Frugalsgirl

We also stayed at the Bauer but I believe it is closed for a year for renovations 

We have recently booked the Rocky Mountaineer followed by a cruise. The cruise company did offer a package but only with one night prior to train and given that we are flying in from Uk we felt that was not enough time. We have,therefore, gone with a TA locally and designed our own tour 

Thanks les37b

we have logged in and tried again and it is saying accepted 🤞🏻. I also thought the referral should have been independent of the TA . Do we both have to complete form?. I thought it would only be us as we are the vs members and the referrer. I have ongoing issues with my silversea giving me access and from what I hear I’m not the only one. 

We are VS members and our BiL and Sil are joining us. First time cruisers. We booked with TA who tells us SS will not allow us referral payment as they gave the TA a substantial discount?  Anyone else hear this? 

I would like to go on the whale watching trip provided by the ship but would also like to consider the helicopter and walk on the glacier. As the whale trip is in the morning and we are in port till evening has anyone done the helicopter trip mid afternoon privately? The ship only offers both in the morning    Thanks

I recall an email stating that you would not see spa booking until after the 31stMarch for Silver Dawn due to introduction of Otivm   This is hopefully the reason you cannot see it and book

I’m not on the moon but have recently book our excursions on Dawn .Unfortunately one of the salt trip has already been cancelled and I chose a replacement from what was previously an included trip but on My Silversea account it is charging for this trip.  I am presuming this can be rectified once on board 🤞🏻

Thanks for this Jazzbeau 

Hi. We are also departing from Venice but in April. I am thinking we will be embarking at Port Marghera- the new departure point for large cruise ships.  Can anyone confirm this is the departure point for SS in 2022? 
thanks

Many many thanks. Just starting to look but had no idea what to look for that has been very helpful 

Hi. We are hoping to combine a HAL cruise with a Rocky Mountaineer trip. This will be our first trip with HAL. We would be looking at balcony or above. Have done suites on previous cruises. What are folks thoughts and what are the benefits from suites. Thanks

Hi

We have sailed Epic in a balcony as our first cruise and it was great. We then sailed Oceania in a penthouse suite and it was fabulous. We are trying the Haven aft penthouse in October so we will see how it compares. Very different ships and experience. We never made it to the entertainment, food was out of the world. We were about the youngest. We are 50. Only saw one very small child who was accompanied by what looked like a nanny. It was a Baltic cruise so now one else was hardy enough to use the pool. We are from Scotland and while we sun bathed others from Florida were wrapped in fleece blankets! It was a lovely experience so more relaxed. I would go again in a flash if the budget allowed. HAven is not so expensive so it will be good to see how it compares to our original cruise on Epic and that on Oceania. Being Scottish we are known for not parting with our well earned cash easily!

Really No hair straighteners allowed. ?! Can anyone tell me when they were banned? I have read previously on the boards they were ok to take.

Thanks

Hi SashaVind

We are from Scotland and know this area quite well. It does look like a great tour and if the weather is on your side you will have a fantastic day out. Others also go to visit Nessie on Loch Ness and Urquhart castle as an alternative day out. Personally I would stick with your choice as Struie views are great and Dunrobin and Dornoch lovely. If you are really into your whisky Glenmorangie in very nearby.

Thanks Rick for an enjoyable, informative and fun review. Loved the runway show- must encourage hubby to take a leaf out of your book

Many thanks Sundiego and birdtravels

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has a room service menu they can post?

Thanks

We were going to take the train but when we got off the ship there were numerous taxis. We haggled a price to Pompeii and another chap askedif he could join us. En route we agreed a price for the driver to come back for us. We arranged a pick up point at the exit. He dropped us at the entrance refused to take any money from us until we got back to the pier. Worked out really cheap. We were there before any crowds or organised trips.

Denzo

It was a lot of walking. Started at the Olympic stadium then walked at another site bused to the Reichstag. Then lots of walking round Berlin centre with short hop on the minibus to the next wander. Guide was very informative. felt we saw lots.

We used SPB for Belin and St Petersburg. Both were excellent. You got a discount when you booked more than one. It was a long day to Berlin but saw lots. Highly recommended.

Being from Scotland the North Sea is always cold. It can be flat calm one day and very rough the next and that doesn't depend on the time of year! Saying that we went on a September Baltic cruise taking in Copenhagen and Hamburg etc and we had glorious weather. Flat seas and warm temperatures. We were in our swimwear sunbathing but we are from Scotland as I said. The folks from Florida were wearing fleeces and the pool guy was handing out blankets much to our amusement Temperatures were low 20s but cooler early morning and after dinner.

We often do our own thing in ports but after looking into StPetersburg as others have said the cost and hassle it wasn't worth it. We prebooked SPB tours for ourselves and contacted them with where when and what we wished to do. They were fantastic and we saw and did everything we set out to do and then some.

They also offer small group tours which are even better value. Enjoy. It is a wonderful city.

Hi

We did a Baltic cruise a couple of years back. We used SPB for a couple of tours. A small group tour to Berlin which worked well. It was a long day but we did get around the sights. We has a private tour with them in st Petersburg which was fantastic. We were able to get into the sights often through the back door and often had rooms in both the summer palace and the winter palace to ourselves. We could work at our pace and if there were areas in the hermitage that we wanted to visit that was arrange also we were able to speed past areas we were not so interested in. The guide and driver on the whole were flexible re timings etc however when we asked to go to a local vodka bar that was met with raised eyebrows and did not happen. We got the impression they were concerned for our safety as when we went on the metro and down the Nevsky they were keen we left cameras , bags etc with the driver. That said we would highly recommend SPB. Tallin,Gadansk,Helsinki and Stockholm we did on our own very easily. Do get up very early arriving in Stockholm as the passage through the islands is amazing. We went to the vasa museum which was good but just along the road is the ABBA museum and that was such fun and a bit of light relief after a week of history. Hope you enjoy as much as we did