Scandinavia/Russia

[spunkie4]

We plan to take the Scandinavia/Russia cruise in 2011. I would appreciate input concerning the best month to cruise, is a balcony worth the cost for a port-intensive cruise such as this, any experience with Princess Air for this trip (your arrival time, did you fly in a day early, etc.), and what excurisons were your favorites.

 

Thanks.

 

Shirley

[skellis]

We did this cruise on the Emerald on the last cruise of the season (September). Except for temps in the 50s and 60s and high winds coming out of Norway, it was great. We had a balcony cabin which was nice for the archipelago we went through in Sweden. The best tours were St. Petrsburg (Anastasia tours, cheaper, nicer and smaller groups (one van for 12 people, with 26 seats) and we beat the crowds and did not have to wait for the invariably late people who think that everyone should wait for them. We also did a great tour in Poland (Stutthof Concentration Camp [not great to see, but moving]. We got together with roll call members and set up those tours on the roll call.

 

We flew in 3 days early to Copenhagen, a great city with good transportation, and even got to see the Queen close up and personal.

 

You should love the cruise, and being on the last cruise of the season we were in port with fewer ships. Also check on line for the JohnLawrence website. He is a long time cruise director (just retired) doing the Baltic and has great information on the ports of call on DVD.

[Sailingpeace]

Had the wonderful pleasure to do that cruise three years ago, in early September.

1. Air : because of trouble Shopol airport, our flight was delayed leaving Canada,and we barely made it to the ship ( guess how we felt on the plane...and we missed enjoying the afternoon on the ship ). Beeing there a day before won't get you in trouble, the opposite might not be as safe...

 

2. Balcony : It was my first sailing and I sailed with my mom, an experienced cruiser, who recommended oceanview, but beeing fearful of feeling trapped opted for a balcony ( she agreed to please me). How can I put this... if I had to do it again, I woun'd not pay much for the balcony, barely had time to use it. But, many times, went out for a few minutes and really enjoyed the view and being able to hear the sound .. or silence .. of the location , like the musicians as we left St-Petersburg. Having cruised a few times since, I would say :Carribean and Alaska : balcony for sure ! Scandinavia and Russia, only if not much more expensive ( or if money doesn't matter).

 

Month: we did it early September and were blessed with warm weather and very calm seas ( it is there that I learned the beautiful word : wavelets...)

 

Excursions: it so depends on what you like! For me :St-Petersburg., Gold room... amazing but found it a bit much; regret not going to the ballet at night ( you can always rest when you get back from the cruise... but do rest BEFORE you go! As our cruise director said, once it's starts , it is bam-bam-bam ! We did the Catherine's palace , loved it but funny, after some time, some of the best memories are from the lunch on the tour, a really good meal - caviar and Vodka- and many more servings, nice music , a wonderful Russian moment....( Tour organised by Princess).

 

Loved Helsinki, did it - on our own-.

 

Check if there is still a video available from Mr John Lawrence, called Baltic Treasures. I believe he had a web site. He was our cruise director.

[spunkie4]

Thanks for your responses. Very helpful.

 

Shirley

[1sailorgal]

We were also on the last cruise last September. Absolutley loved it! Each port was better than the last. In addition to St. Petersburg we really enjoyed Gdansk. We did all of the ports on our own except for St. Petersburg (we did the Princess 2-day tour). Flew into Copenhagen one day early. The luggage didn't make it to the hotel but did make it to the ship before we left port.

[spunkie4]

We were also on the last cruise last September. Absolutley loved it! Each port was better than the last. In addition to St. Petersburg we really enjoyed Gdansk. We did all of the ports on our own except for St. Petersburg (we did the Princess 2-day tour). Flew into Copenhagen one day early. The luggage didn't make it to the hotel but did make it to the ship before we left port.

 

Thanks for responding.

 

Where did you stay in Copenhagen. Also, did you use Princess Air?

 

Shirley

[Pam in CA]

We plan to take the Scandinavia/Russia cruise in 2011. I would appreciate input concerning the best month to cruise, is a balcony worth the cost for a port-intensive cruise such as this, any experience with Princess Air for this trip (your arrival time, did you fly in a day early, etc.), and what excurisons were your favorites.

I personally don't think a balcony is worth it on such a port-intensive itinerary. You'll rarely use it. We ALWAYS plan to arrive at least two days pre-cruise, often more if it's the first time we've been to the embarkation city.

 

Princess offers two alternative itineraries for the Baltics, one goes to Norway, the other goes to Warnemunde (for Berlin.) I'd always wanted to go to Berlin so we chose this itinerary. We used SPB Tours for both a 2-day private tour in St. Petersburg and a 1-day tour in Berlin. Viktoria, the woman who owns SPB Tours is fabulous... you get a personalized tour of St. Petersburg and she checks every single tour throughout the day to make sure everything's going right, and her husband manages the Berlin tours. You only have to book through one person for both cities. I would rank these tours among the best private tours I've ever taken and can highly recommend them. http://www.spb-tours.com/

[Alli Cruiser]

We did this cruise in the summer of 2008. One thing to keep in mind is that it stays light much longer during the summer, some nights till after 11:00 p.m. This is a port-intensive busy, busy, cruise (we did the Norway version). We had a balcony and enjoyed it immensely. The archipelago is so beautiful. Of course, you could certainly enjoy this on a deck or sitting by the windows by Explorers etc... as well so it depends on your budget.

 

We stayed at the Marriott Copenhagen pre-cruise. It was very nice. We got club level/executive lounge privledges room and we (along with many others) ate a light dinner and breakfast there. Ice cream cones were US $8 and we were traveling with two hungry teen age boys so we were appreciative of the value this represented.

 

John Lawrence was on our cruise giving destination lectures and he was fabulous. You really felt like you could go at it alone if you chose to go that route (e.g. pictures of the ferries, pictures of the bus stops).

 

This will be a wonderful cruise for you. I'm so ready to do it again or any cruise for that matter.:)

[spunkie4]

Thanks for the responses and the information. It has been very helpful.

 

Shirley

[ttc_8]

We did this cruise at the end of May 2009 and the weather was amazing! It rained a bit in Copenhagen when we disembarked, and it rained a bit while we were sailing through the Swedish archipelago en route into Stockholm. Other than that, we had nice warm weather with a spring-like breeze. If you go around end of May you may run into consitutional holidays. In Russia they were celebrating the 306th anniversary of the founding of St. P and in Denmark (June 5) it was constitutional day, but the streets were all packed with locals. I love Scandinavia and if I do go back I'll return in spring again!

[UT-Volsfan]

We did this cruise last May on the Emerald. It was the first time the Emerald was sailing this route after it's repositioning. We absolutely enjoyed it.

 

The best places we visited were St. Petersburg, Poland (we also did the Stutthof Concentration Camp - we hired a driver for the day since there were no organized tours going there. It's definitely worth visiting - a sobering reminder of history that we should never forget), and Talinn, Estonia.

 

On this cruise I'd say that you can get by without the balcony. Most of our time was spent in port. When we were on our balconies the weather was pretty cool - nobody was using theirs very much that early in the season.

 

As for Princess Air, you can probably beat their prices. The only time we've used Princess Air was for one-way air travel, and even then we paid for the deviation so we could book our flights. Princess had us originally landing in Ft. Lauderdale for a trans-Atlantic flight 90 minutes before the ship was to sail. Forget it! Better to get in the night before or very early the day of the cruise (make sure there are several other flights you can get to the cruise port in case your flight is delayed).

[Grannycb]

We did this cruise when the days were at their longest. That was interesting to see. A balcony isn't needed on this cruise as you aren't on the ship long enough due to tours. We booked an OV, but an inside cabin would have been even better. There are so many days of long tours that good sleep is important. We find we sleep better with an inside cabin.

[caribill]

You might be interested in a report I posted after taking the Baltic cruise last may on the Emerald Princess. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=999930

[spunkie4]

Thanks for the responses. I am learning something with each reply.

 

Shirley

[sunshine nana]

We went on the Emerald at the end of July and we spent a lot of time on the balcony even though we went on some long excursions because it was light early and late at night. Also, a couple of the ports, we only spent half of the day on land. We made our own flights and saw people disappointed in the Princess flights because they still had to get their bags from the airport out to the shuttle. We stayed an extra night in Copenhagen at the Hilton pre cruise We walked right to it from the airport and after checking in took the train from the airport to the city. We shared a cab to the port the morning of the cruise. We self-disembarked and we were at the airport by 7:30 am.You can easily do Tallin, Helsinki, Stockhom and the last stop in Sweden on your own. We took the Princess excursion to Berlin on the train , went with Princess to Gadansk and used DenRus in St. Petersburg. It was our best cruise ever!

[Zubsin]

We plan to take the Scandinavia/Russia cruise in 2011. I would appreciate input concerning the best month to cruise, is a balcony worth the cost for a port-intensive cruise such as this, any experience with Princess Air for this trip (your arrival time, did you fly in a day early, etc.), and what excurisons were your favorites.

 

Thanks.

 

Shirley

 

Did you check the "northern europe" board? Lots of information there! Donna

[1sailorgal]

We stayed at the Clarion in Copenhagen (the one with the Ice Bar). Would never stay there again. Small room and bathroom and no where to put anything. Very warm as there is no air conditioning. We kept the window open but there was a lot of noise until 2:00 am when the bar closed. We never use Princess air. Don't miss Rosenburg Castle in Copenhagen.

[kestrel]

Month: We cruised in late July/early August. The weather was great. We did encounter some rain, which is not uncommon in the area. Therefore, bring your umbrella or rain jacket.

 

Balcony: Baltic cruise is expensive, and we couldn't afford a balcony. We were fine with oceanview cabins; however, I did wish we had a balcony when we cruised through Oslo fjord and Swedish archipelago. BTW, make sure that your cruise sails through the Swedish archipelago, not just ports in Nynashamn.

 

Excursions: Baltic ports are easy to DIY -- with the exception of St. Petersburg. Get yourself some good tour guides. I used Rick Steves' Scandinavia.

 

Air: I will suggest that you book your own air, and plan to spend extra days pre- and/or post-cruise.

[spunkie4]

Thanks for all the responses. I have really learned a lot.

 

Shirley

[taxatty]

I'm glad we had a balcony on our Baltic cruise last summer cruise. We thought it was worth it just for the Stockholm archipelago, and if you go to Oslo, it's great there as well (we did that on a different ship). It's also very scenic in the Oresund near Copenhagen and when you get to Helsinki.

 

As mentioned before, you can get a lot of use of a balcony in the evenings on a Baltic cruise, much more so than most cruises, as it stays light out so late. In addition, on a huge ship like the Emerald, it's a great place for a private escape. We were in E731 with the extra-long balcony and would grab that mini-suite again in a second.

 

Les