Which Baltic ports have scenic sailaways not to be missed?

Which Baltic ports are scenic not-to-be-missed during sailaway?

We're sailing on Celebrity's Eclipse this summer and have early seating (530PM) which interferes with most of the sailaway times so I'd like to book a specialty dinner on the nights where there's a spectacular sailaway scene so we can enjoy the scenery as we leave port and then eat a bit later. (I'm thinking an 8pm reservation would work.)

The ports/sailaway times are:

• Copenhagen, Denmark - 5pm
  
• Stockholm, Sweden - 6pm
  
• Tallinn, Estonia - 7pm
  
• St. Petersburg, Russia - 6pm
  

Can anyone give me some first hand advice?

Of course you will see these sights sailing in in the morning as well.

Stockholm is gorgeous. St Petersburg is very interesting. Copenhagen is OK...not spectacular. Don't remember anything special about Tallinn.

Stockholm is at the top of the list. You past a number of small islands. The previous poster didn't remember much about Tallinn. You pass a bridge and then are fairly close to shore for a while. In Stockholm, the sail away scenery goes on for several hours.

Definitely Stockholm. That's the only port where I felt it was worthwhile to go out on my balcony to see either arrival or departure (and I did BOTH.)

The sail in and out of Stockholm through the Archipelago is really worth seeing, and it does take several hours. One thing to consider is that during early July the sunset in Stockholm is around 10 pm, and if it is a sunny day the sunset can be very nice.

The Archipelago is not the same all the way. There is the inner part with some bigger islands and many with buildings where people live year round. Then there is the middle part where we have our summer homes and the outer part where buildings are more rare and there are many beatiful small islands.

One idea could be to get up early enough to see the sail in to the city, and then when you leave have early dinner and get up on deck to see the outer part of the sail away.

The sail in and out of Stockholm through the Archipelago is really worth seeing, and it does take several hours. One thing to consider is that during early July the sunset in Stockholm is around 10 pm, and if it is a sunny day the sunset can be very nice.

The Archipelago is not the same all the way. There is the inner part with some bigger islands and many with buildings where people live year round. Then there is the middle part where we have our summer homes and the outer part where buildings are more rare and there are many beatiful small islands.

One idea could be to get up early enough to see the sail in to the city, and then when you leave have early dinner and get up on deck to see the outer part of the sail away.

Stockholm Archipelago is definitely number one.

Just a word of warning. Not all cruise ships visiting Stockholm does sail through the Archipelago. Some ships might dock at Nynäshamn rather than Stadsgarden or Frihamnen. Some ships may anchor at Nynashamn.

http://Http://mogenshallas.com cruise reviews

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Ditto on Stockholm, provided you are sailing through the archipelago.

However, depending on your interests, you might also want to include St. Petersburg. On the sailout, you go by Kronstadt Naval Base. I wouldn't call it "scenic", nor is it entirely in great shape, but has important historical significance (i.e. it played a crucial role in defending St. Petersburg during WWII and was the site of the Kronstadt Rebellion). It's also still a functioning naval base and people live there year round.

I agree with previous posts - Stockholm is definitely at the top of the list.

Also, Kronstadt (St. Petersburg, sailing out) is quite interesting and worth a look.

For us it was Stockholm but also found leaving St. Petersburg, while not pretty, to be interesting.

Forgot about passing Kronborg Castle in Helsingør (Elsinore) - the castle that Shakespeare set Hamlet in - port side about one hour after departure from Copenhagen.

The archipelago of islands sailing in and out of Stockholm is very definitely not to be missed.

But I also agree with Ellie about Kronstadt, the home of the Imperial Russian Navy.

It's on the little island of Cotlin the middle of the Gulf of Finland, about 45 minutes sailing from St Petersburg, and ships sail right alongside Kronstadt, in a shipping channel through a flood-defence causeway built across the Gulf about 30 years ago.

It'll be early morning when you sail in, and around dusk / dinner time when you sail out, and best views are port-side sailing in / starboard sailing out.

You will see up-close-and-personal the remnants of the original defences, and probably still some of the Soviet ships and submarines - either month-balled or being scrapped.

http://www.visit-saint-petersburg.ru/english_version_/kronstadt/

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Do take the trouble to google the history of the place and in particular the 1921 Kronstadt rebellion, when the Bolsheviks attacked the island across the ice from near Peterhof - a bloody battle during which the Bolsheviks, on the exposed ice, were decimated but eventually defeated the sailors in the streets of Kronstadt. Some sailors escaped across the ice to the northern shore.

I first cruised to St Petersburg (then Leningrad) in the mid 1960's on a schools "educational cruise" on a converted troopship during the Cold War. This was before the causeway was built, and there was an exclusion zone around the island so we passed it quite a few miles away.

A loudspeaker announcement made it very clear that it was a secret base and that on no account were we to take any photos of it.

What a dumb thing to tell 650 schoolkids :rolleyes: resulting in every kid taking a photo. :D

JB :)

Ditto on Stockholm, provided you are sailing through the archipelago.

Agree with the others on the Stockholm sailing through the archipelago being the best. The view from the ship docking area in Tallinn can be nice, too!! Below are some visuals samples as "evidence".

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 209,101 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Here are some of the fun and interesting sights we saw cruising into Stockholm early in the morning. It was a little cloudy that morning, but we still say many natural settings and unique sights, houses, etc., along this route.:

From our docked ship, here is the view of Tallinn’s historic church towers, etc.:

Here are two time-lapse videos I did, one for Stockholm, one for St. Petersburg.

Stockholm was a bit of a miserable day. Lots of gulls followed us out as the usual idiots threw bread at them. Opposing traffic @ 2:54

[YOUTUBE]XKnEfs4i3Xk[/YOUTUBE]

St. Petersburg was dreadfully boring until 3:54 when you pass a barracks/fort for Kronshtadt, followed quickly @ 4:05 by the flood control gates. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the ship on the sail out to get the good views of Kronshtadt.

[YOUTUBE]W6rrKX6NzeA[/YOUTUBE]

A couple of pictures from the Soviet Naval Base

I see that we will be docked at frihammen in Stockholm on our July 9th Oceania cruise. Will we sail through the archipelago on our sailaway?

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I see that we will be docked at frihammen in Stockholm on our July 9th Oceania cruise. Will we sail through the archipelago on our sailaway?

 

 

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Yes :)

JB :)

Which is the correct side of the ship in St Petersburg to see Kronstadt?

Here are two time-lapse videos I did, one for Stockholm, one for St. Petersburg.

 

Stockholm was a bit of a miserable day. Lots of gulls followed us out as the usual idiots threw bread at them. Opposing traffic @ 2:54

 

XKnEfs4i3Xk

 

St. Petersburg was dreadfully boring until 3:54 when you pass a barracks/fort for Kronshtadt, followed quickly @ 4:05 by the flood control gates. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the ship on the sail out to get the good views of Kronshtadt.

 

W6rrKX6NzeA

Awesome responses. Thank you all for your wonderful insight! It is much appreciated. Btw, how long after dropping lines was it to get to the Russian naval base?

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Awesome responses. Thank you all for your wonderful insight!

 

It is much appreciated. Btw, how long after dropping lines was it to get to the Russian naval base?

 

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It isn't very far. https://www.google.com/maps/@60.0067239,29.9185733,10.71z

Also for the Stockholm sail in/out, expect it to take around 4-6 hours.

IIRC the pilot will came aboard close to Tjärven and ends his piloting mission 5-6 hours later.

The same goes for the sail out, pilot will leave ship at Tjärven area which is the same 5-6 hours.

Awesome responses. Thank you all for your wonderful insight! It is much appreciated. Btw, how long after dropping lines was it to get to the Russian naval base?

 

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It's about 13 nautical miles.

So the 45 minutes in my earlier post may be a bit optimistic. But worth keeping an eye open from 45 minutes out.

JB :)

For Stockholm, how do you tell how/ where ship will enter/ dock? On the Disney Magic June 11 sailing from Copenhagen....

For Stockholm, how do you tell how/ where ship will enter/ dock? On the Disney Magic June 11 sailing from Copenhagen....

http://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

Select "Expected" instead of "In Port" and the dates around your times

I tried with June 11th but your ship was listed for June 13th so I am not sure...

Which Baltic ports are scenic not-to-be-missed during sailaway?

 

 

 

We're sailing on Celebrity's Eclipse this summer and have early seating (530PM) which interferes with most of the sailaway times so I'd like to book a specialty dinner on the nights where there's a spectacular sailaway scene so we can enjoy the scenery as we leave port and then eat a bit later. (I'm thinking an 8pm reservation would work.)

 

 

 

The ports/sailaway times are:

 

• 
   
  
• Copenhagen, Denmark - 5pm
   
  
• Stockholm, Sweden - 6pm
   
  
• Tallinn, Estonia - 7pm
   
  
• St. Petersburg, Russia - 6pm
   
  

 

 

 

Can anyone give me some first hand advice?

I agree with everyone else that Stockholm is the most scenic. I would also recommend Tuscan Grill for dinner on Stockholm sail away on the Eclipse. You will be sitting at the aft, we were even lucky enough to get a window seat. [emoji4]

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I agree with everyone else that Stockholm is the most scenic. I would also recommend Tuscan Grill for dinner on Stockholm sail away on the Eclipse. You will be sitting at the aft, we were even lucky enough to get a window seat. [emoji4]

 

 

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Thanks! !!!!!!

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If we are docking in NYNASHAMN, does that mean we will not see the archipelago? Thanks.