Recent Celebrity Cruise

[sandykr]

Just to let you know, we just returned from the Celebrity Constellation Baltic cruise. It was wonderful. Some of the suggestions I got from this site were very helpful. Red October was wonderful. Their guides are highly educated, fluent English and extremely plesant. Our two days with them really made the trip. Quick access to museums, no lines, a minibus for the 6 of us etc.

Another wonderful suggestion was to rent a car in Rostock and see surrounding cities, Lubeck, Schwein, Wismar. Only suggestion is to check throughly where your ship is docking. We docked at Warmehun... and the car rental (Avis) was in Rostock. Took us about 50 minutes to get there by train and foot. It turned out that Hertz had a temporary rental place right there at the pier, and Sixt (?) car rental was at the train station, definately more convenient. Enjoy

[SueMo]

Glad to hear all went well. A couple questions...Did you disembark at Russia immediately after they announced that the ship was cleared and did anybody hassle you about getting off the ship without a ship's tour ticket or individual visa? Also, we rented a minivan from Sixt, but they provide no road maps. Where did you get your maps? We were planning to see Bad Doberan, Wismar, Schwerin, Gustrow, & Rostock. According to Mapquest, the permanent Sixt office is approx 2.5 mi from the docks in Warnemunde, so hopefully it won't take us 50 min to get there!

[sandykr]

In Russia, getting off the ship was painless. We did have to wait a bit, but by 8 ish we were off. No hassles, We had the Red October letter and passport control was no problem. Each time we left the ship, Red October provided us with a "ticket" to show passport control. Most of the time they didn't even look at it.

As far as the car, the Sixt office was across from the train station, so that should be convenient. The train from the pier takes about 15 minutes into Rostock. The distances aren't great, it just takes time. As far as maps, they didn't provide us with any, I had bought a map of the area ahead of time which was really helpful. I think you have picked alot of places for one day. If you're not on the highway, the going is slow, tractors on the roads etc. Gustrow is sort of out of the way. I suggest going to the farthest place first - Lubeck and then working your way back. Oh I see you're not considering Lubeck, so it may work. Scenery is beautiful, Palace in Schwerin is outstanding. Wismar....well there was good icecream there. Good luck

[sandykr]

P.S. It was a Michelin Map of North-East Germany #416

[jeanb]

Sandykr: Wejust got our tickets from Red October. It says Excursion Ticket - Half Day Tour. City Highlights. We are going on a full day tour on Day 1. Is this ticket ok?

[gdayhoff]

No problem on your tickets.our were the same last Aug.

enjoy

[porky113]

We got the same for June/04

Ed

[jasm8449]

Were you charged an extra $15 each to get in early to the Hermitage or Catherine's Palace?

[porky113]

Our prposal with red October states on the bottom Quote.."The above costs include car transportation, highly qualified English speaking guide services, entrance fees to the museums and early admission to the Catherine’s Palace on special arrangement as mentioned in the program."

I believe last year there was and extra charge and when I asked about it she put that quote on the bottom of my preposal.

Ed

[sandykr]

The only thing we paid extra for was the Gold Room. Again, they were wonderful, professional and well organised.

[peggyann]

Hello and welcome home. We are leaving June 1 for Baltic area. Could you please tell me what your weather was like, the 10 day forcasts show 60's. Pretty cool and should we pack winter and spring?? Thanks for any help.

[north-bound]

Peggyann

 

The weather in Stockholm this May started off warm and sunny. There were days when I could wear shorts and t-shirt. But then it turned unusually cold, with temperatures around freezing point during the night. Since it was still sunny almost everyday, the weather was still nice during the day, even if it was much colder than normal. Then horror struck. On Saturday the temperature was 38 and it was raining all day, and has continued like that for a couple of days. It is the kind of thing that can happen here in the Baltic area, and very difficult to predict what will happen next. But our weather forecasts are indicating warmer weather during the coming week. So there is still hope.

 

The conclusion of all this is that do come prepared with some warm clothes and a wind-breaker. But by all means bring those shorts and swimwear as well, the weather in June can be anything from cold to hot.

 

I can only tell you about Stockholm, because I live there, but the weather in the rest of the area is usually similar.

[wolfegizmo]

Peggann,

We'll be coming to Stockholm in July and still haven't booked a ship's excursion for your city.

Can we see most of the important areas on our own or should we book an excursion?

Thanks

Sharon

[wolfegizmo]

opps - I meant to ask North-Bound about the excursions -

Sharon

[north-bound]

Sharon,

 

You can definitely do Stockholm on your own. To find more information about transportation in Stockholm I recommend you to look at the thread I have posted with the headline "Stockholm - docking and transportation". It may be some help to you.

 

I will also start a new thread here that may help you. I will call it "Things to do in Stockholm".

[wolfegizmo]

Thanks for the reply North-Bound!

We're looking forward to visiting your city.

 

Sharon

[zetnic]

sandykr,

Did you have any problems with the car rental and getting around there. Thanks for the map info. How much did the car cost for the day?

Thanks, Zetnic or email me with any other info

janicenylund@hotmail.com