Norway, Baltics or British Isles?

[cruisewiththekids]

If you've been on all three of these itineraries, does one stand out as your favorite?

 

I've done Norway already and really enjoyed the small towns and the scenery and would like to go back.

 

Baltics will be more big cities, which I'm not sure I would enjoy as much. But St. Petersburg in particular seems intriguing.

 

The British Isles, is it mostly about scenery? I don't normally do ship excursions, but I'm wondering if many of the British Isles ports would require it, if docking isn't in town and there aren't a lot of private tours available.

 

Thanks for any advice from those who have experienced all three.

[capriccio]

If you've been on all three of these itineraries, does one stand out as your favorite?

 

I've done Norway already and really enjoyed the small towns and the scenery and would like to go back.

 

Baltics will be more big cities, which I'm not sure I would enjoy as much. But St. Petersburg in particular seems intriguing.

 

The British Isles, is it mostly about scenery? I don't normally do ship excursions, but I'm wondering if many of the British Isles ports would require it, if docking isn't in town and there aren't a lot of private tours available.

 

Thanks for any advice from those who have experienced all three.

 

I've only done 2 out of the 3 (Norway is still on our 'to do' list) and have a hard time picking one above the other but I think I would rank Baltics first and British Isles second (but only by a tad).

 

On the Baltics you must do a ships excursion or private excursion in St. Petersburg. I highly recommend the latter - there are number of well reviewed companies including Alla (which we used). We had a stop in Gdansk where we went on a Princess excursion since the port was about 40 minutes away that we enjoyed. All other ports we DIYed it using Rick Steves' Scandinavia guidebook. We loved all the DIY ports (Stockholm, Oslo, Helskinki, Tallin and Copenhagen) - there is lots to see and do in each.

 

On the BI cruise we did mostly private excursions (there are lots available in every port except Guernsey) - they were cheaper than Princess and in small groups. You get a nice mix of scenery stops (Guernsey, Cobh, Inverness) and cities (Liverpool, Dublin, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow - beautiful countryside outside those 2 cities) plus the Normandy Beaches. If you decide on the BI cruise, do it in August when you can see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo -- a highlight of any cruise we have ever taken.

 

Isn't it nice to have such a conundrum? :D Good luck making a decision!

[as19111]

We've done all three and I would rank them:

 

Baltics, Norway (and Iceland for us), British Isles.

 

All have their interesting ports and vistas. I guess I look at it at the chance of my visiting each of the ports independently and rank that way.

 

Whatever you choose, it will be a great cruise.

 

The Baltic cruise is port intensive and the time zone difference in ports can be quite a difference from your home. For us, it was up to 8 hours in St. Petersburg. So, you spend less time enjoying ship actitivities and rest up for the next early call in port.

 

For Norway, it's breathtaking scenery and smaller ports.

 

For the BI, it's great ports and consistent time zones.

 

We did lots of private tours, including Guernsey. We also did ship tours and self tours, depending on the port.

[baggal]

Baltics was our number 1 favorite. We did a combination of private excursions (even in St. Petersburg) and DIY. It was all exhilarating and sometimes exhausting at the same time. Especially, if you are a baby boomer who remembers the "Iron Curtain" and of course, the Berlin Wall.

[Alaskanb]

Baltics was our number 1 favorite. We did a combination of private excursions (even in St. Petersburg) and DIY. It was all exhilarating and sometimes exhausting at the same time. Especially, if you are a baby boomer who remembers the "Iron Curtain" and of course, the Berlin Wall.

So agree --it's one that if you do your historical and port research it is an amazing experience. There is a book and video list somewhere on CC that really enriches the tours.

Many folks on our Baltic cruise had also done a Norway cruise --before or after the Baltics so got both the scenic and city/cultural experience. We did Norway a year later and included the UK before and afterwards. In my mind --partly because I grew up and have family there--the best of the UK is done by car.

[sunshine nana]

Baltics was my #1 out of 12 cruises. For DH it was #2 after Alaska. For me British Isles was #2 and we are doing it again next month! We enjoy excursions. We both love history and seeing new places more than scenery. We have not done Norway. We are saving that for when we are too old to tour much. All of our Med cruises have been great also.

[ontheweb]

I've only done 2 out of the 3 (Norway is still on our 'to do' list) and have a hard time picking one above the other but I think I would rank Baltics first and British Isles second (but only by a tad).

 

On the Baltics you must do a ships excursion or private excursion in St. Petersburg. I highly recommend the latter - there are number of well reviewed companies including Alla (which we used). We had a stop in Gdansk where we went on a Princess excursion since the port was about 40 minutes away that we enjoyed. All other ports we DIYed it using Rick Steves' Scandinavia guidebook. We loved all the DIY ports (Stockholm, Oslo, Helskinki, Tallin and Copenhagen) - there is lots to see and do in each.

 

Our experience is very similar. Out of our 10 cruises, I would rate the Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary #1, and our Ocean Princess small ship cruise last summer #2. We have not done a Norway cruise, though Oslo turned out to be one of our favorite ports on our Baltic cruise.

 

We also used Alla, and would highly recommend her. Our guide, Viktoria, confided in us that she was opening her own agency. That is now SPB tours and seems to also get great ratings. Like you we also only used a Princess tour for Gdansk because of the distance, and used the Rick Steves book for the other ports.

 

Part of what made out British Isles cruise so memorable was the small ship experience. We did attend the Scottish Military Tattoo in Edinburg. In fact the overnight in Edinburg on which we saw this was on our wedding anniversary. My DW is half Scottish (her late father was a Scotsman who flew for the RAF in WWII). This also contributed to making this cruise special.