Voyager of the Seas: 10nights Stockholm to Copenhagen excursion ideas?

[Janie1229]

I posted this question in the Royal Caribbean forum, but maybe it is better here. I have a cabin on hold for Royal's Voyager of the Seas next summer. I'm looking for ideas/suggestions from cruisers who have gone to these ports (listed below) and booked excursions independently and who they used, if good experience. Obviously right now we don't know if we will be able to book independent of the ship, in which case I'm not sure we will keep the booking as I'd rather wait and have a more personal experience and not go around in a big group. 

 

Stockholm Sweden (arrival)

Tuesday, August 2	Riga, Latvia	7:00am	4:00pm
Wednesday, August 3	Tallinn, Estonia	9:00am	6:00pm
Thursday, August 4	St. Petersburg, Russia	8:00am
Friday, August 5	St. Petersburg, Russia		6:00pm
Saturday, August 6	Helsinki, Finland	8:00am	5:00pm
Sunday, August 7	Visby, Sweden	8:00am	6:00pm
Monday, August 8	Ronne, Bornholm Island, Denmark	8:00am	5:00pm
Tuesday, August 9	At Sea
Wednesday, August 10	Copenhagen, Denmark	5:00am

 

Thanks for any suggestions! 

 

 

[hallasm]

Very interesting itinerary - St. Petersburg is the highlight but Riga, Tallinn, Visby and Rønne are small interesting cities.

 

Rønne is a relatively new cruise destination - my favorite location for holidays in Denmark. 
Some inspiration for Rønne at this link or CruiseBaltic web.
There might find som excursions to some of the major sights - the island is very small - a rental car might also be an option. I’ll be happy to answer questions.

Edited November 5, 2021 by hallasm

[kitkat343]



We sailed the Baltics with a three year old in tow, and were able to easily navigate most ports independently.  We sailed a traditional Baltic itinerary, so I’m not certain of the logistics outside of Tallinn and Helsinki.  In Tallinn, you can walk from the port or take a cab up to the top of Toompea Hill.  I would suggest considering the cab because the next two days of your itinerary are visiting St. Petersburg, and you will want to save your energy.  Tallinn itself is quite lovely, and the best way to explore Tallinn is by walking around.  So you might want to skip the walk uphill, and just meander down, exploring everything.   There are also pedicabs that give tours.

 

In Helskinki, prior to covid, tram 2 gives you a wonderful inexpensive tour of the city, and stops close to Temppeliaukion rock church.  The locals don't know it as rock church in English so try to either write the name down or learn how to pronounce the correct name if you are asking for directions from people on the tram (they were able to read the name on the sheet I printed out of tourist information so we were fine).  It's great to wander through market square and look at the stalls, and the Helsinki cathedral and Upsenski cathedrals were both nearby.  Market square is also where you can catch a ferry to explore the lovely parks in Suomenlinna.  

 

In St. Petersburg, I would strongly suggest a private tour for just your family.  There is so much to see that you don't want to be waiting for anyone else or be beholden to anyone else's agenda.  In the Hermitage, you should identify which works of art/periods of art you are most interested in so you can focus your visit on those.  You will be able to stop and take a much needed break whenever you get tired and will be refreshed later.  I liked Stolle, a chain across St. Petersburg, which has good savory and sweet pies, and its a quick meal so you can go back to touring quickly.  Check out the tour options offered by the major tour companies and research the major attractions so you can customize your tour.  A canal tour is a relaxing break in the middle of hectic touring, and we rushed through the lesser rooms in Catherine’s palace due to our toddler, but I think that was a reasonable choice since they seemed to be fairly repetitive in the middle after awhile, but someone else might love all of them and on a custom tour you can go through as quickly or slowly as you like.  

Edited November 7, 2021 by kitkat343

[Hezu]

7 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

In Helskinki, prior to covid, tram 2 gives you a wonderful inexpensive tour of the city, and stops close to Temppeliaukion rock church.  The locals don't know it as rock church in English so try to either write the name down or learn how to pronounce the correct name if you are asking for directions from people on the tram (they were able to read the name on the sheet I printed out of tourist information so we were fine).  It's great to wander through market square and look at the stalls, and the Helsinki cathedral and Upsenski cathedrals were both nearby.  Market square is also where you can catch a ferry to explore the lovely parks in Suomenlinna. 

Regarding the tram line 2: note that if you are traveling on that line towards Olympia Terminal, althought that is the final stop for that line, it is not a true terminus and the tram continues to the same direction, although with a different line number (3). The same happens also to the opposite direction, so if you jump on line 3 tram towards Olympia Terminal (for example at Helsinki main railway station), it will magically change the line number to 2 there and continue towards Töölö (where you find the "Rock Church"). And for Temppeliaukio church ("Rock church") the closest tram stop is called "Hanken" (after Hanken School of Economics, which has its premises near by). The route planner on HSL site will provide good information about various tram/bus/ferry/train routes around the Finnish capital region. There you can find also information about tickets etc.

 

And Suomenlinna is certainly worth a visit, but if you decide to head there be sure to allow enough time for the visit, especially as the ferry runs in summer months something like 3-4 times per hour and the ferry journey takes 15 minutes. And on the islands that form the sea fortress Suomenlinna there is then no public transport, you have to walk around.