Emerald Princess Baltic trip report - May 23-June 3, 2013 (with pictures and patters)

[dnylla]

Amazing! Thank you for taking the time to do that. So many of us will enjoy reading it. The details will help us all plan accordingly and help us get excited about upcoming cruises!!!

 

Thanks juh18! I'm glad to be of help :) especially since I also spent many hours on the forums here researching before our cruise

[Tropical Anne]

I just got a copy of Rick Steves Scandinavia. Best buy I ever made. It is a gold mine of info. He has walking tours for every port we will be visiting. We have to decided to cancel most of our pricey ship tours and go DIY. The only ship tour we are keeping is in Warnemunde as we are doing the Lake Schwerin tour. We have a private tour booked for St Pete's so we are all set. This time next month I will be on board. I can hardly wait! I am so excited!

[cruise_alot123]

I just got a copy of Rick Steves Scandinavia. Best buy I ever made. It is a gold mine of info. He has walking tours for every port we will be visiting. We have to decided to cancel most of our pricey ship tours and go DIY. The only ship tour we are keeping is in Warnemunde as we are doing the Lake Schwerin tour. We have a private tour booked for St Pete's so we are all set. This time next month I will be on board. I can hardly wait! I am so excited!

 

If you have questions about DIY post it here and I'll try to help you out. We DIY all the ports except Berlin and SPB and all you you need is a good to new tennis shoes and that should do it. Lol...

[dnylla]

I just got a copy of Rick Steves Scandinavia. Best buy I ever made. It is a gold mine of info. He has walking tours for every port we will be visiting. We have to decided to cancel most of our pricey ship tours and go DIY. The only ship tour we are keeping is in Warnemunde as we are doing the Lake Schwerin tour. We have a private tour booked for St Pete's so we are all set. This time next month I will be on board. I can hardly wait! I am so excited!

 

I agree Tropical Anne, Rick Steves Scandinavia is a great guidebook. I originally got it because it was the only Scandinavia one I saw that included Tallinn, but after reading it and posts here on the forum I was glad I did. Less than 1 month to go, how exciting! :) Enjoy your cruise!

 

all you you need is a good to new tennis shoes and that should do it. Lol...

 

Lol! Very true, but make sure they're broken in before you go ;) this is not a cruise I'd want to get blisters on :D

[cruise_alot123]

The hot tub and spa should take care all the blisters. Also, you can eat more if you're DIY.... Lol...

Edited June 19, 2013 by cruise_alot123

[shipfriend_max]

Hi dnylla,

 

thank you so much for the information!! :)

The 9th of July we will be on the same cruise - can't wait!!

 

Sadly the time in Stockholm is soo short - but I look forward to the archipelago!! :cool:

[dnylla]

Hi dnylla,

 

thank you so much for the information!! :)

The 9th of July we will be on the same cruise - can't wait!!

 

Sadly the time in Stockholm is soo short - but I look forward to the archipelago!! :cool:

 

I'm glad you found some of the info from my trip report useful celebrity_fan! July 9th is coming up so quickly :) I hope you enjoy your cruise (even the limited time in Stockholm ;)) The archipelago was beautiful (especially when we passed through in the morning with the sun shining)

Edited July 1, 2013 by dnylla

[cruiseandwine]

Thank you so much for posting this very interesting and comprehensive summary of your Baltic cruise. I'm doing a Baltic cruise on the Royal next spring so I won't be going to the exact same ports, but I learned a lot about the cities that we'll be visiting. As many others have commented, your photos are beautiful, and definitely add to the commentary. ;)

[dnylla]

I'm doing a Baltic cruise on the Royal next spring so I won't be going to the exact same ports, but I learned a lot about the cities that we'll be visiting. As many others have commented, your photos are beautiful, and definitely add to the commentary. ;)

 

Thanks heretodaygonetomorrow! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures I posted. The Baltics are bound to be an excellent place to cruise, no matter which line sailed on, there are some beautiful places to visit there. I know it is a ways away but I hope you enjoy your cruise when it comes around

[Weekender76]

Love, love, love your posts. Thanks so much for all the detail you included! We are taking this cruise next May on the Royal Princess so all of this information will be so needed! I love the pictures and also your picks for excursions. I am looking forward to Germany and St. Pete!!:D

[melsterchaos]

I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate this review. My sister and I (mid/late 20s) are going with our parents (...older than late twenties) on this cruise in August and as the voted travel guide, this has been a gold mine of information. I finished reading Rick Steves' and am glad to see a recent comparison as well. Not to mention your additions of DIY and the Princess Patters! While our port days are in a different sequence and hence All Aboards will be altered, this has been a tremendous help on how much I think I can get done (and how many books to pack!)

 

I have a couple of questions, though. I know you said your sister and yourself were fairly active, and my sister and I should have little problem with that, but my parents are more sedentary and have some bothersome knees, etc. with too much stress from running or standing all day. Do you think your DIY schedules (such as Oslo and Tallinn) were hectic, or was the time indoors, eating, etc. enough of a break not to feel much strain? While I am a history nerd and want to see as much as possible, I do not want to wear them out and force the next day to be shortened or painful, and I wonder if my sister and I should separate or skip places or try to include them. I feel like your itineraries seem to match my planned paths rather well, so I was wondering on your insight. We also scheduled the two palace tour in St. Petersburg via Princess against the negative reviews on this site for a few reasons, and I was hoping it was not too crowded and exhausting- I'm glad to see you enjoyed it.

 

Also, previous reviewers have mentioned leaving passports in the safe and either taking photocopies or just the ship card in many ports (excluding SPB, of course). The Patters you so wonderfully posted dictated bringing them to each port, though the only time you mentioned them were SPB. You also returned to the ship for lunch before, so I wondered if you brought them all day, at the beginning of the day only for customs, or if it wasn't very necessary?

 

Thank you again for your wonderful and honest review!

[voltdoc]

Did anyone happen to see if the Hop-On Hop-Off buses stopped at the pier in Copenhagen?

Thanks, Voltdoc

[dnylla]

Love, love, love your posts. Thanks so much for all the detail you included! We are taking this cruise next May on the Royal Princess so all of this information will be so needed! I love the pictures and also your picks for excursions. I am looking forward to Germany and St. Pete!!

 

Thanks Weekender76! I'm glad you enjoyed the novella ;)

 

I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate this review. My sister and I (mid/late 20s) are going with our parents (...older than late twenties) on this cruise in August and as the voted travel guide, this has been a gold mine of information. I finished reading Rick Steves' and am glad to see a recent comparison as well. Not to mention your additions of DIY and the Princess Patters! While our port days are in a different sequence and hence All Aboards will be altered, this has been a tremendous help on how much I think I can get done (and how many books to pack!)

 

I have a couple of questions, though. I know you said your sister and yourself were fairly active, and my sister and I should have little problem with that, but my parents are more sedentary and have some bothersome knees, etc. with too much stress from running or standing all day. Do you think your DIY schedules (such as Oslo and Tallinn) were hectic, or was the time indoors, eating, etc. enough of a break not to feel much strain? While I am a history nerd and want to see as much as possible, I do not want to wear them out and force the next day to be shortened or painful, and I wonder if my sister and I should separate or skip places or try to include them. I feel like your itineraries seem to match my planned paths rather well, so I was wondering on your insight. We also scheduled the two palace tour in St. Petersburg via Princess against the negative reviews on this site for a few reasons, and I was hoping it was not too crowded and exhausting- I'm glad to see you enjoyed it.

 

Also, previous reviewers have mentioned leaving passports in the safe and either taking photocopies or just the ship card in many ports (excluding SPB, of course). The Patters you so wonderfully posted dictated bringing them to each port, though the only time you mentioned them were SPB. You also returned to the ship for lunch before, so I wondered if you brought them all day, at the beginning of the day only for customs, or if it wasn't very necessary?

 

Thank you again for your wonderful and honest review!

 

Thanks melsterchaos, I’m glad my trip report has helped you in planning :D

 

As to your questions, I felt like our DIY days were not too hectic for us (although we were getting tired towards the end of the cruise because it is so long and port intensive) and the breaks we took would be enough if your parents are feeling energetic. Looking at it if I were traveling with my mom and/or grandma (like your parents, both ...older than late twenties ;)) I would say that my sister and I walked a bit faster and covered more ground than would have been comfortable for them. In each of the places we did DIY I expect they would have skipped some of the places my sister and I went to, especially in the afternoon. Even if they went everywhere with us they likely would have moved at a slower pace.

 

In Oslo, if my Mom/Grandma were with us they probably would have been fine with the museum. After lunch, I think that although it isn’t level ground, Akershus probably would have been done at a slightly slower pace, then they may or may not have gone with us to walk along Karl Johan’s Gate. If they went, it would have been at their own pace while Sis and I went on ahead. We went at a faster pace because we wanted to make to the Ice Bar and then back to the ship for our early seating dinner. If you did not have those time limiters I think that what we did in Oslo would be do-able for your parents.

 

We also retraced our path in Oslo a time or two, in ways that could be cut to limit the amount of walking (things in Oslo are close, but I know from traveling with Grandma that sometimes those close distances add up) For example, after returning from the ship museum, skip the City Hall (for now) and go back to the ship for lunch, because we walked by the city hall entrance on our way to Karl Johan's Gate after seeing Askerhus, which would have been another good opportunity to go inside. We also walked down Karl Johan's Gate towards the train station and cathedral to start the part of the Rick Steve's walking tour we did (which then had us walking back up Karl Johan's Gate). Instead another option could be to take one of the streets that would bring you out by the cathedral and only walk up Karl Johan's Gate once (I think if you looked at his walking tour map you could find one that worked)

 

I would say the same in Tallinn. The walk we used in Rick Steves could be done at a slower pace than we took, but Tallinn has many cobblestones and it is not always level. I expect my Mom would have been okay doing everything we did. With the cobblestones and the incline up to Toompea, my grandma would have wanted to spend more time at the café and may have just looked at the shops by the ship instead of returning to town after lunch like we did. I think that my mom may have been up for the wall and towers, but if my grandma had done everything we did (at a slower pace) she probably would have skipped the city wall. There is a shuttle that takes people from the ship to the city wall near the sweater wall in Tallinn, as an option if your parents don’t want to become too tired too early in the cruise (or if it is later in the cruise, since you said your itinerary is different)

 

I know you didn’t ask about Helsinki, but there I expect that my Mom and Grandma would have been more worn out then us because it was getting later in the cruise. If they had gone on the walk it would have been slower and more leisurely, or they may have done their own thing to see Helsinki, perhaps a shore excursion to limit walking. Obviously this varies based on the person, but hopefully this (long) response gives you some better ideas for the ports. It's a great location to cruise and hopefully you, your sister, and your parents all enjoy it as much as we did.

 

For passports, I think that the only place we needed them at all was St. Petersburg, anytime we were off the ship. I can’t remember for sure, but I think that most of the other ports we also left our passports in the safe and just had photocopies.

 

Did anyone happen to see if the Hop-On Hop-Off buses stopped at the pier in Copenhagen?

Thanks, Voltdoc

 

Voltdoc, I did not see the Hop-On Hop-Off buses at the pier in Copenhagen where the Emerald Princess was docked. I can’t remember if John Lawrence mentioned them in his port lecture or not.

Edited July 7, 2013 by dnylla

[Hye Seas]

Don't know how to thank you. All the information you have provided has been invaluable. My Mom and I will take the same cruise in August. Want you to know that all the time and trouble you have taken to put into this is so very much appreciated. A question-did you book the air and hotel through Princess? We did not, so we have to find our own transportation from the airport to the Marriott and then from the Marriott to the cruise line pier. Would have preferred being taken care of by Princess as you described.

[NJLissa]

Thanks so much for this informative review and great pictures. We are sailing in August on Princess and visiting most of the same ports.

[dnylla]

Don't know how to thank you. All the information you have provided has been invaluable. My Mom and I will take the same cruise in August. Want you to know that all the time and trouble you have taken to put into this is so very much appreciated. A question-did you book the air and hotel through Princess? We did not, so we have to find our own transportation from the airport to the Marriott and then from the Marriott to the cruise line pier. Would have preferred being taken care of by Princess as you described.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed my trip report Hye Seas! We booked the flights on our own, but booked the hotel and transfer from/to the airport through Princess. I usually travel with carry-on size bags only, but have traveled with larger bags on public transportation before and it can be tricky, so we decided just to rely on Princess. Being on Long Island I figure you've probably dealt with the NYC subway at least time or two, but if you are not used to navigating unfamiliar public transit systems a taxi might be a good option (and the roll call for your cruise might be a good place to see if anyone wants to share a taxi, at least from the ship to the airport)

 

Thanks so much for this informative review and great pictures. We are sailing in August on Princess and visiting most of the same ports.

 

Thanks NJLissa! I hope you enjoy your cruise (both the same ports and the different ones you visit)

Edited July 10, 2013 by dnylla

[dani79]

Thank you for a wonderful report.

Me and my friend are supposed to start our cruise on Emerald on August 8-th and because of your report we will be able to schedule our tours and activities much better.

I would like to ask you one question. Do you happen to remember who was the Assistant Maitre'd, the one in charge for the Horizon Court buffet and all the other alternative dining venues. I could see in the Patter that the Maitre'd was Silvio Zampieri but I'm hoping that the Assistant Maitre'd is somebody we know as well from our past cruises. We always loved to have most of our meals in the Horizon Court.

If you remember his name or nationality please let me know.

Thank you very much once again.

[dnylla]

Thank you for a wonderful report.

Me and my friend are supposed to start our cruise on Emerald on August 8-th and because of your report we will be able to schedule our tours and activities much better.

I would like to ask you one question. Do you happen to remember who was the Assistant Maitre'd, the one in charge for the Horizon Court buffet and all the other alternative dining venues. I could see in the Patter that the Maitre'd was Silvio Zampieri but I'm hoping that the Assistant Maitre'd is somebody we know as well from our past cruises. We always loved to have most of our meals in the Horizon Court.

If you remember his name or nationality please let me know.

Thank you very much once again.

 

Thanks dani79! Unfortunately I don't remember who the Assistant Maitre'd was :o, and neither did my sister. It would be nice if you were pleasantly surprised and it was someone from a previous cruise.

[dani79]

Thank you. Wish you all the best

[CruzPotato]

DNYLLA - I very much enjoyed your travelogue and pictures (and good to know that there's a chance my very automatic digital point and shoot will suffice and take good pics too!) I wish I read it sooner as I am planning our outings for an August Baltic cruise on the Eclipse and the details in your post are very helpful.

I have a question on Helsinki - you mentioned you walked to the Olympic Stadium and I was surprised as I thought one would need to take the tram. Could you give me an idea how far it is and how long it would take from town on a leisurely stroll? Also, would the Rock Church and/or the Sibelius Park and Monument be close enough to walk from town or would you suggest taking the tram?

Thank you for your help and again for the wonderful post.

[NavyChick]

As a heads-up, unless it is specified in a package deal most European hotels do not include breakfast. If they do it is extremely overpriced. Good luck if you got it included for a reasonable price.

[NavyChick]

Thanks dnylla for the great trip report. How can I view the Princess patter? I tried clicking it & other ways to select it to no avail.

--Sam

[NavyChick]

delete

Edited July 16, 2013 by NavyChick

[dnylla]

DNYLLA - I very much enjoyed your travelogue and pictures (and good to know that there's a chance my very automatic digital point and shoot will suffice and take good pics too!) I wish I read it sooner as I am planning our outings for an August Baltic cruise on the Eclipse and the details in your post are very helpful.

I have a question on Helsinki - you mentioned you walked to the Olympic Stadium and I was surprised as I thought one would need to take the tram. Could you give me an idea how far it is and how long it would take from town on a leisurely stroll? Also, would the Rock Church and/or the Sibelius Park and Monument be close enough to walk from town or would you suggest taking the tram?

Thank you for your help and again for the wonderful post.

 

Thanks CruzPotato, I'm glad you enjoyed everything! I think that it may take 30 to 40 minutes to walk there leisurely from where the bus dropped us off/near Stockmann's (a little longer if you walk along the lake like we did instead of staying on Mannerheiminte - a main road - and obviously the leisurely pace varies person to person :D) I'm not sure about the Sibelius Monument or the Rock Church since we did not go to either, but I think it may be about the same for Sibelius Monument, maybe a little less time for the Rock Church.

 

As to whether I suggest walking or taking the tram, that would depend on your physical level and if Helsinki is an earlier or later port in the cruise for you. The walk was pretty level, no real hills, but probably around 1.5 miles, nothing for us but it may be challenging for others.

 

Good luck with your cruise planning (and the pictures ;))

 

Thanks dnylla for the great trip report. How can I view the Princess patter? I tried clicking it & other ways to select it to no avail.

--Sam

 

Sam, I posted the princess patters like I did the regular pictures. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to make them show up if they were not appearing on your screen

Edited July 17, 2013 by dnylla

[GratefulVoyager]

Thanks Dnylla for the great cruise review. We are going on this cruise in about a year and I've been waiting for the reviews from this years Baltic cruises to get posted. Loved the pics intermingled with the review.