2017 baltic cruise reviews on the Getaway

Hill

Will be on the Getaway July 18th sailing and would appreciate any tips and or experiences

You may have.

Thanks

ZYNGA

There are a couple of new cruise reviews of the Getaway on the main Norwegian Cruise Line page.

Zynga,

I hope you have a wonderful trip. I was on the Star, and it was lovely. I'm not sure what NCL is announcing about the docking situation in Stockholm, but even if you are still scheduled to dock directly in Stockholm I would advise you to research how you can get from Nynashamn to Stockholm. Larger ships often have trouble passing through the beautiful Stockholm archipelago, and based upon weather conditions some ships - especially larger ones - scheduled to dock directly in Stockholm may not be able to and will dock in Nynashamn instead (this issue has affected the Regal/Royal Princess ships for a few years). One of the new reviews on the NCL board talked about how they didn't go to Stockholm since they didn't realize there were frequent trains, so please be prepared so you will be able to visit this lovely city no matter where you dock.

My review is here - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2503790&referrerid=1282271

Haven't quite made it past Helsinki yet, but hoping to do Stockholm tomorrow.

Not sure what kind of information you are looking for but I'm on the Getaway now. One thing I can tell you is on our cruise there was a shuttle from the port to Helsinki but you could easily take the tram & the hop on hop off bus also picked up right at the port. Many people didn't seem to know that and were mad that they paid for the shuttle & could've just hopped on right at the ship.

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One thing I can tell you is on our cruise there was a shuttle from the port to Helsinki but you could easily take the tram & the hop on hop off bus also picked up right at the port. Many people didn't seem to know that and were mad that they paid for the shuttle & could've just hopped on right at the ship.

 

 

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One can easily check to see if the HOHO bus will stop at your cruise terminal regardless of which port of call you are visiting. For Helsinki, the HOHO site clearly shows that the bus stops at both cruise terminals. http://www.citytour.fi/Stops

Yes, I too would be quite angry with myself if I paid for something unnecessary because I failed to exercise due diligence but, we are all human and it sometimes occurs that we fail to check. Hopefully, they will check next time to see if the bus picks-up at the pier. Lesson learned at no great loss. :)

The NCL ships (Sun, Star, Getaway) that have done the Baltic cruises over the past 7 years all offer the same itineraries. Next year, the NCL Breakaway will do the Baltic cruises. I suspect that the ships are much the same but it is the itinerary the interests me most on any cruise and this is, IMHO, a great itinerary.

BTW - both Helsinki and Tallinn offer outstanding online Tourist Information sites - you can download maps, find trams, HOHOs - they are chock full of great info.

I would suggest having Euros for Germany. I was able to use my credit card everywhere else.

Be prepared for a long line to get through border patrol in Russia. Try to get in line as soon as you can get off the ship.

Estonia was awesome and it is easy to walk around on your own here. The Rick Steve's book is very helpful.

In Finland we went to Porvoo, a medieval town. We really enjoyed it! We booked the excursion through Viator.

In Sweden we did the NCL city highlights and leisure time. While it was fine we wished we had done the HOHO bus and boats so we could see some of the city by water.

We loved the Getaway! Hope you have a great trip!

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1livelyreader, thank you for the tip about having euros in Germany. That is good to know as we will be in Schwerin in July. We are going to Porvoo as well...so you were able to use euros there? Did they have a lot of options for a light lunch or snack? I have seen a chocolate shop mentioned.

1livelyreader, thank you for the tip about having euros in Germany. That is good to know as we will be in Schwerin in July. We are going to Porvoo as well...so you were able to use euros there? Did they have a lot of options for a light lunch or snack? I have seen a chocolate shop mentioned.

I don't know why you couldn't use a credit card in Germany. I've used mine for years over there.

1livelyreader, thank you for the tip about having euros in Germany. That is good to know as we will be in Schwerin in July. We are going to Porvoo as well...so you were able to use euros there? Did they have a lot of options for a light lunch or snack? I have seen a chocolate shop mentioned.

Yes, we could use Euros in Porvoo but we could also use a credit card everywhere in Finland too- even the market. Our guide tool us to Porvoo first and we had a snack at chocolate shop and then lunch from vendors at the market. The food was delicious.

We had a terrific guide in Berlin who helped save time by taking us to a local sandwich shop/bakery and that may be why we couldn't use a credit card. The entire group was happy with his choice though. There was a gift shop near the sandwich shop that didn't take credit card too.

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I don't know why you couldn't use a credit card in Germany. I've used mine for years over there.

I think it was where we went- not a real touristy spot. We sure couldn't use our credit card there. We were able to everywhere else on the cruise though. Euros are used in multiple countries though so I would recommend having some/ not a lot of Euros and then a Visa credit card with a chip.

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We sailed on the Getaway Baltic cruise on May 16 and here is our review:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=579657&et_cid=2861228&et_rid=16704163&et_referrer=Contest_Costa_June2013

Enjoy!

We sailed the Getaway on May 25th. Book a 2 day St Petersburg tour and make sure to get off the ship very early on the first day as the lines are very long. We used Best Guides there and in Berlin. Guides were excellent. Used our credit cards or debit cards everywhere except Copenhagen Street Food and but make sure you have local change for the bathrooms in most ports. Used public transportation everywhere, very easy. When you return to Copenhagen take bus 25 to Norreport (if you are staying in the city) and forget the taxi, they are expensive. We stayed in the Ascot hotel before and Cabinn Scandinavia after.

We stayed in the Ascot hotel before and Cabinn Scandinavia after.

How did you like Cabinn? I'm looking into that hotel as well. Thank you!

How did you like Cabinn? I'm looking into that hotel as well. Thank you!

We stayed at Cabinn City in Copenhagen and found it to be clean and very comfortable. Rooms are small but we knew that when we booked. We did a castle tour in Copenhagen after getting off the Getaway that we really enjoyed!

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We stayed at Cabinn City in Copenhagen and found it to be clean and very comfortable. Rooms are small but we knew that when we booked. We did a castle tour in Copenhagen after getting off the Getaway that we really enjoyed!

We're booked at Cabinn City too. Nice to hear that it's good place. Do you know if they have self-service laundry there or if they send it out? We're traveling for a week before our cruise and will need to do some laundry in Copenhagen.

I don't know why you couldn't use a credit card in Germany. I've used mine for years over there.

Last week we visited Bad Doberan (our ship was in Warnemunde) and tried to eat at two different restaurants. Both turned out to be Euro/cash only. We then decided to just wait until we returned to Rostock to eat lunch. It was the last country and port that used Euros so we were low at that point so as to not need to exchange them back to USD.

Hill

Will be on the Getaway July 18th sailing and would appreciate any tips and or experiences

You may have.

Thanks

ZYNGA

We used T J Travel for our tours in St Petersburg. Was much cheaper than NCL, small groups, and a great guide. Would totally recommend them. You do not pay until the second day.

We stayed at Cabinn City in Copenhagen and found it to be clean and very comfortable. Rooms are small but we knew that when we booked. We did a castle tour in Copenhagen after getting off the Getaway that we really enjoyed!

 

 

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Please tell me more about the castle tour. Where did you book it? What tour company? Group or private? Where did you start and and it? Thank you.