Silhouette Baltic cruise...any questions??

[mtgmentsch]

NO, absolutely not a single sign! No added precautions taken in any of the common areas that I could see either. Something that we always do is start taking oil of oregano capsules starting the week before the trip and each day of. There are a lot of studies that oregano oil will reduce or prevent one from getting stomach viruses. Make sure that you buy a good quality one in a vitamin shop.

Thank you ginak1112 for the update...

[AmazedByCruising]

Thank you ginak1112 for the update...

 

The very next sailing had an outbreak apparently :(

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47420903&postcount=13

[AmazedByCruising]

Did not take us that long the first day. It was about 20 minutes from the time they said the boat was cleared until we got through immigration. Of course, there were people further back in the line than we were.

 

I think we were a bit too late :)

[mskaufman]

I think we were a bit too late :)

 

Thanks to cc I knew to get on line early. Luckily so did the other folks on our tour so we were out of the port area early.

[NYcruiser55]

Thanks for doing this. My wife and I just returned from the Barcelona-to-Civitavecchia western Mediterranean cruise on the Equinox, and booked this one onboard. We've done mostly Mediterranean and Caribbean cruising (with an Alaska cruise), so this one will be very different. I wonder if you (or anyone else) could answer a few other questions?

(1) What days are the formal nights?

(2) Did people tend to hang out around the pool (especially on sea days), or was it too chilly for that?

(3) Berlin seems to be too far to be worth the trip - are you aware of any closer activities people did in Warnemunde?

(4) We really liked Tuscan Grille on the Equinox, but were less fond of Murano. Do you have any experience with the other specialty restaurants on the Silhouette? We didn't try Qsine when we were on the Reflection - is it any good?

 

I guess that's it for now, although I'm sure I'll have more questions later. Thanks again!

[Croooser]

We are on this trip on Aug 22nd. Do you by chance know what time the ship was cleared for passengers to disembark on the last day in Amsterdam?

[steelcashew]

Can you watch movies in your cabin or onboard, or tv shows or news?

[AmazedByCruising]

Thanks for doing this. My wife and I just returned from the Barcelona-to-Civitavecchia western Mediterranean cruise on the Equinox, and booked this one onboard. We've done mostly Mediterranean and Caribbean cruising (with an Alaska cruise), so this one will be very different. I wonder if you (or anyone else) could answer a few other questions?

(1) What days are the formal nights?

(2) Did people tend to hang out around the pool (especially on sea days), or was it too chilly for that?

(3) Berlin seems to be too far to be worth the trip - are you aware of any closer activities people did in Warnemunde?

(4) We really liked Tuscan Grille on the Equinox, but were less fond of Murano. Do you have any experience with the other specialty restaurants on the Silhouette? We didn't try Qsine when we were on the Reflection - is it any good?

 

I guess that's it for now, although I'm sure I'll have more questions later. Thanks again!

 

1) Day 2, Day 8 and one other day that was in a Today I probably left at the ship.

2) Neither. After 2 days of bad weather the weather was really nice, but not many people on the deckchairs. 80-90% was empty.

3) Unless this is your only chance to see Checkpoint Charly ever, I think you're right that Berlin is not worth it. Yet many did. We just walked around Warnemunde which is actually a very nice town. It may have been a bit more lively than usually because three days later a major regatta would take place with more than a million visitors. Warnemunde is part of Rostock, you might like to visit it (I have no idea if it's worthwhile)

4) We did visit Qsine and I've seen other tables enjoying the "experience" very much. You get an IPad with the different dishes and add the ones that seem interesting to your "Favorites". The waiter then advises on the order in which to eat them. The dishes themselves are a DIY-experience as well, like making your own guacamole. The food was very good and worth the price, but personally I prefer an old-fashioned menu more. Too much hazzle for a vacation for me, but if I had brought my 6 and 9 year old nephews I would definitely visit it again :)

[AmazedByCruising]

Thanks to cc I knew to get on line early. Luckily so did the other folks on our tour so we were out of the port area early.

 

Our bus just left without us, but without a problem we got onto the next one. When we finally got to the end of the queue, it had doubled in length even to outside the terminal.

[AmazedByCruising]

Can you watch movies in your cabin or onboard, or tv shows or news?

 

Yes, your TV has pay-per-view movies, free clips about the ship, and news channels.

[AmazedByCruising]

We are on this trip on Aug 22nd. Do you by chance know what time the ship was cleared for passengers to disembark on the last day in Amsterdam?

 

I don't know when it was officially cleared. We just walked of at 8:00. The process of getting our luggage and walking to the exit took at most 10 minutes.

 

Celebrity advised strongly to get a ship-shuttle to get to Schiphol Airpoirt because "we are advised that there are few taxis available outside the terminal". The shuttle is priced very reasonable (I doubt a Dutch taxi would be cheaper) so if you need to get to the airpoirt, do book this very last excursion. If however you need a taxi to get somewhere else and there isn't one at the terminal (I highly doubt it, there were plenty), Central Station is 5 minutes away and it has many taxis.

Edited August 16, 2015 by AmazedByCruising
spelling

[need2cruisesoon]

We are on this trip on Aug 22nd. Do you by chance know what time the ship was cleared for passengers to disembark on the last day in Amsterdam?

 

Walk offs are around 6:30 am.

If you take a X transfer then first of this off is 7:00am to AMS airport.

 

Plenty of taxis by the port.

[Croooser]

I don't know when it was officially cleared. We just walked of at 8:00. The process of getting our luggage and walking to the exit took at most 10 minutes.

 

Celebrity advised strongly to get a ship-shuttle to get to Schiphol Airpoirt because "we are advised that there are few taxis available outside the terminal". The shuttle is priced very reasonable (I doubt a Dutch taxi would be cheaper) so if you need to get to the airpoirt, do book this very last excursion. If however you need a taxi to get somewhere else and there isn't one at the terminal (I highly doubt it, there were plenty), Central Station is 5 minutes away and it has many taxis.

 

Walk offs are around 6:30 am.

If you take a X transfer then first of this off is 7:00am to AMS airport.

 

Plenty of taxis by the port.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. Sounds like we do not need to individually clear customs which is a good thing. We are cutting it close, so will line up early and grab a cab.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Croooser

[ginak1112]

We are on this trip on Aug 22nd. Do you by chance know what time the ship was cleared for passengers to disembark on the last day in Amsterdam?

 

I think I heard the announcement around 6:30. We had self disembarkation and left at 7am

[ginak1112]

Thanks for doing this. My wife and I just returned from the Barcelona-to-Civitavecchia western Mediterranean cruise on the Equinox, and booked this one onboard. We've done mostly Mediterranean and Caribbean cruising (with an Alaska cruise), so this one will be very different. I wonder if you (or anyone else) could answer a few other questions?

(1) What days are the formal nights?

(2) Did people tend to hang out around the pool (especially on sea days), or was it too chilly for that?

(3) Berlin seems to be too far to be worth the trip - are you aware of any closer activities people did in Warnemunde?

(4) We really liked Tuscan Grille on the Equinox, but were less fond of Murano. Do you have any experience with the other specialty restaurants on the Silhouette? We didn't try Qsine when we were on the Reflection - is it any good?

 

I guess that's it for now, although I'm sure I'll have more questions later. Thanks again!

 

Hello. We sailed on Equinox to the Med and Alaska also. The Baltics is similar to our trip last year, the British Isles.

(1) I believe they were on the 2nd and 10th nights. There was one other that had to be switched because we had a change of itinerary and this would have put a formal night on the night we were in St.Petersberg. There was some confusion and people came to dinner wearing a tux on the wrong night. All in all, formal nights were not very big and many people were not very formal. My husband brought a suit with no tie. You are just too exhausted to really care lol.

 

(2) We had mixed weather with some very cold days and then some nice sunny days. On the sunny days people were at the pool. There is also a solarium pool which people could go in on the cold days but I found it to have a pretty strong scent of chlorine for me to stay.

 

(3) We had been to Berlin before so definitely did not want to deal with that, having seen all of the main sights before. We found a wonderful tour on trip advisor by searching Warnemunde called Friends of Dave. It was a great day and I wrote a review there if you are interested. If you haven't been to Berlin before I would recommend going into Berlin. It is a very exhausting day, but you may never get the chance to do it again. Our day there was shortened due to an itinerary change but people still really enjoyed it.

 

(4) Since we had been to Tuscan and Murano several times we decided to try the new outdoor grill, I forgot the name. It was a beautiful "white night" and chilly. We were given blankets to wrap around us and there were heaters as well. I had a steak along with a shrimp and scallop skewer. The dessert was delicious. We also ate at Quisine which we had dined on last year and that is a lot of fun! On the first day of the cruise I walked over to the specialty table by Ocean View Cafe and spoke to them. I asked if there were any 1st night specials. They tried to sell me a dining package which I didn't want. I told them we wanted to eat in Quisine that night. They gave me 30% off. I then asked if we get another discount for the outdoor restaurant on another night and they offered it to me for another night.

 

Enjoy, it is a great itinerary-!

[ginak1112]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. Sounds like we do not need to individually clear customs which is a good thing. We are cutting it close, so will line up early and grab a cab.

 

I would suggest taking your luggage off yourself by 7 am. There were plenty of cabs waiting although we had booked one in advance and they were waiting for us. We had 3 large bags and sometimes they do not fit in some of these European taxis. If you wait past 7 there will be a huge line up.

[ginak1112]

Just to mention, my friend did the shuttle to AMS in May and it was a disaster. They may have improved but I'm not sure. They left all of the luggage outside in the rain and it was a madhouse to try and even find your luggage. They wound up getting a reimbursement because dye from a jacket had transferred onto a lot of the clothing from being wet. That's why I pre-booked a taxi. I don't remember the price but I think it was around $60. Shuttle is $30 or $35 a person I believe.

[NYcruiser55]

1) Day 2, Day 8 and one other day that was in a Today I probably left at the ship.

2) Neither. After 2 days of bad weather the weather was really nice, but not many people on the deckchairs. 80-90% was empty.

3) Unless this is your only chance to see Checkpoint Charly ever, I think you're right that Berlin is not worth it. Yet many did. We just walked around Warnemunde which is actually a very nice town. It may have been a bit more lively than usually because three days later a major regatta would take place with more than a million visitors. Warnemunde is part of Rostock, you might like to visit it (I have no idea if it's worthwhile)

4) We did visit Qsine and I've seen other tables enjoying the "experience" very much. You get an IPad with the different dishes and add the ones that seem interesting to your "Favorites". The waiter then advises on the order in which to eat them. The dishes themselves are a DIY-experience as well, like making your own guacamole. The food was very good and worth the price, but personally I prefer an old-fashioned menu more. Too much hazzle for a vacation for me, but if I had brought my 6 and 9 year old nephews I would definitely visit it again :)

 

Thanks for the taking the time to respond!

[NYcruiser55]

Hello. We sailed on Equinox to the Med and Alaska also. The Baltics is similar to our trip last year, the British Isles.

(1) I believe they were on the 2nd and 10th nights. There was one other that had to be switched because we had a change of itinerary and this would have put a formal night on the night we were in St.Petersberg. There was some confusion and people came to dinner wearing a tux on the wrong night. All in all, formal nights were not very big and many people were not very formal. My husband brought a suit with no tie. You are just too exhausted to really care lol.

 

(2) We had mixed weather with some very cold days and then some nice sunny days. On the sunny days people were at the pool. There is also a solarium pool which people could go in on the cold days but I found it to have a pretty strong scent of chlorine for me to stay.

 

(3) We had been to Berlin before so definitely did not want to deal with that, having seen all of the main sights before. We found a wonderful tour on trip advisor by searching Warnemunde called Friends of Dave. It was a great day and I wrote a review there if you are interested. If you haven't been to Berlin before I would recommend going into Berlin. It is a very exhausting day, but you may never get the chance to do it again. Our day there was shortened due to an itinerary change but people still really enjoyed it.

 

(4) Since we had been to Tuscan and Murano several times we decided to try the new outdoor grill, I forgot the name. It was a beautiful "white night" and chilly. We were given blankets to wrap around us and there were heaters as well. I had a steak along with a shrimp and scallop skewer. The dessert was delicious. We also ate at Quisine which we had dined on last year and that is a lot of fun! On the first day of the cruise I walked over to the specialty table by Ocean View Cafe and spoke to them. I asked if there were any 1st night specials. They tried to sell me a dining package which I didn't want. I told them we wanted to eat in Quisine that night. They gave me 30% off. I then asked if we get another discount for the outdoor restaurant on another night and they offered it to me for another night.

 

Enjoy, it is a great itinerary-!

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

[sarmeier]

We are going on the Baltic cruise next June, a couple of questions.

 

1. We are going into Stockholm two days early. How far is the ships normal dock from the central train station? We are staying at a ship hotel near the station.

 

2. Is the dock at Amsterdam within walking distance of the central train station? Going to spend several extra days in Amsterdam and Belgium.

[sarmeier]

Another question, how far in advance should I make airline reservations to get the flights we want at the best price to Stockholm? We are two couples trying tom travel together form Albq and Tucson. Thanks

[ginak1112]

We are going on the Baltic cruise next June, a couple of questions.

 

1. We are going into Stockholm two days early. How far is the ships normal dock from the central train station? We are staying at a ship hotel near the station.

 

2. Is the dock at Amsterdam within walking distance of the central train station? Going to spend several extra days in Amsterdam and Belgium.

 

Sorry that I will not be a big help with these questions!

 

1. I'm not sure what the normal dock is. I think that there are a few docks that they can go into depending on availability. Also, we were only there for the day so I have no idea where the central train station is. We took the Celebrity shuttle in from the very far port.

 

2. I'm guessing it's about a 20 minute walk from the port. We stayed in a hotel just outside central Amsterdam and took a cab to the port. We were in Brugge, Belgium before Amsterdam and took a train to Central station. From there we took a taxi to our hotel.

[ginak1112]

Another question, how far in advance should I make airline reservations to get the flights we want at the best price to Stockholm? We are two couples trying tom travel together form Albq and Tucson. Thanks

 

Unfortunately, I'm not a great person to ask this question but I'm assuming the earlier the better. I book my vacations no more than 2 months out so always get ripped off with air, lol.

[mrsm88]

Our ports were Tallinn, Warnemunde, Stockholm, Helsinki, SPB and Copenhagen. We left out of Amsterdam but first did an overnight in Brugge on our own. Our itinerary was changed due to storms so the captain switched Stockholm and Warnemunde days leaving us to dock in ports far away from the cities. He gave us a longer day in Stockholm and a shorter day in Warnemunde. We were happy to not have one of them cancelled and guests seem to make the best out of the situation. Our weather varies from cold and rainy to very hot and clear. Bring all types of clothing and a good rain coat. Also, don't forget your sturdy walking shoes as you are mostly walking on very old cobblestone!

Also, bring a few clothespins to block out some of the cabin light. Sunset is at 10 pm and sunrise is at 4:30 am roughly but it never really gets dark. Light will still come in from above and below but it will be better.

We are doing this cruise in June, out of Amsterdam, into Stockholm- our cruise is the only time they offer this itinerary.

Did you get a visa & tour SPB on your own or did you book the private tour through the ship? Have heard the visa is a misery to get, too much personal info required, so as of now we plan on touring through the ship- just not sure whether to book the private guide or the organized tours. We will be with another couple, possibly a total of 6 of us. I think I will have to go to Berlin as we have never been nor do we plan to be there again, so just suck it up & spend 1/2 the day on the bus.

As far as Brugges, our friends would like to visit there before. Did you take the train to Amsterdam?

Thanks for any info~

[pjs678]

We are doing this cruise in June, out of Amsterdam, into Stockholm- our cruise is the only time they offer this itinerary.

Did you get a visa & tour SPB on your own or did you book the private tour through the ship? Have heard the visa is a misery to get, too much personal info required, so as of now we plan on touring through the ship- just not sure whether to book the private guide or the organized tours. We will be with another couple, possibly a total of 6 of us. I think I will have to go to Berlin as we have never been nor do we plan to be there again, so just suck it up & spend 1/2 the day on the bus.

As far as Brugges, our friends would like to visit there before. Did you take the train to Amsterdam?

Thanks for any info~

 

We are on the reverse of your cruise next summer (the one from Stockholm to Amsterdam also with 3 days in SPb). We would never have even considered getting visas until we decided to go to Moscow first. Now we will see how much of a pain the visa process is and have the flexibility to tour St. Petersburg on our own. I wouldn't bother with a visa in your situation. Just use one of the private tour companies and set up your own group where you can pick and choose what you want to see and do.