FollowingTheSun

When I book a European cruise as an Australian and booking through an Australian travel agent, I an expected to pay the daily gratuity.

It is only as an Australian booking a cruise originating from Australia that the gratuity is included in the price.

I would much prefer the cruise line to pay their staff a decent wage in the first place and do away with the automatic gratuity totally.

Jim

Mini Suite with an angled balcony. The angled balcony gives you a lot more room.

One we used was B409. It has been upgraded to a Club Class Mini Suite but we are still going to go with the same room next year.

Pity about the price increase.

Luggage tags are a PDF document.

You might have more luck saving them to your PC first then opening them with Acrobat reader (or whatever PDF viewer you use) and printing from there.

You print the full page then fold it to suit.

The currency in Norway, Estonia and Finland is the Euro

Norway use the Norwegian Krone.

On our recent trip we chose to take about $70US in the local currencies. I can't think of anywhere that didn't accept out credit card so the local currencies were just 'for fun'

In Copenhagen, we were considered odd when we tried to buy an ice-cream with cash instead of card.

We exchange the cash at our local bank before leaving.

We now have a collection of strange money that will keep the younger relatives amused for the next few birthdays etc.

Jim

Carry a printed card that she can show to another passenger/crew.

That card has your room numbers so you can be called and any appropriate instructions.

Forget about radios. There is no/little chance that they will work on the ship.

We were in B409 recently and as per the plans, there was an internal connecting door. I don't think there was any extra noise coming from the adjacent room because of the doorway.

The balcony could be opened in either direction, not just to the 'connecting room'

These balcony divides are opened when the crew need to clean the glass balcony rails, something that was done once during our 11 day cruise. Our steward warned us that they were going to be working on the balcony.

I'm guessing that the Tram 9 building you marked in your photo will be closed and we'll just have to find where Tram 7 is?

What do you do when you were in Helsinki? We haven't totally committed to anything yet.

Tram 7 should terminate where tram 9 does now so that should be easy to find at the port end.

Hopefully, there will be an updated tram route maps out before you get there.

In May, there was a shuttle bus which ran from the ship into town for 10 euros return. That saves the walk around the wharf and leaves the legs for more walking around town.

Whatever you do, keep clear of Stockman's department store - your wallet will suffer if you go in. I have to admit it's the nicest big store we have been in - and the Boss makes sure we go into lots of stores!

My travel agent tried to insist that we had to take a Princess organized tour in St Petersberg.

That was rubbish.

We used Alla but all the accredited tour companies are OK and about equal.

As others have said, be prepared for the one hour wait for passport control (which is nothing to do with your cruise line.)

The only recent change is in payments. The tour companies require payment in Rubles or credit card - they can no longer accept payment in US dollars or Euros.

Growing up in sunny Queensland, I used to hate Christmas. It was the one time of the year that mum insisted on us wearing a shirt for dinner.

If Grandma was coming, I also had to wear shoes!

I haven't improved much over the last 60 years but I did buy a new jacket for our first cruise in May this year.

The wife enjoyed watching the other travelers who had gone to some (extreme) effort to dress up.

We were so uninspired by the food in the MDR we didn't risk a formal night but it was still nice to see the others who did.

If we go on another cruise and if we can be convinced that the food has improved, I will probably pack the jacket again.

On the 17th June, Regal Princess stayed an extra day in Rostock and bypassed Tallinn, going direct to St Petersberg.

Regal sped up after leaving Oslo to arrive in Rostock a few hours earlier, presumably to allow for more time to do repairs but they still needed the extra day.

I would love to know what the problem was.

Missing Tallinn would have been a big disappointment for us due to a family connection but these things happen and we will be forever grateful that our cruise went without problems...

Just back from a Baltic cruise on the Regal.

There were a few Japanese couples who didn't have a Tux but they sure knew how to impress.

The mind boggles at the thought of carrying all that clothing half way across the world for a couple of nights.

Due to the disappointing food quality on our first night in the MDR, we didn't return and stuck to the buffet without dressing up on formal nights.

On 2nd June, coming of the Regal Princess at 8:40, plenty of taxis arriving and all looked well managed.

We were at our Hotel in town shortly after 9:00

Must have been lucky!

Jim

I heard that one can walk from the port to see the Mermaid, in the harbor. Is this true? We are desperate to see a bit of CPH.

However,we have no time to see it. We need to get back to the airport, as soon as the ship comes into port. :(

If you are coming in to the old port, yes.

Most Cruise ships go to the new port which is too far away to walk to town.

You have to open the message and then there is a blue triangle with an exclamation mark in it to the right of the header.

I have reported one of the recent messages but not sure if you have to report them all.

I received my notification from Alla today for a tour in late May.

They make no mention of gratuities but SPB advise that cash in any currency can still be used and I 'think' the same applies for Alla:

"Gratuities to the guide and driver are not included in the tour price. We recommend 10% (of the tour cost) to the guide and 5% to the driver, to be given separately. We can not charge any gratuity to your credit card. Please have some cash with you (USD, EUR or RUB) if you intend to tip your driver and guide."

Jim

All those countries are with in the Schengen Area so there won't be any immigration controls. The only place where you are likely to get stamped is St Petersberg. That's one of the things that make a Baltic cruise easier to do. The days of getting a passport full of exotic stamps is over. If they all used Euros, life would be easier still.

However, the way things are going, ID checks might reappear so the long queues getting on and off the boat will be back.

The personal information page-link in the email is not country specific, it's for everyone to fill out..

It requires your name/dob/country of birth/contact information/citizenship/country of residency/return airport.

My weekly email on 25th March listed as immigration details complete. Yesterday's email changed to incomplete.

When I check my Guest Check-in page, it still lists all sections as complete or optional.

They do have my return airport as well as all the other requested details.

Flight schedule is still listed as optional.

Something has changed and Princess have either goofed or they don't want me to know what they want me to tell them. I assume they have goofed and will eventually wake up and fix it.

I realise that security requirements can change very quickly for no apparent reason but if that was the case, what are the new requirements?

I received the same email for my Baltic cruise.

Not going anywhere near the US.

I am from Australia and will be entering and leaving the Schengen zone well before/after the cruise so immigration should be no concern of Princess.

I assumed they had goofed and will see what next weeks email says about it before I start running around in circles.

Jim

My first ever cruise will be in the Baltic in May so I don't base the following on any past experience.

I wasted a lot of time worrying about what to wear.

When I sit around at airports watching my fellow travelers, I am surprised how 'casual' some of them are dressed. Others surprise me with how 'over the top' they are dressed. I guess I must be somewhere in the middle so my smart casual should be OK

When it comes to formal wear, I had more trouble. I purchased my first suit 20 years ago for my fathers funeral and wore it again 6 years later for my mothers funeral. I still fit into it but didn't like the idea of carting it half way round the world (28 hours flight times).

Today I happened to park outside a menswear store that is closing down. I am now the proud owner of a suitable jacket and together with a tie that I think I still have somewhere, I shouldn't embarrass the wife too much.

Rule number one - be comfortable.

Rule number two - see rule number one.

Jim

For Stockholm, how do you tell how/ where ship will enter/ dock? On the Disney Magic June 11 sailing from Copenhagen....

http://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

Select "Expected" instead of "In Port" and the dates around your times

I tried with June 11th but your ship was listed for June 13th so I am not sure...

Great ideas and suggestions for tours, etc. thank you.

 

But doesn't Princess post this information somewhere? If not, I can use some of the suggested websites to try to look it up, but it seems like the cruise line would document this somewhere- they must know where they're going to dock right??

thanks!

Princess do have some (limited) information regarding departure ports.

http://www.princess.com/learn/excursions/departure_ports/

Even if they did supply decent details about the various ports, I would always do my own research to get a second opinion - and I find the research part of the fun, it's amazing what other things you find out about in the process.

If Princess supplied it all, we would start complaining when the berth changed and we hadn't noticed the changes. If you are using their excursions, they worry about it. If you are doing your own thing, you have to do the research.

Jim

When you know your port dates, you can lookup the port websites and most of them give you the berth as well as the port for your ship.

The easiest way I found to find the port websites was to start with http://cruiseportwiki.com/

From there follow the links to the port authority website. Most are in English fortunately.

I am on the Regal leaving Copenhagen on 22nd May and, if I believe the port authority for Stockholm, we are going to the port in town rather than Nynashamn. I hope this stays correct but I think I will have to be prepared for a change to Nynashamn.

The other Regal cruises seem to use Nynashamn.

You can also see how many other cruise ships are in port on the same day.

Jim

You can check with the port authority at each destination and they usually give you the berth.

Be aware that things might change by the time you get there due to operational reasons or weather conditions.

In Stockholm, my ship is scheduled to go right into the town (yippee) instead of the new cruise ship port. There is a high chance that this will change (unfortunately)

I found the easiest way to find the port authorities is from http://cruiseportwiki.com/

As well as useful information, it links to the websites for the port.

(I an still waiting for Rick Steve's book to arrive)

Jim

I think that most of the people we meet on the street in St Petersberg couldn't care less about what their/our leaders are doing and saying.

The Europeans might not like the British for leaving the EU, there will probably be more 'terrorist' attacks before I go to Europe and St Petersberg in May/June.

I wouldn't wave an American/British/Australian flag or discuss politics (with anyone) but I am not concerned about the general safety.

If I have any concerns, it is during national government elections. You are more likely to come across rowdy protest which could get out of hand.

Jim

it is traditional for MEN, not just fathers, to get together and go out into the country or to the beach or a park, their 'supplies' loaded into little hand-carts, and have a women- and kid-free day. The spirit tends to be happy, noisy and a bit boozy.

Now I have to tell the Boss that she will have to stay on the ship while I spend the day on the beach!

Jim