Baltic Cruise

[lrockwitt]

Thinking of taking a Baltic Cruise. Any recommendations?

 

 

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[IECalCruiser]

That's is a rather broad question. Can you give any specifics?

 

 

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[lrockwitt]

Northern Europe. Are there any cruises that cruise Northern Europe and then transatlantic?

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

Northern Europe. Are there any cruises that cruise Northern Europe and then transatlantic?

 

 

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Check out the September 3, 2015 sailing on the Regal. Great itinerary.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Crystabel]

We just completed a 14 day Northern European cruise on the Ocean Princess. It was just wonderful! Look at the Scandinavian & Russian Collection in June and September. You can't go wrong! I don't know if there's a transatlantic that will coordinate with it, but that shouldn't be the deciding factor. It was worth the long flight back to the U.S.

[IECalCruiser]

Northern Europe. Are there any cruises that cruise Northern Europe and then transatlantic?

 

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I can only speak for Princess. In 2015, the Regal is doing a spring TA from Ft. Lauderdale on April 15 followed by a Baltic cruise on May 2 and a Baltic cruise on August 31 from Copenhagen or September 3 from Warnemunde followed by a fall TA to New York on September 11.

 

 

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Edited December 27, 2014 by IECalCruiser

[skynight]

We did the 11 night Baltic this past September. It was nice, but be prepared for a port intensive cruise. Our least favorite port was St. Petersburg. It's just way too crowded.

[cruiseri]

We did the 11 night Baltic this past September. Our least favorite port was St. Petersburg. It's just way too crowded.

 

Quite the contrary, of all the ports we've stopped at on many cruises St Petersburg was by far the best port stop. Wish we had an extra day or two there.

 

SAS

[bassmaster150]

Quite the contrary, of all the ports we've stopped at on many cruises St Petersburg was by far the best port stop. Wish we had an extra day or two there.

 

SAS

 

St Petersburg is the jewel of the Baltics....make sure your cruise spends two days there as it is simply incredible. We will definitely do the Baltics again, and if you can do it on the Royal or Regal princess, it makes it that much better.

[AE_Collector]

Besides St Petersburg, the Kiel Canal was a high lite for us in May of this year on Ocean Princess. The opportunity to transit the Kiel Canal with Princess will disappear long with the small ships so this should certainly be a consideration.

 

Terry

[Sailingpeace]

Google John Lawrence Baltic. He was our CD when we did the Baltic cruise a few years ago. There is a DVD and a book I believe still out . We had a much better cruise because of the talks he gave us a about history , architecture etc and also because of the the very detailed info on how to do things on our own, where to get the train, bus , what to see etc.

 

Best advice, rest a bit before the cruise, it can be a very intensive one , there is so much to see !

[IECalCruiser]

We did the 11 night Baltic this past September. It was nice, but be prepared for a port intensive cruise. Our least favorite port was St. Petersburg. It's just way too crowded.

I would also like to disagree. St. Petersburg was the most fascinating port on our Baltic cruise. Don't know about the Princess tours, but on our private tour with SPb, except for the Hermitage and and to a lesser extent Catherine's Palace, the crowds were not bad.

[Nubus]

Thinking of taking a Baltic Cruise. Any recommendations?

 

The most interesting ports are St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. In addition sailing the archipelago between Finland and Sweden is a must. During the first part of summer the sun doesn't set so any sailing will do.

 

Berlin is often listed as a day trip on Baltic cruises. You would do better by spending some days in Berlin and then take the daily direct train (or one of the many flights) from Berlin to Copenhagen and start the cruise from here.

[ontheweb]

Google John Lawrence Baltic. He was our CD when we did the Baltic cruise a few years ago. There is a DVD and a book I believe still out . We had a much better cruise because of the talks he gave us a about history , architecture etc and also because of the the very detailed info on how to do things on our own, where to get the train, bus , what to see etc.

 

Best advice, rest a bit before the cruise, it can be a very intensive one , there is so much to see !

 

I agree about John Lawrence. He was our cruise director when we did a Baltic cruise on the Star Princess for our 30th anniversary in 2007. It was especially wonderful that he did not just cover the Princess sponsored excursions, but as you said, let you know how to do things on your own.

 

Other than St. Petersburg, everything is pretty much doable on your own. I would highly recommend a private tour for St. Petersburg. We did one with Alla set up in our roll call. Our guide was Viktoria, who know owns SPB tours.

 

Two ports that we really enjoyed that have not been mentioned in this thread are Talinn, Estonia and Oslo, Norway.

[thinfool]

Thinking of taking a Baltic Cruise. Any recommendations?

 

 

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September 3, 2015----23 days----Regal Princess. Baltic and Transatlantic

[Kinkacruiser]

We found the Baltic cruise are very port intensive and there were huge numbers of tourists when we were there in July. I'd choose the shoulder seasons - quieter and a little cooler.

[lrockwitt]

Thanks for all the info... When is the best time to go?

 

 

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[Tony1878]

I'm booked on the Royal, June 14th, Scandinavia and St Petersburg.

12 nights out of the UK

[Grammyluvs]

We did a 28 day transatlantic from Ft. Lauderdale. Included northern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics. It was in 2013 on the Emerald. We flew home from Copenhagen. Best trip ever!! but very port intensive once you cross the Atlantic.

[kitkat343]

Princess is our favorite cruise line so far, but please bear in mind that the Regal/Royal ships are currently not cleared to dock directly in Stockholm. You can read the reviews to see how other cruisers experienced docking in Nynashamn (it requires a tender and a 45 minute train ride to get to Stockholm. The train station is very close to the port, which is helpful). Please note that for many of the people who have taken Baltic cruises, the sail into Stockholm and view of the gorgeous archipelago is a highlight. Also, the Vasa tends to get very crowded later in the day (especially when there are a lot of cruise ships in Stockholm) and if you dock directly in Stockholm and exit your ship early, you can take a HOHO boat directly to Vasa before the crowds arrive. During the summer the Vasa opens at 8:30 in the morning to allow the maximum number of tourists to enter during the day (8:30 was the opening hour during the summer of 2014 and you should check again as we get closer to the summer of 2015).

 

Other cruise critic members have posted on the Baltic forum that the Regal/Royal are scheduled to undergo tests again to see if they are maneuverable enough to be cleared by Sweden to sail directly into Stockholm harbor. Hopefully, someday they will be able to sail directly there, but in the meantime I wanted cruisers to please take note of this prior to booking a cruise so you can choose what ship is best for your travels.

[BigB0882]

My husband and I have decided we must do a Baltic cruise and Princess has the best itinerary we have found, stopping at so many ports in so many different countries. We can't think of a better way to see Europe. They have one in June and one in July which would work for us (2016). Prices are high but we may see if we can swing it. I assume Princess lets you make payments like Carnival? Would love to see St. Petersburg and they spend 2 days there. We have only cruised Carnival but this particular cruise has become our dream itinerary. Anyone ever been on this particular cruise (out of Southampton)? Anything I need to know before proceeding further? I will be spending a lot of time in this part of cruise critic to learn as much as I can!

[susancruzs]

I'm doing the Regal Baltic plus Transatlantic next year in September. I've booked this cruise before and had to cancel so hopefully 2016 is the year for me. I'm looking forward to being on the Regal.

 

I've been to Berlin, so much to see there. I did an 18 day bus trip for many countries plus the Passion Play. We stayed in Berlin several nights, no way to see everything.

 

My main reason for the trip would be St. Petersburg, Oslo and Stockholm. It is port intensive, which is why I will combine it with the return TA trip, only have a long flight one way.

[BigB0882]

I noticed the prices for the Baltic cruise this summer is way below that of next summer. Does Princess offer something similar to Early Saver that Carnival does? Just curious because it would be great to go ahead and get our room saved and then if the price drops as much to what it is this summer (about HALF the price) then we can save that money or get OBC. Again, assuming Princess does this. Or is it you pay what you pay and no way to get price reductions or OBC if the price goes down? So much to learn.

 

Edit: The sailing that is half the price is a 12 day versus 14 day and not offered next summer. But prices are still a little lower so I am inclined to think prices may go down some.

 

I am mostly concerned with whether Princess allows you to pay in installments or if you must pay all at once.

Edited April 20, 2015 by BigB0882

[cdnphotogirl]

I noticed the prices for the Baltic cruise this summer is way below that of next summer. Does Princess offer something similar to Early Saver that Carnival does? Just curious because it would be great to go ahead and get our room saved and then if the price drops as much to what it is this summer (about HALF the price) then we can save that money or get OBC. Again, assuming Princess does this. Or is it you pay what you pay and no way to get price reductions or OBC if the price goes down? So much to learn.

 

Edit: The sailing that is half the price is a 12 day versus 14 day and not offered next summer. But prices are still a little lower so I am inclined to think prices may go down some.

 

I am mostly concerned with whether Princess allows you to pay in installments or if you must pay all at once.

 

You can pay either all at once or installments, whatever works for you. If there is a price drop before final payment they usually honor it however if you get a deal with OBC and such you may lose if you rebook at a cheaper rate.

 

I have only booked two cruises, the first cruise was to the Baltics and the second is upcoming to Alaska. Neither price dropped for me but I also booked during a sale.

[Ready to Sail!]

I noticed the prices for the Baltic cruise this summer is way below that of next summer. Does Princess offer something similar to Early Saver that Carnival does? Just curious because it would be great to go ahead and get our room saved and then if the price drops as much to what it is this summer (about HALF the price) then we can save that money or get OBC. Again, assuming Princess does this. Or is it you pay what you pay and no way to get price reductions or OBC if the price goes down? So much to learn.

 

Edit: The sailing that is half the price is a 12 day versus 14 day and not offered next summer. But prices are still a little lower so I am inclined to think prices may go down some.

 

I am mostly concerned with whether Princess allows you to pay in installments or if you must pay all at once.

 

We are booked on the June Baltic. When we booked in February the prices were down, then they swung way up (our cabin increased by $1100) and just the last two days they have come back down and even lower than we booked for in February. Am assuming it is because there are still a lot of cabins available. It's all a guessing game and a gamble what fares will be next year. There was another thread recently about trying to figure out the pricing and it can drive you crazy.