Scandinavia and Russia Cruise – a Port Guide and Tips
Summer 2014…
We’re just back from a fabulous 14-day cruise around the Baltic on Celebrity Eclipse and for the benefit of future cruise passengers planning their trip, I thought I’d do a quick port guide. Of course, your exact itinerary may vary, but this was ours. Before you go, I’d thoroughly advise doing some reading about the history of northern Europe, in particular the Hanseatic League, which links many of your destinations. I’d also recommend watching Jonathan Meades’ superb two-part BBC documentary Magnetic North, which is on YouTube in a series of ten-minute videos. This wonderful programme talks about the whole area and why it has always been so reluctant to shout about itself, in comparison with the somewhat over-rated southern half of the continent.
Bruges
Bruges is a charming, if rather touristy city. It’s also not on the coast. Cruise ships dock at Zeebrugge, the port which is half an hour’s drive away. A shuttle bus from the ship takes you to the nearest railway station, Blankenberge, although many of the cruise passengers taking this were under the impression that the bus went all the way to Bruges. The train may not be a good option if your time in port is limited (e.g. a 3pm departure) and especially if you’re there on a Sunday. An organised coach tour is also possibly not the best way to see Bruges, which is a walking city, so the best bet is to book a taxi – get a group of 7 or 8 together in advance and it’ll be maybe only 15 Euros each, with the added benefit of being fairly confident you’ll make it back to the ship on time. In Bruges itself you can just wander around and check out the chocolate shops; you can take a canal tour (just walk up on the day); or we found two two fun museums, Choco-Story and the Frietmuseum – each easy to find, worth up to 60 minutes of your time, and only a few Euros’ entrance fee. Just walk up.
Warnemünde
The cruise companies want you to take an expensive and long tour to Berlin from here, but spending six hours or more in a coach didn’t sound like much fun to us, so we went local. You can spend the day in the seaside town of Warnemünde itself (the ship docks in the middle of the town), or hop on a train for a 20-minute ride to Rostock, a proper traditional small German city. Trains run every few minutes, and no need to book in advance. However, we wanted to find out more about the former East Germany, so we booked an all-day tour with the local “Friends of Dave” tour company, which we can 100% recommend. Local guide Andreas walked us around Warnemünde, took us to Rostock on the train, and included a fun German lunch in a cellar restaurant there. We got more of a German experience than the Berlin daytrippers, even if we didn’t see the sights of the capital.
Stockholm
The approach to Stockholm, as the ship sails through hundreds of small islands for 2 to 3 hours, is spectacular, so make sure you’re up on the observation deck at least an hour before the ship is due to dock – earlier still if you feel like it (we actually got up at 5am!). The best way to see the city – like most on this cruise – is just to wander around, and the best way around is the hop-on, hop-off boat. You’re assailed with people selling tickets for the various competing services as soon as you get off the ship, so no need to book anything in advance. Just get on the boat and explore! One of the stops takes you directly to the Abba Museum, which can easily take up an hour or two of your time and is genuinely great fun for music lovers of all ages.
Helsinki
Our cruise docked in a commercial port area, from which it appeared to be about a 30-40 minute walk to the city centre. However, there were plenty of walk-up-and-pay shuttle buses provided into the heart of the shopping area, which was a decent option. We headed for the Helsinki Finnair Skywheel, a smaller version of the London Eye, for a great “ride” and views over the city. We just wandered around and soaked up the atmosphere.
St. Petersburg
People will say that you need every hour of two full days to even begin to do justice to St. Petersburg, and that’s fair comment. However, you can also put together an itinerary taking you to a great museum, a great cathedral and a great palace, as well as touring the city by coach, without it being two exhausting days. We did. Whatever, you will need to book official tours for the most convenient experience, and fellow passengers who went with Alla Tours seemed to have a good time. We just used the ship’s tour service, which (for once) didn’t seem to be that expensive. What we did was to book a half-day tour to the Hermitage Museum, and a full-day tour which took in the Catherine Palace at Pushkin, the St Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, and a drive-by of other city sights. Compare this option with the full-on, two-day tour and see if you think what we missed would have made the additional early start worthwhile. Whatever you do, the coaches meet you off the ship – there’s a passport control first – so it’s all easy. And don’t be apprehensive about Russia, like some of our fellow passengers seemed to be. When you’re on a tour, it’s no different, or less safe, than anywhere else, and they’re very good at organising groups.
Tallinn
This is a charming little city, with cobbled streets and quirky buildings. The ship docks about 20 minutes’ walk from the city centre, a pleasant walk that doesn’t require a shuttle bus or taxi. We thought the extensive array of souvenir stalls lined up at the quayside was, for once, at least as good as anything in the city itself, so if you want a t-shirt or whatever, leave it until your return. To be honest, unmissable as it is, there’s no need to make an early start to get into Tallinn, there aren’t dozens of things to see.
Copenhagen
Yet another port where you (usually, I understand) dock just a 20-minute walk from the city centre, and the pleasant walk in also happens to take you past the famous “is that it?” Little Mermaid statue. Like Helsinki and Stockholm, Copenhagen is a nice city in which to just walk around and take in the surroundings. The Tivoli Gardens amusement park is worth a visit.
In summary…
I suspect there may not be as much to organise in advance on a Baltic Cruise as you might imagine. The capitals of Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm are all busy, modern cities which you might want to just walk around without guided tours or even bus transport; the same goes for the more quaint Tallinn. Bruges too is just made for wandering, but I’d recommend pre-booking a taxi to get there. In Germany, if you want to visit Berlin you’ll need to get on a tour, but even if you opt not to venture that far, a local tour is recommended. And in St. Petersburg, a formal tour is almost mandatory. If you’ve been on this cruise and have differing suggestions, please do add them in the comments below for the benefit of future cruise passengers. If you’re planning a cruise, I’d recommend joining the free Cruise Critic community and then joining in the discussion (“roll call”) for your particular cruise. It’s the best place to swap hints and tips, and perhaps to organise joint pre-booked tours with other passengers.
Dear Chris,
Wow a great review glad to see that you enjoyed the holiday as much as we did. What an amazing time we had and we got to meet some great people.
Will definitely watch out for your further reviews 🙂 nice to meet you and your family.
Jane and Philip Shaw
The State Hermitage Museum was recently rated as the #1 attraction in Europe by TripAdvisor and is a must-see attraction when visiting St Petersburg!
Chris,
We are going on the same cruise on 8 August, 2015. What a wonderful report yours is (maybe because it is exactly what I planned). There are so many sites that give an array of advice but it is difficult to find some basic answers, like how close is the wharf to the town. Your info was great in that it told us everything we wanted to know. Well done!
John H
Thanks for the Very useful blog Chris, really helpful. The port/city info especially so. We’re planning on doing all the things you suggest, walking most places but a booked tour in St Pete’s. Thanks again. Carole
Thanks for a great review Chris. Heading off on this cruise aboard the Eclipse on Friday so some really useful information in here. Delighted that it backs up what I had already been thinking and have organised for our visits, i.e. Alla Tours for St Petersburg, Friends of Dave for Warnemunde, shared taxi for Bruges and walk or ho-ho everywhere else.
Most useful review I have seen with really useful information, especially about if you can walk from the ship to places. Thank you so much.
Just came across your information while I was researching our cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and found your thoughts very useful many thanks Forty years since we have been to some of these places so really looking forward to it
Thank you foryour review and comments on this cruise, very helpful!
Great informative review Chris, I am cruising the same route on Eclipse this weekend ( July 16) and have spent much time reviewing tour options / Port docking locations in relation to Town centres etc and wish i had come across your report much earlier. This makes the decision of requiring tours or going independent so simple. Many Many Thanks
Very interesting and informative report as I head on same cruise next week ….thank you.
Thank you so much for your concise review of Baltic ports. We are going on a 9 day NCL in June 2017. I’ve researched HOHO tours in each port and it looks like that may be the way to see the most. We hope to book with Alla for ST. Petersburg. We have mixed feelings about whether to go to Berlin or stay in the port and Rostock area. I look forward to more blogs from you.
Hi Chris,
Just started researching for my forthcoming cruise to the Baltic. You have saved me a lot of work. Just what I wanted. Only wish more reviewers were so down to earth. Many thanks indeed.
Great blog, wish I’d found it earlier but will def use some of your tips. Going on Megellan in August.
Thanks for all info.
What a fantastic review Thankyou. You have answered all our should we shouldn’t we dilemmas and hopefully we will have a great time and see some wonderful places when we cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette in June 2018.
What a great review and most helpful. Hubby and I doing our first cruise with celebrity round the Baltic in July 2018 and both a bit apprehensive. Will be using your knowledge and tips, thank you.
What kind of currency is required on the Hop on Hop off buses at each port?
Do they accept euros and US dollars?
Don’t know. But if you’re paying on the bus, I’m sure it’ll only be the local currency. To pay in other currencies you may need to buy tickets in advance. Check the companies’ websites.
Depending on the size of your cruise ship, you will most likely dock in Warnemunde, which is a port town about 3 hours away from Berlin. So now you must decide if it is worth it or not to schlep to Berlin for just a few hours as it is such an expansive city. While there are typically cruise ship excursions to closer towns such as Rostock, I think that it is worth it to take the time to visit Berlin if you have not been before. People are generally divided on this decision though and many would tell you to stick to exploring Rostock. We hired a private tour guide and driver to take us around Berlin and show us as much as they possibly could in about a 6-hour period. Our guide s name was Jeremy Minsberg and he did an excellent job of highlighting Berlin in such a short time. I learned more in that brief period than I did spending four days in Berlin on my own a few years prior. I also heard positive feedback from my Baltic Sea cruise-mates that went on the Princess shore excursion to Berlin. However, they probably didn t have a driver going 180 kph on the autobahn the whole time.