an otherwise valuable book) that cruise ships dock near the town center.

 

Second, a complaint. We had arranged to be met in St. Petersburg by a local guide service--Best Guides--which said they could take care of our visa requirements. And so they could, and did. Nevertheless, Oceania emailed us many pre-trip warnings that unless we obtained a visa from the Russian government (a cumbersome process) we would not be allowed to disembark except on Oceania's own group trips. This was absolutely false, and in my opinion an attempt to pressure us into purchases we did not want or need.

 

Now to speak in praise of Best Guides. In the course of assembling an itinerary, I conducted extensive email correspondence with Dariya in their office, receiving courteous treatment and expert advice. No payment was required ahead of time. In St. Petersburg, we were met each morning (we had three days there) by Olga and a driver, who took us around to all the places on our itinerary. She was knowledgeable and kind to us throughout. We're glad we made two visits to the immense Hermitage--the first to see the Old Masters, the second to see the Impressionists. We're also very glad to have seen the Faberge Museum. And the Church on the Spilt Blood (as the name is often spelt) is a phenomenon not to be missed.

 

As to our other shore excursions, I can offer a few tips. In Riga, the Art Nouveau District, Alberta Street in particular, is delightful. In Helsinki, do walk on the Esplanade, a lovely shopping boulevard with a park down the middle of it. In Germany, while some of our fellow passengers made the long schlep to Berlin and back, we elected to stay in the delightful port town of Warnemunde and the nearby city of Rostock. In the latter, following a tip from Rick Steves, we sought out the little-visited, very grim Stasi Documentation Center. This museum evokes the oppressive reign of the dread East German secret police. A good deal less cheery than Alcatraz, but a valuable education.

 

As to the Oceania Nautica herself, we're highly satisfied repeat passengers. Our stateroom, amidships on the port side of deck 8, was thoroughly comfortable and had more storage space than we needed. The restaurants are fine (the Polo Grill best of all) and the service punctilious. The ship is well maintained and attractively decorated. Our favorite of its public rooms is the hushed library, with its gents-club-style leather furniture and charming coffered ceiling.

Which ports was the Nautica berthed at remote locations. When we did the Baltic on the R ships we were right in town. On Marina not so much. Just curios. Thanks

Mura, Please see the post right before yours. Appreciate your answers!

I did see that one, Newlondon, but now I'm not sure which one you mean!

Our first time in St. Petersburg was with Renaissance (at which time we did have our own visas) and they gave the same "warning" about having to use ship's tours. As has been said, Oceania isn't alone in using this tactic.

Back in 2001 these private groups that issue group visas didn't yet exist. We used a guide who was recommended to us by others but she was an individual guide and couldn't even give us a "recommendation letter". So we got our own visas.

Mura

P.S. If you were asking our opinion about the ship's tours, they were good to excellent. We were in Murmansk (didn't tour there this time because we didn't care for it last time), Solovestky Islands and Archangelsk. Our guide in Archangelsk was excellent -- we toured the art museum and she was very knowledgeable. The guide in the Islands was not so good, although certainly not terrible. They had to import guides from other cities to have enough for our passengers, and ours came from Archangelsk. Her English could have been better and she talked a LOT more than was necessary! I heard a number of complaints about her incessant chatter from others so we weren't the only ones who felt she gave us more information than we really needed. I was very surprised to learn that her day job was teaching English! We used more ship's tours on this cruise than we have in the past because of the oLife benefits and most of these were extremely good. Often larger than we would have liked (no surprise there) but not always. None of them were REALLY large, however.

docking

the Harbour Master is the only person who can say where the ship will dock

Sometimes you get lucky & dock right in town sometime he/she has other ideas

JMO

Here is what an invoice that includes Russia says on it.

VISA REQUIREMENTS

Russia - Tourist Visa (Most nationalities)

Passengers are encouraged to participate in group excursions organized by OCI, as this would cover their visa requirements under our Blanket Visa. In order to proceed ashore on their own or embark/disembark, passengers

of most nationalities are required to have a Russian Visa, which has to be obtained in advance. Visa upon arrival is not available. **OCI does not provide the Visa Support Letter for Russia**

ORV's post points out that at best Oceania is totally disingenuous, and probably spreading blatantly false information-with one goal to increase the bottom line.

Point of fact, licensed independent guides will get your visa as a part of their services. All you have to do when engaging a guide pre trip is to provide passport details. They handle the rest, and you walk off the ship with no, zero issues. Oceania needs to tell the truth and not hood-wink passengers!

Ocea. Not the only cruise line guilty of this in Russia. I was told the same both on Regent and Silversea. We arranged.wn private tours with a company called Anastasia. We had no problems at all, but I think the cruise companies err much on the side of caution.

We had the same erroneous advice from HAL on our July cruise in the Baltics. Thankfully, I had check d things out here on CC and paid attention to all the posts on the port board about St. Pete. Shane on these cruisvlines! I wish O,, being myfavite, would step up and be the first to tell the truth--you can take a ship tour without a visa OR a private tour with a reputable company that. Ngees for the visa passes.

We used Best Guides, too, and Olga was our guide. wonderful lady and great service.

Actually, Oceania's visa requirements as posted by ORV are entirely correct and very precise - not one piece of wrong information. Every sentence is correct.

What is cleverly left out is that you can arrange for a private tour and get your visa that way.

Leaving that out is not the same as giving incorrect information - such as "if you do not tour with us or do not arrange your private visa through the Russian Embassy you cannot leave the ship". That would be incorrect.

Do you really expect Oceania (or any other cruise line) to put into their guidelines a suggestion that a guest should make their own arrangement for a tour in SPB (or any other place)?

They might be liable if someone decides to pick the wrong tour guide who will not handle things right and the passenger will blame Oceania for missing SPB entirely (since the passenger followed one of their suggestions in the guidelines)

Actually, Oceania's visa requirements as posted by ORV are entirely correct and very precise - not one piece of wrong information. Every sentence is correct.

What is cleverly left out is that you can arrange for a private tour and get your visa that way.

Leaving that out is not the same as giving incorrect information - such as "if you do not tour with us or do not arrange your private visa through the Russian Embassy you cannot leave the ship". That would be incorrect.

Do you really expect Oceania (or any other cruise line) to put into their guidelines a suggestion that a guest should make their own arrangement for a tour in SPB (or any other place)?

They might be liable if someone decides to pick the wrong tour guide who will not handle things right and the passenger will blame Oceania for missing SPB entirely (since the passenger followed one of their suggestions in the guidelines)

That's the way I saw it, but I think some people see what they want.

Agree with last two posters - the "warnings" are correct but do not apply when using an authorized Russian tour company.

In terms of where the ship docks, the "new" (sorta new?) dock is not only far from town but the traffic is horrendous.

Here is what an invoice that includes Russia says on it.

 

VISA REQUIREMENTS

Russia - Tourist Visa (Most nationalities)

Passengers are encouraged to participate in group excursions organized by OCI, as this would cover their visa requirements under our Blanket Visa. In order to proceed ashore on their own or embark/disembark, passengers

of most nationalities are required to have a Russian Visa, which has to be obtained in advance. Visa upon arrival is not available. **OCI does not provide the Visa Support Letter for Russia**

What's fascinating is that ORV has posted some Oceania language from an invoice that says one thing and LHT28 has posted Oceania's fine print language in slightly older thread titled "St Petersburg and the blanket visa". (Just so there's no misunderstanding. I am not criticizing LHT28!! She's a frequent and valuable participant on this board! She can't be responsible if Oceania includes erroneous information in its fine print!)

LHT28's URL:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51668030&postcount=26

The language and, more importantly, the information of the two Oceania statements does not match. The invoice language is very carefully worded; it omits mention of visa-free entry accompanied by a licensed Russian Tour guide but everything in print is accurate. The "fine print" language uses the word "all" in a way that is not accurate. (SAT questions often depend on the precise meaning of words like "all", "none", "every" and "any".) Oceania's lawyers ought not to have two explanations floating around in public that effectively say different things, only one of which is right.

My post from the St. Petersburg thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51668389&postcount=28

LHT28's URL:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51668030&postcount=26

 

The language and, more importantly, the information of the two Oceania statements does not match.

Just to clarify

I copied the information from my current invoice

I have stated that Oceania & others leave out some important facts in their fine print

Good thing we have CC to get the truth from ;)

Just to clarify

I copied the information from my current invoice

I have stated that Oceania & others leave out some important facts in their fine print

 

Good thing we have CC to get the truth from ;)

+1 CC does give us a lot of good info. that it is hard to find elsewhere.

Most everywhere in the world, docking privileges are done on a seniority basis. That being the cruise line with the most senior docking rights, at that port, gets first diveys on docking privileges. Oceania is comparatively a young cruise line, especially when looking at their competition with European cruise lines in the Baltic. I wrote, in my trip review of our 2013 Baltic cruise, how horrible several of our docking locations, on the Marina, were! :eek: We got those based on seniority in port. Same goes in Sidney, Australia, where O gets an isolated port away from the mainstream, and never gets the great passenger cruise terminal in downtown Sidney, because of seniority. Love the cruise line, but that youth has its drawbacks. No use crying about it, it is what it is.

Oceania deceitful ads on how their tours in Russia are misleading and in poor taste, imo. It's unbecoming of an otherwise excellent cruise line. We use STP Tours in STP, and they did an excellent job. We were guided to them via CC and the roll calls. Private tour, without visas ,are also available in the North White Sea area at far lessor prices than O's offerings.

I wrote, in my trip review of our 2013 Baltic cruise, how horrible several of our docking locations, on the Marina, were! :eek: We got those based on seniority in port. Same goes in Sidney, Australia, where O gets an isolated port away from the mainstream, and never gets the great passenger cruise terminal in downtown Sidney, because of seniority. Love the cruise line, but that youth has its drawbacks. .

When we were docked in Sydney in 2012 we had the prime spot. And there was at least one other ship in port if not two.

In Copenhagen we were second closest to town in a line up of 7 ships.

In Ephesus we were diverted to Izmir. You win some you lose some.

One thing I have learned is to never say never......

Mo

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