cruising northern Europe

My husband would like to take a Baltic cruise. I was looking at a few choices. It looks like Southampton or Copenhagen are the ports I'm trying to decide on. Any comments on the 2 ports or itinerary recommendations?

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you could post on the Northern Europe forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

some cruises also start in Stockholm

Southampton is an excellent place to sail from but is further from the Baltic regions so add sea days. It very maritime. As a Brit, it is one of my fave spots to be.

Copenhagen is ok, and offers a quicker route to the main Baltic regions. Its got some lovely historical parts but prides itself on an eco city with lots of modern structures these days. It's not my cup of tea.

Generally most Baltic cruises will visit Copenhagen , Stockholm,Tallinn, Helsinki, St Petersburg for 2 days.

If you are lucky you might get a German (Warnmunde for Berlin) , Norwegian (Oslo),Polish (Gdansk) or Dutch port (Amsterdam) thrown in and these are all awesome.

You need a visa or tour with one to debark in Russia. Most voyages are 10 plus days and ideally you need many days to really get your teeth into this wonderful area of the world.

Sail out of Copenhagen if you really want to do a Baltic cruise -- which is great!!

Why spend several days at sea before getting into the Baltic sea? I would sail from Copenhagen or Stockholm.

Why spend several days at sea before getting into the Baltic sea? I would sail from Copenhagen or Stockholm.

Agree - I would prefer to embark in Copenhagen or Stockholm.

We sail out of Newcastle, UK- it's just a short crossing.

If we were already in the UK, hands down we would opt for Southampton - primarily you don't have luggage restrictions flying to Copenhagen, and secondly we enjoy a couple of sea days to get to know the ship before hitting the busy port days.

The Baltic can be a very hectic schedule - our Berlin trip was about 14 hrs, Tallinn was only 5 hrs but included 3 hrs walking, St Petersburg was 2 very busy 10 hr days.

After the ports, we enjoyed a relaxing 2 sea days back to UK.

Another thing to consider: I presume you are flying from the US since San Diego is listed as your home. Tickets to (and maybe from) London carry hefty fees and taxes whereas Copenhagen (a lovely city for a couple of day visit before and/or after the cruise) does not (or at least relative to Heathrow). Investigate airfare before you make a decision. We did a R/T Copenhagen Baltic cruise in 2009 and it ranks right up there as one of favorite and most interesting cruises.