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On 8/24/2023 at 7:36 PM, Ret MP said:

VA does sound like the answer, but it also sounds a little too "Footloose and fancy-free" if you know what I mean.  I'm just an old fart approaching 72 in two months.

My daughter (45) did VA in May and had a ball.  She said it was like Spring Break for older people. Her pictures of all the theme nights and parties are pretty outrageous, but funny.

Onboard Quest now. Famous Grouse is the bottle in our room. We have had a wonderful cruise. This was our first Azamara cruise and we have already booked another!

On 1/14/2022 at 12:06 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

It was beautiful out this morning - 37F(just under 3C) and sunny with a lovely blue sky. We walked through local woods (Long Plantation) which are part of the Wolds Way down to the River Humber and back home.

 

 

One of my favorite shows is Escape to the Country on dablHD.   I just watched one that featured Wolds Way.  I have learned more about the UK from watching this show than I did in my European history classes in college.

We walked into town and then took the BigRed Bus hop-on-hop-off tour.  Tallin is very hilly, but small and very walkable.

My husband and I have done that before on RCI.  We kept the clubs on the balcony. 

My husband and I and our best travel companion couple stayed there for a week a few years ago in a villa with pool at a lovely resort.  The island is very French and also low key.  We drove a bit on the narrow roads and walked to restaurants down the beach from us. One of the most relaxing vacations we have ever had and we all still talk about it to this day.  The shops are tiny and the restaurants are tiny, but so beautiful and the whole place is enchanting.  My daughters still talk about the time "mom, came back from a beach vacation with no tan lines!"  

So I just finished reading some of the latest reviews and wanted to tell you that I experienced none of the bad things that the reviewers mentioned.  My review was posted in May of 2016.  Anyway, the staff all spoke English perfectly.  The entertainers sang in English almost exclusively even though their spoken English was not perfect. Rooms were clean and turn down was twice a day.  Our waiters knew our preferences by the second day and even had our morning Bloody Mary's ready for us when we came in for breakfast. I spent many hours in the spa and it was wonderful.  The small entertainment venues were our favorite way to finish up the evening. One evening after their show, I mentioned to one of the singers the name of a song that I thought she would sing well and she learned it the next day and performed it for us that night!  The servers there knew our nightly drink order.  We are planning another trip with Costa in the fall.  

My husband and I were on the Luminosa in 2016 and loved it!  Great food, wonderful service, excellent stateroom and fantastic trip.

Hello,

My husband and I did a Costa cruise in the Baltics two years ago and loved it. All the crew spoke English, as well as the entertainers. As far as we could tell we were the only Americans on board, but we did meet some Canadians. We practiced some basic Italian before we left and used it often. Of the Italian couples we hung out with, at least one spoke English so it was really not a problem. Have fun!!

Several years ago I was with a group of students on a bus tour of England and France. Two women on the tour refused to do the routine of switching seats after the different stops. They wanted the front seats on the top deck of the bus and would not let anyone else switch for any period of time. It got to the point where they refused to leave the bus to visit the actual monuments ( Stonehenge, Notre Dame, etc.) because they did not want to lose their precious seats. We all wondered why they wanted to travel. As it happened, one of them fell and broke her ankle the last evening and sure enough the next day, her friend was trying to run us all down pushing that wheelchair through the airport since she had to be first. I have always hoped that she had a window seat on that plane!

My husband and I loved our Costa cruise to the Baltic. The food was great, and the ship (Luminosa) was beautiful. The only English speakers were the staff and a few passengers. The majority were Italians, but we never felt left out. The entertainment is OK in the theater, but the small venues had wonderful singers and musicians. Do tours on your own because there will not be any for English speakers.

I think Copenhagen would be best since there are lots of bicycles there and they have special bike and foot path lanes. Tallinn is very hilly. Helsinki would be good, especially along the Bay of Finland.

We recently stayed at the Comfort Hotel Vesterbro. It is a 5 minute walk from the train station and about 10 minutes from Tivoli Gardens. Great room and breakfast. Also the bar had a wonderful live band and had us dancing one evening until late, late, late!

My husband and I used them last year for the two day tour and it was excellent. We had a great time and they got us in everywhere ahead of the crowds.

I agree that the only formal tours you need will be in St. Petersburg. At the other ports just use the big Red Hop on Hop off buses. Each town has several routes the buses take and you can do multiple ones if you wish. Be sure to go to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and Skansen in Stockholm. You can get all the currencies at your bank, but it may take a few days for some of them to be ordered.

My husband and I loved everything about our Costa Luminosa cruise last May. We have another Costa cruise booked for October, 2017. I thought it was great being the only Americans on the ship and my turquoise jewelry and southwestern type clothing was a big hit with the Italians!

Hello,

My husband and I stayed a couple of days in the Gallipoli area in May of 2012 and spent an entire day with a private guide walking around the battlefield. It was incredibly moving for us to see Sulvla Bay and Anzac Cove from atop Chunuk Bair and imagine what it looked like so long ago. We also walked to Walker's Ridge Cemetery and read the inscriptions on the tombstones. We went to the Turkish cemetery as well, and the whole day was a memorable experience. Our Turkish guide kept trying to puzzle out why we were there. He kept thinking we were Australians. The one thing that my husband and I both discussed after that amazing day was that we had the same song going through our heads the entire time. I have a link to it here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA961ER34Co.

You can fly from Saint Maarten or take a boat. The flight is pretty intense, think small plane and short runway. The food is wonderful and the beaches are gorgeous with good snorkeling. At least you can pack light because the beaches are clothing optional. When we got home after a week there my daughters asked me, "Mom why don't you have any tan lines?!"

We had this package on our recent Costa cruise in May and we had Bloody Mary's every morning to counteract the effects of the evening before! It took them awhile to get the "extra spicy", but they finally managed!

Cozumel Country Club for a round of golf is my favorite excursion. Beautiful facility and great golf. Will be going there for the third time next year.

Just FYI,

On our recent voyage on the Luminosa you are able to exchange currency for whatever country you will be visiting. They do have certain hours for this. The hours for currency exchange on our ship were from 4:00pm to 6:00pm or in reality, from anytime after 4:00pm when the officer assigned to this task decides to arrive until said officer decides to close up shop and go grab a cocktail!

We really loved the cruise!!

In Tallin you just walk off the ship and there is a HOHO bus stop right after you go through the front gate or you can turn left and walk into town. Tallin is hilly so the bus is a good idea.

There is no action in Helsinki that I saw!! You can walk around the bay and there are cafes and places to sunbathe. We walked up to the antique shops and flea market and rode the HOHO bus around town.

Stockholm was great!!! There was a HOHO bus that picked us up at the pier, but it would not be a long walk to the first stop. Lots of restaurants and bars downtown. Gamla Stan was really interesting and oh, my the shopping!!! We really loved walking around Skansen and spent several hours there.

The food in our restaurant featured a different area of Italy every night. The meals were great, but we ate local things when we were off the ship. Herring in Stockholm, Borsht in St. Petersburg, lots of cavier and vodka in Tallin.

You can read my review if you want, but we loved our time at the Libra Bar. The duos who played in that venue were excellent and be sure to get LeRoy or John as your waiters there.

I had a few more thoughts for you:

Do the Hop on Hop off buses in Helsinki, Tallin and Stockholm. You can walk to the stops from the pier and it is a great value.

Be sure to take your kids to Skansen, the open air museum in Stockholm. It is on the HOHO bus tour. Allow plenty of time for that one.

Learn a few Italian phrases because believe me these will come in handy. The staff speak English and some of the passengers, but most everyone will be speaking Italian, with some French and Spanish mixed in.

The band that plays in the Atrium on Deck 3 are amazing. Lots of covers of American Rock groups. You guys will love it. Also the duos who play in the Libra Bar at night are really good and very enjoyable. We went there every night!

If you want bacon and eggs for breakfast they make that at the grill by the pool so you have to go out there.

If you have some specific questions, please ask me.

I looked in the buffet two weeks ago and only saw pizza and salads. They were, however, cooking burgers and fries at the grill and those looked really good. :)

My husband and I stayed in Copenhagen for two nights prior to our cruise two weeks ago. I got Danish Kronor before we left and used it for cab fair and incidentals. Be sure to go to Tivoli Gardens while you are there. Beautiful place and plenty of restaurants. We took the guided walking tour from City Hall and also enjoyed the National Museum of Denmark. Any souvenirs from the museum gift shop can be mailed home at a reasonable cost. Our box arrived just the other day and it was packed beautifully, nothing broken. Be sure to walk in the walking lanes and not the bike lanes. Those guys ride fast and do not like to stop!:D