bill

This is a bit of a nonsense question, but here goes. We have cruised twice with Holland America and love the line.Would very much like (two of us..65,62) to do a HAL Baltic Sea cruise in June. Several dates are/were offerred.Cruise price seems OK. Getting to Copenhagen (and back!) not OK.<BR>So: several questions..pick any or all.<BR>1. Anyone done that cruise or something like it..and comments.<BR>2. Any strategies for decent airfare..(we would fly from Minneapolis.)Present fares well over $1,000..and we do realize this is "in season". We had the (fading) hope that unrest would keep some seats open...and cause unusual hgh season "sale".<BR>Thanks for any comments. Bill

Bev

hi<BR>I too like HAL and have twice already cruised on the Noordam - the HAL ship doing the Baltic cruise from Copenhagen. We too balked at the airfare (from Toronto) and chose NCL's Baltic Capitals cruise on the Dream - London return to London - instead. Airfare to London is far more reasonable. We were on the the Dream's sister ship, the Wind, last fall and liked it. Food for thought anyway!<BR>Bev

Kris

Bill, we did a similar itinerary last year on Orient Lines which had a very low (or maybe it was free) add on airfare for July. As we were flying in and out of different cities, we thought it was a great deal and we had already sailed on Orient so we knew we liked the line.<BR><BR>I haven't sailed Holland America but I have sailed with RCCL and Princess which I consider to be similar in nature. Orient differs from them in that the ship is smaller (800 or so passengers), the atmosphere is more casual so only one semi formal night, and the cruise usually includes a couple of days on either end. We got to spend a couple of days in Copenhagen which I thought was nicer than just having a day there.<BR><BR>The itinerary for most of these cruises are pretty similar-some add a couple of ports or sail from London instead of Copenhagen but I think they all hit the truly high spots (St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Copenhagen and Stockholm)in the area.

Barry

We have sailed on HAL 5 times and they are one of our favorites...<BR><BR>We did a 2 week Baltic cruise last July on the ill fated Renaissance... THEY WERE our favorite, we did 5 cruises with them... but ... so much for that!<BR><BR>We loved the Baltic cruise/itinerary.. the Baltic is flat as a lake and all the ports were fantastic! We arranged our own air on FF miles so did Business Class freebie... to do it that time of year wwe had to stay in Stockholm an extra 2 days for the return flight but that is fine.<BR><BR>We have used HAL air program before and really, unless you use FF miles you aren't going to beat their group fare in June.<BR><BR>We did Copenhagen for 3 days then to Rostock,Germany... Lubeck, Germany... Gadansk, Poland... Tallin, Estonia... 3 days in St. Petersburg... Helsinki... and wound up in Stockholm... it was fantastic gt

Joyce

Hi Bill,<BR>I noticed your post while looking for Copenhagen airport to cruise dock info. <BR>We are going on the Noordam July 9 sailing and understand your airfare problem. I'm a travel agent from California and found my best fare by traveling to London, overnight at the airport and then a hop from London to Copenhagen. Same on return, although I wanted two nights in London returning. We're planning to see Mamma Mia one night. I purchased tickets (available to the public) from CA central coast and have gotten them for 1000.00 each.<BR> I'm happy to hear all the positive comments on Holland's Baltic itinerary.<BR>I've 'requested' the shore excursion to Moscow - anyone done that and what did you think?<BR>

Mandy

We did this cruise on the HAL Maasdam June two years ago. It was fabulous! We spent both days on busy all day tours in St. Petersburg, loved them and thought it was money well spent. The passengers we spoke to who went to Moscow loved that as well. <BR><BR>We did probably half the ports on our own and half with a HAL tour. Bring a light rain coat with a hood. You will have a great time!

lyn

We did this itinerary 2 years ago on the Crown Princess. Did ship's tours and were pleased with them, altho if we went again would do some ports on our own. It was an exhausting trip - only one sea day towards the end, and we were determined to see as much as we could in case we never return, so we wore ourselves out. Highlights for me were the Vasa, the Viking ships in Oslo, and everything about St. Pete.<BR><BR>We are going to the Med this summer and air fares have been high all along. Keep searching, altho a stop in London to see Mamma Mia sounds wonderful.