clbkatz

Decided to go with Alla tours. Just made our reservations. We will be in St Petersburg in Aug 2020 and are very excited.

Ok you all have convinced me. I am for sure going to do a private tour now! I googled SPB tours and two websites come up. Can anyone tell me the right website for the right SPB tour company everyone is using. I see spb-tours.com and spbtours.com. Thank you all for your input, it really helped me and I am looking forward to my time in Russia so much more now!

Thanks Steve, that was very helpful. I feel much better about this now. thanks everyone!!

Thanks to you all for the wonderful replies. I think I will check into doing a private tour now.  Now that I see they will handle the Visa's. Do the large tour companies mail the Visa 's to me?  Do they take payment for the tour prior to getting there or once we finish the tour? Let's just use SPB tours as an example. I am kind of leaning towards them at the moment. 

Has anyone done this tour with Celebrity? They offer it in a regular group on a motor coach bus and then in a small group on a van. I was wondering if the difference between doing it on a van versus a bus is worth paying the extra money?. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Thank you Shmoo here!

I am taking my first Disney cruise in December. I have cruise all of the other lines, extensively so I am very familiar with cruising. I wanted to experience a Disney cruise which is why I decided to do this cruise. I know past guests have access to book shore excursions and other things ahead of time. The day the tours etc. opened up I went on to book my tours and the one tour I wanted in St. Thomas was already sold out along with several of the on board experiences (like rum tastings etc) that we can pre-book! This is one thing I am not crazy about with Disney. I know after this I will not be a 1st timer any more but I think about other people and it just doesn't seems right. I have never not got a tour I wanted with any other cruise line.

My question is do I have a chance of this tour opening up again? Or any of the on board experiences?

If the tour doesn't open, can I take a taxi to this beach, does anyone know the cost and how far it is from the ship?

Thank you in advance for your replies. They are greatly appreciated!

I will be taking my first Oceania cruise in April 2019. I am a frequent cruiser on the mainstream lines (Princess, RCI, HAL, NCL, Disney Carnival), however mostly I prefer to cruise on Celebrity. I was wondering does Oceania allow smoking in the Casinos. One reason I love Celebrity is because they do not allow it. Thanks!

They are a reputable company and AAA also recommends them.

Excellent report filled full of great information. I am going on the May 29 sailing and found this post so helpful. Thanks!

One of the reasons I prefer DCL is because there is no casino. On a number of cruise lines, smoking is permitted in the casino and you can't traverse the ship from stern to bow without walking through the casino. And the only time I've visited a ship's casino was only because the entertainment options didn't interest me, meaning the casino was my only diversion.

Might consider Celebrity as they do not allow smoking in their casinos.

I would love this information too for the same reason! Hopefully someone out there can post them. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for all the replies. If there is anyone going on this cruise soon, if possible, could you take pics of the menus each evening? That would be so helpful. I hate making a reservation for specialty dining then come to see the dinner at the main restaurant is something I would like to have tried. Thanks so much!

Anyone who has been on this cruise have any of the dinner menus? I am going in August and would like to see the menus for each night so I can make a few decisions on some evening activities. Thanks in advance.

I just booked the 15 night package on Xpedition for 2017 while I was on the Equinox in July and asked about the booking on board discount or OBC on current sailing offer and I was told there is nothing offered on the Xpedition sailings. They do still offer the elite discount if you are Elite.

Thank you all for your input. I greatly appreciate it. I will check into doping the Peru extension on my own.

I have booked this for March 2017, but now I am reading post after post (so many of them), and questioning if this is the best time to go. Does anyone have any opinions on this? I want to be able to get in the waters and snorkel and/or swim and not freeze, plus I really want to swim with the seals. Is March a good time for this. I know the waters should be warm during this time of the year but will it rain more days than not and be too hot that I will be miserable? And what about the weather in Peru & Ecuador during this time? Any input is greatly appreciated.

I will be flying into Athens on 7/9 then taking the Celebrity Equinox cruise on 7/11. I will try and post what I observe on my stay there. Hopefully all goes well. Booked private transfers to take us from airport to hotel then from hotel to ship. Reconfirmed with company and they said all is ok.

Turnaround day is in Istanbul.

Anyone out there who did the back to back sailings on the Equinox this month? I am curious as to how soon you were able to get off the ship on turnaround day. I am booked on the back to back sailings for this July and would love to know. I have a private tour booked for the turnaround day and need to know a pick up time to tell the guide. Thank you in advance to anyone who can answer this question for me!

I am doing a back to back in July on the Equinox. Does anyone have any idea of what time we would be allowed to get off of the ship that day? I have a private tour set up and I am not sure what time I should tell them to pick us up. Thanks!

Can anyone who has recenly sailed on the Valor tell me if there is a lot of dancing available on this ship in the evenings after dinner? And at what Venues? I recently went on a cruise and there was NO dancing at all and I was very disappointed. Before spending a lot of money only to be disappointed again, I thought I would pick a couple itineraries I like then ask around. Thank you!

Can anyone who has sailed on Freedom of the Seas recently tell me if there are many opportunities to dance after dinner on this ship? And in what venues? Recently went out on Brilliance of the Seas and there was no dancing at all available on this cruise. Would like to know before spending a lot of money just to be disappointed again. Thanks to all who reply!