Baltic Cruise June 15th review- extremely long!

[surroundedbyboys]

Our family of 4 (parents 38, 38, two teenage boys 17 & 14) traveled to Dover via Frankfurt to Heathrow. We hired a driver to pick us up from Heathrow and to transport us to Dover Ramada. It took us less than 2 hours to get to our hotel. The Ramada is one of the nicest hotels in Dover- and it’s really just ok. We had the front desk call for a taxi and it was there within 10 minutes. We drove down to Dover Castle, which cost about 9 euro. The castle is worth going to. The War Time tunnels are very interesting and the church is beautiful. During the summer they have special events at the castle- this weekend they were celebrating Henry Tudor. After the castle we walked to the waterfront and had dinner.

On the morning of the 15th, we had a taxi pick us up at 11:00am. It cost 15 euro from the hotel to the pier and took about 20 minutes. We had booked a Courtyard Villa, 14506- the Orchid Suite. Because of that we were taken to the concierge area to wait to be called. At 11:30 we were all checked in and Carlos (concierge) and Amit (butler) called us to be taken to our rooms. The room is a family suite- small kid’s bedroom with a nice bathroom. There is a futon that turns into a double sized bed and a cot that folds down from the wall/ceiling. It also has a small closet and chest of drawers. The main area has a sitting room with 4 chairs and a couch, two chairs and tv. (there is also a coffee/cappuccino maker in the dining area & a small fridge). The master bedroom has a queen sized bed and a large bathroom with double sinks, separate toilet, shower and a tub overlooking the ocean.

Some perks that come with staying in a courtyard villa: priority debarkation in most ports. (You meet the concierge at a specific time and he escorts you down to the gangplank); early entry into the chocolate buffet; reserved area in the theater for the shows; breakfast and lunch at Cagney’s; and of course the use of the private courtyard- tiny pool, hot tub, snacks, etc. Our room steward was Dom and he was perfect. Friendly & efficient.

RESTAURANTS:

Cagney’s (for lunch & dinner) The menu is good for both although it doesn’t change. This was a favorite ‘perk’ of ours and we used it most days. Didn’t eat here for dinner. $25 pp for dinner

TSARS- This is one of the main dining rooms and is the nicer of the two- Azura being the other. They started allowing “nice” jeans here for dinner on this cruise. We saw a huge variety of clothing at this restaurant- some people in jeans & t-shirts, others in slacks/polos, on up. The relaxed dress code is GREAT. We have cruised Disney, Royal C. and Princess- this was our first cruise on NCL and we are converts. Having the choice of whether to dress up or not was really what we wanted. The food in Tsars was, in our opinion, good to very good at times. Our service at every restaurant was excellent.

Tango’s/Tex-Mex: This is one of the for fee restaurants and is half price between 5:30-6:30 on port days only. $10 pp and $5 on half price days/times. Food here was very good.

Mama’s (Italian): This was the only restaurant we were not overly impressed by. Ambiance & service were good, food was bland. $10pp $5pp on half price days/times

Le Bistro: (French) Food here was very good, service excellent. The chocolate fondue for 2 was delicious! $15pp

Chin Chin: Food here was very good; one of son’s favorites. Lettuce wraps were very good. $15pp

Teppanyaki- $25pp. Excellent food & service. If you haven’t gone to a beni-hana style restaurant before, this would be a great restaurant for you. Sort of dinner & a show

PORTS: we were very lucky to have beautiful weather almost every day. Weather was in the 60’s-high 70’s with sun in most ports. We ordered some currency from our bank for every country and because we did a lot of things on our own we were glad to have it.

Copenhagen, Denmark: on our own we walked from the port to the Osterport Train Station. Took about 15 minutes and very easy to do. Took train to the town of Roskilde and walked to the Viking Museum (about 20 minute walk). The museum was fairly lame, not that interesting. However, the walk back to the station we stopped that church where all of the Danish Kings and Queens are buried. Beautiful church. We stopped at the town square and had lunch. Everyone in Copenhagen was very friendly and easy to talk to. If we were uncertain where to go, we just asked and were easily directed to where we needed to go.

Warmenmeunde (for Berlin) Germany: We decided not to make the trip to Berlin only because it’s 3 hours each way. (People who made the trip were very happy with it and had a great time) We took a NCL excursion to Mecklenburg to see the palace where the Dukes of Mecklenburg lived. This turned out to be very fun and interesting. Our guide was a tiny little German girl, adorable with excellent English. After touring the palace and then walking around the town we stopped at a little German restaurant and had a BBQ of German Sausages, salads, garlic bread and beer.

After we got back from the 4 ½ hour tour we walked into the town of W. It’s a cute little town with a beautiful beach. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse for a beautiful view. Highly recommend the tour and also walking around the town.

Tallinn Estonia: I printed out a walking tour for this city from Cruise Critic’s port sections. This is a GREAT tour and was a family favorite. The walk is easy and scenic. Highly recommend climbing to the top of St. Olaf’s Church. There are 256 very steep, medieval style steps and a strenuous climb but the view is amazing once to the top. We walked to the top of battlements inside of the town walls. We ate lunch at the town square at a restaurant called Old Estonia. Food was excellent. Another place to try is called Olde Hansa. Very cool place, no electricity- all candles, at least go use their unique bathrooms! We love Tallinn and if you’re able we recommend going out on your own and exploring!

St. Petersburg:

We booked a private 2 day tour with Denrus. Earlier reports had us worried about getting off the ship and through customs. They have obviously worked on the issues as we were off the ship and through customs in 25 minutes. We ate breakfast and walked off the ship at 7:30. We were in our guides van and driving out by 8am. The ship provides you with the landing card almost completely filled out. You need: landing card, passport, ticket from company, copy of passport (which the ship does for you when you get on the ship). We did all of the usual sites but with our guide and only being 4 of us we were taken to the front of every line. Our favorite places were Peterhof (You must see the fountains go off at 11:00am); Cathedral on Spilt Blood; Metro ride (beautiful places!); Yusopov Palace where Rasputin was murdered. We had lunch at Stolle (make sure you have rubles- you can exchange on the ship one day- ask them when!). My son wishes we have Stolle at home. Their specialty is pies- meat, chicken, salmon, etc along with lemon, apple, strawberry, custard, etc.

Helsinki Finland: We did this port on our own, walked (about 30 minutes, take a taxi or bus #16 if you can’t walk long); to the ferry. Bought tickets and took the ferry to Suomenlinna Fortress. It cost about 12 euro for 4 round trip tickets to the fortress. Highly recommend this, we walked all over the island, through tunnels, went to the military museum and had lunch at Walhalla- delicious pizza! Browsed the market back on the mainland and then walked back to the ship. You can also catch a ferry to the Zoo which we heard was fun.

Stockholm Sweden: took an NCL excursion to Old Town and to the ice bar. We were given a guided 25 minute tour through the old town which was interesting. Saw the stock exchange and also the building where they award the Nobel Peace Prize. The ice bar was a lot of fun. Great pictures there. Vodka with melon was really good. After the tour we walked back into the town from the ship. (Very quickly, only 2 ½ hours left before the ship left port at 3:30.) It’s about a 25 minute walk each way, but worth it to spend more time in the Old Town.

Entertainment:

Lenny Windor, comedian, hilarious! British humor and not for the easily offended! So funny.

Weakest Link game show- fun.

Norwegian Idol- very entertaining, dependent on the entrants

Cirque Bijou- excellent

Romano Fredriani- he was our favorite, juggler/entertainer descended from a long line of circus performers

Overall we found the ship to be in great shape. Passengers and staff were friendly. No complaints other than the crazy scene in the gift shop when they did the Russia Bazaar sale! We’re disembarking tomorrow morning and we will miss the ship & the ports!

Any questions, ask…

[sjbdtz]

Welcome to NCL fan-dom. This is how we all wound up here.... :D

[Hunding]

surroundedbyboys

 

Thanks! As you disembark tomorrow morning, we will be en route from Heathrow to embark. And staying two doors down from you, in 14510 - what are the odds? Very happy you and your family had such a great voyage.

[donnaleed]

My husband and I are going on this cruise in August. We are planning on purchasing a couples spa pass for the 12 day cruise. Do you happen to know what they are charging for this?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Donna-Lee

[podcruiser]

:DGreat review , looking forward to 14th August when we are on same cruise but for any fellow cruisers who have not been to the UK before we DO NOT ACCEPT Euros, so make sure you have some English Pounds . Would not like to think of you all walking , with luggage, from hotel or train station to the ship as the taxi driver wouldn't accept Euros !

[surroundedbyboys]

Hunding- have a great trip. I really can't think of any negatives to this trip...

Donna- apologies, I didn't read your question until we were at our London hotel and we didn't get to the spa...sorry!

AND....also, sorry about the comments about Euro! We did have pounds as well and that's what all of our England costs were in, not Euro as I said.

Embarkation today was a breeze.

Spent the day in London at the Tower, and Phantom of the Opera this evening. Great cap to an aweseome trip.

[sinclaj]

Thanks Surroundedbyboys,

 

Your review was informative and helpful. I'm busy reading everything I can get my hands on to prepare for our August cruise. I'm glad you had a great time.

 

We're hoping to see Dover Castle and the tunnels on the day we get off the ship since we're staying over an extra day before we fly home.

 

Judy

[aidanht]

We are considering the 12-day Baltic next June (it will be on the Sun) and my children would like to know -- is the water warm enough to swim onboard? Thanks!!

[surroundedbyboys]

We had some very nice weather, and lots of people were swimming. Even the one day that was rainy there were kids in the pool!

[aidanht]

Thanks! Did your teenagers find enough to keep them busy on sea days?

[surroundedbyboys]

Yes, there was plenty to do. Eating, sleeping & ping pong made up a lot of that time. The sports court was also a big time waster- basketball in particular.

[sverigecruiser]

You wrote that you "Saw the stock exchange and also the building where they award the Nobel Peace Prize" but the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, not in Stockholm!

Was it the guide who told you that the prize was awarded there?

[karlth]

You wrote that you "Saw the stock exchange and also the building where they award the Nobel Peace Prize" but the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, not in Stockholm!

Was it the guide who told you that the prize was awarded there?

 

That is though only the peace prize isn't? The rest of them are awarded in Stockholm I think.

[davejohn]

That is though only the peace prize isn't? The rest of them are awarded in Stockholm I think.

 

Correct.

 

"With the exception of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economics are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on the 10th of December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The recipients' lectures are presented in the days prior to the award ceremony.[2] The Nobel Peace Prize and its recipients' lectures are presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, also on the 10th of December. The reason why Norway distributes a part of the prize is that at the time of Alfred Nobel's death, Norway and Sweden were joined together in a personal union known as the Swedish-Norwegian Union.[3][4] The award ceremonies and the associated banquets are nowadays major international events."