Cruising the Baltics with a Teen and Tween on the Getaway; A Review

GETTING TO REYKJAVIK

 

The life of a publisher is one of deadlines. Be it sickness, car issues,holidays, vacation, or even the stare of death, the deadline reigns supreme. Arranging to stay away from the office for two consecutive weeks is not an easy task in most businesses. Taking two consecutive weeks off in publishing is a rarity. In order to partake on this particular journey,I was needed to contribute until the day I was to bid farewell to my home town.To add to this, I had also put in a few hours over the prior weekend, and burn the midnight oil a few nights the week prior. My intention was to ensure that I could be absent a fortnight with a clear conscience without a worry that my publications would not suffer without my gentle caress. Although the intention was noble, it had begun a debit from my energy reserves even before the journey had begun.

 

The prior weekend was spent picking up last minute articles and getting everything ready for our upcoming departure. Our trunks were packed on Sunday evening, with only a few parcels still remaining to include, we were mostly ready for our travels on Monday. The air ship to the land of fire and ice was to leave at 8:30 from Newark Liberty International Airport. I had made arrangement with the local car service to pick us up at our home, and they arrived on time, as well as made great timing reaching the terminal. On many a journey I have always dreaded the unavoidable long wait on customs. To our surprise, we sped through ticketing,and the queue at customs was so minimal, it took us naught ten minutes to make it through the uniformed sentries to the other side.

 

I had chosen Iceland Air for our air-bound journey for both its supposed high marks in customer service and its stop-over policy for layovers at their home base. There is no charge for stop-over’s of seven nights or longer in Reykjavik, and we took full advantage of that fact. I too must provide my own accolades for their service. It is not just for providing a cold bottle of water upon entry through their portal, or providing my DD12 a bag of juvenile distractions and headphones, although she was over 11 years of age. It was not just for the stewardesses that seemed to actually care about the passengers, nor the decent assortment of videos and audios to enjoy during the flight. It was not for the constant solicitation of complimentary sodas, water, and juice during the flight. It was for their assistance in my big blunder. Yes, the sultan of scheduling,the professor of planning, the Oz of organization, had experienced a gaffe. I had inappropriately reserved the seats for my family, and during some legs of the flight we were not sitting together; not even in the same row. However, in working with the wonderful people at IcelandAir, they had resolved this issue, which evoked emotions of thanks and elation from myself and the family. My winged loyalty now belongs to this company for my future travel in the skies.

 

Although my family slept for a majority of the flight, if I received 45 minutes of shut-eye during the six hour flight, that would be an exaggeration. But being awake allowed me the chance to observe a glistening white glacier working its way between dark mountain peaks, as we passed over the southern tip of Norway. After awaking at close to 4:30 AM (much) earlier that morning, there was little sleep before the first leg of our journey came to an end.

 

 

Next Up: 24 Hours in Iceland

Thanks for the Iceland tips. My Father and I have planned an April 2018 Royal Caribbean Brillance Of The Seas cruise from Tampa to Amsterdam via Punta Degalda Azores,Cobh,Dublin Waterford followed by 4 nights in Amsterdam in an AirBnb and 4 nights in Rejkavik in an AirBnB. Cruise in interior is $700 per person,used Delta miles to Tampa,$570 per person Iceland Air via KEF SEA,S399 4 nights 2 bedroom AirBnb in Watergrafsmeer and $420 AIrBnB 2 bedroom 10 mins from downtown Rejkiavik. We will prebook the Blue Lagoon. BTW how much was your car rental? Thanks

Thanks for the Iceland tips. My Father and I have planned an April 2018 Royal Caribbean Brillance Of The Seas cruise from Tampa to Amsterdam via Punta Degalda Azores,Cobh,Dublin Waterford followed by 4 nights in Amsterdam in an AirBnb and 4 nights in Rejkavik in an AirBnB. Cruise in interior is $700 per person,used Delta miles to Tampa,$570 per person Iceland Air via KEF SEA,S399 4 nights 2 bedroom AirBnb in Watergrafsmeer and $420 AIrBnB 2 bedroom 10 mins from downtown Rejkiavik. We will prebook the Blue Lagoon. BTW how much was your car rental? Thanks

That is a heck of an awesome adventure you have planned. When people think trans Atlantic cruise, most think about a non stop from ny to London (or similar) the trans Atlantic cruise of today now include stops at some amazing ports. But to answer your question - we rented from dollar rental car (based on reviews - and there are a lot of negative reviews for many rental companies in Iceland). A one day rental of a 4x4 (ford edge) with automatic transmission, was just under 245 euros (including vat tax and GPS rental) .

A car gave us a lot more freedom to do what we wanted in Iceland with the limited time we had.It was the most I ever paid for renting a car, but it was worth it (and nothing is cheap in iceland)

That is a heck of an awesome adventure you have planned. When people think trans Atlantic cruise, most think about a non stop from ny to London (or similar) the trans Atlantic cruise of today now include stops at some amazing ports. But to answer your question - we rented from dollar rental car (based on reviews - and there are a lot of negative reviews for many rental companies in Iceland). A one day rental of a 4x4 (ford edge) with automatic transmission, was just under 245 euros (including vat tax and GPS rental) .

 

A car gave us a lot more freedom to do what we wanted in Iceland with the limited time we had.It was the most I ever paid for renting a car, but it was worth it (and nothing is cheap in Iceland)

Correction - I just double checked and the actual cost (with tax and GPS) was 224,64 Euros for the 1 day rental.

I was also thinking - if you will be in Iceland in April, you may get to see the Northern lights.

In case you were wondering, I did take a picture of the car . . .

Thanks Travel R. We are looking forward to our trip. So the Grand Circle trip can be done from Rehkavik in a day? How many hours should we allow? Thanks again.

Hi, I do have a question for you. For Stockholm, one tour includes a canal river ride while the other doesn't include the river ride, instead it includes a trip to the Vasa museum. Which tour would you lean towards if you had to choose between the 2 sites?

If I can interject a little here, I just returned from my Baltics cruise. While I did not go with the NCL tour, we did do a canal ride and it was one of the best parts of the tour we chose. We did not tour the Vasa Museum as that held no interest for us. My understanding is that the Vasa stop is usually two hours, so be sure you want to allocate that much time to it before choosing it. Enjoy!

Thanks Travel R. We are looking forward to our trip. So the Grand Circle trip can be done from Rehkavik in a day? How many hours should we allow? Thanks again.

We drove the Golden circle. Between getting lost, stopping for food, and stopping at all of the sites, it took us about 8 hours. Note that we started very, very early in the morning. We took our time, so it could be done a lot quicker, if you needed to.

If I can interject a little here, I just returned from my Baltics cruise. While I did not go with the NCL tour, we did do a canal ride and it was one of the best parts of the tour we chose. We did not tour the Vasa Museum as that held no interest for us. My understanding is that the Vasa stop is usually two hours, so be sure you want to allocate that much time to it before choosing it. Enjoy!

Our stop at vasa was only one hour. Our tour guide gave us an overview for about 15 minutes, then gave us about 40-45 minutes to roam the museum ourselves. I agree, if a tour offered two hours for the vasa itself, it would be way too long. If a tour does offer a longer stop in that area, the Nordic museum is across the way.

If anyone is interested, my "official" CC review has been published, and available at: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=592789&et_cid=2974649&et_rid=10417243&et_referrer=Contest_PaulGauguin_May2013

It is just in time for the Getaway's last Baltic Itinerary :loudcry:

Now that this is up, I will provide a consolidated Index for this thread.

Hi, I have another question for you. This is regarding the two day St Petersburg touring. A number of tour companies say we have to decide. We can't do all three of these areas. We can do Peter and Paul fortress or St Isaacs Cathedral and Canal boat ride but we don't have enough time to do all three. Thoughts on which to include and which could be skipped. Is the fortress or cathedral or Canal ride a must do?

Hi, I have another question for you. This is regarding the two day St Petersburg touring. A number of tour companies say we have to decide. We can't do all three of these areas. We can do Peter and Paul fortress or St Isaacs Cathedral and Canal boat ride but we don't have enough time to do all three. Thoughts on which to include and which could be skipped. Is the fortress or cathedral or Canal ride a must do?

My quick opinion (and this is just my 2 cents) - Unless you are a real student of Russian history, St. Isaac's is a better choice for most tourists. But that is only my opinion - my reasoning is below:

For visual aesthetics, I believe that most people would opt to go to St. Isaac's, which I have to admit, was architecturally spectacular - and second only to the Church of the Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg.

I would also note that the canal tour does provide you with a great view of the city you would not get otherwise. I also found it relaxing (although my DW and DD17 spent the trip below in the cabin where it was warmer).

Peter and Paul's fortress, does provide a bit more historical significance (which I do enjoy). Tombs of some former members of their monarchy are entombed there.

Unfortunately, we did not see the interior of the Peter and Paul fortress (although we did a pass-by on the bus). It was on the itinerary, but we ran out of time. With all of the other spectacular sites we saw, I do not believe we missed out by not going to the fortress.

If it comes down to the P&P Fortress vs. St. Isaac's + Canal Ride, I would chose the St. Isaac's option again (if I were to do it for the first time) - especially if I went with with my family.

St. Isaac's is the more popular destination of the two, and considered more of a "must-see" than the fortress. If you take a look at Trip Advisor, the fortress ranks #35 (835 reviews), while St. Isaac's ranks #3 (8600 reviews) - in the rankings for top places to see - it is much better ranked, and visited by more people.

I hope this helps . . . .