The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[flower91882]

I'm definitely all for touring on your own. We're planning on doing just that except in St. Petersburg and Berlin (I'm scared of not making it back to the port on time).
Unless of course Disney decides to do something special that I wouldn't be able to do on my own. That might change my decisions in some cases, but I think I'd rather do a general city tour alone.

As I mentioned, we got the most bang for the buck out of the Oslo Pass. We saved some money with the Copenhagen Card and The Stockholm Card, and broke even on the Helsinki Card. My DH decided he was tired and didn't want to get off the ship in Helsinki - so I ended up giving away his Helsinki Card to someone from the ship. I didn't find the card to be a good value in Talinn so I didn't buy it.

The Scandinavian ports are fairly close to the city centers, unlike some of the ports on a Med cruise. My husband and I enjoyed walking around the cities on our own, whereas my in-laws and DH's aunt and uncle booked the ship's tours. They joined us on the private tour I booked in St. Petersburg, and that was the highlight of the cruise for them.

There's no doubt that booking a ship's excursion is easier than looking for an independent tour guide. I have done my share of ship excursions - especially when the port time is short, or when the activity isn't close to the ship. (I booked the ship's excursion to Virgin Gorda when my RCI ship was in Tortola last April.) For those of you with large onboard credits, it's also a good use of your funds! But when possible, I prefer to see sights either on my own or with a small group of people, rather than on a 50-seat tour bus.

 

[NancyIL]

I'm definitely all for touring on your own. We're planning on doing just that except in St. Petersburg and Berlin (I'm scared of not making it back to the port on time).
Unless of course Disney decides to do something special that I wouldn't be able to do on my own. That might change my decisions in some cases, but I think I'd rather do a general city tour alone.

You would have to obtain a visa to tour St. Petersburg on your own. If you do a private tour or a ship tour, you don't need to get your own visa.

 

[flower91882]

You would have to obtain a visa to tour St. Petersburg on your own. If you do a private tour or a ship tour, you don't need to get your own visa.

That's what I mean, we're going to do a private or Disney tour in St. Petersburg.




In other news: Excursions for Dover are posted!
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/europe/ports/dover-england/

 

[NancyIL]

That's what I mean, we're going to do a private or Disney tour in St. Petersburg.

I meant that you can't walk around on your own in St. Petersburg without obtaining a Russian visa.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Nevermind I see more now... but you still can't click for more details.. bummer...

 

[Arizona Rita]

Andrew, thank you for the info!
Now since you are all knowing, do you have any clue when DLP will let us book?
Thats driving us more crazy than waiting for the shore excursions!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew, thank you for the info!
Now since you are all knowing, do you have any clue when DLP will let us book?
That's driving us more crazy than waiting for the shore excursions!

For us we can book about 6 months out, but on a number of packages its three months, so my guess is either of thoose.

 

[DW2DH&DS]

I posted this on another thread today, and I know I have posted this before - but it doesn't hurt to repeat info:

For our 2005 Baltic cruise with similar ports (no Germany, but both Helsinki and Talinn) - Rick Steves' Scandinavia guide book was all we needed for 5 of our 6 ports.

for those interested in buying the book, the latest version will be out on February 1st.

 

[NancyIL]

for those interested in buying the book, the latest version will be out on February 1st.

Where did you see that info? I noticed that Rick Steves' latest edition of the Scandinavia book came out in 2008, but I don't see a 2010 edition mentioned on his web site.

**Never mind - I see where it says the new edition will be available Jan. 22, 2010: http://www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/update2.htm Now I see it on Amazon (didn't see it the first time I checked!): http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-S...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262724609&sr=8-1

 

[Michelle2]

As I mentioned, we got the most bang for the buck out of the Oslo Pass. We saved some money with the Copenhagen Card and The Stockholm Card, and broke even on the Helsinki Card. My DH decided he was tired and didn't want to get off the ship in Helsinki - so I ended up giving away his Helsinki Card to someone from the ship. I didn't find the card to be a good value in Talinn so I didn't buy it.

The Scandinavian ports are fairly close to the city centers, unlike some of the ports on a Med cruise. My husband and I enjoyed walking around the cities on our own, whereas my in-laws and DH's aunt and uncle booked the ship's tours. They joined us on the private tour I booked in St. Petersburg, and that was the highlight of the cruise for them.

There's no doubt that booking a ship's excursion is easier than looking for an independent tour guide. I have done my share of ship excursions - especially when the port time is short, or when the activity isn't close to the ship. (I booked the ship's excursion to Virgin Gorda when my RCI ship was in Tortola last April.) For those of you with large onboard credits, it's also a good use of your funds! But when possible, I prefer to see sights either on my own or with a small group of people, rather than on a 50-seat tour bus.

I just did the Baltic capitals cruise this last June with my DD15, but it was with Princess and our itinerary went to Helsinki and Tallinn and substituted Poland for Germany. Had a great time, and I totally agree with NancyIL.

We did everything except Russia completely on our own. Never did a ship excursion and saved tons of money and were on our own schedule. We just went to the port lectures on the day before, got some great information, wrote down the must see locations and how to get there, and off we went the next day. The only card we bought was the Oslo pass because it was the only one that saved us money buying it.

Everything in almost all of the cities (Tallinn, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo) were so close to where the ships docked, that we were surprised at how easy it was to just walk. Never took a taxi, just the water ferries. Saved tons of money, and then just paid the admission to where we wanted to go.

We embarked and disembarked in Copenhagen, so we did not have to get to sites from the pier and did take a taxi to it. I have never seen such a pedestrian and bike friendly city. It made me want to just grab a bike and go....so smooth, weather was perfect, and felt so safe on the sidewalks. We were able to walk to all the major sites once in the city center (we arrived the night before). LOVED that city.
It is so easy and cheap to do most of the cities on your own, I was surprised at how easy it was.

 

[ishmael]

We plan to do a post-cruise to Disneyland Paris. I've been trying to figure out just how to get from Dover to Disneyland Paris, but I'm stumped.

My first preference would be to take the chunnel, and the second would be a ferry. I've tried to sort out just how one would take the chunnel, but I can't understand how the trains run to make this possible. I've tried to sort through information on the Rail Europe web site, but just can't tell if the train only leaves the UK from London, or if it is possible to board in Dover or Folkestone. Is anyone familiar with how that works, or can you point me to something that will help sort out how to get from Dover to DLP without going crazy?

Thanks.

Chris

 

[woody73]

I just did the Baltic capitals cruise this last June with my DD15 . . .

Michelle, I have some currency questions:

Did you use Danish kroner (kr) in Copenhagen?

Did you use Estonian krooni (kr) in Tallinn?

Woody

 

[jilljill]

Michelle, I have some currency questions:

Did you use Danish kroner (kr) in Copenhagen?

Did you use Estonian krooni (kr) in Tallinn?

Woody

Not the one you asked, but we did a Baltics cruise in 2008.
We used Danish Kroner in Copenhagen. I ordered $50 worth from my local bank and it was just enough for us.
In Estonia I used Euros, GBP, US$ and my credit card. My bank was not able to order EEK for use in Estonia so we used what we had. Everyone we encountered in the shops spoke english and they were very easy to deal with and super friendly.

You didn't ask about StP, but we found an atm and used Rubles. What we had left we gave to our private tour driver for his tip. The couple of shops we went to had prices in Rubles, Euros and US$.
If using US$ make sure you bring crisp, new bills. This was even sent to us by our private tour operator as a guideline. When I went to the bank to get $50's & $100's (to pay for our private tour) I told them why they needed to be new, crisp bills and the teller told me she's heard that from several people going to Russia.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

We plan to do a post-cruise to Disneyland Paris. I've been trying to figure out just how to get from Dover to Disneyland Paris, but I'm stumped.

My first preference would be to take the chunnel, and the second would be a ferry. I've tried to sort out just how one would take the chunnel, but I can't understand how the trains run to make this possible. I've tried to sort through information on the Rail Europe web site, but just can't tell if the train only leaves the UK from London, or if it is possible to board in Dover or Folkestone. Is anyone familiar with how that works, or can you point me to something that will help sort out how to get from Dover to DLP without going crazy?

Thanks.

Chris

You need to go:-

Dover port to Ashford international.

Either by taxi all the way, (not far); or Taxi to Dover priory then train Ashford International.

Then pre book EUROSTAR to DLP, is MARNE-LA-VALLEE -CHESY station.
A train a day is direct, it would be through Ashfors around 9.20am.

Or Eurostar to Lille Europe (they run regularly all day) then transfer to TGV to DLP.

Or Eurostar to Paris, then Paris Metro, think line 1 to MARNE-LA-VALLEE-CHESY (40 mins)

Eurostar goes via the Tunnel under the sea.

 

[NancyIL]

I just checked my journal from our 2005 Baltic cruise. I ordered the city cards before leaving home, but got foreign currency (mostly from ATMs) after our arrival in the ports. We used credit cards for some souvenirs and for meals in London.

London - I got British pounds from an ATM (100 GBP and 70 GBP). We stayed in London 1 night pre-cruise and 2 nights post-cruise, and the hotels were paid for with Marriott points.

Oslo - I bought the Oslo Pass before leaving home, and spent no cash in Oslo. At that time, the Oslo Pass cost 195 NOK per person (now 230 NOK/pp), and the sights we visited would've cost 350 NOK if paid for separately.

Copenhagen - I bought the Copenhagen Card in advance, and also got 500 DKK ($80.85) at an ATM when we arrived. The Copenhagen Card cost 199 DKK (now 225 DKK), and the admissions would've cost 237 DKK.

Stockholm - I bought the Stockhom Card in advance and also got 100 SEK ($12.82) from an ATM when we arrived. The card cost 265 SEK/pp (now 375 SEK), and the admissions would've cost 490 SEK.

Helsinki - I bought the Helsinki Card in advance for 25 euros/pp (now 34 euros). I also got 20 euros cash on the ship ($25.55). I didn't write down what the individual admissions would've cost, but I recall that there was no significant money saved by getting the Helsinki Card.

St. Petersburg - our DenRus tour was paid for in US dollars - with crisp bills as jilljill mentioned. The 2-day tour cost $365/pp, and we were a group of 6. The souvenir books I bought were paid for with US cash, and I didn't get Russian rubles.

Talinn - I didn't get local currency, but paid for lunch and a souvenir book with US dollars. We paid for no admissions in Talinn.

For foreign currency exchange rates, go to www.xe.com.

Hope this helps.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I know not on a 'Baltic' cruise but many are doing back to backs with the repos from Barcelona, so note that Lisbon Portugal is also up, as well as Dover.

If we work on the principle that the REPO is a week, then next Wednesday is the latest that Baltic trips will be posted.

I was hopeful it would be this week, and released at the same time as the Repo.

 

[jilljill]

I just checked my journal from our 2005 Baltic cruise. I ordered the city cards before leaving home, but got foreign currency (mostly from ATMs) after our arrival in the ports. We used credit cards for some souvenirs and for meals in London.

London - I got British pounds from an ATM (100 GBP and 70 GBP). We stayed in London 1 night pre-cruise and 2 nights post-cruise, and the hotels were paid for with Marriott points.

Oslo - I bought the Oslo Pass before leaving home, and spent no cash in Oslo. At that time, the Oslo Pass cost 195 NOK per person (now 230 NOK/pp), and the sights we visited would've cost 350 NOK if paid for separately.

Copenhagen - I bought the Copenhagen Card in advance, and also got 500 DKK ($80.85) at an ATM when we arrived. The Copenhagen Card cost 199 DKK (now 225 DKK), and the admissions would've cost 237 DKK.

Stockholm - I bought the Stockhom Card in advance and also got 100 SEK ($12.82) from an ATM when we arrived. The card cost 265 SEK/pp (now 375 SEK), and the admissions would've cost 490 SEK.

Helsinki - I bought the Helsinki Card in advance for 25 euros/pp (now 34 euros). I also got 20 euros cash on the ship ($25.55). I didn't write down what the individual admissions would've cost, but I recall that there was no significant money saved by getting the Helsinki Card.

St. Petersburg - our DenRus tour was paid for in US dollars - with crisp bills as jilljill mentioned. The 2-day tour cost $365/pp, and we were a group of 6. The souvenir books I bought were paid for with US cash, and I didn't get Russian rubles.

Talinn - I didn't get local currency, but paid for lunch and a souvenir book with US dollars. We paid for no admissions in Talinn.

For foreign currency exchange rates, go to www.xe.com.

Hope this helps.

Great post.
I'll also add that Germany uses Euros.

StP it is imperative to get and use crisp US$ bills. I even kept them in an envelope so they stayed flat and they had no fold.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I must say, I am very impressed by the Disney tie in, in London with the West End show, of the Lion King.

Very clever....

PS, Not like Animal Kingdom...

 

[jjsmith]

I haven't read through all 20 pages of this thread so if this has been asked before I apologize.

I'm curious to know what other people have as a plan for buying airfare. We didn't buy with the cruise and will need to arrange on our own. What is the best time to buy plane tickets? There are some flights for around $970 on the low end to about $1,400 on the high end. Is there any reason to expect that the cost will come down as we move closer to a mid-July sail date?

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I haven't read through all 20 pages of this thread so if this has been asked before I apologize.

I'm curious to know what other people have as a plan for buying airfare. We didn't buy with the cruise and will need to arrange on our own. What is the best time to buy plane tickets? There are some flights for around $970 on the low end to about $1,400 on the high end. Is there any reason to expect that the cost will come down as we move closer to a mid-July sail date?

Not sure if you can fly BA- British Airways but it has a sale on now!!

I have found that airlines tend ot be expensive first week or so, for the people,'' I want to buy'' asap, then they fall, for the time up to about 4>3 months pre flight, then start to rise again as plane fills, and you get closer with less options.

But you do not often get sales, so if you can look at BA now, as they will go.