ljandgb

Oceania does the same itinerary and then some, as Disney, at a probably half the cost. We are doing Disney this year, because I wanted to take our kids, but we keep getting Oceania brochures and dh and I just sigh...

FWIW, we cruised with Oceania as our first and only cruise and it was very nice. I don't have anything to compare to, but I had no complaints. We were in French Polynesia and there were maybe 10 kids on the ship. I would cruise again with them in a heart beat.

We're on the May 30 sailing for DCL in the Baltic! TJ tours in St. Petersburg has a "cat tour" for kids. We aren't doing that, but they are adding in a stop at the "Cat Museum" there while we do our day long tour with them. It's basically a retirement home for former Hermitage Mousers and a few other cats. You spend an hour petting cats.

Definitely a stop only cat lovers would appreciate! That said, we are, and several of the comments on Tripadvisor said that it was a welcome downtime break during the day, and the cat lovers got their fix after being away from their pets at home.

My 12yo dd will be beyond happy to go. :)

http://st-petersburg-tours.ru/cats-of-st-petersburg-tour/

We will be in Reykjavik for 2 days prior to our cruise in May. We've booked a private tour (there are 8 of us) thru Geoecco. They've been very easy to work with to customize what will work for our multigenerational group.

They recommended this blog: http://www.iheartreykjavik.net for info about the area and Iceland in general. Lots of very good information there. There's a video that shows snow in May. Yikes! That's scary for this Texas girl.

We are staying at the Reykjavik Residence Hotel. Haven't been there yet, so can't give you BTDT yet, but it came highly rated on TripAdvisor and because we rented the 3 bedroom apartment for the 8 of us, came out half the price what would have been 4 hotel rooms. It is also one block off of the main street down town - easy access but not quite as loud as on the main strip. The rooms for 2 people were not cheap, but not the highest I'd found.

Thank you! Again, you rock.

Another question:

We are looking at landing in Copenhagen and going directly to Iceland for a few days prior to the cruise. It will be two separate airlines, so our bags would not be checked thru to Iceland.

Is there customs from Copenhagen to Reykjavik? How much time would we need to collect our bags and check in to our flight to Iceland?

Thanks for your help!

Thank you for the review. We are adding 72 hours in Iceland to our Norhern European cruise. Great info to use!

We have a 9yo with us, one who is not even a little into "old buildings and museums" as he calls them. We will also be in port for about the same amount of time.

We are looking at TJ tours. They offer several children's tours. We will have grandparents, us, and 4 kids, so they are customizing a day for us that will have a little bit of everything. Ds knows he will have to do some of the dreaded museums, but we're also throwing in a hydrofoil ride, the Peterof fountains, and a cat museum where the Hermitage retired mousers live. Not very Soviet, per se, but will make my kids exceedingly happy to play with some cats as we take a breather.

Wow, I must have copied the wrong tab. Sorry!

Here's the real link:http://www.copenhagenfreewalkingtours.dk

They have good reviews on trip advisor. It seems like an organized group of young people who like showing off their city.

Hope he feels better, but at least you don't need to worry about what the trip will do to his record!

Are you doing the Disney cruise by chance? We'll be there for 3 days prior to our May 30 sailing. There's 8 of us - grandparents (70, 72), dh and I, and 4 kids ages 15, 15, 12, and 9. Loosely our plan is to spend two full days there. The first day is the free walking tour

http://st-petersburg-tours.ru/city-tours/

and then maybe the children's museum or just hang out in Nyhaven. Then do Tivoli at night.

The next day is provisionally Land of Legends

http://www.sagnlandet.dk/en/

which looks like a Danish Plimoth Plantation sort of place.

I'd like to stay central, so am considering either the Skandic Palace or the Raddison Royal. Both are near the train station and Tivoli.

ETA - not sure if I'm allowed to link those places? Mods, feel free to delete if needed.

There is a great thread on Copenhagen specifically that discusses in detail transportation to the airport, the town, and the pier.

Thank you both. Great information! We usually keep our passports handy when we're out and about, so that won't be a burden for us. I've got a travel purse that is harder to cut/steal, and am a pretty aware tourist.

No, the grandparents are not ballerinas! There's only one original knee between then two of them. :)

Jonza, good to know. FWIW, we start in Copenhagen, then do Tallin, SPB, Helskini, and Stockholm all in a row, then back to Copenhagen.

Cruise lines generally (I don't know about Disney) are quite ingenuous about the need for a visa - they'll stress that you don't need a visa if you take a ship's tour, they'll stress that you do need a visa if you go off independently, they forget to mention that you don't need a visa if you've booked with a local operator.

True that! The kind folks here informed me of my local tour options!

Thanks for your thoughtful input. We currently have a tour penciled in with Best Guides. I figured that would be better to tailor the day to our multigenerational group. I do have two pretty serious ballerinas in the group so they are jumping at the chance to see it in the Motherland, so to speak. Even my dad, who is not at all into ballet, did admit he'd probably never have another chance to see a Russian ballet. Now, my 9 yo ds, maybe not so much, but I think my dh would sacrifice his ballet evening to hang on the ship. :)

Good to know we don't have to pre-pay. And good to know they'll work it so we can get back to the ship to rest and change. We're all seasoned travelers, but we also know the power a bit of down time can pack.

We'll be doing a Disney Baltic cruise this summer and trying to plan port excursions. Anyone know how much time it will take to get on/off the ship? I'm not sure if this is more ship specific or port specific. Is there some sort of passport control or customs sort of line? Or is it just walk on and off, like our French Polynesia cruise (my only other cruise experience.)

This is predominantly for St. Petersburg. I'm trying to decide if we should do one long day and into the night, or if we'd have time to get back to the ship, freshen up and rest, then go back out for the ballet. We'll have grandparents and younger kids that can push thru if they need to, but do better with a short rest.

Just as importantly, is there sushi on the Magic??

Oh, my kids would be in heaven...

We are in 6066 and 6062 in May. I'm told there are pull down beds, which I hope is true because there will be 4 of us in each room. :)

I did, yes. I found it on the "List of what's included" for the card.

Thanks, though. You are a wealth of info, and are currently making Danish people look exceedingly helpful.

You rock! Thanks so much for your help.

Would the Copenhagen card work on the train out to Lejre? I'm not sure what is included in the greater Copenhagen area.

and, sadly, the Roll Call for our sailing is limited to one post. There's some activity on Disboards for it, but it is limited mostly to arranging recipe swaps and fish extenders.

Hence my questions here. ;)

Yes, after more research, and knowing that the no Visa required status extends to several companies, I've contacted a few companies that have been mentioned on some of the other threads.

Interestingly, one company said that we would not be able to see Catherine's Palace because we will be there on a Tuesday and the palace is closed on Tuesdays. Our ship (Disney) is offering that excursion, though.

I haven't heard from the others yet.

Thanks for your input, though. It confirms what I'd been thinking.

FWIW, we're pulling our kids out the week of finals to go on the Baltic cruise. Finals, schminals. :) This includes two high schoolers, one in jr high, and one in 3rd grade.

I've been waiting for that itinerary to come up for years. My two oldest will be gone in 2 years, and due to cost and scheduling, the other sailing dates were not possible. We decided it was now or never.

We are not asking for excused absences, per se. I made no bones about the fact that we were pulling them out to go on a really cool vacation. The kids will be allowed to re-schedule their finals. Perhaps I can show them that form letter and that can count as finals, especially for AP History? LOL

That's good to know, thank you.

This question is for We're the Groupnors: Sorry, for the life of me I can't figure out how to pm someone on this forum.

You liked Anastasia tours? Did the "no visa needed" work as advertised?

Ack, hit send and forgot to ask one more question.

Do you know how long of a train ride it is to Lejre? There is a living history museum there that looks fun as well.