jinteso
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Posts posted by jinteso
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We are also doing Baltic cruise next July
Presume you know you don’t have to obtain.a visa for st Petersburg or take the ships tours
The small independent companies provide same visa waiver as ships ones but a much better experience especially if you have mobility issues
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We are on the June sailing next year. I am aware of the visa issue for SPB. As a matter of fact, I have already contacted 7 different companies in SPB for quotes for semi private tours (4 - 6 people). And I already have a 17 page document that I created for excursions at each port, transportation, tipping etc. as will as for my post cruise wanderings.
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Great review. I have a challenge walking and will be doing a Baltic cruise and Mediterranean cruise next year. I really appreciate the info!
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it depends on the type of obc
non refundable can not be used
refundable can be used
Are you sure that is correct? That is true for the DSC but either type can be used for gratuities for butler and concierge and any "additional" gratuity for the cabin steward.
So I guess the bottom line is what type of gratuity?
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We booked through CAS and received a drink card when we sailed on the Gem a couple of weeks ago. We are at the lowest level players card.
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The question is: Were you able to get free drinks and bottled water using it?
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I am looking to book this cruise. It is only offered on 5 - 18 January 2019. Under "Details" the description talks about an overnight in Cairns. However, the itinerary shows just a port stop from 8:00 to 4:00. I would tend to believe the itinerary, not the description but I am not sure.
Has anyone else experienced this and which would be correct?
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Hi, she has your guides that she works with. I did not choose her because I could not confirm a specific guide and because she wanted a deposit. Still, reviews are good.
Thank you for the information. She is much cheaper than the others for similar tours. That was why I was curious. Maybe she doesn't have the overhead that the others do.
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I will be disembarking the NCL Breakaway in June at Oceankaj terminal at 0700. I will be staying at the Copenhagen Marriott. I will be purchasing a HOHO pass for 48 hours for my stay. I know that the HOHO does not start running until 0900. I would prefer to use something that I will have already paid for rather than spend an additional $35 - $40 on a taxi.
About how long would it take the first HOHO bus to get to the terminal?
I know that if I take the public bus, I would have to take the 25 or 27 bus and change busses once with a long walk to the Marriott or take several busses. What would the experts recommend? There will be 2 of us and we will have between 2 and 4 pieces of luggage.
Thank you.
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Jean: if Julia does not do the tours, who does? I thought that the company was just her and her husband. I now have had responses from 7 different companies and I thought that she had the best value so far.
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My husband and I are also looking at a cruise like this. I am not familiar with all these cruise lines. We have only cruised on NCL, RCI and Carnival in the Carribbean. Can someone tell me about the following?
Crystal Serenity
Oceania Marina
Oceania Nautica
Seabourn Ovation
They are what I would consider "higher end" cruise lines. In my opinion, they tend to cater to an older crowd, don't have as many activities or entertainment, would not be good for kids and are considerably more expensive.
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First of all I hope this is the right place to post this...sorry if it's not!
We're planning a cruise to SPB for our 10th anniversary! :hearteyes: Looking for any input/recommendations on what cruise line to take.
Some info on us: American, early 30s, kiddo will be staying home, pretty easy to please. We enjoy drinking, gambling, and traveling! We're not looking to spend an enormous amount of money; ~$3k for cruise fare would be comfortable.
Our only real requirement is at least 2 days in SPB, but 3 would be even better. Looking at 8-10 day cruises but might be able to stretch to 14 days. We don't care what other ports are included, we'll enjoy ourselves wherever we go.
So far we've seen cruises we like on Costa and NCL. I know Costa is primarily Italian so English speakers are in the minority. I think this might add a fun element to the trip and give it a more "international travel" vibe. NCL seems like it would be more familiar since we have cruised NCL in the past.
We've also looked at Royal, Princess, and Celebrity, and didn't see anything that would justify the higher fares on those lines. Viking looked amazing but those prices: :o
Any thoughts or ideas would be very much welcome!
You don't say what month or week you want to sail. That would help. With the budget that you are looking at, it would be hard to find a cruise that spent 3 days in SPB. You also need to consider the cost of the excursion in SPB. The cheapest that I found is about $275 per person plus gratuities for a 2 day tour. A 3 day tour starts at about $385 - $400 per person plus tips. In many other ports you can do them yourself and save a lot of money.
I went through a similar thought process earlier this year however our budget was quite a bit more. And we really preferred having Copenhagen in the itinerary.
Based on the fact that you mentioned you like drinking, and your desire for cruise cost, I would recommend NCL. If you get an inside room, you can get the drink package for both of you. If you get an ocean view room, you can get the drink package and another perk (offer). You just can not book the sail away rate. The drink package cost would be your 18% gratuity only, costing you $288 for both of you for the entire cruise.
For full disclosure, after doing my own research, we are booked on the 7 June sailing of the NCL Breakaway.
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Thank you so much for posting this. I am just starting research for Rome for a cruise next summer.
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I fly over 100,000 miles per year both domestically and internationally. Nothing new has been stated here. There is some misinformation here though. If you have TSA pre-check, you do NOT need to pull your laptop out or any other electronics. You also don't need to remove any food items. However, that being said, occasionally, something may look funny and they may ask to look at something like a bread wrapped in aluminum foil in your bag. And yes, when they do something like that, I am glad to see it rather than risk something getting through that shouldn't.
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$15 for a 750 ml bottle
$30 for a 1.5 l magnum bottle
Here is the NCL link:
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Great review! Thank you.
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I am an engineer as well. I am down to 23 work days and 57 days before retirement. I will be 56 and have 31 years in. Looking forward to travelling! After a 20 year hiatus from cruising, we have 4 cruises planned for next year and 5 land vacations.
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Hmmm. Guess it's a glitch for our cruise (Nov. 26, Pearl). Now I'm wishing I didn't already book a reservation under my SDP!
(I could cancel and rebook, but the good dining times are already taken on the day we'd go.)
Why not tell them you are not using your SDP when you get there and book another restaurant for your last meal?
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Mine on the Dawn is still showing $29.44 which would be $24.95 pretax.
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We are coming back to NCL after a few cruises on RCI. Can someone get me up to speed on the whole upsell process? Is there still an upsell phone line like they had a few years ago? I have vaguely heard about up upsell bidding. When and how does this happen and does it happen? We just booked the Sky and we are 77 days out. We also booked the Star out of Venice next September. When would I be able to bid on that?
If you booked directly with NCL or with a participating TA you can bid now. Log into your account and you will get a screen saying "Let's Get You Upgraded". Click on that and follow the instructions. For the Star next year, you will be able to bid at 80 days out from sailing.
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Not necessarily. It depends if your TA participates in the Upgrade Advantage program. You should ask them before you book if that is important to you.
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I am curious too. I am looking at booking the Jewel in Australia. I assume that it is the same since they are sister ships.
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Just for other people's information. I am on the Dawn 10 day in January. I have a Deluxe Owner's Suite. They offered the Garden Villa for a range of $1250 - $5000 per person. Both GVs show as sold out but that doesn't mean much. Not bidding though since a GV would be a waste for just 2 of us.
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Also, keep in mind that some sites are closed on certain days of the week so that makes the planning more difficult. I am sure that they are going out of their way to accommodate you. You might try some of the smaller companies as well to see if they are more flexible or creative. We are using a smaller company and we have a tour planned for 4 but would like to add 2 additional people from our role call. Good luck.
Jean: OK, I will bite. Would you give me the name of the company?
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A full two day tour with the "optional" night time excursion.
An Epic Cruise with Walking Difficulties
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
The only place that I may do an NCL excursion would be Sweden. And that is only if we end up docking in Nynashamn. Otherwise they are all easy to do by yourself or take an organized tour like in SPB. On the Mediterranean cruise, I am looking into the ships excursions right now. Then I will look at good private ones if they are available. Any advice on an Eastern Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruise or the Spirit in general? I see that you sailed on her relatively recently. Then I will shut up and not hijack this thread any more.