The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[jilljill]

To answer some posts on here, I put the call out to keep the volcano talk to a minimum or move it elsewhere since there was a lot of bickering going on dealing with things that are beyond our control. Talking about it is fine, the bickering back and forth is against board guidelines.
Yes, I am booked on a Baltics cruise and this could impact our travel plans, but reading all the long posts and bickering posts was giving me a headache.

If anyone has a problem with the way moderation is done on these forums please feel free to either contact the moderators or webmasters to express your concerns.

Thanks everyone and have a great time on your cruise.

 

[jilljill]

Good thought. It's a downer reading the 4/24 Med thread. I feel awful for those people.

Our kids would love to see both of those films on the boat. We were on the Wonder a couple days after Bedtime Stories was released. The kids (read: me) thought it was cool to watch a brand new movie, on a boat, and for "free."

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is set for a 7/16 release date.

Thanks for letting us know about the Sorcerer's Apprentice movie. I had forgotten that was coming out this year.

 

[Rogillio]

To answer some posts on here, I put the call out to keep the volcano talk to a minimum or move it elsewhere since there was a lot of bickering going on dealing with things that are beyond our control. Talking about it is fine, the bickering back and forth is against board guidelines.
Yes, I am booked on a Baltics cruise and this could impact our travel plans, but reading all the long posts and bickering posts was giving me a headache.

If anyone has a problem with the way moderation is done on these forums please feel free to either contact the moderators or webmasters to express your concerns.

Thanks everyone and have a great time on your cruise.

You're doing a good job.

Someone get JillJill some aspirin!


I think this was one of those things that happend that kinda blindsided everyone! I don't think a stupid volcano going off in Iceland and shutting down our trans-Atlantic flights ever occured to anyone!! We try to plan for everything and that is why this thread has been front page for months...so when news of this hit, I think everyone's stress level went up just a little.

~Mike

 

[Deb T.]

Do you think they will show Alice in Wonderland on board? Its not a new release but it would be fun to see it in 3D on the ship.

They were showing it on the April 1st cruise that I just took on the Wonder, so I'm pretty sure they'll show it on the European cruises, too.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have seen "Up" in 3-D onboard the Magic. So yes, they do have the capability. I believe they have it in both theaters.

 

[mmouse37]

Thank you guys.
I gave a very reserved response yesterday.

There two threads on the subject of the volcano, one concerning the EBTA, and this one has had posts concerning the effects for travellers, who have plans for the Baltic cruises.
Many people, who have booked Baltic cruises, have expressed big concern about the current situation the effects on flights, being re routed, the effects on getting to the port.
I have been asked for a lot of information, Email PM, etc and have tried my best to fulfil those requests, we in the world have never ever seen a lock down on flights like this before.
People have already amended flights or booked travel insurance, when they had been advised before it wasn’t necessary. Now if purchased at this time it might not cover Volcano’s as it’s a known event.
The other thread has not had the same warning that it should be transferred to the community forum, but I assume on this president, that discussions concerning hurricanes etc will also be moved to the community forum.
My sister is stuck in Gibraltar, she was in Spain and that is a concerning position, she hasn’t had any money since last week. She has two sons one with health problems and they ran out of medication last week, they have tried local hospitals but they will not prescribe without UK saying it’s ok, it takes time.
Recently on other threads, when the Magic was stranded, ‘security’ at Castaway cay, was considered to be ‘off topic’, however CM friends said actually it was spot on. (I was asked not to post more detail).
I would say there needs to be consistency, for example on 2012 threads, and there have been many, with different views, they go un moderated unless I post, then there will be a post saying its pure speculation.
People I have never met, or known have PM’d or emailed me on this when they have noticed it.

I have attempted to resolve this by PM, but that was totally unsuccessful.

Anyway with this heavy ‘moderation’, I really cannot post. I regularly try to do so, but its impossible under these circumstances which are clear to many.

Andrew...you are not "heavily moderated" any more than anyone else and sorry if you feel that way. We act on threads when we feel it is necessary. ...not just "when you post". You quoted a few posters who agree with you and you also insinuated that many agree with you that there is heavy moderation. But you need to be aware that we also act on a thread/threads when a post or posts get reported to us and unfortunately we get MANY reports on your posts....so while there are many that do agree with your posts there are many that do not as well. This is not meant to be pro Andrew, against Andrew debate but you must be aware that we get an awful lot of reports against you. I hesitated to post that but since you publicly took a swipe at JillJill for moderating I felt you needed to know that so you don't think we are singling you out on purpose. This is a balancing act of trying to keep threads moving along on topic and steering off topics things away. It is not easy and it takes a lot of time.. and again, sorry if feel we are picking on you but it is certainly not the case. You may just be taking it too personally and you don't always need to have the last word.

MJ

 

[ArthurAmish]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I have a general question about the Berlin tours. I did have a bit of sticker shock - I was planning on the premium train service with private vehicle (3 persons). I saw the price and also the email about how you have to establish your own itinerary. We don't have any itinerary in mind. What are the suggestions for Berlin - should we do one of the DCL guided tours, or "splurge" on the private vehicle tour?

Thanks

 

[scrapycruiser]

We are doing Berlin's Turbulent History, which looks like a very comprehensive tour. When we were in the Med '07 , we went with 4 private tour companies. We generally prefer NOT following the crowd. But with the economy, money is a little tight so we won't be going the private route ( well except for Anastasia in St Petersburg ).

Also, I was concerned about getting back to the ship on time. Anything can happen. Once we were docked in Glasgow ( sp ? ) and were on a ship sponsored tour to Edinburgh. There was a fatal car accident which delayed us 2 hours.
Being late for the ship in Wandemunde would be esp bad. The next day is a sea day, and that would mean you'd have to fly into Russia ???

Since you're talking about DCL's private tour ,you'll be covered if there are delays. If you have the money, I would do the DCL Private tour and get Rick Steve's Berlin book for touring ideas !

 

[scrapycruiser]

Has anyone had any problems reserving Flounders for the Baltic ?
Didn't know how booked up they are. My dil will be calling on May 4 ( this is their 1st Disney cruise ) and I'm hoping she'll be able to reserve some time.

 

[MrsScooby]

It does, we usually do pretty good by asking but a little leary this time since there might be a language barriers to deal with. but have no problems onboard

Might figure out seafood/shellfish spellings in different languages and make up little cards to carry in port, haven't gotten that far as of yet

That's a great idea

In Tallinn's old square there are many cafes/pubs to choose from and they all have their menus posted. Most of them have inside/outside dining. I'm sure you all can find something to eat at 1 place. If all else fails McDonald's is at the bottom of the hill on the edge of old town, but in 2008 they only took local currency.

Thanks Barb
I think we want to avoid the Golden Arches on this trip though
Rick Steves has some restaurants he recommends in his new travel book if all else fails.

My DD and I had many allergies, mostly environmental, but MANY. We went through a simple procedure called NAET, and neither of us require shots or nasal sprays. I was so allergic to MSG in Chinese food that it nearly killed me. I can now safely enjoy Chinese and Thai. We were also treated for mint, B-complex, weeds, mold, etc...

ohh, gotta look into this before we sail. My DS is deathly allergic to something in NY, but we don't know what it is But after 3 trips to the ER we never visit family there without his inhaler-really weird because these attacks are years apart-so hard to figure out what is causing them and most NY trips are no problem. It would be easier to avoid whatever it is if we knew what to avoid

 

[MrsScooby]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I have a general question about the Berlin tours. I did have a bit of sticker shock - I was planning on the premium train service with private vehicle (3 persons). I saw the price and also the email about how you have to establish your own itinerary. We don't have any itinerary in mind. What are the suggestions for Berlin - should we do one of the DCL guided tours, or "splurge" on the private vehicle tour?

Thanks

I'm going with Berlinwalks Tour company.

http://www.berlinwalks.de/
Their website has a list of standard sites for first time visiters.
Cruisecritic also has a webpage on Berlin as well with many suggested sites to see.
Alot depends on your interests.

 

[dietcokefan]

We are doing Berlin's Turbulent History, which looks like a very comprehensive tour. When we were in the Med '07 , we went with 4 private tour companies. We generally prefer NOT following the crowd. But with the economy, money is a little tight so we won't be going the private route ( well except for Anastasia in St Petersburg ).

Also, I was concerned about getting back to the ship on time. Anything can happen. Once we were docked in Glasgow ( sp ? ) and were on a ship sponsored tour to Edinburgh. There was a fatal car accident which delayed us 2 hours.
Being late for the ship in Wandemunde would be esp bad. The next day is a sea day, and that would mean you'd have to fly into Russia ???

Since you're talking about DCL's private tour ,you'll be covered if there are delays. If you have the money, I would do the DCL Private tour and get Rick Steve's Berlin book for touring ideas !

We are trying to pick DCL tours just for this reason alone...don't want to risk the potential of an issue arising that delays us returning to the ship. If we book the DCL tour then they will wait on us

We chose the Turbulent Tour as well and are so looking forward to it! It's a "once in a lifetime" type trip so we are trying to make the most of it. We have, however considered doing Sweden on our own and doing a HOHO bus to save some money there. Also in Denmark it seemed the things we were interested in were close to the ship, so we are doing that on our own as well...All in all, we are so excited to make this a wonderful family trip!

I think I'll also look into the tour book ideas for other countries as well, just to get a feel, thanks for the idea.

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

That's a great idea


Thanks Barb
I think we want to avoid the Golden Arches on this trip though
Rick Steves has some restaurants he recommends in his new travel book if all else fails.



ohh, gotta look into this before we sail. My DS is deathly allergic to something in NY, but we don't know what it is But after 3 trips to the ER we never visit family there without his inhaler-really weird because these attacks are years apart-so hard to figure out what is causing them and most NY trips are no problem. It would be easier to avoid whatever it is if we knew what to avoid

If you have any questions regarding NAET please send me a PM and I'll do my best to help you out. It made a world of difference to us!

 

[scrapycruiser]

We are trying to pick DCL tours just for this reason alone...don't want to risk the potential of an issue arising that delays us returning to the ship. If we book the DCL tour then they will wait on us

We chose the Turbulent Tour as well and are so looking forward to it! It's a "once in a lifetime" type trip so we are trying to make the most of it. We have, however considered doing Sweden on our own and doing a HOHO bus to save some money there. Also in Denmark it seemed the things we were interested in were close to the ship, so we are doing that on our own as well...All in all, we are so excited to make this a wonderful family trip!

I think I'll also look into the tour book ideas for other countries as well, just to get a feel, thanks for the idea.

When is your cruise ?
Oslo, Copenhagen, Sweden and Tallin are very easy to do own your own
We were on a Princess Baltic cruise 2 yrs ago.
If you're planning to see alot of the museums in Oslo get an Oslo Card. We will be docked next to the TI and very close to where you get the ferry ( included w/ card ) that takes you to the Viking, Fram, and Kon Tiki Museum as well as the outdoor museum. If you take that same ferry back, eat lunch on the ship cause you're right there , then see the Vigeland and /or shop.
Just IMHO
In Copenhagen either the HOHO or the local bus can get you around.
Sweden, I didn't think the card was worth the money so we're getting just the transportation card. We plan to see the VASA, Old Town where we want to see the church and the Royal Armory.
Last time we got a hotdog in the Old Town Square. It was a footlong in a small loaf of warm french bread. Cheap and yummy !
IMHO, I would suggest for Tallin...take a taxi (cheap and they take dollars or euros ) to the top of the hill at old town . Do this to save time ! Then leisurely walk down and stop in the church, the shops , see the beautiful views. If you stop along the way to see things and shop, it'll take a couple of hours. When you get to the bottom there are alot of outdoor cafes, the incredible Sweater Wall ( WARNING... have cash, Euros ) and if after a long cruise the kids are begging for a hamburger the golden arches is right there.Easily walk back to the ship on a nice day. But you could hail a cab.
Tallin , next to St P was my favorite port. So medieval ! So unlike any place I've ever been.
Rick Steves has a great walking tour of Tallin.

 

[dietcokefan]

When is your cruise ?
Oslo, Copenhagen, Sweden and Tallin are very easy to do own your own
We were on a Princess Baltic cruise 2 yrs ago.
If you're planning to see alot of the museums in Oslo get an Oslo Card. We will be docked next to the TI and very close to where you get the ferry ( included w/ card ) that takes you to the Viking, Fram, and Kon Tiki Museum as well as the outdoor museum. If you take that same ferry back, eat lunch on the ship cause you're right there , then see the Vigeland and /or shop.
Just IMHO
In Copenhagen either the HOHO or the local bus can get you around.
Sweden, I didn't think the card was worth the money so we're getting just the transportation card. We plan to see the VASA, Old Town where we want to see the church and the Royal Armory.
Last time we got a hotdog in the Old Town Square. It was a footlong in a small loaf of warm french bread. Cheap and yummy !
IMHO, I would suggest for Tallin...take a taxi (cheap and they take dollars or euros ) to the top of the hill at old town . Do this to save time ! Then leisurely walk down and stop in the church, the shops , see the beautiful views. If you stop along the way to see things and shop, it'll take a couple of hours. When you get to the bottom there are alot of outdoor cafes, the incredible Sweater Wall ( WARNING... have cash, Euros ) and if after a long cruise the kids are begging for a hamburger the golden arches is right there.Easily walk back to the ship on a nice day. But you could hail a cab.
Tallin , next to St P was my favorite port. So medieval ! So unlike any place I've ever been.
Rick Steves has a great walking tour of Tallin.

We are on the 6/24 cruise and so, so excited! I think you had mentioned a while back on the boards about the ease of doing Tivoli Gardens on our own and we took your advice and are doing just that. We just felt that with the kids being with us on the museums and more "serious" venue excursions this one place in Copenhagen was sort of "their" time to enjoy a fun day...and have also warned them that it is NOT Disneyland. But, felt it was a sort of fun time for them to enjoy....and we'll catch a cab and go thier on our own rather than pay the DCL exursion fee. We also thought it was so easy to do the HOHO in Sweden that we'll take advantage of that too...but definitely doing DCL exursions in Berlin and Russia. Our young kids are doing the Molli Steam train with two adults and the rest will do Berlin. I'm also excited for Tallin, as you mentioned too. I believe we've book an exursion through DCL for the Town and Country life that day as it involved cows and horses or something that the little girls were just excited about when we read it to them. I'm hoping to get shopping done in each port too! Hopefully that sweater wall in Tallin!

Thanks again for your advice.

 

[cindy18]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I have a general question about the Berlin tours. I did have a bit of sticker shock - I was planning on the premium train service with private vehicle (3 persons). I saw the price and also the email about how you have to establish your own itinerary. We don't have any itinerary in mind. What are the suggestions for Berlin - should we do one of the DCL guided tours, or "splurge" on the private vehicle tour?

Thanks

We are also going on a BerlinWalks tour (I think as a result of MrsScooby's suggestion, actually) and skipping the DCL route. Like you, we were sort of stunned by how much it cost just to go into Berlin with Disney, before you even add on a tour. I understand that Disney charters a train, which is expensive, and of course if you take DCL transportation and there's a problem, the ship will wait. And we did talk to BerlinWalks about that. But in all the years they have been in operation, they have never failed to get customers back to their ship, and frankly, if they ever did, they would probably never get people to sign up for that tour again. So we feel pretty comfortable, and the price, with round trip transportation and a private guide for 4 for the day, was so much less than DCL, it felt like the right thing (and gave us the opportunity to see specifically chosen sites in Berlin). My two cents.

 

[MrsScooby]

If you have any questions regarding NAET please send me a PM and I'll do my best to help you out. It made a world of difference to us!

Thanks so much

We are also going on a BerlinWalks tour (I think as a result of MrsScooby's suggestion, actually) and skipping the DCL route. Like you, we were sort of stunned by how much it cost just to go into Berlin with Disney, before you even add on a tour. I understand that Disney charters a train, which is expensive, and of course if you take DCL transportation and there's a problem, the ship will wait. And we did talk to BerlinWalks about that. But in all the years they have been in operation, they have never failed to get customers back to their ship, and frankly, if they ever did, they would probably never get people to sign up for that tour again. So we feel pretty comfortable, and the price, with round trip transportation and a private guide for 4 for the day, was so much less than DCL, it felt like the right thing (and gave us the opportunity to see specifically chosen sites in Berlin). My two cents.

Since you are cruising before me I'll be looking forward to hearing how this went for you.

There has been much debate about whether it is worth the risk to do Berlin with a private tour company or go with DCL. Like you, after weighing the pros and cons, I decided that the Berlinwalks tour was worth it. Their reviews and reputation are impressive. I also was a bit nervous about the disclaimer DCL had on their Berlin excursions regarding the responsibility of making the train. Ultimately going into Berlin requires that all travelers be responsible and vigilant about making meeting times


Anyway people have to do what is best for them.

The Berlinwalks website is a great place to start the research for setting up your own itinerary.

 

[jilljill]

When is your cruise ?
Oslo, Copenhagen, Sweden and Tallin are very easy to do own your own
We were on a Princess Baltic cruise 2 yrs ago.
If you're planning to see alot of the museums in Oslo get an Oslo Card. We will be docked next to the TI and very close to where you get the ferry ( included w/ card ) that takes you to the Viking, Fram, and Kon Tiki Museum as well as the outdoor museum. If you take that same ferry back, eat lunch on the ship cause you're right there , then see the Vigeland and /or shop.
Just IMHO
In Copenhagen either the HOHO or the local bus can get you around.
Sweden, I didn't think the card was worth the money so we're getting just the transportation card. We plan to see the VASA, Old Town where we want to see the church and the Royal Armory.
Last time we got a hotdog in the Old Town Square. It was a footlong in a small loaf of warm french bread. Cheap and yummy !
IMHO, I would suggest for Tallin...take a taxi (cheap and they take dollars or euros ) to the top of the hill at old town . Do this to save time ! Then leisurely walk down and stop in the church, the shops , see the beautiful views. If you stop along the way to see things and shop, it'll take a couple of hours. When you get to the bottom there are alot of outdoor cafes, the incredible Sweater Wall ( WARNING... have cash, Euros ) and if after a long cruise the kids are begging for a hamburger the golden arches is right there.Easily walk back to the ship on a nice day. But you could hail a cab.
Tallin , next to St P was my favorite port. So medieval ! So unlike any place I've ever been.
Rick Steves has a great walking tour of Tallin.

Thanks for your additional info on Oslo. I was worried how we were going to get around. I have a couple of guidebooks but haven't had a chance to look them over as of yet.
We also found Copenhagen easy to walk, once we got our bearrings after getting lost and stumbling across the US embassy. I still have the guidebook with map they gave us.
We also really liked Tallin and the feel of a 'medievil' town. So different than any other place we've been and very friendly too. We used McD's for a bathroom stop and they didn't charge for its use, tho there was a line that seemed to be local school kids.
Tallin, along with Warnemunde, were our favorite ports followed by StP.

 

[Scoobydoo76]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I have a general question about the Berlin tours. I did have a bit of sticker shock - I was planning on the premium train service with private vehicle (3 persons). I saw the price and also the email about how you have to establish your own itinerary. We don't have any itinerary in mind. What are the suggestions for Berlin - should we do one of the DCL guided tours, or "splurge" on the private vehicle tour?

Thanks

I guess we are one of the few brave, adventurous, stupid families that plan on doing Berlin entirely on our own. After taking the train to Rostock we are driving to Berlin. We spent two weeks last summer driving around Germany. Berlin was fun and fabulous. So after having sticker shock at the prices of the DCL excursions we decided to do this port on our own. Most of the sights in Berlin are free or there is a nominal charge. I couldn’t justify all the $$$. With any luck we won’t have any issues. If we do, we’ll just have to roll with them. You never really do know what life is going to give you.

 

[MrsScooby]

I guess we are one of the few brave, adventurous, stupid families that plan on doing Berlin entirely on our own. After taking the train to Rostock we are driving to Berlin. We spent two weeks last summer driving around Germany. Berlin was fun and fabulous. So after having sticker shock at the prices of the DCL excursions we decided to do this port on our own. Most of the sights in Berlin are free or there is a nominal charge. I couldn’t justify all the $$$. With any luck we won’t have any issues. If we do, we’ll just have to roll with them. You never really do know what life is going to give you.

Your experience with traveling there makes a huge difference.

What do recommend for us first time visitors to Berlin?