Another Baltic Sea Review - Star May 24th

[deefer]

I almost didn't start this review as BrainC-80 just started one and is doing an awesome job. But I remember that I couldn't get enough when doing my own research and decided it is time that I give back, so her it goes.

 

I too will be breaking up my review in several posts - easier for all. Please feel free to ask questions!

 

 

Overall

Be prepared to walk - although we are middle aged we have no mobility issues. I saw many people struggling by the end of the tours. But they sucked it up and did it. Way to go! If you are not used to walking, start practicing - not kidding.

 

We booked all our tours independently. Significantly cheaper than the ship and usually the tour group was much smaller. Use your roll call. We ended up saving about $55pp on our St Petersburg tour bc one of the roll call members organized a group sign up and price went down as more people signed up.

 

All the independent tour companies were very good at getting back to us with clear instruction on how to pay/where & when to meet etc. In my review of ports will let you know who we used.

 

We did not go to any of the shore excursion "talks" that the ship had - as we had pre booked everything ahead of time - not sure if we missed learning something about the port by not going.

 

Packing - okay, I packed too much - the weather was amazing - did not need any of my heavy clothing. Actually wore shorts a couple of times. But that does not mean you won't need warm clothes. Tour guides at every port were saying how this weather was unusual. I believe our tour guide in Stockholm said that last year the first time it was warm and sunny was in August.

 

Currency - This was a debate - do we bring a bit of local currency? What if we end up with left overs? That would be a waste. What if our credit cards don't work as we have the chip but no pin. (US credit card)

 

We decided to just bring Euro's (as 3 ports take euro's) and use credit cards everywhere else. If we ran into any problems we would go to an ATM and take out local currency. We had absolutely no problems with our credit card - used it in Poland (went there pre cruise), Copenhagen, Russia, Sweden with no problems. In some stores in Russia & Sweden they would also take euros.

 

The Staff- We found the staff incredibly friendly - our room steward went out of his way to speak to us at least twice/day. We didn't go to the buffet much but I agree with BrainC-80, the "washy washy" staff seemed a little shy, not as outgoing and happy as on other ships.

 

We filled out many "hero" cards for the staff - they really seem to appreciate it. We were told by another passenger that they get "perks" for them. Like a night or two in any empty suite, cash etc.

 

The Food - We had the UDP and ate at a specialty restaurant every night (hit them all but Teppanyaki) We did not make any reservations ahead of time as do not mind eating later - but if you like to eat around 7-8p I would recommend making reservations ahead of time especially on seas days. As these times at LeBistro & Cagneys filled up quickly (and our ship was not full).

 

The food at all restaurants did was very good. No complaints. My favorite is LeBistro. Won't go into detail on the food but happy to answer any questions.

 

The Ship - I like the smaller ships - found it clean & well maintained. No long lines for anything - having said that our ship was not full - lots of empty cabins. I heard someone say we had room for 700 more passengers.

 

That's it for this post - will start on the ports next.

[BirdTravels]

Thank you for the review. Looking forward to see what you did in port and your experiences. We are thinking about taking a similar cruise once the Getaway is out there.

Edited June 5, 2016 by BirdTravels

[deefer]

Copenhagen

 

We arrived at 8am the day before the cruise and easily found the taxi line to grab a cab to our hotel. No problem using our chip only credit card - came out to $50.66 USD.

 

We were a little sleepy bc had to wake up at 3am to catch our 6am flight, so decided to take it easy on day one & do the hop on/hop off bus and canal tour. I have never really loved any HOHO that we have done - and this one was no different - it was good in that it gave us a sense of the city. It is difficult to see everything if you are not on the top deck. We really enjoyed the canal tour portion - had a person narrating this portion of the tour (vs automated audio on the bus).

 

We caught this bus close to Tivoli gardens - about a 3/4 mile walk or so from our hotel. You can pay with credit card or Euros. We paid with Euros - 56pp. I believe we were on one of the first buses of the day and got off 4-5 stops in to do the canal tour. Glad we did this as had no wait - on our return from the canal tour there was already quite a long line up. Got back on the bus and finished the tour.

 

Our hotel was Hotel Sct Thomas in Frederiksberg Copenhagen. This is a very nice neighbourhood of Copenhagen. Moderately priced, clean & roomy. The elevator is extremely small (but grateful they had one) - my husband and our suitcases fit - I took the stairs. We arrived early, they stored our bags at no cost as we went to explore the city. Room was ready when returned around 3p to get ready for dinner.

 

Last year, a coworker of mine, was in Copenhagen and went to Noma for dinner. For those who don't know, it was the #1 restaurant in the world

for the last 2 years - this year I believe it dropped to #3. It is quite the process to get reservations, you have to phone 6 months ahead of time and are on hold for quite awhile, plus it is expensive - around $250 US/pp for their 12 course tasting menu. Almost double it if you want wine.

 

We briefly considered it just to experience it once - but when I went on line to look at the food, it was just too exotic for me for the price. So my husband did some research and found a simpler version of the same kind of experience.

 

We ended up at a place called Sputino - it is a modern Italian kitchen. Let me stress the "modern" part. This is nothing like any Italian I have had in the past (including our 2 trips to Italy). You choose 5 courses from a total of 10. We each got different courses and shared so got to try them all. The food is very different from what we are used to and that made it an amazing experience. Some of it was delicious, some of it was different. But truly enjoyed everything about it. The total cost with one glass of wine, one beer & 20% tip came to $142USD on our credit card bill.

 

Next day is the first day of the cruise! But bc we did not do much the day before and are flying out immediately after the cruise we got up early to continue exploring the city. Checked out & again the hotel stored our bags at no cost.

 

We did the free walking tour , the grand tour of Copenhagen- I have to say this was EXCELLENT. Benjamin was our tour guide from Winnipeg Canada. Would highly recommend this tour and this tour guide. Starts daily at 10a, 11a & 3p. There were a lot of people at the meeting place (city hall) and they split us into smaller groups. Highly recommend this tour. Lasts 3 hours - we had to cut out a bit early as wanted to make sure we got back to the hotel to get our bags and get to the ship.

 

We took a taxi to the ship - cost was $38.50 USD. I heard others took the public transit and found it easy and inexpensive. Plus they said it was fun - a bunch of cruisers on the bus with their bags. We did not have the time to do that, nor did I have the desire to lug our 3 heavy suitcases (I think I mentioned in last post - over packed!).

 

Embarkation

 

So we arrive at the port around 145p. There is no line up at all. I think we must have been one of the last ones to get on the ship. We check in, walk right onto the ship. Easiest embarkation we have ever done.

 

Room is ready - we go for lunch.

[Loving My Life]

Great review so far! Can't wait to read the rest.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

[Clarea]

Excellent report so far.:)

[Bella O]

We will be there this time next year...albeit on a much larger ship:). Thanks so much for taking the time to do this review, really appreciate the info

[deefer]

Germany-Warnemunde

 

First off, I forgot to mention that in every port we docked - no tenders (nice!). I don't know if that will be the same next year when they go to a larger ship.

 

So this port had us going back and forth the most on what to do. Do we sit on a train 3 hrs each way to get a taste of Berlin or do we just do something local about an area we know nothing about? Honestly, went back and forth for weeks on this port. In the end we stayed local.

 

I think what helped us make this decision is that we can incorporate Berlin on a future Europe vacation. If we were never going back we would have taken the long train ride. Keep in mind for those going in the summer that the train has NO air conditioning. Fellow cruisers who went to Berlin on this trip had no complaints as was a cooler day and reports were they enjoyed the excursion.

 

So after research we decided on booking a tour with "Friends of Dave" (DNA tours) - the Mega Mecklenburg Tour - this tour sells out often so if interested google and book. I would highly recommend this tour if you have decided to stay local. It's a full day event - met around 915a and back to ship around 7p.

 

Includes 3 walking tours of Warnemunde, Wismer & Schwerin Castle. An authentic lunch in a german restaurant and cake & coffee in Schwerin Castle included. Go to the website for all details - cost is 145 Euro/pp.

 

The tour was excellent - but other things that made it nice was the bus seats 48 people but the tour max is 25 - lots of room. Headsets are provided so don't miss anything. Bathroom on the bus. Tour doesn't start until 9am - so you miss the craziness of the early morning rush of the Berlin excursions leaving and have a relaxing breakfast.

 

Our tour guide Christian was FANTASTIC. Incredibly knowledgeable and funny to boot. I had a few good belly laughs! Learned a lot about an area of the world I knew nothing about.

 

 

Sea Days

 

I personally find sea days kind of boring. Having said that I appreciated the sea days on this cruise to rejuvenate from all the "learning" I had to do on the tours. When we cruise to the Caribbean it's "fun", you swim with dolphins, go zip lining etc. It's like recess in school. Fun. This cruise was fun too - but a different kind of fun - more like Social Studies!

 

To help pass sea days I do some kind of spa treatment each day and hang out at the casino (a bit too much at times!).

 

We also had the thermal spa pass which we used every day. It was especially heavenly to sit in the hot tub after full day tours. On our cruise the thermal spa was empty - many times it was just my hubby and I in the area. If you are one who likes the thermal spa area book on line ahead of times - saves you $20pp.

 

We did not see any shows as tend to eat dinner a little on the late side which coincides with show times. I heard mixed reviews from fellow passengers.

 

Tallinn is next....

[deefer]

Oops, forgot to add that Sometimes I remembered to wear my Fitbit - we walked 6.2 miles on this tour.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your report.

 

Keith

[deefer]

Tallinn

 

So this port was a pleasant surprise. I think it may be my favorite port on this stop. It's a short walk to old town and like many others have posted it's a port you can easily "do on your own". But my recommendation is to take a tour. It would have been easy to walk around on our own but would have missed out a lot if we didn't have a guide telling us the significance of the area/buildings. So unless you do your own research on the history of the area you are visiting (I'm too lazy, like to be fed the information on the tour) book a tour.

 

We booked with Traveller Tour & Day trips on traveller.ee "The best of Tallinn 3hr walking tour" which left of lots of time to explore on our own. EXCELLENT -probably the best tour guide we had on this cruise and that's saying a lot as we had some amazing guides. Her name was Heli (as in helicopter) - if you use this company, ask for her.

 

For a total of 80 Euro- we had a private (just 2 of us) tour. It was our first ever private tour and loved it. Even though there were crowds in some places, much easier and quicker to maneuver when there is only 2 of you and the guide. It ended up being cheaper for us to do this than take the cruise tour which was $55 USD/pp.

 

I took a quick look at the website before posting this review and the price has gone up a bit - now it's 100 Euro for 2 (50/pp) - the price goes down per person for more people. If there are 4 of you it's 120 Euro total -significantly cheaper than on the ship and a much better experience.

 

This is a smaller tour company and have to wait outside the gate for you. Just giving you a heads up you actually walk through other gates before you are out (maybe 2?). It's a brisk 7 min walk or so to get to the outside gate.

 

Fitbit told me we walked 5 miles - seemed a lot less.

 

Next up St Petersburg....

[Loving My Life]

Waiting to read all about St. Petersburg!

[deefer]

St Petersburg

 

As I have mentioned before - we booked all our tours independently of the ship. Saved a lot of money doing it this way and feel had a better experience as our tour groups always seemed significantly smaller than the ship groups.

 

We had done a ton of research before about the independent tour groups and had personally narrowed it down to Alla & SPB tours. What tipped our decision to SPB was that one of our roll call members reached out by email to SPB about getting a group discount. She got one and at the end of the day saved us $45USD/pp. Thank you Teresa (roll call member who did this)!

 

I did not initiate this organization but would encourage you to use your roll call and do this. It seemed easy to coordinate - Teresa said she just emailed SPB (I'm sure other tour companies would do the same) and then she let the roll call know when emailing SPB to use her name.

 

Customs

 

If you are at all hesitant about the "visa" issue with your tour ticket - don't be. Absolutely no problems what so ever. Just make sure you have your tour ticket with you.

 

Day One -we had priority disembarkation and were through customs in 20mins. Sitting on the bus by 830a waiting for others. We had no problem getting through customs but one gentlemen was held up for quite a bit as his passport photo had him with a beard (that he had since shaved).

 

Not that I find USA or Canadian custom officers super friendly but I found that the Russian agents seemed very serious, almost stern, but not mean. No smiling what so ever from the ones we encountered. Not making a comment, just an observation.

 

After clearing customs was easy to find someone holding an SPB sign and they pointed us towards our bus

 

Day Two walked off ship, very short line - on the bus in 10 min.

 

Note: You have to bring your tour ticket (and passport) each day. Do not throw out your tour ticket after the first day. Customs also gives you a some type of document on your first day, keep that with your passport - they collected it back at a later point - I'm sorry, can't remember if it was at the end of the 1st or second day. Just tuck it in with your passport and all will be good.

 

Pickpockets

 

Throughout the 2 day tour, whenever we were in crowded places, through our headsets would come the reminder from our Elena (our tour guide) to be mindful of pickpockets.

 

No one in our group lost anything but my husband was chatting with other cruisers one night at the Ultimate Texas Hold'em Table in the casino (he made some friends :D) and 2 guys in another tour group were pickpocketed in St Petersburg.

 

He did not get details as to where their wallets were on their person or where they were when it happened - but one guy said he (and others) saw the female, felt her bump him and then was gone in an instant as so was his wallet!

 

Our tour guide stressed absolutely NOTHING in your back pockets.

 

Most of our group actually ended up leaving all our purses/wallets/ID on the bus. On SPB tours the driver is always with the bus and locks it when the group was not in it. At first, I have to admit, I was a little uncomfortable leaving everything on the bus, but by the end of day 2 was completely comfortable. It really is the safest place for your stuff.

 

 

The Tour

 

We did the 2 day deluxe tour - decided to cram as much in as possible as do not think will ever get back. Having said that, we did not do an evening tour as wanted to be fresh for the full day of touring on day 2.

 

I am going to start by saying that I truly believe how good the tour is has almost everything to do with the guide. Ours was awesome. Her name was Elena.

 

There is a maximum of 16 per tour group - I think we had 15. You have headsets. And on the bus if free wifi. So while waiting in the morning for the rest of your group to arrive can catch up email at rapid speed (especially after being used to the ships slow wifi)!

 

My expectations were high for this port stop and they were met. Elena made the history of Russia come alive. It was an incredibly busy full 2 days but somehow didn't feel rushed. Sometimes there was a bit of line up for entry - but seemed to move quick enough.

 

There was nothing on the tour I did not enjoy (including the 2 delicious lunches). Google the tour to see all the stops, but my favorites were the Hermitage museum (still cannot believe that was someone's private residence at one point) - and Yusupov Palace (where Rasputin was assassinated). At Yusupov Palace there is a nominal fee you have to pay that allows you to take pictures - sorry cannot remember how much. We didn't get it and regret that decision.

 

We also did a subway ride which was cool. The longest escalator I have ever been on (it's the deepest subway system in the world). We went one stop on the subway. No one got lost! This was important as most of us did not speak Russian, have any money, cell phones, id or credit cards! (Left this on the bus!) It wasn't scary but I felt a little vulnerable without my "stuff".

 

Some tour companies provide a bag lunch on the bus so that you can get more "touring" in. We had sit down lunches in 2 different restaurants. Honestly it was nice to sit for a bit, chat with fellow cruisers and let our brains regroup - so much learning! But something to consider when choosing between tour companies.

 

The weather was nice - warm, not hot but yet I found some of the palaces/museums to be a little hot. No air conditioning. If you are going in the summer bring extra water. SPB supplies you with a bottle each day, never asked if they had more as did not need it. Also some of the museums make you check you coat if it is baggy and no large bags/backpacks allowed.

 

This was a very quick overview - do not want to ramble on - please feel free to ask any questions.

 

Helsinki is next....

[hun]

Really enjoying your review - thank you! We're going on the Getaway to Baltic next year and am so looking forward to it! Reading up on the various SPB companies and haven't yet decided which to go with.

One question I wonder from reading other folks' comments about their SPB tours - did you have to wait long for the others on your van to arrive?

 

(I wasn't sure if it'd be necessary to try to coordinate meeting inside and leaving together....)

[Cubechick]

The Star in Copenhagen May 24th (we were on the Celebrity Silhouette sailing in for a port day). :D

 

 

PS. Enjoying the review.

Edited June 15, 2016 by Cubechick

[deefer]

Really enjoying your review - thank you! We're going on the Getaway to Baltic next year and am so looking forward to it! Reading up on the various SPB companies and haven't yet decided which to go with.

One question I wonder from reading other folks' comments about their SPB tours - did you have to wait long for the others on your van to arrive?

 

(I wasn't sure if it'd be necessary to try to coordinate meeting inside and leaving together....)

 

 

We were sitting on the bus waiting for others at 830am - but we were one of the first off bc we had priority disembarkation. Everyone was on the bus by 910am. The planned time to leave was 9am, so we left a little late on day one because we had the guy who on his passport photo had a beard that he had since shaved. He was held up at customs for a bit bc of this. No one was delayed on day two.

 

The time waiting went by quickly because of the free wifi on the bus and chatting with fellow passengers. We didn't have unlimited wifi on the ship - so took advantage of any free wifi we came across in ports.

 

Unless you personally know everyone on your tour, I don't think you need to coordinate meeting inside. In our case it would not have worked. Our roll call ended up having 3 (or maybe even 4) buses booked with SPB tours. You did not know what bus you were assigned until you cleared customs and met up with the tour company. Plus meeting ahead of time on the ship would not stop delays in customs.

 

I remember reading somewhere that if cruisers are delayed getting on the bus (i.e. because of customs) - the bus will wait for a bit then leave. The delayed cruiser will have someone waiting for them at the port and will be driven by car to catch up with the tour. Honestly I cannot remember where I read this, but I think it would be a good question to email the tour company you are considering on how the deal with late arrivals.

 

You are going to have a great time!

[Leebies]

Thanks Deefer, reading your review has made me even more excited for our cruise end of July.:)

[deefer]

Helsinki

 

Sorry it has taken me a few days to continue with the review ..... crazy with work (ugh!).

 

Helsinki is a clean, pretty city. I wasn't expecting much based on previous reviews and got what I expected. I think the reason that I was underwhelmed is that it follows St Petersburg - which has so much to see - and Helsinki really not that much to see.

 

We booked the Panoramic Tour of Helsinki (3.5 hours) through SPB tours. I believe the normal cost of this tour is $55 USD/pp - we got a discount bc we used SPB tours in St Petersburg (paid $40USD/pp). This was the last port that we a booked a tour with - based on previous research we were going to just use the Hop-on-Hop-off bus to tour the city. A few weeks before the cruise SPB tours emailed us with discounts for other ports if we used them - so in the end decided to book Helsinki with them.

 

It was an okay tour. If you are trying to save money - I think the HOHO bus would be just fine. This is a port I think you can do on your own.

 

I like tours that have a lot of information - this was more of a "light" tour. A bit of information on the rock church - then stop, go in take pictures. Repeat for Sibielius Park. See some churches from the bus - then walk around the market for 30 minutes (mainly food).

 

So although I come across "not that impressed" with Helsinki - I still loved it as have never been there before, and probably will not get back. It just really doesn't have that much compared to other port stops - or maybe it does, but we just didn't get the information on the tour.

 

This tour fitbit said we walked 3 miles.

 

Stockholm and final thoughts will be next.....

[Dismomx5]

Following along. My daughter is heading to Finland to University, and, if, for some reason she doesn't come home next summer, I want to do this tour. You've given lots of good information. Thanks!

[CruisinHarvey]

Thanks for the review. Planning this cruise for next June. How much was your St Petersburg tour?

[deefer]

Thanks for the review. Planning this cruise for next June. How much was your St Petersburg tour?

 

I made a mistake in my my initial post. I posted that we saved $45/pp, but we actually saved $30pp. Went back and looked. Sorry about that. Shouldn't rely on my memory!

 

The original price for the 2 day Deluxe Tour was $285/pp, we paid $255/pp. Again, got this discount because was organized by one of the members on our roll call.

 

I would absolutely recommend booking independently from the ship. Significantly cheaper and the tour group is much smaller. The maximum people with SPB tours was 16, the ship tour groups looked like they had around 40 in each group.

[Hottubmomma]

We go on this cruise late July and your post has been very helpful! /thank you

[deefer]

Stockholm

 

The Tour

 

We docked in Stockholm - but we were told by cruise staff that in May there is about a 50% chance you won't get there because of weather.

 

We ending up booking the 5hr Stockholm Highlights Tour through SPB tours. The cost is normally $95pp - we got a little discount bc we used SPB in St Petersburg & Helsinki but I'm sorry, went back to look what the discount was and could not find it - maybe $10pp - sorry, not sure.

 

I remember being a little frustrated when first researching guided tours in Stockholm - the few tour companies that sparked our interest either did not get back to us, or the website had problems. So we ended up using SPB.

This was a few months ago - maybe you will have better luck.

 

So lets talk about this tour - the max amount on the tour is 24 and we had 24. This is an okay number of people on the tour if you have headsets. We did not, so I found myself running to the front of the group to be near the guide to hear what he was saying. My husband, who is "assigned" to take pictures missed a lot of the information. He didn't think so - but then he doesn't know what he missed!

 

We had a large bus - probably sits around 48 - so lots of room. No wifi on the bus. The weather was warm - wore shorts and t-shirt.

 

Our tour guide, again, was fantastic. His name was Sergio - amazing amount of knowledge and very willing to share it. We started with a guided drive around Stockholm with a stop or two. Then the highlight of the tour, the VASA museum. There was a long line to get in but tour groups bypass the line so we had no wait. We had about a 20 minute guided tour in the museum then about 30 minutes on our own. Despite the long line up outside, the museum did not seem that crowded and was easy to get around. You could easily spend 3-4 hours in this museum.

 

We then went to Old Town for the walking tour - I really enjoy the walking tours the most - our guide gave us a ton of information, loved him. But I overheard others in our group complaining that he was talking too much! Just goes to show how 2 people can have a completely different experience doing the same thing. We had an hour of "free time" in old town. Sergio, the guide, offered to continue touring but many in the group said that their "brains were too full" and wanted the free time. In retrospect, my husband and I should have let Sergio know we would have been happy to continue with the walking tour and use some of our free time. Will do this next time if this situation ever comes up again. I guess we have "empty" brains compared to others :D.

 

 

Archipelago

 

We did not get up early to see the views on arrival to Stockholm but I booked a pedicure for 4p in the spa. This was the PERFECT PERFECT way to end the long days of touring. Just as the ship is pulling out, I'm relaxing in a massage chair with phenomenal views of the islands while getting a fantastic pedicure, reminiscing about all we have seen in this vacation. Just PERFECT! This would be an excellent "surprise" gift for someone travelling with you.

 

There are 2 pedicure chairs in the spa - one faces the floor to ceiling windows, the other does not. No one else was in the spa - so got the chair with the view. But if you decide to do this, make sure when booking you ask for the chair that faces the window just in case another pedicure is booked for the same time! Tanya was my esthetician - excellent.

 

 

Disembarkation

 

We normally carry off our bags on cruises and arrange our own transportation to the airport. But I had learned from this board about how the waits for taxi's are about 1 hour (even with priority disembarkation) at this port. So even though our flight was at 1p, and we would be at the airport early - we decided to use the cruise ships bus to the airport. I believe the cost was $30pp.

 

It was seamless. Booked the bus by filling out a form left in our cabin a couple of days earlier. Left the bags out the night before. Next morning had a relaxing breakfast - met at the designated meeting place at 815am, on the bus at 830a, waited maybe 15min for others - at the airport where our bags were waiting for us by 915a. There are earlier buses for earlier flights - I believe we were on the latest bus.

 

Summary

 

Tours

 

Book your tours independently of the ship. You save a lot of money and have smaller tour groups.

 

What I learned for me is that if the tour group does not have headsets - we will book a private tour (as long as the budget allows it)!

 

 

Spa

 

We had the Thermal Spa pass that we used every day - it was heavenly at the end of a long day of walking to get into warm bubbling water. There is a lap pool, a hot tub, thermal spa pool and lounge chairs in the common area. The women's area has a dry and wet sauna. The mens side has a cold & hot water soak as well as the dry and wet sauna.

 

If you have never used the thermal spa before they give tours of it on embarkation day - just go to the spa once you get on board.

 

The 9 day pass is $149pp - we paid $129pp (saved $20pp by buying on line a head of time).

 

Manicure - for those who have had shellac (no chip) manicures in the past this info is for you. I only get them before vacations. They usually last only a week or so - I always get the French so when they grow out - no too obvious. Because we travelled for over a week before getting on the cruise, I looked at getting a redo of my shellac manicure in Copenhagen - was more expensive than on the ship, so booked it on the ship. The ship advertises it as a "2 week" no chip - I have had many shellac manicures on land by various estheticians and have never had them look good for more than one week or so. Tanya was my esthetician and my manicure looked great for almost 3 weeks! I am not sure why it lasted so long - the process looked the same.

If you're going to get a shellac manicure - ask for Tanya.

 

My husband had a bamboo message - he said it was "okay" and would not recommend it.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

I absolutely loved this vacation - please feel free to ask me any questions, about anything. I didn't talk much about the ship but would be happy to give my thoughts on anything! You will have a great time on this cruise!

[deefer]

Wifi

 

Wifi was no different than on any other NCL ship we have been in the past, sometimes slower than others throughout the week.

 

But the reason I have come back is to give a tip on using the wifi in the middle of the afternoon on the last sea day.

 

We went to the internet café to check in on line/print boarding passes as we were flying out the day the cruise ended. It was unbelievably slow - so much so that the internet café manager was frustrated. As we did not have unlimited wifi and pages were taking over 5 mins to open - he was adding free minutes to everyone's packages.

 

Lots of people must have been on line at the same time trying to check in.

 

So if you find you need to be on the internet during the afternoon on that last sea day and you don't have the unlimited package - do it from the internet café.

[TheCruisingBrewers]

Subscribed and studying!

 

Hey Carolyn fancy seeing you here! Hope you are doing well!

 

Nancy