I am going on a Baltic cruise next month. I was wondering if the following ports are within walking distance from the pier area or should I take the ship's shore excursion? Are there excursion vendors at the pier like they do at Mexico?

Dover
Warnemunde, Germany (how to get to Berlin?)
Tallinn, Estonia
St. Peterburg, Russia
Helsinki, Finland
Stockholm, Sweden
Copenhagen, Denmark

Thanks for your input.

In Tallinn, our cruise line offered a shuttle from where the ship docked to the edge of the old town, where we did a self-guided walking tour.

In St. Peterburg, four of us arranged to tour for two days with Red October. As much as we usually enjoy touring a city on our own, in St. Petersburg, we didn't want the hassle of getting our own visas and of trying to navigate a city where wew couldn't even read the signs and where (in our limited experience) very few people speak English.

Helsinki, Finland: took the ship's shuttle to town, and then toured on our own.

Stockholm, Sweden: our cruise started there, so we took a train from the airport, toured on our own, and then took a cab to the ship.

Copenhagen, Denmark: the ship docked right in town, and it was easy to tour on our own.

You will hardly see any excursion vendors. It is not done in Europe.
Only taxi's, but remember a cabdriver is not a guide and you will miss information about the places.
Get a good guide-book, or look around for sites on Internet, be prepared and you can do some of it yourself.

If you do some homework I am sure you can do many of these ports of call on your own.

Or you can do a 2-3 hour short explantion tour and then do the rest on your own.

I agree , for St.Pertersburg you want a private tour guide and then you do not need a Visa , since the visa itself cost $70 to $80.00

Percy

Abram,
How did you like Red October? I have seen some reviews on other cruise sites but, frankly, they smell of advertising and not sure how valid they are. Would appreciate your input as we are also going on a baltic cruise in August.

We loved RO. They personalized their standard two day initerary to our interests, the guide was very knowledgeable and willing to answer questions, and two days with them was cheaper for the four of us than two full days of ship's shore excursions.