TriMomma

Very strange advice from your travel agent. If you your MIL holds a passport of a country that requires a visa, that is one thing. If a visa is not required, why should you possibly have to "check in" with the country. I would ask your TA for clarification, I think they are confused. Perhaps they don't deal with travelers with foreign passports very often.

One thing I have done in the past (while backpacking many moons ago), is registered with the Canadian Government (I am Canadian). They have a website for Canadians traveling abroad so if there is a natural disaster\ civil unrest they can get you out quickly. A don't think a cruise would be something I would worry about.... but that's me. Could that be the kind of thing your TA is talking about? Maybe the Foreign Affairs\ State Department of your MIL's country has such a website.

YYZDXB, when are you going on your cruise? I was hoping to do the EXACT same thing. We cannot go a day early into Copenhagen and was trying to figure out how to see some sights prior to embarkation.

Yes, you loose that in Haven. However.... the difference in the rate was worth is for me, since I was booking for a family of four and only the first two get the perks anyway!

I booked a Baltic cruise this coming October using the "Canada at Par' rate and received the Upgrade email a couple of weeks ago. It does note that the bid prices are in Canadian dollars.

I also find that xe.com only every shows the "BUY" rate and not the "SELL" rate for currency, which is a little misleading.

If you are accessing NCL from a Canadian ip address it will default to ncl.ca. I tried using the force command but it looks like it won't work. You may have to look into getting a proxy server or VPN.

Or.... you could call for US prices.

We were there for a land trip last summer and LOVED Bergen. My sister is considering adding a couple of days in Bergen prior to a Baltic trip. This is is a great article. Thanks.

Thanks for the quick replies! We are sailing on the Getaway. I have been thinking of Teppanyaki, Cagney's and either Ocean Blue or Il Cucina. (Or do I do the Cirque show. So many choices. Aagggghh!) We are also booked in the Haven so I wondered how much we might eat there.

If you didn't get the SDP as a benefit, would you buy it? How many days?

Also..... anyone want to rank their choices for dining? Really torn about how much to pre-book or which restaurants are not to be missed. Unfortunately we are a group of 7, which makes it a little harder to go by the 'seat of our pants'. :D

If you buy a package, can you 'pick up' photos as you go or do you have to wait until the end of the cruise and select all 10 at the same time?

I am also noticing this problem. We are a group of 7 but the options are 6 or 8. Thanks for the tip.

In Ocean Blue, they only have tables of 6..... any suggestions?

I will be in Trondheim for a conference this August and thought that it might be fun to add a couple of days on a Hurtigruten cruise. Has anyone ever tried just a couple of days using the Port to Port option? If so, what would you recommend either beginning or ending in Trondheim?

I love doing the Chef's Table. Darn.... I was hoping to book for my fall cruise.

We are on this cruise in October and are also taking our kids, twins age 20.... so enjoy hearing about your trip. Great pics too!

I did fun ones last year when we went on a catamaran sailing trip for a friend's birthday. Made "He's 50, We're Knot" t-shirts. You can do lots of fun things with the word 'Knot'. I made them on customink dot com and they have a lot of templates in the Design Lab. Search on 'Cruise'. You will see all sorts of cool t shirts.

Fantastic! Thanks.

Hi Lisa,

I am on the same sailing as you. Also checking out private tours for our group of 7. Thanks to all who have offered suggestions!

Sailing on the Getaway in October and plan to get a Spa pass. Can i buy it online when the reservations become available?

Thanks Karen. We are a group of three generations doing the Baltics on Getaway in October. Glad to hear that your 'kids' enjoyed themselves. My kids are around the same age.

This will be our first time in Haven. How much did you pre-book before the cruise?

The bus stop is not hard to locate. You will have not probs. Enjoy!

You are starting to sound like Hillary when the interviewer asked her directly "Have you always told the truth" and her non-answer was "I have always tried to tell the truth".

Dear Maniac,

Thank you so much for making this thread a pleasant read. Please feel free to share your opinions. It is obvious you feel they are so much better than the questions posed by the OP.

Sincerely,

Gen X Conservative

Spa treatments or pass, photographs, excursions....

I will be cruising the Baltics in October on the Getaway. We may not have the balmiest weather. Do you think that the Waterfront area will be open? If not, does that drastically reduce the number of reservations available for Specialty Dining?

The Getaway looks like a lovely ship but she also looks like she is geared for her Miami port and warm weather. Worried that we will all be crammed indoors and it will be squishy. Kinda hope the slide is open for me at least to try!

Hmmm.... So flying from Canada to Europe it might not be a good idea to pick up some duty free and bring it onboard.

What kind of requests do you make in advance? I have booked our first Haven suite and want to make sure I take advantage of every possible perk!