A few questions for emerald princess summertime baltics cruisers...

[JackieB]

have you worn shorts and short-sleeved shirts or is it cooler?

 

Can you get good use of your balcony, or too cool?

 

did you really need cash in many denominations, or can

euros and dollars suffice? (for tour operator tips and small purchases)

 

thanks,

 

Jack

[CruiserBruce]

Wouldn't this apply to any ship sailing in the Baltic? It could if we knew when you are sailing.

 

There are several threads here about money matters. But without knowing what ports you are in, can't specifically help you.

 

There are also several excellent threads here on weather. TLCOhio commonly provides a standard set of average temps for each of the cruising months.

[KirkNC]

Yes more info needed, what port and what time of year at a minimum.

[Desdichado62]

have you worn shorts and short-sleeved shirts or is it cooler?

 

Can you get good use of your balcony, or too cool?

did you really need cash in many denominations, or can

euros and dollars suffice? (for tour operator tips and small purchases)

 

thanks,

 

Jack

 

this have been discussed before and the answer is the same.

 

You need to prepare for all sorts of weather from cold and rainy to warm and sunny.

It's impossible to tell this far ahead on what the weather is going to be like.

[JackieB]

I did indicate emerald princess figuring that those former pax would

know the itinerary (which ports) and the fact that I said "summertime"

should probably be good enough for when.

 

There are very many informative threads, but many are also full of detail

that I wasn't looking for.

 

Can you tip most tour operators with euros or dollars?

 

Thanks,

 

Jack

[LHT28]

You should tip in the currency of the Country you are

 

I would take a rain jacket no matter what time of year you go

 

We went in June so the weather was all over the place

 

We have been in Oslo in Aug it was warm & summer wear was fine

in Bergen the same cruise it was cool & wet

Copenhagen was warm to HOT

 

If you mention the ports maybe others could have more specific comments

 

This is my favourite site to check past weather

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/ULLI/2012/8/2/MonthlyHistory.html

[SanDiegoCoco]

As others have said, you need to be prepared for anything weather-wise.

 

We were on the first sailing of Emerald Princess this year, left Copenhagen on May 12. Weather ranged from a cold Oslo at 45 degrees, overcast, with some late afternoon sprinkles, to Germany, Estonia, and St. Petersburg, all of which had lovely sunny afternoons in the high 60's. Then the last 2 ports, Helsinki and Stockholm, were a bit cooler again. We used our waterproof rain jackets as our "take everywhere" jackets, with added layers if necessary, because if you are gone from the ship all day, you just never know if or how the weather will change. Even though the ship gave us weather forecasts for the next day in the Patter, they were correct only once or twice.

 

We had a balcony, and one thing it was good for is that if you wanted to test the temperature in the morning, all you had to do was open your balcony door and step out. We used the balcony in some ports for sailaways, but for other ports it was too cool and windy to be outside.

 

It was our choice to get some local currency before we left the US. DKK (Denmark), RUB (Russia), SEK (Sweden), NOK (Norway), and euros. Just about $50 worth for the ports where we either did DIY or ship excursions, and more in RUB and euros. The RUB that we had left over in Russia, we used to tip our tour guide and driver, along with euros or dollars to make up the complete tip. When we got back to the ship in Norway, we used our leftover NOK to buy a souvenir or two. Any coins we had left over at the end of the trip, I left in our room for our steward (after giving him a nice tip the night before from our leftover euros). Especially in our DIY ports, like Oslo, I felt better having some local currency, and it was fun to pay in local currency. One tip I read somewhere in preparation for our cruise was this: take a small calculator and tape to the back a slip of paper with all the currencies and their exchange rates. It helped us, since being in a different country every day sometimes got confusing.

[LHT28]

One tip I read somewhere in preparation for our cruise was this: take a small calculator and tape to the back a slip of paper with all the currencies and their exchange rates. It helped us, since being in a different country every day sometimes got confusing.

 

That is a good idea

I use the cheatsheet from oanda site for each currency

It gives you a rough idea of the cost of things

http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

[phillygirl2400]

Thanks. Very useful info.

[Giantfan13]

I did indicate emerald princess figuring that those former pax would

know the itinerary (which ports) and the fact that I said "summertime"

should probably be good enough for when.

 

There are very many informative threads, but many are also full of detail

that I wasn't looking for.

 

Can you tip most tour operators with euros or dollars?

 

Thanks,

 

Jack

 

Jack

 

Last time I looked at the calendar, Summertime ran from June 21 to September 21. To say the weather in the Baltics will be the same, at the end of June as it will be at the end of September is sure not very smart.

 

You came here looking for info. When posters tried to help you by asking you to be more specific, you sort of snubbed your nose at them, saying we should all know what summertime meant

 

If you want help here, you should at least try and be a bit more helpful yourself.

 

So I assume you are cruising mid September. (Summertime)

Bring gloves and a warm jacket.

 

Cheers

 

Len.

[Nitemare]

Now Len, that's not fair. Emerald Princess only has 3 different Baltic area itineraries this summer. You really could/should have looked them all up for the original poster. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Jack: Empty out the closet, and bring it. You're welcome.

[Desdichado62]

 

So I assume you are cruising mid September. (Summertime)

Bring gloves and a warm jacket.

 

Cheers

 

Len.

 

The weather in September is like for the rest of year.

 

That means large variations from year to year. Some years it can be summerish with warm temperatures,

other years a bit more chilly but not as chilly that it would require gloves and winter clothing.

[Giantfan13]

The weather in September is like for the rest of year.

 

That means large variations from year to year. Some years it can be summerish with warm temperatures,

other years a bit more chilly but not as chilly that it would require gloves and winter clothing.

 

Sorry, but I was being a bit funny and sarcastic at the same time. :D:D:D:D

 

Maybe I was having a bad day, but we are always here to help fellow posters out. yet when some one tried to help the OP out by asking them to be a bit more specific, he jumped on them. That just sort of rankles me a bit.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[JackieB]

The way I understand them we should have currency for every country

and all of the clothes we own. I think packing will be a challenge!

 

I'm looking forward to our journey.

 

Thanks,

 

Jack

[cruise_alot123]

have you worn shorts and short-sleeved shirts or is it cooler?

 

Can you get good use of your balcony, or too cool?

 

did you really need cash in many denominations, or can

euros and dollars suffice? (for tour operator tips and small purchases)

 

thanks,

 

Jack

 

Just off the Emerald Princess yesterday and we had a balcony B 239 (baja deck toward the front of the ship) during our cruise it was a bit cool and we had sunny days and also rainy days. The pools are open but not heated and only a few people use it for a quick dip. Pool water was cool 60 degrees and hot tubs was just luke warm. Sunrise at 3:45 AM and set at 11:05 PM.

 

The ship has the currency change machine for you to make withdraw for many different type of currencies. We did not use it.

 

We use the American express currency exchange ATM at the CPH airport to make withdraw for DKK. We made Euro withdraw (ATM) in Berlin directed by our SPB tour guide.

 

We paid our SPB tours for (SPB and Berlin) in USD but they also except credit cards. If you use credit to pay then you have to pay in day 1 in SPB because they have to generate a receipt for you to sign in day 2. If you pay by cash then you pay in Day 2 in SPB.

 

You do not need to pay in Berlin and pay your whole tour while you are in SPB.

 

We pay pretty much paid everything using Amex card.

[Genessa]

The way I understand them we should have currency for every country

and all of the clothes we own. I think packing will be a challenge!

 

I'm looking forward to our journey.

 

Thanks,

 

Jack

 

we didn't change over a lot of money - but I am not a shopper. Each port we got maybe $50 US in local currency. When we took tours, such as in St. Peter, well, maybe the guides didn't like it, but we paid them in $US - I had no plans on buying anything and didn't want to waste touring time to exchange for rubles anywhere.

 

pack to dress in layers. DH wore shorts, I wore capris and jeans - we were there in July

 

we used our balcony daily, but we always use our balcony

[dnylla]

I'll give my responses, but I think answers for these will really depend on you

 

have you worn shorts and short-sleeved shirts or is it cooler?

 

This really depends on where you are from. Our warmest days were probably St. Petersburg and Helsinki, when it got into the upper 60s. My sister and I were on the Emerald Princess May 23-June 3. She lives in southeast Texas and wore long sleeve or 3/4 sleeve shirts those days. I'm from the Rocky Mountain region and wore short sleeves or cap sleeve shirts. We both wore jeans, although if I had brought the sundresses I considered bringing I may have worn one

 

Can you get good use of your balcony, or too cool?

 

Like other posters we used the balcony to see what the temperature felt like in the mornings. We were on the starboard side, and if there was a good view we watched some of the sail aways and scenery. But during the day we were usually in port and not in our room

 

did you really need cash in many denominations, or can euros and dollars suffice? (for tour operator tips and small purchases)

Once again this really depends on you and your plans for in port. We ordered foreign currency before we left. We arrived in Copenhagen early and didn't need to worry about finding an ATM. In ports where we did our own thing like Oslo, Tallinn or Helsinki we also didn't need to worry about looking. Ports where we did shore excursions we really did not spend much, and if you tip euros or dollars may work (had local currency so I didn't ask the guide) Russia we ordered rubles, but I think that many of the tourist-y markets will take euros or dollars, but you may run into issues with using the WCs. Some people in our group needed to use them but the lady only took rubles (I think our guide had to work to convince her otherwise) Most touristy shops take credit cards, and some took euros but not at a good exchange rate, and you would likely get the local currency back as change