First Time Going to Europe 2 Itineraries Which One to Pick?

[chemmo]

We are from the UK and would say the Baltic simply because the British Isles itinerary is quite limited, you could see a lot more by land and probably at a cheaper price…

[Jim_Iain]

I love the UK but would choose the Scandinavian.    For a first European trip it would give you a good balance of a foreign language cruise where everyone speaks English.    It would also give you a touch of culture that is different from the U.S. / UK which you could experience at home. 

[GreenFamily]

3 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Where are you getting three ports? It's FIVE. Wardenmude, Stockholm,Copenhagen,Helsinki,Tallin.

Whoops 

[Treasure Hunter]

St Petersburg May not reopen for years. Don’t wait Definitely do the Baltic cruise. No need to travel to Berlin, you can stay in Amazing Rostock!

[cruzzzinma]

Agree, do the Baltics. These are amazing ports.

[hawkesbaynz]

Both are great. Liverpool, Belfast and Edinburgh fantastic cities to visit as are Copenhagen and Stockholm.
 

Not sure of the premium for overnights in Copenhagen as few seemed to stay off the boat when we did an overnight. 

 

Talinn is a fairy tail city. Almost like a theme park.

 

We holiday near Portland a lot and I have done some fantastic wreck diving there. Great for walking but Portland and Weymouth I would never visit. Get a taxi to Dorchester for a lovely town. 
 

We avoid holidaying in August as all Europe on holiday. 

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, hawkesbaynz said:

Both are great. Liverpool, Belfast and Edinburgh fantastic cities to visit as are Copenhagen and Stockholm.
 

Not sure of the premium for overnights in Copenhagen as few seemed to stay off the boat when we did an overnight. 

 

Talinn is a fairy tail city. Almost like a theme park.

 

We holiday near Portland a lot and I have done some fantastic wreck diving there. Great for walking but Portland and Weymouth I would never visit. Get a taxi to Dorchester for a lovely town. 
 

We avoid holidaying in August as all Europe on holiday. 

 

Hi

And don’t forget the Guinness in Cork/Cobh.

Not sure overnights in Copenhagen/Stockholm add any value.

[BigAl94]

28 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

And don’t forget the Guinness in Cork/Cobh.

 

You do NOT mention Guinness in County Cork! The Cork brewed Murphy's Irish Stout is far superior and many locals consider ordering Guinness offensive!

Edited November 16, 2022 by BigAl94

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 minute ago, BigAl94 said:

You do NOT mention Guinness in County Cork! The Cork brewed Murphy's Irish Stout is far superior and many locals consider ordering Guinness offensive!

Hi

I prefer Guinness.

OK then,,,don’t forget the Jameson’s whiskey in Cork,,,,it’s distillery is in Middleton,Cork.

 

I was on a Ireland/Iceland cruise before lockdown and the ship (Reflection.) had no Guinness except bottles of Foreign Extra,,,,even the Irish on board couldn’t drink it,,,except a man form Cobh who drank it with water!!!!

He liked it weak/watery just like Murphy’s.😉

[cruisequeen4ever]

I’m surprised it was almost unanimously Baltic. We loved our Baltic cruise, but St. Petersburg was the highlight, so I’d personally wait to see if ships are able to return one year. The British Isles cruise is wonderful. 

[kellyclayt]

On 11/15/2022 at 10:59 AM, TMLAalum said:

Baltic, although keep in mind that your 14 hours docked in Berlin (Warnemunde) is actually a three hour journey each way from Warnemunde to Berlin! So essentially less than 8 hours in that city. We opted to stay in the port area on our Eclipse Baltic cruise thinking that we'd visit Berlin for a longer time in the future. We did about half a decade later and saw and did so much more than possible on a limited port stop!

Totally agree on not going to Berlin.  We did it once with a private driver and great historian/tour guide and did enjoy it but  it was still 2+ hours each way and super pricey.  A few months ago we went to Schwerin from that port and it was lovely.

[kellyclayt]

We have done both and would agree with the prevailing advice to choose the Baltic.  We were scheduled for Russia/Scandinavia with a group of friends this last July.  Obviously, the Russia port did not happen.  We were disappointed for all our friends, none of whom have been to Russia (We have been and it’s a fabulous port), but the addition of an overnight in Stockholm and a day in Copenhagen made for a great cruise.

 

We love the UK but after our first British Isles cruise, we felt we wanted to do a land trip.  We spent almost two months in Scotland and England this last summer and it was wonderful.

[Charles4515]

15 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

 

Not sure of the premium for overnights in Copenhagen as few seemed to stay off the boat when we did an overnight.

Tivoli Gardens. It is amazing there at night. 

[D. B.]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:00 AM, TeaBag said:

I would choose the Baltics also but would wait till St P is open again.

That could be a L-O-N-G wait.😬

[Scottishclover]

On 11/15/2022 at 7:21 PM, kwokpot said:

Nearby Rostock is a lovely little town and actually I was quite impressed with the boardwalk (wide concrete pathways) at the beach in  Wardenmude. 

@kwokpot, you made me emotional this morning with your photos of Rostock. I lived and worked there for a year in the early 90s and have been back numerous times since then. It really is a very underrated place and there’s lots to do in the area. Much more preferable than the long trip to Berlin. Berlin merits much more than a day to absorb all the history.

 

Ironically, our Baltic cruise didn’t stop in Warnemuende in the summer, but for the OP there is no contest- do the Baltics. We loved it. We had an overnight in Stockholm and my daughter and I headed out after dinner to visit the photography museum and take in the nighttime atmosphere. We appreciated the extra time in Stockholm- it’s a gorgeous city and a lovely sail in too. Being British, we do not see the appeal of a British Isles Cruise. Most of the ports require a tour ( especially true of Greenock and Invergordon). Britain is best done by land. 

[C4HCG]

We wouldn’t cruise around the British Isles if it were free and they gave us the best suite on the ship!!  Not just as we are very familiar with those locations and can visit them whenever we want (which we don’t do as there are far nicer places over here to visit than those on that itinerary) but also the climate.

[Denny01]

On 11/15/2022 at 1:26 PM, roxette said:

I agree about the Baltics. But there is no chance that St Petersburg will be an option until, earliest, 2026, I would guess.

How about 2126?

 

both are great. Done both.

 

For the Baltic. Estonia was fantastic. Wandering on our own and Loved the openness of the city and people. Stockholm overnight is a must and the sail in and out is fantastic. 
 

for the UK. This one focuses on Scotland and I’d die to do this one. 
 

just look at it this way: pick one and book the other next year…..or do a B2B Now!

 

den
 

 

[RICCruisers]

Looks like a B2B to me 🤤
 

Oops - I just saw the last line of your post den. Didn’t mean to plagiarize. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by RICCruisers

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

We wouldn’t cruise around the British Isles if it were free and they gave us the best suite on the ship!!  Not just as we are very familiar with those locations and can visit them whenever we want (which we don’t do as there are far nicer places over here to visit than those on that itinerary) but also the climate.

Well I love visiting British Isles but on the ground either on the roadways or railways. A cruise, no way.

[C4HCG]

12 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Well I love visiting British Isles but on the ground either on the roadways or railways. A cruise, no way.

Glad you do, tourism is massive for our economy. We visit York and London a lot as tourists and love the history of both of them. Heading to London between Christmas and new year, it’s a great time to be there but just hope it stays dry. 

[GreenFamily]

Have you considered a Mediterranean cruise the first week of September? Again, avoid Europe in August.  I saw a great itinerary from Barcelona (airport, port, and old town within a few miles of each other). It includes Marseilles (Provence or Cassis), Villefranche (Eze village, Saint Paul de Vence, Nice and Monaco), Portofino, an overnight at Cinque Terre/Florence, Naples (Capri, Pompeii, Amalfi, etc), Messina (Taormina), and finishes in Rome. 
 

This itinerary is port heavy, so not relaxing. The ship is bigger. I prefer it as a first time to Europe because it’s quintessential France and Italy. 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Well I love visiting British Isles but on the ground either on the roadways or railways. A cruise, no way.

In 2019 after a late spring/early summer Northern Europe cruise on Royal from Southampton we hired a car a did a road trip from Southampton heading north visiting The Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Liverpool, The Lakes District, York, and then ditching the car in Leeds to take the train to London for an additional three nights before flying back home. We had my mom and dad with us and it was quite an adventure! My dad lost his wallet, probably somewhere on the ship or Southampton Cruise terminal and we had car trouble in the Lakes District where we drove over a small boulder and wreaked the axel (Luckily the car was drivable to the nearest car rental office, albeit with the steering wheel at a 25 degree angle, and they had a substitute replacement car for us!). The Lakes District was the most memorable part of the trip.

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

In 2019 after a late spring/early summer Northern Europe cruise on Royal from Southampton we hired a car a did a road trip from Southampton heading north visiting The Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Liverpool, The Lakes District, York, and then ditching the car in Leeds to take the train to London for an additional three nights before flying back home. We had my mom and dad with us and it was quite an adventure! My dad lost his wallet, probably somewhere on the ship or Southampton Cruise terminal and we had car trouble in the Lakes District where we drove over a small boulder and wreaked the axel (Luckily the car was drivable to the nearest car rental office, albeit with the steering wheel at a 25 degree angle, and they had a substitute replacement car for us!). The Lakes District was the most memorable part of the trip.

We rented a car and drove from London to Edinburgh and took the train back to London. Loved the Lake District. Loved Scotland and Edinburgh. Made two mistakes. Renting the car in central London. Should have rented at the airport. Had to get used to driving on the left side in heavy city traffic. The other was parking in a car park in one town that closed at 8:00 PM. Did not read the sign. Fortunately there was a phone number and they were nice enough to send someone to let us take the car out.