RSSC Mariner cruise 7/6/11 to 7/16/11 Black Sea Question

[joyb52]

We are on the Mariner July 6th to the Black Sea. Has anyone got any ideas for private guides in these ports of call? The only RSSC excursions are very early in the am, and that's not going to work. And the private tours offered by the ship are very expensive. If anyone has any input on how to navigate private guides through these areas, or has used any companies they can recommend, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

[Responder]

We are on the Mariner July 6th to the Black Sea. Has anyone got any ideas for private guides in these ports of call? The only RSSC excursions are very early in the am, and that's not going to work. And the private tours offered by the ship are very expensive. If anyone has any input on how to navigate private guides through these areas, or has used any companies they can recommend, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

We did this same sailing in 2010..took our younger son and his wife.

 

Even though the excursions were early, as you said, we took many of them and they were quite good...when we didn't take one, we walked into the towns around the ports and found it really nice. We like to walk.

 

If you stop in Sevastopol, be sure to take the ship's tour to the theater on the base if they offer the Russian dancers and singers and full orchestra. Probably one of the best shows we have seen anywhere.

We also took the ship's tour to a tea plantation. It was interesting.

[joyb52]

Thank you for your reply. Do you happen to remember which of the ports were OK to just walk around in (a tour not really needed)? We like to walk also.

[countflorida]

If you hope to get off the ship and wander about in a Russian port, you will probably need a Russian Visa, as the ship's general permission is generally only good for ship-organized and -sponsored excursions. It might be well advised to check on the other countries with ports of call on that cruise as well, to see if they are in the visa waiver program.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Nessebur is fine for walking on your own, compact and very interesting. Unless you have a keen interest in medieval Byzantine architecture, in which case you might benefit from a guide. Tons of that, incredible really.

[joyb52]

Thank you, that is a good point about checking for Visa necessity, especially in a Russian port. I'm gathering between these answers and other threads that Nessebar is good for walking around, not much in the Constanta area, and walking around the town of Odessa is the highlight. The other ports might warrant a tour (Yalta sounds tour-worthy). Not sure about Sochi, Russia or Sevastopol, Ukraine. Any thoughts?

[freddie]

Joy - You would need a personal visa to go on your own in Sochi. Further, there is not much to see there near the port. When we were on the Black Sea cruise two years ago on Navigator, we used Elena Miasoyedova's company for a private tour.

 

Her main email address is: whippoorwill43@yahoo.com

 

Elena Miasoyedova

Shorex Director

"Sochi Holidays" Travel Agency

E-Mail: holidays@sochi.ru

Web: http://www.sochi-holidays.ru

 

Elena was a pure delight to work with setting up our private tour. She works on cruise ships in the Med (Corinthian II) as the shore tour director and knows her stuff. On our tour, Elena was not our private guide, since she was organizing all of the ship's group tours and probably acting as the main guide on one of the buses. I thought that the guide she assigned to us, Nina, was quite good. I had the good fortune to meet Elena after the tour, when I paid her for our tour.

 

For Odessa, Yalta, and Sevastopol, we used the Intourist office in Yalta. We worked with Lilia Ivanova. Here is contact info for her:

 

Lilia Ivanova

Director

Intourist Ltd.Travel Company

E-mail: intour@yalta.crimea.ua

lili@yalta.crimea.ua

 

One of the highlights of our private tour in Sevastopol was a visit to a former top-secret nuclear submarine base built into a mountain. Very much brought to mind visions of "The Hunt for Red October".

 

Cheers, Fred

[PaulaJK]

For the Ukranian ports you will not require individual visas. We visited them this past September. For Yalta, I would recommend a tour, preferably w. an historian. We also had a pvt guide for Sevastopol where

one wants to see the hidden sub base as well as the magnificent Panorama. Odessa also offers several sights plus the ability to meander

around the city.

 

In addition to the recommendations rec'd on this board, I suggest that you browse the 'ports' section.

[joyb52]

Thank you for all for your input, and for the contact information. When you took a private tour, do you remember what you tipped the tour guide? We took a private tour in St. Petersburg, but were unsure about the tipping percentage. I will also check the ports thread. Did any of you take a private tour in Istanbul? We will be there for 4 nights. We are thinking of staying at the Ciragan Palace...everthing is very pricey, so we hope it's a good hotel.

[freddie]

Paula is quite correct that you don't need a visa for the three Ukranian ports and is dead-on right that the Panorama must be visited. It is simply astonishing. When planning our private tour, I'd suggested to Lilia Ivanova that we might want to skip a visit to the Panorama in order to allow more time for other stops. She vigorously insisted that we should include the Panorama in our tour, for which we all remain eternally grateful to her.

 

As for tipping, on private tours we normally tip a total of about 20% of the tour fee. If there is a driver as well as the guide, we would give 15% to the guide and 5% to the driver, assuming, of course, that we were happy with the services of each of them.

 

Cheers, Fred

[Gilly]

We did the Black Sea on Mariner last summer and I blogged the whole journey, starting here http://elegantsufficiency.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/10/con-stan-tin-ople.html in Istanbul.

 

We loved most ports of call and agree wholeheartedly about the Sevastopol performance. the panorama is a must see too as you'll gather from that particular blog entry.

 

We're off on Voyager in a few weeks time, Bangkok to Dubai, or else I'd be very envious ;-)

[cruzndiz]

JoyB....sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm wondering what happened to you guys on the South America cruise? Did you not go? I was so looking forward to meeting you and Tony, being "Jersey girls" and all that :(

[joyb52]

I'm glad you found me! My husband tore his hamstring muscle while playing tennis. Fast forward to immobility, wheelchair, crutches. Sadly, we had to cancel the cruise (how was it???), but got our money back from trip insurance. So, we are scheduled for this one in July. He's fine now, and hopefully all will go well. Have you been on this cruise?

[Threechicks]

I have never been to the Black Sea. What is the Panorama?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It's tough to explain. Kind of like a theatre, a large circular dome I guess. Inside are scenes from the Crimean War, with diaromas of battle scenes. The perspective is from the top of a hill. And the perspective is also from the Russian/Ukrainian perspective, not the British/Turkish. It's very impressive.

[Gilly]

Three Chicks, have a look here

http://elegantsufficiency.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/15/the-sevastopol-panorama.html

 

I can only say that if you find yourself in Sevastopol, you need to see it!

[Threechicks]

Thank you. It looks quite amazing. The Black Sea is on my list of future cruises so I will keep this in mind.

[kvisf]

We are looking forward to this cruise, and are still puzzling over an excursion for Constanta. Has anyone done the Danube delta, or the folk dancing/wine tasting? Any other suggestions will be appreciated!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We did the Danube Delta. It included a visit to ancient Histria, a greek ruin with a museum. The delta itself it beautiful, we saw lots of wildlife, mostly birds, and the drive through the countryside was edifying, to say the least. There were storks nesting on the site; I must say that was the highlight.

 

The museum was ok. I don't remember lunch, presumably there wasn't one included.

[Gilly]

We did the Histria one too. Though it was interesting to get out into the countryside and see storks etc, it wasn't worth the trip for the ruins alone because there are better ruins elsewhere on that cruise. Still, from memory it was only a half day trip, so not too much time commitment - but very hot on the day we were there and I can clearly recall a few grumps, if you know what I mean ;-)

 

Once again I blogged about it - but have posted the url of my blog so many times now, I won't post it again...

 

Those who made the long and uncomfortable journey to Bucharest said it wasn't worth the effort - I only have their say-so, but recall how relieved we were that we hadn't chosen that one.

 

Hmm...rereading, that sounds more negative than I really felt. How else would I have seen any of the Romanian countryside?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Gilly, how true. It was interesting, wasn't it, with the horse carts and hay wagons, signs of large-scale industrialization admidst pre-industrial agriculture (men in a field with pitchforks harvesting hay, for example.) The ruins weren't great, I agree, but I found the place beautiful, and it sparked my imagination. And yes, I guess you're right that it was a half-day tour. I remember coming back into Constanta and being dropped by a square. We did some window-shopping before heading back to the ship, and it was really fascinating to see the merchandise for sale. All very instructive getting out into a culture I'll probably never see again.

[joyb52]

Do you (or anyone who has taken this cruise) happen to remember if we can walk or taxi to Odessa's city center and take a bus tour or walking tour or just walk on our own? Is that enough as we are considering a private tour? But this private tour consists of a city bus tour and a walking tour, which I'm wondering if we can do on our own. Thanks!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Assuming the docks haven't changed a great deal since we were there in 2004, you can walk to and/or from the ship to the Potemkin Steps. Many of the sights, as I remember, are at the top, so if you don't want to walk up these, then not sure what you'd do.

 

I have a picture somewhere, but this was pre-digital. I took a picture of the Radisson Diamond from the top of the steps, just sitting right there.

[Gilly]

Yes, last year, Mariner's berth was just across a busy highway (with a pedestrian subway) from the bottom of the Potemkin steps. An easy, flat (once you're at the top!) walk into the centre, which was one of our favourite ports of call.

 

http://elegantsufficiency.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/14/ukrainehellipone-more-ker-ching.html

 

We did a half day excursion called Tolstoy's Mansion or similar. It was "a" Tolstoy rather than "The" Tolstoy but that didn't matter that much to us - it gave a focus to a pleasant, sunny day in the city. We'd enjoyed being independent in the morning.

[joyb52]

I read on another thread that there is a funicular to avoid the stairs, but it is very crowded. Also, someone mentioned that there is a very good, free walking tour guide in English in the tourist center in town. Maybe, if all of this is not too hard to find, we can do something on our own. We are planning private tours in Sevastopol and Yalta and Ephesus. The rest, either the boat tours and/or walking by ourselves.