sugarbird

Come stay on St John (I live on St John) Plenty of places to stay and post Irma we appreciate each and every one of you visiting us - thank you.

Thanks--but--I owned a home on St. John for 38 years--sold it in August, 2017--just before the hurricane--house survived ok.

Also we are staying on St. John before the cruise.

We are on the Feb. 16--San Juan to St Thomas.

Sorry

We are on a cruise that ends in St. Thomas this February--what time can we be off the ship and on our way to the airport.

Jet Blue has a 10:38AM--I am assuming I cannot make this flight.

My wife and I did a similar cruise on SS Vancouver to Tokyo 4 years ago in September.

We loved it!! Petropavlovsk was our favorite stop--many snow covered volcanos and a nice city. Kodiac and Hakodate were also good stops--especially the fish market in Hakodate,

The 4 sea days crossing the Bering Sea--3 were very calm--1 was slightly rough.

This was one of my favorite cruises--well traveled passengers, very good lecturers, etc.

PS--The only cold place was excursion to volcano in Kamchata Peninsula.

To add to the recent discussion of my excessive bill on Oceania--I have shown my detailed bill and treatments to my primary care doctor and 2 other doctors--they all felt the charges were excessive and hard to believe.

Details are important--however almost $9000 for this type of treatment is still outrageous--I can speak for several others on the cruise who felt the same way.

Also the doctor had the same treatment for everyone who had a cold and saw him. It was like a standard procedure for cold treatment.

I never said it was for cold medicine--I had IV antibiotics and other meds--they also did a chest x-ray--my cold did not go away easily--when I get home I saw my primary care doctor--who gave me some antibiotics and a cough syrup prescription--I was normal in 3 days.Even with all that I thought the cruise ship charges were excessive.

By the way--so did anyone else I met that had seen the doctor.

My wife and I have taken 33 ocean cruises since 2001. Our last one was on Oceania in January from Lima to Tahiti (lots of sea days)

I came down with a bad cold saw the shipboard doctor. He had me return 4 days in a row. My bill was $8900. I ran into 3 or 4 others who had the same problem and a similar bill.

I have never visited the doctor on any previous cruise--but thought the fee was outrageous. I have supplemental and cruise ship insurance --so it will all be covered--it is still in process. We have been on 6 previous Oceania cruises but probably will not do another. I have never heard of bills like this on our other cruises--Seabourn, Silversea, RCCL, Celebrity,Crystal and Norwegian.

I had an angioplasty 5 years ago--the price was about $2000 more than this. Seems hardly comparable!!!

My wife and I did Easter Island (Rappa Nui) this January off an Oceania cruise. We were able to tender in both days--the crew did an amazing job!!We also stopped at Pitcairn--most of the people who live there came on board our ship for talks and to sell t-shirts, etc. .

We think the Silversea explorer ships would be great ( we have many more cruises on Silversea then on Oceania).

Now that we are home, if I had it to do over again--I would fly from Santiago to Easter Island -- 10 flights a week --1 flight a week from Tahiti. The trip is worth 2 or 3 days--over 1000 of the Moai statues--also the coastline is very spectacular because of the rough seas.

My wife and I have visited China many times--I would never buy currency in the US--the exchange rates and fees are much higher than using an ATM in China. An international ATM is easy to find at airports and most major cities in China.

My wife and I were there about 3 years ago--off a Silverseas cruise. The fish market in Hakodate was the highlight of our visit--it is large and very very interesting. You can walk from there along the waterfront area until you get to a very nice Starbucks--there is good shopping nearby.

I should have mentioned that we dock at 6:00AM

We will be disembarking in St. Martin on the Star Breeze on November 25. American Airlines has 2 flights to Miami.

1) 9:00AM

2) 5:08PM

If we carry our own luggage off the ship after clearing customs, can we make the 9:00AM flight?

I am on the same cruise and started researching private tour companies in Petropavlovsk 12-18 months out. I finally settled on KAMCHATINTOUR http://www.kamchatintour.ru

 

We have selected our itinerary and they have answered all of our questions promptly (in English). We now have a tour ticket for the four of us, which is also called a blanket visa or booking confirmation. This should allow us to disembark the ship without delay or any bureaucratic delays with the customs officials.

We did the equivalent of the winter Fairy Tale Tour--this was in late September so there was no snow at the level we were touring. The weather at the volcano site was probaly mid 40's F.

Every one has different expectations of cities--but this city is "surrounded by remarkable scenery"--per Wikipedia. It can easily be seen. I highly concur. There are no roads here from the peninsula to other parts of Russia.

I have not been to Vladivostok--but I am sure I would enjoy it there also.

I should also mention that the trip by all terrain vehicle starts on highways but then goes up trails and dry snow drainage areas to reach the foot of 2 or 3 nearby volcanoes. It is a rough ride but worth it.

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we will be arriving at Petropaviovsk, Russia May 14th, 2017 from Celebrity Millennium ship for 1-day (7am-7pm). Your review sounds so exciting!!! Was your excursion via your cruise ship or was it on your own? If other than cruise ship, can you please share your source information? Thank you so much,

It was a Silversea tour by all terrain vehicles. If I remember correctly--There were only about 3 tor 4 tour options and this was the only one by all terrain vehicle to drive up near several of the snow covered volcanos. About 50 or 60 of us did the tour. It was great!! Since not many cruise ships stop here, I am not sure how good local private tours would be--this is a a very very remote area of Russia. Near the fish market is a gun shop which was interesting to see---its in the same small mall--You could arm a small army there.

In recent years I have never had a problem finding an ATM machine that will accept my debit card in Japan or China. Some bank ATM machines do not accept our cards--but in Japan 7/11 is every where--and international banks like HSBC and Bank of China are easy to find,

I would never take currency from a USA bank--I might decide later on a different amout to need--and their rates of exchange are much greater.,

Stronly recommend ships tour to Borobudur!! It took us almost 3 hours with a police escort, It should not be missed-- great temple -- major companies like IBM and Siemens, etc. helped in restoration.

My wife and I did a Silversea Cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo about 4 years ago. We stopped at Petropavlovsk. It was to us the most interesting stop of our trip --nice city--the peninsula is full of snow covered volcanos which make a great shore excursion by a specially built all terrain vehicles. The Peninsula also has a very large brown bear population and is noted for having some of the best fly fishing in the world. The city itself is nice and interesting with an excellent small fish market. The people in the city were very nice and very friendly since they do not see many foreigners.

Also, the cruise from Kodiak Island across the Bering Sea was very smooth except for 1 day of mild discomfort.

My wife and I returned from Abu Dhabi through Doha to Miami on April 10. we flew Qatar Air business class. We kept our 2 tablets and my laptop in carry on luggage until the departure gate in Doha. There they screened all carry on luggage--and placed our tablets and my laptop in bubble wrap --and put them in a cardboard box. They the gave us a receipt to claim them in Miami. In Miami there was a separate desk to claim these items with your receipt. The whole process was painless and very secure.

We had purchased some paperbacks books to read in Dubai Mall ( Kinokuniya Book Store). The flight was great and we would have no problem flying the same way.

My understanding is that the recent USA raid in Yemen yielded info that airlines flying from the Middle East to the USA and some Europe destinations were a potential terror target. Safety procedures are ok with me and my wife.,

Not sure what you are looking for---This is the 3rd time you have asked this question!!!

We have been to Boracay 3 times --but never off a cruise ship. This would be a tender stop--no dock.

I believe the tender takes you to Cataclan--and you take an outrigger boat from there and land on the beach--so wear sandals that are waterproof or flip flops. From the landing you can take a Tuk Tuk--3 wheeled motor taxi to Great White beach Station 2.

It is great fun to walk along the beach--many small hotels and restaurants.

My wife and I have had a 2nd home on St John for 38 years. St John is one of the worlds special places!! If you do not mind the travel time ---go to St John.

Beaches on St Thomas are nice--and Sapphire is enjoyable--but none are comparable to St John. St Thomas has 50,000 people--St John approx. 5,000. Most(2/3) of the Island is a National Park.

Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, Maho, Framcis, etc are all good.

My wife and I have done this on Oceania. The Cape Verde Islands were a great stop. Very clean--nice people--great fish market.

Not sure what you mean by wildlife--you are too far from the coast of Africa to see any animal life--as you would be going up the coast of Brazil.

Our stop in the Canary Islands was nice also--Arrecefe, Lanzarote--good shops and outdoor cafes

Casablanca was a major disappointment--we like Tangier much better

The Ocean was like a "bathtub" on our trip--very smooth

Halong Bay is a terrific experience---however, so is Hanoi despite the long ride---The French Quarter, The house where Ho Chi Minh lived, the old city, Hanoi Hilton(where John Mccain was held), etc

If it is still there --try the Cafe Mocha for lunch--very atmospheric--like an old Humphry Bogart movie.

If you go to Hanoi -- stay overnight

Halong Bay is also great--floating villages, great scenery.

You can do both if you do Hanoi in 1 day--we have done that 2 times--

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