The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[RJAYL]

No problems in Dover - easier than PC.

We were the first ones off the ship in Russia and had no problems at all. Breezed right through!

We docked about 11:30, I think. We were off the ship at noon.

We paid with a credit card. They will not take tips on the card and prefer to have rubles not dollars.

We exchanged all our money on the ship the first day and were glad because they did run out of some of the countries by the time we got to them. The exchange rate was not bad.

When did you tell them you were paying by credit card & when did you have to give them the credit card information?

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

When did you tell them you were paying by credit card & when did you have to give them the credit card information?

Also isnt there a 3% fee?

 

[wickesy]

Yes there is a 3% fee for credit cards. We didn't pre-warn them we were paying by credit card, just handed over the form on the morning of the second day. All of the tours go to an area just outside the port where either Anastasia or the Managing Director take payment from everybody.

 

[RJAYL]

Yes there is a 3% fee for credit cards. We didn't pre-warn them we were paying by credit card, just handed over the form on the morning of the second day. All of the tours go to an area just outside the port where either Anastasia or the Managing Director take payment from everybody.

What form?

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Yes there is a 3% fee for credit cards. We didn't pre-warn them we were paying by credit card, just handed over the form on the morning of the second day. All of the tours go to an area just outside the port where either Anastasia or the Managing Director take payment from everybody.

Thanks,

I was going through your town a few times last week, on the new London OverGround line to West Croydon.

 

[rotary2808]

If anyone took any DCL excursions, I'd love to know your opinion on them...worth it, not worth it.

I'm glad Silverline worked out,we're using them

I'm hoping to do the Leeds debarkation, I wonder if that went last time. Anyone know?

Any tidbits and advice is greatly appreciated. I'm in panic mode right now...staring at empty suitcases and unable to make decisions.

12 days post cruise in London doesn't help my packing decisions.

Anyone go to the Parkwood Hotel?

Are there any DCL excursions in particular you're looking at? There were certain ones we had complaints about, but I don't necessarily know if there's one that I thought wasn't worth it.

 

[gydell]

When did you tell them you were paying by credit card & when did you have to give them the credit card information?

The second day.

Also isnt there a 3% fee?

Yes

What form?

You will get a form with info about about 2 weeks before your cruise starts.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

The second day.

Yes


You will get a form with info about about 2 weeks before your cruise starts.

 

[EpcotKilterFan]

About the evening canal cruise...hmmmm. We aren't going on a city tour, we are doing two dcl excursions, one to peterof parks and fountains and one to catherine's palace and hermitage. I specifically picked the canal tour because I thought it would give us a chance to see the spilled blood cathedral and some other sites that we might miss as we aren't doing a city tour.

Do you still think its not worth it in our case? I really don't want to miss a lovely evening on board if the canal tour isn't worth it.

Would love advice...

I think we got lucky with our canal boat cruise. We did book through DCL and we were the first bus out and the last one to return. We passed some friends that were on another boat and they had already completed their tour and we still had another 10 minutes or so before we were done. I enjoyed the evening canal boat tour, but it is different for everyone.

And for the other excursions... in St Petersburg we did the St Petersburg Introduction. This was good, but short. Mostly because of the International Forum. We had an amazing driver, but the road closures and traffic made it all a bit rushed. The description had us stop at the Church of the Spilled Blood, but we did a drive by 3 blocks away. He just could not get us close to it because of the traffic, and get us back by our appointed time. We did make it for the 5 pm dinner seating (literally walked on the ship from the bus to the restaurant). We had late seating, but the Head Server found us a table next to our normal table. There were many empty seats in our rotation, so it was not a problem. Also in St P, we did the ballet on the second night. Glad we did it, probably would not do it again. Fortunately, we did not have the seating problems that some folks on the first night did. This ballet company is good, but basically they do this performance for cruise ship passengers. The entire building had people from several cruise ships.

Like Gydell said... in Helsinki, if you are on the Santa tour... skip it. The Port Adventure desk got a long note from us on that one.

The only other one to comment on is the Royal Palace and Waterways in Stockholm. The royal palace was still closed because of the wedding the previous Saturday. So they substituted the Vasa museum instead. I was pleasantly surprised with the Vasa. Originally I had no interest in going to see it. But glad I did go. The waterways was a nice tour, but we were outside and could not hear the narration. The boat was PACKED! So we sat in the small area outside. It was a nice tour of the city.

Debbie

 

[wickesy]

Thanks,

I was going through your town a few times last week, on the new London OverGround line to West Croydon.

I could have done with that line being open about 8 years ago when I was working in Bethnal Green, it would have saved me a change of trains twice a day.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I could have done with that line being open about 8 years ago when I was working in Bethnal Green, it would have saved me a change of trains twice a day.

Yes its quite a good service, but, must say after a few days jumped on a fast to London Bridge, as it calls at all stops.

Thanks for all the help on this cruise.

 

[MrsG]

Andrew,

Where did you find the navigators for St. Pete? I only found one site that has navigators posted up to day 4.

 

[MrsG]

Ouch! Lost to Ghana again.

 

[Feebs]

Just a couple of notes from us.
Oslo we did ourselves - it was very easy and we had a guided tour of the City Hall, took a trip to Vigeland park on the tram and then visited the Cathedral and walked back to the boat. All food is very expensive, one crew member said they had paid 15 euro for a coffee.

Copenhagen - do not rely on the busses! We waited forever to get a 26 back to the boat and they were stuck in traffic. We frantically looked for a taxi and got back on the ship dead on 5pm. Take a snack.

Warnemunde - we loved this very pretty seaside town and spent a couple of hours wandering about. There is a good supermarket in the square around the Cathedral - with every type of Haribo sweet known. Warnemunde is very cheap to.

St Pete`s. We did the DCL tour of Catherines Palace - saw quite a few sights from the bus and then had a good tour around the Palace followed by a swift walk through a small part of the gardens - they wouldn`t let us go off on our own.

The next day we did the DCL full day city highlights and the Hermitage tour - we loved this tour and the lunch that was included. The Hermitage - WOW!

Helsinki - we got the courtesy bus into town . There was a guide when we got off so they gave us directions to the Rock Church and all the sights were easy to see. We loved the Art Deco railway station and a ride on the old fashioned open sided tram.

Stockholme - as our time was limited we booked a DCK trip at the last minute. Excellent value for $59 ( not the $79?) We went to the Vasa museum - a must see. The City hall and a walk around the old town. We used every last second on our time there.

Just a note re internet access, it was rubbish on the boat. We got free access in the Library in Copenhagen. 4 euro`s for 30 minutes in Helsinki at the port shop. There is free access in the port building in Stockholme. At the Hermitage in the cafe it was $1 for 30 minutes. This saved endless frustration on the ship.

Think thats it folks!
A great cruise - we enjoyed it all.

 

[Feebs]

Double post.

 

[wickesy]

Andrew,

Where did you find the navigators for St. Pete? I only found one site that has navigators posted up to day 4.

I've posted the navigators for the entire cruise on this thread starting here

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=37124438&postcount=3058

I think the rest are on page 205 or just look through my Photobucket albums and you will find them.

 

[Madisonznana]

Did anyone go on the Molli Steam engine?

 

[Fivepin]

Just got back from the June 12th Baltic so if you have any questions ask away! Silverline transportation was great, the Loddington House was wonderful in Dover, and the Baltic was COLD! If you are planning on doing the Santa house tour in Helsinki - don't! Anastasia was wonderful in St Petersburg, except we didn't get the meal we had pre-ordered so half of my group didn't eat.

I'm glad Silverline worked out. We decided to use them, but was a bit leery because we don't have a confirmation number or anything. I will email again one last time to confirm we are still on their itinerary. We will be in London in one week! We are using them to go to Dover, but decided to take the train back to london after the cruise to see the countryside.
Thanks for the info.

 

[NAG]

Did anyone have any feedback on the Dsney excursion Royal Ball at St. Catherines?

 

[Stimpy]

Just got back from the June 12th Baltic so if you have any questions ask away! Silverline transportation was great, the Loddington House was wonderful in Dover, and the Baltic was COLD! If you are planning on doing the Santa house tour in Helsinki - don't! Anastasia was wonderful in St Petersburg, except we didn't get the meal we had pre-ordered so half of my group didn't eat.

Oh no! We have Santa's house scheduled. What was it like?

I'm starting to think I'm better off not reading the posts of people returning. This is the 3rd excursion we picked that I'm hearing not so good things about.