Baltic cruise

[Mr Piano]

We are now considering our 2016 cruise, done fly med cruise, done Caribbean. Now considering Canaries or Baltic in June. With Baltic coming out favourite so far.

 

Has anyone done or got advice on Baltic, obviously weather won't be as good, but we are not sunbathers, but don't want to be wrapped up in woollies either. So how is the weather, and how are the ports of call. Example what's is St.Petersburg like.

 

Any advice on making our decision would would be great fully received, as we my book in the coming weeks

[Mysticalmother]

Definitely choose Baltic IMHO! Whilst the Canaries will be warmer, the cultural side of the Baltic cruise is fascinating. We went to the Canaries 2 years ago and were rather disappointed if I am honest.

 

Weather....well it depends when you are going! We went to the Baltics for the first 2 weeks in June in 2010 and we had about 8 days of lovely, really hot, weather (one of those in St Petersburg), a couple of days of pouring rain (the other day in St P!) and the rest just kind of mediocre.

 

St Petersburg, I would advise you very strongly to go on tours - either the cruise lines own, or use a local tour company. There are several but I know Alla tours are excellent. Unless you are really well travelled, dont attempt St P on your own - apart from anything else you will need a visa if you DIY, but not if you go ona tour - Ships or local - they sort that out.. Do as much as your stamina will allow in the 2 days you will be there! There is so much to see and some of it is beautiful.. Not sure what other ports you are calling at - we did Copenhagen (overnight), Stockholm (lovely place and the sail in and out should not be missed), Oslo (easy to do on your own), Tallin - a real gem, and Helsinki. Didn't make Kristiansand as too windy.

 

Hope that helps...fire away if any more questions!

Edited July 12, 2015 by Mysticalmother

[LondonTowner]

I would also choose the Baltic, it's a no brainier. We went in September 2013 and had excellent weather. In fact, it was about 32c in Tallin, a bit too hot for sightseeing.

 

Very easy to arrange all your own excursions except in SPB. We booked a 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla Tours and it was great. Would like to do another Baltic cruise, but with a different itinerary.

[Esprit]

We did the Baltic aboard Emerald Princess last July/August. The weather was hot from Southampton through the Baltic and only changed when we got to our final port of Zeebrugge.

 

The sail through the Archipelago to Stockholm was the surprising highlight. More so than St Petesberg.

 

We would definitely do another Baltic cruise but I think we were really lucky with the weather.

 

Off to the Canary Islands aboard Britannia in 2 weeks time

[Sea Green]

We did the Baltics last May. Had two drizzly days and the rest was good weather - ranging from mild to v sunny.

 

We are avid do-it-yourselfers but we did the P&O two day package in St Petersburg to save the hassle of visas etc, and it was excellent - very well organised, very knowledgeable local guide.

 

For the rest we did the free walking tours in Tallin and Copenhagen - and despite how awesome St Petersburg is, Copenhagen was probably my favorite stop.

 

As we were in Stockholm for 1.5 days we got the two day Stockholm card and saw the Palace and Treasury with tours, Cathedral, walking tour, Nobel museum, canal cruise, City Hall and bell tower, with transport. If we has been there for two full days we would have got round to the Vasa ship as well. If you want to do this there's a tourist info stand just as you get off the ship. You would just need to decide in advance what you want to see and in what order.

 

The port in Warnemunde is just opposite the train station so we got the train into Rostock, a day ticket is around 5 Euros I think. Rostock Cathedral with the medieval astronomic clock is well worth a look.

 

Kristinsand is very compact and is a nice seaside town rather than a busy city so we just mooched about - it was nice to just have a quiet stop to enjoy the weather and scenery.

[kruzseeka]

Another vote for the Baltic. As already said, I think organised tours either private or ship's are the way to go in St P.

 

Stockholm - the sailaway especially if you're treated to a sunset (over the aft of the ship) is not to be missed. The Vasa Museum is excellent - you can use a waterbus or even walk across to Djurgarden - the island where it's located.

 

We love Helsinki too if that's on the itinerary - the Rock Church is beautiful and definitely worth a visit. Easy city to do on foot or with the help of the circular tourist tram.

 

Tallinn is a gem and also easy DiY. Warnemunde - I'd also recommend the Mediaeval Church in Rostock - trains frequent just a few minutes from the berth. (Train ticket also valid for tram into Rostock centre - don't exit the station, stay on the lower level for the tram). A morning in Rostock plus a few hours in the afternoon wandering around the pretty seaside town of Warnemunde makes for a good day.

 

Oslo is brilliant - the (free) Vigeland Sculpture Park is great. Also walk the roof of the Opera House - quite an unusual experience.

 

Copenhagen - lots to see plus a canal boat ride from the Nyhavn.

 

Great area with some varied and fascinating ports of call. We've been several times often early September and not had bad weather - on one occasion it was around 30 for several days but you can't predict.

Edited July 12, 2015 by kruzseeka

[Josy1953]

We did the Baltic cruise with P&O 5 years ago in July and the weather was beautiful for the whole cruise. We liked it so much that we have been the the Baltic this year with Celebrity for the last 2 weeks of June and only the 2 days in St Petersburg were warm and sunny, the rest were either showery or wet.

 

The Baltic cruise is definitely one to do as there is so much to see. I would definite go back again but probably in July or August.

[Mr Piano]

Thanks for the advice, we have not allowed grass to grow under our feet. Been to co-op travel this morning and booked Baltic, 5th June 2016 on Azura.

 

We were very surprised on limited options for cabin, this cruise seems to be booking up already.

 

One bit of advice the travel agent gave was, if we book excursions with anyone other than P&O for St.Petersburg we would need a visa, is this true?

[Mysticalmother]

Thanks for the advice, we have not allowed grass to grow under our feet. Been to co-op travel this morning and booked Baltic, 5th June 2016 on Azura.

 

We were very surprised on limited options for cabin, this cruise seems to be booking up already.

 

One bit of advice the travel agent gave was, if we book excursions with anyone other than P&O for St.Petersburg we would need a visa, is this true?

 

Hmm...don't like the sound of your travel agent. First of all, there will still be loads of cabins available, but if yours isn't one of the preferred agents then they may not have access to the full availability list and may just be trying to sell you a "hard to sell" or "less desirable" cabin. The cruise companies don't always release all their cabins in one go. But if you want a particular location or cabin, ask for it. My freidn was fobbed off like this , and when I rang P & O to enquire about making a booking, miraculously lots of other cabins were available. It might depend what you were after though.

Secondly, your TA doesn't know his trade....if you book with one of the local approved tour companies you do NOT need a visa. Well technically you do but the Russian Tour operator sorts that out for you. See the following extract from the tour company I mentioned earlier. (I have deleted some of the letters as I don't want to be accused of advertising - I'm not - but I know this is a reputable company in St Petersburg)

 

"Visas are not required when touring with A**a Tours. Our company is one of the first private companies that started working with cruise passengers. Since 2005, none of our clients have needed a regular visa. We provide our clients with documents, including tour tickets, that confirm your booking with A**a Tours. Your tour tickets act as a visa when you pass through Russian immigration in the cruise terminal. You will need ONLY your A**a Tours ticket and your passport.

Here is some formal information about the requirements for visa-free passengers: According to Russian Immigration Law, tourists arriving to St. Petersburg on cruise ships have the right to disembark the ship without a regular Russian tourist visas provided they have met the following conditions:

1. Duration of stay in Russia should not exceed 72 hours.
   
2. Cruisers should overnight onboard the cruise ship.
   
3. Cruisers should utilize the service of a Russian Tour operator The right to tour without visas is given to all cruise passengers matching the above conditions regardless of Tour operator.
   

Sounds like the TA is on commission from P & O for excursions....

 

What cabins did your agent offer you and what were you after?

[LondonTowner]

Everything that Mystical Mother has written is correct. When we did our Baltic cruise we booked our trip through Alla a Tours and they were excellent. In fact, we had booked a 2 day Comfort Tour. When we were picked up in SPB there was only one other couple from our cruise booked on to the trip , so it was virtually a private tour for 4 of us. All cruise lines want you to book their extortionately overpriced trips.

 

In Gdynia we did take a ship's excursion, but purely due to time restrictions. Apart from that we did our own thing in all the other ports which is very easy on a Baltic cruise.

 

Have just returned from a 14 day cruise to Iceland where we had a trip arranged in every port, but non via the cruise line. If you look on the threads on the Ports of Call there is loads of info as to what to do in Baltic ports.

[Brayman]

Of all of our cruise we enjoyed the Baltic one the most, and strangely the most disappointing port was St Petersburg, possibly because we didn't have the energy to do it properly with two full days. All the other ports were very enjoyable.