CRYSTAL Northern Europe..BALTIC Cruise Aug 5, 2009 now open

Group is open for booking on the 6 star
Crystal Symphony

August 5 - August 12, 2009
7 Nights
Northern Europe
Sail from Copenhagen to Stockholm with ports of call in Tallin, Estonia and three days in St Petersburg
From $3826 per person

SPECIAL AMENITIES: Prepaid gratuities plus $100 per person shipboard credit and reduced business class upgrade air

Website: http://www.CrystalSymphony09.makeswebsites.com

Call or email Friendly Cruises to reserve or get information.

Just trying to decide which category I want to book. Is anyone else going yet? I'm thinking two days pre-cruise and one day post cruise. Decisions, decisions!

Crystal Cruiser wrote:

Just trying to decide which category I want to book. Is anyone else going yet? I'm thinking two days pre-cruise and one day post cruise. Decisions, decisions!

Hi, Crystal Cruises
Are you thinking of a balcony? I am excited about this....have two cabins that just called and three other inquiries. Hopefully all get the category they want.

Crystal Cruiser, have you been in Copenhagen before? We spent 5 nights in Copenhagen this last August prior to a cruise in Copenhagen and I fell in love with the place. I think I might be a little prejudice, however, I'm have Danish relatives whom I was able to visit with while there. We went all over the city and took some train rides into the country side as well. Just walking down the pedestrian street and wandering in and out of the shops, was fun. HOWEVER, I must warn you. It is expensive over there. Be ready! The Danish Kroner is pretty precious! Riding the canal boats is fun and seeing the littlest Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson) is a must do while there. SO If you are asking...yes do spend some pre nights in Copenhagen as long as you are there. It will also give you some time to get over jet lag before the cruise.

Friendly Cruises wrote:

Crystal Cruiser wrote:

Just trying to decide which category I want to book. Is anyone else going yet? I'm thinking two days pre-cruise and one day post cruise. Decisions, decisions!

Hi, Crystal Cruises
Are you thinking of a balcony? I am excited about this....have two cabins that just called and three other inquiries. Hopefully all get the category they want.

Yes absolutely want a balcony! Sounds like this is going over well! I'm thrilled, I didn't think anyone else would be interested!

Friendly Cruises wrote:

Crystal Cruiser, have you been in Copenhagen before? We spent 5 nights in Copenhagen this last August prior to a cruise in Copenhagen and I fell in love with the place. I think I might be a little prejudice, however, I'm have Danish relatives whom I was able to visit with while there. We went all over the city and took some train rides into the country side as well. Just walking down the pedestrian street and wandering in and out of the shops, was fun. HOWEVER, I must warn you. It is expensive over there. Be ready! The Danish Kroner is pretty precious! Riding the canal boats is fun and seeing the littlest Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson) is a must do while there. SO If you are asking...yes do spend some pre nights in Copenhagen as long as you are there. It will also give you some time to get over jet lag before the cruise.

How wonderful to be able to spend time with family! I was to Copenhagen about 20 years ago so, I will need a refresher course! I look forward to this sailing, it will be a wonderful escape from the summer heat here in the States and, a chance to meet fellow cruisers from the board. Lona Lee, I do hope you're joining and escorting the group!

Crystal Cruiser, I'm having trouble sending messages from my private email ... ANYWAY... have you been on this itinerary before?

While I've been to Copenhagen and Stockholm, this will be my first time to Estonia and Russia. I'm extremely excited since there is so much to see in St. Petersburg and we have three days to explore!

Hi, Crystal Cruiser, I mentioned in the other thread how excited I get when I talk about this cruise. I am glad you are going. It will be fun to sail on Crystal with you AND explore these ports. Did you do the excursion/flight to Moscow when you were in St Petersburg before. I know that Crystal is offering that as a days excursion....

Friendly Cruises wrote:

Hi, Crystal Cruiser, I mentioned in the other thread how excited I get when I talk about this cruise. I am glad you are going. It will be fun to sail on Crystal with you AND explore these ports. Did you do the excursion/flight to Moscow when you were in St Petersburg before. I know that Crystal is offering that as a days excursion....

Wow! MOSCOW?! Now I think I'm going to HAVE to book, this might be my one and only chance to get get there!

Hi, HMS AnyShip
Yes, many folks taking the all day Excursion to Moscow enjoyed it on the last voyage I was on... an early morning flight from St Petersburg and spending all day in Moscow...full day with lots of site seeing and back to the ship for a late night arrival. Hope you are joining all of us.

Is anyone having trouble with their private messages sending... maybe I'm just being ignored.. . try sending me a message and I'll return it to see if it works.. thanks.

The Crystal Cruise to the Baltic Aug 5, 2009 has exciting news for the Cruise Freek folks.

Hopefully you got the notice about the FREE prenight hotel stay in Copenhagen if deposited before the end of October? Good news for the CruiseFreek folks. That goes for all of you that have already deposited too! ...don't forget the ship board credit is $100 PER PERSON and prepaid gratuities.

Want to bump this up because of the booking prior to OCTOBER 31 deadline offer for FREE HOTEL in COPENHAGEN reminder.

HMS AnyShip wrote:

Friendly Cruises wrote:

Hi, Crystal Cruiser, I mentioned in the other thread how excited I get when I talk about this cruise. I am glad you are going. It will be fun to sail on Crystal with you AND explore these ports. Did you do the excursion/flight to Moscow when you were in St Petersburg before. I know that Crystal is offering that as a days excursion....

Wow! MOSCOW?! Now I think I'm going to HAVE to book, this might be my one and only chance to get get there!

Hi, HMS Anyship
Just wanted to remind everyone that this coming Friday is the deadline for deposit to get the FREE one night pre hotel prior to this COPENHAGEN to STOCKHOLM cruise. Yes, HMS, Moscow would be quite the excursion and the three days in St Petersberg is an history lesson too!

We are considering getting Russian visas so that we can do a non-escorted tour. The idea is to take the the fast morning train to Moscow, do the tours (Red Square, GUM store, etc.) then take the overnight sleeper train back to St. Petersburg. We love trains and the opportunity to see some of the Russian countryside.

Triangle wrote:

We are considering getting Russian visas so that we can do a non-escorted tour. The idea is to take the the fast morning train to Moscow, do the tours (Red Square, GUM store, etc.) then take the overnight sleeper train back to St. Petersburg. We love trains and the opportunity to see some of the Russian countryside.

Hi, Triangle
WELCOME ON BOARD! Nice knowing you and welcome to the cruise! What an interesting idea versus flying using the ships excursion which departs early in the morning from St Petersburg to Moscow, heavy touring in Moscow, seeing the sights and flying back the same night arriving very late. I'd love to hear more details you found out about that.

Can you tell me more about what happens during this Moscow trip? how it all works - do you need visas - what time to you leave in the am and what time do you get back.

Quote :

="Life from the Porthole"Can you tell me more about what happens during this Moscow trip? how it all works - do you need visas - what time to you leave in the am and what time do you get back.

Initial research:

The train tickets can be bought 45 days in advance. Express trains take less than 5 hours and are more expensive. There is also a luxury express train. Non-express trains take 8 hours. For unescorted travel, visas (around $150pp) are required. BTW, if you take the ship's air excursion to Moscow, visas are not required.

There are many city tour companies in Moscow, and I would make arrangements through one of these for my sightseeing in Moscow. Roughly, I plan to tour St. Petersburg on Saturday, leave out early Sunday morning on an express train to Moscow, tour the city, do a show and then take a first class sleeper (leaving late night) back to St. Petersburg, arriving there around daybreak on Monday morning (in time to do a little more touring before we sail Monday eve).

Again this is just an early outline.

Life from the Porthole wrote:

Can you tell me more about what happens during this Moscow trip? how it all works - do you need visas - what time to you leave in the am and what time do you get back.

Crystal will probably be offering this one day excursion with a flight and tour to Moscow again in 2009. How it was in the past is the flight from St Petersburg to Moscow was early in the morning around 7 am and the folks flew back "home" at the end of the day and arrived on the ship around midnight. The tours were included in Moscow and they raved about seeing the highlights of the city and area. They said it was pretty intensive touring all day. I don't remember the cost of the trip or the length of the flights. (But I did remember I thought about taking a mortgage out on my home to take the tour...just kidding.) I personnally didn't do Moscow but it did perk my interest. I spent three days touring St Petrsburg and it left me wanting at least another day. Of course, I am fasinated with the history of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great and seeing the palaces, the country side, the museum's and the canals. I was amazed that "Peter" built this city on swamp land! No wonder it is called Venice of the North.

Your train ride sounds good too, Ric.

Are you coming along, Life from the Porthole? We hope so.

Thinking about booking but, still need to get vacation approval. I find Russia overwhelming, any recommendations of "must do" things in St. Petersburg?

Hi, Hopeful Henry,
Sorry this took awhile to respond. I've been making CruiseFreek reservations with Crystal today. I'm so glad the enthusiasm about this Baltic cruise is there. What an opportunity for us all!

I hope you can get vacation approval, the Baltic is not the everyday destination and on Crystal it is even more special.

I recommend as a must see in St Petersburg...
Peterhoff Palace; Musical Evening at the Hermitage if they offer it is a must; especially see the Hermitage Museum anyway you can because it is a must see for great pieces of art; there is always the evening Ballet at the Palace Theatre, if they offer the Russian Family Visit and Metro ride that would be a good one, of course the Flight to Moscow might be offered as well. There may be a "Legacy of Peter the Great" which is an overview of the many things in St Petersberg he had built or lived. I'm anxious to see the excursions Crystal Lists and offers .. I'm glad they offer three days.

We did the Baltic way back in 2000 on Celebrity. We had 2 days in St. Petersburg and I remember thinking that it was not enough. We did two all day tours which were both fantastic. I'm hoping to get one of those 3 day independent packages that does 2 days in St. Petersburg and one day in Moscow. I'm not sure about the cost of the Moscow package, but for the once in a lifetime experience... Honestly, I'm not sure we'd ever get to Moscow any other way. I don't see us doing overland travel in Russia.

Tallin I recall as being beautiful, but totally doable on your own if you can walk. There is a gorgeous old town up a long hill and after exploring there you can walk around the city ramparts, and then down to the base of the walls.

In Stockholm, I remember the Vasa Museum as being so fascinating I could have spent an entire day there... but I didn't have an entire day. And in Copenhagen I remember all of the beautiful castles/slots.

If anyone is interested, I have my (old) cruise review here:

http://www.mommycruises.com/reviews/baltic.html

Hi, HelenB
Glad you are going on the trip! Good review, thanks for sharing that!

Just a quick posting... if you are thinking of taking this Crystal and possibly combining it with the River boat cruise between July 19-Aug 2, 2009 let me know....

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/us/cruises/GET/09BUDAMS14/VLE/itinerary.aspx

I'm doing some checking on available air transfers between Amsterdam and Copenhagen and hotel stay in Amsterdam. It would be good to know if you haven't already talked to me just who else might be thinking of each one. If you have already booked this I do have you listed.