Live on the Star in the Baltics, August 2016

[hawkeyetlse]

We just got off this cruise this morning. I'm sure you'll have a great cruise.

 

A couple of warnings that might be useful (for you or for those following this live report). If you are planning to take the public bus back into town at the end of the cruise, prepare to wait for a long time… The bus drivers are incredibly patient (and they all speak 3+ languages), but there are just not enough buses for the demand at disembarkation, so it is a slow process. Dress warmly because there is no shelter at the bus stop.

 

For the first morning in St Petersburg, people with independent tours start lining up well before 8am on deck 7 (midship elevators, through the back of Ginza). The NCL tours meet in the theater and get priority. We were in line right by the windows on deck 7 and watched people streaming out of the ship into the immigration hall while the cruise director made totally bogus announcements claiming that the ship was not yet cleared and telling people not to attempt to leave the ship. People were taking videos to document this bald-faced lie, but what can you do really. Anyone who actually listened to these announcements ended up behind everyone else. We sat in our tour van for over an hour and a half waiting for everyone in the group to finally get off the ship. My advice: If you have an early tour, find where the line is that morning and get in it early. Or try to sneak in with an NCL tour group as they leave the ship (we didn't attempt this, so I don't know how easy it is).

 

They are serious about the "no beverages" rule when returning to the ship. There were long lines to re-board the ship at several ports, but I don't know if it's really because of the increased screening. The procedure for retrieving confiscated bottles on the last night of the cruise was also painfully slow (they had just one crew member assigned to the task).

 

The shows are good, and very popular, so again, get there early. Swing by Gatsby's or the casino bar to get a drink to take in with you. There is bar service in the theater, but the servers are swamped. (The casino never seemed busy when I passed through.)

 

That's all I can think of for now. Looking forward to hearing your impressions of the rest of the cruise.

[kmurph22]

Thanks Keith and all who are posting tips for the Baltics - we will be sailing on Getaway in May 2017. Following withinterest.

 

Have a great trip!

[easyboy]

Thanks for the info hawkeyetlse

[littlelulu01]

Hi Keith. Do you notice any difference with the internet speeds? Will be sailing the Jade soon and hoping the upgrade plans weren't scrapped. Have read reports of excruciating slow and others who report slow but manageable. Paid $358 for our sailing because husband needs for work. Thanks. Sounds like you are having a great vacation so far and glad to hear food and service are above par. Kim

[purepixie67]

Thanks for the info on the beer Keith - will have to break that gently to the other half.

And Clancampbell :( - 'soft southerner'?? we live close to a very good brewery - by choice. Many pints of Rebellion have been drunk.

[CdnFirstTimer]

Hi Keith, hope you are having a wonderful trip. We are on the Star in a few weeks. Could you comment on the following?

 

- How crowded is the pool deck? Wondering if it's warm or cool at sea on the Baltics this time of year

- How smooth was it to get off the ship in sbp? We're on tour not with the ship, wondering if immigration was long, or if ncl held back non ship tour groups?

- Could you keep and eye out for which day the laundry bag special is and how much it was?

 

Very much appreciate the help and hope you have a great trip

 

 

 

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[atomax]

Following this thread for two reasons: 1) future cruise itinerary; 2) sailing on the Star in December.

 

How is the overall condition of the ship? We haven't been on the Star in years.

[KeithJenner]

I haven't had time to update for a couple of days. Obviously I'm not sorry about that, as I've had lots of better things to do, but some better weather means that I'm sitting out on my balcony with some wine having been watching the last of the light disappear. Nothing better to do now for a while, so it's time to update things.

 

Firstly, a mention of the weather. After a few showers in Copenhagen, the main feature has been a cool breeze. My son talked me into swimming with him for a while yesterday, and it was freezing. I couldn't sit out on the balcony at night on either of the first few days, but it's ok today. I've just put a hoodie on and I'm quite comfortable out here.

 

I love sitting out in the balcony in the evening, so am willing to put up with it being a little cool.

 

It was quite hot at times today. We were sitting outside for a while early afternoon and ended up moving inside after a while as the sun was hot. It was cool in the shade though.

 

Anyway, back to yesterday, and Warnemunde. This is the only of these ports that we didn't visit when we did the Baltics in 2003.

 

We were never going to go into Berlin (we can fly there from home in not much longer than the train takes and a lot cheaper), so decided to get the train into Rostock and have a look around.

 

It's a lovely city. The train was easy, although getting a ticket was a problem. Not for us, but for many of the other people in the queues before us. We watched the first train we were going to get pull away whilst waiting to get our ticket. They run every 20 minutes or so, so it wasn't a major problem.

 

When it was our turn, it was very easy. Select English, Rostock Central is top of the list of suggested destinations. It's €2 each way and it took about a minute to get the three tickets we needed. We didn't know whether our son needed a ticket, but at that price it doesn't really matter.

 

When at Rostock Central, we just walked about half a mile along Rosa Luxemburg Strabbe to the city centre.

 

There are plenty of interesting buildings and city gates. We went into the church (can't remember the name) with the Astrological Clock, which was quite a thing although I have no idea what it was about. Apparently it has all the dates for Easter up until 2017, go it's a good job they have the internet now so they can just google it after next year. :)

 

We spent a couple of hours in Rostock, and took another route back to the station. We passed a park, which had a small zip line that our son enjoyed using for a while. Overall we thought that Rostock was a really nice place.

 

Warnemunde was also worth visiting. It was extremely busy though, so we didn't bother with the drink we were planning on having and settled for an ice cream instead.

 

The beach looked really nice, and was very busy considering the weather.

 

Being so close to Rostock and east to access by train, I can see why it gets so busy. I would certainly spend a lot of time there if I lived locally.

 

Having passed up the busy bars on land, we headed back to the ship for a few beers and a swim.

 

In the evening it was our first visit to Moderno. It's our sons favourite, so we decided to take him twice this time.

 

Whilst I've always enjoyed Moderno, the quality can vary a little, and I have to say that it was just about the best I have ever had. The service was also exceptional. The staff were all really friendly and often funny. A really enjoyable meal. We were so full afterwards that we did nothing else but walk a couple of laps of the promenade deck (with a short game of shuffleboard) and then just settled down in a bar.

 

Overall, a perfect introduction to the cruise. I quite like having a sea day to start, but this was if anything better as we had a really enjoyable but relaxed day to start things off.

[KeithJenner]

Just to answer a few questions.

 

Firstly the Internet. I've found it to be quite reliable. I haven't used it for much other than emails and keeping up with the olympics. However, I logged my son on earlier for a while and when I asked him if he had finished with it, he said he was still using it to watch YouTube. Sure enough, he was streaming a video and it looked pretty good to me. It's not something I've ever tried before, but it surprised me that he could, especially on a sea day.

 

I like the ship itself. I have been on the Spirit and Jewel class before but none in between. There are lots of similarities with the Jade, but overall there are a few things that I prefer about the Jade. There really isn't much in it though.

 

Everything seems in very good shape to me. I like o'Sheehans (this is the first retrofitted o'Sheehans I've seen and I think it works well. I like o'Sheehans on the new ships, but it can be very loud. There isn't that problem here.

 

Five o'clock somewhere is a nice bar, although we keep on going there just as Karaoke is starting, so haven't stayed there much. Bier Garten is great when the weather is ok (the wind blows up there though). We haven't stopped at Gatsbys yet, but plan to soon as it looks like a nice area. We like to play cards sometimes and I think that will be a good place.

 

Overall so far, I think I prefer the Spirit and Jade, but it's no shame to be beaten by those two. I would certainly have no hesitation in sailing on the Star again.

[KeithJenner]

To quickly catch up, as we didn't do a great deal today.

 

It was the behind the scenes tour this morning. The clocks also went forward so it was an earlier start than is ideal for a sea day. I went by myself and it was good. Not as good as the one I did on the Spirit last time, but ok (we struggle to go to them as our son can't go which means we either have to take turns or send him to the kids club).

 

We also went into the latitudes party. We don't usually bother with these, but decided to go for a change.

 

After that we sat around for the afternoon and then had dinner in Aqua. Once again, I thought the food was better than usual.

 

My son dragged me to "Band on the Run" in the evening. He seems to like these shows but they bore the life out of me. It was only 40 minutes long though, so that was a bonus. People seemed to enjoy it though.

 

Now we are all set for Tallinn tomorrow. Last time it was probably our favourite port and we are really looking forward to going back. We will just walk round by ourselves.

 

Not sure when I will report back. When I do, I will hopefully have lots to say about Tallinn and St Petersburg. :)

[fabnfortysomething]

enjoy the bars on board!

 

We sailed on the Star last May for a Norway cruise so can guarantee you are experiencing warmer weather than we did:D

[easyboy]

To quickly catch up, as we didn't do a great deal today.

 

Not sure when I will report back. When I do, I will hopefully have lots to say about Tallinn and St Petersburg. :)

Really look forward to your impressions of St Petersburg:)

[KeithJenner]

Early night tonight, as we need to be up early for St Petersburg tomorrow. I'm on my balcony again at the moment and it's a lovely evening.

 

I really can't say enough good things about Tallinn. When we visited last time we really liked it and, if anything, we liked it better this time.

 

We followed a walking tour that I found on the Internet and it covered most of the old town.

 

It really is a fantastic place to just walk around. For some reason our son particularly liked the sound of the tower called "Kiek in de Kok". He still giggles every time he hears it. That tower is also a museum and we decided to go in, which was quite interesting. Just outside, a local archery school has an area where you can get 20 shots (10 practice and 10 that are scored). My son and I both had a go and he enjoyed it so much that he bagged us enough to get another go (they also gave him 10 free shots). It was a totally unexpected and enjoyable little interlude.

 

I really would suggest to anyone to visit Tallinn at some point (preferably as part of a Baltic cruise, but get there however you can). It really is worth it.

 

Anyway, we had one of our platinum meals at Le Bistro tonight. I really like Le Bistro, but my wife isn't too fussed (she likes it and La Cucina similarly so we tend to go to each of them once.

 

Again, the food was good, probably about average for Le Bistro, although the Creme Brûlée wasn't as good as usual.

 

The weather was good enough earlier for us to go swimming again. Still a bit chilly but not too bad.

 

St Petersburg tomorrow. :)

[KeithJenner]

By the way, I have been posting some pictures from the ports on my Instagram. I can't link them directly, but my account name on there is keith_jenner

[aussie cruzer]

Enjoying your review Keith.....If you want to post photos on CC the Free Tapatalk app does a good job.

 

Have a great 2 days in SP.

 

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[barry9196]

I'm anxious to find out how you fared getting off in St Petersburg. Were you forced to wait on the ship until the people with NCL excursions got off?

[KeithJenner]

Sorry, I haven't got round to updating for a few days.

 

Just a couple of quick comments and then I'll add some more detail later.

 

Firstly, we have missed Stockholm today. Apparently there was some rough weather forecast for this afternoon in the area and it was possible that we wouldn't have been able to sail back down the Archipelago, which would obviously have then meant we would be late back to Copenhagen.

 

We've got a sea day today and will arrive in Copenhagen tomorrow and overnight there.

 

Regarding St Petersburg, it really wasn't too bad.

 

We queued up an Ginza at 7.45 and there were about a dozen people in front of us. Within 5 minutes the queue had got a lot longer and was way out of sight by 8.

 

A little while after 8 we saw a few people start to get off the ship, but there weren't many of them. I was expecting to see quite a rush down there, but then at about 8.15 we started moving too. When we got to immigration there were about 6 people in each of the lines ahead of us. We were through and had met our guide by 8.30.

 

There were lots of people on NCL tours joining at the same time as us or just after so, whilst it did look as though some people got a start on us, it wasn't many.

 

One other tip. Most people seemed to be heading towards the centre doors, and therefore the centre immigration lines. The lines to the left or right were shorter, so try to avoid the centre.

 

I assume that this people who only joined the line at 8 will have had quite a wait getting through immigration, so get there in good time.

[KeithJenner]

Well, it's a lovely day today. My friend in Stockholm has said it's quite windy there today, so I assume that's why we aren't there.

 

Our son is swimming with his friends this morning and we are sitting by the pool watching them set up the barbecue. That'll be lunch sorted then. :)

 

Back to St Petersburg. After getting off the ship we met our guide and set off for the city.

 

I really can't say enough good things about TJ tours and our guide Alla. It really felt like we were being shown around by a friend rather than a guide.

 

As I said earlier, we went for a one day private tour. It worked really well. We got far more done than we would even in a small group. A photo stop would just take a couple of minutes rather than the time it can take to wait for everyone to get back on the bus.

 

We did a city centre tour, hydrofoil to Peterhof, toured the gardens and had some lunch then back into the city with a short subway ride. Stopped at St Nicholas cathedral, along with various stops along the way. Spiller Blood (inside and out), a quick walk along Nevski Prospect (cut short due to rain) and St Peter and Paul fortress. Finally we did some souvenir shopping.

 

Overall, it really was a fantastic day. I'd recommend it to everyone.

[KeithJenner]

In the evening after day one at St Petersburg, we went to the Russian show in the theatre. We had no real expectations but it was excellent.

 

I'm not generally a fan of the theatre shows. This one, which is performed by a local group from St Petersburg was entertaining and very funny in places.

 

They only do one show, at 9pm, and it is well worth going to. Much better, in my opinion, than the general shows I've seen in the theatres on these ships (I'm no expert though).

[KeithJenner]

On the second day in St Petersburg, we had a lie in whilst everyone else was rushing out for their tours and then enjoyed having a quiet ship for the day.

 

We went to Teppenyaki that evening, which was very good.

 

Last time we went there (on the Epic), the chicken was excellent but the steak was a little tough. This time, the Steak was probably the nicest I have had for a long time but the chicken, whilst very tasty was a little chewy. Overall it was all very good though.

 

We were very pleased with how we did St Petersburg. There were some very tired people around the ship on Sunday evening, especially those who had been out on Saturday evening too. We saw a lot in St Petersburg and also managed to relax on the second day. The cost was very similar to what a two day your with a bigger group would have been but it worked very well for us. I would certainly recommend doing it this was to families with kids.

[Single Cruiser]

Did they do any overnight tours to further inland Russia? I see it's probably too far for coach trip but 3.5hrs to Moscow by train so wondered if anyone would do that staying overnight in Moscow or if it would be too far?

 

 

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[KeithJenner]

Did they do any overnight tours to further inland Russia? I see it's probably too far for coach trip but 3.5hrs to Moscow by train so wondered if anyone would do that staying overnight in Moscow or if it would be too far?

 

 

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I didn't hear of anyone doing it this time, but when we last did the Baltics I remember talking to some people who were on a tour where they flew to Moscow and overnighted there (I think I remember that correctly).

 

So it is theoretically possible. I'm not sure of the practicalities though.

[Single Cruiser]

I didn't hear of anyone doing it this time, but when we last did the Baltics I remember talking to some people who were on a tour where they flew to Moscow and overnighted there (I think I remember that correctly).

 

So it is theoretically possible. I'm not sure of the practicalities though.

 

 

Yeah, it's a bit too far, although just checked Russian rail website and it says 3.5hr on train 8 trips a day between St Petersburg so I guess in theory a 9AM train in for 12:30 and then 2PM train back would give you 24hrs in the capital.

 

But sounds like plenty to do in St Petersburg, can just see it being my only time in Russia but who knows...

 

 

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[KeithJenner]

We've got some more information about tomorrow now.

 

Whilst I liked the idea of an extra day in Copenhagen, I was concerned about the practicalities of getting into the city from Oceankaj, which is a bit of a pain.

 

Anyway, we are docking at Langelinie tomorrow at 10am, which is near the little mermaid and is an easy walk from the Centre. We are then sailing from there to Oceankaj at 6am on Thursday morning (all aboard is at 5am).

 

I'm really looking forward to it now. We didn't really do that side of the city last week so we can have a nice stroll in tomorrow morning and just have to be back onboard in time for Cagneys in the evening.

[hawkeyetlse]

Don't forget to demand a refund of 1/9th of your cruise fare! :rolleyes: