Best Baltic Cruise

[CPALong]

I know many of you have advised searching the boards to determine which Baltic cruise is best, but is anyone that has been on more than one northern Europe cruise willing to write a comparison? Just can't decide which cruise to take for husband and self.

[LHT28]

I would talk to a good TA that can advise you based on what your needs/wants are

Everyone has a favourite cruise line but it may not be yours.

 

Most go to the same ports and offer similar excursions

 

The best is the one that suits you.

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

I would pick a cruise that offered three nights in St. Petersburg. It's hard to even begin to see the city with the usual itinerary offering of two nights.

 

I believe that Regent and Oceania, possibly Azamara, offer three nights; a good travel agent could easily direct you.

 

Enjoy!

 

murphysmum;)

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

in my opinion the best baltic cruise si the ones that costa organize at the end of august, they do all the baltic republics but the period is not one of the best u can go there, withe nights in spb are over and it gets dark very early ( at 20.30 more or less is already dark) and it rains often. but it's the ultimate cruise in baltic u can have.

[FinelyRetired]

I enjoyed my HAL cruise as it sailed RT from Amsterdam, did Warnemunde(Berlin) and a Kiel Canal transit and then went on North. I loved Amsterdam and toured several Netherlands towns North & South pre-cruise. Spent a couple of days in Belgium post-cruise. We thought the extra countries, towns were some of our favorites.

 

The "Sea Day" through the Kiel Canal was lovely. Nice scenary all day, lot's of

folks were out on shore to wave at us and the other ships, enjoyed the locks, etc. Far from the normal routine of a typical Sea Day.

 

Alas.......just 2 days in SPB, but I'd choose to do it this way again.

 

As others have suggested, a good TA can give you the many options that would best suit your interests.

 

Enjoy your planning! The planning and anticipation are half the fun.

 

Martha

[bigwally]

I think you need at least two days in St. Petersburg, three days is obviously better. You'll want to avoid cruises that spend Monday and/or Tuesdays there - there are some significant closings on either/both those days (sometimes dependent on the time of month).

 

For my money, you'll also want to have a cruise that visits Oslo. I quickly omitted many options that didn't, but this was due to my wife's Norwegian heritage and her desire to visit again. You may not care.

 

The Kiel Canal sailing was appealing to us also. But the Prinsendam was hugely expensive compared to Rotterdam cruise with similar itinerary but for the Kiel Canal. It made it a non-starter on our limited budget.

[MightyQuinn]

I think you need at least two days in St. Petersburg, three days is obviously better. You'll want to avoid cruises that spend Monday and/or Tuesdays there - there are some significant closings on either/both those days (sometimes dependent on the time of month).

 

For my money, you'll also want to have a cruise that visits Oslo. I quickly omitted many options that didn't, but this was due to my wife's Norwegian heritage and her desire to visit again. You may not care.

 

The Kiel Canal sailing was appealing to us also. But the Prinsendam was hugely expensive compared to Rotterdam cruise with similar itinerary but for the Kiel Canal. It made it a non-starter on our limited budget.

 

Bigwally - Museum closures are not really a factor. We were in SPB on a Sunday/Monday but our private tour operator (Alla Tours) had arranged our schedule around any closures so we got into all the usual suspects. And if you decide to use Shorex, they have a deal such that ship tours are able to visit museums even on days that are closed to the regular public.

 

Completely agree that you want to see Oslo! Get the Oslo Card so you can really max out your time there.

 

As for the Prinsendam, I give it a huge thumbs-up for a Baltic itinerary. It may be worthwhile for either you or your TA to keep a price watch on the HAL site. They sometimes offer discounts on the Prinsendam that make it more $$ attractive.

[Drifting Happily]

We were in the Baltics in July on the Constellation. I picked that ship for the itinerary. What I liked about it was that there were overnights in Stockholm, Copenhagen and St. Petersburg. We did go to Oslo, and enjoyed it very much. I also liked starting and ending in different places. We started in Stockholm and ended in Harwich, UK, so we spent time in both cities before and after.

 

The other thing to look at is sea days. We had three evenly spaced days in a 14 day voyage. It was great to do 3 days of hardcore sightseeing, then be able to rest for a day.

[as19111]

"For my money, you'll also want to have a cruise that visits Oslo. I quickly omitted many options that didn't, but this was due to my wife's Norwegian heritage and her desire to visit again. You may not care."

 

For us, Gdansk was the deciding factor for much of the same reasons. Then, I chose the Oslo vs. Warnemude route because I really wanted to visit Norway. We were on the Crown Princess.

 

What are the must do/see cities for you? What are your chances of seeing some of the ports on a land tour at a later time vs. I'll only get there on a cruise?

 

I would even repeat the same cruise again because I enjoyed all the ports so very much, and need to spend more time in all of them. However, if I find one that hits the favorites and adds a few new ones as well, I would do that too.