Regal Princess Baltic July 16-27, 2017.

[Elpcoltman]

Just back from the Regal Princess. First and foremost, The ship is beautiful and the staff is tremendous. Had very good experience with Club Class dining. We had some travel difficulties and our experience may help others in the future.

 

We flew Lufthansa business class from Austin to Oslo, well the original itinerary was Copenhagen. Long story short, a weather delay in Houston caused us to miss boarding in Copenhagen. We caught the ship in Oslo missing my wife's bag, which is still on vacation somewhere, we don't know where and neither does Lufthansa, nor do they seem to care much where a priority handled bag could be at this moment.

 

Princess could not have made boarding in Oslo any easier, they had our cruise card and cabin ready and boarded us and our remaining luggage without blinking an eye. When I checked our statement mid cruise, I discovered that Princess credited us the port charge and the daily rate for the day we missed. Kudos to them since it was not their fault that we missed the ship in Copenhagen

 

We asked the front desk for help in locating our missing bag and they were on top of everything the entire time, calling the airport daily for status, letting us use the ship phone to call Lufthansa without charging a dime. On the same statement, I noticed a daily credit for missing bag, again not their fault. I am impressed with their customer service on the ship.

 

Customer service center for Princess was not as helpful. When we knew we were not going be able to board in Copenhagen, we called the in transit help line. This number is unusable on the weekend. It either rang and rang or when it did pick up the connection was unusable.

 

Club Class dining was very nice for us and we used it every night. We went for breakfast everyday as well and lunch on sea days. It's nice to walk down whenever we felt like it. Not everybody knows about the Club Class entrance though. The stop in Stockholm was way too short so people were eager to get breakfast in the dining room before leaving the ship. People were blocking the Club Class entrance so when I made my way past, I got some "what are you doing?" comments. Other than that both sides had no lines when we wanted to dine.

 

In St Petersburg we booked a private tour for two using Viator, we ended up with Ludmilla tours and Svadlana as our guide. It was the best $650 spent. We had a car and driver plus guide for two full days. We had timed entrance to the Hermitage. We arrived for a 11:40 AM entrance for Catherine's Palace just in time for the side entrance to be available, Svadlana knew this and bypassed the long line for tours and went right in. We had entire rooms to ourselves and if we shared a room, everyone was on one side and we had the other half to ourselves, including the amber room. That was the highlight of the trip.

 

The lowlight was the Stockholm stop. It was way too short and the tour buses were oversold so there was no hop on hop off. It was hop off and you will not get back on due to full buses. The buses were stifling due to overcrowding.

 

Tallin was a surprising nice port. I was not expecting much but liked it very much. A family missed the ship without their passports. I am not sure of the outcome, for sure they missed St. Petersburg due to lack of passports and visa but Helsinkin was just a fast ferry ride across a narrow strait and they can get there without a passport

 

I hope our travel issues and knowledge of how helpful Princess was is useful for someone

[cdngrl]

i was on the pacific princess at the same time. we saw you on our second day in st petersburg and our second day in stockholm. i'm sorry your travel didn't work out the way it was supposed to. its not the first time i've heard that the in transit number was no help. i'm pleased to hear the ship took care of you. i hope your bag returns soon from its vacation.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review.

Hope they find your bag.

[easyboy]

Glad the customer service onboard were helpful with your problems. Thanks for the feedback.

[azdmelani]

Just back from the Regal Princess. First and foremost, The ship is beautiful and the staff is tremendous. Had very good experience with Club Class dining. We had some travel difficulties and our experience may help others in the future.

 

We flew Lufthansa business class from Austin to Oslo, well the original itinerary was Copenhagen. Long story short, a weather delay in Houston caused us to miss boarding in Copenhagen. We caught the ship in Oslo missing my wife's bag, which is still on vacation somewhere, we don't know where and neither does Lufthansa, nor do they seem to care much where a priority handled bag could be at this moment.

 

Princess could not have made boarding in Oslo any easier, they had our cruise card and cabin ready and boarded us and our remaining luggage without blinking an eye. When I checked our statement mid cruise, I discovered that Princess credited us the port charge and the daily rate for the day we missed. Kudos to them since it was not their fault that we missed the ship in Copenhagen

 

We asked the front desk for help in locating our missing bag and they were on top of everything the entire time, calling the airport daily for status, letting us use the ship phone to call Lufthansa without charging a dime. On the same statement, I noticed a daily credit for missing bag, again not their fault. I am impressed with their customer service on the ship.

 

Customer service center for Princess was not as helpful. When we knew we were not going be able to board in Copenhagen, we called the in transit help line. This number is unusable on the weekend. It either rang and rang or when it did pick up the connection was unusable.

 

Club Class dining was very nice for us and we used it every night. We went for breakfast everyday as well and lunch on sea days. It's nice to walk down whenever we felt like it. Not everybody knows about the Club Class entrance though. The stop in Stockholm was way too short so people were eager to get breakfast in the dining room before leaving the ship. People were blocking the Club Class entrance so when I made my way past, I got some "what are you doing?" comments. Other than that both sides had no lines when we wanted to dine.

 

In St Petersburg we booked a private tour for two using Viator, we ended up with Ludmilla tours and Svadlana as our guide. It was the best $650 spent. We had a car and driver plus guide for two full days. We had timed entrance to the Hermitage. We arrived for a 11:40 AM entrance for Catherine's Palace just in time for the side entrance to be available, Svadlana knew this and bypassed the long line for tours and went right in. We had entire rooms to ourselves and if we shared a room, everyone was on one side and we had the other half to ourselves, including the amber room. That was the highlight of the trip.

 

The lowlight was the Stockholm stop. It was way too short and the tour buses were oversold so there was no hop on hop off. It was hop off and you will not get back on due to full buses. The buses were stifling due to overcrowding.

 

Tallin was a surprising nice port. I was not expecting much but liked it very much. A family missed the ship without their passports. I am not sure of the outcome, for sure they missed St. Petersburg due to lack of passports and visa but Helsinkin was just a fast ferry ride across a narrow strait and they can get there without a passport

 

I hope our travel issues and knowledge of how helpful Princess was is useful for someone

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Hard to believe we've been off the Regal for a month now. Sorry you missed Copenhagen, but it sounds like the staff went above and beyond to assist you.

 

Wanted to suggest booking a guided a tour in Stockholm, regardless of where you're docked. We only had about 5.5 hours being docked downtown and still did not get a a chance to see/do everything. We booked one with SPB and enjoyed it- saw many things from the bus at first, then stopped and walked in the city too.

[Micahs Grandad]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Hard to believe we've been off the Regal for a month now. Sorry you missed Copenhagen, but it sounds like the staff went above and beyond to assist you.

 

Wanted to suggest booking a guided a tour in Stockholm, regardless of where you're docked. We only had about 5.5 hours being docked downtown and still did not get a a chance to see/do everything. We booked one with SPB and enjoyed it- saw many things from the bus at first, then stopped and walked in the city too.

 

We did a hop on/hop off bus in Stockholm last month off the Crown and was a bad mistake on our part.

 

Did SPB for four stops and was awesome and sorry we didnt use them here.

[Elpcoltman]

Thanks for the Stockholm tips. We will go back for a more detailed visit because it is worth a visit on its own. I have to say that Princess went above and beyond to make the cruise manageable. We initially avoided the dining room since DW did not have appropriate attire, the Club Class head waiter, Hector, encouraged us not missing it even without appropriate attire. He said Club Class is a family and he understands that this was beyond our control and we are welcomed in the dining room and that includes formal nights.

 

We scheduled 3 days post cruise to Copenhagen, and were glad we did, it is a amazing and walkable city.

 

If you don't want to do the Berlin tour in Warnemunde, there is a kiosk across the street from the dock where rental cars are available. We reserved a car from Europecar and drove to Hamburg which was two hours away. We had time to visit Lubeck and Schwerin on the loop to Hamburg and back. Most of the way to Hamburg is the no speed limit Autobahn. Driving through Rostock on the way back I was glad not to have stayed local.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[azdmelani]

Thanks for the Stockholm tips. We will go back for a more detailed visit because it is worth a visit on its own. I have to say that Princess went above and beyond to make the cruise manageable. We initially avoided the dining room since DW did not have appropriate attire, the Club Class head waiter, Hector, encouraged us not missing it even without appropriate attire. He said Club Class is a family and he understands that this was beyond our control and we are welcomed in the dining room and that includes formal nights.

 

We scheduled 3 days post cruise to Copenhagen, and were glad we did, it is a amazing and walkable city.

 

If you don't want to do the Berlin tour in Warnemunde, there is a kiosk across the street from the dock where rental cars are available. We reserved a car from Europecar and drove to Hamburg which was two hours away. We had time to visit Lubeck and Schwerin on the loop to Hamburg and back. Most of the way to Hamburg is the no speed limit Autobahn. Driving through Rostock on the way back I was glad not to have stayed local.

 

Im glad you were able to see Copenhagen after all! Agreed, Stockholm is worth another visit.

 

Schwerin is beautiful! We took a tour that went there, Wismar and Warnemunde. We did not regret not heading to berlin one bit.

[Micahs Grandad]

Im glad you were able to see Copenhagen after all! Agreed, Stockholm is worth another visit.

 

Schwerin is beautiful! We took a tour that went there, Wismar and Warnemunde. We did not regret not heading to berlin one bit.

 

Perhaps the best part of going to Stockholm is all of the islands you pass by on the way.

[travelbug615]

We are doing this cruise later this month. Can you tell me more about your private St. Petersburg tour. Did you need Rubles to buy lunch? or to tip your Tour Guide? If not what currency did you use? Is it appropriate to tip both the guide and the driver separately? Did you do a one day or two day tour? Did you see any downside to a private tour in St. Petersburg.

 

We have a Princess 2 day St. Petersburg excursion booked, but are considering switching to a private tour instead. We are active and are doing all the other ports with the exception of one on our own.

 

Thanks for any information, I appreciate your review.

[Micahs Grandad]

We are doing this cruise later this month. Can you tell me more about your private St. Petersburg tour. Did you need Rubles to buy lunch? or to tip your Tour Guide? If not what currency did you use? Is it appropriate to tip both the guide and the driver separately? Did you do a one day or two day tour? Did you see any downside to a private tour in St. Petersburg.

 

We have a Princess 2 day St. Petersburg excursion booked, but are considering switching to a private tour instead. We are active and are doing all the other ports with the exception of one on our own.

 

Thanks for any information, I appreciate your review.

 

We did a private two day tour with SPB and was one of the best tours we have ever done.

 

Used a credit card to buy lunch each day never did buy rubles. Tipped guide/driver together using either dollars or pounds do not remember and not a problem to them at all.

 

Much rather do a tour with 15-20 people than 50. SPB head sets were great for walking around.

[azdmelani]

We are doing this cruise later this month. Can you tell me more about your private St. Petersburg tour. Did you need Rubles to buy lunch? or to tip your Tour Guide? If not what currency did you use? Is it appropriate to tip both the guide and the driver separately? Did you do a one day or two day tour? Did you see any downside to a private tour in St. Petersburg.

 

We have a Princess 2 day St. Petersburg excursion booked, but are considering switching to a private tour instead. We are active and are doing all the other ports with the exception of one on our own.

 

Thanks for any information, I appreciate your review.

 

We used SPB. Lunch was included in our tours, we tipped in USD I think (EUR/USD are also widely accepted in Russia). Did their deluxe two day tour with a ballet at night. Would not hesitate to use them again.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We also used SBP in St. Petersburg. Great company to tour with. After reading this post, I'm very glad that we also used them in Stockholm.