Percy - I would just worry about having a purse or fanny pack. I routinely had $200 with me ($100 in US and equivilant in rubles). As long as it is hidden, you will be fine.

A few people who had problems using their credit card. Even those who called to alert the credit card company. If you are traveling with someone - you may want to have them carry a different banks card in case one is rejected. I had no problems but there were 2 or 3 people out of our group who did run into problems.

I don't want to scare you - but just wanted to put you on alert. The people who had their cameras and wallets stolen had them taken near St. Issac's Cathedral and near the Church of the Spilled Blood on photo stops.

Have a great time.

Theresa: Thats seems like a good point about small vs. larger ships. I wonder if that is generally true. It seems plausible. Also other factors to consider are staff to passenger ratio and the culture of service set by the cruise company.
Percy; I had a glass of Baltika at the Radisson. It was good but it had a strong, sort of very malty flavor. The Polish beer Kyskie (spelling) I preferred. It was ligher and crisper. We cabbed it to the Vasa then took a short walk to the ferry to go to Gamla Stan. BTW the ferry took a CC per machine only. The cashier did not take the CC or dollars. If you use the card you have to run it for one ticket at a time. The conversion came to $4.36 BTW. Beyond that dollars and Euros are fine. Can you walk to Gamla Stan. As I recall that would be quite a walk and take alot of time. Just cab it or take the water taxi. yes you can easily spend alot of time in GS. Its fun too. :-) Cheers, Larry

Thank you both jacketwatch and Theresa.

Gee having itmes stolen right at St.Isaacs and Church of the Spilled Blood... my goodness.

Maybe we will have one person in the group purchase Rubles ..if needed.

jacketwatch:

Okay , so it is a taxi from the port to Gamla Stan and then a ferry to Vasa and a ferry back to Gamla Stand again.

C'mon all you other people reading this...the cruise ship is sold out for August 20th.. so there must be others with question about the various Ports.!!!

Pick jacketwatch and Theresa's brains while you can!!!

Good Night all

If you are only spending 2 days in Russia - I wouldn't bother purchasing Rubles. We did a 12 day tour between Moscow and St. Petersburg that included many small towns that would not accept dollars so we needed rubles. We also needed rubles for the river cruise we were on.

For a Baltic cruise - you will be fine with just dollars.

You can do that as well Percy. Actually the water taxi goes to the major sites of interest. :-)

Hi jacketwatch:

Well I got my documents in the mail today from Princess.

I made sure that all my information was correct ( on line).
I also got ( I am sure you did also), a list of all the tours that Princess offers.

Princess says that if you do not take a tour with them you cannot get off until after 9:30AM !!!!

I recall BillJ saying ( last year August ) when he did this cruise that the 9:30 stuff was a lot of "bunk"....

Did you have any problem getting off the cruise ship in St. Petersburg ??

Oh yes , what did you do in Helsinki?..I know you said it was raining.
Thanks you for all your help.
Percy

Hi Percy: Just curious but what did they send you because for us they were paperless. I had to print my boarding passes. As for not getting off until 0930 you can forget that. We enterered some ports 0700 and I know of people who got off B4 then w/o a hassle. They really can't stop you I think. We were off a few times ourselves B4 0900. As for St. Petes we took the ships tour so getting off was no problem. There was a line for those who had private tours so again I don't see a problem. Be sure to make a copy of your passport as you will need this and the actual p0assport when you exit into Russia. The ship can make one but its easier to do it ahead of time. As for helsinki I am afraid we were limited by the weather and the fact that our friend had a bad shoulder (he had a torn rotator cuff and had surgery upon his return) and the damp weather aggravated his injury. We did see that famous church carved from granite, had some time in the market and strolled Stockmans, the largest dept. store in Europe. Cheers, Larry

Good Morning jacketwatch

My Travel agent booked the cruise and my flight to Copenhagen.

I went to the Princess website and filled out all the information they needed.

My Travel Agent will print out my cruise boarding passes and then she will have a coffee with all four of us and give us some further details.

But Princess sent us ( via Chris our Travel Agent) a big thick envelope with some nice color brochures of what to see in each ports..the pictures are all very nice inside.

Of course the color brochure is the advertisement for the Princess shore excursions..so you know they are going to have very good pcitures in them !!!.............but there are some very nice aerial views of all the port we will be seeing.

I just got off the phone with Chris and she said , "you get off at St.Petersburg or any other port anytime you are ready to disembark.. Princess cannot and will not attempt to hold you back."

Thanks Again
Will keep you posted.
Percy.

Thats the same packet we received too. BTW are you aware of (I'll bet you are :-)) how prebooking w/ Princess while on board for future cruises works?
have fun. Larry :-)

Hi jacketwatch:

Thank You and yes I know how the pre booking works.

Their office on the ship is usually right next to where the Pursors desk is.

Just got an e-mail from Alla in St.Petersburg and she also said ..just get off the ship anytime once the disembarkment starts, Princess cannot hold you back and they never even try.

43 more days but heck who's counting.

Good Night
Percy

Now its 42. :D :D

I'm reading your posts with some interest. The key words that interest me are WW11 and beer. My family plans to take this cruise next summer and it's never too early to start gathering info. Several members of my family are WW11 buffs and would like to spend time in ports related to this. Are there any independent tour groups in St Petes that would devote a day to this. Do you have to have a visa if you tour with an independent group. I noted the interest in Gydansk on the Westerplatte WW11 Memorial and the Three Cross Solidarity Museum. Does anyone know of any other potential sites at any place on this cruise. My brother will probably already know the answers to some of these questions, but it's nice to suprise him once in a while. Also beer drinking spots are high on my families list. Wine is a close second and any local restaurant hints would be great.

azbabr:

Yes, I mentioned the WWII Memorial and the Tri- Crosses Solidarity Memorial in Gdansk as places that I would want to see.
However,

There are WWII Memorial and Museums in all the ports you will be in.

There are 3 nices ones in Tallin with a few of the Russian Officers buildings next to them( when Russia ruled over Tallinn), they still have the Hammer and Sickle Insigna on them !!

Oslo and Helsinki has one also.
I have seen the one in Stockholm( in pictures only , I will not be there until next month.!)

Copenhagen has many, I have seen 3 of them ( again pictures only).

About St.Petersburg...yes there are independent tour groups in Russia and you can book them and set you own itinerary.
If you use a Tour group from St.Petersburg you do not need a Visa... on your own you do need one!

About beer drinking places.
Hmmm!
I will give you the names of a few places... but bear in mind I have not been there ( yet!!)

Oslo Norway...The Aker Brygge area along the waterfront just past the City Hall...you can look across the water and see Akerhus Castle.

Stockholm Sweden:

1. Some open air restaurants in Gamla Stan( Old Town)... and just a block from the main Church (Storkyrkan) is a place called Stortorget( a Square) with outside Beer drinking places.

2.When in Gamla Stan you can walk over to Kungstargarden( easy walk from the Royal Palace)...many food festivals here and outside restaurants for lunches and Beer!!

Helsinki:

1. The Esplanade is a nice place for a snack and Beer... it is only about 2 blocks from the famous Market Square area which is in front of the Blue City Hall Bldg.

2. Another open air place is the Stockmann Square.. just a block past the Esplande....(Stockmann is the name of the biggest shopping store in Helsinki)

3. However, you can walk a few blocks further and go to the Hotel Torni.
The Torni has a restaurant on the top floor for panoramic views and you can have a good beer of any kind in the Ateljee bar.

St.Petersburg.... off hand I would say that there are many places along the Nevskiy Prospekt..,. which is the main street in St.Petersburg.

I am sure jacketwatch can tell you where he had a beer(s)!!.
I think the main beer in St. Petersburg is called Baltik!!( don't quote me !)

Tallinn....I am not sure but there has to be many places in the old Town Square area.

Gdansk: I am guessing anywhere along Long Market Street by the Neptune Foutain( by City Hall) area would be okay or down along the Long Quay , where the Gdansk Crane is.
( jacketwatch, bail me out of here !!)

Copenhagen: Ahhh!!, I am sure you have to have a beer along Hyhavn and the Stroget.( The Stroget is the longest peddestrian street in Europe)

It is actually five different street names as you walk along this long pedestrian street....but collectively it is called the Stroget( pronunced Stroy- at).

Like you azbabr ,I want to have a local beer in every port I get to!!..
hmmm.

I will know more once I go and come back.

only 34 more days.!!!

Anyway , you can Internet search some of the places I mentioned and pick and choose what you want.
Good Luck.

Percy

Hello Percy: :-) The beer in Russia I tried is Baltika and its pretty good but too something for my taste, maybe too malty. Our tour guide mentioned it and another one as the best two Russian beers there but I just can't think of the others name. However its very popular and they did serve it at the Radisson where we stopped for lunch.
Just about anywhere in old town Gdansk is fine for a local brew. The one I tried was Tyskie and for my taste I preferred it to Baltika. Just be sure to find one of the many cafes lining the street an sit outside, have a bite and people watch. People at work wanted to know how I liked Polish food. Well actually we ate at a Mexican place there. :D Mexican food in Poland. They still tease the he!! out of me about that. :D

Hi jacketwatch:

Thanks for the beer advice.
What!!! Mexican food in Poland !!!

I am going to try the Perogies, Cabbage rolls, etc. and for sure some of that delicious Poppyseed Polish bakery stuff.!!!!

I am already asking some of my Polish friends here what I should eat for lunch over there.!!

How does that saying go " When in Rome do as the Romans do !!"

I will let you know how I make out (if I survive !! ha ha )
Take Care
Percy

Hi jacketwatch:

I was just asked this question about a Visa in St.Petersburg.

It is my understanding that if you are booked with a Tour Company in St.Petersburg ( like I am ) then you do not need a Visa.

I have received my tickets for the two days tour in St.Peterburg about 6 weeks ago...and that is all I have to show them at Customs( plus my passport)...that a Tour Company is waiting for me at the other end.

Did you need a Visa !!???

Thanks Again
Percy

No you are just fine. This suffices for a VISA. Just be sure to have your passport and a copy for Russian authorities. No worries. :-) Larry

Thank you very much

I will now e-mail the other people in San Diego and let them know.

Thanks for all your help.

Have a good day

Percy

Hey all, Thx for all the good beer advice. I'm looking forward to hearing about your cruise when you return. smooth sailing!

asbarb:

I will do a trip report when I return and I will have a sip for you at every port!!!

I know
I know... it's a tough job but someone has to do it.!!!!
Percy