Review of the NCL Star Baltic Cruise, 9-18 Aug 2016

[Mj17ak]

This was a very culturally enriching cruise to countries we had never previously visited. As far as currency needed, Danish Kroner and Euros should suffice. Credit cards are accepted in most stores.

 

We arrived in Copenhagen two days prior to the cruise and spent the day of arrival walking around the city getting our bearings. Scandic Palace Hotel was very convenient to the pedestrian street, Stroget; to Tivoli Gardens; the central train station; and lots of local shops, restaurants, and bakeries. There was a grocery store, Irma, located across the city hall square across from the hotel. A 7-11 was one block from the hotel. The hotel room (maybe a superior + category) was very acceptable and the buffet breakfast included local meats, cheeses, pastries and breads, plus eggs, bacon, sausages, oatmeal, and other food. Orange and apple juice, coffee and tea were also available. Be careful in the bathroom - the step in/out of the tub is very high. The NCL rep was in the lobby the day before and the day of the cruise and provided a letter with transfer details. If you don't use the ship's transfer, recommend a taxi - too far to walk and not very convenient to take luggage on the city bus. Plenty of taxis available outside of the hotel. The pier where the ship departs from is very far away from any tourist attractions - you need transportation to get to the pier. I understand the city bus goes near the terminal.

 

Everything is very expensive in Copenhagen but we were prepared for this. A 12oz bottle of Pepsi was 25 or 35 DKK ($4-5), depending where you bought it (hotel lobby or 7-11). DKK or credit card are the accepted methods of payment. Watch out for bicyclists in the bike lane - most of locals ride bikes. Also watch out for pick pockets. While we felt very safe walking around during daytime, we know of a couple who were pick pocketed on the train ride from the airport to their hotel. They did not realize anything happened until they tried to make a purchase and realized their money and identification were gone. Recommend dividing money and documents among the travelers in your group to minimize potential loss. The only place we carried our passports was in Russia; in other ports we each carried a photocopy of our passports.

 

We booked a city walking tour through Tours By Locals and really enjoyed it. Our guide, Paul, was outstanding. He is a history professor and incorporated so much of his knowledge in his narration. He will tailor the tour to what you want to see. We walked about 6 miles during the 5 hour tour and saw the Round Tower; we toured Rosenborg Palace (Denmark's jewels stored here) and gardens; walked though Christiansborg Palace (closed on Mondays). We also walked to the Little Mermaid statue, but if you needed to choose between it and something else to see, I would skip the Little Mermaid. We took a water taxi during the tour. We saw many other sights on our tour. Just walking through a couple churches was interesting as was walking down the side streets.

 

From Warnemunde, we took a ship excursion: Panoramic Berlin and Historic Potsdam. We boarded a private train for Berlin which was about 2-1/2 hours away. We were given a bottle of water and a pretzel as a snack. After getting to Berlin, we met our guide, Tatiana, and boarded a bus. We passed by many historic buildings. The time off the bus included stops at Checkpoint Charlie and remnants of the Berlin Wall; Cecilienhof Palace (Pottsdam Conference location); Palace of Sanssouci (Frederick the Great's residence); and the Brandenburg Gate. Before visiting the palace, we had a typical German lunch at a restaurant. Lunch was bratwurst, mashed potatoes with gravy, and sour kraut. Dessert was apple strudel with ice cream. We wish we could have seen some of the museums in Berlin. There are no stops for any shopping on this tour. On the return train ride, we were given a bag with a sandwich, apple, and mini candy bar, along with a bottle of water.

 

In Estonia, our excursion was Tallin & Old Town Walking Tour. Our guide was Karin. Very good tour. She has been a tour guide for 35 years. Estonia is a very old city with many of the buildings dating back to 1200s and 1300s. We visited a Russian Orthodox Church, walked through Upper and Lower Town, and saw many historic buildings. We were given about 30 minutes to shop. One man in our group had his wallet stolen during one of the picture stops overlooking the town. Luckily for him, his passport was in a separate pocket. It was very crowded. Be aware of your belongings. Euros is the accepted currency.

 

In St. Petersburg, our excursions were Cathedrals of St. Petersburg and Hermitage with Gold Room. On both tours, we used a special ear piece and receiver to hear the guide's narration. Our guide for the cathedrals tour, Eugenia, was very knowledgeable. Very good tour. She is a tour guide during the summer and during the school year, a professor of Russian History at the local university. We really enjoyed this tour-beautiful cathedrals. There was a fair amount of walking on uneven cobblestone streets. We visited the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul where the Russian czars are buried; Church of the Spilled Blood; and St. Isaac's Cathedral. Extremely crowded city which has 5 million residents. Tour guide constantly reminded everyone to watch out for pick pockets. We were encouraged to leave our passports or other documents on the bus which was locked or manned by the driver. We made a comfort stop at a gift shop where we had 30 minutes to shop. You could get a shot of vodka or a cup of tea/coffee. Euros, US dollars and Rubles were accepted currency at this shop.

 

You must have an NCL shore excursion ticket or a private tour pre-arranged to get off the ship, along with your passport. Else, you must have a Russian visa to get off and sight see on your own. The pier is not located within walking distance of the center city, so you might want to pre-arrange transportation. We did not see many taxis at the pier. You also need to allow time to pass through immigration before proceeding to the bus. There seemed to be more people leaving in the morning for excursions than in the afternoon. We allowed 1 hour which was sufficient. We had booked afternoon tours.

 

Our next excursion was the Hermitage with Gold Room. Our tour guide was again, Eugenia, who did a very good job describing the contents of the museum. She gave us a pre-set place and time to meet in case we got separated. You can take non-flash pictures in the museum (except no pictures are allowed in the Gold Room) but it costs extra. There are 5 buildings which house everything. Our tour saw mostly artifacts in the museum and very little art which was a disappointment to us since art is what we hoped to see. We have never seen sooooooo many people in one place-it was packed. Hard to get pictures of some things due to the number of visitors. Our tour guide moved quickly through the museum; you had to keep up or get left behind. In fact, one person on our tour did fall behind. The guide tried to find her and even sent out alerts to her guide-friends. Turns out, the woman joined another tour group from the ship and returned to the ship with them. At least she was safe and would complete the cruise. At the end of the tour was the obligatory shopping stop at a huge, local vendor's store. Just like yesterday's stop, you could partake in a shot of vodka or have tea/coffee, and shop. We were given 30 minutes which seemed to be sufficient for all in the group.

 

In Helsinki, our tour was Discover Helsinki. We did a panoramic tour of Helsinki's highlights with stops at the monument honoring the composer Jean Sibelius; the Rock Church which was really neat; and the cathedral at the town square. We had about 30 minutes on our own at the town square then we returned to the ship. Excursion was ok.

 

Due to a storm that would affect our arrival in Stockholm and potential return to Copenhagen, we skipped this port and returned a day early to Copenhagen which we had to spend as we chose. This gave passengers a full day and evening to explore Copenhagen. Disembarkation was the same day as originally planned (18 Aug).

 

Weather during this cruise changed quickly, from sun to rain, very windy and temps were cool: 60-64 deg fahrenheit. Dress in layers and take an umbrella. This was the first time we cruised on the Star; we prefer the layout of the jewel class. We also were disappointed in the buffet. Compared to the Pearl, there were fewer food choices; also, no burgers or hot dogs available in the Market Cafe buffet. The cafe did not always use both sides of the food lines, so it was very crowded and noisy. Because we were in a suite, breakfast and lunch were available in Moderno Restaurant; on embarkation day, lunch was serves in Cagney's which was across the hall from Moderno's. Because of the timing of our excursions, we were not able to use the restaurant for lunch on several days.

 

We stayed in an aft suite, 9232. There is a wrap around balcony that you can stand on but is only one person deep along the side of the ship. The rest of the balcony holds 2 lounge chairs end-to-end and a small table. Really enjoyed sitting on the balcony while underway, listening to the churn of the water and watching the wake behind us. Ravi was our butler and Jeffrey was our cabin steward. Both did a good job, frequently checking on us to see if we needed anything. Karin was the concierge but we did not need her services; we only saw her 2 or 3 times during the cruise.

 

Disembarkation was so easy-no customs or immigration in terminal-just walk off the ship and get transportation. Recommend the ship transfer service, a cab, or limo. We used Limos4.com and got to the airport very quickly. A taxi will also get you to the airport quickly. While the city bus provided an inexpensive means of transportation, getting to the airport involved buses and the train. Managing luggage on crowded buses during the morning work commute might prove challenging. Our driver said it could take 45 - 90 minutes on the bus/train to go to the airport.

[drhry]

great review, lots of info.

[Clarea]

Excellent feedback, thanks.

[AndrLace]

Great review-leaving for the same cruise 8/27-which tour company did you use?

[hawkeyetlse]

Thanks for the review! We were on the sailing right before yours. Sorry to hear you had to miss Stockholm. The sailaway through the islands is a real treat, hopefully you'll have a chance to go back and experience that one day. Anyway it sounds like you saw a lot in all the other ports, nice work! :)

 

Just to add a bit to your comments about the ship. There are burgers and hot dogs at the outdoor buffet next to the pool, and that is also where to go to get real ice cream (not soft serve). I agree that the indoor buffet is crowded and they should use both sides more. But when both sides are open, it's worth looking on both sides because they're usually serving totally different stuff. Also, they had a breakfast buffet set up in O'Sheehan's some days, not every day, and that was much more comfortable than the Market Café.

 

In St. Petersburg, a lot of people have a very dense tour program that leaves very little time for shopping (or they take you to their own shops, which is never advantageous for you). There are several souvenir shops right at the cruise terminal, where the prices were the same or better than what we saw in town. On the other side of passport control there are two duty free shops for more expensive items. Even if you're not going into town (no tour, no visa), you can still get off the ship and visit these two shops, because they are right next to the ship, before the immigration hall.

 

They also sell a bunch of Russian stuff on board (matryoshka dolls, Fabergé eggs, lacquerware boxes), but I didn't really see anyone buying it…

[Mj17ak]

I used Tours By Locals. Go to toursbylocals.com to find availability of tours. Our tour guide's name was Paul H. I have a $20 coupon good til 1 Sep that I will send you. If you would like it, send me an email to mj17ak@comcast.net.

[Huntingdon1701]

Thanks for the review. Lots of interesting stuff there. I'll be doing this in May.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review

[Bella O]

Appreciate the review and all the detailed info. It really helps my planning for next year, thanks!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[vetrano56]

Great review! We were on the same cruise. The weather truly was erratic. I had to buy a heavy rain jacket the third day in Rostock. The rain jacket I had with me was too lightweight. It was cold and rain came and went. Last two days, even a light sweater was too warm!

Was not a fan of the Marketplace Buffet. Found the food to be mediocre and too crowded. Yet my sister loved the food. So, it is subjective.

Overall, great cruise!!