We powered through the Baltic Capitals on the Getaway, September 19-28, 2017!

Hi fellow cruisers! We're back from an amazingly, exciting cruise! I know there is only one more cruise for the Getaway after the current one, but folks are also preparing for 2018 on an another Away ship. I want to do a fairly brief (which may be hard for me) review to give a few tips to hopefully make the trip go smoother. I am not going to review the ports per se, but will focus more on what excursions we chose.

First of all, I did a lot of research, which I enjoyed. I got most of my information from CC reviews (thank you fellow cruisers!), Rick Steves' Scandinavian guide book, and Travel Advisor. I joined the roll call fairly early on and learned a lot from my fellow travelers.

I will say that if you suffer from FOMO or Fear of Missing Out syndrome, you are going to wear yourself out. You must pace yourself. There is no way that most of you are going to be able to do everything on the Getaway at night and participate in all the ports have to offer without being exhausted. There is also the factor of jet lag to deal with. Just some friendly advice.

That being said my DH and I are in our mid-sixties. We are not in great shape, but we get around alright. We went with our dear friends, another couple who stayed right next door. We stayed in a Haven Spa Suite and loved it. This is our second time on the Getaway and our second time in the Haven. It is really nice to have a quiet place to go to after a busy, active day.

We picked the Getaway because our DS is in Million Dollar Quartet (Carl Perkins character). Simple as that. We go see him wherever he performs. Plus I have always wanted to go to these countries.

We flew into Copenhagen the day before the cruise. We stayed in the Anderson Hotel. It was a lovely boutique hotel near Tivioli Gardens. It had a free wine and beer happy hour and a large breakfast buffet in the morning (included). They also had an Honor system bar (what?!) where you could fix yourself a cocktail and leave a note in a jar to be charged.

We went to Tivoli Gardens that night to enjoy the park and power thru the jet lag. It was a magical evening-I so recommend it! The lights are beautiful at night. We ate dinner in the Gardens at the Socafeen restaurant which is a traditional Danish restaurant.

Embarkation-easey peasey. It is in a large warehouse type building. Quick and efficient. That night we showed our friends around the ship, visited with our son, had dinner in the Haven and went to the Welcome Aboard Show.

Next day- Warnemunde, Germany. We had an excursion planned with SPB in St. Petersburg. We chose another excursion with them in Germany-we went on the Schwerin Castle Walking Tour. They call it a walking tour and they were not kidding! Make sure you can walk about 4-5 miles.

We rode a train for about an hour, visited an old church with a fabulous old clock, went to the castle, had a nice lunch. The only negative is that we had too short a time, about thirty minutes, to go through the castle. We could have used a bit more time. Other than that it was a nice tour. Our guide was very knowledgable. We enjoyed it. I like to see a bit of the countryside where ever we go.

One tip: this was one place where we ran into places that did not take credit cards (bathrooms, snack bars, coffee bars). I would definitely recommend getting some Euros to take with you. Also the bathroom on the train needs to come with instructions. I find it amusing the different types of toilet facilities you run into around the world.

We went back to the ship after the excursion. Our friends walked into Warnemunde, found an Alabama bar (of all things) and walked to the beach.

At sea day: Slept in, then went to a wonderful Meet and Greet. We had a good turn out. Thanks to Karen who coordinated the entire meeting! This was my first M & G. I really enjoyed meeting all of the people that I had been communicating with for months. It is nice to talk to people who have the love of traveling in common. Gave me ideas for future trips. Also my DS (at my request) obliged and brought the MDQ actors with him. The four of them also seemed to have a good time talking with everyone. Silas, the Cruise Director, was there. He is a lot of fun.

That night we took the Quartet to dinner at Cagney's and had a great time. The food there is delicious. (We had a 3 meal dining package and the ultimate beverage package.) We then went to see Burn the Floor. Those dancers are so talented! I highly recommend it! Break time. I'll be back!

Nice start. Sounds like you chose a nice pre-cruise hotel.

Will be following.

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I'm on this cruise next May on the Breakaway. I've been following all the Baltic reviews and appreciated all your questions and the answers throughout the season. It would have been great to have your son's show on our cruise, but, alas, not to be. I will follow your review with much joy. Unfortunately, my role call is very quiet and no one seems to want to discuss excursions. Maybe the closer we get people would be more interested.

I am on the very last sailing of this itinerary, sailing on Saturday. Thanks for the review.

OK. I got some coffee-continue:

Next port: Tallinn, Estonia. Here is where the wheels fell off a bit. I had read about a tour in Rick Steves' book called "The Tallinn Sightseeing Tour by Coach and Foot" 2 1/2 hours. I booked it through Viator for about 30 Euros pp.

When we got off the ship, all the NCL tour buses where inside the gates. We walked outside the port gates and could not find our guide or tour! This caused some anxiety. We saw a group of people standing around looking lost. They were on the same tour we were looking for. Finally a frazzled-looking guide came up. She did not have a sign-said she left it in the bus. She initially wanted us to walk about a mile to a hotel where the bus was. No way! Plus one couple had another tour booked to go to a National Forest. The guide told them that tour was the next day, when they clearly had documents for Sept. 22. The guide said they would have to go on our tour. They were not happy. Anyway, she finally got the bus to come to us and off we went.

After that, the tour was OK. We drove around the outskirts of town for about an hour. I really wanted to see the song festival grounds where the Estonians held a peaceful revolution against the Soviets. (They did not get their independence until 1991!). It was interesting to see some neighborhoods, governmental buildings, and a seaside park. We then went on a walking tour in Old Town. The guide went on about 30 minutes too long-(too many churches-too many details), so we ditched her when our DS met up with us.

He wanted to go to a restaurant called Farm for lunch. A lot of his friends had eaten there and recommended it. If you want to go to a beautiful restaurant that is not touristy at all, I highly recommend it. The food is all fresh and local. We enjoyed it. It does take away from the time you could spend walking and shopping in town. Our friends chose to do that rather than eat at the restaurant. There are also plenty of quick places to eat. A lot of people just walk from the ship to the Old Town and see only that, but I was happy with our choice once the tour finally got underway. I feel sure that this tour usually gets off to a better start.

We went to the Cirque Dream and Steam for dinner and a show-the 5:30 show. Make sure that you tell the server that you are using your dinner package so they do not charge you the full price: $35 vs $17. The Cirque show was amazing! Early bedtime-St. Petersburg the next day!

St Petersburg!

We like to get room service for breakfast before excursions to save time-less stressful too.

We waited in line for passport control about 20-30 minutes. We were the only ship in port so it was not too bad.

We splurged and did a private tour-our DS joined us so we had five people total. We used SPB tours and they were fantastic!!! Our guide was Anna and our driver was Slava. I asked that our tour start at 9 instead of 8. Because we were a private tour, we would not miss anything. Make sure you take protein bars or snacks with you. We did not eat lunch the first day until about 2 pm. We got hung up in traffic. We used credit cards in the souvenir shops. My DS wanted coffee and the little coffee bar would only take Rubles. We had some with us.

We went to all the palaces and cathedrals, the subway station, the fountains-it was amazing! I asked if we could go somewhere where regular Russian people went. They took us to a Farmer's Market which was very interesting. I might note too that we had beautiful weather: bright blue skies, highs in the 60's. Days like that do not come very often we were told.

They took us to lovely restaurants for lunch. We went to the Hermitage Hotel for lunch the second day. I just cannot say enough about how wonderful these two days were! When we got back to the ship the second day, the "big boss" of SPB was there to greet us. She likes to come and talk to private tour customers to make sure we were satisfied. We were and we tipped accordingly!!

The first night we stayed out until about 11 pm. We went to the Faberge Museum and then to the Vodka Museum Restaurant for dinner. Many thanks to Anna, another new CC friend, for arranging an authentic Russian celebratory dinner! There were 15 of us total, complete with a Russian trio band and of course, vodka toasts. The restaurant staff threw in a tour of the Vodka museum as well. It was a night to remember always!! It was worth it to stay out late and get up again early the next day. (By the way, SPB worked with us and provided the same driver to stay with us and drive us around. He waited for us and took us back to the ship).

September 25-Helsinki

It is so exciting to wake up and be in another port! It was fun to open the curtains and see a new place! We slept in a bit. This was the only port where we were going to do it ourselves. We planned on taking a HOHO bus and getting started around 10 am.

It is very easy to find the buses. You get off the ship, walk across the parking lot, out the gate and there they are! We were advised by a fellow passenger to take the bus with the yellow lettering and a sun (the Stromma Company), rather than the one with the white letters I do not know why-my friend talked to her. (btw, the conceirges in the Haven were extremely busy this cruise. We found that it was better some days to call the desk and leave a message rather than wait to speak to them. They would get back to us very soon. The customer service desk near the atrium had long lines as well.)

The bus representatives took our credit cards with hand held credit card devices and off we went!

The buses stop at about 16 different places. They provide you with earphones that you plug in, pick your language, and hear recordings that tell you about the places you see. If you do not get off at all, you would still get a good overview of Helsinki.

If any of you know about how to navigate Disney World, the advice is to start at the back of the park and work your way towards the front, starting with the most popular rides first. I used this strategy in Helsinki. We rode about half way around than stopped first at the "Rock Church" or Temppeliaukion. Everyone said it was a "must see". It was a bit underwhelming after St. Pete. I think that it would have been more impressive to attend a church service there or hear a music concert.

Next, I had read about a delicious cinnamon roll at Cafe Esplanade. We found the cafe on the Esplanade (a beautiful street) and spent a very enjoyable time having coffee and sweets, sitting outside people watching. The weather again was sunny and somewhat warm.

We walked down to the Market Place by the water. There were lots of tent restaurants grilling salmon dishes. If I had to do it again, I would go to the Market Place first and have grilled salmon and then have the cinnamon roll if I had any room left. We walked around afterwards, met the HOHO bus at Senate square and went back to the ship. (Make sure you check to make sure that you are on a bus that goes back to the ship-not all of them do). It is a short day in port. The buses have free wifi as well.

My friends were starting to get sick at this point (uh oh!). Make sure you take airborne, and cold medicine with you just in case. I took a bunch of OTC (over the counter) meds with me. I am glad I did so I could give them to my friends. So far so good with my DH and myself-no sickness! We took Airborne during the cruise as a preventative measure.

That night: the reason we were there! Million Dollar Quartet! We watched both shows!! My DH and friend shamelessly "promoted" the show around the Haven. Some people were not going to go and got talked into it. They were glad they went! I will try to finish this up tomorrow! Next Stockholm!

On our list for future cruise!! Love your review!

I was just wondering today if you had come back from your cruise. So glad you had a great trip and got to spend time with your son. I did this cruise in late May and loved MDQ...the best show I have ever seen on a ship! And how nice of the cast to go to the M&G with you...what a treat! Our small group (all from Cruise Critic) also stayed out until almost midnight in SPB and I would do the same thing again...it was fantastic (and that vodka went down like water LOL). Enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest.

Deb

We docked in the West Terminal in Helsinki

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We went back to the ship after the excursion. Our friends walked into Warnemunde, found an Alabama bar (of all things) and walked to the beach.

Great review! I have been looking forward to it. Glad to hear it sounds like you had a great time with your son!

Two questions:

1. Any idea where the Alabama bar was in Warnemunde? Would love to go to it in June.

2. Could you customize your SPB tour if you went on a private one and about what was the cost for a private tour?

TIA - Joe

Very nice review so far - glad you had a great journey.

How was the weather?

Now I get to follow your review!

Great review! I have been looking forward to it. Glad to hear it sounds like you had a great time with your son!

 

Two questions:

1. Any idea where the Alabama bar was in Warnemunde? Would love to go to it in June.

2. Could you customize your SPB tour if you went on a private one and about what was the cost for a private tour?

 

TIA - Joe

Thanks!

1. My friend said that the Alabama bar is on the same street that leads to the beach. It is not the street behind the street on the canal. It is on the left as you walk to the beach.

2. Yes SPB will let you customize your tour. The two day deluxe private tour St. Pete is $365 USD per person-we had five people. Add on to that a 10% tip of the total for the guide and 5% for the driver.

The night at the Faberge Museum was $45 USD pp and the private vehicle charge for the evening was $35 pp.

Worth every penny in my book. They would drop us off right in front of the attractions. The guide would call the driver when we were finished and the car would pull right up-no waiting or loading onto a bus. Plus we got in special entrances, by-passing long lines in some places. All tickets to all attractions were included, plus delicious lunches in really nice restaurants. Plus bottled water.

Diane

Very nice review so far - glad you had a great journey.

 

How was the weather?

 

Now I get to follow your review!

Thanks! We had great weather for the most part. The first day in Germany we had some rain, but after that it was sunny/to partly cloudy and warm: mid 60's. Our guide in St. Pete told us there were not many bright sunny days like the ones we had. In Helsinki and Sweden, it was bright and sunny as well. We really lucked out!

I feel really lucky and blessed to have gone on such a journey. It was nice to be able to get away from all the troubles in my own country for a few weeks. I am just sick about what happened in Vegas. It seems like there is just one horrible event (some natural, some man made) after another these days.

I will continue with Stockholm: We had a $50 shore excursion that came with the room. We decided to use it on a NCL excursion. After perusing all of the excursions, we decided on Stockholm by Land and Sea. I also did not feel like stressing over using public transportation to get to the city.

There was a time change this night; we gained an hour. My DH set the alarm wrong and the alarm went off one hour early (grrrrrr). The good thing about this is that we were able to watch the retractable pier that folds up to the dock and then extends like an arm out to the ship. Really cool. We were on the starboard side of the ship. (That's the right side right?)

We met the bus at 8:45. We docked in Nynashamn (pronounced Knee-ashamn). We just walked down the pier and the buses were lined up. The ride into town was not bad-about 45 min or so. My friend wanted me to say that the bus should have had free wifi. Every other vehicle we rode in had wifi. She owns her own business, plus a good friend of theirs had a fatal heart attack while we were gone (very sad). She could have used the time to work and check in. (Are you listening NCL?).

Our guide was on the bus and narrated as we were going into town. When we got to Stockholm, we took a sightseeing boat around the town. We went to the VASA museum and then a walking tour in the old town. We were left with about 2 hours of free time which we used to have lunch and shop a bit. Our guide left us in a busy town square with lots of shops and restaurants. We also found a pharmacy which we needed, because by that time my poor friend was feeling awful. She powered through tho!

I talked to another new CC friend. They took the NCL tour by land and air. Apparently there is a gondola or bubble-like type structure that goes up the side of a building. This lets you have a great view of the city. She loved it. I also liked the tour we went on. We saw a lot of things in a short period of time.

As mentioned in previous reviews, Stockholm is a beautiful city, build on a chain of islands connected by bridges. It seems like a fun city with lots to do. I would have liked to spend about 3 days there. I am sorry I missed the ABBA museum. The reports were that it is a lot of fun!

That night we ate in the Haven and went to see (you guessed it!) MDQ again. My happy place! The cast comes out for pictures after the second show in their costumes, two each night. DS was going to pose for pictures this night but I just could not stay awake for the second show.

It was good to know we had a sea day next and could really sleep in. I put the do-not- disturb light on, said my prayers, and called it a night. Tomorrow: Sea Day, Disembarkation and Copenhagen again.

Thanks for the report.

Wirtshaus and Pension Alabama -- Alexandrinenstraße 80,

As you can see its not far from the Lighthouse. It should be easy to find....the building has been there since 1836. Here is their website: http://www.pension-alabama.de/ it is in German, however if you google the name you can find a listing on booking.com and you can see the bar part read about it in English.

Thanks for the picture!! I am going to start going through my pics soon & figure out how to post a few.

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We were on the same cruise and had a wonderful time too.

St Petersburg was definitely the highlight for us. We chose to do the Deluxe Two Day group tour with SPB (US$255pp) which was 16 of us in a mini bus. Very knowledgeable guide, and a great bunch of fellow CC travellers. The guide even pointed out a team of pickpockets working the crowds at Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood :) The Hermitage is stunning, each room just gets better and better, and you run out of superlatives quickly.

Here's a few of the images I shot in St Petersburg.

IMGP1536 by Fred Widall, on Flickr

IMGP1552 by Fred Widall, on Flickr

IMGP1752 by Fred Widall, on Flickr

IMGP1999 by Fred Widall, on Flickr

If you'd like to see more images please check out my album on Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fwwidall/albums/72157686711766100/with/23558800618/

Hi Fred!!

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Thank you Seminole and Sauer-kraut for the answer and the picture. I am looking forward to June. I plan to contact SPB and get a price for a private tour. Mine would probably be more since we want to go to the ballet at night.

Note. Fred's pictures are beautiful & do the Hermitage justice. It really was amazing.

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If the tours in St. Petersburg pick you up at the cruise ship, where do you purchase rubles, on the ship?

I got currency ahead of time at my bank. The exchange rate is better than on the ship.

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If the tours in St. Petersburg pick you up at the cruise ship, where do you purchase rubles, on the ship?

there is an ATM in the terminal after immigration