Help us decide between 2 Baltic cruises

[katmu]

My adult son and I are looking at 2 Baltic cruises for 2025.  I prefer the Holland America Rotterdam itinerary as it has an overnight in Stockholm, a late night in Tallinn and stops in Oslo.  He prefers the Celebrity Eclipse itinerary as it leaves from Amsterdam instead of Rotterdam, and visits 7 ports in 12 days vs. 8 ports in 14 days.  The itineraries are below.

 

Holland America Rotterdam

Day 1 Rotterdam 3:00 PM

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Oslo, Norway 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Day 4 Aarhus, Denmark 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Day 5 Warnemunde, Germany 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Day 6 At Sea

Day 7 Tallinn, Estonia 9:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Day 8 Helsinki, Finland 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Day 9 Stockholm, Sweden 8:00 AM -

Day 10 Stockholm, Sweden           - 5:00 PM

Day 11 At Sea

Day 12 Kiel, Germany 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Day 13 Copenhagen, Denmark 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Day 14 Rotterdam, Holland 7:00 AM

 

Celebrity Eclipse

Day 1 Amsterdam 5:00PM

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Warnemunde, Germany 9:00 AM - 11:30 PM

Day 4 At Sea

Day 5 Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland  7:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Day 6 Visby, Sweden 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Day 7 Tallinn, Estonia 8:30 AM - 8:00 PM

Day 8 Helsinki, Finland  7:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Day 9 Stockholm, Sweden 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM

Day 10 At Sea

Day 11 Copenhagen, Denmark 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Day 12 Amsterdam, Holland 6:00 AM

 

Thank you.

 

[CruiserBruce]

The overnight is Stockholm, and the sail in and out of Oslo and Stockholm are great aspects.

[John Bull]

Firstly check the name of the port for Stockholm.

 @CruiserBruce has mentioned  the sail in and out - it's several hours of glorious sailing thro the archipelago of islands, most so close that you feel you could reach out & touch the trees - one of the world's most glorious sail-ins. Best location in Stockholm is along Stadsgardshamnen, if berthed at Frihamnen it's a little less convenient.

But if the itinerary mentions Nynashamn that's on the coast - not only is it an hour from Stockholm, it's also too big to go thro that wonderful sail-in. 

 

We've not been to Oslo

Amsterdam is far & away the better turnaround port - well worth a few extra days pre or post-cruise.

At least one overnight in port is always welcome, cities are different day & evening.

If you want to visit Berlin from Warnemunde it's about 3 hours away.

Better to save Berlin for a worthwhile 3 - 4 day visit at some time in the future, but if that's not likely you want as many hours in port as possible - both itineraries give more-generous time in port than most cruises.

We've sailed thro the Kiel Canal - not particularly attractive.

 

The deciding factor for me would be that Stockholm sail-in.

But if both port in the city or both port in Nynashamn that's no help at all.🙄

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 27 by John Bull

[katmu]

Both ships are listed as Stockholm not Nynashamn, as that was one of the first things I was looking for.

 

I was planning that for either cruise we would spend probably 3 nights in Amsterdam pre-cruise.  The Holland America cruise ends on a Saturday so we would look to fly back either on Sunday or Monday so I would need to decide to do with the extra time.

 

We have Prussian (Pomeranian) ancestry so exploring the area near Warnemunde is something that interests me.

[kitkat343]

It's more convenient leaving from Amsterdam, but Stockholm was definitely a city I would have liked to have spent more than one port day.  When it is just one day, everyone gets up early for the sail in and then everyone is trying to rush off the ship when it first docks.  So I remember that as being a pretty stressful day since we started running around early and kept going all day long since there was so much to see in Stockholm.  If you do pick the cruise with just one day in Stockholm, make sure you have all your tickets and transportation arranged in advance.  You can use public transportation to get around, just buy the card ahead of time. 

 

I like the fact that both ships have long days in Tallinn, which was another favorite on the Baltic cruise.  We had a really nice lunch there, and that would be a great place to also enjoy a leisurely dinner and get to stroll around at night.

[puppycanducruise]

While it is easy to get to Amsterdam and there is lots to see there, it's only a short train ride to Rotterdam.  Sailing down the river from the cruise port to the sea is lovely.

[John Bull]

19 hours ago, katmu said:

Both ships are listed as Stockholm not Nynashamn, as that was one of the first things I was looking for.

 

 

👍👍👍

 

JB 🙂

[Thejuggler]

The sail in and out of Oslo and two days in Stockholm is difficult to say no to. Both lovely cities with plenty to see and do.  Gdansk and Visby are places I'd need to really research and be convinced they offer more than those two do.

 

Its so easy to get from Rotterdam to Amsterdam so I wouldn't see that as an inconvenience.  Trains every 5-10 minutes and only a 45 minute trip.

[katmu]

We’ve decided on the Rotterdam cruise.  The 2 days in Stockholm ended up being the deciding factor.

[MAVIP]

On 3/28/2024 at 2:12 PM, katmu said:

We’ve decided on the Rotterdam cruise.  The 2 days in Stockholm ended up being the deciding factor.

And I would like to add: We like Aarhus too.....