Just finished Baltic cruise on the Eurodam

[schoolinmy3]

:)

Had a wonderful cruise with my husband, Mark, for our 24th anniversary. We were joined by his brother John and wife, Kimberly, who we love to travel with. Any questions please ask! We are not home yet and will be flying home tomorrow. Currently staying at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel. We were on the second leg of the cruise which departed Copenhagen and stopped at Tallin, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Stockholm and Warnemunde.

[Cruising-along]

:)

Had a wonderful cruise with my husband, Mark, for our 24th anniversary. We were joined by his brother John and wife, Kimberly, who we love to travel with. Any questions please ask! We are not home yet and will be flying home tomorrow. Currently staying at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel. We were on the second leg of the cruise which departed Copenhagen and stopped at Tallin, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Stockholm and Warnemunde.

 

I would love to hear about it. How many days total and what were your ports? We are thinking of taking one of the longer Baltic cruises in 2014. Will you be doing a review? Thanks in advance! :)

[kazu]

Hope you will give us a little review.

 

I'm having a hard time figuring out where we will dock next year in some of our Baltic ports - can be a big difference.

 

Curious if you needed shuttles or cabs at any of your ports and if shuttles were provided. Thanks:D

[paganwoman]

Let me know how you liked the hotel. I booked this hotel for us pre cruise (we are taking a 5 day stay in Paris and then flying to Copenhagen two days precruise). Our cruise is a year from now in May 2013

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have a safe flight home.

Happy Belated 24th Anniversary.

Looking forward to hyour review.

[tripsaway]

:)

Had a wonderful cruise with my husband, Mark, for our 24th anniversary. We were joined by his brother John and wife, Kimberly, who we love to travel with. Any questions please ask! We are not home yet and will be flying home tomorrow. Currently staying at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel. We were on the second leg of the cruise which departed Copenhagen and stopped at Tallin, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Stockholm and Warnemunde.

 

Happy Belated Anniversary! My husband and I are going on the Eurodam July 4th!!!! Very excited! Glad to hear you had a great time. We have a 2 day tour scheduled for St. Pete but haven't done any others. Any suggestions? Did you do the long trip to Berlin....we think we want to pass on that. Did you book tours through HAL or privately> Looking forward to your review. Safe Flight Home.

[Typhoon1]

We'll be looking forward to hearing more about the cruise when you get settled in.

[shsdawg]

We leave for that one on July 4th. Let's hear about it!

[PathfinderEss]

Hope you write a review of your cruise. Safe travels home.

[erewhon]

A wonderful way to celebrate your 24th Anniversary.

Belated Congratulations.

 

Wishing you safe travelling.

[schoolinmy3]

I would love to hear about it. How many days total and what were your ports? We are thinking of taking one of the longer Baltic cruises in 2014. Will you be doing a review? Thanks in advance! :)

 

 

I am not sure if I will get a chance to do an extensive review. I am going to be impossibly behind at work I am afraid and who knows what my house will look like with my sons in charge (21 and 19 years old)! We just did the 10 day leg of the cruise but it seems there were quite a few who had embarked June 2nd in Amsterdam and they would have stopped at the ports in Norway. We embarked in Copenhagen and stopped in Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, St Petersburg and Warnemunde (Berlin). We were in Warnemunde for 2 days.

[schoolinmy3]

Hope you will give us a little review.

 

I'm having a hard time figuring out where we will dock next year in some of our Baltic ports - can be a big difference.

 

Curious if you needed shuttles or cabs at any of your ports and if shuttles were provided. Thanks:D

 

The only port that we took HAL shore excursions was in St. Petersburg. For the rest it was generally very easy to get around. In Helsinki there was a shuttle provided by the port authority which was a small charge. We then took the tram 3T around town as recommended in Rick Steve's Scandinavia which I downloaded onto my iPad. We purchased an all day pass at the Information center by the marketplace. It was cheaper than the hop on hop off buses. For Tallin we just walked using the walking tour found here on cc. For Stockholm we were docked right in town (scenic cruising itineraries dock in town I believe) and walked right up to the ticket booth at the port and purchased the hop on hop off boat tickets for the Vasa museum. We were there before the crowds and that worked out perfectly. For Berlin since we were in Warnemunde overnight we rented a car for 2 days through Enterprise. Stephanie I believe (my sister in law arranged the rental) met us at the port with the car. There is an Enterprise call booth right at the port to let them know you are waiting for your car which Kimberly had arranged through email. We drove to Berlin which was quite easy and parked at a P&R (park and ride) at Pankow station which was on the U2 line into Berlin. We spent the day in Nerlin and arrived back at 7:15 pm. Just make sure you have enough euros to buy an all day ticket - we bought a small group ticket good for up to 5 people. The ticket machines don't accept US credit cards without the chip and pin. However you can use cash (euros). The second day we drove to Schwerin which was a beautiful town with a castle.

[kazu]

The only port that we took HAL shore excursions was in St. Petersburg. For the rest it was generally very easy to get around. In Helsinki there was a shuttle provided by the port authority which was a small charge. We then took the tram 3T around town as recommended in Rick Steve's Scandinavia which I downloaded onto my iPad. We purchased an all day pass at the Information center by the marketplace. It was cheaper than the hop on hop off buses. For Tallin we just walked using the walking tour found here on cc. For Stockholm we were docked right in town (scenic cruising itineraries dock in town I believe) and walked right up to the ticket booth at the port and purchased the hop on hop off boat tickets for the Vasa museum. We were there before the crowds and that worked out perfectly. For Berlin since we were in Warnemunde overnight we rented a car for 2 days through Enterprise. Stephanie I believe (my sister in law arranged the rental) met us at the port with the car. There is an Enterprise call booth right at the port to let them know you are waiting for your car which Kimberly had arranged through email. We drove to Berlin which was quite easy and parked at a P&R (park and ride) at Pankow station which was on the U2 line into Berlin. We spent the day in Nerlin and arrived back at 7:15 pm. Just make sure you have enough euros to buy an all day ticket - we bought a small group ticket good for up to 5 people. The ticket machines don't accept US credit cards without the chip and pin. However you can use cash (euros). The second day we drove to Schwerin which was a beautiful town with a castle.

 

Wow - thanks so very much for sharing this great information. Much appreciated. :):)

[Cruising-along]

Thanks! Two days for Warnemunde sounds ideal. :)

[schoolinmy3]

Let me know how you liked the hotel. I booked this hotel for us pre cruise (we are taking a 5 day stay in Paris and then flying to Copenhagen two days precruise). Our cruise is a year from now in May 2013

 

The Crowne Plaza Towers is a beautiful modern hotel. It is within walking distance to a large mall so very convenient. The mall has three levels of shopping and dining. The hotel also has a free airport shuttle. There is a restaurant/bar on site with a limited but delicious menu. Also another restaurant area reserved for the breakfast buffet which was extensive and had an abundance of food choices.

[KirkNC]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! We did the same itinerary last year.

[schoolinmy3]

Happy Belated Anniversary! My husband and I are going on the Eurodam July 4th!!!! Very excited! Glad to hear you had a great time. We have a 2 day tour scheduled for St. Pete but haven't done any others. Any suggestions? Did you do the long trip to Berlin....we think we want to pass on that. Did you book tours through HAL or privately> Looking forward to your review. Safe Flight Home.

 

We booked only the St Petersburg tours through HAL. The Hermitage was on day 1. It was very crowded and the tour was a bit rushed. The second day we went to Catherine's Palace which was much more pleasant. The tour guide handled our group much more efficiently through the crowds than on day 1.

For the rest of the ports we had made our own arrangements. We had rented a car for Berlin but only would recommend this if you are in Warnemunde overnight as we were. Most itineraries do not include an overnight stay in Warnemunde. There are plenty other sights to see nearby. We went to Scwerin which has a lovely castle. Another popular village is Lubeck. These are quite easily reached by rental car or train. The train station is a two minute walk from the ship and buying a ticket is not that hard with just a bit of research ahead of time. Just make sure to have Euros as the automatic ticket machines do not take our American credit cards. Speaking of credit cards - Anytime you use a US credit card overseas it is good to first ask if they accept cards without a chip and pin. They will then swipe your card and have you sign. However some places did not have the machine to swipe your card and then you have to use cash. Besides visiting other towns in the area Warnemunde itself is worth walking around. We ate a lovely meal in town and enjoyed walking around and looking at the shops. Plus there is always the bakery - yum! My husband didn't care where we went as long as he found a bakery in town.

[irenez]

We are going July 4th as well. How did you like Crown Plaza? We are staying there as well. How did you get there from the airport? I emailed customer service for shuttle instruction, but they have not replied.

Germany: What did you do in Kiel?

 

Thanks and welcome back.