ShipsandDipper

We were in Santo Tomas last week and Go with Gus had a booth in the terminal building. It looked like Gus himself was there.

We just toured with them last week out of Santo Tomas (Quirigua ruins and Rio Dulce Canyon combination tour). We were very satisfied with our tour and enjoyed the day.

The terminal at Santo Tomas had several booths for tour operators. Happy Fish was one of the busiest.

We went last year. We did our own thing everywhere but St. Petersburg and it worked out pretty well. The Rick Steves book mentioned above has very good directions for how to get out of the ports and access public transport.

Oslo - we bought an Oslo Pass right where the ship docked (we were right by the Akershus Castle/Fortress). That included admission to many sites and public transport. We visited the Occupation Museum in the Castle, took the public boat across the bay, visited the Fram Museum (polar ship - actually very interesting, stayed longer than we planned) and the Viking Ship Museum (loved it), back across the bay, visited the National Gallery (it was having a special Munch exhibition), and walked around a bit. We were going to take the tram to see the Vigeland Sculpture Park but ran out of energy and had a bite to eat at a restaurant instead.

Copenhagen - we docked here on a Sunday and had trouble getting out of the port (undergoing construction last year and regular walking routes were blocked). Finally found our way to the train, which we took into town. We did an e-bike tour; that was fun. Also walked around town and visited the National Museum.

Stockholm-definitely the Vasa Museum. Fabulous. We rode the public boats, did a boat tour, visited the museums in the Royal Palace, rode trams, and walked around a lot.

Tallinn-walked from dock into town. Took the tram out to the Song Festival Grounds (we watched the documentary The Singing Revolution beforehand so wanted to see the festival grounds). Walked through a big park, just wandering, then took a tram back and walked through the old town.

Helsinki-took tram into town. Went to the Rock Church, then rode the tram in a loop as described in the Steves book. Went to the market and visited some of the nearby churches.

Hope you have a great trip!

We got a good deal at the Best Western Executive Plus last year. It's right by Seattle Center (where the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden & Glass, Experience Music Project, etc. are). The rate included transport from the hotel to the pier for the cruise. Worked out well for us because we really wanted to visit the Chihuly Garden & Glass before we left on the cruise. And the transport turned out to be a private car that we could order for any time we wanted to go.

At ATL on the way out, you may need to show your passport again at the gate. We've had that happen when we have connected in the US for an international flight.

We really like Icelandair. We have not had any problems with service, including when we had to rearrange tickets. We have twice done packages from Denver to Iceland for amazing prices, and everything was provided as arranged, no problems. Both times we really enjoyed ourselves. To/from continental Europe, it was nice to have a shorter layover, since Reykjavik is a smaller airport.

I am not thrilled with the cabin configuration for long flights, but at times we've run across good deals and been able to book premium economy (and once, Saga class!). If you're in economy, you have to pay for food, but that can be planned for.

Not clothes but---Bring enough sunscreen. A puny tube set DD back $10 on one of the islands.

I'll second this one. The sun was fierce, requiring multiple applications of sunscreen every day. We only brought small bottles and were in dire straits. Luckily our naturalist gave us some until we landed on an island with a store.

We were on a 4:20 tour in Juneau at the end of May last year and saw many humpbacks and a pod of orcas. With the long days of summer, 4:15 is not that late. The sun will just be setting when your ship is leaving.

Be sure you read ALL the fine print - they have some gotcha fees that can alter that fare equation. Also, their seat pitch is tight. Is money everything?

As in, I'm 5'3" and my knees were pressed against the seat ahead of me. My tall DH was absolutely miserable. It was a relatively short flight from Dallas to Denver, our first on Spirit, and it was so uncomfortable we decided it was also our last Spirit flight.

Here's a few of my husband's pictures (Misty Fjords was living up to its name that day):

Typical view:

Michelle's Island Wings plane, right next to us:

It's snug, but everyone has a window:

Randy and his plane at the mid-flight stop:

We enjoyed our flight with Randy last year. And just last week we got a nice photo card from him and his family, thanking us for using Mountain Air. A pleasant reminder of a good trip.

I haven't been in Cloud 9, but I imagine that Princess's Thermal Suite might be similar. It has a gentle steam room, more intense steam room, aromatherapy room, hot stone loungers, and rainforest showers, all co-ed.

My husband and I enjoyed Szechenyi Baths in Budapest. The entry and locker process described in Rick Steves was spot-on.

Iceland is a wonderful place for thermal spas. In addition to the Blue Lagoon, we enjoyed a visit to Laugardalslaug in Laugardalur Park in Reykjavik. It was co-ed.

I have taken lots of cruises and have never rec'd an e-mail titled this. I found it interesting that there was no mention of a dollar amount toward the Cash Back in the email itself. Regardless, receiving this makes me a bit nervous about what might come next. Have any of you ever rec'd anything like this? And if so, if you didn't respond, was there anything that followed? And I have no desire to change the sailing date I am currently booked on for what it is worth. Thanks.

 

Mark

The only thing that happened with us is that the offers got more and more favorable and came more frequently the closer the cruise came. (I guess no one was taking them up on the deals.) We finally caved and took an offer. Oceania promptly refunded the agreed amount to our credit card and it all worked out great, except that we had to wait nearly two more months for the new cruise.

Please be very, very careful if you choose to eat in the buffet. Many times I have seen passengers cross-contaminating dishes by borrowing a serving spoon from another dish. I also have seen staff use the same serving spoons for different dishes (i.e., same scoop for different types of ice cream). If I had a severe food allergy, I would not be comfortable eating in the buffet.

Do you know if it is a Concept Two Rower?

 

Also, are there any "resistance" machines for strength-training and knee-flexion/extension? They are more osteoarthritis-friendly than free weights.

I'm sorry, I don't know about the rowing machine.

There are about four or five different weight-training machines (I recall using one for biceps) as well as free weights. Also some training equipment such as the Bosu half-ball.

How about ellipticals and rowing machines? My wife uses the former, and I (with my arthritic back) the latter.;) And no, she's not weird. We've lost weight the last couple of cruises, although for anyone who's been on a Galapagos cruise, that's not saying much; everyone does.

4 or 5 ellipticals and one rowing machine, as I recall.

About the cycling classes, I have the class schedule from our 14-day Baltics cruise on the Marina in September. Indoor Cycling offered at 5 p.m. on the two sea days for a fee. Pilates was $11, so I imagine the cycling class was about the same. We had to sign up the day before for the for-fee classes.

We did Riga on our own. Our ship docked very close to the old town area, so it was an easy walk. We did a walking tour of the old town from Rick Steves' new Baltic cruise guidebook, visited the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, walked down to Central Market, walked back up to the Art Nouveau area (mostly through a very pleasant park), and did a walking tour of that area from the Lonely Planet guidebook. Then we walked back to the ship.

We got a few Lats from a currency vendor who boarded the ship (he sold them in the morning, then bought back the leftovers in the afternoon). Many shops in the old town quoted prices and accepted Euros as well.

I will be in Sweden next spring and am trying to find the town my ancestors came from. The documents say they are Swedish, parents born in Sweden but their place of last residence was Christiana. Where would you guess they lived? Isn't Christiana in Copenhagen? The time period would be the 1890's.

At the end of the 19th century Norway was in a union with Sweden, and Oslo was called Kristiania (previously spelled Christiania).

Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post this. I had not heard of the Viking exhibition in Copenhagen at all, and now we have our tickets!

The Flybus is convenient. It coordinates with all incoming and outgoing flights at KEF.

Day 8 - Return to Seattle

We arrived in Seattle on schedule. We had asked for an early self-help departure and were scheduled at 8:00 (Group C). The earliest group was A at 7:45. We met in Wheelhouse Bar as instructed. The best advice we got was from a crewmember who suggested going all the way into the lounge, as the exit door was on the other side. We were called a few minutes early.

Debarkation was way, way better than embarkation. We simply walked off the ship. Three Customs agents were in the hall, with only a couple of people in any line. We handed over our customs form and kept walking.

We had made arrangements with Seattle Qwik Tour to pick us up, so we called as directed. Charles (the owner) told us he would pick us up in about twenty minutes and there he was. Since we called before 8:30 a.m., as was promised he dropped us off at Pike Place Market with time to look around until 10:00 (that was the reason for asking for self-help departure, the earlier the better). DH, of course, got some more crab. We also got some cherries to take home.

At 10:00 the Seattle Qwik Tour minibus came back. After dropping us off, Charles had picked up quite a few more people, all from hotels I think. Some just wanted a tour of Seattle and one couple was doing a pre-cruise tour (they would be heading out on the Star that afternoon).

Charles turned us over to one of his guides. The premise of Seattle Qwik Tour is that there is a 90-minute tour, then they take you to the airport (or in the case of the pre-cruise people, to the cruise port). The hotel people were dropped off wherever they wanted (they chose to be dropped off at Ivan's restaurant for lunch).

The tour covered a lot of ground, with a couple of photo opportunities. For instance, we saw some of the floating houses.

Beware the troll! It has captured a real VW bug.

We also went to an overlook with a great view of the city.

The tour ended near Seattle Center, and Charles reappeared. The pre-cruise people were sent off to the cruise port in a towncar, and the hotel people dropped off at Ivan's. DH and I were the only post-cruise folks that were headed to the airport. Charles got us there just at 12:15, exactly as he had predicted. All in all, it was a good way to spend the morning; we didn't have to sit on the ship and then sit at the airport, and we were able to see a little of Seattle without worrying about our luggage.

The flight back to Denver was uneventful (this time our Frontier plane had Thunder the bison).

This was an enjoyable trip, a good chance to relax. The weather couldn't have been more lovely! We have sailed on the Star Princess before and it was nice to reacquaint ourselves with her and see the changes from drydock.

Now, we just have to wait until the next trip!

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

Captain Vincenzo Lubrano of Italy. Maybe it was time for his vacation.

Thanks for the review! Interesting that there is a different captain from just a couple of weeks ago when we cruised on the Star.

Great update! Your pictures are amazing, and how cool about seeing the whales from the HC!! That's in my list of things to do. We have always been traditional dining people, but this trip we are doing anytime dining, and I'm even thinking about doing a lot of meals in HC so we can have the views out the window at all time. :)

It was nice not to be tied down to a set meal (either time or venue), but I do think that the dining room's dinner selections generally were better than the dinners in HC. If you like curry, my DH highly recommends any curry dish in the HC (and he tried one almost every time we were there).

Day 7 - Victoria

Today was mostly a lazy at-sea day, as we didn't get to Victoria until the evening. We did manage to get a workout in the gym in the morning, and spent some time in Skywalkers. Later in the day we walked around the Sun Deck and the Promenade Deck a few times. And we found out that in the Juan de Fuca Strait, we had pretty decent cell phone reception on the starboard side (closest to Washington state), so we were able to get checked in for our flight the next day and DH was able to upload some projects he had been working on.

In the afternoon we spent some time in the Piazza, getting some tea and snacks at the International Cafe. Here we saw the only Princess entertainment of the entire cruise--entertainers showed up as if out of nowhere and performed a short Beatles medley, then they were gone!

A last visit to the Thermal Suite, and then we opted for an early dinner in the HC so that we wouldn't feel rushed to get back from Victoria or have to find food in Victoria if we didn't want to. We finished dinner in time to be on the Sun Deck for the sail-in.

We arrived in Victoria on time (7 p.m.), but it took awhile for the ship to be cleared. A HAL ship was at the next pier, and they had to wait for Canadian Customs & Immigration to finish with us before getting to them, so they were delayed as well.

There were plenty of transport options to get from the pier to the city center, including shuttle, taxis, and pedicabs. We had been to Victoria before and opted to walk. We got a map from the helpful tourist information people at the pier (who are, appropriately I guess, dressed in Victorian outfits). It took about 20 minutes. We were able to do a bit of souvenir shopping before twilight (including Oreos, which someone had just told us were made with real sugar in Canada but not in the U.S.).

DH captured some nice twilight photos around the harbor.

We were standing in front of the Parliament building when it lit up. Maybe a bit silly, but this was one of my goals, since I remember the lighted buildings of Victoria being shown in the Canada film at EPCOT.

After we walked back to the pier, DH walked out on a jetty that is next to the docking area. There is a small lighthouse at the end.

He saw the Norwegian Jewel heading out.

I wasn't back on the ship until nearly 10, and DH was even later. So I was already up later than usual--but we still had to pack (we had self-debarkation, so we hadn't had to put our luggage in the hallway earlier). I tend to find that packing goes faster on the way home, because there aren't any decisions about what to bring; it all has to fit in somehow. We managed to squeeze everything in this time, since we hadn't bought too much this trip.