The real DOWNSIDE of an NCL Cruise to the Baltics

[7SeasLover]

You have to decide which of the myriad of fantastic excursions to pick! I just went through the Baltics excursions and printed 11 pages of everything I want to do! Decisions! Decisions!

 

It's always exciting and sometimes difficult to pick an itinerary, but once you've decided and put down your deposit the hard part starts!

 

Thank goodness my next cruise (Pearl on May 13th) has NO planned excursions either NCL or private (save for Mendenhall and Salmon Bake), so I can just veggggg on that cruise.

 

So what are your secrets in picking excursions? I like to divide the hours by the cost, then I go from there.

[whatawonderfulworld]

Ginny - when are you sailing? This year? If so then you will be going through the Kiel. Do you know if I would be correct to assume that this will be the final summer that NCL goes through the Kiel?

 

Sorry...I know you asked about excursions...but I was looking at the Baltic itin's for next year and the Kiel isn't listed - at least I didn't see mention of it.

 

Ciao,

W A W W

[7SeasLover]

We're sailing on the Jewel. I seriously doubt she'll traverse the Kiel! I saw someone's posting and link to photos of their Baltics cruise on the Dream. Makes me all the more exicited to travel to the Baltics. It appears to me they did all their ports on their own.

 

That intrigues me, but I don't know that I would want to venture alone.

[Peregrina651]

You have to decide which of the myriad of fantastic excursions to pick! I just went through the Baltics excursions and printed 11 pages of everything I want to do! Decisions! Decisions!

 

[snip]

So what are your secrets in picking excursions? I like to divide the hours by the cost, then I go from there.

 

 

 

Yes, a lot of the people here are planning to tour on their own. Seems we are an independent lot. Still, I can understand that you don't want to strike out completely on your own -- for many reasons. Maybe some reading in this forum (and on the roll call) will present some other options for you.

 

I will say one thing. Even if you sticking to the ship's excursions in the other cities, I do urge you to at least do a bit of reading here about using a private tour company in St. Petersburg before you decide to book with the ship. Most of the people who have posted to this forum about touring in St.P have used private companies (or are about to). Here are some of the reasons they have given for choosing to go private or comments they have heard from people who have taken the ship's bus tours:

• hiring a car or van from a private company is cheaper pp than the ship's price
  
  
• you can tailor your itinerary in advance
  
  
• the private tour guides take you to the front of the lines
  
• they can get early entry into certain museums (including Hermitage)
  
• passengers on the excursion bus tours stand in line with everyone else
  
• groups of 10 or less can accomplish more-- less time spent waiting for people

Tour shares are available and can be arranged thru the tour companies or in the roll calls here on CC.

 

 

 

[7SeasLover]

Those are all the same reasons I've booked private tours on almost every cruise I've taken. We saved over $1,000 booking private tours in the med. There are times I like a cruise tour, but mostly I prefer private.

 

Which tour company do you recommend for St. Petersburg?

[Peregrina651]

Ginny --

 

I believe that in her review(s), Boo's Mom gives a list of the private companies in the various cities that she booked with for her 2006 cruise.

 

As for companies in St.P, we've chosen to use Alla Tours because it is a smaller company but there are other companies, including Red October, Denrus, Anastasia, Optima, Intourist and Travel in Russia(?). These are all the names that I remember that have been mention here on CC. [Just make sure that you are clear on who will be responsible for getting your visa.]

[soccerref]

Hi,

the Dream was and is able to transit the Kiel Canal because she can lower her funnel to get under the bridges. I believe that the Dream will be taking over the South American and Bermuda routes from the Crown next year and it will be the Jewel, gem and/or Jade that will be doing the Baltic. All 3 ate too big for the canal which is a shame as it was a fab experience. I have posted my review below which has tips on the excursion question. Most places were easily do-able independently and in the majority of ports people spoke excellent English.

 

Norwegian Dream 12 day Baltic Capitals 3rd August 06

We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The positives far outweighed the negatives and I will try to write a constructive review. I imagine that it will be quite long.

 

Background info:

This was our 6th NCL cruise (Dreamward, Star, Sun, Crown and Jewel) but first on the ‘Dream’ since she was stretched a few years ago. My DH and I are both English and in our late 50’s but we count ourselves as active and quite young at heart.

 

Itinerary:

It was wonderful not to have to fly out to join the ship. We chose to drive down from the Midlands the day before and explored the north Kent coast before staying in Ramsgate overnight.

 

Boarding:

We arrived at the cruise terminal at 1.00p.m., our luggage was whisked away and my husband parked the car 100 yards from the terminal building. The boarding procedure was extremely fast and we were on the ship within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal.

 

Cabin 6200:

We booked a ‘porthole’ cabin on deck 6 forward which was a reasonable size with just enough storage. The bathroom was adequate but the shower cubicle was small with a curtain (the ones on the more modern ships are much bigger with glass doors and are great) so, although water pressure was good, the curtain kept sticking! The bed was large and comfortable. The cabin was kept spotlessly clean by our 2 very pleasant cabin attendants.

The downside to this cabin was the very loud noise from the machinery when we were docking and leaving port. I shall never book a cabin so far forward again!

 

 

The Ship:

The ship is a medium sized one at 50,000 tons and she was launched in 1992 as ‘Dreamward’. She was then ‘stretched’ a few years later by being cut in half and an extra 130 feet added in the middle. This has made the layout of the ship quite difficult to navigate but we used this as a bit of an adventure and were just getting the hang of it by the last couple of days.

The Dream is beginning to show her age and is not glitzy like the newer ships. She was also not built for ‘freestyle’ dining but, apart from the ‘sports bar buffet area’ which is far too small for the volume of passengers, we had no major problems with the dining arrangements.

There was plenty of deck room for the good weather days and the 2 smallish pools seemed OK. The ship was clean and there was continuous maintenance being carried out.

 

Staff:

We found the staff generally pleasant, helpful, cheerful and hard working.

 

 

Food:

We ate breakfast at the ‘Four Seasons’ restaurant which had a buffet + waiter service and this was fine although they did run out of marmalade for 2 mornings! We usually had lunch in the ‘Sports bar’ buffet and found a reasonable choice of items. We tried all the evening dining options and found the food and service to be on a par with a mid- range restaurant. We rarely waited more than 5 minutes as we were happy to share tables. We also ate at Le Bistro which was well worth the $15pp for the ambiance and attention.

 

 

 

Entertainment:

As with everything else, enjoyment is subjective and personal. We enjoyed all the shows this time. We love dancing and went to the ‘ballroom’ lessons when we could. We learned some new moves and had enough room to practise these in the Stardust lounge. We also enjoyed the 45 minute ballroom dance music sessions that were held most evenings. There were several areas where different sorts of music was being played and all the artists were very good.

 

Ports and excursions:

We did NCL excursions as we have this paranoia about not making it back to the ship on time! They are expensive and we could probably have done exactly the same itineraries for half the price but, for me, the peace of mind is priceless.

We had no real idea what any of the ports would be like even though I had done some research before we left. We were thrilled with all the places that we went.

 

Kiel Canal transit:

The canal links the North Sea with the Baltic and passes through the narrow neck of land at the base of the Danish peninsular.

The Dream is the largest passenger ship that can navigate the canal and this is possible because she is able to lower part of her funnel and navigation system tower so the ship can pass under the many bridges. Seeing this happen was amazing. The passage through the Kiel Canal was an unforgettable experience and rates higher than transiting the Panama Canal because there is so much to see along the length of the canal. There were people lining the bridges to wave to us, people cycling along side the ship, lovely countryside and pretty villages.

TIP – get a seat on the starboard (right) side of the ship or at the rear (deck 8) for the best views.

 

Warmeműnder – Northern Germany (7a.m-9p.m)

About 800 people went on the Berlin trips from here but we decided to stay in port and do an NCL afternoon trip through the local area.

Warmeműnder itself is a very attractive seaside town with loads of cafes, a quaint old town, a long sandy beach, a market and a river with boat trips.

TIP: The attractions are within easy walking distance of dock.

In the afternoon our trip took us to a monastery, on the ‘Moli’ steam train and then to a couple of seaside resorts. I’m glad we did it as we now know that the former East Germany is not a grey and faceless place but a beautiful and vibrant area with fabulous beaches.

 

Tallinn – Estonia (8a.m-5p.m)

WOW what a place! The old town is straight out of a fairy tale. There are prettily painted houses, narrow cobbled streets, churches, castle walls, fabulous views and cafes.

We walked to the old town from the ship which is about a mile and spent the day exploring independently. The highlight was sitting at a café in the main square and watching the world go by. I wish we had had enough time to go into the modern town.

TIP: there were open topped tour busses immediately outside the port exit.

 

St. Petersburg - Russia (2 full days)

This is huge city and the ship docks in the middle of the industrial area which is 3 miles from the centre. The immigration procedure is very strict and time consuming so I wouldn’t recommend doing anything independently.

Day 1: Our NCL excursion took us to ‘Peterhoff’, a large palace, in the morning, lunch at a restaurant and then the ‘Hermitage’ Museum in the afternoon. We were lucky that ‘Peterhoff’ had been specially opened for the cruise ships that were in port so it wasn’t so crowded (only 1,000 of us instead of the usual 12,000 daily visitors). The Hermitage was fabulous but a nightmare with the crowds. We were only able to see a small part of this huge building and its collections.

Some passengers went out to events in the evening but I’m glad we hadn’t booked anything as we were exhausted.

Day 2: We did an afternoon river cruise along the River Neva through the heart of the city and this gave us an overview of the beautiful buildings and the history of the area. I wish now that we had done a morning trip too as there was so much to see.

TIP: We didn’t need a visa as we did NCL trips but, if you choose to do independent tours apply for your Visa well in advance as it can take a long time to come through.

 

Helsinki – Finland (8a.m.-4.30p.m.)

We did an NCL tour to the fortress in the bay. It was interesting but I wouldn’t bother as the town itself is lovely and the market on the waterfront in the city centre is fantastic – the best I have ever been to!!

TIP: The ship docked quite a way out of town but there were open topped tour busses available from the dock exit.

There are plenty of bay cruises available from the town centre

The tram system does a figure of 8 loop around the town and you get an hour ‘hop on and off’ for 2 euros.

 

Stockholm – Sweden (8a.m.-4.30p.m.)

We did a ½ day NCL tour of the waterways which, again, was interesting but we could have done exactly the same for a fraction of the cost from the city centre. We then caught the bus into the centre and explored the old town which had some lovely shops and narrow cobbled streets.

TIP: The no. 76 bus goes from the dock exit to the centre.

The sail through the islands as you depart from Stockholm is spectacular and best watched from deck 8 aft so you get the panoramic view.

 

Copenhagen – Denmark (7p.m - 0vernight - 12 noon)

We arrived in the early evening and did an NCL waterways trip followed by a visit to the Tivoli gardens. NCL then provided a continuous shuttle bus from the gardens back to the ship. We were disappointed with the Tivoli gardens but we are not ‘amusement rides’ people and there wasn’t much else see so we sat in a café and watched the world go by.

The following morning we walked along the harbour front, saw ‘the little mermaid’ statue and found a couple of tourist shops that were open (it was Sunday)

TIP: There were busses from very close to the ship which took you into the centre.

 

 

Overall:

As you can probably work out, we had a wonderful holiday. The great thing about this trip was the good balance between port days and sea time so we got the chance to recover. We were extremely lucky with the weather for most of the time. It was cold, rough and wet both times through the North Sea and it rained in the morning of our time in Copenhagen but the rest of the days were hot and sunny.

The ship was fine and we still enjoy the freestyle concept. Yes, there are a few issues – expensive excursions, some waiting at peak times and expensive drinks but, for us, the plusses are the lack of hassle with tipping, the freedom to dine when and where we want and the more casual approach to dress.

This is an older ship but the itinerary was outstanding and any niggles were minor in comparison with the overall experience.

[mushroom]

Although I'll be on Holland America's Prinsendam, I found your information fascinating! I quickly ran to get my deck plan to be sure I had booked the starboard side! Yes...I had.

[ollienbertsmum]

Makes me all the more exicited to travel to the Baltics. It appears to me they did all their ports on their own.

 

That intrigues me, but I don't know that I would want to venture alone.

 

Many people seem to go it alone in the Baltic capitals. Transport seems readily available and they really are totally accessible. With a good guide book, I really do not think that you need to be herded around on a ship tour. I am planning to allow plenty of time to get back for the sail away.

 

You can look at the itineries and plan what you would like to see - and then go there yourself. Don't forget that the standard of English is high in most of the Northern European countries. You will not feel you are going to get lost and then find no one to ask for directions.

 

Have fun on your trip