baltic capitals with children??

[becauseisaid]

My husband wants to do the 12 day Baltic's capitals cruise. We have a 10 and 17yr old-is this going to be really boring?? what type of excursions has anyone done with kids?

[cruisemom42]

We did a Baltics cruise in 2005 when my son had just turned 13. Overall he enjoyed the trip and countries visited -- only regret was that there weren't too many kids on board, but then we went very early in the season (end of May) so some probably weren't out of school yet.

 

Things he enjoyed:

 

Copenhagen -- Tivoli gardens (make sure your kids know that it's not like Disney though -- it's smaller but very navigable with a few good rides)

 

Stockholm -- The Vasa museum and eating at a smorgasbord in Gamla Stan.

 

St. Petersburg -- we had an excellent tour with Den Rus, and the guide really played up to my son. (I'd say he was only a little bored after 2 hours in the Hermitage..... but he enjoyed Peter's palace/gardens, and Yusopov's palace).

 

Helsinki -- we did the double-decker bus tour on our own. It wasn't his favorite. Looking back, he probably would've enjoyed something more lively.

[kestrel]

Yes, kids will enjoy Baltic cruise. The following is a list of "kid friendly" attractions:

 

Amsterdam: Anne Frank's House

Arhus: Legoland!

Copenhagen: Tivoli, Canal cruise

Oslo: Fram Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, Viking Ship Museum, Vigeland Park

Stockholm: Vasa Museum, Skansen

Tallinn: Old Town

 

My daughter, who just finished Modern World History in high school, also enjoyed Berlin, St.Petersburg and the Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen.

[Gaile]

Our daughter was 8 when we did a 12 day Med on the Millie and there were some very long days touring. We prepared by helping her pick out books about the destinations/sites from the kids library. This really helped and she loved it - still talking about it. We are now preparing for our 12 day Baltic for next summer and now that my daughter is 10 she is getting online on her own for some early research. Preparation helps set the context, but my take is that it's still a vacation. We want to enjoy being together as a family, see sights and experience other countries without it feeling like we are studying for a test at the end. I look at the Med and Baltics cruises as a way to "sample" different cultures and learn about which areas we would like to return to for future vacations. Have fun!

[ollienbertsmum]

We went in mid July. I have a 16 and 14 year old and they were with 13 and 17 year old cousins. What made it great for the kids was a good crowd of teenagers - oh the tears on the last night, and we have made phone calls to Mexico to the lifelong friends.

 

I would ditto most of what has been said. The canal cruise in Copenhagen was great because they all slept :o . Tivoli is best on your own, because the tours give you such a short time and you do not get time to cope with the queues - there were about 4 really good and scary rides - enough to make it a great time.

 

Mine wanted cool shops - and we did find them even though things were more expensive than at home. H and M is common throughout Europe but we got a few things from there.

 

They loved the Ice bar in Helsinki - kids paid half and it was a great photo opportunity.

 

I would say the holiday was better than the Med cruise simply because in the Med it is too hot to go around cities in the summer with teenagers - they are not the most tolerant of breeds in my experience.

 

We also enjoyed the Vigeland park in Oslo mine enjoyed copying the poses of lots of the statues and so more photo opportunities. Surprisingly they also enjoyed the Nobel and resistance Museums. We were there for well over an hour. It is always hard to predict which museums will just attract their attention.

 

Even with the 17 year old I found it useful to smuggle bread off the ship because you see ducks at the most random moments.

 

I would do it again .... and again.

[LINGBER]

Hi Gaile - We must be on the same wave length. I just booked the Century June 10th, 2008 for a Baltic cruise! lol What ship are you on??????

 

becauseisaid - We did the millie in the med 2 summers ago with two choldren who were then 6 and 9. They had an amazing time. We went at our own pace and tried to pick things everyone would enjoy. It was a vacation of a lifetime with amazing memories. We never had lengthy amounts of time in Mueums because there was so much to see in so little port time, that they never got truly bored. They loved exploring the ruins, and churches and took each city as an adventure. We traveled France with them last month and they had a blast! I am so happy I decided to do this now instead of waiting until they were old enough to leave behind. Our memories and pictures are truly worth the godzillion xtra dollars we spent by bringing them along! lol

[Gaile]

Lingber, how nice to run into you on these boards again. We are booked on the Century departing on 6/22. Had looked at your cruise originally, but the timing worked better for us later in the month. What a coincidence. This will be my 2nd time on the Century - we did a Carribean cruise on her 3 years ago and I'm looking forward to seeing how the updates look. As for the Baltics, I'm just starting to research the boards & see my roll call is a bit slow so far. Have fun planning and hope we can share some family ideas over the next few months. Will try to hop over to your roll call to pick up some ideas as well. Have fun planning. Since both our families enjoyed the Millie, am sure this will be a great trip as well.

[Boo's Mom]

My husband wants to do the 12 day Baltic's capitals cruise. We have a 10 and 17yr old-is this going to be really boring?? what type of excursions has anyone done with kids?

 

We did the Baltic Itinerary with a 13 year old and a 10 year old.

I don't think they were ever bored.

 

I did purpose to not spend hour after hour looking at paintings/art in museums. That would have bored them.

 

Here is the link to my review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=380651

 

If you were to ask them: What was their favorite thing they did?

They would tell you: Lunch with a Russian Family.

[kaisatsu]

In Oslo, I would recommend the Norwegian Folk Museum if you have kids with you, because there are a lot more hands-on kind of activities. They can explore the different kinds of cabins, and during the spring and summer there are demonstrations of crafts, cooking, dancing, etc. It's definitely the favorite of most of the people I know here!