Just back from Century Baltic 12 nt

[SuzCruise]

Just got home from a great cruise aboard the Century to Russia and the Baltics. In between unpacking, doing laundry and sorting through the mail, I'd be happy to answer questions. DH will chime in too. So if anyone has questions about this ship or itinerary, fire away. We'll try to post a review - but who knows when that will get done.

[brazilgirl]

Glad you had a nice cruise. We will be visiting this region at the end of the month.

 

I´d love to hear what you did in each port. What was your favorite ?

 

How was the weather? Any packing tips?

 

Thanks!

Kim

[TroubleT]

We are going to be on Century at the end of July and I have the same questions as Brazilgirl. And also, how much time did you have between the tour and the evening program on the first day in St. Peter's? I mean, are we going to have time to change (at least) before the ballet or a Folk Show? What Tour operator did you use in St. Peter's?

Thanks a lot!!!:)

[SuzCruise]

The weather was fabulous! Everyone said that was very unusual. But we didn't have a drop of rain nor a cloud in the sky in any port. Temps in the 60's and 70's. It was too warm for jeans one day in St. Pete's and we wore shorts in Warnemunde and Copenhagen. The cruise the week before us had snow in St. Pete's! So you just have to guess at it. I packed way too much! This was a surprisingly casual cruise. Very few tuxes on formal night. So few that we wondered for a few minutes if we got it wrong and it wasn't formal night. Saw more than one person coming out of the theater on formal night in shorts. And several in jeans. And I don't mean dress jeans. My husband called them "old man jeans" - you know the denim pants with an elasticized waist band. LOL!

 

The ports:

Warnemunde. We took the train to Schwerin. The train station is right at the port - I was actually embarrased that I printed out someone's directions to the train station. They made it seem way too hard. It is right there. Used the machine to buy a one day ticket that DH and I traveled on. Went in to Schwerin and saw the castle - though it was mobbed because of the flower show. But Schwerin is an adorable town worth checking out without the castle. And then we came back and stolled around Warnemunde - also very worth the time.

Stockholm: Bought a bus ticket at the port. You can buy it with US dollars ($4 pp) or Euro's at the little souvenir shop in the cruise port. Then follow the blue line to the bus stop and take the # 76 bus in to old town. It is too easy. And they drop you right in old town and you can then take the buses all over town to see the town hall the Vasa Museum or any thing else that might interest you. The cruise ship was charging $12 for their shuttle that dumped you outside of the old town and had only that one drop off location. And they had a ridiculously long line. Shame on Celebrity for that one. We saw the changing of the guard, cruised around old town and walked over to the town hall. They do tours in English at 2PM and we would schedule correctly for that again if we could. We were there an hour early and didn't want to wait or come back.

Helsinki: We took the ships shuttle in only because we couldn't get the person at the TIC to answer questions about the city bus. Well - she answered - but she lied. Said the local bus day pass was $17 Euro pp. Talked to people later who did the local bus and said it was about $6. We weren't impressed with Helsinki. We did a walking tour which had a few of the highlights of the town - but the town just isn't in the ranks of the other towns on this itinerary. If this itin. didn't have so many sea days - I would be tempted to blow off Helsinki and just stay on board.

St. Petersburg: We used Anastasia and had Maria as our guide and Yuri as our driver. They were amazing. Just the way that Maria walked us past the huge lines at the Peterhof and Catherine's Palace and got us right in was worth the price! Maria knows so much about history, art, politics and her English is perfect. She was very willing to answer questions and went out of her way to make sure we saw the things that we were interested in. This was a custom tour with DH, myself and another great couple that we met on CC. They shared our interest in skipping shopping and going to a local grocery market. We actually went to a farmers market and it was fascinating. We wound up with extra time on our last day and instead of just taking us back to the ship when we had seen everything on the list - they took us to a place to taste Russian vodka and by a couple of working Russian Orthodox churches as well as a ship that is a military museum. I can't recommend them highly enough. And Maria is a fabulous guide for the Hermitage. She showed us all the treasures as well as the history of the artists and their inspiration for the pieces. She really made the tour. We didn't do any evening tours - so I can't answer your question on timing those.

Tallin: We took the short walk into town. It is an easy walk - but make sure and make note of the landmarks near where you cross the road into the main old town from the port. There were several ships in town and there are a few ports and you can actually see some of the ships from town - which weren't ours. The very short time you have in Tallin along with not being able to see the Century but being able to see so many other ships made for a scary race walk back to the ship to board at the last minute. Interesting bit of gossip - someone on our cruise missed the ship in St. Pete's and had to fly to meet us in Copenhagen. So we were a bit worried about getting back in time after our too short time in Tallin. Tallin is a lovely town and we really enjoyed walking around. We used a walking tour that we got off of the Baltic board here on CC. I actually wouldn't recommend that. It was a bit of a bust and I think we would have better used our day just wandering.

Copenhagen: We walked into town along the water front. It is lovely and you see the little mermaid and the Citadel on the way. It is a very short walk and you don't need directions as it is idiot proof. Walk down the very well manicured cobble stone path clearly meant to take tourist into town - you really can't screw this up. And the whole town is just right there. If you look at it on a map you can fool yourself into thinking it is more of a walk - but it isn't. And if you do choose to take the bus - the drivers will take US dollars or Euros for you to buy a day pass. Do try to have some small bills since they can't give you change in your currency. We got bills changed into smaller denominations on board the ship for our stroll into town. Didn't need local money as DH was even able to buy a hotdog from a cart with Euros.

Amsterdam: Bought a stripcard for the trams and used them and our feet to see this beautiful city. Had the concierge on the ship make us reservations for the Van Gogh museum. Great exhibit. And with pre arranged reservations didn't need to wait in line. We also saw the Rijks museum. We were there when they opened so it wasn't crowded and there was no line.

 

I hope I have answered all of your questions. Please let me know if you have any other questions. These boards have been such a great source of info so I am happy to help repay the favor in a way by providing any info I can.

[EChrissy]

Just got home from a great cruise aboard the Century to Russia and the Baltics. In between unpacking, doing laundry and sorting through the mail, I'd be happy to answer questions. DH will chime in too. So if anyone has questions about this ship or itinerary, fire away. We'll try to post a review - but who knows when that will get done.

 

 

That you for all the information SuzCruise! I do have a question. About whattime were you off the boat on the last day. (I know this time varies) but am curious what time you got off.

[ellie109]

wow! thanks so much for all the great info. we are going on the same cruise on aug. 1st. i was going to sign up for tours from the ship, but it seems that in most of the ports (except st petes), you did it all your self, right? i'm not sure about what to do in st. petersburg, it's just hubby and myself that are going, and i think a private tour would be too expensive. who would i contact for a private tour anyway? any other suggestions for excursions? and how was the food?

thanks,

ellen

[ellie109]

oops!i forgot - you didn't go into berlin, any particular reason? i think we want to go there and see what's left of the wall, etc. any suggestions on this?

[ellie109]

dear suzcruize, which tour company did you use for st pete?

[Texed]

Thanks for all the useful info. We will be in the Baltic on Constellation starting 13 June. :)

[SuzCruise]

We got off the ship probably earlier than we needed to. Our disembarkation time from the ship was for us to be out of our stateroom at 6:50! Wow. We talked to guest relations about it and they said that the time for everyone to get off was 8:20 and we could just stay until then. Breakfast was served until 8 in the buffet. We had breakfast, said good bye to our butler and gave him a little extra tip and then gathered our stuff and got off. I think we were at the train station to store our bags at 8AM. I am sure we could have stayed later if we had wanted.

 

As I said, we used Anastasia tours in St. Pete's and can't recommend them highly enough. http://www.anastasiaworld.com/ Our tour guide was Maria and I would recommend you ask for her. Tell her Susan the "grocery store girl" recommended her. ;) Taking us to the market was obviously an odd request - but one that Anastasia was more than happy to oblige. We got bids from all of the major companies and Anastasia was cheaper than all the others and we were very pleased. It was really the highlight of the trip.

 

We didn't do Berlin but you can find a ton of info on things to do there by searching the Baltics forum. A man called Heinbloed gives great detailed advice on how to rent a car and do Berlin. Just do some searches and you'll get more info than you ever wanted. ;)

 

As far the cost of a private tour in St. Pete's. We created the custom tour we wanted and then used our roll call to find 2 other people that wanted to do the same thing. That brought the price down quite a bit. It worked out great. They are lovely people and we really enjoyed spending the time with them. And we all wanted to do the same things and moved at the same pace. We wound up paying $270 pp for our two day tour. I thought it was quite a bit - but some others on the cruise who did the ships tour said they paid more. And while they were happy with their tour, they had a great guide one day and a lousy one the next. And they moved at a really slow pace and were always waiting on that one rude person who held them up by half an hour at every site. And they were green with envy when we told them about getting to cut past all those lines and get right into the sites. Evidently they were in the lines we walked right by!

 

To answer your question about the food - it was hit or miss. There were some things that were great, the prime rib, a veal dish I had on the first night, many of the desserts, the stir fry and pasta stations. But we found the cuts of meat in general to be very poor. Steaks, lamb and even veal were horribly tough and gristly. The pool grill served the worst burgers ever, but the fries were good. We found the hot lunch buffet choices to be unappetizing and repetitive. The sushi served in the afternoons was surprisingly good. The eggs benedict station at the back of the ship was very good with perfectly cooked eggs. And yes, those waffles are very good. But the breakfast from room service was horrible. Inedible. This is our first cruise ever where we didn't have all of our breakfasts on our veranda. The canapes that are lambasted on this board weren't as bad as we were lead to expect - though the could have tried something different than the few versions they serve for a long cruise. And the tea snacks were horrible. The cookies and sweet treats were tough and dried out and the savories consisted of mainly ham sandwiches. Really poor. We always enjoy tea and trivia time on Regent - so this was a big disappointment. We LOVED our waiter, Victor, and Assistant Waiter, Hector. They along with our Butler, Ewin, just made the cruise for us. All the staff were fabulous. Victor encouraged us to order an extra entree every night. It was actually really funny. DH and I had a "shared" 3rd entree. We realized well into the cruise that one or the other of us wound up eating that entree instead of the one we ordered every night. And Victor always seemed to be running to get a replacement entree for one or more of the people at the table next to us who had an inedible dish. So it seems that Victor wasn't just being funny, he was planning ahead. ;)

 

We bought some caviar in S. Pete's and asked Ewin to bring us toast points and chopped eggs to enjoy it with on the veranda. He did as asked and also brought us egg salad. He said they had it in the butler's pantry and the other butlers recommended it for caviar. We had never had caviar served with egg salad before. And the bowl of egg salad looked pretty gross until he told us what it was. ;) We tried it and it was great! One of the best things we ate aboard the ship and one we'll have many times in the future and always think of Ewin and our great Baltics cruise aboard the Century!

 

Fire away with any other questions. So many people on this board helped us prepare for our trip and helped us get the most out of our short time in this fabulous cities, so we are happy to help return the favor to others.

[rundogrun]

What time did you board the ship? We're trying to figure out the best way to spend our last morning in Amsterdam. I think from the dock it's a short walk into town, yes?

 

Thanks!

[SuzCruise]

We had planned to board the ship at 11AM which we thought was probably the earliest possible and then head back into town. But we wound up oversleeping and then had to stop to buy wine which wound up being a bit of an ordeal since it was Ascension Day. I had been told on these boards that everything would be open - but that wasn't the case. Anyway - we got on board about 12:30 or a bit earlier. And we decided to just stay on the ship instead of going back into Amsterdam to site see. Then we discovered that I left my leather jacket in the hotel room in Leidsplein! So - we got back off the ship and make a trek to get the jacket.

 

The town is an easy walk from the port. And the trams are so easy and convenient to use to get anywhere. Take the number 26 from the ship to the Centraal Station and then the 1, 2 or 5 take you just about anywhere you want to go from there. Or just walk it.

[brazilgirl]

I am so pleased with the good reviews of Anastasia. We have booked a tour with her (my family and another family).

 

When you visited Peterhof , did you just visit the gardens or did you visit the palaces too?What time did your tour start and end?Did you have any trouble getting off the ship because of preferential treatment of those on the ship´s tours?

 

Where did you eat while in SPB?

 

Thanks !

 

Kim

[rundogrun]

Thanks! We're staying up by Leidesplan. We figured we'd head down mid-morning, drop off the bags, check in if possible, and then get a few more hours of sightseeing in.

[SuzCruise]

Kim,

 

We didn't visit the palace at Peterhof - just the gardens. We had perfect weather so it was glorious! And we ate lunch at the cafe inside the gardens. If you want to visit the palace - just tell Anastasia - she'll alter the tour anyway you like to suit you. We ate the second day at the cafe in the Hermitage. We skipped the long lunch at a restaurant with folk dancing. Not something we were interested in. Really - anything you are interested in doing they'll arrange for you. We had time left at the end of the second day and they added on a couple of stops that the driver and guide knew we were interested in. You just need to get any place that has entrance fees hammered out in advance so that the tickets can be arranged in advance.

 

Our tour started at 8 the first morning and at 9:15 the second. Ended at 5PM each day. We didn't really have any trouble with the cruise line's slimey trick about making us wait in a seperate line. It is all just bs that the cruise line does and the immigration agents could care less which line you stand in. But the line moved quickly and we were out in no time. I have heard something about people in independent tours being told to go wait in a lounge instead of disembarking when they want - we didn't do that. We just got off the ship about 15 minutes before the guide was to pick us up.

[brazilgirl]

Thanks for all the great information. I am glad to hear Anastasia is so flexible , as that is a priority since we are traveling with kids. We always opt for independent tours for this reason.

 

I won´t go to the lounge-good to have this head´s up. On the Baltic boards I´ve read a lot about how the cruiselines are really dishonest about this whole process. Too bad.

 

I think the garden cafe sounds perfect.

 

Kim

[Texed]

And yes, those waffles are very good. .

 

You're making me hungry. ;)

[TroubleT]

Dear SuzCruise,

 

When you paid Anastasia, what $ bills did they accept? Is $100 good enough or they prefer $20 and smaller?

 

Thanks a lot for your help!

[californiamom]

Just got home from a great cruise aboard the Century to Russia and the Baltics. In between unpacking, doing laundry and sorting through the mail, I'd be happy to answer questions. DH will chime in too. So if anyone has questions about this ship or itinerary, fire away. We'll try to post a review - but who knows when that will get done.

 

Hello-Can you tell me what nights were the formal nights on your cruise? Thanks. Debbie

[SuzCruise]

Debbie - our formal nights were the first sea night, the night of Stockholm, and the next to the last sea day.

 

Anastasia seemed happy with $100 bills. Just make sure the are clean, crisp bills.

[willow surfside]

Considering a trip on the Century out of Barcelona to Cannes, Portofino, Florence, etc. Anyone done that one. Also how was the ship, any cabin suggestions. I noticed that it was updated a few years back.

[Solstice23]

wow I had clients just on century and they thought the burgers were the best! odd?

[Q52]

Given when the three formal nights are and your experience with the food, any advice as to which night would be best for a reservation in the specialty restaurant? Thanks.

[lysolqn]

oops!i forgot - you didn't go into berlin, any particular reason? i think we want to go there and see what's left of the wall, etc. any suggestions on this?

 

If you want to go to Berlin (well worth your time), I'd recommend purchasing R/T bus transportation from the Shore Excursion desk. It's about a 3-1/2 hour bus ride in each direction (snacks offered in each direction and one pit stop, as well), which leaves you with about six hours to explore the city on your own. That can be done via the HOHO bus which offers a rather comprehensive overview of the city; and after completing the loop, you'll still have time to meander, shop, visit some specific sights that are of interest to you, enjoy lunch and make it back to the pick-up point for the trip back to Warnemunde.

[TroubleT]

Dear SuzCruise,

On early-busy days (Berlin, St.Peters) do they have breakfast earlier or it's a regular 6:30 AM?

 

Thanks!