Yes it is quite easy to do your own tours in all ports apart from St Petersburg. Most of the others are in easy walking distance of the local town or have shuttle buses near where you leave the ship.

in St Petersburg if you go with a russian registered tour company you do not need a visa either. I recommend alla-tour, but otheres are denrus, redoctober or anastasia.

Unless you apply for a Russian Visa you will have to go on an organized excursion in St Pertersberg or you won't be allowed to disembark from the ship. As for the other ports, if you just want to see the major city centre sites I would advise using the hop-on hop-off buses which come down to the cruise terminals, these can be paid for in dollars or euros and sometimes sterling, and unlike the ship's excursion you can adjust the time at the various attractions to suit your tastes. In Copanhagen a boat trip from New Haven is a good way to see the city. Again in Helsinki boat trips are available from habour next to the market square. If you visit Tallin, I would advise taking the shuttle bus to the city centre and explore this wonderful city by foot. Please note in Tallin some of the bars accept euros, some don't; ask the waiters before ordering if you are like me and don't have any local currency. Knitwear is usually less expensive in Estonia than the "old" European Baltic states.

The answer is probably, yes, but to get the most out of DIY I would recommend that you don't rely on just getting there and saying "What shall we do" but start doing your homework looking at your destinations and what they have to offer, printing off a map or two from the net and even finding out about tram, train and bus times and frequencies. The more information you have the more prepared you are and the easier it is. ... Neil

If you give us a clue as to which ports then we can advise....