Just returned from Baltic (Constellation, June 5-19, 2004) Brief Report/Any ???

[Selly]

My husband and I returned from our Baltic cruise on the Constellation last weekend (Dover, Oslo, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Gdansk, Warnemuende, Copenhagen, Dover). Briefly this is what we did in the ports:

 

Oslo: Bought the Oslo Card for free admission to museums and free public transport. There is a 20% price reduction for cruise ship passengers at the terminal. Took the ferry to the "museum island". We first visited the open air museum – buildings from all over Norway collected and rebuilt here – an old city with working craftspeople, a Viking village, and even an apartment building complete with furniture from Oslo's inner city. We almost felt like intruders here because items of clothing where still hanging up, food was laid out in the kitchens, the TV was left on, etc. (Find where the bedroom is in the student's TINY apartment.) I would recommend this museum highly, especially if you have children with you.

 

Of the three ship museums on the island, we planned to visit the Fram Museum as you actually board this ship. The tiny cabins have plaques outside with the names of their illustrious passengers (Amundsen, among others). As we had the time and free admission with the Oslo Card, we also popped into the Kontiki and Viking Museums, but really the Fram was the best of the bunch. The Viking Museum was incredibly full – we saw many groups from the ship there.

 

In the afternoon, we visited the Munch Museum (The Scream) as we had planned, and the Akershus (not planned, but again we had the time and the "Card", and it is right next to the ship).

 

St. Petersburg: We booked an independent tour with Palladium Tours and applied for visas. Everything worked out well – Palladium met us punctually at the port gate and the driver and guide were informative, helpful and friendly. We arranged beforehand to visit Catherine's Palace (Amber Room) and the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory on the way back to the city. Along the way, our guide gave us an erudite running commentary of what we were passing and a history of the city. We were on our own after they dropped us off at the Nevsky Prospekt. In the next day-and-a-half we visited the Hermitage (where we decided not to go in as there were masses of tours going on and it was stinking hot inside even on this coolish day – we bought postcards and a book instead), the Russian Museum (recommended by our tour guide because here you can see Russian art as opposed to the European art in the Hermitage – also bought postcards and a book as we were so impressed), the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral (where the Romanov tsars are entombed), Church of the Spilled Blood (cool architecture and a great little market outside), went shopping, took a boat ride along the canals, had a haircut, got pushed through a crowded outdoor market, rode on the metro, tram and bus, etc.

 

This was meant to be a brief report but it is taking longer than I expected. I will continue over the weekend.

 

I have kept all the brochures, timetables, transport options, prices, etc., from the cities we visited, so if you have any questions, just fire away.

[IRIS FAYE]

What did you visit while in Copenhagen? I have most of my trip planned, but trying to get all the info. I can on the Copenhagen excursions. Thanks Iris

[mek]

Seely - I was on the Grand Princess in the Baltic the same time frame as you . Actually, it was very nice inside all of the palaces when we were in St Petersburg on the 12th and 13th. It's funny because I was thinking about this exact thing today. As you well know, the weather in the Baltic was not ideal the 10 days you and I were there, however, our days in Russia were perfect. I imagine later in the season when the weather is nicer in all of the other ports, it does get extremely hot in the museums in St Petersburg, so I decided today, I very happy we went when we did. I wish it hadn't rained, but it didn't keep me from seeing most of the sights. And I'm sorry we missed Germany because it's been a while since we were there, but Russia was the main event, and it exceeded all of my expectations! I can't wait to go back and see more of St Petersburg and also Moscow.

[Selly]

Iris Faye: We didn't take a ship excursion as it is an easy city to walk on your own. The Copenhagen Card would be a good buy as it includes all transport and most museums. What is particularly interesting if your ship stays overnight is that it is a 24-hour card, i.e. if you buy it at midday on your first day, it is good until midday on your second. People who took the ship shuttle tour to Tivoli said it was enjoyable but very cold at night.

 

mek: Our captain managed to dock at Warnemuende despite the wind. Cruisers who walked along the beach said that they got sand-blasted, but in town away from the wind the weather was pleasant. Like you, we really enjoyed the itinerary despite the weather and, as there is so much to see, we are seriously thinking about repeating the cruise next year.

 

Ports (contd.)

 

Helsinki: Constellation provided a shuttle to the bus stop opposite the Stockman department store. There had been a lecture on the ship about the 3T/3B tram, which traces a figure eight around Helsinki, taking you back where you started, and passing all the interesting tourist sights on the way. As it rained all day, we decided to take the tram. We were not thrilled – Helsinki is a relatively new city, so didn't have the cobblestone patchwork of streets that we love to wander around. We spent some time in Stockman's to get an impression of current Scandinavian design – my first dinner service back in the 1970s was Finnish. I saw lots of appealing objects but – wow – the prices are sky high.

 

Stockholm: Due to high winds the port was closed to ships of the Constellation's size because of the many narrow passages between the islands of the archipelago. Instead the captain managed to anchor off Nynashamm and arranged shuttle buses into Stockholm 30-40 miles away. We visited the Ice Bar (where the names of the drinks all begin with Absolut), the Royal Palace (changing of the guard) and the old town. Discovered a quiet cafe on the water below the Palace – go down the steps at the Norrbro Bridge, where you will find the cafe, a park and the interesting-looking museum of medieval Stockholm (unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside).

 

A couple we met on the ship decided not to shuttle into Stockholm and spent their day in Nynashamm. They were delighted and said it was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

Gdynia (Gdansk): A shuttle was provided from the port into Gdynia. From the drop-off it is a 10-15 minute walk to the railway station, where you can catch a suburban train into the centre of Gdansk. We really enjoyed the picturesque city – the pedestrian zone is lined with tall, narrow 14th century houses – and you can buy amber too. Our time here was too short as we had to take the train back. I thought we would have been better advised to have taken one of the ship's tours excursion but people who did said that it was also rushed.

 

Rostock: Chose not to take the 3-hour-plus trip to Berlin. Instead we took the metro into Rostock (approx. 20 minutes) and shopped in the old town. (First stop was a bratwurst stand.) In the afternoon we strolled around the quaint seaside village at Warnemuende. Lots of souvenir shops, waterfront restaurants and bars, and a small market at the pier.

 

Copenhagen: The Constellation stayed overnight in Copenhagen. We were docked at Langelinie, where a row of warehouses have been converted in shops. There was a shuttle bus into town but you can actually walk along the quay (you will pass the Little Mermaid, a fortress, and English church, and the Amalienborg Palace before reaching Nyhavn (waterfront restaurants and cafes) and the pedestrian shopping zone in the old city. Most people spent the evening in the Tivoli gardens but we have friends who live in Copenhagen and we spent the evening at their home.

 

Needless to say, a cruise was an ideal way to tour the Baltic, the Constellation is a great ship, the service was excellent, food too, and we were lucky to sit with the nicest people in the dining room. What more could we ask!

[Kruzrazkal]

Hi! I just wanted to say that I sailed with you on the Constellation. We (my family and I) share your enthusiasm for the ports we visited. We agree that we were not in Gydynia (Gydansk) long enough to take in the sights without feeling very rushed. Perhaps Celebrity will add an hour or two to the schedule there in the future. It was indeed very windy in Warnemunde, but thankfully, as you noted, the weather improved greatly inland. We took the ship's tour to Berlin via the train. It was a wonderful day, and the weather was quite pleasant in Berlin. We enjoyed Copenhagen a great deal, but we think Tivoli Gardens is somewhat overrated. It's pretty, but there are plenty of similar amusement parks and gardens in the States.

[travelingmcmahans]

I have some Palladium questions... did you guide eat your meals with you, and if so, did you pay for their meals? Did you pay for their admission into all the museums etc, and did they pay the "local" price? These are questions I have asked Palladium, but have not been answered, although they have been fantastic about everything else. Just trying to work up the budget to figure out how much $$$ we need.

Any other input on Palladium? Thanks for the info!!

[Selly]

kruzrazkal: I wonder whether we met at the Cruise Connections Party? It is impossible to talk to everyone present in the space of half-an-hour. And on a big ship you practically never bump into the same person twice. I enjoyed the fact that it was a Reunion cruise, although it was not the reason we booked it, but the little gifts that appeared on our bed at night were a thoughtful touch.

 

travelingmcmahans: We booked a 5-hour tour with Palladium so the question of lunch did not arise. Our idea was to see how comfortable we felt about being on our own in St. Petersburg. If we decided it was OK, we would spend the rest of the time on our own; if not, we felt that we could probably extend the tour and ask Palladium to pick us up again the next day. In the event, we didn't encounter any problems and asked Palladium to drop us off on Nevsky Prospekt. Concerning admission to Catherine's Palace, at our request Palladium ordered tickets for us in advance and our guide did not need a ticket. There were masses of tourist groups assembling in some sort of order in front of the entrance to the Palace and it was almost embarassing when our guide jumped the queue and arranged for us to be slipped in before the next tour group.

 

Palladium gave us the option of picking us up at the ship or at the port gate, which is about 2 miles away. They need a special pass to enter the port and would have charged us $25 extra, but were fair enough to say that we could get a taxi for about $5 – 10 instead. We actually took the free port shuttle, which was standing at the bus stop a few yards away from passport control. Palladium met us dead on time at the port gate in a German air-conditioned car. Our driver did not speak English, but our guide, who was a teacher, had an excellent vocabulary. He told us that he works as a tour guide during the school holidays. He lectured us on the Romanov tsars whilst we were inside the palace and afterwards in the car he recapped the succession (I guess that was the teacher coming through). Both guide and driver were friendly and polite, and we were totally satisfied with the quality of the tour. During the planning my emails were usually answered within hours, and the documents we needed to obtain visas were faxed promptly. I would definitely use Palladium again.

 

If you are interested, on the way from the Palace to the city centre, our driver swung by the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. We had not organized a tour there but you can view some beautiful workmanship in the showroom, and we purchased some quality souvenirs here at factory prices (bone china mocca cups, a tea-pot, and various covered mugs and saucers). We also purchased souvenirs at the markets at the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Spilled Blood Church, and on Nevsky Prospekt at the department store at Gostinyy Dvor station and Jelissjew, the art deco deli close by at No. 56.

 

Hope this answers some of your questions and that you enjoy St. P. as much as we did.

Greetings, Selly

[travelingmcmahans]

Thank you so much for you helpful answers! :-)

[John&Betty1539128129]

Hi Selly,

 

We have enjoyed your great reports on St Petersburg. We are going in May next year and are still trying to find out about the visa thing. Did you get your visas in advance, or did your tour company get them? If the tour company got them were they good for you to go places on your own? Do you have an e-mail address for Palladium?

 

Thanks

[Selly]

john&betty: We got independent visas two months before the cruise. We booked a tour with Palladium, who then faxed us the official confirmation that we needed to obtain the visas. Palladium did not charge us for the confirmation itself (we paid them for the tour in U.S. dollars at the end of the tour). With the visas in our passports, we were free to leave the ship whenever we pleased. Going through passport control was not a big deal – they glanced at our visas and waved us on our way.

 

My understanding is that if you book a tour with a company like Red October who supply visas you cannot leave the ship on your own. I imagine they retain the paperwork for group visas – it is not in your passport.

 

We particularly wanted the freedom to be able to take a tour or go off on our own so Palladium suited us better. Their email address is: palladium@online.ru

[John&Betty1539128129]

Hi again Selly,

 

Sorry to be a pest, but could you tell us what was involved in getting your visas? Did you have to mail your passports to the Russian Embassy? if so where? How long did it take? I understand they cost $100 per person.

 

Thanks,

[Selly]

John&Betty: I am English and live in Munich, Germany. There is a Russian Consulate right here in Munich, so I applied for the visas in person, and paid 35 euros each. That was the price if you applied at least 3 weeks in advance – the faster you want the visas, the more they cost. There was quite a lot of paperwork: visa application form, photo, confirmation letter and voucher from a Russian tour operator (both faxed free of charge by Palladium), passport and payment. Your passports stay at the Consulate for 3 weeks. But once I had all the forms together, the process was fairly automatic, and our passports were waiting to be picked up on the date they gave me.

 

For us, it was worth going to the trouble of obtaining visas because of the independence it gave us in St. Petersburg. We saw so many tourists straining to keep up with their groups, whilst we could just take a quiet break in a beer garden whenever we wished.

 

Please feel free to ask any further questions. I learned so much from these boards and am only too happy to return the favour.

 

Best wishes, Selly

[John&Betty1539128129]

Hi Selly,

 

We live near San Francisco and there is a Russian Embassy there where we can apply for our visas. We also prefer to avoid the large tour groups.

 

We were about 260 kilometers from Munich this May at a small hotel in Walenstadt Switzerland near Liechtenstein. We rented a Hertz car at Heathrow, went through the channel tunnel, exchanged the car for a left side drive and drove down from there. Hertz calls it the "Le Swap" program. Worked pretty slick.

 

Thanks again for the info.

[LindaF]

We are going to St. Petersburg in Sept. After filling out the long visa forms and getting our visa support letters from Viking and Palladium , we sent our passports and $100 to the San Francisco Consulate. We got our Visas in a little more than a week. We used Federal Express and because we set up an account(no charge) The consulate was able to send our visas back with no problem. The return was charged to our account.

Lindaf

[John&Betty1539128129]

We stopped by the Russian Embassy in San Francisco this morning to ask some questions about the application form we downloaded from the Internet. We got there about 9:30, thirty minutes after they open, and there were about 30 people in line in front of the one visa window. We decided not to wait.

 

 

 

I thought I wanted the flexibility of having our own visa, but that plus the $100 fee per person makes companies like Red October and VenRus that supply a visa as part of the tour look better and better. I’m going to need a really good reason continue working on getting our own.

[ASW Europa]

Hi Selly,

 

I wondered if you used the internet on Contellation? How was it, and how much does it cost?

 

Alicia

[Selly]

John&Betty: Have to agree with your logic. And if you can throw in your own requests and tailor the tours of the Russian companies to suit your wishes it will be as good as doing it on your own.

It's a pity you didn't get to Munich – it's a great place to live. Haven't been through the Channel Tunnel myself. Now that air fares are so low we fly to England rather than taking the long drive.

 

ASW Europe: Internet use on board the Constellation costs 50 cents per minute. I didn't use it myself but many people complained that it was very slow.

You might be interested to know that the Galleria shopping mall in Helsinki (next to the Kamp Hotel) offers free internet use. There are stands throughout the mall with wireless computers and there was no waiting (after all, Finland is the home of Nokia "connecting people"). I also used the internet in Rostock – on the upper level of a mall – the cost was 2 euros per hour. This seemed to be about general for the Baltic area.

[ASW Europa]

Selly,

 

Thank you for your internet info, that was a great piece of info.

 

Did you buy the Copenhagen card? Does it gives you free rides on all public transportations including the S-tog?

 

Thanks,

Alicia

[Selly]

ASW Europa: We did not buy the Copenhagen Card because we visited friends in Copenhagen and did not feel that the card would be worth our while. But I did pick up a brochure as we want to do this cruise again. The brochure states that travel on the S tog (suburban train) is included. The price of the card is DKK 199 / Euro 29.

[Selly]

Yesterday I heard on the news that "The Scream" and "Madonna" were stolen from the Munch Museem in Oslo - during opening hours. It's hard to imagine that the thieves can sell such famous works ...

[Live the good life]

Hi Selly,

We enjoyed reading your posts very much; they answered a lot of our questions with regards to the Baltic ports, tours, internet use, food, etc...

Our family of 3 will be sailing on the Constellation in July 2005, and would like to know more about entertainment/music on this ship...We got a few very helpful answers from a few other cruisers, but would appreciate every bit more information...Were there music and people by the pool (although we heard it is usually not very sunny in the Baltic)? etc...

Thanks, Kim

[eddie]

Our group has booked the constellation for 5/21/05 We were given the standard iteniary 2 nights in Copenhagen,Oslo etc We just received the 05 cruise book from Celebrity IT now shows 2 iteniaries for the Baltic Our cruise has been modified It is only 1 night in Copenhagen ,it also drops Oslo and Poland It adds Lithuania,Latvia and Helsinki.Additionally there are 10 straight days of ports and at the end you get 2 sea days our cruise is shown as Scandanavia,Russia and the baltics. The alternating cruise is entitled Scandanavia,Russia and Classical Europe