I’ve got an exciting trip coming up, and it’s going to be one hell of an adventure. I’m eagerly preparing for my Baltic Capitals Cruise with Princess Cruises, which will depart from Berlin on 2nd May. This is going to be a trip of firsts in many ways. It will be my first ever cruise, it will be my first time to Scandinavia and I will get to visit 6 new countries as part of the adventure (which is actually blowing my mind!). We’re going be covering a lot of ground, so I thought I would share my route in a pre-departure blog post.
Although this Baltic Capitals Cruise will be my first official cruise, it won’t be the first time I have stepped on board a cruise ship. Last Summer I flew to Marseille and visited the coastal town of Toulon for a tour of the Royal Princess (a different ship in the Princess Cruises fleet). We were only on board for half a day, but that was my first experience of a cruise ship and it really helped me to decide if I’d like to try a cruise one day.
In My First Time on Cruise Ship post, I concluded that I think I’d love to experience a cruise, but not if it was your typical Mediterranean cruise. I decided I’d prefer a cruise that took me to slightly more unusual and intrepid places, the type of places I may not want to dedicate a whole holiday or city break to, but would still love to see. When the opportunity to do this Baltic Capitals Cruise came up and I saw the incredible destinations it was stopping in, I thought it fit the bill perfectly. You can check out all the cruise details here, but here is an overview of our route and the places we’ll be stopping;
2nd May – Berlin, Germany
3rd May – At sea
4th May – Tallinn, Estonia
5th May – St. Petersburg, Russia
6th May – St. Petersburg, Russia
7th May – Helsinki, Finland
8th May – Stockholm, Sweden
9th May – At sea
10th May – Copenhagen, Denmark
11th May – Oslo, Norway
12th May – At sea
Stockholm, Sweden
Cities such as Copenhagen and St. Petersburg have been on my travel bucket list for years so I am pretty sure that they will be highlights for me, but I am also excited to visit places I have never considered before such as Tallinn in Estonia. There’s going to be a full itinerary of excursions in the cities we stop in so I am hoping to see all of the highlights whilst we are there. The cruise will be on board Regal Princess and is part of a campaign involving around 8 other UK influencers.
This adventure will take me to an entirely new part of the world and I am so excited to wake up in a new country almost every morning of the trip. That is what I am looking forward to the most.
Have you ever been on a cruise? Do you have any tips or advice for me as a first-time cruiser? I would love to hear your thoughts so please leave me a comment in the box below. Jess x
The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia
Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia
Scandinavian photos have been supplied by Princess Cruises
This trip sounds incredible!!!! I’ve only ever visited Stockholm on that list, but my you are in for a treat with that one – I loved the city!!!
Hey Jess, Are you planing to take the excursions offered by the cruise line or do you plan to explore on your own? I am planing to do both and realized I needed to get transportation information to and from the port. I plan to get this information for Stockholm and Helsinki as those are the two locations that I plan to venture out on my own.
Hi Karen, we will be doing a mix of excursions from the cruise ship and also exploring in our own free time. We are exploring Tallin in our own time. I’ve also found out we will be seeing the Russian Ballet perform Swan Lake in St Petersburg, which is sure to be a highlight!
Hi Jess! Tomorrow, how exciting! We’re exploring Tallinn on our own as well. Here’s some info.
1. Tallinn Plus City Card – Includes Hop-On/Hop-Off bus. You can buy the card online, but if you want the plastic card to keep for a souvenir (like me!), you have to buy it in Tallinn right at A terminal adjacent to the cruise terminal, which also is a Hop-On/Hop-Off stop. A map of the route is the next bullet.
2. Hop-On/Hop-Off Route Map –
3. Tourist Attractions –
4. Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Tallinn –
5. Top 10 Estonia Foods –
6. Using Money in Tallinn (Euro-cash preferred) –
7. Public Transportation from Port to City Center –
8. Public Transportation from City Center back to Port
Have fun!!!!!
Hi Jess! Unfortunately, I have no tips for you as I was just Googling to find tips for myself as I also am taking a Scandinavian cruise in May – 13-20. We’re going to same ports as you are sans Berlin. We start and end in Copenhagen. I am excited beyond compare. Would it be too much for ME to ask YOU to share some tips from your trip since you’ll be going before me?
Here are a couple of articles I found, but I’m sure you’ve probably already seen these or know this information.
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/scandinavian-cruise-62040.html
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/scandinavian-cruise-62040.html
Fantastic! I hadn’t seen this article so thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Hi Karen. Oh that’s so exciting you are also doing a Scandinavian Cruise! Mine is from 2-11th May so you can follow my trip and definitely get some tips from me! Which cruise line are you going with out of interest? It must be a different route as I start in Hamburg and end in Oslo. Have an amazing time! xx
Hi…we’re traveling on the Serenade of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise liner. Our route is Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki then back to Copenhagen. It’s my first “real” cruise; I’ve done a weekend cruise to Mexico and of course those “cruises” on the bay, which hardly qualify. This also is my first time going to Scandinavia, so I’m excited at my introduction to the five countries on the itinerary. We plan to take the ship excursions to Tallinn and St Petersburg, but will venture out on our in the other ports.
I’m sure by now you’ve already covered all of these bases, but just in case, I’ve shared links below to some information I’ve gathered, included the cell phone info because the last few times I was abroad I depended on Sprint and my service was spotty at best; and when I was in Greece, my phone was all but useless. 🙁 I hadn’t considered until too late, getting a SIM card or disposable phone. I don’t want to make that mistake again.
One piece of information I’m glad I stumbled across is a luggage transport service in Copenhagen where we will spend three days before the cruise departs. We arrive at 0730 and hotel check-in is not until 1500, so having our luggage taken directly to the hotel from the airport will be a huge help as we can spend the day sightseeing freed of that burden. It cost $40USD, slightly more than the cost of lockers, but less the hassle of having to drop off and pick up our luggage from the lockers. I will seek this service on any future trips when I have several hours between arrival and hotel check in.
My cruise info:
Dave Koz and Friends at Sea: Scandinavia and The Baltic
http://www.davekozcruise.com/2019/landing-page
Weather
Berlin https://www.accuweather.com/en/de/berlin/10178/may-weather/178087
Copenhagen https://www.accuweather.com/en/dk/copenhagen/123094/may-weather/123094
Stockholm https://www.accuweather.com/en/se/stockholm/314929/month/314929?monyr=5/01/2018
Tallinn: https://www.accuweather.com/en/ee/tallinn/127964/month/127964?monyr=5/01/2018
St. Petersburg: https://www.accuweather.com/en/ru/saint-petersburg/295212/month/295212?monyr=5/01/2018
Helsinki: https://www.accuweather.com/en/fi/helsinki/133328/month/133328?monyr=5/01/2018
Ports
Berlin https://www.visitberlin.de/en
Luggage Storage in Berlin: https://www.visitberlin.de/en/baggage-storage
Luggage Transport: http://porterservice-berlin.de/?lang=en
Copenhagen. https://www.visitacity.com/en/copenhagen/activities/all-activities?activitiesCategoryId=5252&campaignid=653270630&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8YXXBRDXARIsAMzsQuVw8BXboPSGv55velgYXCVFLdOeCY9sHeNPPpi7vdOX8zbyiV_TtKwaArsHEALw_wcB
Stockholm: https://www.visitstockholm.com
Tallinn: https://www.visitestonia.com/en/where-to-go/tallinn
St. Petersburg: http://www.saint-petersburg.com
Helsinki http://www.visitfinland.com/helsinki/
International Cell Phone
https://www.smartertravel.com/2017/06/19/international-cell-phone-guide/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/technology/personaltech/a-travelers-guide-to-taking-a-smartphone-abroad.html
Ok Jess, that’s it for now.
Thanks so much for all of these links Karen this is so, so helpful! We are setting sail tomorrow evening from Hamburg, I am super excited 😀
You will have a fab time – I went on a cruise down the River Nile once and it was fantastic. You will love St. Petersburg. I went last year and it was amazing!
Thanks Jet! I’m so excited to experience a cruise. I’ve also done a River Nile cruise come to think of it but the boat was really small so I think this huge ship will be a totally different feeling. So glad you loved St Petersburg too! It looks stunning x
I love cruising! I’m sure you will too Jess! I love waking up somewhere new everyday but sometimes the ships are so amazing I don’t want to get off!
So glad to hear this Laura! I can’t wait to wake up in a new country after sleeping in a lovely comfy bed! It will be totally effortless! I think we will have plenty of time on the ship as well as off it x
I’m so jealous!! I’d love to go to Russia one day and the Norwegian fjords. Have an amazing time and enjoy Stockholm! x
Thank you Jennie! I am so excited for all of it. Especially Stockholm…. in fact….. everywhere! 😀
What an incredible itinerary!! That would be four new countries for me!!
Thanks Angie! I am super excited for this one. X
Have an amazing time Jess! Can’t wait to follow your trip and sooooo sad I couldn’t make it in the end! It’s going to be a lot of fun!
Thanks Chloe! I will be ‘wishing you were here’ on the whole trip! 🙂 xxx
I think you’ll love all the cities you get to explore. I’m really looking forward to reading your blog once your cruise starts. It sounds like an excellent adventure!
Thank you Karen! I’m so excited to visit all of the cities now. I’m going to try and find all the most photogenic spots! Hope you enjoy following along x
So excited to follow your trip as I’m off to Riga at the same time but have had Tallin and St Petersburg on my never ending list forever! Look forward to following as I’m not sure if a cruise would be my thing!!
Oh Riga sounds amazing! I really want to go there too. I am so glad this is the year I am discovering Eastern Europe. I will definitely try to share as much of the cruise experience as possible. I am still unsure if I will love it but I think there will definitely be some aspects that I love (getting to fall asleep in luxury and wake up in a new country) but there may be some aspects I don’t like (maybe only getting such a short amount of time in each place). Watch this space! Have an amazing time in Riga x