Seahorse Lover

I hope you are correct!!!

Thank you for all of your responses. I just called Royal Caribbean and the answer was the same, Naples is a tender port.  The person on the phone suggested I work with guest services once on board the ship to see if they can help us get off in Naples in a timely manner.

I will plan on 30 minutes to disembark in the other, docked, ports. Thanks, Norwich.

We haven’t cruised on anything with more than 600 passengers in a long time so I am prepared for culture shock…..anything for the grandkids!

And then, after passengers are cleared to disembark, are ships tours given preference and, if so, then how long do people with private tours need to wait until they can go ashore?

My TA said that we will tender in Naples?  So how long will people with private tours need to wait until they are allowed a spot on a tender?

I am attempting to ascertain when to let private guides know we will be ready to begin our tour and how many hours we will really have available to tour.

Thank you!

We are booked on the Symphony Western Med cruise in June.  How long will it take us to get off the ship and join our private tour in docked ports?  In tender ports?

Thank you!

Does anyone know if we need to apply for this online form to enter South Korea for a one day stop on the Oceania Nautica?

Thanks!

Does anyone know if a K-ETA needs to be applied for online for our one day stop in Busan?

We will be on a Western Mediterranean cruise in June with our Son, DIL and 14 & 12 year old Grandsons.  Can anyone recommend especially interesting shore excursions/activities/private guides for the port of Naples on a Friday and La Spezia on a Wednesday?

Also, we will be staying in Rome for a few days pre and post cruise.  Activities/Private Guides and hotel recommendations would be most appreciated.

Thank you!

We will be on a Western Mediterranean cruise in June with our Son, DIL and 14 & 12 year old Grandsons.  Can anyone recommend especially interesting shore excursions/activities/private guides for the port of Barcelona on a Sunday and Palma de Mallorca on a Monday?

Thank you!

We will be on a Western Mediterranean cruise in June with our Son, DIL and 14 & 12 year old Grandsons.  Can anyone recommend especially interesting shore excursions/activities/private guides for the port of Marseille on a Tuesday?

Thank you!

Thanks so much for all of these helpful ideas!

Happy travels and stay healthy!!!

Thank you so much for sharing your helpful review!  All suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated.

FANTASTIC SUGGESTIONS!  Thank you so much.  I will be back in touch later as the 6 of us put our heads together to plan a fun inter-generational trip and decide what sounds good to all.

Thank you very much, everyone, for all of the great suggestions!!!! 

Since the cruise is 18 months from now we haven't decided on when to arrive and fly home from Copenhagen.  I would imagine we would have half a day on our arrival day, at least one full day in the city and the morning that we board the ship.  We may decide to add one more day to that in Denmark.  I am also toying with the idea of a two day layover in Iceland IF the Icelandic airfare (which allows extended layovers on the Island) is competitive with other options.  I think in Copenhagen the boys would enjoy the changing of the guards, Tivoli, the waterfront area and perhaps a canal boat tour.  Please chime in with other kid friendly ideas .

My husband and I did a similar Baltic cruise many years ago and I do remember the exhausting day to Berlin.  The oldest grandson is reading books centered around WWII currently, so we will need to discuss whether his interest warrants the loooong train ride.  I would welcome suggestions for kid-friendly Berlin and Rostock/Warnemunde activities and guides.

Thanks again for your input and keep it coming!!!!!

We are planning a Baltic Cruise on Sky Princess for June of 2021.  Travelling with us will be our son, daughter-in-law and their sons, ages 10 and 12 at sailing time.  We leave and return to Copenhagen and visit Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallin and the port for Berlin.  Can anyone recommend private tour guides who would be able to tailor our tours so they are enjoyable for all of us and who are personable with kids?  Also, we would be interested in hearing about any must dos or don't bothers for our days ashore.

Thank you!

I have been reading this zoo thread with great interest since we are interested in seeing as many native Australian animals as possible.  Can anyone tell me if Fairy Blue Penguins are on view at either Taronga or Featherdale or any other facility in Sydney, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane or Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary near Hobart?  Thank you!

Thank you for your replies.  Viking tells me that we are docking at the Portside Hamilton location, but given the traffic described I am now looking at a behind the scenes tour from noon to 3pm.  I would think that would leave plenty of time to get back for a 5pm sailing.  I looked at the Australian Zoo and it has much more than Australian wildlife and is further away, as you indicated.  We have a topnotch zoo at home for the African animals and we have been on safari, so we are more interested in the native Australian animals for this day.

Yes, our cruise is a segment of the World Cruise.  Looking forward to meeting all of you on board!

We are on the Sydney to Hong Kong sailing in Feb of 2020.  We are scheduled to dock in Brisbane at 8 am.  I would like to book a private 45 minutes with a koala at Lone Koala Sanctuary.  The first time is at 9 am.  Would it be possible for us to grab a cab and make this session or should I miss the Tasmanian Devil session and book a Koala session at 3 pm to be on the safe side?

Thank you!

We are looking at a Northern European cruise on Disney for the summer of 2021.  How do I find out when "opening day" for booking is?

Thank you!

We were on the Undiscovered China tour in October of 2017.

This is what we experienced:

No External Battery CHARGERS (like the ones in the link above) were allowed through security. The ones that plug into the wall to recharge your camera batteries are ok.

NO LIQUIDS IN CARRYONS. All liquids need to go into checked baggage. Take wipes instead of hand sanitizer for flight days.

NO BATTERIES IN CHECKED BAGS. All batteries need to be in your carryons. They x-ray checked luggage and if they find a battery or cell phone in them they will call you and have you remove it.

On our internal China flights we were only allowed ONE checked bag.

We were allowed a personal item (purse) and one carryon. I carried on a pretty large purse and a backpack without issue. My husband had a camera roller bag.

The entire trip is amazing and Viking does a very nice job. Beijing had tons of interesting things to see.

Enjoy!

Thank you for the link, gnome12. My question came from Smbruner's Post #4346 on page 218 of this thread. The #12 tip in the post describes and recommends the Silk Art Gallery. I'm not sure if the link from Trip Advisor describes the same place, but it was interesting anyway.

Glad to hear we'll be on the same adventure, candkd. Looking forward to meeting you! I am NOT looking forward to the decisions of packing, but shorts won't be included for us. Peregrina651's suggestions will be followed..various layers.

We will not be taking the extension to Hong Kong, but have added on two extra days in Beijing and have hired private guides to show us other parts of the city not covered by the Viking tours.

Thanks, again, to all who offer TONS of good advise.

Is anyone able to provide an address or directions to the Shanghai Silk Art Gallery?

Thank you!

WOW!!! Thank you so much for all of the great advise!!!

I do have a couple of questions for now, with I am sure more to come later :).

Did anyone get vaccinations for this destination other than being current with normal recommended ones?

Can you tell me about your experience at the panda research center? This was the reason we choose this particular trip with Viking.

Our information shows our trip going from Shanghai to Beijing, which sounds the opposite of yours?

Do you need to sign up for the drink package in advance or once you get on the ship? And do you sign up for any additional activities in advance or once you arrive in China?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!!! I'm gonna start my walking routine :)

I am learning sooooo much from this China thread. Thank you to all posters!

We are booked on the October 8, 2017 Viking "Undiscovered China" trip. Has anyone taken this trip and is willing to report on any differences from the preceding posts?

Thanks in advance :)

We circumnavigated Iceland on Lindblad/National Geographic this past summer. It was a great trip. Iceland is an amazing place. Plan to spend some days exploring before and/or after your cruise if possible.

Lindblad strongly recommends NOT venturing off the hotel property on your own. Sorry I was not there long enough on our layover last March to need to look for a guide.

Have a great, safe trip!