soccerdad72

I personally like the Marriott Park Lane.

 

It's in the Marble Arch area and a short ride from Paddington if you take HEX. The hotel itself is in a bit of a neighborhood (although there are very busy streets, including adjacent to the hotel. It was renovated about 3 years ago. The rooms are decent sized by London standards. If you're Gold (Platinum now) or higher, there's a very nice lounge. Hyde Park is across the street. There's a bus stop next to the hotel, and Tube is a block away.

 

You're right off Oxford Street, walking distance (although a decent walk) from Piccadilly Circus, and many of the other attractions of that part of London.

 

We've stayed there twice, and are going back at Christmas...

Thanks for the recommendation (even though I'm not the OP :cool: ) - I just booked Park Lane for my wife and I for a short trip in a couple weeks.

Quick question - what did you find was the easiest way to get from Paddington to the hotel? Planning on taking HEX when I land midday during the week and TfL recommends a bus, which I've never taken before (taken other forms of transport, such as the tube or taxis, though).

Another comment on the activities - has anyone done the "Royal Mystery" by Puzzle Break? It was held on Day 3 and sounded like it would be an Escape Room sort of thing. Now, we've never done an Escape Room and this was free, so we thought we'd give it a try. I don't know if it's normal to give 0 instructions as to what is happening? It was held in the Star Lounge and each team got a packet and they told us that we were trying to determine who did the crime. Then we were told we had an hour to figure it all out. They did point out that there were clues around the room.

 

We figured out several of the puzzles, but even after they announced whodunit, we were scratching our heads trying to figure out how we were supposed to get that answer. So...mixed feelings on that activity. It was fun solving the puzzles we understood but frustrating because we weren't exactly sure how to add up the pieces.

We were also there that night and I agree, there were very little in terms of instructions given. We've done a couple of these puzzle break things (separate from escape rooms we've also done), so I have some experience with the types of puzzles included. We made friends with a nice couple sitting next to us, which was good, because you really did need 6-8 people as they suggested. But the end did end up being completely confusing and we still have no idea what the true answer even was? It was a fun activity, but a bit of a frustrating ending.

We were able to exchange a small amount of US dollars for Norwegian Kroner on our Navigator cruise in June, so it's likely they would be able to do it on Serenade. Like others have said, it's not the most cost effective method, but in our case, it was just enough for a cash tip for our tour guide, so the exchange hit I'm sure we took was probably negligible.

Thanks! We just got back from Alaska, and he lived in the kids club - so that is good thing. It had not dawned on me that it might be too cold to use Flowrider or pools...lol. I was looking at the 10 night Baltic on Serenade that starts in Copenhagen and ends in Stockholm, but would rather start and end in UK. Then we could do a few nights pre or post in London.

We were on the same cruise, with our 13 and 17 year old sons. There definitely weren't a lot of kids on the cruise and while it was cold, our boys still spent a lot of time on the Flowrider. Our 13 year old was often one of the only people on it many days - at the busiest (one really nice day while in port at Skagen), there was maybe 10-12 people in line.

 

We booked Alla's Comfort 2 day tour for our upcoming cruise.

Have a few questions:

1. What were served for the 2 day lunches? Did you like it?

2. Did you like the guide?

3. Did you have enough time shopping at Nevsky Prospect?

4. Was the tour really rushed or very tiring?

 

Thank you.

First day lunch was chicken salad to start, followed by a soup of some sort (mostly broth, but pretty decent), breaded chicken and mashed potatoes for the entree and a tart (rubarb, we think) for dessert. Second day lunch was borscht (sp?) for appetizer, chicken Kiev for entree and cake for dessert. Both lunches were in private restaurants, almost like a wedding reception location, set up just for the Alla tour groups. All in all, they were pretty good - my wife and kids were a little pickier about it, but nobody went hungry.

Our guide was fine - she was not the friendliest woman, but did a pretty good job of explaining everything. Although when she was ready to move on, she was off - there were times when I think we were running to catch up to her.

We had two separate times for shopping during Day 2 (Day 1 started late because of everyone getting hung up in immigration getting off the ship) - a brief stop for about 20-30 minutes at a touristy gift shop and then at the end of the day, we were given 45 minutes to an hour to walk around Nevsky on our own. That last shopping stop will probably be different for you, as we were somewhat limited in where we could go as the World Cup Fan Fest was blocking off a number of streets near where we were (right by the Church of the Spilled Blood).

I never felt totally rushed, although as I said earlier, there were times when we would linger a little and our guide was ready to move on. It's a very full two days and we were certainly pretty tired by the end of Day 2. It's funny, because the headliner act that night on the ship struggled to get the crowd into it (theater was half full at best) and you could tell that everyone was exhausted. There are times when it seems a little overwhelming - meaning, the tour through the Hermitage (in our opinion) gets to a point when you wonder how many more ornate, golden rooms with priceless artwork you can see. And the funny thing is, the Hermitage tour really only scratches the surface of the museum - it's such a huge place.

Let me know if you have any other questions - St. Petersburg really is the highlight of the whole cruise.

Where do you find WJ’s theme for the night? Is it posted somewhere before dinner? We are sailing on Empress next month and I remember our last time on Empress, WJ had some great theme nights but we didn’t know about them until arriving. Would love to know before deciding where to dine for the night. On our last Empress cruise we ate dinner in WJ often ...the food was the best of any ship with a great variety.

They were printed in the Cruise Compass each day (last month on Navigator).

I think some cruisers do just the opposite. They have their dinner in the MDR and visit the WJ for desert.

We did that a couple times last cruise - depending on the theme night, we'd go check out WJ for their desserts. French night was a must - love those crepes!

Can you tell me more about poolside service? Are there waiters that bring you cocktails from the bar?

Pretty much exactly that - guys are always around the pool area asking if anyone wants drinks. Our last cruise also had a guy with a beer cart as well.

Most places (aside from the MDR) will be open on Labadee day - especially bars and poolside service.

Navigator of the Seas - June 15-27th, 2018 - our itinerary:

Oslo - did a bus tour of ski jump, Vigeland park and Fram museum

Copenhagen - Tivoli Gardens for the day

Tallinn - DIY walk around Old Town, loosely following Rick Steve's walking tour. Stopped at Kien in de Kok museum for an hour or so.

St. Petersburg (2 days) - Comfort 2 Day Tour with Alla

Helsinki - DIY, but most museums and stores were closed for Midsummer Day holiday. Shopped at the market near the port and checked out a church or two

Skagen - Bike ride up to Grenen and walked the rest of the island

No idea what the duty would be, but I would check with your cruise line to see what their restrictions are. With Royal Caribbean, there's a limit of two bottles per cabin that's allowed to be brought on board with you.

We did the combo pass that included entrance fee, unlimited ride wristband as well as a counter service meal (generally a sandwich, side and a drink) and I thought it was a pretty good value. The food, even from the counter service restaurants, was all cooked fresh to order. Not exactly 'fast food' (e.g. 10 minute or so wait), but really good.

We're big amusement park fans, though, so we rode just about everything in the park, all in a fairly short time frame (I think we were there for 5 hours). The only thing my wife and I skipped (and let the teenagers do) was the Vertigo (the airplane arm ride the previous poster mentioned). That one was pretty intense.

Just got back 2 weeks ago from our Baltic cruise on Navigator. Days were cooler than I planned for (and I'm usually not one who gets cold), especially the sea days. I would pack an extra sweatshirt than you are originally planning, although in August, it might be warmer than June.

Skagen ended up being a surprisingly fun port for us. I hadn't planned anything, but found that simply renting a bike and checking out the town center, Grenen (the northernmost tip of Denmark) and other sites (in our case, we went mini golfing) made for a great day.

We didn't get much local currency out - we had some Euros already, so brought those. And we got some Pounds out ahead of time because we had a couple days in London (we departed from Southampton). The only local currency we got (on the ship) was enough for a tip for our guide in Oslo and it turned out, the tour guide was gone by the time we went to go tip her (our tour ended with a ferry back to town on our own schedule), so now we have spare Norwegian Krones to spend.

I will say, while all the countries are cashless, many of the merchant stands we visited preferred (and asked for) cash instead.

At ages 3 and 5 I’d probably have gone for the 1 room. If they were 13 and 15 it would be the 2 rooms.

I agree. We've had our younger son in our room when he was 6 or 7, but now that both our kids are older (13 and 17), we opt for two rooms.

Here's my experience from our Navigator cruise last week (take it for whatever it's worth)...

My wife was the only one with the soda package (as, generally, she is the only one who drinks enough Diet Coke to make it worth it.) With the exception of an occasional sip or two by one of our boys, she was the only one using her package. Occasionally, one of us went and get her drinks during the trip, showing her SeaPass card, but not for ourselves to drink.

A couple nights into the cruise, in the MDR, my wife ordered a Diet Coke for dinner instead of having wine with me, and she told the waiter she had the soda package (and showed him her SeaPass card). He then asked our boys if they would like a soda as well. We fully expected to pay for their drinks, but they didn't include it on our check that night. After that, they asked them every night if they wanted anything. Some nights they were fine with water, others they asked for a Coke or Sprite. Again, they chose to not charge us for the sodas for whatever reason.

Used Smith's yesterday off of Navigator. Would highly recommend them. Very professional, efficient and reasonably priced. £120 for four of us, plus 6 bags (4 full sized, 2 carry ons). Met us at 7am (we self disembarked) and we were at LHR by 8:30, plenty of time for our noon flight.

We also just got home from Navigator today - one complaint by my wife was the unavailability of any self serve soda machines - even the ones in Windjammer were not operational during the cruise. She got a little frustrated having to go to bars every time she wanted a Diet Coke, but we've been used to the Freestyle machines from Allure. A fair amount of bars were pouring from 2 liter bottles instead of pouring from the gun - I don't know if they had issues getting the soda syrup stocked?

Our boys and I generally were fine with the various water choices, with the occasional purchased drink. It's my wife that needs her Diet Coke daily.

I wasn’t that keen myself but I’m sure I read on the ‘Secret MDR menu’ thread (or something similar) that there is a cold soup option available every night. You just have to request it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We'll have to try that out this week - my boys love the cold soups and usually order it every night, but I saw that it wasn't part of the new MDR menus as well.

I'll report back in a couple weeks!

Thanks for the advice - we will probably look for an ATM when in port. It's our only Norway port during this cruise.

Planning on converting some USD to £ soon - thanks for the replies. :)

Seriously, wasn't trying to be ugly American guy, and I am not inexperienced in foreign travel, so I suppose I should not have asked what essentially was a stupid question. Sorry about that.

We prepaid for the tour we're doing this weekend, but figure we need some cash for tipping the tour guide. As this is the only cash I figure we'll need, what does everyone recommend we do for a small amount? I'm thinking we only need like $20 worth of NOK - should I just eat the poor exchange rate and buy some on the ship?

Would it be advisable to get £ for tips? We have Euros (and, being American, obviously USD), but don't have £ right now. We have 3 rides with car services and one 1/2 day tour for our trip, so I want to make sure we have cash for tips.

Others may have more specific boards you can check, but I would start by doing a Google search, something like 'group cruise freedom of the seas november 2018' and see what comes up.

Thanks ch__ - I think that's what we'll plan on doing.

My wife saw this on the Cruise Planner for our upcoming trip and was wondering if it was a good deal? I suppose like any unlimited pass, it depends on how much you use it, but I was wondering if anyone bought this and whether or not they thought it was worth it?

We're on Navigator this week (boarding on June 15th) and have 5 sea days, so we figured we'd try to do a class each day. At $69, I wasn't sure if that would be a better deal than paying as we go? Also, is this something we can just buy on board?