Fun Planning - A Baltic Honeymoon Cruise - what do you think of our plans?

Parent Cafe
1

Hi,

It’s planning time! This is a honeymoon cruise for our son and future daughter in law in their 20’s. They both travel a lot for their jobs so they thought a cruise honeymoon with one place to go back to every night would work for them.

If anyone has done a similar cruise or Baltic vacation we would love to hear your tips and don’t miss suggestions.
This is their plan so far: Norwegian Star – July

Copenhagen, Denmark - departs

Warnemunde, Germany – private tour:, Warnemünde, , Wismar, Schwerin, lunch at Brewery - Brauhaus am Lohberg in Wismar

Tallinn, Estonia – walking tour, flower stalls, Tallinn Wool Market, Hell Hunt Pub, lunch at Olde Hansa

Saint Petersburg, Russia – private tour – TJ Tours
An early entrance to the Hermitage
• A guided tour of Catherine palace with the Amber room
• A walk along Fountain Park in Petergof
• A guided tour of St Isaac’s cathedral
• A guided tour of Spilt Blood church
• A guided tour of Peter and Paul fortress
• A guided tour of Yusupov palace
• A boat trip along the rivers and canals,
• A hydrofoil back to the city from Petergof.
• Evening ballet – The Mariinsky.
You will need to take a nap in the evening to stand the next entertainment. At 1:25 a.m. the bridges over Neva in the center of the city open up to create a very special St. Petersburg performance. For this period of night Neva embankments turn into the lively and crowded avenue. Such romantic strolling is very popular among citizens. Do not forget to take with a bottle of champagne or beer - drinking something light alcoholic is a part of the local ritual

Helsinki, Finland – Toy Museum Café, Sparakoff Pub Tram, Upensky Cathedral, Fortrsss, Market Square

Stockholm, Sweden – Vasa museum, Gamla Stan, Abba museum Hoho boats, Ice Bar

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

Wow! Sounds very busy but romantic and like a lot of fun! Let us know how it goes. :wink:

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Sounds like a great honeymoon vacation. You’ve hit most of the highlights.
One thing that stands out is that they are doing a LOT in St. Petersburg in one day. We were on an Oceania ship that had 2 nights and 3 full days in St. Pete’s and I still thought I could have spent more time. One can spend half a day or all day at the Hermitage.
I know Princess spends overnight in St. Pete’s, can they change cruise line?
We sailed to Gdansk Poland instead of Germany and to Oslo in addition to all the ports you mentioned.
We also went to the 1952 Olympic Stadium in Helsinki by public bus since my husband is a runner. The people there kindly let us into the stadium.
We spent 3 full days in Copenhagen before the cruise and one day after.
Besides private tours in St. Pete’s we mainly went on our own using Fodor’s European Ports of Call guidebook and Rick Steve’s Scandinavia.

4

Sounds like a great list of cities. I’d encourage them to allow for more time for spontaneity and serendipity in the itinerary – maybe less reliance on guided tours and a set sight-seeing agenda and more time for aimless wandering. To me, the very definition of romance is that sense of discovery with a loved one.

5

Wow! Congrats to the young couple!

Mr. B and I are thinking about doing this sort of cruise for our 30th anniversary. It is a great itinerary. St Petersburg in July - nothing rivals that experience (we did a private guided tour in 2008). How many days are they going to be there? The bridge opening at night is not too be missed. Early July is “white nights” time in St Peter, and the entire city turns into one awesome party zone at night. Private entry to the Hermitage is a must since the lines there could be very long. Mariinka (aka Kirov) ballet is on par with Bolshoi, IMO. We were lucky to see Don Quixote there (the guide bought our tickets in advance). Make sure they have some dressier clothes for the ballet theater. Oh, and there are a lot of cobblestone streets in St Peter, so make sure they have appropriate footwear (NO white sneakers or athletic shoes, please, since the Russians pay a lot of attention to fashion :wink: ).

Vasa museum in Stockholm is amazing. I would skip the Abba museum (unless they are huge Abba fans) and wander around Gamlastan (it is an island in the middle of the city), take a peek at the Nobel museum which is located there and then just sit in one of those nice cafes, drink beer or coffee and people-watch.
,
Whaaaa!!! I wanna go baaaack!

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I’ve been to Schwerin and it is a beautiful little town!

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Thanks - the input is great. They are in St. Pete’s for 2 days. They are both behind the scenes theatre professionals so I think the ballet will be at the top of their list. They are definitely night time people. Funny the suggestion was to skip Abba - they had already decided against it. I completely agree people watching, wandering, cafes and drinking beers should be at the top of the agenda.

Any other not to be missed suggestions like the bridge opening? Never would have known about that until we stumbled upon the info on a website.

Any suggestions for things to do in Denmark pre cruise? I think they will only have a day before they sail. Any suggestions on places to stay?

Restaurant of cafe suggestions for any of the ports are welcome :slight_smile:

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If they would like to try Swedish food, I recommend KB in Stockholm:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189852-d697820-Reviews-Konstnarsbaren-Stockholm.html

I already do not remember the names of the places where we ate in St. Petersburg, but even if I did, our trip was seven years ago, so things probably changed a lot since then

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Go to cruise critic!

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Looking at the list of activities for St. Petersburg… it is way too much for 2 days! Some of these places are located outside of the city, so a tour can turn into a day trip. I would not add anything - I think they have plenty of activities already for that port! :slight_smile:

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Aside from adding the ballet and bridge the list for St. Petersburg is the actual tour. They take groups of 16 people. Love cruise critic - many of the tour suggestions started from reading posts there

12

Ok - then it makes sense and is quite doable if this is one big tour instead of several smaller tours that would require transition time.

13

I tagged along when my husband went to Copenhagen for a climate conference five years ago. It was a great place to visit. Here are a few recommendations:

The number one-rated restaurant in the world (there’s a ranking of the 100 best restaurants in the world that comes out yearly) is Noma, a foodie heaven in Copenhagen. They should definitely try to go. Depending on when they are going, they may not be able to get reservation, but I would certainly try to do so, including putting their names on a waiting list for the days that they will be in Copenhagen.

We stayed at the Hotel D’Angleterre. It’s centrally located and old, but quite nice. If they can’t get into Noma, a restaurant that we enjoyed was Kong Hans Kaeldar–spectacular food in a unique setting (the oldest building in Copenhagen). Another memorable meal was at Era Ora (it’s a two-star Michelin restaurant)–Northern Italian cuisine.
For an authentic Danish meal, we went to Restaurant Amalie. Loved it.

We went on a canal tour–you get a good view of the entire city from the boat. You’ll also go by the Little Mermaid statue–no need to go on foot. Tivoli Gardens (an amusement park) seemed run down to me, but everyone suggested that we go to see it, so we did. There are a variety of tours of the city that are available. I went on one while H was at the conference. I also went to see the Botanic Garden and Rosenborg Castle where I saw the changing of the guard and toured it as well. There are lots of museums, shops, and interesting neighborhoods. We went to hear jazz at a club in the city one night. Depending on what your son and future DIL enjoy, they can certainly fill their time in Copenhagen. It’s easy to get around. H and I took public transportation and everyone (not just at the hotels and tourist spots) speaks English.

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" H and I took public transportation and everyone (not just at the hotels and tourist spots) speaks English"

Everyone speaks fluent English in Stockholm, too. Not so much in St. Petersburg, but they should be fine since they will have a private guide.

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His future bride speaks some Russian :slight_smile:

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Noma and Kong Hans Kaeldar look amazing but oh my goodness the cost! I don’t think their budget will allow $300 pp dinners - I’m not even sure they have palates that would appreciate the food. It would be incredible though ……

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My friend had a horrible reaction from the live ants they serve at Noma – her throat swelled up. The doctor said it wasn’t an allergic reaction but was the result of some chemical the ants excrete. That was enough for me – I crossed Noma off my bucket list.

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Wow, I would not be interested in consuming live ants. They have formic acid that is painful enough when they sting you–probably worse if they sting your throat or other delicate body parts. That was probably what your aunt reacted to, unless there are other chemicals to beware!

Too adventurous for me!

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" The doctor said it wasn’t an allergic reaction but was the result of some chemical the ants excrete. "

It is formic acid. Not what I would want to eat - while the quantity you get from a handful of ants is not going to kill you, it is considered a toxic substance. Oh, and I would not eat at any place that has visible pest issues :slight_smile:

(KB in Stockholm is not a foodie paradise; just a nice place that serves authentic Swedish fare. I think our bill was around $120 for the two of us, and since it is Sweden, there was no 20% tipping - yay. :slight_smile: )

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My room mate was from Sweden; she was a fabulous cook. Many of the dishes are most delicious and certainly wort sampling.