Baltic Cruise

[mrsaunders]

Hi! After two cruises with DCL (still a cruise newbie!) I'm booked on a baltic cruise next summer with RCCL. Has anyone ever done this itinerary? Care to share your experiences?

Thanks!!!

 

[mrsaunders]

I forgot to add, will be two teenagers, two adults, and two grandparents.

 

[ldo]

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE DCL--our fav by far---but--we went on RCCL Vision Aug 2010 with 9, 13, me, DH and grandma 65. and we LOVED it! There is not one thing that I can complain about. My Mom has been on 5 cruises, 2 in Europe and this was her favorite. I am elaine5 on cruisecritic.com. If you search the forums, you will find lots that I posted over there (plus a few posts here on disboards about RCCL in the Baltics). Also, our cost was less than 1/2 of DCL.
For teens, the 1st night for meet-greet is good to see who's cruising and make connections to hang out for the week--but on our last cruise (Epic Med this summer, no kids did that--we were so busy, they really had no time for kids/teen clubs anyway). Although Legends is an older ship and doesn't have all the bells, most RCCL have outdoor movies by the pool--fun in the PM. And all have a great climbing wall.
One tip--get on the cruise meets for your cruise date on cruisecritic and try to form some private tours. We joined a private tour of St. P. Fabulous--we saw the same as TWO tours sponsored by the ship. St P was DD9 fav port. Many ports are very easy DIY--which saves a bunch. The HO-HO is right at the pier in Stockholm, for ex. I did many hours of research and am happy to give advice/info if you need when you get closer to cruising.
I also highly suggest flying in early and spending time either in the area around departure city--or flying into a totally different area and then fly/train to departure. For ex, we flew to Zurich, trained to Italy, then flew Rome to Copenhagen )less than $100PP) for our cruise. Last year, we ended cruise in Rome and then flew to Paris on Easyjet for $85PP, then trained to London and flew home from London. It's SOOO $$$ to fly to Europe, so we wanted to really get our $$ worth. Also, I can also tell you hotels that have triple rooms across Europe--LOL!
I would book RCCL for the Baltics in a heartbeat! Elaine

 

[woody73]

. . . we went on RCCL Vision Aug 2010 with 9, 13, me, DH and grandma 65. and we LOVED it!

. . . our cost was less than 1/2 of DCL.

. . . One tip--get on the cruise meets for your cruise date on cruisecritic and try to form some private tours. We joined a private tour of St. P. Fabulous--we saw the same as TWO tours sponsored by the ship.

We went to the Baltics on the RCI Jewel of the Seas, and had a similar great experience as Elaine.

We went the same season as the Magic, and the cost was 1/3 of what Disney was charging (for 2A in an OV cabin).

I organized a private tour of St Petersburg, and we too were able to see twice as much as the ship's excursions.

Woody

 

[mrsaunders]

Thank you so much for all the great information! Can you tell me what tour company you used? Scares me to be so dependent on a tour company since we won't have a visa. Also do they spend a lot of time sailing in circles, because looking at a map it all looks so close.

 

[woody73]

. . . Can you tell me what tour company you used?

We used Red October, which was exceptional. I put together a group of 10 for our tour. Red October

Woody

 

[ldo]

TJ Tours or TJ Travel. They get all the visas for you and email in advance. It was about $200PP (kids $150). We had a history professor as our guide. A couple started forming a group on cruisecritic. We had 6 persons and joined them, then another couple joined and we were 10. TJ emailed us about 3 weeks out and asked if we were OK with 3 additions--but gave us the option to decline. We said fine. We got a Mercedes minibus that seated 18 for 13 persons (DS slept on the back seats--LOL). We did a driving tour of St P sights, a private visit of a synagogue that the group organizer had wanted, drove to Peterhof, toured the grounds, toured a smaller building, took a hydrofoil over to the Winter Palace (Hermitage), had guided tours of whatever we selected at the Hermitage, visit inside Church of the Spilled Blood, then a 1.5 hour shopping tour down a famous high-end retail street. Kids were pooped, so we opted to go back to ship--no problem, guide went with 3 ladies shopping and the rest of us were driven back to ship. This was one of the most spectacular tours I have even done! You can get lots of advice on cruisecritic about tours. There are a number of good tour companies. Elaine

 

[PixieDustD]

I am also going to chime in about private tours in St. Petersburg. No matter what cruise line you use, it is totally worth it to book your own tour while you are there. Yes, it is an added expense but the experience of a small group is perfect. This is how history professors make extra money all over Europe.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Which itinerary are you doing in the Baltic? We did a 12 night Baltic last summer on the Adventure out of Southampton, and it was wonderful! The ports were amazing, we loved our server in the dining room, the food was great, and the rest of the crew was lots of fun.

There were only 2 drawbacks, one RCCL couldn't do anything about, and one was just a "feature" of the ship. The weather was cold for the trip, we had rain in Oslo and St. Petersburg, and the temperatures were pretty chilly, so something to keep in mind. The other drawback was that on the Adventure, the Balcony staterooms say they sleep 4, but that's accomodated by the king main bed (split into 2 twins if desired) and then a double fold out couch. My kiddos weren't really happy about having to share a bed, so something to think about if you're sailing the Adventure or any of her class and want a balcony room.

As for the trip itself, it was great, we booked tours on our own everywhere we went, 3 ports with Alla Tours (www.alla-tour.com): Talinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki, we did the HoHo bus in Copenhagen (in retrospect, we wouldn't have done this, it doesn't run often enough to really be a good option) and tours in Oslo and Brugges which is what we did in Zebrugge.

Highly recommend the trip, we all loved it and the ports are so amazing, St. Petersburg was absolutely beautiful, and we ended up seeing more than our tablemates who had booked through the ship, for less money!

In any case, the Adventure is sailing that itinerary next summer as well, so if you're booking on her, and have questions, let me know, I'll answer them as best I can.

 

[emma'smom]

We are booked on this itinerary this summer.....sounds wonderful!

Which itinerary are you doing in the Baltic? We did a 12 night Baltic last summer on the Adventure out of Southampton, and it was wonderful! The ports were amazing, we loved our server in the dining room, the food was great, and the rest of the crew was lots of fun.

There were only 2 drawbacks, one RCCL couldn't do anything about, and one was just a "feature" of the ship. The weather was cold for the trip, we had rain in Oslo and St. Petersburg, and the temperatures were pretty chilly, so something to keep in mind. The other drawback was that on the Adventure, the Balcony staterooms say they sleep 4, but that's accomodated by the king main bed (split into 2 twins if desired) and then a double fold out couch. My kiddos weren't really happy about having to share a bed, so something to think about if you're sailing the Adventure or any of her class and want a balcony room.

As for the trip itself, it was great, we booked tours on our own everywhere we went, 3 ports with Alla Tours (www.alla-tour.com): Talinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki, we did the HoHo bus in Copenhagen (in retrospect, we wouldn't have done this, it doesn't run often enough to really be a good option) and tours in Oslo and Brugges which is what we did in Zebrugge.

Highly recommend the trip, we all loved it and the ports are so amazing, St. Petersburg was absolutely beautiful, and we ended up seeing more than our tablemates who had booked through the ship, for less money!

In any case, the Adventure is sailing that itinerary next summer as well, so if you're booking on her, and have questions, let me know, I'll answer them as best I can.

 

[mrsaunders]

We are booked on this itinerary this summer.....sounds wonderful! [/QUOTE

We are booked on it too. Can't wait! If anyone else is planning on going in July and is interested in sharing a tour, let me know.

 

[mrsaunders]

Weird, my post looks like its part of the quote. . If anyone is interested in sharing a tour the week of july 5th, please let me know.

 

[sayhello]

Weird, my post looks like its part of the quote. . If anyone is interested in sharing a tour the week of july 5th, please let me know.

You're missing the final "]" after "[/QUOTE"

Sayhello

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Weird, my post looks like its part of the quote. . If anyone is interested in sharing a tour the week of july 5th, please let me know.

I'd recommend Alla tours in a second. If you sign up with them, and get 10 other cruisers as well, you can get a discount on your tour. We were the first to sign up from our ship, and we ended up getting $300 off our tour. The guides were great, really fun, good tours.