Baltic Sea Cruise Holland America
 

My husband and I have never had a desire to take a cruise, but he did so well this past year at his job that we were awarded one for 2 weeks to the Baltic Sea! Wow. This is a trip we would have never chosen, but should be exciting! Any comments anyone has for 2 virgins - to Europe, as well as a cruise - please share! Copenhagen, Estonia, Stockholm, Helsinki, Kiel, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Tallinn - things we must see or restaurants we must eat!! Any tips about cruising! Can we bring our own wine on board?

In St. Petersburg arrange a private tour, prices are similar or better than the ship excursions, We used Red October, buy Alla also gets grear reviews on this board. Check out cruisecritic.com for lots of good ideas.
In Copenhagen was walked the centeral area, made a quick visit to Trovli and then took the train to Frederikshaven and explored the castle there. I read somewhere that the famous Little Mermail (and it really is pretty little) is being moved for a period of time to exhibit elsewhere. But IMO you won't miss much if she's gone when you arrive.
In Estonia we spent the time on our own just exploring the old city and having a great lunch with very good beer.
Stockholm, the Vasa Museum is a must along with the Nordic Museum. Aslo just do a walking tour of the Gamla Stan old town and enjoy the sights and food (which tends to be expensive)
For Helsinki we toured the fortress had an open air lunch at a restaurant right on the water, but about a 15 minute walk from the dock. Did do Keil or Berlin. Have Fun!

We took the Baltic Sea cruise about five years ago, but not on Holland-America. We have been on that line, however, and it is one of our favorites. There is a lot about cruising that one can learn by some research, but most is learned through experience. You would be wise to do some preparation for cruising by reading reviews on cruisecritic.com and other internet sites.
As far as the ports are concerned, here is a short synopsis of my thoughts. We started in Stockholm. For a first time visitor I would not miss the old town (Gamla Stan), the fabulous city hall, or the Vasa Museum. If you have time (unlikely), go out to the castle at Drottingholm. In Helsinki, don't miss the church that is located beneath some rocks (forget the name), the railway station designed by Saarinen, and the main square. St. Petersburg has so much to see that it is up to your individual tastes. Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, and the Hermitage are all outstanding. We were only in Talinn for half a day, so didn't have a chance to see or do much, but I remember an Eastern Ortodox church and a pharmacy museum that were interesting. We didn't stop in Germany. Copenhagen is a delightful city. The castle with the jewels (Rosen something), the main walking street (Storget), and Tivoli Gardens are all wonderful. Every city should have something like Tivoli. It has something for everyone.
Enjoy your cruise and plan on several more.

You likely will be at a pier in Northern Germany in the towns of Warnemunde for the Berlin stop. If you can gather a group of 6 or 8, probably by creating a Cruise Critic i.d., you would be better advised to set up your own tour to Berlin. We did that with Berlin Walks, which I stumbled across (pun neither intended nor acheived) on the London Walks site.

A driver was waiting for us at the pier when we got off the ship. He had a new rental VW van, with comfortable seating for 10. We were only 6. After an interesting (read high speed) drive to Berlin, our guide, a British graduate student of three years residence in Berlin, met us at the Charlottenburg Palace. We had a wonderful, mostly crowd avoiding day in Berlin, including a nice lunch at a wonderful old restaurant, and an hour at the Pergamun Museum. We were returned to the ship in time for dinner. The cost was substantially less than the ship's tour and, we concluded, far more satisfying.

I don't think anyone answered your question regarding bringing wine aboard. Yes you can. They do not allow liquor but wine is OK. They charge corkage in the dining room but of course no problem if you are having some in the privacy of your cabin. I do highly recommend registering with cruise critic and find the roll call for your particular cruise. As Jeff801 mentioned you can set up a tour ahead of time but you will find a group I am sure on cruise critic roll call. We always do private tours and decide ahead of time with others we are going to share with what exactly we want to see. The private companies are very good about accommodating your wishes.

Echoing traveller69's remarks. ALso check on CruiseCritic's
message board if there is a Meet & Greet set up by one of
your fellow cruisers. HAL is great about setting it up in one
of their lounges w/coffee & pastries provided gratis & sending
an officer to answer questions. Another way also to join up w/fellow cruisers to take independent tours ashore which are always cheaper than the ship's.

Has anyone taken a trip to Moscow from St Petersburg. We are interested in doing that. We have found a flight leaving at 9.50 am arriving in moscow(MOW ) at 11.10 and returning at about 7pm to St Petersburg. That would give us a half a day in Moscow. This we would do the first day then do some trips around St Pete's day 2. Do you think this is feasable? We would also have to get a guided tour in Moscow - Red Square and other nearby points of interest. Is this the best airport or would Domodedovo (DME) be a better point of entry. Any suggestions, info on this would be much appreciated. We will be on HAL in July doing a Baltic cruise.
Thanks

Wow! You are in for a treat! We did that last year. In St. Petersburg--Peterhof, the Church on the Spilled Blood, the Hermitage are all amazing. Loved Copenhagen--Rosenborg Castle, Nyhavn Canal. Estonia--just walk around--very interesting--found wonderful homemade Scandanavian sweaters for amazing prices. Helsinki--a great delight--Uspenski Church, Rock Church, Silbelius Monument, and the Open Air Market--so much fun. Sweden--take a canal ride and see the changing of the guard. The whole trip is amazing! You'll love it. The food onboard is wonderful.

Look up my Baltic review by searching under my user id and do the same for member Percy by the same method. You will find our respective reviews. The Baltic cruise is special IMHO. Its one of the best cruises one can take and I hope you are going during the summer months to experience white nights. Cheers, Larry :-)