NCL Breakaway Baltic Cruise Review July 13, 2018

[nycfa]

From there we just followed the signs back to the ship...of course the Family wanted to stop here. :')

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

BTW they were pretty wiped out with so many cruise ships in port. A lot of people must have stopped in for drinks/snacks.

 

Soon we were bank to the ship.

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

We enjoyed Tallinn and bought some things in town and at the shops by the ship.

[nycfa]

St. Petersburg, Russia

 

So if you don't know already if you are doing a NON NCL tour you MUST sign up for a slot on Day 2 of the cruise for a disembarkation time for SPB. It's on the day you are in Germany. When we arrived back from Berlin around 8:30 pm I was able to sign us up for Group B at 8:00 am. Group A which was already filled was also for 8 am. From there the times were 8:15, 8:30, 8:45 and so on with a certain number of slots available for each one.

 

We had booked a private tour for us the 4 of us with TJ Travel. Originally our day was to begin at 7:00 am but with the new rules of NON ship tours getting off after the Ships tours TJ contacted me with a new meeting time of 8:30 am. (with a later return time for day 1 and an earlier start time for Day 2).

 

Group A & B were allowed into the theater on Deck 7 around 7:30 am. Everyone filled in rows until the whole theater was filled as the later times arrived. Once the "okay" was given they released us row by row into immigration.

 

You must bring your passport and your tour ticket which is your Visa for the Russia. It's slow. Each person spends about 2 minutes with the customs official....so 10 people in front of you at 2 minutes each....20 min or more to get to you!

 

I think we waited maybe 30-40 minutes before it was our turn. Every member of my family went to the customs officer separately (smaller children stayed with a parent but mine are teens). I went first, followed by each of my kids then my husband. A few question, he types away at a computer (which is very slow) and stamps your passport and off you go!

 

Once my family was done we made our way into the front of the building where there was a young man holding a TJ Travel Sign, I spoke to him and he direction me out front and across the street to find more TJ Travel reps.

 

The time is around 8:45 am

 

We find TJ out front and they check us off the list and introduce us to our Guide Oxanna. She says out driver will be here shortly and soon Alexander arrives in a nice roomy mini van to begin our day!

 

Out front facing the Terminal:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

All the independent tour operators waiting for their guests:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

[Murphysrulz]

St. Petersburg, Russia

 

So if you don't know already if you are doing a NON NCL tour you MUST sign up for a slot on Day 2 of the cruise for a disembarkation time for SPB. It's on the day you are in Germany. When we arrived back from Berlin around 8:30 pm I was able to sign us up for Group B at 8:00 am. Group A which was already filled was also for 8 am. From there the times were 8:15, 8:30, 8:45 and so on with a certain number of slots available for each one.

 

We had booked a private tour for us the 4 of us with TJ Travel. Originally our day was to begin at 7:00 am but with the new rules of NON ship tours getting off after the Ships tours TJ contacted me with a new meeting time of 8:30 am. (with a later return time for day 1 and an earlier start time for Day 2).

 

Group A & B were allowed into the theater on Deck 7 around 7:30 am. Everyone filled in rows until the whole theater was filled as the later times arrived. Once the "okay" was given they released us row by row into immigration.

 

You must bring your passport and your tour ticket which is your Visa for the Russia. It's slow. Each person spends about 2 minutes with the customs official....so 10 people in front of you at 2 minutes each....20 min or more to get to you!

 

I think we waited maybe 30-40 minutes before it was our turn. Every member of my family went to the customs officer separately (smaller children stayed with a parent but mine are teens). I went first, followed by each of my kids then my husband. A few question, he types away at a computer (which is very slow) and stamps your passport and off you go!

 

Once my family was done we made our way into the front of the building where there was a young man holding a TJ Travel Sign, I spoke to him and he direction me out front and across the street to find more TJ Travel reps.

 

The time is around 8:45 am

 

We find TJ out front and they check us off the list and introduce us to our Guide Oxanna. She says out driver will be here shortly and soon Alexander arrives in a nice roomy mini van to begin our day!

 

Out front facing the Terminal:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

All the independent tour operators waiting for their guests:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

Thank-you for the great outline of how NCL is handling St. Petersburg - we will be sure to get signed up early. We re 14 days away- 10 from our 3 days in Copenhagen - your pictures are really making me sure this will be a great trip - Thank-you so much for sharing!!!

[Kealy]

Following along and enjoying your report.

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

 

nycfa ~ enjoying your review as I took this cruise on Getaway last year & will be on Breakaway next year. I stayed at Wakeup Copenhagen Borgdergade & got the card too. Also went to Tivoli the 1st night but couldn't stay there for the illumination or fireworks. Did you have the app? It was helpful to know what events were taking place in the park. Because my friend went to the wrong Wakeup hotel we didn't get to do the canal tour which was upsetting.:(

 

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. How great for your teens to see where the history took place.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[kitkat343]

Happy to read that, as I don't know if ever I will be back we also booked a tour to Berlin. I have two adult kids with me and my son is a history buff, so lucky they both have spouses that had no issue with them joining me on the cruise. My grandson is only four and my son and DIL both decided this was NOT a cruise to take him on and be able to enjoy the ports, so DIL stayed home

I do honestly believe it is possible for a young child to enjoy this cruise. We took our 3.5 year old on the NCL star, and he loved it. He's seven now, and he says his three favorite cities in the world are NY, St. Petersburg and Stockholm. I would not take a child that young all the way to Berlin (so in the above posters case, I'd split tours in Germany and the child can stay locally and take nearby excursions with one parent to the Mollie steam train or Schwerin Castle while the grandparents go to Berlin. There are a lot of things for young children on this trip - my son loved Vasa, Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, the Hermitage, canal cruises in Copenhagen and St. Petersburg, the subway in St. Petersburg, Skansen, and the Viking experience at the history museum in Stockholm, and running around Tallinn. We took a private tour in St. Petersburg for just our family so we could control the itinerary and stop whenever my son started to get tired and took breaks for food. After eating, he was happy again and wanted to see more things. We toured the rest of the Baltic cities independently, and thankfully their excellent public transportation system made it easy to explore. If families of young children want more information, there's a longer review in my signature line. My children are now 3 and 7, and they keep asking when we are taking them back on vacation since they've loved their cruises so much (I'm pregnant with our third so we're grounded for a little while though). The kids clubs have made international travel manageable for our family while our kids are young - we tour with them all day in port, and then drop them off at the kids club to rest as soon as we board the ship so the travels aren't too tiring.

[nycfa]

After a few photo stops along the water we made our way to Peter and Paul Fortress:

 

IMG_1514 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_1518 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

While we waited for our guide to pick up our tickets my Husband tried to take a selfie with the 17 year old cat who lives there. :')

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Inside we learned lots about all the Russian Tsars who are buried there:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Soon we made our way to the Church on Split Blood:

 

IMG_1528 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

During the World Cup this area was set up as a Fan Station where fans could watch the games and drink Budweiser & Coke based on the cooler cases we saw them loaded up.

 

IMG_1536 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

IMG_1529 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

As everywhere we went.....

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_1532 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

So for lunch we stopped at Tepemok, which is a Russian fast food restaurant. It's fast but freshly made and to my husband's delight you could get beer there! :')

 

IMG_1544 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Our guide called them pancakes but I would lean towards calling them more like crepes. They had a hand held English menu for us to look at and our guide ordered for us. All the "pancakes" or "crepes" had whatever you wanted stuffed inside of them.

 

Myself and my husband got the Italian which had like cheese, salami, tomato etc inside. My youngest got Ham and Cheese. My oldest Mushroom and Cheese. Our guide got one that had Hamburger in it.

 

They also had dessert ones as well!

 

It was very good and quick and easy.

[nycfa]

Soon we would be making our way to Peterhof''s Fountain Park vis the Hyrdofoil

 

IMG_1515 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Shortly after this family photo was taken everyone would sounds sleep: :')

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

The Rules at Peterhof's:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

We had an interesting time trying to figure out what some of the symbols were saying :')

 

It was 90 in SPB today and blazing sun. The park was busy with tourist and locals cooling off. The water had lots of people out in it!

 

IMG_1551 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Children and Adults having a great time in the trick fountains:

 

IMG_1555 by Sis, on Flickr

 

Our Guide (in pink) and my youngest couldn't resist the call of being cooled off....

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_1559 by Sis, on Flickr

 

On the Other Side all wet now!

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Soon it was time to met Alexander for our ride back to the ship for the night.

 

You once again had to go thru customs but the lines were short when we arrived. They looked at the passport and asked to see your ship card and you turned back in the slip of paper they gave you in the morning.

 

FYI there are shops BEFORE customs in the terminal and there are Duty Free shops on the dock AFTER customs if you wish to do some more shopping.

[nycfa]

We met our guide at 7:30 which for my family meant a 5 am wake up! We need a vacation from the vacation! :')

 

Customs was quick this morning and we met Oxanna and Alexander out in front again.

 

First stop was a ride on the Metro:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

We took the LONG escalators down and the tunnels into the station and rode it for one stop. It wasn't very busy for 8 am but our guide told us its because lots of people are away on Holiday this time of year.

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

Alexander picked us up at the next stop and we made our way to the canal ride:

 

IMG_1582 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

The early wake up caught up with some....

 

IMG_1585 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Up Next Early Entrance to Hermitage:

 

Upon our arrived we found the Police Academy was having Graduation Day in the Square:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Entering thru the garden in the middle of Hermitage:

 

IMG_1597 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

Beautiful inside as you would except a Palace to be!

 

IMG_1601 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

The Throne:

 

IMG_1600 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

For lunch today we went to a restaurant that is attached to the Russian Vodka Museum. We did not visit the museum. We ate outside and enjoyed watching the world pass by while taking to our guide about growing up in Russia.

 

IMG_1610 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

After lunch we made our way over to the Yusupov Palace (no photos cause I didn't want to pay the photo fee :'))

[nycfa]

When our guide announced we were headed to Catherine's Palace which was about a 40 min ride my family cheered and announced NAP TIME! :')

 

We were having a great time but between the business of the day and the heat....you were worn out.

 

Catherine's Palace:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

IMG_1616 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Everyone must wear booties on their shoes in the palace:

 

IMG_1624 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

IMG_1621 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

So much gold leaf everywhere!

 

IMG_1622 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

After we finished the lines to get in....

 

IMG_1627 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

After a WONDERFUL 2 days in St. Petersburg it was time to say Good Bye to our Guide and Driver :(

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

TJ Travel was wonderful to work with and provided us with a wonderful guide and driver for our private tour here in SPB.

 

FYI: We stopped by the office/store on day one and I paid via Credit Card our bill for all three tours. We also did a little shopping here as well.

 

When they dropped us off at the pier the line to get into the building was LONG! Everyone had to pass thru a security screening but it actually moved fairly quickly. Customs itself was quick even after the long line to get in. Soon we were back on the ship.

[nycfa]

Next Stop: Helsinki, Finland

 

This was a DIY stop for us and we planned on taking the Tram to the Ferry out to Suomenlinna

 

You get some great ship shots here:

 

by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

So to get to the Tram is quiet easy once you are off the ship follow the Green Line:

 

IMG_1629 by Sis, on Flickr

 

Looking for Tram 7

 

IMG_1710 by Sis, on Flickr

 

A view of the Tram from the Ship:

 

IMG_1711 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

The Tram:

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

This is the name of the station you board at.....here the tram only goes one way into town but it's good to know for the return so you are heading in the right direction

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Before you board the tram you will need to purchase tickets from the ticket machine at the station. We purchased all day passes since it covered both the tram and the ferry. We paid with credit card and we needed a PIN to complete the transaction.

 

Once on board ride the Tram to the Senaatintori Stop

 

IMG_1706 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

As you exit the Tram turn left and at the corner of the street turn right to make your way down to the Market Square. Its a short walk. Before turning right at the corner you will see this building to your left.

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

FYI where you got dropped off by the Tram you will pick up the tram to go back to the ship on the opposite side of the street!

 

As you go down the hill you will soon come upon the water and market square. You can't miss it!

 

IMG_1632 by Sis, on Flickr

 

Now the tricky part is the find the Public Ferry HSL....stay on the water by the tent set up and walk PAST the tourist boats then you will come upon this:

 

IMG_1634 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

IMG_1635 by Sis, on Flickr

 

The sign has the times of the ferry to and from Suomenlinna. I took a photo of the return times so we made sure we didn't miss a boat for the way back. Times are different if its a week day or weekend so pay attention to that. We were lucky and arrived just as a ferry was pulling in.

 

IMG_1636 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Since we were out so early the ferry wasn't crowded. It's a pleasant trip over to the island.

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

Market Square from the Ferry as we were leaving:

 

IMG_1637 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_1645 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

Viking Line Ferry which we saw everywhere on this trip:

 

IMG_1652 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

IMG_1648 by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

Map of Suomenlinna You can pick one up in several different languages as you get off the ferry on the island

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

IMG_1656 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Restrooms and Information as you get off the Ferry

 

IMG_1658 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

If you look at the Map and follow the blue line that will take you across the main sights of the Island. We were early and it was very empty at this point by 12 it would be quiet busy

 

 

IMG_1661 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

[nycfa]

We made our way to the Main Museum and hung out a bit until it opened at 9:30 am. We went inside and purchased tickets (paid by Credit Card)

 

The Museum is interesting and worth a visit.

 

IMG_1669 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

There is also a 25 minute movie about the island as well. You listen via a headset and it comes in many langauges

 

IMG_1670 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

After we had toured the museum we had a small snack and some water from the cafe and made our way down the path for some more sight seeing.

 

IMG_1673 by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

Untitled by Sis, on Flickr

 

 

There is lots to see here and you could make quiet a day of it if you wanted to or just spend a few hours.