skatie

We will be on the Baltic Getaway cruise next week and its our first time with NCL. My husband is interested in purchasing a watch and wondering if there is a large selection (brands?) and good sales? I know on previous Caribbean cruises we'd check ports and ship prices, but not sure if Baltic cruises would be similar in variety and good prices? Also we were thinking of purchasing wine at our first stop in Germany versus at embarkation. Is it ok to buy wine at any stop and bring it back on and pay the corkage fee so that its available to you throughout the cruise, or will they hold any wine you buy if not brought on at embarking port? Thanks

We do not have any drink package so will be paying drink by drink. I like a simple vodka and lemonade drink, so will I be charged the price of a vodka shot plus the charge of a "soda"/lemonade?

We are in Helsinki on Sunday Aug 20 with the NCL Getaway. We are a family of 4 and will just explore the central area, loosely following the Rick Steves walking tour. We are docking at West LMK terminal and I see that the Tram lines are changing the week before we arrive. So it looks like I can take Tram 7 right to Senate Square - does anyone know how long this will take? I also wonder if they reduce the schedule on a Sunday? Also is it easy to buy tickets with credit card at a store or machine? If I have Euros it looks like driver can take money and provide small change - is this right? I realize that a lot of attractions and shops won't open until around 10am-12pm, so if we get off the ship around 9, hoping that will give us plenty of time to catch tram and see all the main sites from Market Square to Rock Church?

From what I can tell, our Ship (Getaway) will be in berth 167 in Stockholm on Aug 21. Google maps says its only a ~35 minute walk to the Palace on Gamla Stan - this seems like a quick walk and no need for getting T-Bann or Cruise shuttle bus - is this correct and we should can just plan on a quick (easy?) walk from ship to explore Gamla Stan and possibly some other shopping across the bridge? Thanks

Thanks for your review - we are taking same cruise Aug 14 and love hearing details in advance! I typically think of cruising with shorts and swimsuits, but this sounds like more of a pants and T-shirts and light rain coat cruise - would this be about right? Also with my son a picky eater, I'm a little concerned about him eating on our SPB tours - I'm wondering if the buffet has those prepackaged cereal boxes that he could take off ship with him? This is our first NCL cruise and husband was thinking of bringing dress pants and dress shoes for dinners but I told him to save the suitcase room and just bring khakis and his walking shoes for dinner - would this fit in with the "free styling" restaurant atmosphere - we are only doing the free dining room dinners.

We are in Helsinki port on Sunday August 20 from 7am - 4pm and we were just planning to do a walking tour on our own loosely following the Rick Steves guide. We didn't plan on doing the fortress Island area. However, when I research the openings of many of the things we want to see (Rock Church, Market place, stores in Esplanade, Stockmanns, Church of Silence etc.), it appears nothing open until 10am-12pm or not open at all. What would you recommend as a starting point if we get off the ship ~8am and need to be back on ship around ~3:30? Can we still get it all done in 4 hours if we started at noon?

What did you do for lunches while on St. Petersburg tours? We are thinking of Best tours, but it looks like the two day intense tour which it looks like you took, doesn't say anything about breaks for lunch? Als wondering if that TShirt tourist booth near dock took credit cards or USD or Euros? Thanks

Wow love your photos and extra thanks for highlighting where key transportation points are. We are going on same cruise in August and I love to visualize things in advance so your report is so helpful! We are also taking our two "kids" 21 and 18. Would live to hear more about what your kids found to entertain themselves on the ship besides the ropes and slides. Were there other of similar ages onboard? Thanks!

Is there a cost if you have to check purses or coats?

Thanks for the tip about backpacks needing to be checked at some sites. My husband has a nice camera that he takes around in a small knapsack, can he just take it out of knapsack and carry it with him to avoid issues and delays with checking things in?

Thanks for the update! Have a few questions! Can you explain what you mean by the two terminal system? How did you get to and from Copenhagen terminal and airport? Wondered if NCL offers a transfer and cost? Also wonderful if you did a private tour company in SPB and if so which tour and how did you like it? Any other must see sites in your opinion in the other ports? Thanks!

Hello Danish viking - thank you so much for all your helpful information. We are a family of four ('kids' are 17 & 20) and will be on Getaway in August 14. We arrive from Toronto to Copenhagen at 08:30 on August 13. We are staying the night at the Airport Hilton. My first thought is to get a 24 hour city pass and take the train into the city center and explore on Aug 13 and then on August 14 continue to use the 24 hour pass to take the train and buses to the port. However, I've read that taking luggage on the busses may not be a good idea as it takes up too much room. I don't want to be rude or cause issues. We will probably have two of the large backpacks, one medium roller bag and 4 small daypacks. Would you recommend instead that we just do single train passes for our touring on Aug 13 back and forth from hotel to city center and then bite the bullet and pay for a taxi to get to the port on Aug 14? Thanks

Thank you for posting all your details and photos. We were anxiously awaiting reviews from this cruise as we are going in August. A couple of questions that come to mind...

- how does the time differences work - do you change to local times or stay on the original port/ship time? If you change times, are there 3 time changes?!

- does the normal menu rotation change at all to have a European flare, or do they stick with the regular menus in MDR that are the fleet wide ones?

- other than SPB, we plan on just doing our own things in each port - is it easy enough to find local transportation from port to and from city centers?

- did you get a reason why the ship didn't make Stockholm port and changed to the port outside the archipelago? Our itinerary still says Stockholm so fingers crossed the Getaway will be capable of making it there!

I look forward to more of your review! Thanks

If we do end up at Nynashamn and don't get to sail the Archipelago, is there maybe a tourist boat that would leave from Nynashamn and tour the archipelago for a couple of hours? We are probably better off touring Stockholm centre but just wondering as a option. Thanks

Has it been confirmed that Getaway isn't docking in Stockholm centre? I'm on this cruise in August and our itinerary still says Stockholm with a tour of archipelago on the way out. I wondered if she is too big to get into Stockholm port so will be watching the early cruises to see how it goes. I have fingers crossed we don't have to figure out transportation from Nyanshamn. If you don't mind me asking how much is the taxi for four? Thanks

If you have lunches included are they set menus at restaurants or did you have options on what you wanted in the boxed pie lunches? We have a couple of picky eaters! Also if you don't chose their lunch options are you given an hour or so to find and eat your lunch? Thanks

If you book with a travel agent will the email come to you or does it go through Agent? I'd rather it come directly to me so I can jump quickly. Thx

Can we just pop into any a la carte restaurant and order a quick appetizer like a soup or do they only accept full dining reservations? Is there like bar stool seating for quick dining at these restaurants?

Thanks everyone for the details. Just so I'm crystal clear....do I have this right...

- before leaving home the four of us download the iconcierge app to our iPhones.

-Once on board we put phones into airplane mode and enable wifi.

-We can use the app to check out bills and entertainment etc, but unless we pay the $9.95 per device, we can't call each other while onboard

-We can text each other and our friends and family back in Canada for free using iMessage (no pictures, just word texts)- do we need to be signed into the NCL app and use the iMessage button there or just go through the iMessage icon on our phones?

Thanks!

I am Canadian and book my cruises in Canadian dollars - will I need to purchase this certificate in USD and also then book next cruise in USD or will it just be converted at an exchange rate? THx

Any idea of average price of a decent 750ml bottle of red wine? My husband wants to bring a few bottles on board as he thinks better to pay the $15 corkage fee vs buying bottles on board. Thanks

Thanks everyone for your replies. We have VISA's with PIN chips and I have some spare Euros and USD I can take with us for small purchases so all good there. I am so looking forward to the Archipelago sailing, but am bracing myself that it may not happen. We'll take our time getting off ship in Warnemunde. I wonder if things like the rope course will be open that morning so kids could do that with little or no wait while most people empty off the ship!? I guess with this being the Getaway's first trip to Baltic, I'll have to wait until May and hopefully someone will post the dailies from this trip!

What great suggestions GradUT! I'm sure my son would be very interested to see the prison? Also wondering if bike ride was across flat grounds? I have some joint problems so if too hilly it might not be great option for me!

Thanks

Can you ask for the free options from a bar or are they only available from buffet area? Thx

We will be on the Getaway Cruising the Baltics August 14. I have a couple of questions if anyone has insights....

1) we arrive in Warnemunde at 7:30am but have no intentions of going to Berlin. What time would the rush of folks heading into Berlin be over so we could leisurely walk off the ship without waiting?

2) there are many currencies involved in this trip. Will credit cards work for any purchase in all ports?

3) the itinerary shows us in the port of Stockholm and touring through the Archipelago. I have also heard though that this ship is too large to mKe it through this area and would have to dock at port at least one hour outside Stockholm. Does anyone know if Getaway is able to sail through Archipelago to Stockholm?

THanks!