EllieR

The long lines tend to be at the beginning, formed by those who also wish to get on early. If you wish to avoid them, and not have to wait to get on board, the best strategy would be to wait a few hours after embarkation begins and go then.

This goes to show how varied people's tastes are. I was on this cruise in May, also saw Kory Simon, and thought he was very entertaining. My husband and I saw his show multiple times.

Everyone has their own expectations regardining entertainment. Some people's will be met, others' not. It always pays to go and judge for oneself.

Yes, you can take the train. Hubby and I did it just this May with friends.

We took the S1 from Berlin to Oranienburg. A regional train from Oranienburg to Rostock, and the S1 again from Rostock to Warnemunde. It was roughly 3.5 hours, including transfer time. We bought the tickets online in advance. It cost us 205 Euros, round trip, for five adults.

Having written that, you should know that the time to walk from the station to the cruise ship is roughly ten minutes (all on flat terrain), and there are stairs going in and out of the station that you will have to negotiate. All of this is perfectly fine if you are able-bodied and can carry your luggage, but I don't imagine it would be so otherwise. Therefore, I would recommend the train option only if you can find a cab from the station to the ship. I didn't see any at the station when we got off, but I recall seeing a tourist information booth at the station so there might be someone there who can assist with that.

Have done this itinerary twice. The first time, in 2013, we used SPB. This year, we and our travelling companions used Princess (though for different tours).

Our companions saw the same sights through Princess in their two-day package that we did with SPB in 2013. In this respect, I can say there is little, if any, difference in the tours. So I would say it's to your advantage to book with an outside operator for St. Petersburg for the reasons other posters stated above.

Having written that, why did I go with Princess this time around? There were certain places I wanted to visit that, through an outside operator, would have had to be a private tour for two, making it more costly than going with a group through Princess. This, to me, is where the line has its advantage.

I was worried, It is not easy to get Krone in Canada at the bank they must be ordered in advanced and you have to buy a lot.

The trick is to not go through the bank.

I have had no problem getting Danish Krone (or any other European currency) at any of the independent foreign currency exchanges in Ottawa, nor have I ever had to purchase a minimum. I have also found their exchange fees to be less than my bank's. Have you looked into such exchanges in Toronto?

Having done this itinerary twice, I will echo what some others have said and say that your decision should be influenced by the time of year you are going. I have been on both the first and last sailings of this itinerary: this year, at the beginning, it was too cold to enjoy the balcony, while a few years ago when I went at the end, half of the cruise was quite rainy. I imagine that itineraries in June, July, and early August will be better for balcony enjoyment.

You might also want to consider what side of the ship you will be on. Typically, when docked, the starboard side faces shore while the port faces the sea. Not every terminal is nice to look at, but in Oslo being on the starboard side will give you a view of the city and Akershus Fortress. Elsewhere, it will give you a view of Old Tallinn and the scenery in Nynashamn.

What cruise terminal will you be at? If Oceankaj, there is free wifi.

It's only complicated if you're not Russian. :D

When I was on, I happened to pass by where the muster was for those who embarked in Saint Petersburg. I heard Russian being spoken by a lot of those who came out. I imagine the Saint Petersburg stop helps Princess dip a toe in the Russian market.

I did the "Hermitage and Saint Petersburg on your own" tour through Princess earlier this month. It worked exactly as advertised: a few hours in the Hermitage, after which we drove to a store just off of Nevsky Prospect, then given a street map and told to be back at the meeting point by a certain time. I don't know how far other people went, but I know that hubby and I went a good few kilometres down Nevsky Prospect and along one of the canals on our own. We had roughly 3 hours.

Word of advice: make sure your street map has the street names in Cyrillic on it. While it's good to have it in the Latin alphabet for pronunciation, it's also good to have it in Cyrilic to so you can match the names on the streets to what you have on the map. Failing that, if you find yourself lost, you'll likely find someone English speaking in a larger souvenir shop (there are a few along the Prospect).

Can confirm, no punches on the Regal from earlier this month. Can also confirm, based on my experience, that the will punch if the cruise (not just the ship) is different from what is written on the back.

We did the first Baltic but embarked from Warnemunde. After the turn around day in Copenhagen, they wanted to punch my card stating it was from the last cruise. However, they didn't punch when I said I got on in Germany.

I was on the Regal a week ago. Can confirm that Magic To Do was not one of the shows.

If your incoming is a connection, it shouldn't be. My connection through Schipol last week had no problems.

That depends on the size, whether they play music, have pop-ups, or any other intricacies. On my last trip, I saw prices ranging from just under 6,000 to 15,000 rubles, but I didn't look at the very big ones.

The ones without the AMK mark are much cheaper and can be found at the cruise port. However, it is unknown whether they're the same quality, made in Russia or elsewhere, etc.

Well, we came and went. I'm sorry to say, I felt a little underwhelmed. My expectations might have been too high and I think the timing was bad (I wasn`t aware that the Saturday we were there was two days before Russia`s V-Day celebrations).

First of all, we were unable to go to the Red Square. When I signed up for the trip, I was advised that the area could be closed at any time without notice, so I knew the risk was there. That ended up occurring the day we were there (because of the V-Day celebrations). We then went inside a church in the Kremlin and into the Armoury. The church has nothing on those we saw in Saint Petersburg. As for the Armoury, if you've been to armouries or other royal collections in Copenhagen, Stockholm, or elsewhere, then a lot of what you'll see in Moscow will look similar. We also ended up being rushed through a bit, being shuffled to every third or fourth exhibit, battling through other tour groups to get to some of the nicer items.

This is not to say that I regret going. If I hadn't gone, I would've been wondering 'what if'. However, I certainly don`t feel a need to go back, and I would advise others considering this trip to look into whether any major holidays or celebrations are scheduled to take place around that time, as that will affect the number of people around and what you will be able to see.

I agree that Tallinn is very easy to do on your own. That's what my husband and I did the first time we were there.

The second time, however, we did the two hour walking tours. There is more than one company doing them, so you have options re: times and topics. We did two: a general old town tour, and another about Tallinn during the Soviet era. I must say that, while we really enjoyed Tallinn on our own the first time, we got so much more out of it with the tours. Estonia's history is fascinating and the tour will show/teach you things that my husband and I certainly did not come across on our own.

When I've gone, I tended towards replica Faberge eggs from Russia (the ones with the AMK stamp in them as they're the ones made in Moscow, or so I'm told), wool and linen in Tallinn, and a Buddy Bear if I make it to Berlin.

On our last trip, I also bought a book called "Finnish Nightmares" while in Helsinki. I think there's a little Matti in all of us. :D

I did this cruise in 2013 (and going again this May). The only ports that had shuttles were Aarhus and Helsinki, each operated by third parties. Aarhus isn't on the itinerary this time but, for Helsinki, my husband and I recall paying 15 Euros round trip for the two of us (and in cash). The bus took you right into downtown, not far from the Esplanade.

This time, however, we will be docking in Nynashamn instead of Stockholm. Here, the "shuttle" is listed as a shore excursion. You can book that, but you can also do it yourself by taking the train from Nynashamn into Stockholm (that's what hubby and I will be doing).

RE: family suites. The other posters are right that it is the only single cabin that can hold five people, but they are not available on all ships. As per the cruise atlas I'm looking at, family suites are only on the Caribbean, Emerald, Ruby, Crown, Sapphire, Diamond, Golden, Grand, and Star.

You should also look into the cost. I recently asked for a quote for a family suite on the Sapphire for next year, also for five people. The first four people, all previous Princess cruisers, were each quoted the same price as persons 1 and 2 of a balcony room (so, the equivalent price wise of booking two balconies with two people per room). The fifth, not a Princess cruiser, was quoted the same as the third person of a balcony room. It would be far cheaper for us to get two interiors, which is fine for us since we don't spend much time in our rooms anyway.

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!

Hello, Poodiepurple! Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, we will not be on the same cruise. I will be sailing in on the Regal Princess, first weekend in May.

The trip I booked was through the ship. It is priced $580 USD (the $760 Terry quoted from me above is the excursion in CAD).

If Longyearbyen is a draw for you, what I suggest you do is look into how much it would cost if you did the first cruise but added a flight and short stay in Longyearbyen afterwards before you go home (or before the cruise, whichever you prefer).

I was looking at a Longyearbyen itinerary and another for Norway for 2018. The difference was a little over $2000 per person more for the Longyearbyen option. However, tacking on a flight and two night stay after the cruise would only be $1000. Therefore, it would cost us $1000 per person less to do the other itinerary and go to Longyearbyen separately than do the cruise with it.

Hello!

I was on the Royal with my then 3 year old in November 2015. They had bed rails.

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.

Greetings from Ottawa. :)

I cannot comment on #2, but do have experience with #1. Frankly, I would go with a "major tourist points" kind of tour (i.e. Deluxe Tour with SPB Tours, or a similar one with another company). You may not get to walk the streets of St. Petersburg, but you will get a taste of everything else. Oh, and as for churches or museums: the frescoes and architecture are absolutely stunning. I'm not religious or into Rembrandts, but the interiors of these places are beautiful.

The other advantage of an organized, guided tour is that you will have transportation to/from these locations (and the main palaces - Peterhof and Catherine's) are too far out for you to go on your own (unless you rent a car and can read directions/street names in cyrillic). Further to that, you can get priority entry to the museums because you're with a group. Still some waiting, but not as much as if you were on your own.

Of course, you'll be missing the "local" vibe that you mentioned. If that's really important to you, then I suggest either hiring a guide to accompany you or getting a visa. However, I suggest you ask yourself how much time you want for that kind of experience to make it worthwhile: if for the majority of the two days, you may need to sacrifice seeing some of the major sights.

A happy medium might be to have a tour customized to what you want, but this could be pricey. If you're absolutely sure you'll never go back to St. Petersburg, ask yourself how much you're willing to spend to make this one-time visit worthwhile.

I know this seems like a vague answer in that I'm not giving specific recommendations on what (not) to see. However, even between the likes and dislikes you mentioned, I can see how so many of the places I saw may be appealing to you. Here's what might be helpful: in your research, is there something you read, a picture you saw, etc. that you would like to know more about? If so, please mention it and, if someone here has seen/visited it, you might get the information you need to whittle your choices down.

I hope this is at least moderately helpful. If you have other questions, feel free to ask.

Ellie.

Thank you both for your replies!

To answer your questions about the southern part of Norway / other ports, both lines will stop at Bergen, Stavanger, Tromso, and Hellesylt/Geiranger.

Kaisatsu, thank you for mentioning that businesses close in the late afternoon as that is definitely a consideration of mine. I don't mind strolling through a town, but I would hate to see something interesting I'd want to explore further... and I can't. That was my main concern about the later hours in the ports.

Here's a follow-up question for both of you, related to Terry's point about Meraviglia's size: Do either of you believe that a potential 4500 people getting off at these ports will cause significant enough logistical nightmares that one would have a lot of difficulty accessing the sights/activities?

The size of the Meraviglia doesn't concern me re: when being on the ship. However, what would concern me is if the passenger population is too large to truly enjoy the ports (i.e. long lines into museums, crowded hike up Pulpit Rock, difficulty getting tickets to attractions because of early sell-outs).

Thanks again,

Ellie.