Baltics or the Mediterranean

[TSUmom]

I am researching for my next cruise for summer of 2010 and am stuck between a Baltic cruise or the mediterranean. Any thoughts or suggestions??? I understand they are both awesome places. How about the weather? Ship suggestions? Thank you for any and all replies:)

[Giantfan13]

For us it was the climate. I am NOT a summer type of person. We hate the real hot weather, and we try and cruise to cooler climates in the summer. We are booked on a Baltic cruise in August on the Jewel.

[mummsie]

I am researching for my next cruise for summer of 2010 and am stuck between a Baltic cruise or the mediterranean. Any thoughts or suggestions??? I understand they are both awesome places. How about the weather? Ship suggestions? Thank you for any and all replies:)

We are just back from the Baltics - it was amazing especially St. Petersburg. We had the best weather - only rained for 2 hours in Copenhagen. We are also looking at the meditereanean for next year. - mummsie

[SallyUK]

I did the Baltics cruise last year and the Med this (got back last week). Thoroughly enjoyed both. Have put some feedback below on both as they may help you decide.

 

Passenger demographics: very different on both cruises. Baltic: approx 50% US passengers, 40% other anglophone countries (mostly UK), 10% other, mostly German. We are in our 40s and were among the youngest. Very few children (though it was in May, pre school-hols). Med: younger demographic, far more mixed crowd in terms of nationalities, which was lovely, I think there were something like 20 different nationalities of passengers, big groups from US, UK, Spain, Malta, Germany, Canada. Many more children.

 

Ships: this year the Baltic is covered by Jewel, which is v similar to the Gem, but slightly prefer the Gem.

 

Sea days: if you like them, go for Baltic (4 days I think from memory, poss 5, out of 12), if you don't go for Med (1 only).

 

Weather: better in the Med, no two ways around that!

 

Ports (tours) - Baltic: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm and Talinn are easy to walk around and do your own thing. If you want to go to Berlin from Warnemunde, it is a long way, however the town of Warnemunde is pretty and easy to get around. St Petersberg is a different matter however, you must use either the ship's tours or travel with a tour company (see Europe boards for more info) as you need a visa otherwise. We used ship tours which were excellent. Med: the port is not necessarily the "big draw" on this itinerary, so travelling does require a bit more thinking through. Malta is easy to get around, but in Naples you will more than likely want to go somewhere else (Pompeii, Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri, Vesuvius etc) and this requires thought, same with Rome (1hr+ by train from Civitavecchia), Florence (1 1/2 hrs+ by train), Monte Carlo (the trains went on strike mid-morning and people on our cruise got stuck there!). Always have a plan B if using independent travel.

 

Ports (as destinations): I prefer the cities of southern Europe to northern, so for me the Med wins there.

 

Must dos: Baltic - St Petersburg is the big draw and the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace and Peterhof were mind-numbingly, staggeringly amazing. The other cities are lovely, but small and make no mistake, St Petersburg is the big MUST DO on this cruise (unless you take the very long tour to Berlin). Talinn is very quaint too.

Mediterranean - Pompeii (Naples), The Vatican and/or Collosseum (Rome), Florence as a Renaissance city, Monte Carlo.

 

Art lover?: Then its the Hermitage vs the Vatican collection. Both are amazing collections. My preference is for the Hermitage, but that's a close one. I was disappointed with the Ufizzi in Florence though.

 

Language: Baltic - with the exception of Russia, you will find English widely spoken, especially in the Scandinavian countries however Finnish, Estonian and Russian are very difficult languages to get to grips with. Med - English not as widely spoken, especially if you need to ask for directions etc, though ask around enough and someone will help. Malta - English is very widely spoken.

 

Cuisine - the Med wins that one hands down!

 

Hidden Gems - Baltics: taking the tour on the tram for a few Euros in Helsinki; Med: taking one of the little, gondola style boats for a tour of the Grand Harbour in Malta - beautiful.

 

Currencies: Baltics - you'll need a range of different currencies as Estonia, Sweden and Denmark are not in the Eurozone, nor is Russia. You will find Euros and dollars accepted in Russia and may (as we did) find a way of spending Euros in Estonia, but it isn't straightforward. Med - easy - its the Euro all the way.

 

Overall: as a cruise, the Med edged it slightly for me (my DH preferred the Baltic), but the best memories are and always will be of the beautiful feast for the eyes that is drop-dead gorgeous St Petersburg.

 

Hope that helps you decide.

[TSUmom]

Thank you for the input from all. I am leaning toward the med. but hubby likes the baltics. Guess we will do a bit more research into tours, costs and whether we want warm or cool temps., etc...then we will make our final decision. I think either way it will be a wonderful cruise experience, how can we go wrong, vacation, cruise...hmmmm:)

[cpdad]

Thank you for the input from all. I am leaning toward the med. but hubby likes the baltics. Guess we will do a bit more research into tours, costs and whether we want warm or cool temps., etc...then we will make our final decision. I think either way it will be a wonderful cruise experience, how can we go wrong, vacation, cruise...hmmmm:)

This sums up your situation. I've recently cruised the Baltics and sailed the Western Med in 2007. Friends ask me which I preferred, and I have no good answer other than to say I liked them both, but for different reasons. It would be great if you could cruise both the Baltics and the Med in the future. Pick one for 2010 and then have the fun of planning the other cruise for 2011, which will help you get over any "post-cruise depression" next summer.;)

[nlt46]

I'm with CPDAD. You need to plan both. This year we did the Med. Last year we did the Baltics. We loved both. I think my favorite was the BAltics, but it was because it was all so different. I'm getting ready to plan another Med going to different ports. You really can't go wrong. Both are wonderful. Nancy

[PokerDave]

Thank you for the input from all. I am leaning toward the med. but hubby likes the baltics. Guess we will do a bit more research into tours, costs and whether we want warm or cool temps., etc...then we will make our final decision. I think either way it will be a wonderful cruise experience, how can we go wrong, vacation, cruise...hmmmm:)

 

Have done the Med ( Rome to Venice with a lot of other stuff in between ) and would highly recommend. Doing the Baltic next May so I can't compare, but one big plus for me that I discovered AFTER booking for the baltic is that if you leave some time before or after going in and out of London, you can take the Chunnel to Paris easily. Paris is on my must-do lifetime list, so being able to see it around the Baltic cruise adds another major "port" if you will...

[tdcjerry]

I have done the Med. and the Greek Islands are next, but I would like to do the Baltics next.

[SteveH2508]

St Petersburg is breathtaking - especially when you get to grips with the restoration work which they have done since WW2.

 

We did the Baltics as our first cruise last summer and most itineraries would have to go some way to beat it (we are hoping that the Western Med. cruise will come close next year :D)

 

The weather is unpredictable - the sea is smooth (at least the Baltic sea is) - in the summer the lack of complete nighttime darkness is nice - and the sunsets are awesome).

 

As another poster has said, you can do London as well, I can't really comment on that from a tourist point of view as I live there!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Have done them both and it is difficult to choose because they are different experiences.

 

All things being equal you may want to look at flight schedules.

London for the Baltics and usually Barcelona or Istanbul this year (or Venice in 2010). That may be a deciding factor if you otherwise can't decide.

 

Also check the length of the cruises. Baltic is always 12 while the Med. can vary.

[sjbdtz]

Thank you for the input from all. I am leaning toward the med. but hubby likes the baltics. Guess we will do a bit more research into tours, costs and whether we want warm or cool temps., etc...then we will make our final decision. I think either way it will be a wonderful cruise experience, how can we go wrong, vacation, cruise...hmmmm:)

 

 

This might be a stretch...but.... since you're in the heart of Texas, and airfare would be a signficant portion of your vacation cost....why not do the Baltics....and then the Med.... while you're already on that side of the pond?

[Lvteks]

Hi,

We did an Eastern Med and Baltic but only as far as Yalta. We did a land tour including St. Petersburg before that. While I wouldn't trade my time in Athens, Istanbul, Ephesus and Santorini (all one one cruise)....if you may never see St. Petersburg, the Catherine Palace, or the Kremlin by land go for the Baltic. It is historic but not ancient. Depending on your age and interest, there are memories of the Cold War, WWII and the heroic Hermitage keepers during the seige, the Revolution and the glories of Imperial Russia.

 

After the more recent history, then prepare for the ancient trek to the Med. If you start from Athens, plan time ahead for more exploring. Do not miss Istanbul..it is magic...layers of epochs and passions.We are so fortunate to be able to embrace so much beyond our home ports.

 

BTW, Though we went to Pompeii (even read Pliney) we discovered the best/real artifacts are in the museum in Naples. I'm sorry we didn't go there.

 

Whichever, it will be unforgettable!

 

Blessings,

 

Gail