So many choices...what to do?

[wassy]

We are on a 10 day Westerdam cruise Aug 9-19th. We have 2 days in St Petersburg. We also have a full day in Warnemunde (7am-11pm) I am looking for advise for three couples, we plan on hooking up with RO or Denrus in St Petersburg. What are recommendations for the best itinerary to get the most of St Petersburg and can someone tell us if the trip to Berlin is advised over staying in Warnemunde?

[JordanF]

We were just in Warnemunde, and took the tour to Berlin. It was a great tour, and I am glad we went. However, it made for a long day, and it was not inexpensive.

 

My thought would be to go to Berlin if you have never been there, and/or don't think you will be spending time there anytime soon. In this case, it is well worth the time and money.

 

However, if you have been there or are planning to go there, you might be better off having a relaxing day in Rostok (which is next to Warnemunde).

[dileep]

We rented a car from Hertz with another couple, picked it up at the dock in Warnemunde and drove to Berlin.

 

I posted our 2 day St Peteresburg itinerary elsewhere on these boards. Search for all my posts and you will find it.

 

My short list is:

 

Catherine's Place

Peterhof

Spilled Blood Cathedral

St Isaac's Cathedral

Yusupov Palace

Hermitage

Peter & Paul Cathedral

[SCDH]

In St. Petersburg we had a group of 10 with RO. We went to Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Spilled Blood Cathedral, Hermitage, Peterhof with Monplaisir Palace, Catherine Palace, Peter-and-Paul Fortress, the synagogue, a food market, and a canal boat trip (2 from our group went to Yusuopov while the rest of us went on the boat). We also stopped at several other places for pictures. We took our lunches the first day and ate at a Russian restaurant the second. At night we saw the ballet, "Swan Lake." It was a great tour.

[wassy]

Since I am internet challenged and this is the first time using this chat? thread? wonderful source of information (being blonde doesn't help either!) it has taken me a week to find your helpful responses to my questions regarding St Petersburg and Berlin. Thanks Cool Cruiser, Jordan, Dileep, SCDH and Mare for the information.......I am not sure that I am responding correctly either........Dileep how do I find the information that you have posted on your trip? what was the cost of the Hertz car in Warnemund? Is a visa or prearanged trip/group visa only required in St Petersburg? Will our passport suffice in all other Baltic Ports? How do I subscribe to instant reply? Whats the differnce betwen a thread and and a title? I hope I can find you all again...........:(

[kinghw]

Since I am internet challenged and this is the first time using this chat? thread? wonderful source of information (being blonde doesn't help either!) it has taken me a week to find your helpful responses to my questions regarding St Petersburg and Berlin. Thanks Cool Cruiser, Jordan, Dileep, SCDH and Mare for the information.......I am not sure that I am responding correctly either........Dileep how do I find the information that you have posted on your trip? what was the cost of the Hertz car in Warnemund? Is a visa or prearanged trip/group visa only required in St Petersburg? Will our passport suffice in all other Baltic Ports? How do I subscribe to instant reply? Whats the differnce betwen a thread and and a title? I hope I can find you all again...........:(

 

Hi Wassy and welcome to Cruise Critic. Most here are far more facile with the boards but I can help with some of you questions.

 

An easy way to find specific posts by an individual poster is to click on their screen name, then on the subsequent page click on "View all posts by _____". You should then see the first few words of each post by that member listed in reverse chronological order along with the specific forum and thread title in which they were posted.

 

You can also use the "Search this forum" option at the top right area of each forum web page. Try typing in a word or several key words such as "warnemund car rental" or "berlin tours" to get a listing of threads that have contained these specific words.

 

I rented a full size car in Warnemunde from Hertz in late May while on a Constellation cruise. Dileep and his wife were passengers/navigators. With a 30% Hertz discount, the cost was 80 Euro. Gas r/t to Berlin came to 50 Euro, parking in central Berlin was 15 Euro, the hop on hop off bus in Berlin was 19 Euro. With 6 of you you will need a minivan, more expensive but still significantly cheaper than the ships tour by train or bus.

 

The drive from Warnemunde to Berlin is a 2 1/2 hour snap. If someone in your group enjoys driving and would not be in the least intimidated by renting a car in a large American city and driving around, or if this type of thing is considered "part of the experience" then you should consider it. If, however, the thought of driving in an unfamiliar area causes trepidations or seems like a needless chore, then pay the extra $$ and take the excursion.

 

With 1 month remaining before your cruise you should have selected RO or DenRus by now and be finalizing a tour itinerary with one of them. This needs to be a priority if you haven't completed planning yet. St. P is the only Baltic tour stop that requires a visa, a group visa is supplied by the ship for their excursions or by tour operators such as RO or DenRus. There is a huge amount of information on this forum about these two tour operators with almost all of it very positive.