jtamchay Posted June 30, 2011 #26 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I, too, want as much time ashore as possible so if we miss the one tender port we will not be totally disappointed...might just be a good at sea day. and truly needed by then. tease us a little by telling us if the ports disappointed you in any way...in particular Berlin if you did that and St. Petersburg. It sounds like Marina was a hit with you. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted June 30, 2011 #27 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I, too, want as much time ashore as possible so if we miss the one tender port we will not be totally disappointed...might just be a good at sea day. and truly needed by then.tease us a little by telling us if the ports disappointed you in any way...in particular Berlin if you did that and St. Petersburg. It sounds like Marina was a hit with you. thanks Hi, Jo, Marina was wonderful; the public areas are breathtakingly beautiful, with a lot of nice contemporary artwork, and the entertainment was much, much better than last year. Also, the lecturer on board was excellent, very informative and entertaining (not easy to achieve!). I never felt like I was on a bigger ship. The only real criticism I have (other than the points about the cabin layout many others already have made) is that there were quite a few new staff clearly in training, and the level of English needed more training often as well, particularly in the Grand Dining Room, but that is a minor point overall. The ports did not disappoint (although Ronne on the island of Bornholm was a holiday day, so it was pretty quiet there, with almost all the stores and all the museums closed). Yes, we did Berlin, although I was concerned about spending more than five hours on a bus with only seven hours in Berlin itself, mostly on a bus, but it was truly worth the ride. It is a beautiful city, and now my spouse wants to return for a longer period next year. (He would like to do a Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Berlin trip, so it looks like we will have a break from our wonderful Oceania cruising.:() I organized 16 from our roll call, and we used SPB-Tours, whose Berlin guide Heather, an American living in Berlin, was one of the best, if not the best, tour guide I ever had. She summarized German history for all levels of understanding at our first stop, the Charlottenburg Palace, and then teased out the story in a logical fashion the entire day. We ended up walking quite a bit of the time in the beautiful mid-70's weather, from the Reichstag to the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial, and then also from Humbolt University to Museum Island, stopping at the bookburning site and the evocate war memorial shrine. When she learned that I hope to spend some time at the end of the day at the Pergamon, she took lunch orders and phoned them in to the cafe she had chosen ahead of time so that lunch was around 30 minutes, and we had more time for sightseeing. We were in St. Petersburg for two days, the weekend of June 18 and 19, and we arranged a private tour for four (us and a lovely couple we met on our roll call with similar interests, one of whom speaks Russian!) with SPB-Tours, which also did a great job fitting in three days of sightseeing into our two-day visit. I had been there four years ago with my sister for 3-1/2 days, and I have taken several Russian history classes, so I knew what I wanted to see that Mr. Military History spouse would enjoy. Our guide Natalya was super organized and very knowledgable about history and art; owner Viktoria is very hands on, meeting us the first morning with the guide at the port, and also meeting us at the end of the second day to make sure it all went well. We never waited in a single line the entire time, although others could not say the same, particularly at Catherine's Palace. All the other ports we did on our own, with the help of my research or my Rick Steves' guidebooks. (His books include great walking tours.) Gdansk was much more interesting and beautiful than I expected, Riga had a super Museum of the Occupation of Latvia (1940-1991) located in the historic district, walled and gated Tallinn was simply enchanting, and we had three days pre-cruise in Copenhagen and four days post-cruise in Stockholm. A highlight of our Stockholm visit was meeting our very first Au Pair for dinner after 22 years since we last saw her here in Cincinnati! I also enjoyed dancing around the Maypole at Skansen on Midsummer Eve!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtamchay Posted June 30, 2011 #28 Share Posted June 30, 2011 sounds very good....going to gather my Berlin ideas and have them ready for the guide we have hired. thanks having not been on Oceania before could you tell me what the outlets are in the cabins...American or European...we will be on Insignia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted June 30, 2011 #29 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Yes, we did Berlin, although I was concerned about spending more than five hours on a bus with only seven hours in Berlin itself, mostly on a bus, but it was truly worth the ride. It is a beautiful city, and now my spouse wants to return for a longer period next year. (He would like to do a Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Berlin trip, so it looks like we will have a break from our wonderful Oceania cruising.:() Sounds like a great trip! Don't forget about Dresden ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legaleaglegreen Posted June 30, 2011 #30 Share Posted June 30, 2011 The have both European and U.S. outlets in the cabins by the desk. There is also an additional U.S. style outlet on the TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legaleaglegreen Posted June 30, 2011 #31 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Sorry, i missed the part about Insignia--forget the TV outlet, but there are still outlets of both types by the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtamchay Posted June 30, 2011 #32 Share Posted June 30, 2011 thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalique Posted July 1, 2011 #33 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Cintipam: Just curious if you know if the guide, Heather, you used in Berlin had previously been with Original Berlin Walks Tours? We used them and had a Heather as our guide for Berlin and she was fantastic. She was also American and I believe she was from somewhere in Pennsylvania but had studied in Berlin and has lived there for 3 years (at least it was 3 years she had lived there when we were on our Scandanavian Splendors cruise in July 2009). Wanted to know because I have recommended her to others but told them to check on Original Berlin Walks. Perhaps she is now with SPB Tours - or - it could just be two different American Heathers. Thanks in advance for letting me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted July 1, 2011 #34 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Cintipam: Just curious if you know if the guide, Heather, you used in Berlin had previously been with Original Berlin Walks Tours? We used them and had a Heather as our guide for Berlin and she was fantastic. She was also American and I believe she was from somewhere in Pennsylvania but had studied in Berlin and has lived there for 3 years (at least it was 3 years she had lived there when we were on our Scandanavian Splendors cruise in July 2009). Wanted to know because I have recommended her to others but told them to check on Original Berlin Walks. Perhaps she is now with SPB Tours - or - it could just be two different American Heathers. Thanks in advance for letting me know. Hi, lalique, that indeed is the same Heather, now five years in Berlin. She is from near State College in PA and has an interest in holocaust studies which originally brought her to Berlin. I believe she still conducts walking tours when it is not the cruise season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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