The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[Rogillio]

It was much easier decision for me. I was in a category 11. So I was paying double for nothing at all except perhaps location on the ship. Which I really could care less about. Plus I am doing the 10 night med, 7 night repo, then the 12 night Baltic and then Castles and Kings with Tauck Bridges. So I am spending SO much money so anywhere I can cut is absolutely necessary in my mind. I am always all about how to get the best deal and it increases my enjoyment of my trip. I am also able to bring my BFF along for part of the trip with the money I am saving. Win-Win for me.

OMG, that is so cool. I can't wait to read your trip report and find out what it was like to spend that many days on the boat. If I didn't have to work, I could go for something like that.

I was in an airport line one time and eavesdropping on the people behind me. (OK, so I couldn't help but hear!) And this elderly retiree was talking about how she lived on a cruise ship! She was tell the person with her that that cruiseline let her keep the same room and did not make her get off between sailing...and the cost was about the same as a nursing home. Evidently she did not want to live alone and did not want to live in a nursing home...so the cruise ship was a good solution.

~Mike

 

[abacab]

We are getting a rental car in Rostock and then plan to drive around and see what we can see. I booked thru Avis....the car was right at $100 for the day. Best I can tell, the Avis place is about 3 or 4 miles from the port but they don't have a shuttle....so I will take a taxi (or walk), get the car and go back and pick up the rest of the family.

~Mike

How did you get that $100 price? Best I could get, with AAA discount is 156 euros...

 

[TammyAlphabet]

OMG, that is so cool. I can't wait to read your trip report and find out what it was like to spend that many days on the boat. If I didn't have to work, I could go for something like that.

I was in an airport line one time and eavesdropping on the people behind me. (OK, so I couldn't help but hear!) And this elderly retiree was talking about how she lived on a cruise ship! She was tell the person with her that that cruiseline let her keep the same room and did not make her get off between sailing...and the cost was about the same as a nursing home. Evidently she did not want to live alone and did not want to live in a nursing home...so the cruise ship was a good solution.

~Mike

Well, since I am a teacher, I took the whole summer off. I worked last summer to pay for it. Otherwise, I would have to tone it down considerably. LOL.

 

[Rogillio]

How did you get that $100 price? Best I could get, with AAA discount is 156 euros...

I just now went to Avis.com and selected Germany/Rostock and the rates for one day (6/16/10) start at 61.45 EUR. Not sure what happened when you requested a guote...maybe don't put the AAA in there?

 

[Scoobydoo76]

Your experience with traveling there makes a huge difference.

What do recommend for us first time visitors to Berlin?

If you are a plan-a-holic as I am. I am sure you have read all the guide books and check out all the web sites. I am sure everyone has their own favorite things to do. I’ll just give you our take on Berlin. I have to warn you. I think we enjoyed everything. We arrived in Berlin with very low expectations and were more than pleasantly surprised with the city and people.

First and foremost, don’t be afraid to use the metro system. It is reliable, fast and safe. A family of 5 can get an all day pass for zones A & B for around 17 Euros.

Of course if you are a history buff you have to see Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, and Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie and Topography of Terror. Checkpoint Charlie is a bit of a tourist trap, but we are tourist after all. For a few Euros you can have your picture taken with an actor playing a soldier. My kids got a kick out of this. The Topography of Terror is the rubble site of the command center of Hitler’s Gestapo and SS. They were working on an exhibit there last summer. We will probably return to see if it is now open. Around the city you may see on the ground a trail of bricks. These bricks were put in place to represent where the wall once stood.

If you are in to seeing opulent palaces then Potsdam’s Palaces is the place for you. There are several buildings/palaces, each one more ornate than the other. The grounds are fabulous as well. It is about 20minutes outside of Berlin on the regional train.

If you prefer to take the metro and walk a bit, you can explore the Charlottenburg Palace Area. It is equally as nice and the garden is beautiful.

We visited a number of churches, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin Cathedral, Marien Church. Each one was worth seeing for their own reasons.

Outside of Berlin about 45 minutes by bus or train is the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg, Germany. I’m sure that everyone has their own thoughts on visiting this type of place. I’ll just say it left our family speechless. If you are interested, to get there from Berlin, take S-Bahn N°1 or the regional train bound for Rostock (one leaves from Zoologischer Garten, platform 3, at 10:30am) to Oranienburg. From Oranienburg’s station, you can catch bus N°804 to the camp (Gedenkstätte stop), or walk for 25 minutes. Turn right onto Stralsunder Straße, right onto Bernauer Straße, left onto Straße der Einheit, and right onto Straße der Nationen.

There are many great buildings and other sites to see like the Reichstag Building, the TV tower, Gendarmenmarkt, the Victory Column, and the Opera House.

We plan on exploring the Pergamon and the Neues Museum and taking the metro out to the Olympic Stadium.

We also found an area where many locals go to dine. It is near The Church of St. Nicholas (Germ. Nikolaikirche). The church is located in the eastern part of central Berlin, the borough of Mitte. The area around the church, bounded by Spandauer Straße, Rathausstraße, the River Spree and Mühlendamm, is known as the Nikolaiviertel 'Nicholas quarter'

I know I haven’t been very specific on any of the sights. I recommend doing your homework and pick a few that interests your family. We stumbled our way across the city and saw many things. It was fun taking the metro and going at our own pace. If you download the metro map and purchase a city map, you will have no trouble exploring on your own. You will most like save a bundle of $$$ for St. Petersburg!

 

[jilljill]

Oh, your post just brought an entirely new question to mind...do they charge for using restrooms in these countries? We will be traveling with 3 kids, so I suppose we'd best be prepared and know how to handle these "emergencies"!

TIA

The only places we had to pay to use the restroom was in StP at the cafe at Peterhoff Palace and at a McD's in Amsterdam which this cruise doesn't sail to. Our private tour guide had rubles for us in case we came across restrooms that charged.
Now there could be places that charge in some of the countries we are visiting but I'm not sure.

 

[Scoobydoo76]

We are getting a rental car in Rostock and then plan to drive around and see what we can see. I booked thru Avis....the car was right at $100 for the day. Best I can tell, the Avis place is about 3 or 4 miles from the port but they don't have a shuttle....so I will take a taxi (or walk), get the car and go back and pick up the rest of the family.

~Mike

We are also renting a car from Avis in Rostock. I think either one of us made an error as to how far away Avis is from the port/ship. I am under the impression that we would need to take a train from Warnemünde to Rostock. The travel time is approx. 20 minutes. From the station in Rostock Avis is 2.0km, 24 minutes walking, or a short bus/cab ride. Please let me know if I made a mistake with where the port is. I have us at the Warnemünde Cruise Center birth P7.

If you take a cab from the ship, the driving directions has Avis about 9 miles, 17 minutes away.

 

[jilljill]

We are also renting a car from Avis in Rostock. I think either one of us made an error as to how far away Avis is from the port/ship. I am under the impression that we would need to take a train from Warnemünde to Rostock. The travel time is approx. 20 minutes. From the station in Rostock Avis is 2.0km, 24 minutes walking, or a short bus/cab ride. Please let me know if I made a mistake with where the port is. I have us at the Warnemünde Cruise Center birth P7.

If you take a cab from the ship, the driving directions has Avis about 9 miles, 17 minutes away.

Over on cruisecritic.com on the Northern Europe boards you should be able to find some threads that discuss where the car rentals are located in and around Warnemunde. There's a poster over there who has done up maps of the area showing where places are located.
On the first page of the NE & Baltics threads are several threads on Warnemunde. I looked at one quickly and he recommended using Hertz since they are very close to the port.

 

[MrsScooby]

Oh, your post just brought an entirely new question to mind...do they charge for using restrooms in these countries? We will be traveling with 3 kids, so I suppose we'd best be prepared and know how to handle these "emergencies"!

TIA

The only places we had to pay to use the restroom was in StP at the cafe at Peterhoff Palace and at a McD's in Amsterdam which this cruise doesn't sail to. Our private tour guide had rubles for us in case we came across restrooms that charged.
Now there could be places that charge in some of the countries we are visiting but I'm not sure.

I read somewhere that they might charge for the restroom in Berlin also

Not a bad idea to have some change if you can get it. Worst case scenario it would make a nice souvenir.

 

[MrsScooby]

If you are a plan-a-holic as I am. I am sure you have read all the guide books and check out all the web sites. I am sure everyone has their own favorite things to do. I’ll just give you our take on Berlin. I have to warn you. I think we enjoyed everything. We arrived in Berlin with very low expectations and were more than pleasantly surprised with the city and people.

Wow, Thanks!!
Got the feeling you really liked it

If we had more time we would definitely go to see that concentration camp. We are big history buffs so everything from WWII is high on the list.

 

[MickeyWatch]

We are also in a Cat 4 so thanks for pointing that out. Just kidding...I do not want to give up the verandah either. You know what they say it is only money.

I'm not giving up my veranda either. Once you've had one you can never go back.

 

[denise]

I read somewhere that they might charge for the restroom in Berlin also

Not a bad idea to have some change if you can get it. Worst case scenario it would make a nice souvenir.

don't forget to take some TP too. Sure came in handy on the MED cruise. Some bathrooms charge but it's just for TP, bring your own and no charge! Guess it would be BYOTP!!!

 

[MrsScooby]

don't forget to take some TP too. Sure came in handy on the MED cruise. Some bathrooms charge but it's just for TP, bring your own and no charge! Guess it would be BYOTP!!!

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

Hello all-

I just found that most of the European Lonely Planet iPhone apps are free for the next couple days - just search on Lonely Planet from the App Store and they should come up. There are a number of cities that DCL will be visiting. They are large in size, as they have a ton of info.

Just FYI.

 

[jjsmith]

Hello all-

I just found that most of the European Lonely Planet iPhone apps are free for the next couple days - just search on Lonely Planet from the App Store and they should come up. There are a number of cities that DCL will be visiting. They are large in size, as they have a ton of info.

Just FYI.

Great find! They have London, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen for free. Download them while they are free and don't sync them to your phone yet if space is an issue.

 

[Rogillio]

We are also renting a car from Avis in Rostock. I think either one of us made an error as to how far away Avis is from the port/ship. I am under the impression that we would need to take a train from Warnemünde to Rostock. The travel time is approx. 20 minutes. From the station in Rostock Avis is 2.0km, 24 minutes walking, or a short bus/cab ride. Please let me know if I made a mistake with where the port is. I have us at the Warnemünde Cruise Center birth P7.

If you take a cab from the ship, the driving directions has Avis about 9 miles, 17 minutes away.

It sounds like you have more definative information than me. I just did a google search for the Avis rental place in Rostock and then I did a search for the "cruise port in Warnemunde" and based on the map scale, it looks to be no more than 3 - 4 miles, it that.

I will do some more checking and let you know what I find.

BTW, I've checked cruise critic but could not find anything.

 

[abacab]

I thought I'd post this here to get a wider response...

Just wondering what people are doing about visas in St. Petersburg. If you are going with a private tour, the tour companies all say you don't need a visa, or you are covered by their "blanket visa". But DCL's website says if you are not on a ship-sponsored excursion, they won't let you off the ship unless you have your own individual visa issued by the Russian embassy or consulate.

For those of you going with private tours, are you actually getting your own individual visas beforehand? Did you get some document from the tour company that says "blanket visa"? I'm confused as to what to do.

 

[abacab]

It sounds like you have more definative information than me. I just did a google search for the Avis rental place in Rostock and then I did a search for the "cruise port in Warnemunde" and based on the map scale, it looks to be no more than 3 - 4 miles, it that.

I will do some more checking and let you know what I find.

BTW, I've checked cruise critic but could not find anything.

I called Avis in Rostock and they said they are 20km from the cruise port.

 

[TDC Nala]

I thought I'd post this here to get a wider response...

Just wondering what people are doing about visas in St. Petersburg. If you are going with a private tour, the tour companies all say you don't need a visa, or you are covered by their "blanket visa". But DCL's website says if you are not on a ship-sponsored excursion, they won't let you off the ship unless you have your own individual visa issued by the Russian embassy or consulate.

For those of you going with private tours, are you actually getting your own individual visas beforehand? Did you get some document from the tour company that says "blanket visa"? I'm confused as to what to do.

This is not correct - you do not have to take a ship's tour to be covered by a Russian visa. You must be booked with a tour company that is registered by the Russian government and can cover your visa.

I have seen reports from other cruise lines where the cruise line refused to let anyone disembark until after all guests booked on a cruise line sponsored tour left the ship, and have even threatened passengers with not being able to disembark at all, but there is no reason for this other than to force guests to take tours through the cruise line.

What the Disney site actually says is

Guests taking part in a Disney Cruise Line Port Adventure are not required to obtain a Russian Tourist Visa for the duration of the scheduled excursion. Guests wishing to go ashore on their own are required to obtain and carry a valid Russian Tourist Visa.

It does not say you will not be let off the ship if you are not covered by one of these circumstances. It only informs you that if you book a ship excursion you are covered. The cruise lines are obviously not going to point out that you can also book a private tour; they'd rather you give your money to them.

The Planning Center says:

Guests who have not purchased a shipboard-organized shore excursion or tour and do not possess a valid Russian Tourist Visa will not be permitted ashore in St. Petersburg.

This is probably where the confusion is coming from. If you are booked with a registered tour company you DO have a valid Russian Tourist Visa, which has been arranged for by your tour company. The same page says this about private tour companies:

This company will have to create a program and provide a voucher to the Guests confirming all the arrangements along with a reference letter that includes a visa reference number.

We don't know what Disney's on-board take on disembarkation at St. Petersburg will be until after the first Med cruise, as they've never gone to St. Petersburg before. But it would not be correct to keep anyone who is not on a ship's tour from disembarking at all. I have documentation from my tour company to use when disembarking, am also required to present my passport and copies of my passport (Russian immigration will keep a copy so be sure to bring copies). Cruises have been visiting St. Petersburg for quite a long time and plenty of passengers have gone with private tours and visas provided by those companies.

 

[Caropooh]

I thought I'd post this here to get a wider response...

Just wondering what people are doing about visas in St. Petersburg. If you are going with a private tour, the tour companies all say you don't need a visa, or you are covered by their "blanket visa". But DCL's website says if you are not on a ship-sponsored excursion, they won't let you off the ship unless you have your own individual visa issued by the Russian embassy or consulate.

For those of you going with private tours, are you actually getting your own individual visas beforehand? Did you get some document from the tour company that says "blanket visa"? I'm confused as to what to do.

The private tour companies will issue you a "blanket visa."
Once you book with them and get confirmed, they send you a form to fill out. They'll need names, passport numbers and expiration date, and a few other things. Closer to the cruise, they send you the documents you'll need to get off the ship. You'll aslo need 2 color copies of your passport.

This is what it says in the email I recieved from Anastasia.
There is just the completed visa-free form needed so that we could providethe visa-free disembarkation for You. You are welcome to send it any time,there is still no rush.Then, no later than one month before Your arrival we will send You all thenecessary documents and will be able to fix the Dollar price for theitinerary.