Royal Princess and the Baltics - our experience Aug 8-19

[Shutterbug623]

Just got off the Royal in Copenhagen. Here's some about our experience (I posted a lot of this over on the Princess board, but edited this to be less about the boat and more about the ports):

 

A couple of things:

1) We are not usually cruisers. We chose this trip for the destinations, and it happened to be that the best way to see it was a cruise. We don't do the extras like spas or specialty restaurants, and spent most of this cruise in port.

2) This was my second cruise ever and on Princess...the first was 15 years ago when my main activity was hanging out in the teen center.

3) I did a lot of reading and research in guidebooks and online (especially cruise critic) before we left.

 

The quick and dirty version:

1) Use Rick Steves' Northern Seaports book. It is designed for cruisers in the Baltics and British Isles, and gives great DIY advice for those not interested in cruise ship excursions (we would have DIY'd every port if we could have!)

2) Favorite 2 ports - Oslo and Berlin. Tallinn also surprised me as being great, even though my brother told me it was great. SPB lived up to expectations. Helsinki was nice. Time in Stockholm was too short. Gothenburg was...less than stellar.

3) This trip can be a ton of walking if you choose it to be - wear comfortable shoes, layers, and don't be afraid of rain. You won't melt. :)

 

I will post the much-longer-winded version next - I will focus it more on the ports than anything else.

[Shutterbug623]

The much-longer winded version:

 

Port

 

We flew into Copenhagen about 5 hours later than expected (thanks, United), but still were able to catch the boat (missed seeing anything in Copenhagen, though...). We took the train from the airport to Osterport Station (must have cash or a card with a PIN to purchase a train/bus ticket - there are ATMs in the baggage claim and along the concourse, so cash is easily accessible) - a 3-zone ticket gets you from the airport to the cruise port for 36 DKK. Trains come frequently - take an Oresund train labeled for Osterport station. When you leave the station, go up to the street and turn left - you will find the bus 26 stop across the street to go toward the port. We then took bus 26 (UNICEF) to the port. It started raining while we were on the bus, and because we were the only 2 on the bus at that point on the route (quite full earlier!), our super nice bus driver drove past the UNICEF stop and dropped us off right at the terminal. The terminal has free wifi (also usable if your balcony is on the terminal side of the ship while docked).

[Shutterbug623]

Ports

 

Oslo

I loved Oslo. We walked off the boat straight into the heart of downtown. Following Rick Steves' instructions, we walked to the Tourist Information (TI) behind city hall and bought an Oslo card. We hopped on the ferry to Bygdoy and walked up the hill to go to the outdoor Folk Museum. It was a really interesting museum with most things in English. Check out the daily schedule - we saw them making lefse (Norwegian stovetop flat bread) and saw a music and dance presentation that was cool. We could have spent more time there, but don't miss the stave church. We then took a short walk over to the Viking Boat Museum, which was also super cool. Because we missed Copenhagen, this was really the only place where we saw viking things at all. After that, we took the ferry back to the main waterfront and toured City Hall, where they hand out the Nobel Peace Prize. We stopped at the 7-11 (super authentic and local, I know...) across the circle to grab a snack (they also had an ATM) and a drink before heading to the Akershus Fortress to the Norwegian Resistance Museum - powerful, informative, and well done. (Not huge, though, which was good.) We walked over to the Opera House (so cool that you can walk on the roof!) and made our way back to the boat via Rick Steves' Oslo walking tour that took us past some important sites (but we didn't have time to go in). I really enjoyed Oslo - very walkable, a ton to see, a wide variety.

 

Gothenburg

 

We docked in Gothenburg in a remote port. If you were not on a Princess excursion, you had to take a shuttle ($16/pp rt) to get to town about 30 min away. 1st shuttle was at 8am and last shuttle from town was at 1pm. We showed up in the main square at 8:30am on a Sunday....and nothing opens until 10am. Really nothing. Even coffee shops were closed and there wasn't a single person on the streets. We walked around for a bit, looking at buildings along the canal. The botanical gardens are open all the time, but it was a 20 min bike ride from the town square and you needed a chip-PIN card to rent a bike (no cash, no person). It was a lovely morning, weather-wise, so walking around wasn't so bad. Took the canal tour at 10:30 - worth doing. Wandered around through a gardens near the main canal (just off the main drag) and then went looking for a pastry shop and a grocery store to pick up some Coca-cola for my husband, and then ended up back in the town square about 12:45 for the shuttle. I said in the beginning that Gothenburg was "less than stellar" - in comparison to the other ports, it was not as interesting, and if the weather had been rainy, it would have been quite miserable because everything we did was outside - and we didn't really have an option for inside until 10am. It seemed very odd to come into a port so early when there was nothing to do and then leave so shortly after things opened. I understand the itinerary has to be able to get you to the next port, but then choose another place that you can get to later when things would actually be open.

 

Berlin

 

We took a tour from Warnemunde to Berlin with SPB Tours (package deal with St. Petersburg). I know that going to Berlin is not for everyone, but it was too huge of a draw for me and we don't often make it to Europe (although if/when we go back, it will probably be to Germany and Berlin.) They were at the dock, very organized, and seemed ready to go. We ended up getting delayed (not SPB's fault), so we arrived in Berlin an hour later than expected. Stephan, the husband of Viktoria (SPB's owner) was there to meet us, and he worked with us to compensate for the lost hour. He was very understanding and made amends immediately, even though it was not his company's fault we lost time. Our tour guide, Jim, was phenomenal. I know a lot of people say that, but he was REALLY good. Originally from the States, he studied in Germany and has lived there for several years. He carried photographs to the sites to show us what it looked like either during WWII or the Cold War, which made it come alive. He was clearly passionate about the subject and could answer all of our questions. It's impossible to see a city like Berlin in one day, but I thought he did a great job of getting us to the highlights - the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, Holocaust Memorial, Topography of Terror. Yay SPB tours! Back on the boat about 8pm. There is a stop both ways on the bus for bathrooms - .50 euro for the bathroom.

 

Tallinn

 

Time changed one hour forward (on the sea day before). I LOVED Tallinn. What a beautiful medieval city! Also, totally walkable. We walked to the Old Town and followed Rick Steves' walking tour (you'll see we did that often...he would bring us past the highlights and we'd stop in if we thought it was interesting), catching most of the highlights, like the churches, palaces, towers, viewpoints, etc. After finishing the tour, we went to St. Olaf's church to climb the steeple - GREAT view, and the number of steps (238?) did not seem like that many (maybe because we walked up the steps from Emerald to Lido every morning for breakfast...and later for ice cream...:o). Worth it. We ate lunch in a small tiny restaurant just of the main square recommended in Rick's book as "good, solid Estonian food at good prices without the touristy stuff" and it lived up to expectations. Also, I think Tallinn might be the place to find souvenirs. Matryoshka dolls seemed to be of better quality and better prices than in St. Petersburg (14 euro in Tallinn vs. 20-25 euro for the same size in SPB). They have lots of shops up in the upper part of Old Town. We also climbed into the walls near Sweater Wall to see the towers - definitely worth it too. There is also a glass blower on a street off the end of Sweater Wall that was cool to watch. We made our way back to the port along the walls, where there was a summer festival art installation. We got back to the terminal in time to use the free Wifi. While we were sitting there, suddenly the Royal's horn blew the Love Boat theme (to salute another leaving cruise ship). Even though we knew we had time before all aboard, when the horn blew, EVERYONE in the terminal started sprinting for the ship. It was pretty funny...and yes, we were right in the middle of the runners too. So a little less Facebook, a little more exercise, and a few minutes before dinner (probably a positive life choice :o). It was also nice in Tallinn because they used Euros, which we already had from Berlin, so no ATM search!

[Shutterbug623]

St. Petersburg

 

One more hour forward on the clock! St. Petersburg was overwhelming, and I was glad for 2 days. We booked a tour with SPB. We had to go to the Vista Lounge to get a number for disembarking when the Russian authorities gave clearance for groups to come through. We were there at 7:05. Our number was called within 10 minutes (I don't remember what group we were in...2, maybe?), and we were through Russian immigration by 7:22. I think the lines and wait got longer after we came through. We found, in general, that it paid to be early (here with Russian immigration, later with tendering in Stockholm). As soon as we came through passport control, SPB was there to meet us. We were greeted by the owner, Viktoria, and got to know our group members a little. There were 14 people in our group - just the right size for the Mercedes mini-van we had. People were pretty much on time, and we were on our way by 8am.

 

We spent the first day in the suburbs, seeing Peter and Paul Fortress and church (czars buried there), Peterhof, Catherine's Palace. We had great weather the first day there - 75 and sunny, and I loved the Peterhof Gardens - the fountains, the flowers, the grand summer palace. We had lunch at a restaurant with the meal prearranged by SPB - soup followed by beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes. Dessert was two scoops of ice cream with strawberry sauce. Some people have complained about the food in St. Petersburg, but we found it to be good. Our little bus and lunch had free wifi.

 

Passport control really does move much faster the 2nd day (basically, they look for your stamps from the day before). We spent the 2nd day in the city. It was rainy on the 2nd day for our canal boat tour. We also checked out a subway station before our entrance to the Hermitage. Katya, our guide, was very good. She clearly knew a ton about St. Petersburg and the art at the Hermitage. The Hermitage was my husband's favorite part of St. Petersburg, and I liked it too. I particularly liked the special exhibit display of czar's clothing and the Rembrandts. We went to the Church of the Resurrection on the Spilled Blood (Russian Orthodox) and St. Isaac's Cathedral, which were both gorgeous. Also, Yusopov's Palace was interesting partially for the Rasputin story, but also for the furnishings in it that were (I believe...it was a bit of information overload) original to the house. Katya also took us to a souvenir shop to get something from Russia. Lunch on the 2nd day was at the Stolle Pie Shop - I loved it! They had meat pies and fruit pies - we each got a small slice of a meat pie and a fruit pie. We had no complaints about the food with SPB (I did also request the pie shop in my email communications while booking, so maybe that's the key).

 

We took the typical tour here, but I think it was good. Maybe I would have skipped a palace in favor of more time at the Hermitage - we got a little "palaced-out." If you don't like palaces and churches, this is not the tour for you. Please feel free to ask any questions.

 

 

Helsinki

 

I ended up enjoying Helsinki more than I anticipated. We took the tram #9 from the port (10 min walk from the cruise terminal). Stop at the TI in the terminal and ask for a public transit map - it's super helpful. Automated train ticket machines get you an all-day transit pass for 8 euro (machines take coins or cards with chips only - the newsstand cashier was kind enough to make change for our bills). We then took the Rick Steves' tour, seeing Market Square, the Lutheran Cathedral, Stockmann's department store, the 3 Blacksmiths statue, and ending at the Church in the Rock (please don't ask me to spell the Finnish name!) We took a tram back downtown, got take away at the deli in Stockmann's, and got on the ferry to Suommelinna fortress. The ferry goes about 3/hr, and is included in the transit pass. We only had about an hour at the fortress. Because the weather had cleared up (it rained a bit earlier in the day), the fortress was fantastic and we could have spent way way more time there, exploring the fortifications, etc. We walked across the islands to the Kings Gate and then had to turn around and come back to catch the last possible ferry...but if I were to do it again, I would take an earlier ferry to have a little more time cushion before the all-aboard. It takes about 50 minutes (with wait times) to get from the ferry to the tram to the cruise boat. I would also have maybe skipped some of the walking tour and gotten to the fortress earlier - hit Market Square, the Lutheran church, Church in the Rock, and then go to the fortress for the rest of the day.

 

Nynashamn/Stockholm

 

I had heard horror stories about the tendering process, so I was nervous about doing this one on our own. The port lecturer on board had a Stockholm train schedule, though, so when I had that info, I felt much better. Unfortunately, we were there on a Sunday, when trains only leave once an hour (2/hr M-F). We again, got to the Symphony dining room, where they gave us a group number (we were in group 3?). We knew the 1st train left for Stockholm at 7:50, but didn't think we could make that as tendering didn't start until 7:30ish (perhaps before??) and it was a 15 minute walk to the train station, where we would then have to buy a train ticket. As it turned out, we walked up to the train station just as the train was pulling out...if we had jogged, we would have perhaps made it. So we bought our all-day transit tickets from the guy in the coffee kiosk, walked up the hill to the ATM to get some Swedish kronor (currency #5? 6? I lost count!) and wandered around town until the 8:50 train left. Hour and 6 min ride to get to Stockholm, and ended in Stockholm's central station. We headed for the Vasa. You can get there via ferry (as recommended almost everywhere) or via tram #7. In hindsight, we ended up waiting for a long time for the ferry, and the tram probably would have been faster (and went right past the water front). There are TIs all over the place - stop in and pick up a public transit map. Rick Steves' map is lacking on this one. We got to the Vasa and waited in line for about 35-40 min. Got inside (free bathrooms and wifi!), watched the movie, and then did a quick tour through the exhibits. We wanted to make the city hall tour at 1:30...so we took the tram back downtown and then walked over to City Hall...to find out that because of a special event, the last tour was at noon that day. :( So, we walked around outside and got lunch at the cafe inside. After buying the requisite country magnet for our fridge, we walked back to the Central Station to catch the 3:04 train back to Nynashamn....along with about half of the boat! It was so crowded that people stood the whole way back. The tender line was pretty long, but seemed to move pretty quickly at about 4:30. We went to the aft Promenade deck and watched them lift the boats back up.

 

Copenhagen

 

Since United made us spend 5 hours in our home airport instead of Copenhagen, we missed seeing anything on the way in. We had a morning flight out (9:35am). So...on the way out, we got off the boat early (5:30 am? We only had carry-on luggage, so we did walk-off disembarkation) and got the bus at the UNICEF stop at 6am (first scheduled bus at that stop). You can buy a ticket directly from the bus driver. We got off at Rosenberg Castle and wandered through the gardens and past the castle just so we could say we saw SOMETHING in Copenhagen. Walked down the street a block to the Norreport station and picked up a Metro train (every 2 min or so) to the airport. Check in at the airport and security was a breeze at 7:30 am...in fact, our gate wasn't even assigned yet when we got there. P.S., there is a LEGO store in the B gates of Terminal 3.

[Shutterbug623]

A few other things I thought of:

 

1) Take a travel alarm clock - don't rely on your cell phone. Phones do not always pick up on the time zone changes (you are in 3 different time zones on this trip!), and two couples almost missed the 1st day in SPB because of it. I got a cheapo one from Target that worked great.

 

2) Always grab a map from the TI if you can. Guidebook maps often don't have enough detail. And sometimes it's worth the 5 minutes there to ask what's the best way to get somewhere.

 

3) Our captain, Dino Sagani, told us each night if there were interesting things happening on entrance or exit from a port. We saw Elsinore Castle (Shakespeare's Hamlet Castle) and a bridge near Denmark that had a whole 4m of clearance as the boat went under. That was cool to see.

 

4) This cruise is very port intensive (which we loved! That's why we signed up for it!). Be prepared for early mornings. (coupled with time zone changes...)

 

5) We really lucked out on the weather - most days it was upper 60s or lower 70s and sunny or partly cloudy. It dripped on us in Tallinn, rained a bit in the morning in SPb and poured for a while in Helsinki, but other than that, we avoided the precipitation. Bring a rain coat and layers - I often started the day with a light long sleeve layer and shed it at some point during the day.

 

We really enjoyed our trip and thought the ports were excellent. I'd recommend this cruise, although next time I might look for an itinerary that docked in Stockholm rather than Nynashamn.

 

Again, please feel free to ask questions about the boat or about a port - I will answer it to the best of my knowledge!

[jdm]

Thank you for your review. We were on the sailing prior to yours. Sounds like the heat wave had ended while you were there. It was in the upper 80s - low 90s while we were there and all sunshine. Never wore a jacket or long sleeve anything.

 

I agree that Rick Steve's book has a wealth of information. I am now reading it more closely since I can now grasp what he is talking about better since I've been there.

 

Can't wait to go again.

[Danish viking]

That bridge was not near Denmark, it was in Denmark :D

 

 

The main suspension bridge connects the western coast of the island of Zealand (where Copenhagen is on the east coast) with the small island of Sprogø.

 

A combined road/railway bridge connects Sprogø with the island Funen.

[lovelyr]

So funny that you read rick Steve's book afterwards. We did too, especially to catch up on all the Russian tsar stuff that went over our heads while touring. Btw we were on the very hot ship with you as well, never sweated so much!

[lovelyr]

It's a shame you missed out on copenhagen. We were on the sailing prior to yours and spent 3 days there. It was one of my favorite ports without the hassles of getting off the ship each day.