Port Info for Regatta Baltic Cruise

[CHUCKSAUNT]

Hi,

My husband and I are going on the July 14th Baltic Cruise on the Regatta. I'd like to know if anyone else has taken this cruise and if it is feasible to tour the cities at port on our own. Also, has anyone any suggestions about the Oceania tour options? Are any of them interesting and worth the money. I'm not done yet :) We are going to St. Petersburg and want to know which way to go, the Oceania tours or Alla tours. Oceania doesn't have clear cut times or dates so it makes it difficult to choise tours. I'd appreciate any help I could get. Thank you ahead of time. This is my first time posting, thanks for the patience.

[Jancruz]

Are you going on the July 14 this year? Most of the ports on that cruise you can do on your own..many have hop on hop off busses..these are especially good in Copenhagen..

If you will writie the ports you are interested in many on this board will be happy to help you..

Jan

*****

[CHUCKSAUNT]

Hi,

Yes we are going on the July 14th cruise on the Regatta leaving out of London. We will be stopping in Bruiges, Amsterdam, Berlin (but won't be taking that trip, will want to see towns closer to the port) Copenhagen, Gdnask, Helsinki, Saint Petersburg, Tallinn and Stockholm. I'd appreciate any suggestions about touring these cities as we'd like to see with without tours if possible. If it isn't could you suggest any tours on Oceania that you found interesting. Also any suggestions about St. Petersburg? Thanks so much.

[LHT28]

there is a roll call for your cruise you may want to check in and see if you can join a tour etc...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=421227

 

Copenhagen is a nice walkable town in the city centre

Tallin take a taxi to the town again a good walking town

Helsinki we took a tour to Sibelius house & the park and went to one of the small music schools for a concert ..not sure if Oceania offers such a tour or if it the type of tour you would be interested in.

[wripro]

My most important suggestion is for St. Petersburg where I recommend getting a private guide and driver for your tours of the city. This is best done through a company like Red October or Denrus who handle everything, eliminate the need for a visa, and you can design your days as you see fit. In the end it probably winds up costing less than seeing all the same things through ship excursions. The only problem is that you are very close to departure date and I am not sure if there is enough time for them to get you your first days tickets, which will act as a visa when you disembark. Still it's worth a try. Just google Red October or Denrus, email them, explain the situation and see what they have to say. It really is the best way to go. They take you right to the head of the line at every sight, you have your own guide and if you want to change something just say so. Bon voyage!

[Kane]

ChuckSaunt, can't comment on all of the cities on your voyage but have a few comments. We also prefer self-exploration and did that on the cities you mention on the Baltic with the exception of Gdansk and St. Petersburg. We took O tours on those two.

 

For St. Petersburg we were also late and unable to hook-up with folks that had pre-arranged tours. We tried Denrus and Red October but were unwilling to book private guides for only two of us.

 

We really only wanted "S/P 101" and not a custom tour. The two O tours we took were surprisingly excellent and don't think you will be disappointed if this is what you do. The guides, who were superior, provide radio headsets to everyone and you can hear their narration clearly as you go through the various venues ... they got us in early ahead of large crowds.

 

We also did "O" for Gdansk because I couldn't quite figure out the transportation system in advance. In retrospect, it would have been difficult to see what we did on our own because the venues were distant and scattered from where the ship docked, which was not where originally planned because of heavy seas. It was just o.k. ... we just didn't find Gdansk facinating.

[California Native]

I have wandered over to the oceania board in hopes of finding out more regarding this line..my mom and I have been cruising for over 30 years since I was a little one and have thought about reducing our number of cruises but jumping up to Oceania...

 

I always like to contribute when I can...

 

If you going to the Princess Cruise Lines Star Princess roll call of 5/22

if you will find a WEALTH of information on these ports.

 

I recently returned from the Baltic itinerary and 2 years ago did a B2B on the same itinerary...

 

Many of the ports you mention I went to..I provided a TON of info on this thread including how to do the ports on your own and lists of things to do ...

 

My dh and I splurged on a private tour for 2 with Red October...not economical....BUT worth every single

penney!!! We would recommend scrimping elsewhere but doing that!!!!

 

follow the posts from where2next and latitude 22 (both me) I believe you will have quite a few of your questions answered.

 

Have a wonderful journey!

 

K.

[Andee]

We have found Brugges, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm very easy to tour on our own. Often I find self-guided walking tours in guidebooks by Fodors, Frommers or Rick Steves that we enjoy.

 

In St. Petersburg, we used Red October and had a wonderful two days. They were quite willing to personaloze their standard itinerary to our interests.

[Jancruz]

Remember some of these cities Copenhagen and Helsinki come to mind have very convenient hop on hop off busses that we have used many times..

so try them!

Jan

*****

[CHUCKSAUNT]

I can't thank you all enough for the wealth of information. You have been so helpful. Thanks again for you time and interest, it is much appreciated.

[wripro]

Red October will most definitely book tours for just two people. They did it for me and for several others I know.

[maxxigram]

We had 5 couples on an Alla tour and one had to bow out. We need another couple to keep the price at $435 pp. This tour is 3 full days, which makes it 1/2 the price of the Oceania tours. Everything I have read says Alla is absolutely wonderful. If you are interested, please email me kaymaxey@cfl.rr.com or Alla directly allaushakova@aim.com and mention my name, Kay Maxey. She will need your passport number and will give you the full itinerary and details. We'll have early admission to Catherine's palace and Hermitage. There are a lot of people on this cruise using this service. It's the only tour we are booking. We're planning to go on our own the rest of the ports. If you would like, email me and I'll give you details. Hoo hah, only one more week!!!

[2Fltravelers]

We just retruned from the 6/16 Regatta cruise. There is no need to take an O excursion or any excursion at any port with the exception of St. Petersburg (more later on). The destinations staff is very helpful in providing information for independent travelers. If you read the daily Currents left in your cabin & listen to the continuous loop about each port on the TV you will learn where the local transport is located from the ship, how to buy tickets, etc. The ship will also exchange some local currency (euros, swedish and danish) but you can only get rubles in Russia. We exchanged dollars in the airport in as many local currencies as we could (about $100 for each port) so we would have currency until we could find an ATM. This proved to be very helpful and we were able to pay our final bill with the unused currency. There is also a representative present on the ship from the TI in each port the morning it docks with maps and who will answer all questions. There was never a problem finding a taxi at the pier, even on Sundays, and there was always someone to share the ride. The staff will even tell you the average price to expect to pay and whether they only take local currency, dollars, credit cards, etc. You can negotiate. We shared a taxi in Brugge, Gdansk and Tallinn and took the local transport in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki & Stockholm. We read our guide books in advance and then tore out the pertinent parts, stapled the info together and put it in a ziploc. The night before the port we took out the info for that port and read it along with the info provided by the ship. It worked out perfectly. We rented car in Warnemunde from Hertz, had it delivered to the pier (the office is 100 yds from the ship) and spent the day visiting castles and touring 2 UNESCO cities. We were back in time for dinner at 8:30. Through the guide books (Fodor's, Frommer's & Rick Steves) we located walking tours in some cities or followed the self-guided tours in the guide book. We had some wonderful, sometimes unexpected, experiences that made every port an adventure.

 

In SP, we booked a 3-day strenuous tour for just the 2 of us with Alla. The money we saved touring on our own in all the other ports made this option possible and worth every dime we spent. Others who arranged private tours with 10 or less people were similarly impressed and pleased, whether with Alla, Denrus or Red October. We heard many complaints from those who took O tours. They were either late for events or places because of the horrendous traffic, could not hear the guide, were herded like elephants, did not get good value for what they paid, etc. I only know of one couple that opted for their own Russian visa and a guide for a part of the time. While they enjoyed themselves, they said they had a difficult time navigating around the city, subway, etc. and said that a private tour was definitely the way to go in SP. We calculated the cost of the private tour vs. if we had paid for O excursions to do the same things (which would have been impossible because of time constraints) and we paid about $200 less per person. Our guide was wonderful, professional, knowledgeable, open to discuss many subjects and we felt like we had a unique opportunity to experience SP that others may have missed. Having a driver that used to be a taxi driver in the city was a big help. Sometimes it seemed that walking would be faster but they made sure we missed nothing. We never felt rushed and were always given choices about other things we might see if there was time We walked past all the lines, tours, etc. and we made the decisions to stay or go. We saw Alla twice-she was waiting for us at the Hermitage with our early admit tickets- and then when we arrived at the ship the final day to present us with a DVD of St. Petersburg for us to enjoy at home. We thought this was a lovely gesture.

 

I know this may be a long answer but there is so much information. I'll be more than happy to answer any other questions since I am still waking at 4 AM. I hope to post a detailed trip report and maybe some pictures in the next week or so.

[aicruiser]

Thank you so much 2Fltravelers for your informative post. We are leaving in a few days for the same itinerary. A few money questions.... Did you get the foreign currency in the airport in US or when you arrived in England? It probably doesn't matter if it's a small amount, but I thought the rate was much better in an ATM than at an exchange bureau. Do you have any idea how the exchange rate was on board the ship? I think it's great that the ship will take the currency toward your final bill.

Also glad to hear O is as helpful on this itinerary for those independent travelers as they were on our last cruise.

Hope to see your report before we leave.

 

aicruiser

[CJcruzer]

We were with 2FLtravelers on the 6/16 Baltic cruise on Oceania - we did have some fun times together!!!!

 

I used the ATM in 2 ports : Germany for more Euros - and in Russia for some rubles to cover lunches, etc. - we also were on a private tour in St. Petersburg with another 6 people (we connected up through this board)...

 

The ship will charge you a 5% transaction fee to PURCHASE foreign currency - however, you can give any foreign currency to pay your shipboard account (except rubles) without any transaction fee, - your daily Currents will also advise you of this.....

 

We used our leftover rubles to combine with US money to give tips to our guide and driver.... I didn't end up using as much US currency as I thought I would - Euros were actually more widely accepted (I think because the US $ was weak and the Euro was strong at time of sailing)...

 

Hope this helps! have fun!

 

CJcruzer

[aicruiser]

Appreciate your information..........

 

aicruiser

[2Fltravelers]

We exchanged the dollars at Heathrow upon arrival. We already had enough euros from a previous trip so it was just whatever type of currency was available at the time. There was no currency exchange for this purpose near the baggage claim so after we cleared customs we had to go upstairs to the American express office. It wasn't a problem, though. While we also use ATM's in the countries we travel, we knew that it might be difficult to get into each town from the port without some local currency. And not every port has an ATM near the pier. The ship exchange rate was fair but not great. But if you are only getting a few dollars in local currency to tide you over, it is not a great loss over all when you figure the hassle of getting into town otherwise. I do recall an ATM in Stockholm fairly close to the public bus stop near the pier. There was also one just at the pier I believe in Helsinki where there was also a coffee shop and other services because of the ferry port close by. I think that where there are also ferries docking from the other countries there are ATM's nearby for them to use when they disembark.

 

If you take a taxi into Tallinn, have them take you to the upper town so you can walk down. This is much easier but if you walk back to the ship, as we did, make sure you head in the right direction at the harbor. We turned right instead of walking straight and found ourselves at the wrong side of the harbor. We were lucky to find a taxi who took us to the correct place for 5 euros. It would have been too far to walk and we were cutting it close. This was the only faux pas we had in 14 days so I think we did well overall.

[aicruiser]

Again, thanks for the the hints. Will try and answer questions for others when we return!

 

aicruiser

[Wineart]

We used Alla tours for my husband and myself in St. Petersburg, and were very pleased. I also checked out DenRus and Red October, and found Alla's pricing to be better. Since it was just the 2 of us, it was more expensive than the ship's excursions, however, it was well worth the extra money because we had 3 full days of intensive sightseeing with a private guide and driver. At the Hermitage, we had immediate admission and didn't have to wait on any lines.

[bmk]

i agree, alla and her tourguides are the best. worth every rubel!!:)