June 07, 2019 NCL Getaway

[NewOrleansLady71]

Frequent Carnival Caribbean cruiser here, so this is a first for me. I’m taking my son on the 9 day Baltic cruise for his high school grad gift. I honestly have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into. I’m especially concerned about the pricey excursions in St. Petersburg and the whole visa situation. And Berlin?  Are tours outside of NCL comparable?  Tallinn and Helsinki walkable?  Tips on Stockholm and Copenhagen?  We’re staying in Malmo for several nights before the cruise. Any tips would be very much appreciated. Any New Orleans people cruising with us?

[FredZiffle]

First, you'll get better answers to your questions if you post them individually in the specific ports of call forums.  I can give you my perspective on some of your questions. 

 

Yes, St. Pete excursions are expensive, especially if you use the ship's excursions.  There are many private tour companies which are much cheaper and are discussed frequently on the Northern Europe Forum.  We used one several years ago, and they were excellent.  Any tour agency will take care of your visa for you.  You only need to worry about it if you go out on your own without a tour.

 

As far as Berlin, I'm assuming you are docking in Warnemunde/Rostock and thinking about an excursion to Berlin.  We also thought about it, but ultimately decided against it.  A long 3 hour train ride each way does not leave much time for actually touring Berlin.  We opted to take a train on our own toward Lubbeck and just got off when we saw something interesting.  Schwerin Castle is along the way and worth a visit.

 

Tallinn is very walkable, assuming you don't mind an uphill walk.  The port is right across from the town, and you can walk up to Old Town and then make your way back down through the newer section.

 

In Helsinki, there is a pretty good public bus system that will take you around the city.  If you dock where we did, there is a bus stop right outside the port.

 

From what I've read, most ships now dock in Stockholm a pretty good distance from the town.  There may be a shuttle into town (your roll call should know).  Once you get into town, you can walk to the Vasa museum and/or take the water taxi across to Gamla Stan, which is interesting just to walk through.

 

Copenhagen has an awesome public transportation system which will get you anywhere.  You may be lucky and dock at Langelinie, which is close enough to just walk to many of the major sites, but you'll more likely be at Oceankaj, which will require a short bus ride into the town.

 

Again, check out the Northern Europe forum and your roll call.  I'll bet you'll find all the answers to your questions.

Edited April 25, 2019 by FredZiffle

[NewOrleansLady71]

I truly appreciate all of your advice. Thank you. 

[brymcd]

We are on the similar cruise starting Aug 22nd, but is 15 days and does not start in Copenhagen.

 

From the comments above, agree about StP and we have found several companies doing tours at half the price that NCL are offering - just search around. We have not chosen which one to do yet

 

My question is about Copenhagen - how do we know which terminal we will be on - is it always the same for NCL or do they move about? Most posts I have seen seem to suggest Oceankaj, but cannot see anything definite.

 

Cheers