Baltic Cruise?
 

Considering going with friends on a Baltic cruise in May 2017. Wife and I aren't cruise or organized tour people. We much prefer independent travel ... have done a lot. The people we'd go with like cruises. We're open to try it once. We're very active/good physical shape mid 70's ... our travel style would more fit someone in their 20's - 30's.
Questions:
1. What Baltic cruise companies would you prefer? (Our default would be Viking, but open to others.)
2. Most times in port seem short. Are there others with more days in ports?
In any case, we'll tack on a week or two to our trip at one end or the other for some independent exploration.

We did a cruise with Celebrity from/to Amsterdam and enjoyed it very much.

Most Baltic ports are easy to visit. E.g. Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Talinn are ports where you just walk into town, maybe after a short bus or taxi transfer from the dock into the city center. One day will be sufficient for these ports.

The main challenge - and the cruise's climax - is Sankt Petersburg. Most cruise ships stay for two days in this port and I would not accept a shorter stay.

Sankt Petersburg is almost impossible to travel independently, because the ship docks in the industrial port and you are not allowed to pass the customs gates without having a tour ticket.

The best thing what you can do is booking a local tour operator. For half the price of a ship's excursion, you will get a VIP tour which is fantastic, whatever operator you choose. The price drops if you find other passengers willing to share a minibus (use the roll call on cruisecritic).

In addition to the usual tour, we booked an evening transfer to the Marinskii Theatre with a fantastic opera performance.

Very easy to travel independently in St Pet - just don;t go on a cruise. We've been by ourselves twice and loved it.

If I were you I would take the cruise only as far as St Pet and make your own arrangements there - I would reco at least 6 nights there.

IMO -- and it is one that, I believe, is decidedly up to one's personal call! -- is that the time allowed on shore on these cruises is FAR too limited. With the possible exception of "semester-abroad" cruises, I have never seen a cruise that allowed sufficient time on land to do more than see a highlight or two.

And of course, dashing about to see just one or two things can lead to some very odd (and distorted) impressions of a place.

I am well aware that at some point in my life, I might need to switch to cruises as a way to deal with the limitations that come with age. My personal choice is to defer making that switch as long as I can! JMO....

I'm not sure I understand traveller1959's comments -- perhaps the reference to "ease" has to do with convenience, rather than the ease of seeing one's priorities while in the area? I certainly did not think a part of one day sufficient for Copenhagen, Stockholm, or Helsinki. (I haven't visited Oslo or Talinn yet.) And I found it challenging to see everything that I wanted to see in Saint Petersburg into a "mere" 6 full days.... If it matters, I didn't use a tour or tour guide for ANY of these locations.

Good luck!

kja and nytraveler: you are comparing apples and oranges.

You are absolutely right that a cruise is a completely different experience than a city trip.

I have done both to Sankt Petersburg and to Copenhagen (as well as to other cities) and you are right that a single day in port gives you just a quick impression of a city. The advantage of a cruise is that you see 5 or 6 destinations in 7 days without the hassle of packing and unpacking and travelling between destinations. So, both types of trips cannot be compared.

If OP has decided to go on a cruise, then he/she can easily visit most cities because the city centres are walkable. In most ports, you take a short bus or cab ride into the centre and then you start walking. Or you can even walk from the dock into the city.

Sankt Petersburg cannot be visited independently from a cruise ship because the cruise ship docks in the industrial harbour which is gated. You need a visa to go through the gates OR the invitation of a tour operator. Most cruise ship passengers do not have a visa, so they need to book a tour. There are several companies offering such tours and all of them are MUCH better and MUCH cheaper than the cruise ship's tours. That is all I wanted to say.

I agree that flying into Sankt Petersburg, staying there for four or five days and discovering the city independently is the better way to see this city which I consider as one of the world's most beautiful cities at all.

Actually, I would even dare to recommend to fly only to Sankt Petersburg rather than going on a Baltic cruise with many ports of call. But it is a matter of travelling style. I have done both and both were fine.

Well if they have 2 weeks no reason to do just St Pet - there is time to also see Stockholm and Copenhagen as well - if you fly (or train from S to C).

But yes, this is a completely different trip that an cruise - which you couldn't pay me to do. Just keeps you too isolated from the places you are visiting.

I've visited all those places happily without a cruise. While, like kja, I suspect cruises may be in my future, I would not do a Baltic cruise at this point, and from your description it sounds like you will be disappointed if you try it. Can you talk your cruise-minded friends into trying something else? Or how about meeting up with them at strategic points and doing the rest on your own?

If you do decide to risk the cruise, you may find this helpful for tackling ports on your own:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rick...ves/1113868167

Also, check out cruisecritic.com for info on the ship and the cruise, and for connecting with others if you do go.

Please, forget this notorious Rick Steves. This guy has no clue of Europe. He recommends only the places which are good for his business.

Can't see how telling you how to get from a port to the city center under your own steam instead of shelling out for an expensive cruise tour is supposed to only be about helping his business.

Not all his suggestions are good and not all are bad. You need to be selective. But to say he "has no clue about Europe" is just ridiculous.

His maps are ridiculous.

We did a Baltic cruise with Celebrity about two years ago (12 days late June into early July) - from London to St. Petersburg and back with stops to visit Bruges, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn and Helsinki. We were traveling with friends (two other couples) who enjoy cruising.

We, too, are active and experienced travelers, in our early and mid 60s. Not normally cruisers - but we did enjoy this trip for the most part. The stays in the port cities were short, especially having only two days in St. Petersburg, but they were all full days, and we thought we got a good taste of each of the cities. We spent two weeks in London prior to meeting our friends for the cruise - rented an apartment in the city - and thought that made the trip seem a little more like our usual mode of travel.

The ship was large enough that we always seemed to find something of interest to do - yet we had our privacy in our cabin with balcony when we wanted that. The passengers were for the most part slightly younger than we are, fairly lively, and most were European (lots from the UK). I have to admit I especially loved that we saw so many places and didn't have to pack and repack and lug our bags around.

I will also say that sailing through the archipelago into Stockholm early in the morning was one of the most beautiful travel experiences I have ever had.

All that said - you say you are looking at Viking - is it a river cruise? I know I have heard people say they were on a Baltic river cruise, although it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

If it is a river cruise, I can't speak to that itinerary, but .... we just returned from a 10-day river cruise in Holland and Belgium, and NEVER AGAIN. We booked it as a last-minute trip to see the tulips at a very attractive price which included RT airfare from the US. It wasn't Viking - it was Vantage - but from what I understand the passenger demographics of most of the mainstream river cruises are similar. It was pretty much all elderly passengers. There was little to do on board - even though it had been billed a "jazz" cruise and was a new ship. Everyone was snoozing by 8 p.m. each evening; the only time we ever saw anyone moving with any speed at all was when the dinner bell rang. Then you had to stand back or be stampeded.

We did love what we saw of the Netherlands and a few repeat places in Belgium, but the tours - which were included - were s-l-o-w, and tedious. We usually ditched the groups, but occasionally we couldn't, due to docking logistics and transportation possibilities. The other passengers, none of whom apparently had ever traveled outside an organized tour group, kept telling us how "brave" we were to leave the tour leader and head off to a museum or other part of any village or town we were in. This was in Holland, for god's sake, not in the darkest jungles of some third world country.

One night's special "live" entertainment consisted of a lip-synching group called Sgt. Wilson - it was a WWII cover group - and they thanked us for being their "liberators." Seriously, I know the folks on this cruise were old, but hey, not THAT old. I don't think most of the WWII veterans are traveling that much anymore.

We thought a river cruise would involve some beautiful scenery and being docked in great places with good views. Nope - they only moved the ship at night, and when we were docked in the cities, it was always right next to other riverboats, actually tied alongside each other, so the view out the window was directly into another boat's cabin. Worse that the view from any really cheap hotel.

Hope that sheds a little light on cruising -

We also did the Celebrity Baltic cruise and recommend it highly. We usually travel on our own but found that the cruise was an inexpensive and efficient way to see a lot of territory. Be sure your cruise has two days in St. Petersburg. We used the ship excursions.

The cruise we're considering is a 15 day Viking cruise ... on a small ship, not like their river cruises ... apparently a new business for them.

Our friends, who like cruises, know there's no way they'll get me on any cruise - maybe, just maybe, this one. I'm expecting to see each city like absent-mindedly looking at a 30 minute travel show. It's not my ideal (I'd REALLY enjoy the discomfort but experience of a 2nd class train trip on the Trans Manchuria). Your comments have me even more concerned about the cruise, but heh, lots of people do it, so might as well try it.

I'm a little worried that the ship is only in SP 2 days, so I presume that means arriving one morning and leaving the next afternoon. It would be great if we did have 3 days in port.

Any other cruise lines with smaller ships spend more time in port, especially SP? On the basis of a few posts will check into Celebrity. I'm really not interested in what entertainment might be on the ship or its restaurants, etc.... just what its port calls are like.

In SP, re the comments about not being able to leave the port area without going on an organized tour: Am I right in presuming that would apply only to those without a Russian visa? Since their visas seem to be good for 3 yrs, I'd be tempted to get a visa if that would allow me to wander in the short available time ... then maybe in another year returning to explore more.

Here are a few options on cruise lines with three days in SP. I can't personally recommend any, since like you, I do not cruise yet, but some of these itineraries are really interesting.

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/v...baltics-voyage

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/balti...ersburg-LED%2F

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/balti...ersburg-LED%2F

http://www.celebritycruises.com/crui...=SI&dest=EUROP

http://www.seabourn.com/find-luxury-...ageCode=6724A&

http://www.seabourn.com/find-luxury-...yageCode=6625&

http://www.celebritycruises.com/crui...=EC&dest=EUROP

I may be able to tell you more in a couple of months... we are taking our first ever cruise of any type in this summer aboard the Viking Star (the Viking Homelands cruise you mentioned, elbegewa).
You should read about the arrival/departure times and the information about which ports are walkable from the pier, since Viking's ships are smaller than your average behemoth. Even though Viking offers a free tour at each port, we are opting out of even those to explore on our own at stops that will put us right in town. We booked a private tour for the two days in St Petersburg because we know very well what we want to do and how long we want to spend doing it; shopping is not a big priority for us. With a private guide and driver, we can be flexible about changing to anything that catches our interest. Of note: If you are with a licensed tour company, you do NOT have to have a visa for St Petersburg--another big plus for us. As long as you are with your guide, you can move freely about the city. We will travel to/from the palaces by hydrofoil on the river, and can make a short trip on the Metro. which is supposed to be quite spectacular. Picture us trying to arrange either on our own. Not.
We are in our late 60s but "mostly" physically active, although my sister and I would not be up for walking long distances without stopping. We accordingly signed up for some of the cruise tours that did exactly what we wanted, simply because it will be guaranteed to fit into the port times, we won't have to fight with other sightseers for tickets or seats anywhere, we have admittance to many opportunities that are not normally available to tourists, and the Viking shore excursions are mostly small groups. For example, there will be only 50 people on the "Norway in a Nutshell" excursion (Flambana railway/fjord cruise/lunch at Stalheim Hotel). Our husbands are doing the half-day, 2-man kayak trip through the 12 harbors of Tallinn while my sister and I make chocolates at an historic candymaker's shop (to take and enjoy later, of course).
As we lived in Europe for many years, we have a pretty good idea of what to avoid and what to take advantage of... probably the only reason we now feel comfortable on a cruise. But I'll be happy to let you know how it goes, if you're interested!

2 days in Sankt Petersburg can be okay if you book a private VIP tour. They pick you up with a minivan in the morning directly at the vessel (compared to the cruise ship excursions, you save the first hour), then they guide you through the main attractions.

Your guide will know when to go where to avoid crowding and waiting times. Often, you will skip lines. Sometimes, they will lead you through secret entrances. In the Eremitage, our guide led our ladies even to a secret restroom, because the normal ladies restrooms were crowded. You don't waste (like the passengers on the cruise ship excursion) hours for mediocre lunch and shopping at souvenir stores.

They drop you off at the vessel in the late afternoon. You may take a shower, dinner on the cruise ship, dress up and then they pick you up again at the ship to drive you to the Marinskii Theatre where you will see a most stunning opera or ballet performance. After the show, they bring you back to the ship.

The next day the same procedure (without the theatre).

There are several companies that offer such VIP tours. The general roule is, you pay half the price and see twice as much compared to the excursions offered by the cruise ship companies.

The cruisecritic roll calls are often used to find other passengers to share a private tour, then it becomes even more economical.

There are several companies offering private tours, like Anastasia, Red October, Alla Tours, DenRus and many more. There are also private guides who are even less expensive. For further reading:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1304

@Traveller1959: thanks, that's the sort of advice I was hoping for.

I chafe at the idea of big organized tours, and had been considering getting a standard Russian tourist visa to avoid them. But this article presents a great option. A few years ago on an independent trip to China we used independent guides in various cities and found that to be a great way of finding out more than we would have likely discovered on our own.

Since cruises aren't my thing (I travel to experience places, not to enjoy being cooped up and pampered on a ship) I haven't looked at cruisecritic, but after reading this article, will look at it more.

@FlaAnn Yes!!! Thanks!! Be sure to let us know after your trip. Although we are in our 70's we're very active (ski, hike, bike, kayak). Having not done much study yet for 2017, I had presumed in many of the ports we'd just look for a bike rental place and bike around.

Because of the people we are going with we will probably default to a few of the ship excursions, so would be highly interested in your comments on them.

elbegewa:

Since you said that cruises are not your thing but you will going on one, let me write a few words about cruises.

I have always been the independent, adventurous traveller and I am still. When I was invited to join a cruise some 20 years ago, I was very skeptical. Three weeks in a tin can? Hopping from port to port for a couple of hours in each port?

To make it short, I thoroughly enjoyed my first cruise and have been on a dozen more cruises since then, including a Baltic cruise, but still travelling independently. Cruises are a different type of travelling, with some disadvantages and some advantages.

First, the advantages:

Cruises are like wine tastings. You get a little taste of each port, but it is just a taste, not a whole bottle. But you will taste a larger number of ports than it would be possible by travelling independently.

On a Baltic cruise, you will see Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Sankt Petersburg, Talinn and a few more ports within 10 days or so. Travelling independently would require a lot of flying or taking ferries between these destinations, so you would pick only two or three of them and lose a considerable portion of your precious time for checking in and checking out, transportation and waiting at gates.

On a cruise, you will be transported during the night to your next destination while you are enjoying a multi-course dinner, an after-dinner drink at a bar and sleeping comfortably in your cabin. And the morning, you will find yourself in a different city.

The downside of a cruise is that the cruise ship companies, while often offering cruises for bargain prices, are very inventive to pull the money from your credit card account.

One of the methods is ridiculously overpriced beverages, especially when considering that the ships stock themselves tax-free. Develop your own strategies to deal with this.

But most of their revenue the cruise ship companies earn with shore excursions. It starts with the brochure and website that lists all these excursions. Some of them will lead you to outright tourist traps. Some of them lead you to uninteresting places but are advertised as once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Some of them are really good. And a few of them lead you to places which would be inaccessible if you would try to do it on your own.

But ALL shore excursions are grossly overpriced. Often, you will find on the pier where the ship docks exactly the same excursions, offered by local operators, at half the price.

In 98 per cent of these excursions, you are herded into a bus, out of the bus, to the restroom stop, into the souvenir store (your guide gets commission!) and into a mediocre restaurant for lunch. Up to 50 per cent of a shore excursion is nothing but a waste of time. And money.

So, the independent traveller in me usually avoids shore excursions. For most Baltic cities, I would recommend just walking through town, maybe taking a taxi to a more distant destination. If you share the taxi fare by four passengers, it becomes dirt cheap. Often, we would rent a car in a port of call and explore the area on our own (on our Baltic cruise, we did this in Klaipeda).

Sankt Petersburg is a special case. We have written about it.

In order to decide what to do and what not to do in each port of call, the cruisecritic forums are an invaluable resource. Also, browse the "cruises" forum here on Fodor's. And read guidebooks about your destinations.

Researching in advance will save you a lot of $$$, will help you to make the best of your trip and is part of the fun and anticipation.

elbegwa, I will be glad to! traveler1959 is on target with many suggestions, although some don't apply to Viking. I think we will have a nice mixture of taking the ship's shore excursions, going on our own, and hiring a private guide/driver, so should be able to tell you more when we return home. We are especially looking forward to the ports in Norway through some of the western fjords, and are arriving a couple of days early to Bergen to explore there on our own.
We booked two days with Anastasia in St Petersburg based on several reviews, including the very detailed one at oceancruisenewbie.com/2015/06/on-board-and-happy-to-be-here/. That's an entertaining blog from yet another first-time ocean cruiser, aboard the Viking Star last year (its first year in service) and complete with photos. Her commentary about some of the ports may give you additional insight. We have been extremely pleased with the responsiveness of Anastasia, allowing us to set our own itinerary and answering emails almost instantly (I don't know when they sleep).
We particularly like the amenities offered by Viking, with a mini-fridge stocked with free drinks/snacks daily (in all but the lowest category cabin), a veranda for every room, free spa access (with its "snow grotto" and sauna... how Nordic), and homey library feel with books everywhere. Also like the free wine/beer with meals and that Viking encourages passengers to BYOB from local ports! :-)

@traveller1959 & @ FlaAnn
Thanks for both of your suggestions. I really enjoyed reading the various posts by ukalady that FlaAnn referenced, both for the writing style and especially for the info.

We'll definitely check into independent tours in Saint Petersburg. In most of the other places will check into independent bike rentals if possible, or just exploring on our own. In Flam will check into whether we can independently arrange rail ticket as opposed to the ship tour on it.

Question to all: we'd go next May (2017) (being from Seattle we're used to the the Baltic's May weather). Would mid Oct. this year be a good* time to book on Viking? or better later or earlier? *good being a good balance between price/available offers and reservation availability

The weather in Northern Europe is never predictable. October will definitly be on the cool side. It may be sunny, it may be rainy, but certainly not warm. And daylight hours tend to become short.

In May, it may be sunny, it may be rainy, but if the sun shines, it will be warm. And long daylight hours.

If May or October is the choice, I would clearly go for May.

Sorry, I wasn't clear ... we're looking at going in May ... but would prefer to wait to wait til October to make reservations for a number of reasons, if that's not too late to reserve.

That's one of the issues with Viking--their ocean cruises tend to sell out pretty far in advance. They brought on their second ship (Viking Sea) this year and a third was just floated out to go into service in 2017 (Viking Sky). That may help meet the demand, although I just took a quick look at their website, and several of the lowest priced cabins for the Viking Homelands cruises in May 2017 are already booked, both on the Stockholm to Bergen route and Bergen to Stockholm. There are only two sailings left on two ships in June 2017, which should give you an indication of the demand.

As a result, you'll have to decide when to pull the trigger and which category of cabin you want from what's available. I can tell you that the "sale prices" and "$1,000 off airfare per person" offer is pretty much permanent, from what I can tell. But I suppose that could change at any time. Also, cabin availability does not seem to vary from booking it yourself to booking through a travel agent. I can also tell you that the Viking Sea (the second ship) was delayed in service and they were having to reschedule cruisers who'd booked voyages on it. So just a hint about booking an early cruise on the Sky. We made our own flight reservations and did better than their deals. Also our own travel insurance through AmEx.

It's a little aggravating to have to book and pay for cruises so far in advance, especially since I've had some health issues the past few years. We started talking and planning in November, but people (including us) were just catching on that Viking had ocean-going ships. Now the word is out, and with all the accolades and awards it won in 2015, things keep booking up even with the new ships. You should take a look at the dates and pricing for the May cruises--they're all laid out on their website: www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/ and click on "Cruises." Best of luck with whatever you decide. I will post my thoughts about the trip regardless.
:-)

elbegewa, as promised, here is my recommendation on taking a Baltic cruise (Viking Homelands) with the new Viking Ocean line: do it, do it, do it!
We just returned home from our cruise and we are having a hard time adjusting to reality. Loved everything about it, and while we were on board, the captain announced that we were celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the Ocean Star while on board, and that Viking Ocean had also just won a 2016 Travel and Leisure "World's Best" award.
You may recall we (4 adults) had never cruised anywhere, so we had some skepticism about the experience. That was easily laid to rest by Viking.
I'm not sure where 900+ passengers were, but we saw very few of them except in the World Cafe, which is like a cafeteria. For some reason (maybe unlimited food choices?) many people actually preferred that dining. There were several occasions where I was the only person in the beautiful Wintergarden. Even the recliners lining the windows outside the room (which had a tasteful and very restful fountain sculpture) were virtually empty. The recliners and couches had blankets so you could relax and watch the scenery glide by, especially nice in the archipelago outside Stockholm.
The spa (free, as opposed to every other cruise I've heard of) never had more than 2 other people in it... and we used it a lot. Even tried the snow grotto and steam room, although the large heated pool with jets and the hot tub were our favorites. The tile lounges in a quiet nook looked uncomfortable (I mean, tile?) but were actually wonderful--heated--I fell asleep in one. Pillowed lounges were elsewhere around the pool. There is an indoor pool as well as the infinity pool outside on the stern, but the spa facilities was our favorite!
We were suspicious of shore excursions, have always been a travel-on-our-own group, but we signed up for 4, only 1 of which was the free shore excursion offered at all ports. I have nothing bad to say about that one, which was in Stockholm. All the guides we had were excellent and the buses luxurious. Two of our tours were cancelled... one by us, one by Viking (the kayak tour of Tallinn's 12 harbors) due to weather. No problems doing that on-board, the refund went to our ship account, which was fine with us. We contracted with Anastasia for St Petersburg based on the recommendations from the blog by Ukalady and were very happy that we did. Severe weather kept us out of port so that we missed an entire day (as did 4 other cruise ships behind us), but Anastasia snatched us up at 7:00 a.m. (we were the first people off the ship) and ran our legs off all over the area: city tour, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, Metro ride, Hermitage (through 4 buildings to see the specific highlights we requested, while the people going independent waited in a line around the block to get in), then out the door and onto the hydrofoil to Peterhof, and back to St Isaacs Cathedral to wrap up the day. Our fabulous guide didn't even stop for lunch: we had snacks and bottled water waiting for us in our van, driven by a guy after my own heart, who duked it out with all the traffic trying to slow us down, and won every time. Lol. And then they offered us a refund for part of the cost, since we missed the first day. Do not even consider seeing St Petersburg independently, whatever company you choose. It cost us hundreds less to use Anastasia than the ship's offered excursions, and we would have seen far less due to the unwieldiness of being in a large group, in the rain (so had to fight to the head of the line to leave coats and umbrellas in the cloakroom at the Hermitage, a requirement).
We walked and toured and did what we wanted at all other stops except for the ship's excursion to the Stalheim hotel via the Flam railway (Norway in a Nutshell), and the ones we took to Lubeck and Wismar from the port at Warnemunde, and the tour of Malbork Castle we did from Gdansk. We are so glad we did all of those! We could have ridden the Flam railway on our own, possibly (although one was fully booked by cruise passengers), but we would not have traveled to the Voss open air farm museum, with buildings from the 1600s that were in use until the 1920s, and we could not have gotten to the Stalheim, where we had lunch and was something I particularly wanted to do. We could not have seen the Teutonic castle of Malbork and it is really worth a visit (largest in the world by surface area), plus our guide and driver, seeing traffic jams ahead, took us out and back on different country roads and gave us the opportunity to see some beautiful scenery, Polish farms and historic villages, as well as showing us all the massive stork nests on chimney tops and even light poles that are in the area. We could have gotten to Lubeck and Wismar on our own by train, but we again traveled through beautiful German countryside (I'm not a city girl) with our young guide, who was raised locally and attends graduate school in Wismar. He had a lot of explanations for how things were in the East before reunification, and how things are working now, both good and bad. It was nice to hear from him his first-hand experiences; even though he was young when the walls came down, he has clear memories of what was happening. We also got to have lunch in a "marzipan factory" in Lubeck, which we would never have found on our own... upstairs above the candy factory. And even if we had found it, we never would have gotten the little box of tidily-wrapped marzipan chocolate hearts we each received as we left! Beautiful towns, both of them! And such a better alternative than a 3-hour bus trip to Berlin (also a free excursion, but we've been there several times while we lived in Germany).
So here's what I'd say: Do it! The ship is wonderful, the service unbelievable, the food fabulous, and you can do as much or as little as you'd like ashore. We had one day at sea and again, I don't know where 900+ people were that day! We ate primarily at the Chef's Table (5-course set menu with wine pairings, changed every 3 days) and at The Restaurant (very elegant but with a fine menu of choices you could mix-and-match, including options for local fare from each port). Unlimited house wine and beer are free with lunch and dinner and lunch is pretty liberally interpreted by the waitstaff. When Mamsen's closes at 2:30, lunch is officially over. :-) We thought the house wines were very good; beer I believe was always Carlsberg and there's a choice of light or dark. Our mini-fridge stocked soft drinks, tonic water and candy bars and was replenished, with a fresh carafe of water, each day for free. Buses at every port were lined up waiting for independent travelers and ran every half-hour into the city center and back to the ship, all day until 1/2-hour before departure. So you can easily tour on your own, sometimes just walking from the ship, which is what we did in Stavanger.
I'd recommend that, if possible, you make your own travel arrangements and arrive a couple of days early to Bergen, which gives you not only the chance to adjust your internal clock, but also to explore that wonderful town on your own. We attended the Grieg piano concert at his home out of town (can book it online) and then walked on from there to the Fantoft church... well worth the climb! You can board the ship at 11:30 on the day of embarkation, and you will be escorted to the World Cafe for lunch and can explore the ship until your cabin is ready. They tag and take all your luggage when you arrive, so it's waiting for you and you can relax and find your favorite spots. I highly recommend the Explorer Lounge (especially upstairs in the library) and the Wintergarden, if you enjoy reading or research... there are books everywhere on the ship for you to enjoy. In short, I'd cruise again, but only on Viking. I saw the megaships in port with us and felt bad for the people on them, they were herded around like cattle. Even though we went on some cruise tours, there were never more than 26-30 people in our group. Although we'd never cruised before and had no way to compare, many people we met at dinner were experienced cruisers and said that Viking is head and shoulders above other cruise lines, even if only for all the things included with your fare that you will be nickel-and-dimed to death for on other lines (like free beverages and the spa facilities).
Sorry for the long report, and good luck with your decision!!

How many Baltic ports did you visit? We have been in St. Petersburg and the Scandinavian cities so mostly interested in seeing several Baltic ports.

We were on the Viking Homelands cruise from Bergen to Stockholm, with emphasis on the cities in the Hanseatic League. It's mapped on their website: http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/...ml?return=true
Eight countries (11 ports). We especially loved seeing so much of Norway!

I also disagree that one day is enough for Copenhagen. I did think 1 day was enough for Helsinki and Tallinn.

We did RCCL bc of the itinerary - it started in Copenhagen, so we added extra time there, and ended in Stockholm. But the best was 3 days in St Petersburg. Our guide crammed so much into those 3 days and we were able to skip so many lines. We would have easily needed 6 or more days had we tried to visit all the places we did on our own.

I would highly highly recommend you not do the ship's excursions and book your own. Unless you want to pay more money to go slower in a tour,group with more people.

I thought 1 day in Copenhagen was okay, but that was a DIY stop for us, with a canal tour, visiting the Anglican church, the Kastellet, touring Amalienborg and going into the beautiful Frederik's Church. It was a long day, but very enjoyable. Of course it's impossible to become acquainted with any location during a cruise stop, but I think it is what you make of it. Our cruise did offer a tour of Helsinki, which I should have mentioned but forgot the OP specifically said biking is an interest. :-)

Sorry, I meant to say "a BIKE tour" of the city!

Just chiming in to say - I just got back from a Royal Caribbean Baltic cruise. If biking is of interest, we took a bike tour with Happy Guides Helsinki and had a great time. We had seven people, so it was just our group, and they customized it with a stop at one of the food halls for Finnish snacks that our guide, Dani, had prearranged.

http://hassutourshelsinki.com/

bookmarking

FlaAnn: Thanks for your great report. I just now saw it and skimmed it. Will read it in much more depth later today ... I may have more questions later. Thanks!

@FlaAnn: Questions:
Would you have any comments/preference on the difference between Vikings' Homelands cruise going from Bergen to Stockholm vs from Stockholm to Bergen?

I notice that going from Stockholm to Bergen gives a 3 more hours in Flam.

One of my interests would be to take the train from Flam to Voss, then bike back to Flam. This is further than the bike trip Viking offers, but I've read that it's doable. Any observations?

And any comments re the Warnemunde/Berlin stop? I've been to Berlin and would like to go back, but can't imagine the short part-day in Berlin being worth it ... there's so MUCH there. What was other passengers' response to trying that? Lubeck/Wismar could be interesting. Or are there other DIY things to do near Warnemunde?

oops, in post above I meat Myrdal, not Voss

Best to look for late information because a number of posts contained very outdated information. For example the "old industrial port" for cruise passengers far from the city center". The new large passenger port is only for cruise passengers and is the newest and most modern in Europe. It handles 8-9 of the largest cruise ships at the same time with ease. There are 3 other ports for smaller ships, the ferry port, main river port and the two city center cruise ports right in the middle of the historic center for smaller ships with up to 1500 passengers+crew.
The new cruise terminals(4 terminals each with 2 separate reception sections and their own passport control and customs. City transportation covers the port to the metro station (subway) by bus for 30 rubles ($0.45) and then metro to the city center from Basil Island for a 6 minute journey for $0.54. So exploring on your own is very feasible if you have a visa. For Americans the visa is $160 and is a 3 years multiple entry. For Europeans it is 50 euros and 30 days single or double entry.
96% of cruise passengers enter visa free by booking a tour with a Russian tour company. Ships sell tours conducted by contracting Russian tour operators, but they mark up the price a lot and focus on large 50 passenger bus excursions. About 1/2 the cruise passengers buy the more expensive ship tours because they are told by the ship that they can't get off the ship unless they buy ship sold tours. That not very ethical and the immigration service has warned the cruise lines about it but nothing has changed for 15 years. The internet however had informed a lot of people so it is not the secret it used to be.
Booking a tour can be ANYTHING you might want, or none at all, just walking and shopping or full intense private tour with all the museums and palace interiors one can visit in 2-3 days. Anything that is arranged with an authorized tour operator is permitted for visa free entry. The only restrictions is that a tour needs to be 2 or more people, it can't involve staying in a hotel overnight and passport information has to be filed with immigration 4 days in advance of the tour. Passport info needed includes full name, country that issued the passport, passport number and date of birth. So tours can be as formal or casual as desired, either private or group type. There is also a lot of flexibility where you can wander off and explore some on your own as long as you meet back up with your guide at an agreed to time and place.
Most cruise passengers are not typical travelers, they cruise as the main reason to travel, and it becomes the important element in their social life. Many would cruise even if the ship stopped nowhere. Traditionally port calls are brief, 4-8 hours except for St Petersburg where port calls are usually 2-3 days.
Unfortunately, due to reading the same recommendations the vast majority of cruise passengers want the exact same destinations(Hermitage, Peterhof, Catherine Palace, Church on Spilled Blood, Peter and Paul Fortress, canal cruise, and St Isaac Cathedral) so some of those destinations become extremely crowded when ships are in port. When 16,000 people get off cruise ships and all go through the same path through the Hermitage or Catherine Palace at the same time and it is a crush of people. But that means 340 museums, cathedrals and palaces are almost empty.

If coming to St Petersburg in the summer, particularly June and July, try to see those things on days when large cruise ships are not in port. The second half of June is rough with many international festivals, Stars of the White Nights, the Economic Forum, plus hundreds of thousands of cruise passengers all wanting to share the same space at the same time. Check the cruise schedules and find dates with few if any ships in port. A trend for a couple years has made it worse, the cruise lines schedule their biggest ships all on the same days of arrival so one day will be 20,000 and the next might have none. Picking the date carefully makes a difference in enjoyment. Or if in doubt come in the fall and if you are mostly interested in cultural performances, come in the winter when every theater and concert hall is staging performances. August is a poor month for cultural performances, it is the traditional "dark" month for theaters. The only ballet available is "tourist ballet" and at higher prices than one would expect for lower level of performance.

For those exploring on their own an unlocked GSM smartphone is your friend. You can get a local phone number for about $10 and data account(pay as you go) with data plan, or rely on the free wi-fi in every cafe, restaurant and most stores or fast food outlet. Having the local data plan will save a LOT of money instead of roaming charges. I know people who were running $90 a week for data until I showed them how to get better service with unlimited bandwidth for about $5/wk. My 4G at 55mb/s unlimited is $12/month. My fiber optic 110mb/s home service is $7/month, unlimited bandwidth. It is a very connected country.

ttt

I really appreciate am-expat's great advice about visiting on one's own, since that is typically our modus operandi.

@ julies -- it is definitely possible to see these places on one's own. No need for a tour.

after many many decades of travelling on our own, we are giving a two-fer trip a try next summer.. 2 weeks on our own, then 2 weeks tour, then 1 on our own. this is the cruise we will be doing... signed on this morning.

will be posting questions of our own, but loving all the info here. this way, we can go to 2 countries with a little intensity (lithuania and latvia) and a little stretch across norway. we are looking forward to no unpacking and dipping our toes into russia and so many other spots on the cruise section! (but mostly, we'll look forward to the courtesy laundry facilities that seem to be on the ship, after 2 weeks our of a little suitcase!)