Princess Copenhagen-St. Petersburg cruise: how crowded in the summer?

[Fattony]

Looking at the Emerald Princess cruise that goes from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, Stockholm, etc. First aimed to depart May 23, but this could get pushed back to a later departure, possibly June 3 or even later, due to factors at home. I've read here before that the ports start to get rather crowded in the summer and people did not like the cruise as much. Would a departure on June 14 or even June 25, put us appreciably more into the thick of summer crowds?

[Coolcruise02]

We weren't on Princess but went on the Eurodam last July, leaving Copenhagen on the 14th and returned on the 24th. We did NOT find it to be too crowded. In fact the only place we ran into crowds were the palaces in St. Peterburg.

[Alaskanb]

You may want to check when the public holidays are in the EU and Scandinavian countries. We are on the June 3 cruise and I know that does not coincide with any.

[KirkNC]

By far the biggest crowds we have ever seen were in June in St Petersburg. The Hermitage was a zoo.

[Aorinka]

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city and a popular destination, but if plan it carefully in advance and entrust your stay to an experienced local guide then everything is doable. I visited St. Petersburg 2 times: first on my own and the next year with my family. We had Anna from Best Guides group as our guide both times, and she did an excellent job. Last summer we had an individual tour for our family. It was a bit more expensive than a group one, but we really needed it with a 10-year old girl. The year before I joined a group tour with Best Guides and I was very happy. It is important that a group is small. They call it mini-group tours. There were just 6 of us and we never had to wait in lines. I heard other people on the ship complain about crowds etc, but they all went with groups over 15 people, or even 20. Another way to avoid crowds is booking the early entrance to the Hermitage, you may check if this is included in one of the mini-group tour programs.

I have to agree with the previous post that St. Petersburg was the only city where crowds had to be considered. Other cities were easy. Whenever you go, you’ll love it. Have a nice cruise!

[Fattony]

Thanks. I was in St. Petersburg about 25 years ago, when it was Leningrad, and visited the Hermitage, but my wife has never been. Right now most likely cruise is the June 25-July 6 Emerald Princess. St. Petersburg July 1 and 2. Wonder if they'll have some sort of festivities (wouldn't think fireworks) for July 4 (in Stockholm that day, but only until 2 pm).

[SoBaycruiser]

I'm not sure if this would make the city more crowded but May 27th is the city's 310th anniversary. There were a lot of activities supposedly for the 300th.

[Kerry2travel]

I agree with Aorinka. When you visit places with the tour guide and in a mini-group its much easier to avoid long lines. I went to St.-Petersburg last summer, in June. Our guide was Inna from Best Guides. We had early admission in Hermitage with no waiting time.

Summer time is generally a tourist season and June in St.-Petersburg is , as I heard, the most gorgeous time, so crowds are given. Amount of people on the streets and in museums don't hide the beauty of the city. I loved it anyway!!!!

I live in Massachusetts, Boston is a zoo in a Summer!!