Access to public transportation on Baltic cruises

[ermabom]

Hello,

 

We are going on our first cruise to the Baltics on the Eurodam. In many of the cities, we'd like to explore on our own. I'm hoping that there is a way to get from the cruise ship dock to the public transportation facilities in these cities. Most of them have excellent public transportation so I'm hoping there is a way..

 

Holland America says there may be taxis but they don't seem to know (the shore excursion desk).

 

Help!

[Hlitner]

Of course HAL tells you they do not know! The only thing they do know is how to sell and market their overpriced cruise excursions (and even that is all sub contracted). Telling you how to use inexpensive public transit does not generate any income for HAL. So you should simply start reading (and posting) on the appropriate CC Ports of Call boards where these issues are routinely discussed.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

I have done a Baltic cruise aboard the Eurodam and I suggest that you need to do some research on public transportation that is available for all of your ports of call. You may find that you may have to walk a short distance to access it, but, if I remember correctly, most ports will have something available other than taxis. St. Petersburg may be an exception.

[jtl513]

I don't remember many taxis being available on our Baltic cruise. Some ports may have a low-cost shuttle bus for which you can buy tickets at the front desk, or a HopOnHopOff bus ... except St Petersburg. As Hank said, start reading on the Ports of Call Europe forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! I thought you were a newbie when I saw that you used the red "thumbs down" icon in your title, thinking it is a "question mark". :D

 

Edited March 12, 2015 by jtl513

[Essiesmom]

Most of what you are asking is at your fingertips in Rick Steves' Northern Europe Cruise Ports. He will cover everything you want to know about public transportation and how to do the ports on your own. EM

[Illyria]

Hello,

 

We are going on our first cruise to the Baltics on the Eurodam. In many of the cities, we'd like to explore on our own. I'm hoping that there is a way to get from the cruise ship dock to the public transportation facilities in these cities. Most of them have excellent public transportation so I'm hoping there is a way..

 

Holland America says there may be taxis but they don't seem to know (the shore excursion desk).

 

Help!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

You will get much more informative answers if you ask specifics about each port on your itinerary. "Baltics" encompasses many different ports, most of which are easily explored on your own (St. Petersburg being one notable exception). Or you may want to read the existing threads in Ports of Call, as others have suggested, because it has probably been asked and answered before.

[ermabom]

Thank you for all the replies. Yes, I am a newbie and messed up on the question mark. It sure looks like one!

 

I will ask on the specific ports of call forums.

 

I have Rick Steves' book and he says 'some cruise lines offer a shuttle bus' and that it might be more cost effective to take it vs. public transportation.

 

The 3 ports I'm interested in are Helsinki, Stockholm and Talinn. The last one is easy. The others not so much as it depends on where the cruise ship docks.

[rkacruiser]

Thank you for all the replies. Yes, I am a newbie and messed up on the question mark. It sure looks like one!

 

I will ask on the specific ports of call forums.

 

I have Rick Steves' book and he says 'some cruise lines offer a shuttle bus' and that it might be more cost effective to take it vs. public transportation.

 

The 3 ports I'm interested in are Helsinki, Stockholm and Talinn. The last one is easy. The others not so much as it depends on where the cruise ship docks.

 

If the ship docks in central Stockholm, getting around should not be an issue. If she must anchor some distance from the port and you have to tender into Sweden, that will be an entirely different situation. When I was on the Eurodam, she had to anchor. We took the ship's tour and that was a good choice, I think.

[ann1bell]

We did use the Steve's book, esp for Tallin. There was a shuttle in Tallin but we walked to the old town.

 

In Stockholm we got on a van that was at the port for 5 euros pp which took us to the Vasa Museum. We took a city bus back.

 

In Riga we also walked to the city.

 

Enjoy the Baltics! It is a great itinerary.

[jtl513]

The 3 ports I'm interested in are Helsinki, Stockholm and Talinn.

Our Baltic cruise was 10 years ago, but FWIW: in Helsinki there was a shuttle bus that I think was provided by the city for 3 Euro pp each way. IIRC we purchased the tickets on the bus.

 

In Stockholm we took a shuttle from the ship to the Opera House for $5 pp (purchased on ship), some kind of "trolley" from there to the Vasa Museum, and a ferry back to Old Town GamlaStan. From there we walked back to the ship docked at pier 165/167, Masthamnen.

 

In Tallinn we took a ship's "walking tour" that took us by bus to the top of Toompea Hill, and we walked back down with various stops. IIRC we got another bus back to the ship. It was a good thing we got a bus ride up the hill, because we wouldn't have made it up there to see the Cathedral otherwise!

 

Edited March 13, 2015 by jtl513

[GradUT]

There is a GREAT thread on the Northern Europe and Baltics thread on the Europe Ports of Call forum called "Stockholm Advice Thread 2015" with practically everything you need to know about how to get around Stockholm. There was a link on that thread where I was able to find that the Eurodam cruise we are on will dock at F634 Frihamnen. So now I know what public transportation to use to get to the city. Desdichado62 began this thread and is so generous with his/her time in answering specific questions.

 

There's also a GREAT thread called "Wonderful Copenhagen 2015 Edition" which has been useful since our Eurodam cruise begins and ends there. Danish Viking, who began this thread, is also very generous in answering questions.

[Illyria]

We took a hop-on hop-off bus in Helsinki (since it was a nice way to get an overview of the city that I hadn't visited before). The HOHO busees will pick up passengers at each cruise terminal when there are ships in port.

[brentp]

The 3 ports I'm interested in are Helsinki, Stockholm and Talinn. The last one is easy. The others not so much as it depends on where the cruise ship docks.

 

As others have indicated, you will get much better information on the Ports of Call thread. There are locals in each of those cities that gladly provide very detailed information for their cities.

 

That said, here is some information from our experience:

 

Talinn: if you simply wish to go to the old town, you can walk. If you wish to go elsewhere, the ships usually dock right in town so I am sure once get get access to the public transit routes, you will be able to get anywhere that the transport goes and can simply walk to a local stop near the ship.

 

Helsinki: Depends where you dock, but there are bus stops very close. I forget which dock we were at, but we were less than a few hundred yards from a bus stop. This got us to all the other transit types very quickly (trolley). Helsinki is very easy to navigate on public transport and they sell a 24hr pass that you can buy direct from the driver of the first bus.

 

Stockholm: The wild card. We were at a dock very far from the center of town and I do not recall seeing any public transport near by, but do remember seeing taxis. That said, I also think that dock is an 'overflow' and many of the docks are closer to the city and should be close to public transport.

 

In summary, in addition to getting the route information, you need to find the dock information for your particular ship/date to get the full picture.

 

Enjoy the trip - it is a blast!

Edited March 13, 2015 by brentp

[Swice]

We were there a year and a half ago.

 

Talinn: We used SPB tours here and in St. Petersburg. Loved this stop. Yes, we could have done Old Town on our own but glad we took the tour to use time efficiently. Our tour also went to a beautiful park, President's house, and along the shoreline.

 

Helsinki: We also used SPB tours here. It was my least favorite port. I was actually expecting a bigger place. Many stayed downtown after the tour and took the public bus/trolley back to the port.

 

Stockholm: Fantastic! I'm assuming this will be at the beginning or end of your cruise. You MUST spend extra time there. You will want to purchase the Stockholm card. It covers museum admissions AND public transportation.

 

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