You Are Not The First To Pass This Way: 2nd Magic Baltic Cruise, 6/24/2010

[ga9497]

Has anyone been on a Baltic cruise before or to any of the locations the cruise is visiting? We haven't but this is a cruise I have always wanted to do.

I have been looking around for information and came across this that I though has some good information.
http://ourpassportstamps.com/Home_Page.html

 

[bevgray]

I'll be traveling solo and look forward to meeting everyone.

 

[ga9497]

I'll be traveling solo and look forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome

 

[adrianna_sarah]

We're in a Cat. 6. Couldn't imagine not having a balcony with such a long cruise. Hubby and I were running the numbers and could book a Cat. 4 for less than we have our current Cat. 6 for if the prices stay the same and we rebook on board in December. I am thinking it might be worth it to be on a quieter floor and have a little extra space. We do spend a good amount of time in our stateroom because of afternoon naps and early bedtimes. Unfortunately, Cat. 4's are down to GTY only, and I was very picky about where I wanted our Cat. 6 to be. I'm not sure if I am willing to give up location for space. We have previously cruised the 7 Night DCL Western in a Cat. 5 and will be in a Cat. 9 this Christmas for the Wonder 4 Night.

What about you all? I know I've seen Cats. 5 and 6 and a SPH. What category did you pick and why? Any second thoughts or waitlists for other Cats?

 

[lzj21428]

We have always done two connecting Cat 5 staterooms for the 5 of us. I can't imagine putting 5 of us in one room, even a Cat 4. We like our space. My TA has us waitlisted for a Cat 2, but I know that will not happen. We have the same two rooms that we have always had when cruising DCL. I like the location on deck 7, mid ship, starboard side. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my balcony. Would never sail without one.

 

[mehaul]

I've been reading a little about our ports of destination. FYI - There are 3 Baltic States -Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (at one time Finland was considered a Blatic State). Currently all 3 states are members of the EU.
The bad news is none of the countries we will be visiting on our cruise except Germany uses the Euro as currency.

 

[ga9497]

We're in a Cat. 6. Couldn't imagine not having a balcony with such a long cruise. Hubby and I were running the numbers and could book a Cat. 4 for less than we have our current Cat. 6 for if the prices stay the same and we rebook on board in December. I am thinking it might be worth it to be on a quieter floor and have a little extra space. We do spend a good amount of time in our stateroom because of afternoon naps and early bedtimes. Unfortunately, Cat. 4's are down to GTY only, and I was very picky about where I wanted our Cat. 6 to be. I'm not sure if I am willing to give up location for space. We have previously cruised the 7 Night DCL Western in a Cat. 5 and will be in a Cat. 9 this Christmas for the Wonder 4 Night.

What about you all? I know I've seen Cats. 5 and 6 and a SPH. What category did you pick and why? Any second thoughts or waitlists for other Cats?

Normally we cruise in a balcony all the time too but with this particular sailing the price range was more then I was comfortable spending for the balcony. We are currently booked in a category 8 ocean view, which DH isn't too happy about. He loves his balcony. We may end up changing to a category 6 or 5 somewhere along the line depending on what our budget dictates. We also are going to add on a couple of nights in London to visit one of my cousins and we still need airfare for 4.

We were on the 15nt sailing in August that went through the Panama Canal and we were in a category 6. We really used the balcony alot during that time because of so many sea days

 

[ga9497]

I've been reading a little about our ports of destination. FYI - There are 3 Baltic States -Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (at one time Finland was considered a Blatic State). Currently all 3 states are members of the EU.
The bad news is none of the countries we will be visiting on our cruise except Germany uses the Euro as currency.

That is correct every location will have different currency
ATM's would be the best option on getting local currency. ATM's usually offer the best exchange rate

 

[cindy18]

I hear you on caring about the location of your cabin. We really like to be midship and have always been there. The difference in space between the 4 and the 6 is not significant, but I agree that Deck 8 is quieter. On balance, if you can really book the 4 for less than the 6, I would do it, even though you'd be rolling the dice on where you wind up. There are likely to be cancellations between now and June 2010, meaning that 4s will open up, and you may have a better location than you think.

 

[mehaul]

We will be in a cat 6 room. I've been checking ou the temps in the Baltic and the highs are barely 70 with lows in the 50's. The pools are heated - right?

 

[ga9497]

There are some scripts from the PBS shows from Rick Steves with information on some of the places we will be visiting. I have been trying to find travel shows that will cover these locations but none that are airing on the travel channel in the next 3 weeks

Rick Steve shows are on PBS but haven't checked their schedule on if they are airing soon
http://www.ricksteves.com/tvr/tv_menu.htm

There is one show on the Travel Channel with Samantha Brown
Oct 26 - 12pm (eastern time) - Weekend in London

 

[mehaul]

The three best travel shows I've seen are the two you listed plus Smart Travels with Rudy Maxa
www.smarttravels.tv

About 3 weeks ago he had a show on TV about Stockholm.
I watched the weekend special of Samantha Brown's a few weeks ago - it was fun, but less informative that her Pasport to Europe series.

 

[cindy18]

Samantha Brown did a show on Copenhagen that was on the Travel Channel last week, I think. We taped it but haven't had time to watch it yet.

 

[mehaul]

I started this website to help capture facts and information about the different ports/countries we will be visiting. Check it out at www.magicalbalticcruise.com and let me know what you think (you can sign in the Guestbook)! It's a work in progress...I'll be making frequent updates, so check back often. I'm open to suggestions on the type of information you'd like to see and can add it. Thought it would be a nice place to capture a lot of information about these amazing countries.

Lisa

 

[TDC Nala]

I did look at some excursions offered by other lines - seems the excursions to Berlin cost several hundred bucks a person. Takes 3 hours to get to Berlin by train from the port, so that's 6 hours travel just to reach there and return. Most of the other lines also offered excursions to areas closer to the port.

There was also some info about taking a day trip to Moscow from St. Petersburg which would cost in the hundreds as well and would necessitate taking a plane to Moscow. Don't know if there'd also be visa issues. Most of what I read says that if you take an excursion with your cruise line, they take care of the visa issues, but if you want to go off on your own you must have your visa in order.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

I just checked out your website, Lisa. Teriffic work. I don't think we'll be visiting Berlin on this one. 6 hours of round-trip train travel, plus sightseeing in Berlin would be too hard on my little ones. We'll probably stick to wandering the streets of Rostock. I read somewhere else that there may be a shore excursion to Meyer-Wefft to visit the new DCL ships as they are being built, which might be intresting.

 

[TDC Nala]

oh, I changed the thread title - the inspiration finally kicked in - Hope it's not confusing!

 

[4greatboys]

Did you see this about the Visa's?

http://petersburgcity.com/news/city/2008/09/24/visa/

 

[lzj21428]

TDC, I like the new thread title, very catchy.

Lisa, great website you've made. I've added it to my favorites.

That would be great if Russia did away with the visa requirement for all cruise ships. Seems like it would make things easier. I did read that if you were taking a ship excursion or hiring a private tour company the visa was taken care of for you, so that was helpful.

I don't think I would do an excursion to Berlin or Moscow, too much travel time required. I hear that the port city for Germany is quite nice. My aunt, who took a Baltic cruise in August said it was one of her favorite stops.

 

[mehaul]

Thanks for the website comments. I'm adding to it everyday. I agree with skipping the Moscow excursion. There is so much to do in and around St Petersburg, that 2 days is still not enough time. I think we will do the Berlin excursion. Our TA had mentioned maybe be trying other cites in Northern Germany.
That's interesting about the Russian Visa requirements; however I don't think it will change for U.S. citizens.