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Our Scandinavia and Russia Invasion Plan

lizp

By lizp,
in Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

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lizp

lizp

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Hello! After months and months and months of research in guidebooks, here on Cruise Critic, the glorious internet and my good friend Google Maps, we have finally finalized our plans for our cruise! I want to share with the people who can appreciate all my hard work - please feel free to steal from it at will!

 

But first, a little background. I am cruising Celebrity Constellation Scandinavia and Russia for 14 days with my husband (we are both in our late twenties) and his parents (who are in their mid forties). This is our first cruise, but not our first time in Europe. We are extremely interested in history, architecture, photography, good food and good beer. We are four introverts, so big, organized tours are not our thing. We wanted to walk the cobblestones and touch the buildings, so we decided to do all of our ports on our own (with a few exceptions). We chose to tour with Red October in Russia - just the four of us; and we are likely going to do a half-day tour to Rostock in Germany as it includes the brewery which you can only tour in a group.

 

So, see attached PDF for just the text portion of our ports-of-call plan -- the original file is huge and full of pictures, Google Map screenshots and directions, public transit time details and the like. If you want the whole thing, I can email you a PDF of it - just ask! I have converted prices to Canadian Dollars for our reference, noted the timezone and reference to GMT, and included sunrise/sunset times so we know when to capitalize on photo ops and those long, long, looong northern-Europe days.

 

Hope you enjoy it, and can take something away. As you can see, I am a bit of a freak for organizing, hopefully it will pay off! When we get back at the end of July I will share a full review, including anything that we planned that didn't quite turn out... :p

 

Liz

 

 

References:

 

The Tallinn Walking tour I found here on the boards, here is the link: http://www.*****.com/tallinnwalk.html

 

The Pub Tram in Helsinki: http://www.sinebrychoff.fi/news?action=details&id=134

 

Helsinki Public Transit Journey Planner (fantastic resource!): http://www.ytv.fi/ENG

 

Oslo Public Transit (for Ferry Schedule, limited English, I actually had to use a translation website for some parts!): http://www.trafikanten.no/

 

Stockholm Hop on Hop off Ferry: http://www.stromma.se/en/Sightseeing/Stockholm/Boat-tours/Hop-on-Hop-off/

 

Stockholm Card (buy online; we got the two day card and paid extra to have it mailed to us so we wouldn't waste any time picking it up): https://stockholmtown.jetshop.se/default.aspx?main=/en-GB/contact-us-i-48.aspx

 

Stockholm Public Transit Planner (also a fantastic resource): http://sl.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=4645

European Cruise 2009.pdf

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treesah

treesah

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Liz, what a wonderful job! You did an incredible amount of research. Thank you for your generosity in sharing this information with the rest of us. We're headed to the Baltics in September.

 

If your future plans include a visit to San Diego please let me know. Lunch/dinner is on me.

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gottogocruisin

gottogocruisin

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Liz what an exceptional job you did of putting the information together. I love your itinerary for each day. Just had to print off information to help me put my thoughts together. We don't leave until the end of May. I am looking forward to hearing about the trip when you return. Thanks so much from a lot of us who need the guidance.

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lizp

lizp

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Liz,

 

Fantastic plan! Can you send me the "whole thing"? My email address is dduessel@hotmail.com.

 

We are on the same cruise but have four teenagers and their 77-year old grandma in our group.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Donna

 

Check your inbox!

 

 

I didn't see any time alotted to go to the bathroom?

 

Pfffffft! We don't need to stinkin' bathroom breaks! No time for that!

 

great plan! we're on the same cruise.. if you see a family of 4 following you around - not to worry.. we're just following your plan!

 

I will try to ignore all stalkers :)

 

 

 

See you all a few time zones over!

 

Liz

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stacylv

stacylv

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I am super organized and doing all the research for my family and this is a million times better then my itinerary so far! I am very impressed.... quick question how did you find out where you were docking so you can plan the walking distances/timing, what site?

And, you used google maps to calculate the walking?

Also I think you had four people... just curious sometimes with public transport for four, we may just take a taxi if close in price to save time at some ports... how did you figure out whether to take public transport or not?

And, lastly so curious what line of work you are in... I would hire you in two seconds!

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lizp

lizp

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I am super organized and doing all the research for my family and this is a million times better then my itinerary so far! I am very impressed.... quick question how did you find out where you were docking so you can plan the walking distances/timing, what site?

And, you used google maps to calculate the walking?

Also I think you had four people... just curious sometimes with public transport for four, we may just take a taxi if close in price to save time at some ports... how did you figure out whether to take public transport or not?

And, lastly so curious what line of work you are in... I would hire you in two seconds!

 

stacylv,

 

Thanks! I am a bit paranoid when there are timing issues involved, so I wanted to be sure to maximize the little time we have, especially because we do want to walk as much as possible (the LAST thing I need to do after losing 15lbs is gain it all back in two weeks!).

 

I found out where the ship was docking by doing google searches on the port in each city - some had very little English and I had to do some creative use of translating websites to figure out what was going on. Most of the ports have extensive websites with a separate list just for cruise ships.

 

Yes, Google Maps' walking directions are fantastic! I was quite impressed with the extensive transit information on their maps too (stop locations and even routes in some cities), as well as tourist sights. Very very VERY handy tool! (Except in St. Petersburg; but I didn't need to plan that one out!)

 

We are only taking public transit extensively in a few cities (trams in Helsinki, subway in Stockholm and just one ferry ride in Oslo). In both Stockholm and Helsinki, we are getting some kind of all-day inclusive pass. It can be fun to "be like a local" and take public transit, but if things get down to the wire we know that taxis are always an option!

 

Thanks for the kudos! I am a designer/project administrator for a furniture manufacturer - and it is a small, private, family-owned company, so we all wear many hats - organization is the name of the game!

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Liz

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lizp

lizp

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Wow--excellent planning! Having done a very similar itinerary last year on the Constellation, your trip looks great. All the planning is very worthwhile. Have a great trip!

 

I am glad to hear that similar plans were well executed! I really can't wait - to the point that I think I am driving my co-workers nuts! I leave tomorrow evening for a few days in England before the cruise, and I am bouncing off the walls...

 

For the rest of you - expect emails shortly!

 

Cheers,

Liz

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NVCLVR

NVCLVR

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Hi: I'm particularly interested in the brewery tour in Rostock. Is this a ship's tour or through a private tour company? If its in your pdf file, please forward it to kahaye@aol.com Thanks! We will be in Rostock 8/2010..so plenty of time to plan. Also, if you enjoy brewery tours, be sure to check out the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen..one of our favorite haunts when we're in Copenhagen!

Thanks,

K

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DHP

DHP

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I am glad to hear that similar plans were well executed! I really can't wait - to the point that I think I am driving my co-workers nuts! I leave tomorrow evening for a few days in England before the cruise, and I am bouncing off the walls...

 

For the rest of you - expect emails shortly!

 

Cheers,

Liz

 

Oh boy, that is super research and product. We are on the cruise after yours (leaving July 25) and would surely appreciate the full copy as well. Pls send to dhp01234@yahoo.com.

 

Thanks and have a wonderful cruise!

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lizp

lizp

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Hi: I'm particularly interested in the brewery tour in Rostock. Is this a ship's tour or through a private tour company? If its in your pdf file, please forward it to kahaye@aol.com Thanks! We will be in Rostock 8/2010..so plenty of time to plan. Also, if you enjoy brewery tours, be sure to check out the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen..one of our favorite haunts when we're in Copenhagen!

Thanks,

K

 

It is the ship's tour - we haven't confirmed yet. Since we aren't going to Berlin, and it is a long stop, we decided to use the Germany call as a relaxing sort of day, so we're playing it by ear, for the most part.

 

We wanted to go to Carlsberg, but they're CLOSED on Mondays! Sucks for us! We actually ran in to that in a few places, Monday seems to be the day that things shut down. :( The Danish Museum of Architecture and Art (or whatever it is called) is closed on Monday too, so we miss that. How can you take two design students (myself and my father-in-law) to Denmark and not get to see DANISH MODERN pieces??!?!?!? We are still bitter... We got lucky in Stockholm - the Arkitekturmuseet and Modernamuseet are both closed on Monday, but we are there Tuesday as well, so we can still visit. I would have cried otherwise!

 

Liz

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