Ship and port advise

[jmlh]

My husband and I are planning a cruise to the Baltics (including St. Petersburg)next summer. We are trying to decide between Jewel of the Seas (RCI), Harwich/return and the Century (Celebrity), Amsterdam/ return. We could also consider an inside cabin on Oceania (Dover to Stockholm). We have always had a balcony in the past but perhaps we would not need one in a cooler area. Any thoughts?

We would appreciate any comments from folks who have done this type of itinarary as we need to make some decisions. Many thanks.:)

[LHT28]

We did the Baltic in 2003 on Marco Polo with an inside cabin. No complaints...we didn't spend much time in the cabin and it was better for sleeping as it gets light VERY early .

 

Look at the ports of call that you would enjoy more.

[MTemple212]

Hello, my wife and I just booked a baltic cruise last week. We are going on Star Princess out of Copenhagen as there aren't as many sea days as on the Celebrity cruises that leave out of Dover and Amsterdam but sees all the cities that the celebrity ones do. We are getting an inside cabin and prices are cheaper on Princess for this cruise as compared to Celebrity. We are leaving in a couple of weeks to take the Constellation back across the atlantic.

[Queenk2]

We are doing the Constellation July 1 2006. I enjoy the at sea days. This itinerary is very port intensive..including Lithuania and Estonia, Poland Germany ets. I expect I will need the extra days to REST!

[JodiBB]

We just got off the Jewel of the Seas this past Friday completing their Baltic tour. We used the balcony often as we pulled in and out of ports to take pictures and admire the views. We liked the Jewel's itinerary, including the 2 days at sea back to Harwich as it provided a chance to relax after seeing so many sights.

[42trvl]

We just completed a Baltics cruise on the Crystal Symphony, out of Copenhagen ending in Stockholm. We always get a balcony, and while we used it a little bit, doubt we would have really missed it much on this trip. Personally, I would rather go on a smaller, nicer ship without a balcony. On those ships, it's also easier to find nice places to sit outside elsewhere so your own balcony does not seems as important.

 

I would also suggest thinking about your beginning and ending points if you are able to spend a little time there at either end of your cruise. We really liked Stockholm and if you can spend a couple of days there after your cruise, might be worth considering. Amsterdam would also be interesting. And if you consider Princess, we liked Copenhagen a lot also. This was not the type of cruise that we really missed not having too many sea days on.

 

Another thing I would recommend strongly is doing a private tour in St. Petersburg if you can. While we enjoyed our ship's excursions in some of the other cities, it was great to be in a small group (just our family) touring around St. Petersburg. Most places were very crowded, and the large groups seemed to be a more difficult way of seeing things.

[Hoser]

We also were on the Jewel of the Seas. We tried many different cruise lines incl RCCL and we love the Jewel the best. The layout and the amenities are great. The Solarium is such a relaxing place to go, esp during sea days. The entertainment was great, esp the Argentine Tango Show ( we paid $100 to see a similar show in NYC) We heard somefellow passengers say they chose the Jewel cos of its string trio who plays mostly in the Centrium and drew a big crowd every evening. I'm not surprised cos they're simply wonderful. The buffet at the WindJammer cafe is set up with different food stations so there's never a long lineup even when the ship was full.

Of course the itinerary is 1 imp thing to consider and the Jewel's itinerary is just as good as the others. We tend to agree with JodiBb that the extra days at sea back to Harwich were so welcoming after the tiring port intensive past days.

happy cruising.

[talyanka]

We tryed Oceania this year in Mediterranean and found out that Regatta is a great ship. It is small enough to fit into European harbors and to be docked close to the center of the city most ports. We used to be RCI cruisers. I don't think so that we will continue with RCI after sailing with Oceania. We booked Dover to Stockholm with Oceania for the next year. The itinerary looks interesting and I would be glad to spend 3 days in St. Petersburg.

 

Tatyana

 

 

My husband and I are planning a cruise to the Baltics (including St. Petersburg)next summer. We are trying to decide between Jewel of the Seas (RCI), Harwich/return and the Century (Celebrity), Amsterdam/ return. We could also consider an inside cabin on Oceania (Dover to Stockholm). We have always had a balcony in the past but perhaps we would not need one in a cooler area. Any thoughts?

We would appreciate any comments from folks who have done this type of itinarary as we need to make some decisions. Many thanks.:)

[42trvl]

As talyanka mentions, I might also add that the third day in St. Petersburg was great to have if one of the options you're considering offers that.

[NancyIL]

We sailed on the Jewel Baltic cruise in July, and we had a Cat. N inside cabin on the 4th deck. It was a great location...just a few steps from the Centrum, and what a beautiful ship!