trvlrs

Trvlrs, I would pick the odd numbered suite, not because of view since I don't think it will make a huge amount of difference on your cruise, but because that is the side of La Veranda that is closed in the evening.

Thank you Rachel!! Just received our room confirmation. Two weeks to go!! so looking forward for being in the mediteranean again. I can't believe you are having not so great weather, in June....I am sure it will get better. Loving your reviews....:)

Hello Rachel - Enjoying reading your review as we will be on the Mariner leaving civitaveccia on July 9th. Question for you: We are booked in category F (guaranteed) and they just contacted us for an upsell to a category D deck 10 room 1064 or 1065. Both rooms have standing showers which makes the upsell a no brainer except that it is under La Veranda. I am hoping the noise won't be so bad. What side of the ship should we pick? I know the ship goes down the mediteranean and up the adriatic. What kind of views are you getting so far?

Thank you....Enjoy your trip

I also come to Livorno on a cruise on a Friday in July (Jul 11, 2014), 8:00a.m. to 8:00p.m.

 

Also quite worry about the trip to Cinque Terre because of the time limitation and the train schedule is not very frequent, as well as the hot weather.

 

I want to organise a private tour but I cannot find enough people to join, so now plan to go on my own.

 

I tried to search the train from Livorno to La Spezia and then change to Monterosso. The schedule came out but not allow us to purchase unless you are a member, and you need a Italy address in order to register to become a member.

 

Any idea ...is it easy to buy ticket at Livorno station (possible to sell out?) and more expensive ?

 

 

Samson

With a departure of 8:00pm, the train schedule is in your favor as opposed to our 7:00pm departure. I would keep checking daily if you can purchase a ticket online, otherwise you should be ok at the Livorno train station. It will probably cost you more on the express trains but I doubt the regional trains change fare. You might want to ask the question on tripadvisor. Have fun...

Before everyone gets excited about this "free" app, from looking at the program and FAQ's, it doesn't appear to be much different than Skype or other similar type programs. Free only applies to Viber to Viber phones and you do still need access to wifi or 3G meaning you will be using phone data which isn't cheap overseas. Check it out however it doesn't appear to be totally free unless the people you are calling or texting have also installed Viber and have it active.

It's not quite like Skype. With Skype, you need to be "available" to receive calls. Viber works like a regular phone.

There is a program you can download on the android or iphone which allows you to place or receive calls free. Do a search to learn all about it and download Viber. A friend of ours was in Pakistan and incurred no charges on cell phone calls sent or received; however, he was not on a cruise. The only problem on a cruise ship, until you are in port and on land, the cell phone should be off, or you will incur a huge cell phone bill.

Viber works great but here is what you need to know:

1- Most important, BOTH, the caller and the receiver, need to download the app

2- Works on wifi for free (text and calling)

3- If no wifi available you will be charged data roaming charges

I use viber and it works like a charm. Check the charges with your carrier. It can be hefty. It cost me nothing because T-mobile offers free international data roaming. Hope this help...

And medical research studies have shown that learning a new language is good to keep your brain healthy, a particular concern of those of us getting along in years. I keep reminding myself of that as I do my German lessons on duo lingo. (Is it das, der or den Wasser? Ugh!)

Das Wasser :)

Let me know how you both find it! I am currently working hard on German and started refreshing my Italian. It is super "user friendly". Though sometimes the women who speak the Italian are a bit difficult to understand. No such problems with German though. Very precise! (Very German?)

Totally agree!! the italian lady is too slow and hard to comprehend. It's a very addictive app. Love it!

We were there in 2009 and we used the ATM twice. We took a private tour and had a great tour guide. She took us to a safe area with ATM and told us how much we would approximately need (basically for food). At the end of the 3rd day, we had to settle our bill with the tour company and they gave us a discount if we paid in cash so we went to the ATM machine again.

I Think it is as safe to use an ATM machine as it is in the US. Same rules apply:

1-Always use an ATM that is part of a bank, never a stand alone

2-Make sure you are in a safe area and be aware of your surroundings

3-Make sure you cover your hand when entering your pin number

ATM scams are everywhere including in the US. Travel safe and enjoy St Petersburg. It's a beautiful city.

Doing well thanks. Long time no talk. Where is your next cruise to? Some of my roll calls are quiet too, but the cruises are pretty far off. And yes, it's been some time since our trip to the med. Have you cruised much since? I've been on ten lol and have 3 booked.

You've been busy and congrats on your nuptials!!!!

No, you need time and money Hahaha.. This will be our first cruise since the last Med and we are going back to the mediteranean. Monaco, Italian riviera (cinque terre), sicily, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia and Venice. Looking forward to it.....:cool:

My first cruise was on the Equinox to the Med, my fave cruise hands down, ENJOY!! I'm drooling with envy.

Hey girl - You've come a long way from your first trip on the Equinox. I see you've been bitten by the cruise bug. How are you? I can remember how many hours we spent chatting on this board pre-cruise, planning, packing and wardrobes :). Remember our grand entrance in Venice? It was awesome.....

No one to chat with on our upcoming cruise. A very quiet Roll call :confused:

I think the CD you're thinking of is Ray Solair.

Thank you Dave. You are probably right....I am terrible with names. I just remember his "it's a gloooorious day" and if you looked around the ship everyone including the staff would have a smile on at that moment :)

Is Paul Reynolds the CD who starts his announcement with: "It's a Gloooorious day!!" We had a wonderful CD on our Baltic voyager in 2009 and it would be nice to have him again on Mariner this coming July. What a nice coincidence!

Lovely man....

Thanks for the info!! We have been communicating with a number of tour companies and will certainly consider your recommendations.

You are very welcome.... We loved St Petersburg. Good luck in your search if you need more info let us know....half the fun of cruising is all the planning ahead of time. Enjoy :)

I can see how this conversation can become a lengthy one and like the French say: "Des goûts et des couleurs on ne discute pas". Taste and colors cannot be argued. Everyone has their opinion.

I am not sure if everyone is comparing apples to apples. If you compare the lower end suites on Regents with the ones on Oceania (that's what we can afford) you get more for your money on Regents and a room with a veranda (very important to us). If we are comparing the high end suites on both ships, then it is definitely cheaper on Oceania. It all depends on ones budget.

Apr. 23, 2014 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Stockholm June 28, 2014 to Oslo July 10, 2014:

 

We are 2 retired senior professionals, Canadian/American, reasonably mobile, who are visiting St. Petersburg for the first time. We are currently exploring various custom tour providers and would welcome input from you! The two of us would like to form a small group (max. 4 or possibly 6) for 2-day private custom tour of St. Petersburg (July 1 and 2) working around the excursions offered by Regent Seven Seas, with emphasis on Hermitage, 20th century history, etc.

We took this trip five years ago and I can't stop raving or talking about the great tour guide we had in St Petersburg for 3 days. Here is the link. http://www.redoctober.ru. I agree with travelcat2. DO NOT book through Regents the private tours.

We first booked, Red October tours, for two days and ended up adding an extra day when we were there. You don't need a visa to Russia, they will take care of the paperwork for you. We were picked up at a decent hour around 9:30am (after all the tours left) and were brought back around 4 or 5 each day. We felt like VIP's the entire time. We zipped through lines, got premium seats on the hydrofoil from Peterhof back the hermitage, private car picked us up from no car zone area when it was pouring and I can go on and on....We did not pick any of their already preset tours, we told them exactly what we wanted to do. We paid around $1100 for two of us for 3 days. Our guide, Tanya, a young teacher, was the nicest ever and the most accommodating. We ate at local restaurants (what we wanted) rather than touristy ones etc.....I highly highly recommend them.

I dealt with Irena for the booking and the entire process was so smooth although I had to cancel the tour (pre-cruise) because of a family emergency. Then when we rebooked it, Irena was more than understanding.

Never had a problem getting money or finding an ATM machines anywhere in the world (what to do with the currency if you don't spend it all that's another thing). If you are worried about ATM fees check with your bank, you'd be pleasantly surprise. Some banks offer a limited amount of free ATM withdrawals overseas. Good luck...

While I do not know Chatkat's reason, I disagree that a "whole segment" of loyal cruisers left Regent for other cruise lines. I do agree that some Regent passengers switched cruise lines - not specifically long time loyal cruisers.

 

I've seen more the usual amount of passengers leave twice. First was when the "concierge" level program was put into place. In the opinion of some, all Regent passengers were no longer being treated equally. Unless you are in a certain level cabin, you could no longer book excursions and dining reservations with everyone else. More recently, passengers in certain cabin categories were no longer eligible for the included one night pre-cruise hotel stay.

 

The second time some passengers left Regent is when excursions went all-inclusive. There are CC members today that still post that they would return to Regent if they could opt out of excursions. In all fairness, included excursions brought many new passengers to Regent. This is a very contentious subject so I will withhold any further comments on excursions (lest I get blasted from other posters:-)

Very interesting travelcat2 what you said and I never thought about it until now. The all inclusive package was very attractive the first time we cruised Regents but we never joined any excursions except the ballet evening. This summer on Mariner, as I mentioned in a different post, I am very disappointed in the choice of excursions but no big deal since we always do our own things.

I can understand why some CC member would like the choice to opt out...Can save a pretty penny...

I would also add: "Turn off your voicemail while in Europe". If your phone rings and you don't pick it up but your voicemail does, you will be charged for the call. We always disable our voicemail when away from home

Regent has shunned a whole segment of formerly loyal cruisers many who have moved to Oceania, Azamara, Seaborne and Crystal so they have made room for the HAL, Celebrity and Princess market.

Why do you say that? Any particular reason? Anything we need to know? or is it a personal opinion?

We personally started with Celebrity to Alaska and swore never to cruise again. It wasn't because of the ship nor the service. We realized later that it had to do with the choice of ports. A few years later, we decided to give cruising another try and we selected our ports carefully. It led us to the Voyager (Baltic cruise). It was amazing mainly because of the ports and no days at sea (Having a great suite, wonderful service, smaller ship were of course the add on bonus). Couple of years later, we decided to cruise the mediteranean but Regents offered no good itinerary and Celebrity did. We were worried because of our past experience but decided to take the cruise anyway. The destinations were amazing and the service on the ship great.

We love cruising in luxury but the destinations are just as important.;)

When you bought your ticket from Zug to Venice the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) were correct that 15mins is not enough time to change trains in Milano Centrale because almost all incoming trains from the north are somewhat late. Congestion on the lines I think. Doesn't seem to apply to the Frecchirossa coming from the south and east though.

 

That said I think that in Italy it is always a good idea to leave some leeway for connections. But I have not found the coastal line to be particularly any worse or better than others. (I have friends near Sestri, on the same line, and it works OK). I would plan my return to Livorno probably for one or two trains before I really need to be there - meaning that an earlier train from Monterosso to la Spezia and the possibility of two onward connections to Livorno with the last in good time to make it to the ship before they pull up the gangplank is a good idea! either you will get to Livorno very early OR arrive in time.

Thank you for all the info. I checked all the trains and so far I don't think it's going to work. All I can find is a 6:30am and a 12:45pm departure from Livorno and nothing in between (almost on the hour in the afternoon). I wonder if it is done on purpose to control the flow of tourists.:confused:

Question: the difference between intercity and frecciabianca? Is the frecciabianca a regional train? It is faster than the intercity.

If all fails, we'll spend the day in Lucca not a bad alternative:)

My original caveats precisely...

I hear you ;)

I have caught the train from Livorno to the cinque terre. Trains were about hourly and I am pretty sure we had to change at la spezia.

 

last year we had a regional train that broke down, so don't leave it till the last train to get back to Livorno. The trains through the cinque terre will be quite full and also tend to run late(more than anywhere else in Italy).

Thank you Blue Elephant. That is my worry... but such a shame to be so close and not to see it especially that we've been to Tuscany so many times

Livorno to la Spezia on an express train is just over an hour. La Spezia to, say, Monterosso (in the Cinque Terre) is 8 mins). One way cost starts at €11 or so.

You can get all train info on http://www.trenitalia.com Be careful to click on "Tutti treni" when you enter the info or you will be on the Frecchiarossa part of the site.

 

Local trains run at least once an hour along the coast. Just be sure to time you return to Livorno well in advance of sailing. the local trains can run late. The express trains normally don't...

 

You should have enough time to see at least one of the towns and maybe two. If you plan on two then go to the furthest away one first and then come back en route to la Spezia for the second stop.

Thank you Hambagahle for the tips. If it was a swiss train, it would be a no brainer but with the italians….I remember once wanting to buy a train ticket from Zug to Venice with a 15minute stop over in Milan and they would not sell it to me. They said can't rely on the italian trains. You need at least an hour because italian trains are always late.

I will have to study the livorno/cinque terre carefully. We will be there on a Friday in July

Not too worry BBWC, it happens to the best of us....when you said 8 minutes my antennas went up. It's about 1 hour and a half from Livorno which isn't bad but I am a bit worried about how frequent and how reliable are the regional trains into and out of cinque terre. Thanks again...

I went to the "Ports" section of Cruise Critic and searched Cinque Terre under Italy. Here is a link to the results http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=50193060 . Hope it helps!

Thank you Tavelcat2. I searched the link but I will take a closer look.