doctor4kydz

Is it customary to tip in the specialty restaurants, or is the tip included in the surcharge?

We are ending our July cruise with an overnight stay in Venice. Not having been to Venice before, we want to see as much as possible, but really only have a full day to do so.

Can anyone recommend a tour company or an easy to follow itinerary that we could do on our own? We will be staying at the Metropole in Venice.

Looks like Celebrity offers 2 fairly comprehensive tours in Rome, each approx. 10.5 hrs. in length, which include lunch. Of the two, one is geared towards a smaller group of approx. 26 people, but it's also considerably more expensive.

Has anyone taken either of these tours? One is called "Exclusive Best of Rome" for $349. The other is called "Rome the Eternal City" for $227.

Both tours seem to cover the same ground. The main difference between the two tours seems to be the group size.

We're looking for a provate tour company in Rome. Can anyone recommend a company that tours all the major sites, inc. time spent at the Vatican?

Are there any companies that include admission charges in their tour price (other than the excursion offered by the cruise ship)? I would rather pay one proce upfront than have to pay at each attraction along the way.

Thanks for all of your replies! I think I finally understand how the drink packages work.

So how are the drink tips handled when you have a drink package?

If you have an $8 glass of wine (before tip), which is the limit for the Classic Drink Package, is the tip added to your on board account?

For the Classic Drink Package, when it says that it includes wines up to $8 per glass, does that also mean that the automatic tip that's applied also has to be included in the $8? If so, then a wine costing $8 per glass would not be included. Is that correct?

We've booked the July 5 sailing of Celebrity Equinox (Barcelona to Venice), and TA has given us $475 in onboard credit.

Would like to use onboard credit for shore excursions and possibly dining in specilaty restaurants.

However, I really don't want to wait till I'm onboard the ship to book my shore excursions. Does Celebrity allow you to book excursions ahead of time but pay for them with onboard credit once on the ship? What about dining in specialty restaurants? If I book a specialty dining package ahead of time, can I pay for it with onbaord credit once on the ship?

If I can't book excursions ahead of time and use onboard credit, is it risky waiting till I'm onboard to book our excursions? Will I likely be shut out? What about for specialty dining?

Thanks for thr info! Does anyone have any experience arranging own transfers in Venice?

Planning to go on 7/5 cruise from Barcelona to Venice. Doing one night pre- and one night post-cruise. Thinking about using Starpoints (eraned on my SPG Amex) to book the hotels in both cities. My only hesitation is arranging our own transfers from airport to hotel, hotel to ship, ship to hotel, and hotel to airport. How difficult (and confusing) would that be? I could save a lot of $$$ over what Celebrity charges for the hotel stays, but at least the transfers would be included. I belive that breakfast is also included when you book hotels through Celebrity.

Travel agent just told me about special pricing on "guaranteed" Cat. 8 ocean view canins on the Equinox for July 5 sailing from Barcelona to Venice.

Itinerary looks very nice, and price is just minimally above an inside cabin rate. Plus, because it's ocean view, it qualifies for 1-2-3 Go promotion that's currently running.

Would location on Plaza Deck be very noisy? Anyone stay in any of these cabins?

Planning to cruise on the NCL Western Med. itinerary from Barcelona in July 2014. The ship returns to the port (in Barcelona) at 5:30 AM. Does anyone know if I would have enough time to make a 10:45 AM flight from the airport in Barcelona? How far is the airport from the port? What would be the most expedient way to get to the airport from the port? Would an NCL transfer get me there early enough? Taxi?

Thanks!

We had a at balcony cabin on the 14th deck of the Breakaway. There was only one night when noise was a problem from the Spice H20. It was one of the nights that we were docked in Bermuda. The cabin was literally vibrating from the noise. I actually called several times to complain. Noise did not stop till 1 AM! To my surprise, NCL credited my onboard account with $100. I guess it pays to complain!

On all the other nights, with the door to the balcony closed, the noise was tolerable.

RJ2002...

Thak you for sharing your impressions of the Russian Folklore show. Based on your description, I'm looking forward to it! Thanks so much.

To RJ2002:

How did you enjoy Russian Folklore Evening? We booked the same program with SPB Tours on our 7/9 sailing of the NCL Star.

We were is 14876. The aft balcony was quite a nice size.

Anyone???

There must be someone out there that's done the 2-day Best of St. Petersburg tour offered through NCL.

Has anyone done the NCL-sponsored 2-day "Best of St. Petersburg" tour?

Has anyone takne any of the NCL-sponsored shore excursions in the Baltics?

I would especially like to hear from anyone that has done the "Berlin Top 10 by EXpress Train" ($349) and the 2-day "Best of St. Petersburg" ($399).

I know that there are lots of independent operators that do these tours for less $$$.

However, I would really like to hear from people that have taken these NCL-sponsored excursions or any other NCL-sponsored ones in the Baltics.

Thanks!

We just returned from 5/26 sailing of the Breakaway. We were in aft facing balcony on deck #14 (#14876).

Balcony was nice size. Although we only had 2 chairs and a table, there wouls have been plenty of room for a lounge chair.

My omly complaint regarding this location came on our second night in Bermuda. The aft facing balconies on deck #14 are two floors below Spice H20, where all the parties are held at night on deck. For some reason, the noise from the Glow Party was ten times louder than any other evening. Our cabin was literally shaking, and this went on till 1 AM. On other evenings, the noise level was really tolerable.

I ended up calling to complain about the noise. To my surprise, they ended up crediting my account $100 for being inconvenienced by the noise, which I though was VERY nice.

Your photos are beautiful!!!

Wife and I will be taking this cruise on the 7/9 departure, so really looking forward to reading your "report from the ports".

We'll be staying 2 nights pre-cruise at the Marriott Copenhagen which is downtown.

Are you taking the ships's excursions in each port, booking an independent tour company, or doing your own thing?

I'm in a aft balcony on Deck 14 on the 5/26 sailing. Would love to see some pics of the aft balconies on Deck 14!

Taking my daughter on the May 26th sailing as a college graduation present and decided to get an aft balcony on deck 14 - it was the only aft balcony available. Travel agent said that someone must have canceled their booking - aft balcony cabins are not usually available this late in the booking process.

Are aft balcony cabins worth the extra $ that I paid? I hope so, because I want to make this trip memorable for my daughter!

Thanks for your reply!

Do you know of any posts on here with detailed impressions of the day-to-day itinerary or photo albums from this trip?

We are thinking about the 7/24/12 itinerary on Viking "Imperial Jewels of China". We have heard that China in the summer can be unbearably hot.

Do you think that July is a decent time to visit China? Will the weather have a negative impact on our trip?

Aso, it seems like so many people traveling on this trip end up with traveler's diarrhea. Is this just part of traveling to China? If you are try careful about what you eat/drink, is there a good chance of not being effected?