snowgreg

Hi, they list South Side tours and North Side Tours, we are going to be there 8AM-9PM, I presume there is time to do them both, correct?

24 minutes ago, zaffyfebe said:

Hi, could I ask how you paid for lunch...we are booked with TJ tours ...should we take roubles or just use credit/debit card? Is it easy to draw out cash from somewhere if needed and can you recommend anywhere for lunch...we don't want a 3 course large meal as we will have a good breakfast and don't tend to eat a large lunch at home or on holiday!

Thank you in advance

We used a MasterCard most places no problem.  We had some rubles for local vendors, tipping, etc. but most places accepted and seemed to prefer Euros.  Some places will tell you they don't accept credit cards, but when you say that is all you have a credit card machine suddenly appears.  There is an ATM at the port that will dispense rubles, but you may want to withdraw 4995 instead of 5000 as we learned there is a 5000 ruble note that is a bit tricky to break into smaller bills.

On 8/11/2018 at 11:26 AM, stpie said:

We just returned from our Baltic Cruise, on Silversea Spirit.

 

Re: Private tours, we used Tzarina Tours, a smaller company, for our private tours, and we highly recommend. We submitted our passport info and within 1-2 days received our tour tickets via email, which we printed to show immigration at SPB.

 

Re: Taking of passports. Our ship did take our passports when we boarded, as there was a group clearance for our first port, Helsinki. It felt odd, but seemd to be the way of the ship, so we did as told. We were told to retrieve our passports the day before our arrival at SPB. Then, we kept our passports for the rest of the cruise.

Similar story with Tzarina Tours, we sent our passport infomation and they quickly sent back tickets to present at customs, although the person at customs mainly just stamped our passport when we left the first day and stamped it again when we returned the first day, didn't ask to see my tour ticket.  The 2nd day off the ship was even easier, they just looked at my passport and waived me through.

Here is a review of my tour with Tzarina, spoiler alert...they are wonderful people:

On 8/11/2018 at 4:52 PM, stpie said:

We just returned from our Baltic Cruise, and we used Tzarina Tours, a smaller company I wanted to support. Nina was our guide for our private 3 day tour. I believe she used to work for one of the larger companies and then decided to start her own several years ago. You can email via her website, and she will give you her Whatsapp account, so you can text for even quicker replies. We were a group of 6: 2 grandparents, 2 parents, and 2 tweens. She is kind, professional, and very hard working. Her driver, Sergey, was also a pleasure. He drove a new Mercedes mini bus, which can seat 16(?), so we had a lot of room. I heard about her through reading through the replies here on CC and Trip Advisor. I remember someone saying that she was flexible about plans, and she was. As I researched different places to visit, our itinerary changed many times. When my daughter mentioned she liked stationary stores, Nina fit a stop at her favorite stationary store.

 

Her fees are considerably lower than the more famous companies. She got along so well with my whole family. We all had a fantastic time with her, including my kids. I did have inital reservations going through a smaller outfit vs a bigger company, but we're so glad we chose Nina. We got to know her during these three days, so the tour became more intimate and meaningful. Nina brought homemade snacks and vodka for us to try and little gifts for my kids.

Agreed...

We recently visited St. Petersburg with another couple and booked private tours through Tzarina tours (w/ Nina).  We did 2 days with her and her husband Valentine.  A comfortable van was provided with a great driver (Sergei) who was very professional and made us feel safe to just watch the sights and not worry about traffic, cars, etc.  Valentine took over 500 photos and videos of us enjoying all the sights and shared them with us via WhatsApp.  Nina was a wonderful guide, spoke very good English and was extremely knowledgable.  We customize the tour and she brought us to every place that we requested with her in advance.

Very soon into the first day, it felt more like we were hanging out with our Russian friends than a private tour / excursion.

Her tour was less money than the ship's tours and I'm guessing our experience was way better seeing as how we got a tour with just our group instead of being lumped with many other groups.  The advantage of the small group was obvious the first day at the Hermitage when we were able to scoot in front of a larger tour group at the group entrance because they were still assembling and preparing to enter.

I wouldn't hesitate to book another tour with Tzarina Tours on any future visits to St. Petersburg.

On 12/19/2016 at 4:37 PM, ICEmeister said:

Has anyone used Tzarina Tours for St. Petersburg?

We recently visited St. Petersburg with another couple and booked private tours through Tzarina tours (w/ Nina).  We did 2 days with her and her husband Valentine.  A comfortable van was provided with a great driver (Sergei) who was very professional and made us feel safe to just watch the sights and not worry about traffic, cars, etc.  Valentine took over 500 photos and videos of us enjoying all the sights and shared them with us via WhatsApp.  Nina was a wonderful guide, spoke very good English and was extremely knowledgable.  We customize the tour and she brought us to every place that we requested with her in advance.

Very soon into the first day, it felt more like we were hanging out with our Russian friends than a private tour / excursion.

Her tour was less money than the ship's tours and I'm guessing our experience was way better seeing as how we got a tour with just our group instead of being lumped with many other groups.  The advantage of the small group was obvious the first day at the Hermitage when we were able to scoot in front of a larger tour group at the group entrance because they were still assembling and preparing to enter.

I wouldn't hesitate to book another tour with Tzarina Tours on any future visits to St. Petersburg.

combo between these sites:

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/#destports

http://ports.cruisett.com/

we will be there the day after you guys, but my question is how did you find the info of what other ships will be in port the same as you??

So 3:30 ferry from VG arriving at port at 4:00, back on ship by 4:30 is too risky? I'm leaning towards just doing the Baths first and then see what time I have left for a tour, beach break at Cane Garden Bay.

Thanks,

Greg

Ok, so if it's us and the Rotterdam then that makes ~3800 people which looks like a medium busy day.

We are there from 8AM-5PM.

It looks if I did a tour first I'd have to be back for the 12PM ferry to virgin gorda and then have to make the 3:30 ferry from virgin gorda to make it back to port by 5. Is 3 hours total on virgin gorda enough to see alot or am I better of just going to the Baths in the AM and then see if there is time for the tour/beach after that?

Thanks,

Greg

I'm thinking of renting ATV's from Sunny Blue Rentals for the day in St. Kitts. I don't see much information about them here. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with them?

Thanks,

Greg

Hello, I'll be visiting 3/20/17 via Serenade of the Seas (8AM - 5PM) and we are allegedly the only ship in port that day. Looking to do one of the usual tours possible with an hour at the beach and also catch a ferry over to the Baths. Is doing the tour and beach break in the morning and then taking to ferry over around noon (maybe after the crowds subside a bit) a viable plan?

Thanks in advance,

Greg

Are you saying that I won't need the ship's wireless internet service to get my data directly to my phone using Global Data plan? I didn't see anything like that on the page(s) you referrenced?

Correct, as long as you have global data roaming enabled then you will be able to check email via the ship's "cellular" service. The question is how much is that data going to cost you. Without any plan it will be pay-as-you-go for $20.48/MB which is ridiculous. If you enable the $25/100MB plan then you should be all set (I used my phone for 13 days on a cruise with alot of emails and only used about 30MB). If you go over you'll get another 100MB for $25. If you're phone is billed on a corporate plan then you may still able to upgrade to a GlobalEmail plan which would give you unlimited data on a prorated basis but they've made it more and more difficult to get this plan enabled, nearly impossible on an individual plan especially if your phone is not a true "global" phone.

Good luck,

Greg

Just wondering if it is easy to have all the minibar items removed right from the start? We never use any of the stuff and don't want it in the way or charged for. I guess we can check our account on the tv?

We tried that and were told that the minibar is not serviced by our room attendant. They basically said that we could remove the items but had to leave them in sight as someone would be in everyday to refill any missing items. We stacked the items up neatly on the shelves at the end of the vanity and used the fridge/cooler for the sodas and waters we brought.

Greg

Thanks. Yes we have always brought our own water and on Princess just taped a luggage tag with shipping tape and no problem. On our RC cruise in 2006 the same. But then I had that RC booking agent say that you can't floored me. I guess first no wine now no water! We will pack a few in a duffle bag as well. Thanks!

Oh, you can stuff more than a few...we brought an entire 30-pack of water and probably had 24 cans of Diet Mountain Dew.

Greg

Thank you. I called RC yesterday to add a request for table seating and asked the rep. She said they sell water packages?? Couldn't find it anywhere and was confused sine I had read water ok?? Anyone know of this?

They offer their own water packages, but it is not unlimited like the soda but rather a certain number of bottles delivered to your stateroom at a very high price per bottle ($3-$4 per bottle as I recall). Many people bring along a case of bottled water and check it with their luggage. Some tape it up and slap a luggage tag on it. When I went we threw it in a duffel bag with a luggage tag and it made it to our stateroom just fine. Even if they confiscate it, your only out ~$5.

Greg

How many evenings do they have the ice shows on an 11 night cruise? Are they all the same show? How long do they last?

On a 12-night they had two different ice shows (Blades had 2 showings on Day 3 and 2 showing on Day 5, Spirits Of The Seasons had 2 showings on Day 7 and 1 showing on Day 10). Both were good and lasted about 45 miniutes each if I recall correctly.

This is the first we have done MTD, do we have to call for reservations each day or can we just show up and be seated at our convenience?

I believe you setup the reservation time each day for the next evening.

Greg

I believe smoking is only allowed in the Chamber. Upstairs near the bar, not downstairs. Otherwise, starboard side of deck 4, 11 & 12 and in the Casino except on formal nights. ( Starting @ 6pm I think)

Also in the cigar lounge, aka the Connoisseur Club on deck 5 near Maharaja's.

Question about St. Thomas. Does anyone know if the ship stays on ships time or if it goes to local time? I am booking an excursion and according to them the scheduled excursion time of 1pm to 5pm local will work with our 8-5 time for ship:confused: Any one have any experience? Guess I'll have the same question about St. Maarten:confused:

When are you sailing? It depends when you sail. Right now St. Thomas and St. Maarten are on the same time as the US Eastern Time zone (GMT -4) because we are already moved ahead 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time. When I sailed last February the ship moved clocks ahead 1 hour (after Labadee) to match Caribbean time and then we moved them back on the way home. Bermuda observes daylight savings time (so they are always 1 hour ahead of Eastern Time), but St. Thomas and St. Maarten do NOT so be careful applying answers about Bermuda to your situation.

I think you are ok though as my guess is that if you sail outside daylight savings time (1st Sun in Nov to 2nd Sun in Mar) they move the clocks ahead 1 hour, but if you sail during daylight savings time they probably leave the clocks alone as you are already on the same time.

Hopefully I haven't confused matters here. Email the address in my signature and I can send a link to a helpful website, but I don't think I can post it here.

Thanks,

Greg

I actually had a dream last night that I was hanging out on the pool deck with my crew and having a great time. We'll be on the 6/23.

All I could think about on the drive in to my office this morning is what kind of beer I'll have to choose from. I've become a light beer drinker over the past couple of years and my favorites are Sam Adams Light and Yuengling Light.

Anybody have a clue what Explorer has to offer?

Thanks in advance..

Somebody else posted this, which has the beer offerings. It looks like you may need to pick a new favorite for the cruise.

http://www.scribd.com/full/33759184?access_key=key-bkjmazztxk8nbrcj108

Greg

My kids are 6 6 and 8. We will take them to the beach but we wanted to do the jet ski tour in port but of course if the kids are with us we cant. So if the kids club were safe and secure i might of left them there for that hour and a half or so. We probably wont. This trip was supposed to be for my wife and i since we dedicate 100% of our time to them and our 2 year old which will be with my mother. But i felt guilty going without them. Last year we did cancun twice once with and once without. Having 4 kids took a toll on our lives. Its just work and kids not much time for fun. Its been a tough 8 years. Wife already had a nervous breakdown 2 months ago.

Perhaps you could find someone on your roll call who might be willing to watch the children (onshore) while you jet ski (like a teenager perhaps)? The other thing you could do is jet ski separately (one at 11AM, one at 12PM, etc.) but I know that's not quite as much fun.

Greg

Sorry if this has been answered, but we were on the Voyager several years ago and they had a free coffee/donuts/sanwiches on deck 5 which we just loved. I think it was Seatles Best. Is this available and free on Explorer? Thank you in advance.:)

Cafe Promenade has cookies, pastries, sandwiches and pizza available 24 hours a day on the Deck 5 Promenade (next to the Seattle's Best coffee shop/Ben & Jerry's).

Greg