random comments -- Baltic / Century June 2007

[cruisestitch]

Just returned from Baltic cruise on the “new" Century. I’ll leave reviews of the ship to others and am providing some random thoughts and comments about this cruise and ports. We returned home two days ago, so please allow for jet lag!

 

Celebrity booked our air and pre-cruise night in Amsterdam. Our hotel, the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, was quite inefficient at both check in and check out -- there were also conventions at that hotel and lines were long. The in-room television check out feature did not work. Their breakfast buffet was amazing -- the most extensive hotel breakfast I have ever seen. This pre-cruise option was expensive but the location was outstanding. Don’t think I would stay at this hotel again, though.

 

Others on the cruise who booked a pre-cruise night independently stayed at the Movenpick. This hotel is at the cruise terminal, with flat (no stairs!) access to the train station and all the trams. This would be an excellent choice if you are booking your Amsterdam hotel yourself.

 

Our on-board art lecturer, Justin Newell, was outstanding. His preview lectures of the Hermitage art work was a key element in making our visit to the Museum worthwhile. He also offered art tours of the ship. Also, you can check out an audio art tour of Century from the Guest Relations desk and self-schedule an art walk anytime.

 

There was an a cappela quartet on board giving performances (15 minutes or so) at the Cova Cafe between the dinner seatings, as well as elsewhere on the ship through the night. This “casual entertainment” was something we looked forward to each night. I’ve been on one other Celebrity ship which had a roving quartet -- a great idea.

 

The shuttle situation considers to be a source of major annoyance at the Baltic ports. Shuttles were available in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallin, for a fee. When we asked if it is possible to walk from the ship to town, we were generally given shoddy information. They were out to sell shuttle tickets above all else. For instance, several staff said that the Old Town area of Stockholm is too far away to walk, with a large hill in between. I’m a stroller, not a fast walker, and I found that it took almost exactly half an hour to walk to Old Town at my slow pace. It was not “impossible” as the Celebrity staff had told me and there was no hill.

 

Also, on several shore excursions, passengers were told by the local tour guides that they could take the shuttle back to the ship for free if they wanted to stay in town after the tour. This turned out to be false, and passengers were charged for the shuttle. Everyone I talked to expressed a hope that Celebrity will stop charging for shuttles in these ports.

 

In St. Petersburg we only did ship’s tours. On every one there were battery operated radio transmitter/receiver systems so our guides didn’t have to shout. We saw lots of other tour guides around the city and in the Museums who didn’t have these systems and we really appreciated having ours.

 

We found that in Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallin there is a “hop on-hop off “ tourist bus, which of course had never been mentioned on board at all. But beware -- in Stockholm there is only one which leaves from the ship to the city and it goes shortly after the ship’s arrival. You buy tickets in the gift shop at the port which is a real bother, since it’s full of people souvenir shopping at the same time. As the bus pulled away, more people wanted to buy tickets for the next one, only to find out that there wouldn’t be a next one. Mass confusion.

 

We really wish that Celebrity had better in-room tv offerings. We had CNN at every port, but otherwise, most of the channels were devoted to advertisements for on-board acupuncture, gift shops, massages, etc. On the other hand, the shore excursion station, in addition to describing each tour, had a little bit of actual information about each city we stopped in. Century also had an “oldies” station (who in the front office thinks we really want to see the same episodes of “Bonanza” on cruise after cruise?), a movie station, Animal Planet, a cartoon station, one that was something like the Discovery channel and a station that had some CBS re-runs and bits and pieces from various news and variety shows, all of which were months, if not years, old.

 

Our activities staff said that Trivia games aren’t very popular on Baltic routes -- and we found this to be the case. They felt that European cruisers avoided them because they were too full of American-oriented questions. A “British trivia” session did draw about 12 people. They did schedule some trivia games on port days, which were poorly attended (and also offered no prizes, for those of you into collecting lanyards and luggage tags).

 

On our first sea day, we witnessed a medical evacuation by helicopter. The decks were cleared but we could watch most of it from the Hemispheres lounge, as the line was dropped, personnel came down to the ship, the patient was lifted on a stretcher and then his wife was brought up into the helicopter too. It was impressive.

 

Another medical emergency caused a passenger to leave in an ambulance in St. Petersburg. That, frankly, gave me the willies. Of all place to have to be in the hospital, Russia! It made me realize how vital the medical insurance that would cover transfer back home (or anywhere else but Russia!) is.

 

As we left Helsinki, since we were heading for Russia, we were able to take care of our VAT refunds at the gift shop at the pier. Once I realized this, I went back on board and gathered my tax-free receipts from Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm and had them all processed. This was a great convenience.

 

For our post-Russia tax-free purchases, the ship’s staff told us that Dutch Customs officers would come on board to give us the official stamps, but they never showed up. We were glad we had lots of time at the Amsterdam airport to take care of the VAT refund, sincethe signage for the customs office in the check-in area and for the tax-free office after passport control was terrible.

 

For independent travelers, Celebrity was offering the optional express departure -- you could walk off the ship with your bags at approximately 6:30 a.m., ahead of everyone else. Our friends who had driven to Amsterdam used this option and didn’t have to put their bags out the night before.

 

As with all reviews, your mileage may vary.

[Peregrina651]

Cruisestitich -

 

Thank you for sharing your comments. Very helpful. I'm taking notes--and hopefully Celebrity is as well!

 

I will definitely look for the art history lectures -- and hope that the same gentleman is on our cruise.

 

[artemis2238]

Even with jet lag, your write-up was great! Thanks. On the shuttles do we use the Seapass cards to pay or is the currency of the country we are visiting required?

 

Did you visit the Gold Room at the Hermitage? We are going to tour with Red October...in checking with other tour companies, Alla indicated that the docents of the museum had to take the tour thru the Gold Room, and they were hard to understand and bored, so they rushed people through.

 

Did you visit Catherine's Palace and Amber Room?

 

Did you exchange for rubles to buy any of your souvenirs in St. P? If so, did you do so thru the ship...and what sort of fee did they add?

 

As you get rested up, I'll be looking forward to more information!

 

I was hoping Century would have the videos of ports with info on the in room tv...we had that feature on the Constellation two years ago. It was

very helpful...even though I do a lot of reading up before the trip, and

during...

 

Anything you can share is much appreciated :)

[Ine]

<<Others on the cruise who booked a pre-cruise night independently stayed at the Movenpick. This hotel is at the cruise terminal, with flat (no stairs!) access to the train station and all the trams. This would be an excellent choice if you are booking your Amsterdam hotel yourself.>>

 

I agree Movenpick hotel at the terminal is very convenient with a tramstop to Centraal Station and citycenter in front.

However to reach the platform where trains come and go/you must go up 1 floor. Not always will the elevator and escalator work, in that case you must go up/or down the stairs (with your luggage)....

[cruisestitch]

You use your seapass card for the shuttle fares -- you can buy shuttle tickets on board the ship ahead of time or you can just get on the shuttle and give the Celebrity staff member on board your info and it goes on your account.

 

We did go to the Gold Room. Your Alla info is correct in that they are not allowed to guide in the Treasury -- someone from the Hermitage staff does it. There can only be 15 people per guide. We had a terrific guide -- she was young and enthusiastic and spoke English very well. Maybe there are some burned-out guides, but ours was great.

 

We did not go to Catherine's Palace so I can't help there.

 

We never changed money. I went on a "Local Life and Subway" tour. We stopped at a fruit/vegetable/meat market. The only thing I bought there was chocolate bars at one dollar apiece. The people at that stand were happy to take dollars. By the way, toward the end of the cruise, the ship has a "Russian extravaganza" day -- they bring on lots of merchandise and set it up in the Crystal room, so just in case you didn't shop enough in Russia, you can make up for it then. They had the same chocolate bars for three dollars each.

 

When we went to the stores for the various shopping stops, they all took credit cards. Prices were even marked in dollars. Clearly set up for tourists only. They would have taken euros, too.

 

We also stopped at the craft/art/souvenir market across the street from the Church of the Spilled Blood. Every booth accepted dollars, some even would take credit cards.

 

Any more questions, just ask!

 

Katherine

[SAN]

I was on the same cruise as Katherine and I agree with her coments on the cruise. Our entire group had a wonderful time and St. Petersburg was the higlight of the cruise. I would recommend a Baltic cruise to anyone with one exception, try to find an itinerary that includes Oslo. Lithuania was quaint, but can't replace the interesting sites and history found in Oslo.

[cruisestitch]

SAN --

please jump in with your thoughts and memories of the cruise -- there are also a couple of threads going in the roll calls for the remaining Baltic cruises this summer with folks asking lots of good questions -- it's nice to give answers while everything is still fresh!

 

Katherine

[In Toronto]

Thanks so much for your help.

 

Did you go to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm and if so, how did you get there - local bus or ferry? Where did you eat and was it good?

 

We thought that we would go on the Canal cruise in Copenhagen. Any thoughts on that? Again, where did you eat and was it good?

 

There is a 24 hour ticket in Helsinki for 6 euros. Sounds like a really good deal. We thought that we would go on the 3T tram which does a figure 8 through Helsinki (3B tram goes in the opposite direction). We can get off and see a sight and then board again to continue our journey. Again, any thoughts on that? What did you see in Helsinki?

 

Ellen

[drk]

Katherine...your comments on the "shuttles" was true on our around the UK cruise on Century in late May also. They wanted $20pp for a shuttle into Dublin making it sound like you were miles away. We could see the town from the ship and when we got off a local said he could usually walk it faster than drive it due to the traffic. All sidewalks and safe. This has definitely become another profit center for X. Enjoyed your comments...we are looking to do a Baltic cruise in the next year or two.

[cruisestitch]

Hi,

 

In Copenhagen we did the ship's walking tour. It was on a Sunday morning so nothing was open and there was no traffic downtown and it was delightful. Then we had lunch at a place called "Danish Lunch" at the end of the shopping stret closest to Canal Nyhavn. It was pricey but then I think that all food in Copenhagen is pricey. My friend wanted herring and they had several options there. Along Canal Nyhavn there is an array of outdoor cafes -- pleasant places for a snack and a beverage and people watching.

 

In Stockholm she took the ship's tour of the city which included the Vasa, since she had never been to Stockholm and wanted an overview. Other friends on board took the ferry to the Vasa. They caught it somewhere very close to where the ship docks. You need local currency for the ferry. I walked to the old town and shopped all day, and only stopped for an ice cream while I was there. On the main shopping street there is an ice cream place where a girl was making waffle cones by hand and you could watch her make them -- couldn't resist.

 

Your Helsinki ticket idea is a good one but be sure to find out where you will catch the tram. As far as we could tell, no trams or buses went to the pier where we were docked, and it is much too far to walk to the city center. That's why we did the "hop on hop off" tourist bus. It's more money, but it did start and stop at the pier and it had the multilingual headphone recorded tour of the city. If you take the tram, you'll need either the ship's shuttle or a cab to get to it, as far as I know.

 

Katherine

[kwsunset]

I just wanted to add my thoughts on this wonderful trip. The weather was great except for the last sea day which was in the North Sea and got a little rough, especially since the waters were so smooth for the rest of the cruise. It always seemed that when we were on shore the weather was great and when we were at sea it was iffy.

 

As for St. Petersburg, we had a group of 10 from Denrus. We all met originally on the Roll Call and then met in person before our two day tour. Our group was outstanding as was our guide. We saw virturally every major sight, had two great lunches, and a canal tour for about $280pp.

 

I would reccomend them to anyone willing to have two 9 hr days to see the sights. This also brings up the issue of private tours having to wait until the ship tours leave before getting off the ship.

 

NOT TRUE. Even though they tell you that it is the Russian Govt. authority who says so. Balony. As soon as the first tour starts off, you can get off. We were off and in our van by 8:15.

 

We did no tours in any other ports and just explored the sights and museums on our own. If your love adventure, it is a safe and fun way to see much of the Baltic.

 

Thanks again to our great group.

If there our typos, sorry, we are in Newark waiting to go home after 4 days in Amsterdam.

[hylasgirl]

kwsunset... can you tell us more about what you did on your own and how you did it? I am going on the Century and we are doing a private tour in St. Petersburg but I want to do the rest of the stops on our own. Can you tell me about walking times from ports... and public transportation that you used... as well as any currency info?

 

I would love some detailed info on taking the ferry in Stockholm to the Vasa museum. Walking time to ferry... where exactly is that located... how much to cross? Where does it let you off?? And from the Vasa, can you walk to the old town to stroll around and then walk back to the ship... or ferry back?

 

Thanks so much for any info...

[hcat]

Thanks for the updates & esp the reminder about the on board art tour. We just did not have time to do that on our last Century cruise & want to do it next time. We are on the Medit trip (Sept 21st) --just after Century finishes up in the Baltics. If you do not mind I have a few more questions:

Did you get charged VAT for any purchases on baord while in EU countries--if so how did that work?

What time was main seating? How was the food in the diing room?

Did they have an all white event up in the club?

Did you see any of the shows?

Thanks

[Nancynurse]

Hey Catherine...

 

We just got home last night after a few more days in the Amsterdam area. We really enjoyed the cruise and the ports.

 

Just a few comments...

 

Celebrity does try to convice you of the importance of taking their shuttles. We did take their shuttle in Tallin, but that was just because the ankles and knees we getting sore after all of those days on cobblestone streets.

 

We booked our St. Petersburg tours with Alla and found that she lived up to her reputation on the internet.

 

We did go to the Vasa Museum and loved it. We did this on a ship's tour and also found the the rest of the tour to be enjoyable. This was the only Celebrity tour that we took. The Hop on Hop off takes you right to the museum along with all of the other sites. My parents used this service and found that they enjoyed it as much as we did our tour.

 

We loved Tallin more than any other port. I just wish we had more time in that port.

 

They did have an "All White" function in one of the lounges. I believe that was the night of the chocolate buffet?

 

We enjoyed the quartet and looked for them all around the ship. We also enjoyed the band.

 

The food was excellent. A little too good at times. Will have to spend a great deal of time on the treadmill to work it off. Our wait staff was fantastic and we had a great time each day with them.

 

Catherine...Glad you made it home safely...hope to cruise with you again sometime.

 

Nancy

 

Nancy

[wiseguy]

Thanks for the great information! We'll be sailing on the Century July 19th! The info you provided is excellent! Keep it coming!

 

As I posted on the roll-call boards, I have a few questions.

 

How formal was formal night...informal night...casual night.....I have never sailed Celebrity before. On past cruises I have found that I worried too much about the dress codes as you saw every kind of dress in the dining rooms each night.

 

Any specifics for those of us who will be exploring/walking the ports on our own?

 

Any advice for us? Any "Must-sees" or "Skip Its"

 

Any helpful information would be appreciated!

18 days!

Paul

[ACCagent]

I really enjoyed reading your comments as we were on this same cruise a year ago. I was so surprised to see about there not being much trivia because there was some kind of game/trivia about every 45 minutes on our cruise and they were very well attended. It was probably one of the best cruises I've been on for trivia so I hate to see that go away.

[cruisestitch]

The shops on board ship are tax free -- no VAT charged. Of course, they are only open at sea, not in the ports.

 

Dinners times were 6 pm and 8:30 pm

 

I'm perhaps not a good person to ask about the shows. When I see a microphone attached to a violin, I run the other way. I find the choreography frenetic at the production shows and this "Around the World" show or whatever it was called contains material I find downright odd, and occasionally offensive in its stereotypes. In light of the recent US immigration debate, what exactly is the point of "We're Comin' To America" or whatever that song is called. So, I just don't go to the shows. EXCEPT that I snuck in at the end of what to see the aerialist duo. They were amazing.

 

I have a really busy schedule for the next couple of days so may not be able to post -- please do keep asking questions and I'll get back to you...

 

Katherine

[hcat]

Thanks for the updates....anyone traveling before Sept--hope you'll keep this thread going.

[kwsunset]

For those who want to do the Baltic ports (excluding St. Petersburg) or for that matter any European Ports on their own go to europeportreviews.com. They are a great source of information and excellent walking tours of the ports. I only looked at the Baltic and it helped us to find the sights we wanted to see. The only port not explained was Klipeda and it is small and enjoyable without too much information.

 

We ate at a local restaurant in Klipeda a local dish that turned out to be deep fried mashed potatoes with a tiny amount of meat in it. I don't want to think what that did to my arteries.

 

Michael

[BurBunny]

For those who want to do the Baltic ports (excluding St. Petersburg) or for that matter any European Ports on their own go to europeportreviews.com. They are a great source of information and excellent walking tours of the ports. I only looked at the Baltic and it helped us to find the sights we wanted to see. The only port not explained was Klipeda and it is small and enjoyable without too much information.

 

We ate at a local restaurant in Klipeda a local dish that turned out to be deep fried mashed potatoes with a tiny amount of meat in it. I don't want to think what that did to my arteries.

 

Thanks for the recommendation, Michael. One of the worst laid out web sites I've ever seen (with too much space being given to the ads for revenue, for example, making it difficult to locate the actual text links), but some good information there.

 

Any chance you remember the name of that dish in Klaipeda? ;)

[canlobef]

Hi Catherine, what a great thread, i was on the June 3 Baltic cruise and had a great time. Yeah, a lot of passengers were upset w/ the itinerary change from Oslo to Klaipeda. While Klaipeda was nice, there's not a whole lot to see, we went to Palanga, the Amber museum, and the beach, plus you couldnt buy anything because most the shops won't even take your dollars or euros or even credit cards. It was even addressed on the captain's meeting and Captain Pagonis' response was it was a corporate decision, i was thinking it may be due to a separate cruise along the Norwegian fjords that prompted this itinerary change, but anyways, i put a member review under angelcruiser, check it out guys.. How was the weather? It was a bit chilly and foggy on sea days but sunny and mild on port days. oh, and it was weird that they would charge you guys for the shuttle back to the ship because they didnt charge us as long as we have our excursion stickers on. My favorite ports, Stockholm, Talinn, and St. Petersburg..and of course Amsterdam. All in all, it was a great cruise. Angel:cool:

[highworth]

Hi..just posted the below on the Baltic board but will put it here for anyone interested..

 

Hi everyone,

I have just returned from a 14 night cruise on the Constellation in the Baltic and will give a few notes about the ports etc and what my experience was...

Stayed at the Penny Farthing B&B in Dover the night before the start of the cruise. It was a really nice, comfortable place with a very helpful owner. She booked a cab to take us to the ship on the Saturday morning. Breakfast is an additional 4 pounds each but it was a very good breakfast.

The ship looked great....could not find a thing wrong with her.

Oslo....went to Frogner Park which was well worth the visit. Took a cab which cost 200 krone for 4 people. On the way back took the tram (either #10 or 15) which cost 30 krone per person!! The park is open 24/7 and does not cost anything to get in. However, you always need change for the washrooms.Back in the town, walked around, went to the Royal Palace. Make sure you go into the City Hall (40 krone entrance fee) to see beautiful mosaics.

Stockholm...the sail into port is beautiful through the archpalago. We had a balcony cabin and used it a fair bit especially for the entrances to port early morning and of course late into the night (land of the midnight sun!), watching some beautiful sunsets immediately followed by the sunrise. I add this because I know a lot of people wonder if its worth it on this port intensive cruise. We (our group was 14) decided to take the hop on, hop off boat. Once off the ship we were misdirected and went and got a cab which took us into the centre of the town where we then caught the boat. What we found out was there was a stop for this hop on, hop off boat right alongside the Constellation!! As you come off the ship follow the blue line to your left and you will come to the stop.This boat costs 100 krone per person and runs every hour. Its an ideal way of going to all the main places such as the Vasa museum, Royal Palace etc. This boat cost 100 krone per person and they take credit cards. Time is a bit limited at this place and because the boat runs hourly you should hop on and off right away rather than take it all the way around first. Actually with the stop right by the ship we used the ship for lunch which worked out really well!

Helsinki...here we went by the ships shuttle ($12) to the town and then caught the sightseeing double decker bus. The shuttle stops right next to it and it runs 3 times a day (10.10am, 10.50am and 1pm). It costs 22 euros per adult and you get assigned seats. There are stops for viewing with a couple of longer stops. It was very good and we got off at the Market Square at the end where you can get really good lunches and where its a hub of activity with stalls selling anything and everything. We had crepes for lunch costing 6-7 euros each. Of note here there is a hop on, hop off bus right at the dock..its a #16 and costs 22 each person which would have worked out cheaper.

St Petersburg...had a 2 day tour booked through Alla. For anyone who worries that Alla is a relatively new operation...DO NOT WORRY. It was fantastic. No problem getting off the ship on time. They took the information ahead of time from people with private tours and had us meet at a seperate place on the ship and then led us off after the ship was cleared. Alla was there herself on the first day to make sure everyone was met and placed with drivers and tour guides and she was also there at the end of the second day to see everyone and also give each couple a really good cd of St Petersburg. We had a tour guide named Elena and the driver was Andre. They were great. We saw everything!!! Both days we had lunches which our guide would talk to us about and then phone Alla who would then have everything ready when we arrived at the resturant so there were no long waits. Both days the lunch was 20$ per person and actually we decided that as couples we would share one meal between us, mainly because we had all had large breakfasts and would be having a good supper on the ship. It was plenty and most of us felt that it was fine this way. Water costs an extra dollar. Our 2 days with Alla cost 240$ per person (there were 14 of us) and we tipped in the usual percentage fashion. We gave the tips seperately to the guise and driver (70% to the guide and 30% to the driver). Beware of pickpockets...they are operating everywhere...

Taillen...easy to walk to the walled city and a great place to wander around, shops to look in and good eating places. Once again remember that all washrooms require money!!

Warnemunde..we opted for a private tour in Berlin. We booked with the Original Berlin Walks and had a great day. There were the 14 of us and we were picked up dockside before 7.30am by a driver in a large bus!! It is definately a good 3 hour drive into Berlin. Once there we were met by a really nice and informative guide...she was an American girl studying for her Phd. Our 5 hours were packed with information and we saw all the important sights. We decided to head back by 4pm in order to make sure we got back OK. This tour cost 1010 euros for the 14 of us. We had to pay half up front and the rest on the day of the tour.Interestingly a large number of people travelling by train were late because of an accident and forunetly for those travelling on thier own there were also a couple of ships tours on that train to it waited for them!! Make sure you are out on deck for the sail away here...hundreds line the dock to wave farewell and the sound system plays very beautiful music..it is a sight I will never forget.

Copenhagen...our first day there poured with rain..literally sheets of rain and it really wasn't worth getting off the ship. Fortunately we spent another day in Copenhagen because the weather was such that it was too dangerous to tender into the next port (interestingly enough it was the 2nd cruise in a row that this had happened). The hop on, hop off bus comes directly to the port and stops either in front of the shops or near the turn around to the right as you get off the ship. Its a very easy way to see the best of Copenhagen.

Transportation back to London, we used Portcullis which was great..very reliable and at a good rate.

 

 

So...this is rather short but am still a little jet lagged. The final 48hrs around Heathrow was somewhat of a nightmare!!!!

Ask any questions and I will see if I can help...all you lucky people who have this trip ahead of them!

Pat

 

PS You can tell I'm tired as I just posted this on the wrong link..the Northern Europe one and I don't know how to remove it or change it...

[c-legs]

:) Good evening,

Thanks for your interesting feedback.

With tipping for the onboard crew : did you tip in Euros or US$ ? I'm obvioulsy talking about extra tips , the non ''shipboard automatic''tips.

Are the slot machines calibrated for Euros or us$ ??

 

Thanks

Cheers

;)

[cruisestitch]

The casino, as well as all on board shops, is dollar based.

 

For "extra" cash tips either currency will do and will be appreciated.

 

Katherine

[kwsunset]

Burrbunny: I never knew what the dish was called. The menu had pictures and it fell under the title of Pancakes. I thought it would be a thin potato pancake, but it wasn't. After eating it I asked the waitress if she eats this local dish and she said "No, it would make me fat." She wasn't.

 

Michael