To Russia with Love

[rool]

Goodtime are you still there?... Been following along because we are in GS 1600 on the 28th. Really enjoying you port tips.

I reckon they are in the middle of the two busy days at St Petersburg. Particularly looking forward to updates from there in due course.

 

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[grapau27]

I reckon they are in the middle of the two busy days at St Petersburg. Particularly looking forward to updates from there in due course.

 

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I agree, they are long tours but very rewarding.

 

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[Goodtime Cruizin]

Goodtime are you still there?... Been following along because we are in GS 1600 on the 28th. Really enjoying you port tips.

 

Yes...i’m Here! We lost connection as soon as we ported in St. Pete. We just completed our 2nd day in this beautiful city. We have internet again & the ship is sailing away as I type this. We’ve enjoyed 1600 and the corner aft balcony. I’m sure your weather will be much warmer.

 

Amit will be your Concierge & Bernidene your bartender in the CL. Both are absolutely wonderful. Amit escorted my party of 10 off the ship both days in StPete. We were one of the first through customs because of his help.

 

We really really enjoyed STP & I promise to post some good details , but for now I have a date w/ Bernie & Uncle Jack. I need to relax a tad. I’ll post very soon again. Cheers!

[ee_guy61]

Yes...i’m Here! We lost connection as soon as we ported in St. Pete. We just completed our 2nd day in this beautiful city. We have internet again & the ship is sailing away as I type this. We’ve enjoyed 1600 and the corner aft balcony. I’m sure your weather will be much warmer.

 

Amit will be your Concierge & Bernidene your bartender in the CL. Both are absolutely wonderful. Amit escorted my party of 10 off the ship both days in StPete. We were one of the first through customs because of his help.

 

We really really enjoyed STP & I promise to post some good details , but for now I have a date w/ Bernie & Uncle Jack. I need to relax a tad. I’ll post very soon again. Cheers!

 

Kerry & Lavine

Congrats on your 40th anniversary. Enjoying your posts. We're on the May 28th sailing. Slightly different itinerary but info on Tallinn and Skagen was very helpful. Looking forward to future posts.:)

 

Steve & Cindy

[Goodtime Cruizin]

So glad all are following along! We’re having the time of our lives. The Anniversary wishes are fun to see so Thank You! A shout out to Rick & Barbara for their kind word & their gift! Our room was decorated for the anniversary party & we had a wonderful party.

 

Let’s talk about SPB. First though, the weather has been crazy good. No precipitation, Sunny, high in low to mid 60s, w/ a light wind. We chose the deluxe tour from SPB tours. Which included the following;

Hermitage Museum

Church of our Savior on the Spllied Blood

St. Isaacs Cathedral

Peter & Paul Forretress & Cathedral

Peterhof Fountain Park & Gardens

Catherine’s Palace w Amber Room

Yusupov Palace

Two great lunches were served on both days that were inclusive.

I requested a small group w a max of 8 & ended up w 10. I’m telling you now whether you start the group or join a group, go ‘small’ group. This is important. If someone on your roll call is asking for others to join in, do it! Our group paid $285 ea for a small group w/ a personal driver & guide in a very nice Mercedes van.

 

I’m very satisfied w SPB although Alla was all around us as well. We were fortunate to have a wonderful group of 10 but also a very good guide in Svetlana. And our driver Alex the Great was spot on and knew when & where to go. Vans can get around where buses can’t! Plus the loading & unloading of a bus will waste valuable time. Think small group and go for a!

 

The places we went were amazing. Add to this a nice little stop by request to a local food market ( grocery store), our tour company, guide, and driver were very good.

 

This is a long and extensive two days. But doable. We saw a lot in two days. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

 

Vodka= Cheers. If you have questions, ask away.

 

Tomorrow we do Helsinki & Porvoo via Viator.

[Ginlyn]

So glad all are following along! We’re having the time of our lives. The Anniversary wishes are fun to see so Thank You! A shout out to Rick & Barbara for their kind word & their gift! Our room was decorated for the anniversary party & we had a wonderful party.

 

Let’s talk about SPB. First though, the weather has been crazy good. No precipitation, Sunny, high in low to mid 60s, w/ a light wind. We chose the deluxe tour from SPB tours. Which included the following;

Hermitage Museum

Church of our Savior on the Spllied Blood

St. Isaacs Cathedral

Peter & Paul Forretress & Cathedral

Peterhof Fountain Park & Gardens

Catherine’s Palace w Amber Room

Yusupov Palace

Two great lunches were served on both days that were inclusive.

I requested a small group w a max of 8 & ended up w 10. I’m telling you now whether you start the group or join a group, go ‘small’ group. This is important. If someone on your roll call is asking for others to join in, do it! Our group paid $285 ea for a small group w/ a personal driver & guide in a very nice Mercedes van.

 

I’m very satisfied w SPB although Alla was all around us as well. We were fortunate to have a wonderful group of 10 but also a very good guide in Svetlana. And our driver Alex the Great was spot on and knew when & where to go. Vans can get around where buses can’t! Plus the loading & unloading of a bus will waste valuable time. Think small group and go for a!

 

The places we went were amazing. Add to this a nice little stop by request to a local food market ( grocery store), our tour company, guide, and driver were very good.

 

This is a long and extensive two days. But doable. We saw a lot in two days. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

 

Vodka= Cheers. If you have questions, ask away.

 

Tomorrow we do Helsinki & Porvoo via Viator.

 

Did you tip in rubles or euros in St. Petersburg? I have read on cruise critic people saying both are acceptable.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Did you tip in rubles or euros in St. Petersburg? I have read on cruise critic people saying both are acceptable.

 

We spent Rubles, Euros, & even US$ in STP. And to answer your question, we tipped in US$

[Goodtime Cruizin]

A bit more on SPB Tours. When I first contacted SPB it was via their website email. The person that I was corresponding with was Vika. It turns out that she was also the owner and she came out to meet us all at the port on our final day. We thought that was a nice touch. She and our guide, Svetlana have been friends for 17 years and Svetlana has worked at SPB for 15 of them. We were fortunate to have a very experienced & professional guide. Svetlana knew her stuff.

 

Today in Russia will be May Day or Victory Day. It is a National Holiday and as such many people were scurrying around prepping for the parade and various activities. By afternoon, many of the canal boats were left inoperable due to this preparation. So went on the canal boat ride early in the morning. Svetlana knew these things and Alex knew the back roads to navigate us through road closures. The importance of going in a small group vs a large bus tour comes into play again.

 

What a beautiful city & experience St.Petersburg was.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Goodtime Cruizin

[reallyhooked]

Enjoying your review congratulations on 40th Anniversary

[KmomChicago]

Great review on an itinerary we would love to do one day! Happy anniversary!

 

 

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[Althea007]

Did you have any dramas getting off early in SPB with the ship preferring to get their own shore tours guests off first?

 

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[Goodtime Cruizin]

Did you have any dramas getting off early in SPB with the ship preferring to get their own shore tours guests off first?

 

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Absolutely none. Having said this, I did request the Concierge to escort us out. On the first day he rode in the elevator w/is using a key to bypass all other floors. But once we made it to deck 4 he stopped there and pointed the way. On day two, he didn’t even go down w us as he just turned on the elevator as express I guess.

 

My suggestion is to do as we did. Set your time to meet at 7:15am. Once your party is assembled ‘GO’. Go as a group. Customs can be tricky in that some lines move faster than others based on the agent. But the earlier you get off the ship the better. We were off so early that we were waiting for our guide & driver, not the other way around. The process of getting Customs was less than 10 mins for group on day one. About 5 mins or less on day two.

[Althea007]

Absolutely none. Having said this, I did request the Concierge to escort us out. On the first day he rode in the elevator w/is using a key to bypass all other floors. But once we made it to deck 4 he stopped there and pointed the way. On day two, he didn’t even go down w us as he just turned on the elevator as express I guess.

 

My suggestion is to do as we did. Set your time to meet at 7:15am. Once your party is assembled ‘GO’. Go as a group. Customs can be tricky in that some lines move faster than others based on the agent. But the earlier you get off the ship the better. We were off so early that we were waiting for our guide & driver, not the other way around. The process of getting Customs was less than 10 mins for group on day one. About 5 mins or less on day two.

 

That is excellent news. Will be on the Serenade in July this year. We are in SPB for 3 days. I heard some rumblings about ships getting their own shore tours people off first. And immigration / customs done on 10 mins! Nice! Have a wonderful holiday :)

 

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[tvnewsengineer]

Great information and great review, thanks for sharing your experiences. Hope I did not come off as offending earlier asking if you were still around, did not take into account St. Petersburg and the time crunch/exhaustion of 2 fully packed tour days. We have the same type setup during our time there so your advice about departing/group size is truly invaluable. I was also remiss in not congratulating you on your 40th Anniversary, let's correct that now... Congratulations on 40 years, we are taking the cruise as our 10th anniversary gift to each other :) Sounds like you are having a great time. Thanks for letting us tag along.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

No worries at all and thanks for the Anniversary wishes! You’re going to thoroughly enjoy this trip. So far it’s been more than I imagined. To everyone that’s followed along and wished us well, Thank You.

 

Ok a bit on some of the ship details. As most know, this is the first cruise since the refurb/drydock. The ship is in great shape overall but some have complained about wear on futon their state rooms. GS1600 is in excellent shape in that regards. We have eaten in Chops & Giavannis, both we’re excellent. The main dining room food has been great as well. Tonight we entertained and had happy hour in our place w a nice couple we met, as a result we did the Windjammer for the 2nd night. BTW the staff has been very attentive at all three locations. Rita’s Cantina is closed as in non functional/operational. A total waste of space. Voom has been difficult at times & flat out non existent while ported in STP. The ten drinks card went on sale on Day 7 for $75. Chef’sTables is $100 pp. the windjammer gets busy in the mornings big time.

 

If you have any specific questions regarding the ship, please, ask away.

[Tin can]

That is excellent news. Will be on the Serenade in July this year. We are in SPB for 3 days. I heard some rumblings about ships getting their own shore tours people off first. And immigration / customs done on 10 mins! Nice! Have a wonderful holiday :)

 

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If I can chip in here briefly, if it was like us on Adventure in 2014 then you will be bombarded with announcements that "ships tours must leave first etc etc".

 

Ignore this and be waiting to get off with your small group. The ships tours with their numbers cause chaos at customs and you do not want to be behind them.

 

We were through in 10 minutes, a lot of ships tours were 2 - 3 hours late leaving the first morning.

 

Apologies if I have already posted this, I try and put the same message on any appropriate post to help people out on private tours in SPB.

 

Goodtime Cruizin I'm loving your report, its bringing back some great memories so thank you :)

[Ron Don]

Thanks for following along and the nice Anniversary wishes. We’re only age 60 & 59. We married young and I was accused of marrying up! LOL but we feel old tonight when we couldn’t keep up w the 80’s party,l. We did dance! Though!

Looks like you guys are having a BLAST :D:D !! Janell and I are extremely happy for you :*. A very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you and your lovely bride, belated as it may be. I do believe your statement is correct about marrying up, LOL but it has worked for 40 years, right.

We look forward to cruising with you two again soon and listening to the stories.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Today we did Viator’s #14818P22, Panoramic Helsinki Highlights Tour & Porvoo. I did not know it until after confirmation was made but this tour is actually through SPB Tours. There was 18 in our group. We covered quite a lot in a medium sized bus that had space for about about 28 people, maybe. The tour cost $111 pp for 7 hrs. They picked us up just OUTSIDE the gate. I envisioned Porvoo as a midevil town, but while it was charming, clean, and interesting, it wasn’t midevil! Think late 1700s. But looking back at the day, I’m glad we went. We were back at 4:30 without issue.

 

We change time tonight, one hour back. We’re also setting the clock to wake up around 3:am to FaceTime the grandson.

 

Tomorrow is Stockholm and one of the spots that has perked my interest the most, the Vasa Museum. It’s another walking tour vis Viator that includes skip the lines to the Vasa Museum. #5635MUSTSEE As usual I’ll report in afterwards.

 

BTW, It doesn’t get dark until about 10 or after now and the sun starts brightening the sky around 3:30 or so. So bring something to clip curtains shut if daylight bothers you.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Thanks Ron Don & TinCan!

BTW I’m not sure if I mentioned why I’m blogging this live... it’s because I’ll forget some of the details in a week!

[grapau27]

If I can chip in here briefly, if it was like us on Adventure in 2014 then you will be bombarded with announcements that "ships tours must leave first etc etc".

 

Ignore this and be waiting to get off with your small group. The ships tours with their numbers cause chaos at customs and you do not want to be behind them.

 

We were through in 10 minutes, a lot of ships tours were 2 - 3 hours late leaving the first morning.

 

Apologies if I have already posted this, I try and put the same message on any appropriate post to help people out on private tours in SPB.

 

Goodtime Cruizin I'm loving your report, its bringing back some great memories so thank you :)

Thanks for your in information.

 

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[lamb616]

 

Ok, I’ve learned a bit more regarding Skagen. Pretty much the only tour or excursions one can get are through Royal. I surely can’t tell anyone what to do but I can tell you what we did do and what we’d do differently. I would not buy any tickets for the HoHo bus in Skagen. There’s only one bus operating today and it was a hotel shuttle style bus. With the bad weather, nobody Hopped Off. Meaning.... you can’t hop off a bus if you never hopped on! The town is prettt much touristy but does have some decent seat & drink establishments.

 

If your attempting to get to the ‘point’ your choices are limited to the following... Royals excursion, HoHo bus, Taci or walk the 3 miles. If I had to do it all over again, and wanted to go to the point, I’d do the Royal Excursion.

 

Excited to find and follow along with this thread as we have a 15 day booked on Explorer of the seas next summer! We start/end in southampton though (I wish it was amsterdam).

 

I thought I saw some castle tour listed as an option for Skagen? Was that available to you to book? Not sure how great of a castle it is, but doesnt seem like much else to do in Skagen.

[bobmacliberty]

 

Tomorrow is Stockholm and one of the spots that has perked my interest the most, the Vasa Museum. It’s another walking tour vis Viator that includes skip the lines to the Vasa Museum. #5635MUSTSEE As usual I’ll report in afterwards.

 

One of my very favorite museums. I loved learning both about what life was like when she was built, as well as the modern salvage efforts. Enjoy!

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Excited to find and follow along with this thread as we have a 15 day booked on Explorer of the seas next summer! We start/end in southampton though (I wish it was amsterdam).

 

I thought I saw some castle tour listed as an option for Skagen? Was that available to you to book? Not sure how great of a castle it is, but doesnt seem like much else to do in Skagen.

 

I’m not sure to be honest as we didn’t look to book anything here. From what I can tell, the big deal here is the ’Point’ of the land that separates the North Sea from the Baltic Sea. Thus allowing for one to make a photo opportunity of wading out and then standing in two different seas!

[Goodtime Cruizin]

If I can chip in here briefly, if it was like us on Adventure in 2014 then you will be bombarded with announcements that "ships tours must leave first etc etc".

 

Ignore this and be waiting to get off with your small group. The ships tours with their numbers cause chaos at customs and you do not want to be behind them.

 

We were through in 10 minutes, a lot of ships tours were 2 - 3 hours late leaving the first morning.

 

Apologies if I have already posted this, I try and put the same message on any appropriate post to help people out on private tours in SPB.

 

Goodtime Cruizin I'm loving your report, its bringing back some great memories so thank you :)

 

We actually never heard any announcements. If these were made, they were after we disembarked. On both days. In fact, no one even asked us what excursion we were taking and/or what our plans were. I have the feeling that the practice of Royal Excursions are off the ship first have been discontinued. At least for this cruise anyway.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Well we made it to Old Town and are sitting in front of the Nobel Museum, in the square at a quaint little cafe having a coffee. We once again have been blessed w amazing weather. Today’s forecast is Sunny & mid-60s all day. One can taxi of course to old town Stockholm or take a shuttle bus for $15pp, RT, from the ship port. We chose the shuttle bus and bought the tickets this morning at Guest Services. We are people watching while waiting on our guide. The coffee is delicious and our server has a good sense of humor. Life is good.