Getaway 2017-Baltic Capitals, input wanted

[Markanddonna]

I am interested to read a review of the sailing within the archipelago. I recall someone indicating that the Getaway is too large to do that. Please report back if you are on that sailing. Thanks.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

When we visited the Hermitage in 2011, we saw a lot of impressionists in the main building. Have they moved them?

The Hermitage campus has more than one building. The impressionists' exhibit is in a building facing the Hermitage across the courtyard/square. The building used to be an office building but was remodeled to be an art museum.

[Bella O]

Our sailing, 6/12 from Copenhagen was supposed to dock in Stockholm. We paid extra for this "variation". Received notice a week or so ago that its now docking in Nynashavn. Do not trust them or pay more for this! The ship is just too big. I don't believe any cruise this season will go through the archipelago and dock in Stockholm

[Loving My Life]

Our sailing, 6/12 from Copenhagen was supposed to dock in Stockholm. We paid extra for this "variation". Received notice a week or so ago that its now docking in Nynashavn. Do not trust them or pay more for this! The ship is just too big. I don't believe any cruise this season will go through the archipelago and dock in Stockholm

 

I've been following this thread because I'm looking to book a Baltic cruise next year and THIS is what I've been afraid of. May have to look at other cruise lines for this trip.

 

Please come back a do a review after your cruise. I'd love to hear your feedback.

[hun]

I am interested to read a review of the sailing within the archipelago. I recall someone indicating that the Getaway is too large to do that. Please report back if you are on that sailing. Thanks.

 

 

If I'm reading the NCL site correctly, it seems that the June 21 sailing is scheduled to stop in Stockholm? And then the next sailings currently scheduled are for August....

we're on the Sept. 1st sailing, which is currently scheduled for Stockholm, so are very curious as well to see what happens.

 

 

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[BostonGal35]

i think it is a big mistake to send a mega ship thru the baltics. they have their purpose and place, this isnt one of them. Disembark/Embark in St. Petersburg took a very long time with customs on the Star, and we had priority as suite guests!. I can only imagine on a large ship how long it will take for people to get on an off.

 

i also dont think a mega ship belongs in Alaska either, but they built the Bliss which cant go to Glacier Bay due to size. the mega ships also cant cross panama canal via the old historic locks.

[hawkeyetlse]

i think it is a big mistake to send a mega ship thru the baltics. they have their purpose and place, this isnt one of them. Disembark/Embark in St. Petersburg took a very long time with customs on the Star, and we had priority as suite guests!. I can only imagine on a large ship how long it will take for people to get on an off.

Princess has been doing Baltic cruises for a couple of years using the Royal and Regal (just a little smaller than the Getaway), and that seems to be working out OK.

 

I suppose we'll hear about it soon enough, since the Getaway is on its first Baltic itinerary at this very moment. Hope it's going better than the TA…

[EllieinNJ]

I couldn't do the Getaway Baltic this year so when they had the tax-free sale I booked the Breakaway Baltic for May 29, 2018. I never was on a large ship and was so excited to get an angled balcony at no extra charge. The website also says we go through the Archipelego. I hope someone comes back and writes a detailed trip report. It sort of scares me that I'm the only one on my roll call. Usually there are several people by this time.

[Huntingdon1701]

Just back off the first sailing there and happy to answer any questions. Had a fantastic time.

 

We were due to go to Stockholm but at the last minute were diverted to Nynashamn. We did still pass through some of the island archipelago, so didn't lose out on that as much as I had feared. The only downside was that it took longer to get to Stockholm, but we didn't encounter any traffic and all the buses simply switched to Nynashamn so it wasn't much of an issue. Everyone, ship's tours included, did cut it much closer to the all on board time than normal though. If there's several ships in the port, and more traffic on the roads, it could become a bit of an issue.

 

We used Alla Tours for all the ports and I can't recommend them highly enough. Although all the providers compete around St Petersburg and are broadly similar in price and itinerary, it seems Alla has a slight edge over the others by providing sit down meals without missing any key stops (from talking with people using SPB, TJ and DenRus etc).

[Steff79]

Thank you, i'm thinking about doing this next Year . Are there some Problems or Long wait to leave the ship in st. Petersburg? I know only with Visum or with booked Tour.

 

 

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[norhel]

Just back off the first sailing there and happy to answer any questions. Had a fantastic time.

 

We were due to go to Stockholm but at the last minute were diverted to Nynashamn. We did still pass through some of the island archipelago, so didn't lose out on that as much as I had feared. The only downside was that it took longer to get to Stockholm, but we didn't encounter any traffic and all the buses simply switched to Nynashamn so it wasn't much of an issue. Everyone, ship's tours included, did cut it much closer to the all on board time than normal though. If there's several ships in the port, and more traffic on the roads, it could become a bit of an issue.

 

We used Alla Tours for all the ports and I can't recommend them highly enough. Although all the providers compete around St Petersburg and are broadly similar in price and itinerary, it seems Alla has a slight edge over the others by providing sit down meals without missing any key stops (from talking with people using SPB, TJ and DenRus etc).

 

Can I ask how the entertainment was on board? Did you have any problems getting off in St. Petersburg?

[Huntingdon1701]

Thank you, i'm thinking about doing this next Year . Are there some Problems or Long wait to leave the ship in st. Petersburg? I know only with Visum or with booked Tour.

 

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There was about an hour wait to get through immigration at St Petersburg and there didn't seem an obvious way to speed that up. There wasn't much of a queue to get off the ship itself, and it was only ten minutes to get through customs on the way back. We were off the ship at 7.30, but got outside the terminal to our tour at 8.35 with the tour due to start at 8.30.

 

In all other ports, you literally walked off the ship and were outside the gates in 5 minutes. Very fast.

 

Check out the ports of call forum here for advice on possible tour operators. I used Alla Tours, but TJ Travel, SPB tours, and DenRus are others widely used and we saw many people using them in each port. They provide the visa for you, so no need to rely on the more expensive ship tours.

[Huntingdon1701]

Can I ask how the entertainment was on board? Did you have any problems getting off in St. Petersburg?

 

I didn't see a lot of the entertainment but friends did and thought it was good. There was more of a mix of events ranging from the typical performers and musicians to lectures on Faberge Eggs and Russian history.

 

I did see Cirque Dreams, which was very good, and Wine Lovers the Musical, which was not (nearly walked out). Aliah was one of the singers/piano players in the Sugarcane bar and was very good. I also tried the rope course (great fun) and water slides (terrifying, but exhilarating).

 

There were no problems with St Petersburg but it did take an hour to get through customs. There is nothing the ship can do about that, so leave plenty of time. I think our cruise was under-capacity, so you might want to leave an hour and a half on the first day to get off and meet your tour. The second day was much faster - no more than 20 minutes.

[Igmus mom]

Nor hel, we are also going to use Alla in St Petersburg and Stockholm. How was the Stockholm tour..did you have any free time? We booked this tour when we learned we would not be docking in Stockholm.

 

Huntington 1701, thanks for your report.

[Huntingdon1701]

How was the Stockholm tour..did you have any free time? We booked this tour when we learned we would not be docking in Stockholm.

 

Huntington 1701, thanks for your report.

 

We ended up with about 45 minutes free time in Stockholm - it would have been more but the shift to Nynashamn squeezed things a little. However, the free time starts in the central square, which means you are either right by the main shopping street, or by restaurants for food. We went left and up (as you face the Nobel centre) and found a great restaurant in a cellar. They served the food immediately (delicious) and we had time for a quick souvenir shop as well.

[nt13]

I didn't see a lot of the entertainment but friends did and thought it was good. There was more of a mix of events ranging from the typical performers and musicians to lectures on Faberge Eggs and Russian history.

 

 

 

I did see Cirque Dreams, which was very good, and Wine Lovers the Musical, which was not (nearly walked out). Aliah was one of the singers/piano players in the Sugarcane bar and was very good. I also tried the rope course (great fun) and water slides (terrifying, but exhilarating).

 

 

 

There were no problems with St Petersburg but it did take an hour to get through customs. There is nothing the ship can do about that, so leave plenty of time. I think our cruise was under-capacity, so you might want to leave an hour and a half on the first day to get off and meet your tour. The second day was much faster - no more than 20 minutes.

 

 

Thank you for the information! Can you tell me how long Cirque Dreams is? I'm trying to figure out what time the 5:30 show would end.

 

Also for SPB, we have a private tour starting at 9. Do you have any sense of it would help to avoid long lines if we moved our start time a bit later? We are traveling with children so avoiding a really long line would be helpful. If not they will make do!

 

Lastly, how long is it to get off the ship at the end in CPH?

 

Thank you so much!

 

 

 

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Edited May 26, 2017 by nt13

[Huntingdon1701]

Thank you for the information! Can you tell me how long Cirque Dreams is? I'm trying to figure out what time the 5:30 show would end.

 

Also for SPB, we have a private tour starting at 9. Do you have any sense of it would help to avoid long lines if we moved our start time a bit later? We are traveling with children so avoiding a really long line would be helpful. If not they will make do!

 

Lastly, how long is it to get off the ship at the end in CPH?

 

Thank you so much!

 

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Cirque is about 90 minutes, so you could expect to be out by 7.30 at latest. It's best to get there half an hour early to get the best seating. The food is served before the show, and is a better offering than on previous cirque shows - you probably wont need to eat before or after.

 

The risk with delaying the tour start is that you miss some of the key things to see - the tours were timed to get you in to some of the museums before they opened to the public, so it depends on what your tour features as to whether you want to do that. However, I can't really say what time the queues would ease up. When we got through at 8.30, the queue behind us was just as long as when we got down, so I think you'd be looking at quite a late departure to avoid a queue at all. Perhaps take a tablet or something for the kids to occupy their time with?

 

Disembarking in Copenhagen follows the usual NCL practice of calling colours, so you pick the time you leave. The hold up comes when you pick up your luggage and there was quite a slow moving queue when I got off at 9.30. However, I was with a ships tour and they let us skip the luggage screening and get straight on the bus. If you have a late flight, that would be a good way to skip queues and fill time. I did get the impression that the size of the Getaway was taking everyone by surprise - everyone commented on it in every port - so I think the port authorities will be tweaking some of their practices to better cope with the influx of people. It was quite funny - I was in Copenhagen for four days before the cruise left, and met loads of passengers wandering around. It felt like we'd taken over the place.

[rocklinmom]

So excited to hear from someone who has just done this cruise! We are on the same one in July. Glad to hear that it went smoothly. I have a question about the new Cirque show, what kind of dinner was served?

And also, are you going to post a review or any photos? :-)

[Huntingdon1701]

So excited to hear from someone who has just done this cruise! We are on the same one in July. Glad to hear that it went smoothly. I have a question about the new Cirque show, what kind of dinner was served?

And also, are you going to post a review or any photos? :-)

 

The starter escapes me, but the main was a steak with some vegetables. There was a trio of deserts - a sort of caramel creme, a brownie, and a chocolate cheesecake. It was quite hard to manage desert after the rest, and I have quite a healthy appetite!

 

There seems to be some demand for a review, so I'll think about it. I'll also need to figure out how to post pictures...I've got about 1000 from the whole cruise.

[nt13]

Cirque is about 90 minutes, so you could expect to be out by 7.30 at latest. It's best to get there half an hour early to get the best seating. The food is served before the show, and is a better offering than on previous cirque shows - you probably wont need to eat before or after.

 

The risk with delaying the tour start is that you miss some of the key things to see - the tours were timed to get you in to some of the museums before they opened to the public, so it depends on what your tour features as to whether you want to do that. However, I can't really say what time the queues would ease up. When we got through at 8.30, the queue behind us was just as long as when we got down, so I think you'd be looking at quite a late departure to avoid a queue at all. Perhaps take a tablet or something for the kids to occupy their time with?

 

Disembarking in Copenhagen follows the usual NCL practice of calling colours, so you pick the time you leave. The hold up comes when you pick up your luggage and there was quite a slow moving queue when I got off at 9.30. However, I was with a ships tour and they let us skip the luggage screening and get straight on the bus. If you have a late flight, that would be a good way to skip queues and fill time. I did get the impression that the size of the Getaway was taking everyone by surprise - everyone commented on it in every port - so I think the port authorities will be tweaking some of their practices to better cope with the influx of people. It was quite funny - I was in Copenhagen for four days before the cruise left, and met loads of passengers wandering around. It felt like we'd taken over the place.

 

Thank you so much for this information! It is very helpful to me.

[NCruiser2012]

The starter escapes me, but the main was a steak with some vegetables. There was a trio of deserts - a sort of caramel creme, a brownie, and a chocolate cheesecake. It was quite hard to manage desert after the rest, and I have quite a healthy appetite!

 

There seems to be some demand for a review, so I'll think about it. I'll also need to figure out how to post pictures...I've got about 1000 from the whole cruise.

 

Again, please post a trip report. We would love to hear from you. Pictures would be great if you can.

[rocklinmom]

Thank you for the dinner info! And yes if you can a review would be much appreciated :-)

[FourUpState]

Thanks for all the information, all of us on later cruises are hungry for reviews and advice, so glad all went well.

 

 

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[Seminole1975]

Thanks for all the information, all of us on later cruises are hungry for reviews and advice, so glad all went well.

 

 

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Yes! Going in September! Can't wait to hear everything! Entertainment-wise: This was also the first week for the cast of MDQ. I heard it went great as well! Four of the cast returned for a second contract and four of them are new, to NCL, but have done the show in other places.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Seminole1975

[Joal]

This site shows the (currently scheduled) itineraries. Looks like the first is in May 2017, so just click through month to month to see them all. This site lists Stockholm or Nynashamn. Other sites might list it as "Nynashamn (Stockholm)" if that sailing is going to Nynashamn.

 

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruisesonnorwegiangetaway-may2017.html

 

You can also look a the Port of Stockholm vessel calls to see what is scheduled where.

 

http://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

 

Of course, these are subject to change, but I think it is unlikely that a calling on Stockholm proper would be redirected to Nynashamn on short notice since the line has reserved (and paid) for the spot in Stockholm, but you never know.

 

The official website for the Port of Stockholm lists the Getaway as "expected in port" on 8/21/2017.