Baltic Cruise

We're sailing August 1 on Holland America's Noordam to the Baltic. We're
wondering about must-do shore excursion activities in Helsinki, Visby,
Tallinn, Warnemunde, and St. Petersburg. Has anyone been on this cruise?
Do you recommend HAL's shore excursions or going out on your own? We've
heard about a group in St. Petersburg, Russia, called Red October that does
excellent shore excursions, and supposedly, we wouldn't need a visa to do
their events. Does anyone have experience with them? We're afraid of
getting there & finding out they're not legit and then not being able to get
off the ship since we won't have visas.

Thanks,
Linda

On Sun, 06 Jun 2004 20:16:17 GMT, "Lewis Clark" lewis_clark_644 @
yahoo.com wrote:

We're sailing August 1 on Holland America's Noordam to the Baltic. We're
wondering about must-do shore excursion activities in Helsinki, Visby,
Tallinn, Warnemunde, and St. Petersburg. Has anyone been on this cruise?
Do you recommend HAL's shore excursions or going out on your own? We've
heard about a group in St. Petersburg, Russia, called Red October that does
excellent shore excursions, and supposedly, we wouldn't need a visa to do
their events. Does anyone have experience with them? We're afraid of
getting there & finding out they're not legit and then not being able to get
off the ship since we won't have visas.

Thanks,
Linda


Red October is great and very respectable, about half the cost of your
ship's excursions.

No need for excursions in any other countries, afaik, although I
haven't been to Visby.

I very highly recommend that you catch the train to Schwerinn when you
get to Warnemunde -- it was our favorite stop of our 14-day Baltic
cruise. No need for an excursion -- the train to Schwerinn is
inexpensive and good, and runs from Rostock every hour or so. It is a
charming little town, with no modern development but lots of
restoration, a huge pedestrianized section, a pretty lake, and the
ornate gingerbread castle of the Dukes of Mecklenburg for a
destination.

In Tallinn, just catch a free shuttle to the Old Town and walk around.
It's like Medieval Estonian Disneyworld.

Helsinki is a small, friendly city and easy to get around. The
language is completely indecipherable, but a LOT of people speak
English.


Mason Barge

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee."
-- Abraham Lincoln

St Petersburg - Do as much as you can possibly fit in. Summer Palaces, the
Hermitage, the Ballet, and so on and so on. You probably won't be back
there any time soon, so go what you can. We were doing three trips a day
when we were there. No matter who you use, don't waste a minute of time on
the ship.

Tallinn is a great city. If you are into crafts, fabrics, crystal, all good
local work available, and it's incredibly inexpensive. Tallinn is all
within walking distance from the ship, though if you want they have the
school kids lead walking tours in English with time for shopping and the
rest. Everything was incredibly inexpensive, at times it seemed like we
were getting more money back then we were paying for stuff.

Helsinki we also did on our own, canal boat ride around the city which was
interesting, then some of the main sights.

If you do need a visa for Russia, get it in early, they take a bit longer
(or they did when we did it) then they say they will. Wasn't a huge deal
then as you didn't have to give up your passport to get it, but now you do.






"Lewis Clark" lewis_clark_644 @ yahoo.com wrote in message
...
We're sailing August 1 on Holland America's Noordam to the Baltic. We're
wondering about must-do shore excursion activities in Helsinki, Visby,
Tallinn, Warnemunde, and St. Petersburg. Has anyone been on this cruise?
Do you recommend HAL's shore excursions or going out on your own? We've
heard about a group in St. Petersburg, Russia, called Red October that
does
excellent shore excursions, and supposedly, we wouldn't need a visa to do
their events. Does anyone have experience with them? We're afraid of
getting there & finding out they're not legit and then not being able to
get
off the ship since we won't have visas.

Thanks,
Linda

Red October is great, much better by far than the ship tours. I used tham
last year and they are very reliable.

You might also want to consider using DenRus - we used them a few weeks ago
and then were great. From what I've red of Red October they are very
comparable!!!

Rich

"Skwir" wrote in message
...

Red October is great, much better by far than the ship tours. I used tham
last year and they are very reliable.

I have read the boards on www.cruisecritic.com and everyone recommends Red
October. However, I believe you will still need a visa though they will go
through the paperwork for you, but it takes a good 6 weeks.

Just did that tour with Red October and no visa needed. They handle it all...
Have a great trip...

I have read the boards on www.cruisecritic.com and everyone recommends Red
October. However, I believe you will still need a visa though they will go
through the paperwork for you, but it takes a good 6 weeks.

What did you think of their operation?

"FRUTH123" wrote in message
...
Just did that tour with Red October and no visa needed. They handle it
all...
Have a great trip...

Red October was fabulous. We saw more in 1 day with them then most others saw
in 2. Everyplace you go with them you go the the front of the line...No
waiting. I highly recommend it...

What did you think of their operation?

On 15 Jun 2004 15:41:32 GMT, (Ellenbolt) wrote:

I have read the boards on www.cruisecritic.com and everyone recommends Red
October. However, I believe you will still need a visa though they will go
through the paperwork for you, but it takes a good 6 weeks.

No, there is a special provision in Russian immigration law.
Qualified tour operators can pass ticketed patrons through immigration
without a visa, as long as the tour guide stays with them and returns
them to immigration. Cruise excursions do not require a visa, for
example. Red October does not require a visa (they give you a
"ticket" even though you don't have to pay for it in advance).


Mason Barge

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee."
-- Abraham Lincoln