Review - Star Princess Baltic Cruise 7/1/07

[Shelby Cruiser]

Part 1

 

First off I want to start by saying we had a wonderful time & brought home many fantastic memories. We had booked this cruise 1 1/2yrs. prior to sailing & did research on the ports during this time. Please be warned that it is a very port intensive trip but if are in good physical condition, can easily be done but will come home tired. We wanted to squeeze in everything we could in the time allowed as this is a most likely a once in a lifetime trip. I will tell you our experiences & please remember this is from our point of view & others may feel differently based on their experiences. I will try & break this review into daily segments & will post other days as time permits. Hope you enjoy reading this & possibly will help you plan your trip.

 

Thurs., June 28 - Departed from home on a 2 day pre-cruise stay in Copenhagen @the Marriott Copenhagen Hotel. We flew from Detroit to Amsterdam & on to Copenhagen on NW/KLM & had very good flights. By the way, we (our neighbor friend & ourelves), had rented a limo to pick us up @our homes to avoid parking @the airport. This was a fun experience & the driver arrived 1/2hr. early & we were ready to go. Had lunch @airport & then boarded plane for flight @approx. 4pm.

 

Fri., June 29 - Arrived @Amsterdam about 6am & then had a 1 1/2hr. layover prior to flight to Copenhagen @7:30am. Arrived in Copenhagen @approx. 9am. All luggage arrived but 1 of our bags had been settting on or had been dripped on by something & smelled terrible of old cooking grease. We frantically wiped off this oily substance w/tissues & a rag we carried but the smell was obnoxious. We found a van taxi & took this to the Marriott. (It is a beautiful hotel & would stay here again.) They couldn't check us in so early so we checked our bags & took off on a walking tour. We were gone about an hr. or so & then returned to hotel to try & check in. Finally were able to get room & then after dropping off our luggage (also used hotel shampoo to try & clean up smelly suitcase), took off again on walking tour. We saw the outide area of Tivoli, City Hall & Sq., Cathedral of Our Lady, the Fountain of Charity, the Holy Ghost Church, part of Stroget, the Botanic Gardens, outside of Rosenborg Castle, the Round Tower & passed outside of Christainborg Palace. We then walked back to our hotel & were really tired. We were trying to find a restaurant but saw nothing on the way we walked back to hotel. We then headed back towards Tivoli & ended by eating an early dinner @Hard Rock Cafe since many dinner retaurants were not open yet. We then returned to hotel & to our room. Spent more time cleaning up suitcase smell & then decided to walk back to check out inside of Tivoli. We walked all around park which was jammed with people & then back to hotel for sleep since had been up for almost 48hrs. By the way, we did purchase Copenhagen Cards online prior to our arrival. Copenhagen is wonderful & thoroughly enjoyed our partial tour & looking forward to fresh start in morning.

 

Pt 2 to follow.

[Shelby Cruiser]

Sat., June 30 - Up early & had breakfast buffet included in room cost which was excellent. Met up w/friends & started our walking tour again. We walked to train station & took train to stop nearest the Little Mermaid statue. We then walked route winding back & forth towards town viewing the Gefion Fountain, St. Albans Church, Kastellet, toured inside Amalienborg Palace Museum & upon completion of tour were in time to see changing of the guard @Palace. We then went & saw the Marble Church & on to Nyhavn & lunch. Believe the restaurant on canal was Vag Nyhavn & had a great lunch. This is a fun & very crowded area + picturesque. We then took canal tour which enjoyed. Then continued from Nyhavn & on to Stroget checking out shops & sights. What a great place. Had a good time. Bought amber necklace & earrings @nice shop. We then finally ended up for dinner @Bof & Ost. This was excellent. All of us had veal which was very good. The manager of the restaurant treated us as welcomed guests & brought several bottles of wine for tasting until we could agree on what we liked. This was most generous of her & we felt it was a great evening. We then continued on to Tivoli & showed our friends what it looked like from inside. Walked all around again & had fun. Still was packed with people. Then back to hotel to rest up for boarding the Star the next day.

 

Sun., July 1 - Again had buffet breakfast @hotel & then had to finish our packing & checked out & took taxi to pier. Check in was super fast & were on ship touring by 11:30am or so. Best ever embarkation. Its a beautiful ship. We had a pt. obstructed view on Emerald Deck & our view was great & only had some frame work around our view. The room was great & really a blessing to have such a lg. open closet area. After touring the whole ship & snapping our usual ship photos, we went to lunch in Horizon Court. We then continued re-touring ship to get aclamated & then to Muster Drill after unpacking our bags which arrived quite promptly. Later to dinner in Capri Dining Rm. for anytime dining. Dinner was very good & we choose the salmon. Then on to sailaway & then to Explorers Lounge for dancing to music of ETHIX which was a pretty good band. We did not go to the Welcome Aboard show in the theater. Then checked out the shops on board & then to the casino for short time & then to bed. (There was a display area set up earlier in day with cakes to celebrate Canada Day for all our Canadian friends.)

 

Mon., July 2 - A day at sea. Slept in a little & then to Din. Rm. for breakfast. Then to CD's lecture on Stockholm & then to the cc get together in Wheelhouse Bar. The CD welcomed us onboard & everyone got a drink. Our rollcall was 1 of the least active rollcalls we had ever experienced but many people did show up. Everyone introduced themselves & met some great people. Next was lunch in the Din. Rm. Tried mussels which were not too bad. Have to try new foods once in a while. The guys then went to the wine tasting & the girls eventually went to tea back in the din. rm. Must try the scones. Delicious. The guys finally joined us there & then since it was formal night, I went to beauty shop for a fresh hairdo. Everyone looked spectacular @cocktail party & in din. rm. This time went to Portofino Din. Rm. & had an excellent wairtress. We had halibut & again was delicious. Then to Princess Theater to see the show by Princess singers & dancers "Destination Anywhere". This was 1 of worst singing performances have ever seen on ship but the dancers were much better. We all felt parts of this show were a little risque. Then back to cabin for early arrival in Stockholm tomorrow.

 

Pt 3 to follow

[Shelby Cruiser]

Tues., July 3 - Got up early (just after 3am) & kept looking out our window watching the sail through the archipeligo. We took many photos & then to early breakfast in Horizon Court. The scenery was beautiful throughout the morning. We finally got off ship about 10:30am & took taxi to Vasa Museum. We again had purchased the Stockholm Pass online but wanted to arrive quickily @Vasa to avoid crowds. We stayed @Vasa approx. 1hr. & really enjoyed seeing this beautiful vessel. We then tried to take the ferry back across to Old Town, but the one we found was only a HOHO tour. We ended up walking the route into Gamla Stan. Beautiful port. Had lunch at a nice sidewalk cafe on a side street of meatloaf which was great. We walked around some more. We saw the o/s of the Royal Palace & again were in time to see a partial changing of the guard, also the Storkykan Cathedral, the Finnish church, a German church, Riddarholm (sp?) & on to City Hall. We were too late for a tour & didn't have time to wait for next one. We got info from city hall employee on where to catch bus back to pier & eventually found the bus stop. When boarded the bus, the driver didn't understand about trying to get off @pier for the Star Princess & kept telling us about other ships, but another passenger said to get off @last stop & then walk to pier. She then got off @next stop & we rode on for awhile until the driver stopped & said this was our drop off point. We should have stayed on like the girl said but listened to the driver & got off, but we saw him pass us up & turn towards port anyways. We walked for over 1hr. trying to get correct rd. to terminal. We could see the Star but every rd. we took was a dead end & had to retrace our steps & keep angeling our route to pier. It was scary & were really walking fast to avoid missing the ship. The port authority really needs to have better signage as to ships in port & where docked to avoid this hassel. We made it in plenty of time but everyone was panting & weary. Its such a beautiful port & would have loved to spend more time here. We were rushed in our walk the whole time. We then went to lunch @Horizon Court & then to cabin to rest up & get ready for dinner. Ate in Portofino Din. Rm.again & had escargots which were very delicious & fetticinne alfredo, while husband had pork tenderloin. Dinner was good. Then to casino for awhile & then to cabin to get ready for Helsinki in am. Did not go to theater to see the entertainment which was Mac Frampton.

 

Wed., July 4 - Happy 4th of July - The ship's pastry crew put up a display in atrium of many cakes decorated w/4th of July stuff. We went to breakfast in din. rm. & then were arriving @Helsini. We took ther HOHO sightseeing bus which was right @pier & rode it to the Rock Church. This is something to see, don't miss. We then walked back to HOHO stop & took it to the Sibelius Monument in nice park area with good photo opps. Then took HOHO bus back to main part of town. We walked around the Esplanade Park area & saw the St. Michaels Church which was absolutely beautiful. Then to Senate Sq. & City Hall & to St. Nicholas Church & Mkt. Sq. + shpg. Many people on streets but not as many bikes as in Copenhagen. Then walked to HOHO stop & back to ship. Went to Horizon Court for lunch.Then to rm. to rest up & get some things ready for morning in St. Pete. To a later dinner in Portofino Din. Rm. & the veal chops were excellent. Then out on deck to watch sunset which wasn't until 9:30-10:15pm. Then to Skywalkers for drinks & relaxing prior to retiring for night.

 

Pt. 4 to follow

[Shelby Cruiser]

Thurs., July 5 - We had booked online w/DenRus & had gotten fast response on all our memos which left us very satisfied we would thoroughly enjoy our tours. We read so much about which agency to pick vs Princess & felt we had made the best decision. We were up early & watched our arrival in St. Pete. Had breakfast in Horizon Court & then waited for disembarkation. We knew to get there early, but boy what a mess of people. Princess sent info to cabin on which end of ship to debark for independant travelers but they ended up exiting many tours from here also. Once off the ship, there was only 1 line set up for indep. & the rest (possibly 5 or so ones) were for Princess tours. They had told everyone that couldn't use tour line since immigration agents @other booths could not process our tour visas. This was a terrible experience since there were so many people. Hundreds & hundreds & then they made our line move over & some did move & some didn't & wow, the line grew twice as wide as previously & many people who once were way in front got swamped & pushed further back in line. It took 1hr. or so to get through. We finally made it & found our bus but only about 4-6 people there so far. We ended up waiting over another hr. for all 29 passengers to arrive. Needless to say tempers were not kept in check. The guide, Alla, was not the most pleasing personality & seemed unorganized. Were told couldn't leave without all 29 people no matter how long it took. People asked what if they got sick & canc'd. or something & she siad would still have to wait. We were under the impression that our total on tour would be approx. 15 people & that would be a lg. van & not a lg. bus. Everyone eventually arrived & they had been caught up in the terrible mass of people trying to get off. Princess should handle this better to treat all their passengers equal & have at least 2 lines to speed up this process. We ended up seeing many beautiful sights & all tried to put the delay out of our minds. We saw the Peter & Paul Fortress, St. Isaacs Cathedral, the Hermitage, Church on the Spilled Blood, took canal cruise, saw St. Isaacs Sq., the Palace Sq., the cruiser aurora, the Bronze Horseman & the Rostrol Columns & some time for shpg. on return to ship. Pls. note, we did not get expedited service to front of line @sights as had previously read. For lunch stopped @a Russian restaurant that didn't seem quite ready for us. The help was very unfocused & the food was mediocre with small portions & poor service. Our table was in a corner & we had to ask several time for food to be delivered to our table while others ate, including the guide & driver. She never walked around to see if everyone was taken care of. She had her meal & drink & her tour guide friend to talk with & did not see if any one needed anything. We felt this was not hospitable on her part. The sights we saw were breathtaking & completely awesome but left tour a little unhappy due to long wait to start tour, the lunch & the guide's competence. She seemed to never answer a direct question & didn't even know what time we were to meet up the next day. Our tkts. said 7am but she said 8:30am. We all wanted to get an early start to avoid the crowds & to get ahead of the Princess tours & not encounter same problems. She made a call & eventually told everyone to get off ship early & the bus would depart @latest 8:30am. We then went to the Horizon Court for dinner which we never do but were so tired. Just wanted to eat quickly so could see the Russian dancers. They were excellent & would have loved to see them perform again. We then went to cabin to prepare for next day in St. Pete.

 

Fri., July 6 - Our anniverary. Got up early again @5:30am & went to breakfast in din. rm. Then got ready for tour. Another bad experience this time but not with line or immigration but with the tour bus. They did not arrive until after 8:30am. There was an accident somewhere & traffic was supposedly backed up, but it sure was strange that Princess tour buses were able to load up & leave. We didn't get loaded up till almost 9am, so lost more time touring. Again the guide was not the most pleasing personality. Everyone was there waiting for 1hr. also. We did have a good day viewing & tried to block out our 2 days of delays. We saw Peterhof Palace & Gardens & really enjoyed this. Wonderful. Then had lunch at a much nicer retaurant & the staff was completely opposite from the prior day. They had everything ready for us & were very fast, efficient & friendly. Food was good. We then went to Yusopofs (sp.) Palace & this was a let down somewhat after seeing the Hermitage & the oppulence of the prior day. (Seems this should have come first & then the Hermitage.) Then back to ship. Once we got off the bus, the guide & driver were waiting for their tips. Many if not all of us decided our original amount we planned on giving due to what we experienced would be decreased somewhat. Also, on 1st day of tour, she have us a pkg. with a survey in it of how we enjoyed our tour. I filled this out & wrote some facts on it regarding some of our feelings. When tried to give it to her to turn in, she didn't want it & told me to give it to Princess. I still have it & will handle this online w/DenRus when find the time. We were back on ship by 5:30pm & then to cabin to get ready for dinner. There were ballons on our door & a sign wishing us a Happy Anniversary. Then went to din. rm. & had turkey but this was the 1st meal that was not tasty. This was not the traditional Thankisgiving turkey dinner w/stuffing but was prepared differently & did not enjoy it. Then they brought us a cake & sang to us. Then to show to see singer, Paul Edison. He sang imitations of Sinatra, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett, etc. Was very good. Then back to cabin to prepare for tomorrow in Tallinn.

 

Pt. 5 to follow

[Shelby Cruiser]

Sat., July 7 - Up about 5:30am & to breakfast @Horizon Court. Then got ready to go ashore & were at front of line @6:30am awaiting our arrival @Tallinn. We were off ship by 7:05am & got a taxi to take us to Upper Town to Toompea Castle. This is a wonderful port & just loved every moment of it. Need more time here to leisurely walk & enjoy + to eat in 1 of their fantastic looking sidewalk cafes. This was our favorite stop. We saw Tall Hermans Tower, the o/s of the castle & palace sq., Town Hall Sq., Kiek in de Kok, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Dome Church, St. Olaves Church, St. Nicholas Church & Holy Spirit Church. The cobbled streets were beautiful. Also climbed Fat Margaret's Tower, saw House of Black Heads & bought a beautiful sweater from the sweater mkt. There are many photo opps of stone walls, towers & cute bldgs. We also went to the viewing platforms @Patuli Viewpoint & Kohtuotsa Viewpoint. We then made our way back to ship by noon after some more shpg. Got an amber ring to go w/necklace & earrings in a nice shop. Had lunch in din. rm. & then for nap prior to getting ready for dinner. Had dinner in din. rm. which was very good, surf & turf. Played some slots & then to Princess Theater to see Horizon perform. This was a singing group from Detroit doing Motown songs. Very good. Then to newlywed game show which is always funny & then back to cabin for night.

 

Sun., July 8 - Up early (2:30am) due to rough waters. The ship was creaking from winds & waves. Tried getting back to sleep but kept checking out window to see how bad it really was. We didn't want to miss Poland since my husband & neighbor are both 100% Polish & were really looking forward to going to Poland. Finally up @6:30am & to breakfast. They made an announcement that would probably not be able to dock due to conditions but would decide within 1/2hr. They eventually took 1hr. to make decision that was too risky to go into port. We then just walked around for awhile & then to i/d pool area to read & relax. Had lunch in din. rm. & had delicious salmon croquetts. Then back to cabin to rest & then to tea in din. rm. The rough waters seemed to diminish about 1hr. or so after port was cancelled. We then went to atrium to listen to music prior to dinner in din. rm. Tonight was Alaskan King crab legs & they were delicious. We then went to Princess Theater to see the magic show by Keilan Leyre & Charlotte Marie. He was very good. We discovered we had left our camera in din. rm. & husband went to get it but no one knew where it was. We were heartbroken & knew that we were last to sit @table since we got out of din. rm. so late, so tried to have a positive feeling that it would show up. The Pursers Desk said nothing was turned in & didn't even look for anything on 1st request. Went back later & same guy this time did check out back room but still not there & I filed a report to let them know who we were. This was very upsetting to both of us & was hard to have fun @Champage Waterfall party. We left & went to bed but didn't sleep well.

 

Pt 6 to follow.

[Shelby Cruiser]

Mon. July 9 - Got up early & checked with Pursers Desk & our camera was there. Thank God. This was a different gentleman & he checked every where & found it in a drawer much to our relief. Then to breakfast in din. rm. & found our waitress from prior night to thank her for turning in our camera. She was most happy with our tip & so were we. This was another sea day & checked out shops & then to i/d pool area to relax & read for awhile. Then to cooking demo in Princess Theater & then to galley tour & then to lunch in din. rm. Got things organized for debarking the ship & things out for formal night. Then to din. rm. for tea & then to beauty shop for fix up. Went to repeat passengers cocktail party & then to dinner in din. rm. with everyone looking spectacular again. Tonight was twin lobster tails & they were great. Then to Vista Lounge to see Mac Frampton but were getting too tired & left & went back to cabin.

 

Tues., July 10 - Got up @5am & went to Horizon Court for breakfast. Today is Oslo & weather looks like rain is coming. We then got in line & were 1st. off ship to tour. Walked until found taxi to take us to Viegland Sculpture Park. It was cool & misty but eventually cleared up. The park is beautiful & enjoyed looking at the statues. It is very lg. & didn't tour all the paths. Tried to get taxi back to town but none would stop so got the tram back. This worked out well & then toured downtown area. Very nice & walkable. Saw the Town Hall, Royal Palace, walked up Karl Johans Gate all the way back to the train station. Also checked out the Ahershus Castle & fortress. Nice views from here. Oslo is a very nice place & lots of photo opps. Back on ship by noon & then to lunch @Horizon Court. Then to pack up for tomorrow. We watched sailaway through the fjords which was very nice & then for nap prior to dinner. Ate in din. rm. & then to Explorers Lounge for last dance.

 

Pt. 6 to follow

[Shelby Cruiser]

Wed., July 11 - Its over. Got up early @5am & to breakfast in Horizon Court & then to cabin for our carryons & then to atrium to wait for our Princess trf. to airport. We were off the ship & on the bus by 7:45am. The baggage pick up point worked very well & then to bldg. to check bags in for flight & pick up boarding pass. This was very smooth. Then o/s to bus to take us to airport terminal. Then they escorted our bus to security point & then could proceed to gate area. Best disembarkation ever. We had purchased jewelry & were able to go to the duty free exchg. booth @airport to get $'s back for tax monies spent. Then had to wait in main terminal for gate to appear on screen prior to going to gate. This only appears about 40min. prior to flight. There was a lot of security check points when got to gate & really interoraged everyone. (Probably due to recent events in England.) We flew KLM/NW back to Amsterdam & on to Detroit. We arrived back after approx. 8-8 1/2hr. flight & then through customs & to find our bags which all arrived safely. We then waited for our limo ride home. It was a long day & didn't get home until 10pm & went right to bed.

 

It was a wonderful trip & felt very fortunate with the weather we had. It was in 60's most of the time & only rained a little bit. The sights are awesome no matter where you go. We ended up with over 2000 photos & have memories to remind us of this beautiful trip. We are in our 60's & work out 5 times a wk. & still were tired after touring. This is not like a normal cruise w/late nights partying & late snacks. You will go to bed earlier & get up early ea. day but it is well worth some loss of sleep. Hope you all enjoy your trip here as we did. As soon as possible, I will add photos to webshots but will take awhile & will post a message here that they are available. Will not post all 2100+ photos but only a sampling of everything. ;)

[MercedMike]

Thanks for a great review!

 

We will be on her next year -- the anticipation is wonderful!:D

[kandj46]

Fantastic review ,many thanks for your trouble .

We hope to do a similar trip in the future.

[Kubet]

Shelby Cruiser, thanks for the wonderful review. It sounds like you were on the Value Tour from Denrus, which we have booked also and I'm now a little concerned. I do hope they listen to your concerns before we arrive in August. Getting off the ship sounded like a nightmare. What would recommend doing differently to avoid this?

 

Thanks

[Tkennedy]

Thank you for your wonderful review. Found you review very interesting and helpful.

 

We booked a cruise for next year, on the new "Royal Princess" , it combines some of the Baltic as part of a Northern Trans-Atlantic cruise. (Aug. 25, 2008).

 

Your cruise sounds wonder. Glad you were able to get your camera back. Looking forward to seeing as many photos as you can post from your trip. Think about opening up an album on Webshots. One great advantage, photos can be viewed full size.

 

Looking forward to meeting you on our KOALA cruise on the "Sapphire Princess" in Sydney in April 2008.

 

Take care, Lorraine:)

[Shelby Cruiser]

Just a quick note to let you know that I have finally downloaded a sampling of the photos we took of Copenhagen to webshots. Will add other cities as time permits. Hope you enjoy the few we picked to post. The link is the following: http://community.webshots.com/user/shelbycruiser

 

Donna

[Shelby Cruiser]

Our baltic photos are now available on webshots for viewing. We only posted 594 out of the 2100+ that we took. Hope someone enjoys viewing them. The titles for the albums are: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg Day 1 pt. 1 & pt. 2, St. Petersburg Day 2 pt. 1, pt. 2 & pt. 3, Tallinn, Oslo & Oslo pt. 2.

 

The link to photos is: http://community.webshots.com/user/shelbycruiser

 

Larry & Donna

[CruisePrincess6]

Shelby Cruiser---Great review. We will be in Copenhagen the end of Sept. Was wondering where you bought the amber jewelry and what you thought of the prices.

 

Irene

[Shelby Cruiser]

I purchased my necklance & earrings in Copenhagen at a store near Tivoli that was called "House of Amber". The prices everywhere we went seemed about the same. The shop in Copenhagen seemed like a very nice jewelry store & did not want to wait for Poland just in case of any weather problems. Tallinn is also supposed to be a very nice place to shop for amber. I was lucky to find a wonderful store in Tallinn, sorry don't know the name of it, but I found a ring in Tallinn to match the design of my earrings that I had purchased in Copenhagen. I don't know if I made a better deal there or not. As it so happened, we were unable to dock at Poland, so everything worked out fine by purchasing something we liked & not waiting.

 

Good luck.

[cruza]

Shelby Cruiser - i've got a couple questions for you.

1. Did Princess provide a shuttle in Stockholm and Helsinki (for pay or free)?

2. Where did you dock in Stockholm and and what time ship was cleared in Stockholm port?

Thanks in advance, Mike

[School]

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. We are leaving tomorrow for our Princess Star Baltic cruise on July 28th. We will be staying in Copenhagen for 2 nights prior to the cruise.

 

Sorry you were not able to dock in Poland. I am also Polish and will be somewhat disappointed if we are unable to stop there. We are also going on a DenRus tour. How early do you think we should get in line to disembark in St. Petersburg? I think Den Rus is suppose to be picking us up at 0630 as soon as ship has been cleared.

 

Please reply if you can.

 

Thanks again for all your information...........School:)

[Shelby Cruiser]

For Stockholm - According to the ships newspaper, a shuttle serive would be available from ship's terminal to take you to Stromgatan St., opposite the Opera House. The last bus back to ship would be at 4pm & cost is @$5USpp ea. way. Tkts. buy from shuttle dispatcher on shore.

 

Where docked at Stockholm - Frihamnen

 

When cleared to go ashore - approx. 10am & we were ready & in line to debark.

 

For Helsinki - Shuttle per ship's paper stated would be provided by local authorities for limited trf. into town @$5US or 5 euros pp ea. way or @$8US or 8 euros rd. trip & must pay in cash on bus. The 1st trf. would be at 10:15am & last back to ship from town @5pm.

 

We took the taxi to Vasa in Stockholm even though we had the Stocholm Pass for transportation since wanted to beat the crowds.

 

Re St. Pete - We were in line early & recommend you be in line by 6am & hope for the best. Don't know if you should try this or not, since Princess only has 1 line for indepentent travelers & 5 or so for their tours, why not try to go thru one of the other shorter lines & see what happens. Princess sent a note to every cabin & said we had to go through the indept. line due to the fact that the immigration people did not know how to handle our tour visa. This could be a non-truth, but don't know for sure. They really didn't look at our tour tkt. just our passport.

 

Good luck.

[dog]

Shelby cruiser,

 

I re-read the part you wrote about being ready on Day 1 in St. Petersburg to leave ship at 6 am., did you actually step off the ship at that time?

Do you know what time you got off the ship each morning?

 

We have our RO tour scheduled to start at 8 am Day 1, and our guide says to get off as soon as they give the word the "ship is cleared to disembark"...she says before the ship's tours leave (except Moscow ones...if any, they go first) and they will be there waiting for us. She also says Russian Immigration are familiar with R.O. and they don't care what tour you are on if your passport, tour ticket, photocopy of passport page are in order.

 

Thanks,

dog

[cruza]

Shelby cruiser,

Thank you so much for great info. more questions: as I understand you correctly, it was a special line for independent tour comp. cruisers waiting to disembark in St. Pete. What floor and where exactly this line was started on the ship? And the same question for Stockholm, where you were staying in the line to disembark to the port?

Thanks again for the information.

[Shelby Cruiser]

@St. Pete - We were in line prior to them saying we could go ashore but still was jammed with people ahead of us & did not get off till after 6:30am. Then once off ship there were the lines to go through immigration & only the 1 line for indep. travelers. That line was long & kept getting spread across instead of behind the previous people in line. Then the cruise staff told everyone to move over further to allow more room for thier lines to get through & that's when the line got even broader & some of the people out in front got back further in line by the mass of people moving. It was a nightmare. This line took over 1hr. again to go through to pass immigration. We were on the bus by around 7:30 or so but still had to wait another hr. on bus for the additional passengers who weren't there yet.

 

We did the same thing the next day & were off by 6:30am & the lines were not so bad this time but then our bus wasn't there until after 8:30am so still had to wait a long time to begin our tour. If you are standing by the roped off area where they disembark passengers, no one should go out in front of you.

 

We disembarked every time from deck 4, I think, & at St. Pete it was deck 4 forward. They have signs posted at stairwells showing way to gangway. It won't be confusing. I hope this answers all questions & I haven't made it more confusing.

 

Also, just for your information, I did send an e-mail to the mgr. of DenRus explaining the complications we ran into & our experiences. Sure hope they read it & make the necessary changes for future guests of theirs.

[dog]

So, it sounds like the majority of St.P. Princess tours were off between 6:30-7:30...wonder if things were less congested after 7:30am.

 

Did anyone else reading this thread try and leave at 7:30 am? What was it like? Crowded, take an hour to get off?

 

Wonder if the Princess tour meeting times are listed in the Patters?

 

 

 

Shelby cruiser....thanks so much for the details...this really helps out.

 

 

dog