Giantfan13

I would personally go for Celebrity. In my experience (cruised both lines) the food on NCL in the Main Dining Room was of such poor quality that we spent quite a bit extra on specialty meals. On Celebrity we find the MDR food to be on par or better than the NCL for fee specialty dining food.

We have sailed NCL 7 times and never had one problem with their food. Always thought it was pretty good' date=' with a great selection and variety. I have never sailed Celebrity, but we have sailed several other cruise lines and found NCL food on the same par as most of the others. You know, to each their own.

As I said in a previous post, if you are going on a Baltic cruise and having food be the deciding factor as to which cruise you take?. For me, food is way down on the list of priorities.

Cheers

Len[/size']

We were on about a month ago

Some of the movies that were shown

Despicable Me 2

Trouble with the Curve

Miracle

Bedtime Stories

Upside Down

Admission

Those were mainly in the evenings, as they call Family Movie night

Cheers

Len

We also did some shopping at some of the booths and shops at the pier. In fact there was a guy engraving nice conch shells for about $12, and we bought one.

Cheers

Len

It was suggested to me that I dress more European on our upcoming RCI Northern Baltic cruise in July. That led me think, what exactly is the approprate clothing for sure excursions during that time of year for our ports? We're going to be seeing Helsinki, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, and Riga.

 

Thanks!

You know, it's YOUR cruise, YOUR vacation, you should wear what YOU feel comfortable in. Why worry about what others are wearing? You ARE the tourist, so why try and look otherwise. As soon as you open your mouth, they will know anyway.

Overall, we found that shorts are not as big in Europe as they are in the US. That suited us just fine as I look terrible in shorts. :D:D Jeans are worn everywhere.

Dress comfortably and that's it.

Cheers

Len

Not to step on granny's toes, but we did the same tour a few weeks before Granny, so let me try and answer what I can.

First of all, DO NOT WAIT to book this excursion. Ours was already filled up when we wanted to book and we got on because of a cancelation. They only have 10 Segway's and will take 20 people. THAT'S ALL. They do it in two segments of 10, and they just sort of pick who goes first and who goes to the beach first. We also were in the first group and were happy about that, but each group gets the same time on the Segway, and at the beach.

To answer the question about the bus, because it is a very good question. They take you to the marketplace via a mini type bus, they give you a ticket of a certain color. We stayed at the marketplace for about 45 minutes and then wanted to get the bus to return to the ship. We waited for this same mini bus, and we waited, and we waited, but it never came back. What we didn't know was that there were regular buses, that were taking people back. They come about once every half an hour, but they board by color. There is a long line to get on and they will call out colors for people to board first. If we had known this, we would boarded a prior bus, but, like I said, we were waiting for the bus that brought us. I would assume that bus did come back eventually, but it did have us a bit worried at first.

Cheers

Len

We haven't been to Glacier Bay yet, but we have seen glaciers on our two previous cruises.

 

We saw Marjorie Glacier on our Princess cruise round trip from Seattle and Hubbard Glacier on our southbound Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas cruise from Seward to Vancouver. We witnessed multiple calving both times.

 

I understand from what I've read here on CC that neither one of these itineraries match the beauty of Glacier Bay. I just thought I'd mention them as a choice that you might like to consider.

 

Happy cruising! Alaska is amazing!

Jim

If you've been to Marjorie Glacier then you've been to Glacier Bay. Marjorie Glacier is IN Glacier Bay.

Cheers

Len

If money isn't the problem, I would pick the one that offers the best itinerary. That should always be the deciding factor.

We cruise NCL about 3 years ago, leaving from Dover and loved it. They don't do that itinerary anymore, but they are usually cheaper than most other cruise lines that offer the same things.

Check your days and times in ports, see which ports may be different between the two cruises and see which one suits your and your family the best.

I guess some one has to book those expensive suites or else they wouldn't be there. Personally, this is a very port intensive cruise, with minimal time spent in cabins, I would save the money and book 2 inside cabins.

Cheers

Len

Is the end of August a bad time to take a Baltic Cruise? I have heard that a lot of Europeans take their vacations then. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

Vicki

We sailed mid to late August and had fantastic weather. Nights and mornings fairly cool, and warming up nicely during the daytime hours. We really didn't notice any major crowds in any of the ports. Sure there are tourists, but we didn't have long lines for anything. In fact, I really don't remember any lines. We loved this time of year.

Cheers

Len

there are just too many European nations that depend on Russia for oil and other things to think that they would apply severe sanctions on them.

Personally, I would like to see severe sanctions put on Russia, like we did with Iran, but that will never happen. Unless the cruise lines decide not to reward Russia by filling some of their cities with tourists, there will not be any changes made to the cruise industry. Russia isn't even communist any more, so this is just a power play to show they can do it if they want. This is not like the 1960's Cold War, but there certainly is a nice chill on the continent.

I also emailed several of the tour companies to see what they are doing, and best they could say is to book your tour as usual. Since there is no deposit, you have nothing to lose. Unless you are traveling soon, I would wait before submitting my passport info.

Cheers

Len

Can you tell me which tram route you took please and where you were able to visit. We are hoping to visit the Rock Church and Sibelius Park as well as Senate Square and Market Square. We know the HoHo bus covers those places, but wondered if the tram will take us there from the city centre.

Once you get to Market Square, you will be all set. This is really the hub of Helsinki and many of the sites are off of it. A few blocks one way is Senate Square, a few blocks the other way is Uspensky Cathedral, and a block or too in another direction is the ferry to the fortress. Also, from market Square, you will catch the tram that will take you to the Church in the rock and whatever else you might want to see.

Cheers

Len

Alex

Several people from the US have come here saying that to get a Russian Visa, the cost just about equals what they would pay for a tour with a private tour company.

Since you do speak some Russian, you are already a head of the pack. Just remember, that with a pre arranged tour, all admission tickets are already paid for, all transportation is supplied, you won't have to wait in any lines, they will take you out of St Petersburg, to see Catherine's Palace and Pushkin, most supply a couple of meals. Again, I understand the thrill of doing it on your own, but, just FYI, there are a couple of private tour companies that have specific tours geared towards families with young children.

It's your choice and either way, I'm sure you will have a grand time.

Cheers

Len

Anyone that has been to Adastra Gardens do you have any pictures to share? Did you see the Flamingo or parrot show?

We are both seniors and I do not go onto the beach, so we opted to go to Adastra Gardens for some of our time in Nassau. I love to take pixs of animals, and thought this would give me a good opportunity to do so. And it did. The zoo isn't loaded with animals, but the ones there, were out and about. We timed our visit so we could feed the parrots and take in the flamingo show. We enjoyed our time there very much, and if you have kids, it will be more so.

Feeding the parrots was fun. They give you apple slices and tell you to just hold your arm up with the slices in your hand and the parrots will fly unto your arm and eat the slice, which they did. You can get as many apple slices as they have and it was fun, especially for the kids there.

The flamingo show was OK, as they just get a bunch of the flamingos to sort of march around a rink on commands. What WAs nice is that they let anyone who wants to interact with the flamingos, to go in the rink and make like a flamingo and the birds will come around to you. great pix op.

It was a nice afternoon, but you can't spend more than a couple of hours or so there.

Here are a few of my pixs

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/bahamas/IMG_5538_zps892633f0.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/bahamas/IMG_5517_zps134501f1.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/bahamas/IMG_5485_zps01a26250.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/bahamas/IMG_5475_zps7fcb9e9f.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/bahamas/IMG_5463_zps35e3e3dc.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/bahamas/IMG_5450_zps52b114c4.jpg

Hope this helps

Cheers

Len

Thanks for the info! I do intend to bring many layers and hope it all works. I'm thinking hand warmers and gloves may be a good idea as well. I am typically cold and why I live in NH is beyond me....

 

We don't have formal wear so we will be avoiding the MDR on formal nights for sure. I was under the impression that jeans were not acceptable in the MDR on other nights though. Is this not the case?

You NEVER have to avoid the MDR even on formal nights. The need to feel you must dress up is so far down on the list of things to worry about, most people just don't do it anymore. If people feel that they want to, go right ahead, it's your cruise and no one will tell you how to dress. But, many more people wear decent jeans, Dockers or any assorted things like that, even on formal nights. And they will let you in the MDR as long as you are dressed appropriately.

Cheers

Len

If you are looking to do a North South cruise, yes, Glacier Bay is a must, but also try and see College Fiord. It is simply stunning.

Cheers

Len

wow, bet it was a powerful sound. cant wait. Hope it calves when we go. Where were you when it calved? Was it Sawyer? LOL, when I first read your reply, i read it as if the ship spins due to the calving and got nervous for a sec, then realized what you meant haha. Hey, just noticed we are almost neighbors. Im in Islip. Sad to say, but someone compared the sound to the sound of the buildings in 911 coming down. Hmm, I cannot comment on that, never been to Alaska. Does the sound and calving last a long time or is it something you can miss by making a drink or bathroom run LOL

We've been to Glacier Bay twice. Last time we saw several nice calving's, but it is hard to really get a good pix as it happens so fast and by the time you get the camera focused on the right spot, it's already in the water. The best calving we saw was in College Fiord. Not tremendous pieces, but good enough to make many who saw it, go AHHHHH.

And when I meant spinning around, the ship, very slowly, moves around so people on both sides can see the glacier. If you are watching it from your balcony, your nuts. You need to be out on deck and up on top. Find a good spot and just sit and wait./ Our ship spent about an hour up close in Glacier Bay.

We just missed a nice calving in this shot

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/ala8g.jpg

This set was from farther away, but I got a nice small chunk falling into the water

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/ala9cccc.jpg

and here we got a nice chunk that fell out of the bottom of the glacier

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/ala9e.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/ala9dddd.jpg

Cheers

Len

I haven't been in Amsterdam in about 45 years, since my time in the Air Force, stationed in Germany. As a single GI, the first place we headed, on arriving in Amsterdam, was the Red Light district. Now we are talking mid 60s and as American's it was simply an amazing area to see. I guess what amazed us the most, was the different women sitting in the windows. You found every kind of woman, from young to quite old, from oriental to Black, and of all shapes and sizes. You know, different strokes for different folks. :D:D:D

I'll bet the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Cheers

Len

Just a word of advice on Thrifty, and maybe all the other rental places. We reserved a car thru Thrifty for a 9:00AM pick up. Because we didn't know about the way thru the hotel to get to the Thrifty place, we had to walk all around and didn't get there till about 9:30AM. Lo and behold, they gave our car to another party. They did arrange a car for us thru AVIS, but we had to be shuttled to AVIS, do all the paperwork over again, and didn't get on the road till about 11:00 killing 2 hours of our valuable time. Lesson learned, if you see you are running a bit late, call the rental place and let them know you are on the way and to make sure they are holding your car.

Cheer

Len

I did google maps on this and is about 1.2 miles. You could walk, but I understand that there are jitney buses in Nassau you can get on for about $1.25 per person. Once you are there you are walking distance to Adastra Gardens.

As I said, in another post, we decided to walk to Adastra Gdns as it didn't look that far on the map. Walking the distance wasn't bad, but if I had to do it over again, we opt for the Jitney bus. There were several blocks along the way when we never saw another person walking, and it did make us a bit nervous, considering all we heard and read about crime in Nassau. On the map, you are walking along the main road and there was plenty of traffic, but when we decided to walk, we felt it would be by shops and restaurants etc. and with people basically all around. this just isn't so. If you are heading in that direction, take the jitney for $1.25 and get there in 5 minutes or so.

Cheers

Len

Agree fully. I would NEVER opt to stay on the ship in Nassau. In the immediate vicinity of the ship, there are so many things to see and do, with tons of other tourists all around. Even if you just wanted to stroll around, so some shopping or try some local food, there is nothing to worry about. If you wanted to go to one of the free local beaches, I would try and go with the bus, or just go to any of the wonderful beaches from the hotels or Atlantis. No worries there.

Cheers

Len

We were just there about a month ago. In our ships bulletin for that day, there was a notice about the more active crime in the area and a message from the US consulate in the Bahamas, to be extra wary of your surroundings and try and stay in the more high traffic areas.

We walked about a mile to the zoo, and as I said when we got back, we did feel nervous several times along the way. Not from anything specific, but we were away from most of the crowds and several times we were the only ones walking on that road. If I had to do it over, I would opt for the bus.

Cheers

Len

Can I offer a suggestion? When you're in the Bahamas, or any other country, don't buy the big name brands like Bacardi, etc. as you can get them pretty much anywhere in United States. Try something local, like Watling's, as it will be special and remembered long after the bottle in emptied. Plus, you wind up helping the local economy, and not some big multinational corporation. Not that Bacardi is bad, it's just why not try something new?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I agree with you 100%. But for people, like myself, who aren't big time drinkers and really don't know much about Rum, you just don't know if you are buying rot gut stuff or something really good. I guess that's why many people, like myself, stick with names that they know, like Bacardi's. We were in St Thomas, and bought a few bottles of very inexpensive rum, that was made there. One was great, but the other, was, as I said, rot gut stuff. If you know your names and brands what you say will work very well.

Cheers

Len

One thing I will say, if once you hear that 'cracking' sound of the glacier calving, you will never forget it. I know we haven't.

It seems as if there is utter silence as the ship spins by the glacier, and if you do hear it (and you could spend half a day there and NOT see any calving), you will turn around so quickly to see the ice slide into the bay, and as I said, that sound will forever remain with you.

Cheers

Len

First time going to Alaska. Trip is for the last week of May on NCL. I have been reading the posts but nobody mentions what you wear on the boat. I have always cruised to warm places and just wore a bathing suit during the day and dressy clothes for dinners. Should I bring jeans for the daytime? Also going to be taking some excursions and don't know what to wear for footwear. I really don't want to have to bring heavy boots if it's not necessary. Are sneakers ok?

Kittymom

Trade in the bathing suit for a pair of warm undies. :D:D:D

seriously, you did ask about what to wear on the ship. In May, while you are cruising it will be chilly. In the ports, except if you are going on some sort of excursion to a glacier, regular clothes will be fine. Unless you live in shorts 24/7, I would leave them all home and opt for a few good pair of jeans. As all have already said, it all amounts to layers. You do NOT need anything heavy, so packing will be easier. Forget any warm jackets and again, opt for a nylon, waterproof one. In May, I would bring a hoodie, or you can buy one at your first stop, but that will keep you warm, in any conditions.

Formal nights, what's that in Alaska? These days, most people forget to lug along that suit and dress shoes, just to wear for one night. When we went, we wore flannel most nights, and I think we were overdressed. :D:D If you want to dress up, throw in a skirt and a thin sweater.

Cheers

Len

I concur with many of Jerry's points. Why try and do TOO much, when you will miss out severely on the beauty of driving to Emerald Lake. Believe me, I am not criticizing you, but so many people who go to Alaska, as well as many other cruise destinations, just try and do everything possible and don't stop and 'smell the roses' as to where they really are and really doing.

Yes, what you suggest is doable, but not really recommended. Just one example. When we drove to Emerald Lake, we stopped for a photo shot by a roadside waterfall. Walking back to the car, a nice brown bear decided to walk out into the road and stop there. This did tie up traffic for a bit, as everyone wanted to stop and take a pix or two. By time he moved on everyone was quite happy with the experience. is that something you might want to miss because of time factors. The drive is more than a drive, it is an experience all in itself. You need to stop for some ice cream, take a stroll thru the desert and stop at emerald Lake and admire the wonders of a land that is magnificent. Why try and rush thru something like this.

Cheers

Len

I fully concur, it doesn't make a bit of difference. In fact, you should consider saving a bunch of money and booking an inside cabin. All Baltic cruises are very port intensive, meaning that you are ashore a lot more than on the ship. In just about every port you will enter, except for Stockholm, there is nothing much to see from a balcony on either side. If you dock in Stockholm, you will be sailing in and out thru the Archipelago and that is a sure 'can't miss'. But realistically, it should be seen from on deck so you are not limited to just a one side view. On one of the top decks, you have a 360 degree view and it is truly worthwhile. But, if you are insistent on a balcony, either side works as well as the other.

Cheers

Len