Northern Europe

[Madame]

We are looking at August 2021 for a Northern Europe cruise. We did a b2b on the Magic - Med & Western this summer & loved it.

Part of me wants to stick with DCL - it’s familiar & comfortable & we know what to expect. On the other hand, my kids will be 13, 11 & 11 and might be ready for something else.

Anyone have any suggestions of other lines we could look at. We’d like something that visits different countries.

Also concerning to me is that we want inside connecting rooms. It’s been something that, more than anything brings us back to DCL. I’ve tried to price out RCCL a few times with different itineraries, but you can’t price out 2 rooms online easily or there are no connecting insides left & the overall cost leads us back to DCL...

TIA!

 

[GrrArrgh]

The 10-day that goes from Copenhagen to Norway to Iceland, Scotland, and back to Dover is amazing. I think NCL does the same itinerary, which might be worth considering because the new prices are waaay higher than what I paid.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

RCCL has several ships with family staterooms that sleep up to 6. The bad news is that there are only about 6 such cabins and you must book them early.

 

[Madame]

The 10-day that goes from Copenhagen to Norway to Iceland, Scotland, and back to Dover is amazing. I think NCL does the same itinerary, which might be worth considering because the new prices are waaay higher than what I paid.

Yes they only offered the one 10 day in 2019 & we would want a similar itinerary. It’ll definitely be expensive. The other itineraries, especially the cruises that only visit one country we really aren’t interested in.

 

[Madame]

RCCL has several ships with family staterooms that sleep up to 6. The bad news is that there are only about 6 such cabins and you must book them early.

Yes! I honestly think this specific issue is the only reason we’ve never sailed RCCL! DCL makes it much easier with the number of connecting insides. We’ve had the same room numbers 2x on the Magic & on the Wonder. I get frustrated with the booking difficulty of RCCL.

 

[DahliaRW]

We did the 11 night Northern European cruise this past summer. I have both an 11 and a 13 year old (and a 9 year old). What I loved most about being on DCL with older kids is how they all reverting back to being totally happy and enamored with things like the Disney characters. My 13 year old in particular was excited about the character breakfast! It's just a bit of that magic to see them so excited.

In addition, both of my older two loved having the freedom to go and come from Edge as they wished. My 13 year old especially loved being able to do the late-night activities there and then come back to the stateroom on his own. He felt very "grown up".

As for the itinerary, it was fantastic. The highlight was 2 days in St. Petersburg. We did a private tour through SBC and it was fantastic. With how hard it is for those from the US to visit Russia, this was our primary reason for booking the cruise and it did not disappoint.

We were able to book 2 connecting secret porthole rooms (same cost as inside, but you have a partially obstructed porthole) which were awesome. We had tons of space and 2 bathrooms was a huge plus. I don't think we could go back to one room.

All 3 of our kid are begging to go back on a DCL cruise! Though we might try another line for the Mediterranean in the future since DCL doesn't do Greece.

 

[Madame]

We did the 11 night Northern European cruise this past summer. I have both an 11 and a 13 year old (and a 9 year old). What I loved most about being on DCL with older kids is how they all reverting back to being totally happy and enamored with things like the Disney characters. My 13 year old in particular was excited about the character breakfast! It's just a bit of that magic to see them so excited.

In addition, both of my older two loved having the freedom to go and come from Edge as they wished. My 13 year old especially loved being able to do the late-night activities there and then come back to the stateroom on his own. He felt very "grown up".

As for the itinerary, it was fantastic. The highlight was 2 days in St. Petersburg. We did a private tour through SBC and it was fantastic. With how hard it is for those from the US to visit Russia, this was our primary reason for booking the cruise and it did not disappoint.

We were able to book 2 connecting secret porthole rooms (same cost as inside, but you have a partially obstructed porthole) which were awesome. We had tons of space and 2 bathrooms was a huge plus. I don't think we could go back to one room.

All 3 of our kid are begging to go back on a DCL cruise! Though we might try another line for the Mediterranean in the future since DCL doesn't do Greece.

I agree 2 rooms are the best! We squeeze into a family OV in the Fantasy and it makes us miss the classics!

Do you happen to remember your statement numbers? We’re always on the lookout for good connecting rooms! Thanks for the Russia tour info.

 

[Pens Fan]

I agree that you should check out NCL.

One nice thing about NCL with teens is that for the last few years they have sent either the Breakaway or the Getaway to run the Baltic capitals route. There are so many things for teens (and adults) on those ships - water slides, rope courses, climbing walls, etc. that Disney just can't match. One negative is that both of those ships are so large that they have a very difficult time docking in Stockholm. They often end up docking in Nynanshamn, about an hour away and you miss the sail into Stockholm. NCL has been offering transportation to Stockholm, but it does cut into your time there a bit. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but just something to be aware of.

I'd still recommend checking them out. We loved NCL when we jumped ship from Disney - so much so that our next two cruises booked are on them.

 

[Madame]

I agree that you should check out NCL.

One nice thing about NCL with teens is that for the last few years they have sent either the Breakaway or the Getaway to run the Baltic capitals route. There are so many things for teens (and adults) on those ships - water slides, rope courses, climbing walls, etc. that Disney just can't match. One negative is that both of those ships are so large that they have a very difficult time docking in Stockholm. They often end up docking in Nynanshamn, about an hour away and you miss the sail into Stockholm. NCL has been offering transportation to Stockholm, but it does cut into your time there a bit. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but just something to be aware of.

I'd still recommend checking them out. We loved NCL when we jumped ship from Disney - so much so that our next two cruises booked are on them.

Thx! I’ve never looked into NCL, but will add them to my list. I think in a couple of years my kids will enjoy those types of activities more than DCL’s offerings.

 

[rlk]

I agree that you should check out NCL.

One nice thing about NCL with teens is that for the last few years they have sent either the Breakaway or the Getaway to run the Baltic capitals route. There are so many things for teens (and adults) on those ships - water slides, rope courses, climbing walls, etc. that Disney just can't match. One negative is that both of those ships are so large that they have a very difficult time docking in Stockholm. They often end up docking in Nynanshamn, about an hour away and you miss the sail into Stockholm. NCL has been offering transportation to Stockholm, but it does cut into your time there a bit. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but just something to be aware of.

I'd still recommend checking them out. We loved NCL when we jumped ship from Disney - so much so that our next two cruises booked are on them.

We did a Baltic cruise on the NCL Getaway in 2016 when my children were 14 and 15. We loved the itinerary, but unfortunately, due to high winds, our ship was unable to dock in Stockholm (we were scheduled in Stockholm, not Nynanshamn). My boys checked out the teen club and decided it wasn't for them. There were so many activities to keep them busy, they didn't miss the teen club.

 

[wanderlust7]

You can also look into MSC. They have the Super Family cabins that fit up to 6 people for 1 price, just add taxes for each person (very low for kids). Or Super Family Plus that fit up to 10. We sailed the brand new Seaview for the Med this summer. Service is not up to DCL standards, but I thought we got great value for our money.

 

[Madame]

You can also look into MSC. They have the Super Family cabins that fit up to 6 people for 1 price, just add taxes for each person (very low for kids). Or Super Family Plus that fit up to 10. We sailed the brand new Seaview for the Med this summer. Service is not up to DCL standards, but I thought we got great value for our money.

Will definitely check them out. They were on our radar for our Med cruise this summer. Thx!

 

[owensamo]

We've sailed Celebrity in the Med and Alaska, and they have a number of options in the Baltic as well. They do have kids clubs that the kids may enjoy, but also a lot of other options. Service is on par with DCL, and we really enjoy the food options on Celebrity as well.

For a port-intensive cruise like the Baltic - where the ports are the stars of the itinerary - I would personally price it out for *every* line in the time frame you're interested in, then narrow it down from there based on staterooms, etc. The ship really ends up being more of a floating hotel on these itineraries. For us, that means stateroom and service are important, but entertainment less so as there's really not too much time to enjoy it - early and long port days mean up early, breakfast, exploring the port, dinner, and bedtime before being up at 6 am to do it again! We did enjoy our Baltic DCL cruise, but there were times we felt we had to be back to the ship well before all aboard to make sure we didn't miss anything (dinner, shows, etc). On Celebrity, this wasn't as important, so we felt more relaxed exploring the ports and getting the most out of our days on land. And keep in mind, you may be able to get connecting oceanview or balcony staterooms on another line for the same price as connecting inside rooms on DCL - so unless there's a specific reason to look at inside rooms, I wouldn't rule out any stateroom options in an initial search.

 

[Madame]

We've sailed Celebrity in the Med and Alaska, and they have a number of options in the Baltic as well. They do have kids clubs that the kids may enjoy, but also a lot of other options. Service is on par with DCL, and we really enjoy the food options on Celebrity as well.

For a port-intensive cruise like the Baltic - where the ports are the stars of the itinerary - I would personally price it out for *every* line in the time frame you're interested in, then narrow it down from there based on staterooms, etc. The ship really ends up being more of a floating hotel on these itineraries. For us, that means stateroom and service are important, but entertainment less so as there's really not too much time to enjoy it - early and long port days mean up early, breakfast, exploring the port, dinner, and bedtime before being up at 6 am to do it again! We did enjoy our Baltic DCL cruise, but there were times we felt we had to be back to the ship well before all aboard to make sure we didn't miss anything (dinner, shows, etc). On Celebrity, this wasn't as important, so we felt more relaxed exploring the ports and getting the most out of our days on land. And keep in mind, you may be able to get connecting oceanview or balcony staterooms on another line for the same price as connecting inside rooms on DCL - so unless there's a specific reason to look at inside rooms, I wouldn't rule out any stateroom options in an initial search.

I’ve never visited the Celebrity site, but will definitely check it out & expand our stateroom search parameters.

Very true that the ship is essentially a floating hotel. We felt that way on our Med cruise. Thx!

 

[DahliaRW]

I agree 2 rooms are the best! We squeeze into a family OV in the Fantasy and it makes us miss the classics!

Do you happen to remember your statement numbers? We’re always on the lookout for good connecting rooms! Thanks for the Russia tour info.

5522 and 5524

 

[DahliaRW]

I’ve never visited the Celebrity site, but will definitely check it out & expand our stateroom search parameters.

Very true that the ship is essentially a floating hotel. We felt that way on our Med cruise. Thx!

Depends on the itinerary. We had 3 sea days on our 11 night! Only 2 ports were late enough to cut into evening entertainment (St. Petersburg and Berlin) and there wasn't anything big entertainment wise on those nights.

 

[Madame]

Depends on the itinerary. We had 3 sea days on our 11 night! Only 2 ports were late enough to cut into evening entertainment (St. Petersburg and Berlin) and there wasn't anything big entertainment wise on those nights.

Sounds perfect! We like a variety of ports, but also enjoy relaxing on the ship.

 

[mousefan73]

If you can handle a german speaking ship I highly recommend TUI Meinschiff cruise for Europe. Especially noerthern europe. Kids up to 14 free and all inklusive ( drinks). Best price/ value. BUT 98% german speaking markets. ( swiss, german, austrian, italiens). A lot more return for money. Crew speaks english. And most germans too.

 

[Madame]

If you can handle a german speaking ship I highly recommend TUI Meinschiff cruise for Europe. Especially noerthern europe. Kids up to 14 free and all inklusive ( drinks). Best price/ value. BUT 98% german speaking markets. ( swiss, german, austrian, italiens). A lot more return for money. Crew speaks english. And most germans too.

Wow, that is tempting. We speak French & a smattering of Spanish and Russian. I’m always looking for another language to pick up. I’ll check it out, thx!

 

[mousefan73]

Wow, that is tempting. We speak French & a smattering of Spanish and Russian. I’m always looking for another language to pick up. I’ll check it out, thx!

Then also check out Aida. Not as “exclusive” but more family orientated due to pricing. Tip stay out of german school breaks and you are golden fare wise. July-1st week sept. Germans cannot pull kids from school so holidays is prime season