Mrs Tinkywinky

Thanks very much. With £650 onboard spend the cost is not too much of an issue.

Oh you have beaten me to it!

Blooming heck ! That is expensive. Someone has told me that you can get connected at the port terminals for free. I don't think I want to sit in the terminal for half an hour or more looking at my emails . I'm on holiday afterall but it's a thought. Cheaper than £12.50 a day.

If you do decide to fork out , can it come out of your obc?

Margaret x

Thanks for the answers.

I have been reading the thread and probably wouldn't have had a problem if I did have to wait. You have to wait at an airport and if there is a delay , it could be some time. I just go with the flow. We would all get on board eventually..........

It's deck by deck, but I also think cabin grade comes into it.

 

However I'd think that for the same ship the times should be the same for each cruise.

Unless you go by coach, as you say, then it is immediate. Know what I would prefer.....:D

I haven't been allocated a boarding time yet. However as this is my first time , are the passengers on the coach we are going on all allocated the same time whether you have a suite or something else (like me !!)

Thankyou for your replies and I will look at Alla and SPB and I have found a couple of others. Price wise there isn't much difference after the conversion from USD to sterling but I noticed they are all small numbers on the tours which appeals.

I am a cruise virgin but can you recommend when to book tours in St Petersburg.? I haven't decided on P and O or a private tour but how late can I leave it to book tours do you think.? I will probably be doing my own thing in all the other places. Is it still worth doing the Hermitage given the huge crowds? I can only do it on the Sunday as it is closed on the Monday and that's the two days I am there.:)

I think the port authorities are by far the most accurate, but takes a lot of searching for diff authorities and many are not available - especially in less developed countries, as their websites do not seem as good, and we travel to a lot of those.

I quite agree . I have now been into all the recommended websites and they all differ , not by a huge amount admittidly. I have also been into the port authorities own websites and What's in Port and those timings are similar so I would tend to believe their timings are more accurate.

Don't worry. It is a made up name on the spur of the moment as I was unable to find a name that wasn't already in use

www.cruisecal.com gives you info for every port if you click on Itinerary Look-up. This is a link to the cruise we're doing to the Baltic in June, Mrs Tiggywinkle and it covers all ports

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryPrint/tabid/2919/Default.aspx?sailID=CarnUK/B716

Thanks . That also works. Easy to look up.

Here's crew center

 

http://crew-center.com/cruise-ship-port-schedules-2017

 

It gives actual times, in most cases

Thankyou . That works and is easier than going into each port's website

I have used "What's in Port".

I looked up the ports we are going to in the Baltic and each port lists an arrival time and departure for your particular ship.

So " Arrives morning " is approx 9 am -10am.

Departs afternoon is approx 5pm

Early morning is about 7 am

Early evening is about 6pm

Couldn't find anything for Tallin and Stockholm but both are early morning , depart afternoon.

Hope this is of some use

Just be aware of mad drivers , scooters and pickpockets on scooters. Don't wear anything of value. But enjoy.....Naples is one of my favourite cities. Full of life and manic.

Otherwise find a nun!!!!. They will stop for them

There is a "Costa" cafe on board all the ships, but I am not sure what the "paid for" coffee is in the bars, which is quite nice.

It is (or was last year) Dowe Egberts sachets in your cabin. The coffee that you get in the MDR is of unknown origin, but in my opinion , could well have washed the dishes....:eek:. in the MDR, I usually ask for decaf in the evenings when you get the Dowe Egberts sachets , but you can also ask for the "normal" DE sachet if you prefer.....and which I would recommend if not into decaf.

I usually take a resonable supply of my own Dowe Egberts one cup filter coffees with me too!

Thankyou for your reply. Very useful and I may well be taking some one cup filter coffees as you suggest.Is there a fridge in the cabins ( on Arcadia) ?

Hi Ruby fox. I am also a cruising virgin but I am going in June. I only booked last month , going with a friend who has been before. I have joined the roll call but have been ploughing through the info on the cruise personaliser which probably won't be available for you yet . Also look online and on the Pando website. I also have questions but I'm sure the answers will be somewhere on here. Everything seems to be covered.

As you have asked about tea and coffee , does anyone know what coffee it is? I'm a fussy devil when it comes to coffee. I may take my own!

I totally agree what is the point ! and I've scoured the terms and conditions and cannot find anything that says you cannot opt out of upgrades

When I booked there were several grades listed all at the same price as the PF I booked but I specifically chose PF for the location of that range of cabins, guess I'm just going to have to keep my fingers crossed for the next few weeks. Normally I wouldn't care where we were but I'm travelling with my cousin and daughter & they have their opinions too !!.... feel like it could be a long few weeks ..... never again

Does it depend on where or when you book or has that nothing to do with it? We were offered an option of out or in for an upgrade when we booked at the T.a

We also booked an Early Saver fare at the Ta but then because of the ' deal ' we saw in the window but when we went into book , we booked on the Select and got the return coach which is £100 usually , shuttle buses , £200 on board , freedom dining and a choice of upgrade. Haven't been allocated a cabin yet but will see if they do upgrade. I personally am not bothered as if I had wanted a superior cabin then I would have booked that in the first place.

As this is our first time ,why do they call it an Early Saver when we have only just booked a month ago and are going in June? Rather a misnomer?