Recommendation for Cruise Line?

Recognizing that dates, itineraries, and budgets all play a big part in selecting a cruise, I was wondering if those experienced in Baltic cruising can provide recommendation for which lines they prefer and why?

 

Having been to Alaska - certain cruise lines had better port times, locations, etc. and were recommended over other lines. Is that the case in this area of the world?

 

I'm thinking about the Baltic capitals type cruise (although the Norwegian Fjords is really interesting, too).

 

I'n the past, we've done RCCI, Disney, and HAL (Alaska).

 

We're active 50-somethings who generally travel independently. We might have my mother and college age DD with us - that's TBD. We like a nice cocktail, but aren't big into all you can drink deals. We're probably looking at going in June 2018.

 

Thanks for any suggestions you can give.

We chose our cruise based on:

 

1) Embarkation city. We wanted to spend a couple of days in Copenhagen, so I was looking for a cruise out of Copenhagen. Amsterdam was my 2nd choice. We would have happily spent a couple of days in Amsterdam instead if I couldn't find anything out of Copenhagen.

 

2) Time in ports. I want full days, not half days, if possible -- and at least 2 days in St. Petersburg. (I couldn't believe the Disney cruise allowed only 1 day in St. Petersburg!) I was also interested in one that overnighted in Stockholm, but we didn't end up choosing that one.

 

3) The ports themselves. One reason I liked the itinerary that we eventually selected was that it included a jaunt up to Oslo, which I very much enjoyed.

 

4) Price. Of course. I watched a couple of different cruises and grabbed one I liked when it went on sale.

 

We ended up choosing the Regal Princess cruise out of Copenhagen (this was last year), and we enjoyed it.

We chose our line based on the reviews of 1) the cruise companies overall, and 2) the ships that were doing the itinerary we wanted. We focused on "ship experience" because the lines we were looking at were visiting most (if not all) of the same ports. In the end, I feel we made a good choice.

 

Having learned even more since then, there is one thing I would add to Trosebery's response re: wanting full days in ports: look at the times when the ship expects to arrive and depart from the port. We were looking at two possible lines for a Norwegian coastline cruise next year. Both had full days in the ports. However, one line was there in the morning and afternoon, while the other was there in the afternoon into late evening. A bit of port research showed me that many businesses/activities in these ports close around the dinner hour, so taking the latter cruise would have meant really only a half day of activities with another half of strolling empty streets. So, we chose the line that was there for the mornings and afternoons.

 

The same logic applies to ships arriving early in the morning and leaving mid-afternoon.

 

Hope this helps!

Another thing to consider is the ship itself. When we sailed a couple years ago, the HAL and Princess itineraries were similar, but HAL was using the Eurodam and Princess was using the Regal. The Regal is significantly larger than the Eurodam and we didn't like that. Also, for Stockholm, the Regal was docking in Nynashamn which is at some distance from Stockholm.

 

We did the cruise on the Eurodam and fell in love with that ship. The itinerary was great and I loved the overnight stays in Copenhagen, Stockholm and St. Petersburg (which is actually a must.)

 

We'll be sailing on HAL in Alaska this year.

Ship size is a good thing to consider IMHO. Viking offers a great Baltic itinerary (they include excursions in the cruise price) as well as a good coastal Norway route in a small ship 900 passengers). HAL also offers similar routes at great prices. The Konigsdam is running both the Baltic and Norway routes this summer and it is their newest ship.

Adding that although ship size is definitely a thing to consider -- some people prefer smaller, some people prefer larger -- touring with a smaller ship doesn't necessarily prevent overcrowding at the ports, if you're travelling in the busy season, since most ports will have multiple large ships in ports on any given day. The Baltic is a very popular itinerary at the moment. (Unfortunately, I'm a teacher and have to travel during the busy summer season. I confess travelling in the off-season is the main reason I'm looking forward to retirement.) You can check the port schedules for each port to see how many large ships are due in before you plan your day.

We cruised NCL, 12 days out of Dover. We chose that cruise (not being done anymore) because we loved the fact it had 4 sea days to sort of recuperate from running around so much on port days. Plus it gave us a chance to see London for a pre and post cruise.

Saying that, personally all the cruise lines do a good job. As I said, this cruise is a very port intensive cruise so you will be on the ship less time than many other cruises. That's why I believe the ship is the least of your concerns. I would say the itinerary is your biggest decision. You need to see which cruise lines visit all, or more of the ports you want to see and the times they will be in those ports, You definitely want 2 days (at least) in St. Petersburg. You want as much time in all the ports as you can get. Price may be the next factor. With all things being equal, like the ports and times, if one cruise is much cheaper than another, that could sway you their way. And last, I would say where the ship leaves from. As many do, we arrive early to see some of the city the ship leaves from. Some leave from Copenhagen, others Stockholm and others Amsterdam etc. That could make you decide one way or another.

As I said, I sort of disagree with some of the others about the ship. To me, that is the least important out of some of the other things. I really don't think that there is a major player, as far as cruise lines are concerned in the Baltics, as there are in Alaska.

Look at the itineraries, then the price and then where the ship leaves from. Those should be your chief deciding factors.

Cheers

Len

We are doing our first Baltic cruise in June and chose HAL for many of the reasons already mentioned [especially 3 overnights, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and SPB which saved us a hotel night in very expensive Copenhagen...now we just need one hotel night instead of 2]. On top of that, we love the HAL product [great service and mid-size ships].

 

Most of the lines/ships have similar itineraries in this region especially if you are looking at the 10-14 night trips [although if you want Gdansk or Riga your options are more limited]. Don't discount the importance of docking in central Stockholm [something I believe both the Regal Princess and the Norwegian Getaway are too large to do] as it has allowed us to plan our DYI days much more easily. This is especially important if you are only there for 1 day instead of an overnight. Of course if you take ship excursions it may be of less importance.

 

With all that said, I have sailed on the Regal Princess [in the Caribbean] and she is a BEAUTIFUL ship. If you don't care so much about the Stockholm issue, I've sure you would have a lovely cruise on her as well.

We are active 50 somethings as well and we did HAL Oosterdam last year in the Med. we loved HAL. Loved the ship fresh out of dry dock and loved the size. We like a lot of ports and don't care about sea days. We want to see things and be busy. We also did all our own private excursions because they are cheap in the med and I really don't like the big bus tours. We booked the sister ship the Zuiderdam for the Baltic this summer. We looked at the Regal but after reading reviews of the ship itself and talking to a friend that sailed on her recently we decided for what appeared to be a nicer ship, better maintained and better food. It's all about personal preference and what appeals to you. We like good evening entertainment like dancing or piano bar. We rarely go to our cabin before midnight. The Oosterdam was also totally non smoking. Don't know about the Zuiderdam. Good luck and happy sailing.

 

 

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Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. You've reminded me of lots of things to think about. And brought to mind that I had no say in the dates or itineraries for our first two cruises (extended family picked those) and on our Alaska cruise we were limited to essentially one sailing date. So your recommendations are very helpful.

 

I will say that I would like to try to sail with HAL, if possible. We really enjoyed our Alaska experience with them. But I will put together my spreadsheet and see what rises to the top. (LOVED the St Pete tours spreadsheet shared on a different thread - will definitely put that to use!)

 

Thanks again

We chose our cruise based on:

 

1) Embarkation city. We wanted to spend a couple of days in Copenhagen, so I was looking for a cruise out of Copenhagen. Amsterdam was my 2nd choice. We would have happily spent a couple of days in Amsterdam instead if I couldn't find anything out of Copenhagen.

 

2) Time in ports. I want full days, not half days, if possible -- and at least 2 days in St. Petersburg. (I couldn't believe the Disney cruise allowed only 1 day in St. Petersburg!) I was also interested in one that overnighted in Stockholm, but we didn't end up choosing that one.

 

3) The ports themselves. One reason I liked the itinerary that we eventually selected was that it included a jaunt up to Oslo, which I very much enjoyed.

 

4) Price. Of course. I watched a couple of different cruises and grabbed one I liked when it went on sale.

 

We ended up choosing the Regal Princess cruise out of Copenhagen (this was last year), and we enjoyed it.

 

We are doing this in August. Any tips would be most helpful!

Also, for Stockholm, the Regal was docking in Nynashamn which is at some distance from Stockholm.

Princess is our favorite line, and three years ago we did not sail the Regal due to the docking issue in Stockholm (in addition to the normal concerns about missing of the beautiful archipelago, we were traveling with a 3 year old and didn't want to take the risk of him having a meltdown while we were so far away from the ship.) It did appear last season that the Regal passed clearance from Stockholm to dock directly in the city, so you can check to see if this is an option during the dates you plan to sail. If you like HAL, I'd say that Princess is very similar.

 

I would agree with the previous posters in that the cruise line isn't as important as the itinerary (departing from Copenhagen usually gives you the fewest sea days, and some lines have more overnights than just St. Petersburg). Those factors, plus the price and available dates would be most important for me in terms of choosing a sailing. We sailed on a very old NCL ship, and although that wasn't my favorite cruise ship, it was an absolutely incredible cruise. You might want to try to save money on the cruise fare to put it to good use on your tours - we found a private tour for just our family in St. Petersburg to be amazing, and really let us see exactly what we wanted during the very limited time we had in this spectacular city.

Regal Princess sometimes berths in central Stockholm and sometimes in Nynäshamn.

Have in mind that when RP is berthing in Stockholm, you will have very limited hours ( ship is in port 07.00-14.00) and

if you are unlucky (if you are cruising during may and September), there is nothing open before 10.00.

We are doing this in August. Any tips would be most helpful!

 

Re: the Regal Princess version of the cruise

 

1. There's no point giving up valuable time in Copenhagen to rush to the ship you're going to be on for over a week anyway on embarkation day. We just showed up mid-afternoon (and there were no lines anywhere, so we just walked right on). Enjoy Copenhagen. Just give yourself adequate time to get to the ship as Oceankaj is somewhat out of the tourist part of town.

 

2. Even in the summer, you can get cool-ish and occasionally rainy weather. We had lovely, mostly sunny weather, but we still wanted a sweater or light jacket on some mornings (and when watching Movies Under the Stars in the evenings). And it poured on us for a brief time in Tallinn. Don't count on being able to swim, although my nutso kids still went in the pools. I stuck to the hot tub.

 

3. While there are many passengers on the ship, the ship is large enough that it doesn't feel too crowded. (The ports will feel more crowded than the ship.) Okay, the hot tubs (as mentioned above) got crowded given the non-pool temperatures. But we rarely stood in lines to get on or off the ship. We had no problem getting seating for shows. And although we sometimes had to look around for seating at the breakfast buffet on port mornings, we didn't have to look for long.

 

4. I cannot comment on the MDR food or experience. My kids loved the buffet (and the poolside burgers) too much. The buffet did have nice options, including vegetarian options (for example, it always had some vegetarian curries), so I didn't complain too much. I did drag them to Alfredo's once.

 

5. Except for St. Petersburg (and Berlin, if you make the trip in to Berlin), most ports are very DIY, although many people (including us) arranged tours through the same company they used for their St. Petersburg tours. Two ports where I especially appreciated this were Oslo and Helsinki, where the tour transportation connected locations more easily. (We used SPB Tours, btw.)

 

6. My favourite site in Oslo was Vigeland Park. I would have spent even more time there if I hadn't been on a tour, but the trade-off was excellent information from our guide. I also enjoyed the Viking Ship Museum and climbing the roof of the Opera House. The guide left us centrally at City Hall, at walking distance from the ship, with plenty of time to explore on our own if we didn't want to head back (which we didn't -- we explored). The sail into/out of Oslo through the fjord is lovely, btw.

 

7. Berlin is a long way away, and we opted not to go since we had the kids with us. We visited Rostock and Schwerin by train instead. And they were nice but quiet since it was a Sunday. I should have paid more attention to the days of the week when making plans. (If I were to do the day again, I would have opted to stay in Warnemunde and enjoy the day in the small seaside town.)

 

8. Tallinn was crowded. It wasn't just our ship in port. It did somewhat diminish our enjoyment of the old town (well, the rain did too). We had a very nice guide for a walking tour who shared lots of interesting information not only about the town but also about what it was like living under and then emerging from Russian rule. But following her where it was crowded was somewhat tricky. (It was a good thing she was tall!) After the tour, we decided not to continue on our own in the old town but convinced a pedicab to take us down to the Seaplane Museum, which was very interested. I enjoyed crawling through the old Soviet sub. The kids enjoyed the interactives.

 

9. St. Petersburg was . . . well, it's always the highlight of the tour. The major tour companies like SPB really know what they're doing and manage your time for you very efficiently. My favourite stop was Peterhof. The opulence of the tsars is amazing (but the subways are dramatic too). With kids, we opted for the Highlights tour and didn't head out in the evening. (We watched the show in the Princess Theater instead while the kids relaxed in the kids' clubs.)

 

10. During during summer break, there were kids on the cruise (and a younger crowd in general than you usually see on Princess), but they were always well behaved and you hardly noticed them. (The crowd in general, a very international mix, was very well behaved. Everyone we met was very polite.) My kids (especially the 7-year-old) enjoyed the time they spent in the kids' clubs in the evenings and on the few sea days. We were usually having to drag them away during mealtimes and at the end of the day.

 

11. Helsinki, being a newer city, did not overwhelm like St. Petersburg. The Church in the Rock and the Sibelius Monument are interesting but don't really take much time. I was glad I'd booked a tour that took us to the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum (with a very nice guide -- George) to make use of our time. Others on our cruise enjoyed taking a ferry to Suomenlinna.

 

12. For Stockholm, as others have noted, it makes a difference if you arrive in Stockholm itself (beautiful scenery, less time in port) or Nynashamn (some distance from the city, more time in port). We were docked at Nynashamn (using the extensible pier -- no tenders). There was a HOHO and other transportation options into the city at the port. We did a comprehensive fly-by of the city but if we were to do it again we would have just visited the Vasa Museum and the area nearby (ABBA Museum, Skansen, etc.). Coming at the end of the trip, Gamla Stan et al was more old town, more palace, etc. This is a pretty exhausting cruise.

 

13. Given how tiring the ports were, it wasn't a big problem that most of the entertainment on the ship was fairly low-key. We enjoyed the stage shows and game shows and musicians in the atrium, et al. But the ship isn't exactly lively. The entertainers/crew on the lido deck never got a very active reception.

 

14. We had an inside cabin. I chose the inside not only because it was cheaper but also because I like it dark when sleeping and of course, the Baltic gets early mornings and late evenings in the summer. It was an inside quad (two kids), but we never had a problem with space because we used it only for sleeping, really. The Baltics is a port-intensive itinerary, after all

 

. . . which is why whatever cabin or even ship you choose, you'll probably have a good time. Enjoy!