After doing the med and the caribbean with Ocean Village and Royal Caribbean we wanted to do something a little different, so we're doing a 12 night baltic cruise on the newly refurbished Century.

Price wise it was a bargain. Two people sharing a Concierge class stateroom worked out at £3,060 for the two of us, which was £60 more than a standard balcony cabin.

Just organised all the shore excursions and am excited about the "new" ship and places that I've never been before.

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Originally posted by MOORHOUSE:
Just organised all the shore excursions and am excited about the "new" ship and places that I've never been before.

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The Baltic is a wonderful Itinerary.

The old town is a 10-minute stroll from the dock; you go through a gate in the medieval wall, walk up the hill, and you hit the main square.

Stay in the square and you have a selection of bars, plus the local tourist information office. Head one way and you're into the shops and market stalls sheltering under the town walls; head the other and you're climbing again to the parliament building and the cathedral. And from up there, it's possible to look down and see the layout of the old town - and the newer parts of the city - below you.

As Malcolm says, you can easily tour most of the Baltic capitals on your own and on foot either direct from the quayside, or by shuttle-bus to a central drop-off point.

The exception would be St Petersburg, where unless you want to go through the hassle of organising your own Russian entry visa and finding your own tour guide (which can be worth it if you're there for two days/one night) you'd be better off joining the Celebrity coach tours.

The Baltic is an easy area to do most things on one's own. You can see your ship from many view points in many of the ports, and it isn't far to catch up if one does happen to miss a vessel. I suspect it doesn't happen as often as it does in the Caribbean where you see those rushing back late from places like Carlos 'n Charlie's. I wonder how many people do miss ships? Often there are announcements for people from cabin such and such to contact reception, but I know from experience that sometimes this is because the card hasn't been swiped properly.

In the Baltic, English is a 2nd language to the majority and not just a few words, many can speak English very well indeed... If one learns just a handful of words in the local language and attempt to use them, the ice has been broken and back will come a smile and perfect English in many cases.

Pam

[ 06-29-2006: Message edited by: PamM ]

Having booked it so late, we had to rush booking the shore excursions because they require them to be booked online 10 days before departure, or onboard.

We plan to do most of the exploring ourselves, but decided to book a couple of excursions, including a 12.5 hour trip to Berlin.

Warnemunde is a pleasant enough seaside resort, and it's a 15-minute train journey from there to Rostock if you want to do some more exploring.

My recommendation would be to cancel it if you can - does not make any sense at all - especially if you are form the U.K. - do a weekend trip (or better longer) to Berlin instead.

[ 06-30-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
I guess I just feel more comfortable about taking the offered excursions.

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Thats how they manage to charge a fortune for them!

Everybody in the Baltic states seem to speak english. I always use the standard phrase of "Excuse me mate which way is the Museum". This has even worked in Russia, Egypt and China.

Its well worth buying a few guide books before you go and palnning what you want to see and how. You can save a fortune and get more of a real feel.

I recall getting of the ship in Helsinki and geting a 'rover' ticket for a bus that allowed you to jump on and off at will. It was not a sight-seeing bus, but a normal public bus. I was able to see more (three of four major sites) of the city and say longer than the organised excursion, for a few pounds. The ships city tour was $100!

Tallin is a ten min walk from the ships berth, normally. It is one of the easiest cities to navigate that I have ever been to. If you can't handle that one I suggest you never leave the comfort of a ship or air-conditioned bus again.

In comparison London, NY and Paris etc. are giant sprawling mazes.

As for signs, most say the names of streets or places, which are pretty similar in most languages that are basis on our alphabet.

[ 07-02-2006: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]