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Hey guys,

Erika and I are taking a 12 night Baltic cruise this summer leaving from Dover, England and going to Coppenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn - Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. I was wondering if any BBs have taken this cruise or can give me some tips as to what to see in some of these cities. I definitely want to check out the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and probably Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Beyond that, I am not sure.

Thanks! I hope you all are well, sorry I am not on here as often as I would like.

Tim

I've been to St. Petersburg and it is my favorite city in the world. Check out Spas na Krovi (Church of the Savior on the Blood). Or just sit on the sidewalk on Nevsky Prospect and watch the girls go by.

How does a cruise ship get to Berlin? What port stop is that?

Thousandaire wrote:Or just sit on the sidewalk on Nevsky Prospect and watch the girls go by.

What a great suggestion for Tim and his wife Erika.

Awesome, Tim!

Are you sailing with Lindblad Expeditions on their new ship?

You will apparently miss the largest and most important of the Baltic States (Lithuania, which is half of my ancestral homeland). Vilnius is home of St. Anne's Church, the finest Gothic church in Eastern Europe (when Napoleon passed through on his way to Moscow, he wanted to take St. Anne's back to Paris, but of course he wasn't even able to get his army back, much less the finest Gothic church in Eastern Europe). Trakai Hill has some interesting ruins from the old palace, but since you are not going to Vilnius, that is no nevermind.

Don't quite see how a Baltic Cruise will get you to Berlin, since Berlin is about 100 miles inland, but maybe you are going to have river cruise with the sea cruise. Whatever. When you get to Berlin, you will want to go to the Museum Island, which is where they have the Altes Museum (lots of neat old stuff, including the bust of Nefertiti, who was really hot) and the Neues Museum (which has lots of interesting stuff) and the Pergamon Museum which has, among other wonders, the Gate of Ishtar, which has nothing to do with horrible movies from the 1980's. Many other things on the island, and elsewhere in Berline, but you will not likely have time to go to the other places.

I have no information, but I am very much looking forward to your reports back after your trip!!

wintergreen48 wrote:You will apparently miss the largest and most important of the Baltic States (Lithuania, which is half of my ancestral homeland). Vilnius is home of St. Anne's Church, the finest Gothic church in Eastern Europe (when Napoleon passed through on his way to Moscow, he wanted to take St. Anne's back to Paris, but of course he wasn't even able to get his army back, much less the finest Gothic church in Eastern Europe). Trakai Hill has some interesting ruins from the old palace, but since you are not going to Vilnius, that is no nevermind.

Don't quite see how a Baltic Cruise will get you to Berlin, since Berlin is about 100 miles inland, but maybe you are going to have river cruise with the sea cruise. Whatever. When you get to Berlin, you will want to go to the Museum Island, which is where they have the Altes Museum (lots of neat old stuff, including the bust of Nefertiti, who was really hot) and the Neues Museum (which has lots of interesting stuff) and the Pergamon Museum which has, among other wonders, the Gate of Ishtar, which has nothing to do with horrible movies from the 1980's. Many other things on the island, and elsewhere in Berline, but you will not likely have time to go to the other places.

You know Wintergreen, if you ever need something else to do as a part-time or full-time job, you should seriously consider writing travel books. I would buy one you wrote even if I wasn't going to the place.

wintergreen48 wrote: Don't quite see how a Baltic Cruise will get you to Berlin, since Berlin is about 100 miles inland, but maybe you are going to have river cruise with the sea cruise.

A number of cruises offer bus/train excursions to interior cities. If the ship is in port for nine or ten hours, you can take a bus/train and spend 3-4 hours on a tour and then get back in plenty of time. Most of those places also allow you to book on your own such as by renting a car or booking a private tour, but if you do that, you've got to be very careful you allow yourself plenty of time to get back on board.

Timsterino wrote:Hey guys,

Erika and I are taking a 12 night Baltic cruise this summer leaving from Dover, England and going to Coppenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn - Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. I was wondering if any BBs have taken this cruise or can give me some tips as to what to see in some of these cities. I definitely want to check out the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and probably Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Beyond that, I am not sure.

Thanks! I hope you all are well, sorry I am not on here as often as I would like.

Tim

You'll be in St. Petersburg for two days, presumably. If one is Monday, make sure that is the day you visit the Hermitage. It's closed on Monday except for cruise tours, so it will be practically deserted. You don't have the run of the place--you go where the guide takes you--but that's probably the case on the other weekdays as well. Have a great time, and be sure and buy some of the wonderful sweet strawberries in Helsinki (almost 24 hours a day of sun does amazing things.). We skipped Berlin on our cruise--it's a very long train trip for only a short time in the city.

Make sure you pack in as many sights as you can in St. Petersburg. It's an amazing city.

plasticene wrote:

Timsterino wrote:Hey guys,

Erika and I are taking a 12 night Baltic cruise this summer leaving from Dover, England and going to Coppenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn - Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. I was wondering if any BBs have taken this cruise or can give me some tips as to what to see in some of these cities. I definitely want to check out the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and probably Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Beyond that, I am not sure.

Thanks! I hope you all are well, sorry I am not on here as often as I would like.

Tim

You'll be in St. Petersburg for two days, presumably. If one is Monday, make sure that is the day you visit the Hermitage. It's closed on Monday except for cruise tours, so it will be practically deserted. You don't have the run of the place--you go where the guide takes you--but that's probably the case on the other weekdays as well. Have a great time, and be sure and buy some of the wonderful sweet strawberries in Helsinki (almost 24 hours a day of sun does amazing things.). We skipped Berlin on our cruise--it's a very long train trip for only a short time in the city.

Make sure you pack in as many sights as you can in St. Petersburg. It's an amazing city.

Sounds like an interesting trip. I echo the sentiments about St. Petersburg. I was last there when they still hadn't quite made up their mind what to call the place. It still said Leningrad on the train station. A pretty place just to walk and you should have plenty of time to do so as it will be daylight nearly around the clock as mentioned. The Hermitage is not to be missed although the escort thing must be relatively new as I pretty much wandered about on my own when I went. Of course that was 1993!

wintergreen48 wrote:You will apparently miss the largest and most important of the Baltic States ...

No, wintergreen, he listed Estonia!

TheConfessor wrote:How does a cruise ship get to Berlin? What port stop is that?

That's like when I tell people I used to live in Caracas, Venezuela and they tell me their cruise ship stopped there. Caracas is at least 2500 feet high!

TheConfessor wrote:How does a cruise ship get to Berlin? What port stop is that?

My bad, I meant it cruises into Warnemuende, Germany. We then take a train into Berlin for the day.

Estonut wrote:

Thousandaire wrote:Or just sit on the sidewalk on Nevsky Prospect and watch the girls go by.

What a great suggestion for Tim and his wife Erika.

If I could only convince her. lol

MarleysGh0st wrote:Awesome, Tim!

Are you sailing with Lindblad Expeditions on their new ship?

No, we are taking NCL. We are overnighting in Dover too before the cruise.

wintergreen48 wrote:You will apparently miss the largest and most important of the Baltic States (Lithuania, which is half of my ancestral homeland). Vilnius is home of St. Anne's Church, the finest Gothic church in Eastern Europe (when Napoleon passed through on his way to Moscow, he wanted to take St. Anne's back to Paris, but of course he wasn't even able to get his army back, much less the finest Gothic church in Eastern Europe). Trakai Hill has some interesting ruins from the old palace, but since you are not going to Vilnius, that is no nevermind.

Don't quite see how a Baltic Cruise will get you to Berlin, since Berlin is about 100 miles inland, but maybe you are going to have river cruise with the sea cruise. Whatever. When you get to Berlin, you will want to go to the Museum Island, which is where they have the Altes Museum (lots of neat old stuff, including the bust of Nefertiti, who was really hot) and the Neues Museum (which has lots of interesting stuff) and the Pergamon Museum which has, among other wonders, the Gate of Ishtar, which has nothing to do with horrible movies from the 1980's. Many other things on the island, and elsewhere in Berline, but you will not likely have time to go to the other places.

Thank you. Your descriptions of these places are wonderful. I want to leave right now.

sunflower wrote:I have no information, but I am very much looking forward to your reports back after your trip!!

Thanks! I will certainly have some trip reports with pictures.

plasticene wrote:

Timsterino wrote:Hey guys,

Erika and I are taking a 12 night Baltic cruise this summer leaving from Dover, England and going to Coppenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn - Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. I was wondering if any BBs have taken this cruise or can give me some tips as to what to see in some of these cities. I definitely want to check out the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and probably Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Beyond that, I am not sure.

Thanks! I hope you all are well, sorry I am not on here as often as I would like.

Tim

You'll be in St. Petersburg for two days, presumably. If one is Monday, make sure that is the day you visit the Hermitage. It's closed on Monday except for cruise tours, so it will be practically deserted. You don't have the run of the place--you go where the guide takes you--but that's probably the case on the other weekdays as well. Have a great time, and be sure and buy some of the wonderful sweet strawberries in Helsinki (almost 24 hours a day of sun does amazing things.). We skipped Berlin on our cruise--it's a very long train trip for only a short time in the city.

Make sure you pack in as many sights as you can in St. Petersburg. It's an amazing city.

Yes, we are in St. Petersburg for two days. Thank you for your suggestions!

tanstaafl2 wrote:

plasticene wrote:

Timsterino wrote:Hey guys,

Erika and I are taking a 12 night Baltic cruise this summer leaving from Dover, England and going to Coppenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn - Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. I was wondering if any BBs have taken this cruise or can give me some tips as to what to see in some of these cities. I definitely want to check out the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and probably Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Beyond that, I am not sure.

Thanks! I hope you all are well, sorry I am not on here as often as I would like.

Tim

You'll be in St. Petersburg for two days, presumably. If one is Monday, make sure that is the day you visit the Hermitage. It's closed on Monday except for cruise tours, so it will be practically deserted. You don't have the run of the place--you go where the guide takes you--but that's probably the case on the other weekdays as well. Have a great time, and be sure and buy some of the wonderful sweet strawberries in Helsinki (almost 24 hours a day of sun does amazing things.). We skipped Berlin on our cruise--it's a very long train trip for only a short time in the city.

Make sure you pack in as many sights as you can in St. Petersburg. It's an amazing city.

Sounds like an interesting trip. I echo the sentiments about St. Petersburg. I was last there when they still hadn't quite made up their mind what to call the place. It still said Leningrad on the train station. A pretty place just to walk and you should have plenty of time to do so as it will be daylight nearly around the clock as mentioned. The Hermitage is not to be missed although the escort thing must be relatively new as I pretty much wandered about on my own when I went. Of course that was 1993!

Thank you!

Timsterino wrote:

TheConfessor wrote:How does a cruise ship get to Berlin? What port stop is that?

My bad, I meant it cruises into Warnemuende, Germany. We then take a train into Berlin for the day.

Okay, that makes sense. Google maps says it's 242 km from Warnemuende to Berlin. Here's a discussion thread I noticed about taking that side trip from a cruise ship:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1 ... erlin.html

TheConfessor wrote:

Timsterino wrote:

TheConfessor wrote:How does a cruise ship get to Berlin? What port stop is that?

My bad, I meant it cruises into Warnemuende, Germany. We then take a train into Berlin for the day.

Okay, that makes sense. Google maps says it's 242 km from Warnemuende to Berlin. Here's a discussion thread I noticed about taking that side trip from a cruise ship:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1 ... erlin.html

Interesting. Thank you for that insight, Ed. Looks like we may be skipping Berlin and just checking out Warnemunde.

Timsterino wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Awesome, Tim!

Are you sailing with Lindblad Expeditions on their new ship?

No, we are taking NCL. We are overnighting in Dover too before the cruise.

OK, NCL is probably a lot cheap. All the big cruise lines are.

But you won't get Lech Walesa giving you a guest lecture while in Gdansk!

MarleysGh0st wrote:

Timsterino wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Awesome, Tim!

Are you sailing with Lindblad Expeditions on their new ship?

No, we are taking NCL. We are overnighting in Dover too before the cruise.

OK, NCL is probably a lot cheap. All the big cruise lines are.

But you won't get Lech Walesa giving you a guest lecture while in Gdansk!

Yes, it is cheaper but that really is relative. My mother-n-law is treating us to this. If not, I would have to take out a mortgage.