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Thanks!

On 2/25/2019 at 11:11 AM, CarolandNate said:

Something to think about going forward.  probably too late to purchase Carnival Stock now and get any benefit for this go a round.  Is there a minimum of stock that has to be purchased to be eligible?  Getting your money back from the purchase might have been more likely a year or so ago.  Not so sure now.

 

I'm with you on the drinks.  We did Alaska for seven days.  We bought a bottle of wine in Vancouver and milked it through the trip in our room.  We got wine for use with dinner in the dining room and went through two bottles in a week.  Add in the occasional drinks in a lounge or at one of the game night things and that was it.  Doubt it came to more than $100 total.  We were helped by the fact that in the Alaska cruise we did the Chef's Table one night.  That included champagne for the hors d'oeuvres; wine for appetizers; a white and a red for the main course; a dessert wine for the five different desserts.  Basically, we were lucky we were actually eating while drinking all the wine.  Needless to say, our personal wine limit was covered by 9:00.  Well so was the food.

 

Granted this is two weeks and there will be more time spent on the ship, but I can't imagine we would come remotely close to what a bev package provides.  Might get a second bottle in LA.  Might get one or two more through the ship as "needed".  And because we will have more nights, might get a drink here and there at lounges.  Certainly not going to come close to bev package "value".  What is it worth, something like $800 or so.  I'm good !

We are going out of Seattle on the Star Princess in August.  Can we bring a bottle of wine onboard?

My husband and I are in our early 70’s and would like to take our daughter and son in law (in their mid 30’s) on a cruise or river cruise but we are limited to a week.  We live in the Bay Area and don’t want to go to Mexico.  Any ideas on a cruise line that would be appropriate for our age groups and what we could do in a week?

Thanks!

Lynne

My husband and I are in our early 70’s and we would like to take our daughter

and her husband (in their mid

30’s) on a cruise but are

limited to a week.  We live in the SF

Bay area and I don’t want to go to

Mexico.  Any recommendations?

We just got home yesterday from our Baltic Cruise and also used SPB Tours in St Petersburg. Julia, our guide, was terrific - we thoroughly enjoyed our time with her as well as the lunches we had in the local restaurants. We would highly recommend SPB Tours and Julia.

I just recently returned from the Baltic cruise and got just the opposite impression. The people in SP were very friendly and atmosphere in town did not seem to be bad. It reminded me of times past when everything was so simple and not the rat race we seem to live in our big cities here. I would definitely like to return to spend more time in SP and possibly Moscow. I definitely found Russia very intriguing and more interesting than I expected. It was the high point of our trip and is not to be missed!

We feel the same way. St Petersburg was the highlight of the trip and not to be missed. Sun was our second SPB tour day with Julia who was excellent. There was so much to see and we found the history very interesting. Our transportation consisted of the subway, hydrofoil, canal cruise, and bus. I think it is a matter of one's perception and wouldn't have minded staying one more day as there was so much to see and do.

The Fabrege would have been fascinating and a possibility but after a full day in St Petersburg and an early day the following morning for day 2 of our tour, we didn't think we would have the energy.

We leave tomorrow on the Regal Princess but arrived in Copenhagen a couple of days early.

Today we did the 3 hr Copenhagen free walking tour. The tour guides just ask you at the end of the tour for tips if possible if you liked their tour. Everyone tipped (whatever change we had). Our guide was terrific and we saw so much. Wear comfortable walking shoes as they take you from one end of town to the other so be prepared to walk quite a distance to get back to your starting point. Well worth your while!

If he doesn't see your post, perhaps someone else can respond. I am hoping it won't be too bad when we get there and not have to go through this. I will post again when we get back.

I doubt Princess has any jurisdiction there. Just wondering what the private tour companies could do if they told their immigration officials.

Wow, thanks for the head's up. Which sailing were you on? Were there other ships in port that day? I don't want to start off my days in Spb on a sour note but we have an independent tour booked and I hate being stuck in a long line. I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack for that first morning!

 

Do ship's tours and independents all use the same deck(s) to get off the ship? I' just trying to picture how Princess staff direct the traffic once in the immigration area (and how to avoid it, haha!)

I am posting what I just read from someone else. We are on this Regal Princess roll call boarding on Friday 6/26 and taking the SPB Deluxe tour.

I just came back from a sail on Regal Princess and thought I should provide my experience here. While Princess did not hold back independent passengers from getting off the ship, there were Princess staff directing independent passengers to a limited number (maybe 5 or so) of immigration counters for processing. On the other hand, folks on a Princess group tours (given stickers beforehand) were 'allowed' to go to the other (>30) counters.

 

This of course resulted in a long line up for the independent passengers, standing in the wind and cold. I confronted the Princess staff about why independent passengers had limited counters, and even show them the instructions SPB tours provided to me stating that I have every right as a group tour. I was rudely met with "this is how it works, and you have to line up". Luckily, after waiting for 5 mins or so, 'someone' (certainly not a Princess staff as he was not in Princess uniform) informed the Princess staff that those in line can use all available counters. I assumed by then all group tour passed immigration already, and the 30+ immigration officers who Princess reserved for their group had nothing to do. Therefore, the issue is STILL happening.

Thanks for the heads up. We leave on the Regal this Friday. I'll have to warn anyone else doing a private tour, of these tactics and we will have to put up a stink.

We had signed up with SPB to do the Warnemunde, Rostock, and Schwerin tour but later received a message that since our day in port was a Monday, Schwerin Palace would be closed and they won't go there so our tour will just be Warnemunde and Rostock.

I replace my normal camera strap with a slash proof strap from Pacsafe. When not in use I keep the camera in a Pacsafe bag worn cross body.

I have a Pacsafe purse but didn't know there was a slash proof camera strap before. I just ordered one. Thanks.

Thanks.....we will be there on a Tuesday :D

 

However, if it had been a Monday we were due there I would have had no idea that Castle is closed on a Monday - so thanks!!

You're welcome! Unfortunately

I will be Warnemunde in a few weeks and had signed up for a tour to Warnemunde, Rostock, and Schwerin. The tour company then realized it was on a Monday when the castle is closed so they won't be going to Schwerin.

I'm happy for you that you are going on a Tues.

Thank you Holly2. We have already scheduled transfers from the airport to hotel in Cooenhagen, from the hotel to the ship, and from the ship back to the airport but that was all in the cost of our trip so I can't round up. Should I get Danish Krone and give the driver a couple of Krone?

Just a reminder that Schwerin Castle is closed on Mondays if that is why you are going there.

Sadie I am glad you are asking. I would also like to know about tipping taxi drivers and restaurant workers. I searched the message board but didn't see anything current for the Baltics.

All of the major tourist sites are extremely safe, with the normal warnings regarding pickpockets or camera thieves that congregate wherever tourists travel. We visited St. Petersburg with our 3 year old last August, and all of the tourist parts were extremely safe.

So how do you take pictures if you constantly have to watch for camera thieves?

Hi,

 

I would like to know if anyone has experience booking SPB tours in other Baltics ports? I just realized they offer very good rate for those ports if one has booked the St. Petersburg tours, which we did. I know most of the Baltic ports are DIY ports. But with the good add-on tour rates, they may come as good alternatives. Anyone has done those and if so are they as good as those in St. Petersburg?

 

Thanks a lot!

We haven't experienced it yet but have signed up for three SPB tours because they have had good reviews. Our cruise is in a couple weeks so can let you know at that time, if that helps you.

Canuck13 and cityguy300 thanks for the update. We are going on the Regal in a couple of weeks so it's good to know we don't have to go to the theater to hear the lecturer for some useful information on the ports and it won't be a sales pitch.

The first one does start at town hall square and the second tour starts at

the footsteps of Bishop Absalon's Equestrian Statue (Højbro Plads) and finishes at the entrance of Christiania. Since we really only have one day to see Coprnhagen, is this the best use of our time to see as much as possible?

Hello DV,

We will be arriving in Copenhagen 1 1/2 days before our cruise. I have signed up for two free Copenhagen walking tours (The Grand tour of Copenhagen and the Christianshavn tour) the day after we arrive. Accounting for possible jet lag, are we better off using the hoho bus, scheduling a tour of Copehagen, or going on the free tours? We will be staying at the Scandic Copenhagen and I don't know how far it is to meet up with these two tours.

Here is a site that explains the photo download process to ipad- http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-load-photos-onto-your-ipad.html.

Peggy- thanks for all your information- yes I have used the citymaps2go. I'll look at Roboform- I'd been dreaming of an app like that!

That's a big help, thanks. I need to get over to the Apple Store and get an IPad Camera Connector.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions!

I was just looking over your post and wondered what you downloaded the pictures from your camera to, and how you did it without wifi.

Thanks.