Norwegian Star from Copenhagen

[ggooglyboogly]

My wife and I are looking at taking a "last hurrah" vacation before we start trying to have kids and decided to try and do something we haven't done before. We've been on a ton of cruises but they've been pretty much focused on the Caribbean.

 

The vacation we're starting to key in on is a 12 day cruise-tour on the Norwegian Star from Copenhagen. Its three days in Copenhagen, followed by the 9 day Baltic capitals cruise next July.

 

I was wondering if any of you have done that cruise (or cruisetour), and if you enjoyed it, and any tours that are cant miss in that itinerary. Also any tips would be appreciated, like i said, we've never cruised in Europe before, I have a feeling it will be quite different than a Caribbean cruise!

 

Thanks in advance.

[Cubechick]

I believe this is the first time NCL has offered a cruisetour in Copenhagen.

 

I would go to the port of call boards to check out your ports and see what is recommended. Also see if there is a roll call for the cruise you're thinking off. Fellow travelers can be a great resource.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have done the Baltics with NCL twice, although then, they sailed from Dover with Copenhagen as a port of call. It is a fabulous itinerary and perfect for freestyle because you will have some very long excursions.

 

We are booked on the Star from Copenhagen next year, but sailing the British Isles.

 

There are tons of Baltic reviews that offer oodles of information that is vital to getting the most out of this itinerary. Poster HeinBlog has especially helpful reviews, complete with many instructions and photos of how to navigate train systems.

 

I cannot imagine anyone not having a spectacular time on this itinerary. Be sure to brush up on Russian czars before you go, as it will make St. Petersburg more understandable and rent Nicolas and Alexandra.

[ggooglyboogly]

Thank you to both for the info!

 

I've already looked into it some, and it seems like a fairly busy cruise, but extremely worthwhile at the same time.

 

I've been on the Dawn so i know i'll like the ship, and it has Cagney's and La Cucina which are my top two NCL restaurants!

 

I'm rambling.... thanks again!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I had another thought. You may have already realized this but . . . This crowd will likely be very different from your Caribbean cruises. Older folks, few children and more sedate. It will also have a good assortment of non-English speKers, so announcements at times go on forever since they may be done in as many as five languages.

 

The Baltics are cooler so you may not have a lot of pool time or sunning.

 

Just a thought since I have heard folks at time express surprise at the above.

 

Have fun, it is a phenominal trip!

[j-9]

And Copenhagen is a fantastic city! Haven't done the cruise or cruise tour, but was lucky enough to get to spend a weekend. Walked, a lot. Took a little canal tour. Enjoyed the food. Loved this city. I didn't realize NCL was doing cruise tours from there, will check it out!

[swegert]

Since this a splurge trip, I would recommend looking into a suite. Normally I wouldn't consider a suite due to the cost, but I was able to book a family suite for a reasonable amount over the balcony we considered. (only the Star and Dawn have these SJ class cabins) The suite perks have been discussed in many other threads, but the most useful one for this trip was priority disembarkation. Suite guests that participated all met in La Cucina, and were taken through the crew stairway to get off the ship before everybody else. One morning, my wife and I were first off the ship. The Vasa museum in Stockholm gets busy quickly. Getting there early is very helpful.

 

I did not think I would use my concierge much, but he helped us out of a major jam. We were on the last train out of Lubeck Germany, and realized we left our camera behind. Once we got back to Warnemunde, our concierge located a German speaking NCL employee on the ship and he called the location where it was left. The friendly folks in Lubeck held our camera until we were able to arrange international delivery once we got back to the the USA. The customs/shipping costs were more expensive than the camera, but saving the pictures we took of a wonderful day in Lubeck was worth it.

Edited April 3, 2014 by swegert

[RJ2002]

We did the Baltic Capitals cruise on the Star last year. This is a great itinerary. The Star is not the newest ship afloat, but it is well maintained, and has a great crew.

 

You've got a lot of research and planning ahead of you, and to me, that's half the fun. Be sure and check out this forum:

 

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

 

Lots of useful information about all the ports. Many of them can be done on your own if that is your thing, but you will probably want to do an organized tour if you plan to go to Berlin. Same thing for St. Petersburg. We used SPB Tours, but all the major St. Petersburg tour operators are well regarded, and offer similar tours. Some of the operators offer multi-city packages for all of the ports, so check that out as well if it sounds appealing.

 

Before committing to the Copenhagen cruisetour option, you might want to price out doing it yourself. Copenhagen is another city that is easy to do on your own, IMO.

 

Finally, agree with the other poster... if you can swing it, splurge on a suite. We found the Aft Penthouse to be pretty affordable, and the perks are really great.

[dexddd]

Did this trip in 2010 on the Sun. Go for it. It is fabulous. We took our kids who also enjoyed it very much.

 

Look into private, small tours independently and you will see a lot without much waiting.

[Doughboy139]

My wife and I are looking at taking a "last hurrah" vacation before we start trying to have kids and decided to try and do something we haven't done before. We've been on a ton of cruises but they've been pretty much focused on the Caribbean.

 

The vacation we're starting to key in on is a 12 day cruise-tour on the Norwegian Star from Copenhagen. Its three days in Copenhagen, followed by the 9 day Baltic capitals cruise next July.

 

I was wondering if any of you have done that cruise (or cruisetour), and if you enjoyed it, and any tours that are cant miss in that itinerary. Also any tips would be appreciated, like i said, we've never cruised in Europe before, I have a feeling it will be quite different than a Caribbean cruise!

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I have taken the Baltic Capitals Cruise twice and found it to be a great cruise. Loved each one of the ports we visited and found so much to be seen. Food was great and the people couldn't have been nicer. Hope to take this cruise again. The first cruise we flew to London for three days and then taxied over to Dover, England where the ship was embarking from. It was a 12 day cruise at that time returning to Dover and then we took the train ( under the channel) over to Paris for three days. While in Paris we took a tour out to Normandy which was a wonderful tour and I would greatly recommend it. Then flew home from Chas Degaulle Airport. Our 2nd cruise started from Copenhagen (now a 9 day cruise) and returned to Copenhagen. We then took the ship cross the Atlantic on a transatlantic cruise to Miami - having a back to back cruise. We found nothing not to like on each of these cruises and highly recommend the Baltic Capitals cruise. Enjoy !!!

[Magickpyggie]

If you like pictures check out our http://www.flickr.com/photos/magickpyggie/sets and choose the Star set. In a Suite we had the Butler serve dinner on the balcony as we sailed from Stockholm, magical.

 

 

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[cadien]

If you like pictures check out our www.flickr.com/photos/magickpyggie/sets and choose the Star set. In a Suite we had the Butler serve dinner on the balcony as we sailed from Stockholm, magical.

 

I love the photo where you're having nothing for dessert.

[RJ2002]

If you like pictures check out our http://www.flickr.com/photos/magickpyggie/sets and choose the Star set. In a Suite we had the Butler serve dinner on the balcony as we sailed from Stockholm, magical.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures. We had an Aft PH Suite on our Star Baltics cruise as well, although we didn't have dinner out on the balcony. We should have! :)

[milolii]

My wife and I are looking at taking a "last hurrah" vacation before we start trying to have kids and decided to try and do something we haven't done before. We've been on a ton of cruises but they've been pretty much focused on the Caribbean.

 

The vacation we're starting to key in on is a 12 day cruise-tour on the Norwegian Star from Copenhagen. Its three days in Copenhagen, followed by the 9 day Baltic capitals cruise next July.

 

I was wondering if any of you have done that cruise (or cruisetour), and if you enjoyed it, and any tours that are cant miss in that itinerary. Also any tips would be appreciated, like i said, we've never cruised in Europe before, I have a feeling it will be quite different than a Caribbean cruise!

Ur

Thanks in advance.

 

We are taking this cruise next August. We will be forming small groups to go on private tours. This work well for on our MED trip last year. Visit the roll call boards and read what others are planning. Your sailing date may already have a roll call formed.

 

There seems to be a few private vendors in each port and most get great reviews. Certainly some of the ports appear to be very easy for DIY. As other have said, read some of the reviews as well.

 

 

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