mokamaki

I just booked my transfer from my hotel to Oceankaj on 6/13 11:30am. I booked two big vans for my family group of 13 plus our 11 suitcases.

http://www.taxa.dk/en/

I have never use them before but they have been very responsive in answering all my questions. The quote is 200-220 DK (about 35 USD) per vehicle depends on the traffic that morning. The distance from my hotel to Oceankaj is 8.2km about 5 miles. The taxi company told me the traffic lights and road situation has been resolved at Oceankaj. People no longer need to walk a long way to the ship due to traffic congestion.

HeinBloed,

I am planning to take my group of 13 to visit Lubeck on 6/14. We have 11 adults and 2 teenagers. Do my teenagers (14 and 15) qualify for child ticket or buying adult group ticket a better deal for us ?

Also, is it cheaper to buy tickets in cash at the counter vs machine using credit card ?

I understand there will be another ship disembark on the same day on 6/14 and it will be busy at the train station. Just want to confirm the train to Lubeck is direct on weekend schedule.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

You can follow this link for more information:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2184994

There is a local expert, Travelanni, on this board who can give you excellent advice:

http://travelanni.webs.com/warnemnde.htm

Ross: the "visa" is actually a tour ticket that the tour operator issue to you. It has the name of the tour company, their phone #, your name, name of ship, arrival/departure date/time etc. The same visa/ticket information along with your passport number (which you provide to your tour operator ahead of time) and itinerary will be made available to all the custom booths the night before the ship arrival. You just show your passport and the ticket to the custom officer at your arrival. My tour operator has sent me the visa/ticket via email and gave me very clear instruction what to do on day of arrival. I hope this helps.

Is it the recommended 10% to the guide and 5% to the driver ? Also, pay them at the end of 2nd day of the tour ? or pay them at the beginning of the 2nd day of the tour (when we pay for the tour) ? Thanks!

I've just finished talking to my daughter's piano teacher who is from Moscow. She came to the US over 20 years ago. She is shocked to find out we are visiting St Petersburg. She said Russia is a lawless land and Russians actually hate Americans (but love the USD). For having the tension with Ukraine, do you think it is relatively safe to tour St Petersburg ? We are planning to book the 2days excursion for our June cruise. Thanks!

I've just finished talking to my daughter's piano teacher who is from Moscow. She came to the US over 20 years ago. She is shocked to find out we are visiting St Petersburg. She said Russia is a lawless land and Russians actually hate Americans (but love the USD). For having the tension with Ukraine, do you think it is relatively safe to tour St Petersburg ? We are planning to book a 2days excursion. Thanks!

seechickgo: I have the same concern regarding the taxi and terminal situation. I emailed the taxi company for a quote (for our group of 13) and expressed the concern about the new terminal. Here is the response:

"It’s true that there were some problems at the new terminal this year – 2014 was the inaugural year. The problem was that the city planners hadn’t taken into account, the large amount of lorry’s and other trucks that use the area out there. And so all the traffic lights were set up wrong.

So to begin with it was chaos out there. So because of the traffic, some customers chose to get out of the taxi, and walk quite a long way. But the city sorted it out very quickly, and we very rarely have any issues out there.

But you can be dropped off directly at the terminals, and the ships dock right next to them. I have been there myself, and it’s a very nice and professional setup."

So I believe the problem is resolved.

Anni,

Is it possible to combine Schwerin and then Ludwigslust in one day ? Our ship will dock at Warnemunde on a Tuesday in June (6am to 8pm). If there is no direct train service, what is the best way to get to Ludwigslust from Schwerin ? We are a group of 13 with two seniors. Thanks!

lil2Queenie,

I found a lot of information from another member of this forum, Travelanni, her website has lots of information:

http://travelanni.webs.com/warnemnde.htm

We will take the train from Warnemunde to Schwerin, then to Rostock before returning to the ship. You can also do the train trip planning/order tickets here:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?rt=1&

Hi Danish viking,

Our family group of 13 will take the Baltic cruise in the summer. We'll stay at Cabinn City overnight pre cruise. Is there any family style eatery close by the hotel area that you'd recommend ? Thanks!!

Mary,

You can make arrangement with the taxi company to take your group to the airport. I contacted: http://www.taxa.dk

Have you check with the cruise line to see if they can let you off that early ?

I followed up with the port gen manager, arnt.moller@cmport.com, based on their news release from October. Here is the link to the release:

http://www.cmport.com/news-and-media/pressreleases/2014/2014-10-08

I believe the gm forwarded my email to the company which handles the process.

By the way, I am not sure if the service is free at all because if you visit the company website the service is fee based. But I emailed them to see if the service is free or is discounted for cruise line customers.

Thanks for letting us know about such service. I followed up with the port (the luggage service returned my email) and received the following message this morning. We'll onboard HAL in June and fly back to the US on SAS. It didn't mention the service is available to HAL or SAS/Star Alliance only.

Here is the message: "The service will be available for you and your family in June on the Holland Eurodam. You will be able to sign up onboard and provide all necessary information. On the last day of your cruise you and your family will receive your boarding passes and preliminary bag tags. You will leave your luggage outside your stateroom and won’t see them until your final destination city. If you are flying directly to the US and have a connection then the only addition would be to reclaim the luggage in your first connection due to CBP restrictions. This is a very quick process. Please let me know if you have any additional questions."

Ricardo Torres

Director, Operations | Bags Inc.

MakeTravelEasier.com

o. 407.849.0670 x 1051

m. 407.883.0772

e. rtorres@maketraveleasier.com