Where do we start?

Hello,

Let me start by saying this is our first cruse. My family and I are planning to do the Baltic sea trip August 2018. We are trying to pick our cruse line and boat size. I am so overwhelmed with all the options. We are thinking of Viking Cruise Homelands 15 day trip. Is this boat to big to get the most out of our trip? Any thoughts or advise would be welcome.

Its actually among the smaller ships visiting the Baltics.

As was said, Viking is a miniature compared to most of the ships sailing around today. PLUS, Viking is much more expensive that most of the other cruise lines. Just by glancing at their pages, I believe it said the ship carries less than 1000 people, while many of todays ships carry 3000 minimum and most a lot more. Compared to lines like NCL, Celebrity, RCI, Princess, Viking is on the high end, as far as price goes. If that doesn't matter to you, them, by all means --go for it.

As far as itinerary, that is up to you. Do a bit of reading, research, as to all the ports of call and see which interest you the most. Most of the Northern Europe cruises stop at Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Warnemunde/Rostock, Tallinn and St Petersburg. Yes there are other ports like Amsterdam, Bergen, Oslo and several others. See which ship offers you the best times in port, if they do dock in Stockholm- opposed to docking about an hour away, how many days you spend in St Petersburg etc. etc. All these cruises are very port intensive, meaning they stop some where just about every day with nary any time to rest, so times in port are important, and then there is always the factor of price. Also, where the ship embarks from is important to some. Many want to spend a few days in that port city before getting on the ship, so take that into consideration. Time of year is also important, as the spring or early fall bring a bit cooler temperatures to the region.

You cannot let us decide for you, you have to do a bit of work and then make a decision. NO bad decisions here, as any of the cruises are great, you just need to see which one you will be most happy with.

Cheers

Len

Welcome! The Baltics are a huge trip, so it must feel a little overwhelming planning this for a first cruise. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the highlight of the Baltics are absolutely the ports, which means that the cruise ship line is a less important choice. The itinerary is similar on many (not all) cruises. If I were you I'd start my choice of ship by considering the following factors:

 

1. overnight ports. Most cruises will spend 2 nights in St. Petersburg. If you want to also visit Moscow, you need 3 nights in St. Petersburg (although this will be a lot of exhausting travel.)

 

A few itineraries will also have additional overnight stops in Stockholm or Copenhagen.

 

2. Embarkation/disembarkation ports. If you leave from England, you will have more sea days. If you leave from Copenhagen or somewhere else along the cruise, you will have fewer sea days so if your vacation time is limited that should be your choice. A very few cruises sometimes have one embarkation port and a different disembarkation port (Royal Caribbean in the past has done this once a season, although I don't know if it is still offered). That way you can spend a few days pre and post cruise in two different cities. You should also decide if you want to spend a few days pre- or post cruise in one city and that should be your embarkment port. This year, both NCL and Princess let you choose where you want to embark/disembark. Embarking in Germany lets you spend extra time in Berlin (Berlin is 4 hours from the port so it is a tough day if you are just traveling there from the ship). Embarking in St. Petersburg requires you to get a visa if you are an American citizen, so please be aware of the extra cost.

 

Also, if finances are not a primary concern the smaller ships can usually dock closer to the city center at least in Helsinki and passengers have an easier time disembarking (this is especially important in St. Petersburg, where it looks like next season passengers on ship sponsored tours will be able to disembark first, and those on independent tours will have to wait to disembark. )

 

But if you see an itinerary you love on a mass market line don't entirely discount it. There are lines with suite privileges such as NCL where you would have your own restaurants, get priority disembarkation (not sure about if this will continue in St. Petersburg) and have butlers to make reservations/deal with the red tape involved in a larger cruise ship.

 

Oh, finances are an issue for me - I'm just giving advice for you assuming they might not be for you since you initially posted about one of the more expensive lines. It's a wonderful trip, and you will have an amazing time no matter which line you chose.

You mention your family. If this means children, then your choice of ship needs to take that into account too. They will enjoy it more on a family friendly ship with kids clubs, activities and food to suit them.

Rick Steves' "Northern Europe

Cruise Ports" was a valuable resource when planning my Baltic Cruise. There's not info about the various cruiselines, but you can read about the various ports to see if you want a cruise that stops in Port X as opposed to Port Y.

And if you like smaller ships and finances are a concern, Cruises & Maritime and Fred Olsen both run smaller, older ships. Not many balconies though. I don't know Viking, but I prefer C&M to (for example) P&O for the smaller scale of the operation.

We did the Baltic on Disney, which was fun but pricey. We recently did a Med cruise on MSC. It's an Italian line that had a fantastic 2 for 1 deal on their Yacht Club (concierge) section. I'd definitely do the Yacht Club again, and it was still less than half of what we would have paid for a comparable Disney cruise.

 

This is a very port intensive cruise, so the kids potentially won't need that much entertaining, especially if you make the most of your port time. If your kids are picky eaters, most cruises have buffets with kid friendly items.

You mentioned family, please keep in mind that Viking does not allow children on board. Also, as it is your first cruise, I think 15 days is a long time to commit, especially with children. I would also like to mention that generally speaking, the Baltic is not the ideal itinerary for children, as it is heavy with historical sights in the way of nobility and wars, with many very long days of touring around.

My thought is to go with one of the premium lines such as Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian or Royal, and focus on an itinerary that is between 7-11 days.

I believe you need a good travel agent who is well experienced in foreign cruise itineraries, specifically Baltic. Let me know if you need help finding one.

I would advise to not go with Regal Princess (not sure which cruise line) and Norwegian (NCL)

due to the size of the ships they often berths in Nynäshamn instead of in central Stockholm

 

which means you are risking to miss the journey through the archipelago.

Docking in Nynäshamn is also a hassle since you have to go by bus or commuter train which will take about an hour.

Also, as it is your first cruise, I think 15 days is a long time to commit, especially with children. I would also like to mention that generally speaking, the Baltic is not the ideal itinerary for children, as it is heavy with historical sights in the way of nobility and wars, with many very long days of touring around.

My 3 year old loved this cruise, and says that his three favorite cities in the world are Stockholm, St. Petersburg and NY. It's not easy taking kids on this cruise, but if you are willing to accept that you will be exhausted, there is quite a bit for them to do (Peterhof, Tivoli Gardens, canal boat tours, subway ride in St. Petersburg, Vasa, , climbing to the top of the ruins of the fort in Tallinn). Plus my kid actually loved the Hermitage and Catherine's Palace, but I'm not making any promises about other kids liking that. My oldest is 6 now and he wants to go back on another Baltic cruise because he brother hadn't been born when we did this cruise and he wants his brother to get to visit St. Petersburg. Since the little one is 2, there's no way I'm doing this cruise again for quite some time. Oddly, I found the Baltic cruise easier to do with children with than our most recent one to Norway, since Norway will not allow children into taxis without car seats. And we kept getting caught in the rain with kids who didn't want to walk when it was cold and rainy and since the villages in Norway were too small to have public transportation, it was logistically more challenging than in the Baltics, where we just could hail a cab or take public transportation whenever our kid hit his limit.