sonia2509

It's only Australian cruise intineries booked by an Australian travel agent

 

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Sorry it is any cruise booked here with RCL group - as I said I booked a Panama Canal cruise for September 2018, I normally pick the Classic Beverage and prepaid Gratuities as my perks with Celebrity. As the price already includes prepaid gratuities it has been replaced with $150 onboard credit. You can go onto the Celebrity website and complete a dummy booking and you will see this perk is no longer available and replaced with $150 on board credit and then do a dummy booking on the U S website and the prepaid perk is there.

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I have booked a Panama Canal for September 2018 with Celebrity and my TA was advised by Celebrity any cruises booked since December (could be a bit earlier) gratuities are included in the price, wherever the cruise is sailing. The gratuities have not been removed it is a incorporated in the total price you pay.

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If the ship docks at Hamilton it is only approximately 10-15 minute drive to the airport if that, you need to be at the airport by 9.00 as it is a domestic flight you would have plenty of time. It is also a Sunday so there will not be too much traffic

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NZ seriously needs a Costco. Multiple ones.

Aldi would be better! I was speaking to my manager and she said you had no to Aldi's there. We can thank Aldi for finally breaking the monopoly of our two supermarket companies here and for prices of groceries going down these last few years

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SPBSTAN, Thank you for your insight. You hit it on the nose! :)

 

I may use Best Guides, which is smaller than the BIG Three.

Well said, that is exactly what we did. We went for a smaller company and designed our own tour. It was excellent and it wasn't your cookies cutter tour.

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Make sure you download the Uber app before you leave and register your credit card also. We have used Uber here in Australia as well as in Europe and my sister has used Uber in the States and we love it.

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You will need to pay cash and yes there are ATM's at the port terminal

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I am considering the Best Guides, Best of the Best. I've only heard good things about them. However, Alla Tours & SPB Tours are so famous.:confused:

It is because Alla and SPB Tours are more popular but that does not mean that they are the best. Contact 3 or 4 companies and from their you will see which one is best for you. On our Baltic Cruise I contacted SPB, Alla and Insider Tours regarding a personalised private tour. Only 2 responded SPB and it seems that they did not even read my email when I stated what I wanted and didn't want to see. Insider Tours responded quite quickly and did read my email and the itinerary was different to their normal tours. We did book with Insider and I have no hesitation in recommending them. Also do go on Tripadvisor read the reviews, I normally read the worst and the best and from there I make my decision. Go with who you feel comfortable with, I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the tour companies in St Petersburg

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I was being sarcastic - I could have googled this shows that they have picked a supposedly famous entertainer but who seems only to be famous in one country.

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I saw all the posts on Instagram can someone tell me who Demi Lovato is? Never heard her name until these posts she is not known in Australia....

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We flew home with Qantas from LA and we had those seats. I would not pick those seats again as there is a gap between the window seat and window and therefore you cannot lean against the window to sleep. I would also fly Virgin over Delta.

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We were on the Celebrity Eclipse, we booked a private tour and we were one of the first off and no one had priority disembarking. No mention was made that we had to do a ship excursion or that passengers on a ship excursion would disembark first. The port was handled the same as every other port on this wonderful cruise, only difference was the warning of pickpocketers that we received when we went to our rooms the night before we arrived in St Petersburg

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I have a million questions but I'll just ask a few:

 

1. In St. Petersburg, what things did you change from their standard tour? I feel like I want to see everything they list but wonder if some of us may get overloaded with beautiful palace/church/museums. I also like to see the local's everyday life when I visit places but not sure what to ask for except the subway.

 

2. Did you think the long day in Berlin was worth it or is it too much bus time? Is the 6 hours in Berlin walking around or mostly bus with getting off just for photo ops. And which Berlin tour did you pick? I can't decide on that either.

 

3. What did you do for meals - quick snack stops or any sit-down meals at restaurants? Did you arrange any of that beforehand or just go with what your tour guide suggested that day?

 

4. Were your guides really good? I don't know if we can request a specific one but if you remember their names, let me know.

 

Any other tips are welcome. I'll get in touch with Insider and see what they have to say too. Thanks!

Hi Janet

My answer to your questions are below - both in St Petersburg and Berlin we did private tours. We were two Australian couples and normally never do organised tours as we like to do our own thing and not be shuffled through museums, churches etc in a big group. I chose Insider Tours firstly as there communication was excellent and my emails were answered promptly, and they were the only one of the four tour companies that I emailed that were willing to change their tours to suit us. They definitely were not the cheapest especially with Berlin. My husband is not interested in churches and museums and palaces and this is why we looked at something different as all the tours go to the same churches and museums etc.

1. The only museum we saw was the Hermitage and this was on the second day (our last day) in the afternoon and we were only in there for about 2 hours, but in that 2 hours we saw so much as our tour guide (Natalia) knew exactly what was the best to see and we saw just the highlights. We did not go to any churches but we did see the Church of Spilled Blood from a bridge. Our first stop was the Farmers Market and then we went to Youpov Palace (which was much bigger than what I was expected and by the end of it I just wanted to get out of the Palace and sit down). That afternoon we went to the Summer Palace and saw the fountains and then walked the gardens which was wonderful. We then took a Subway ride between approximately 4 stations, and saw the wonderful mosaics in the Subway - we enjoyed the afternoon much more than the morning. The next day we walked Nesky Prospect and the back streets of Nesky Prospect, we then took a private canal ride - this was my favourite part of our St Petersburg - there was only 4 of us on the canal boat, and it was a beautiful morning and coming out of the canal into the main part of St Petersburg was amazing- they sometimes call St Petersburg "the Venice of the North" and I could have stayed on that canal boat all day and just watch the beautiful scenery. We then went to the Vodka Museum and had Vodka museum and tasted Salted Herring. That afternoon we went to the Hermitage Museum. If any places had a line up to get in, we never had to wait till get in as Natalia would talk to the person in the entry, and we would automatically get in ahead of everyone else in the line. Natalia should also recommend places for you to see based on what your interests are. The Subway and Private Canal tours were the highlights of these two days.

2. Berlin - is it worth - most definitely. Again we took a private tour and it was expensive but so so worth it. The car picked up from the port and we traveled in a very comfortable Mercedes van. It took us two and half hours to get to Berlin. We met our guide (Theo) who was Australian like us, and he asked us what we wanted to see. All four of us were interested in Pre/post WW2 and Cold War, and our tour started from this moment. He is fantastic in the way he brought history of this beautiful city to life. He spoke and show photos to show what that part of the city looked like in the past and now. We walked and the van would follow us and if walking would take to long to get to the next stop we would hop in the van and within 5 minutes we were in the next stop. We saw so much in Berlin and many times i was bought to tears in the stories he told of people trying to escape East Berlin, the torture of people by the SS etc. Berlin was our favourite port and I think is due to the wonderful tour guide we had in Theo. It was not a cheap day - it was $300 USD each but so worth it, I would highly recommend going to Berlin but if you can on a private tour, not in a bus of 30 people as you would not see everything.

3. In St Petersburg, Natalia booked us to eat at a Russian restaurant on the first day and then in the restaurant in the Vodka museum, the food was okay. As the day is so full on we did not have time to stop for a snack. In Berlin, Theo took us to a cafe at a major department store, where we ate German sausages, sauerkraut and German beer, this is what we wanted as we did not want to go to a restaurant and waste time. We did stop and have a coffee at a cafe just across the road for Checkpoint Charlie and enjoyed just sitting there for about 20 minutes and people watched.

4. Natalia was our guide for St Petersburg and she is also the owner of Insider Tours. Her english was excellent, and she knew her history of Russia, but we came away after two days listening to her talk with information overload. Theo is a freelance guide and is subcontracted by Insider tours and I think we were just very lucky to have him as our guide.

We were very happy with Insider Tours they were a very professional tour guide company and I have no hesitation recommending them.

A couple of tips, really research what you want to see in St Petersburg (tripadvisor and virtual tourist) are two websites that are great help, that way you see what you are interested in seeing. Berlin is worth the long day especially if you can get Theo as your tour guide. If you can do a private tour it is worth the extra cost especially in Berlin.

Good luck with you planning I would love you to come back and let me know what you have decided to book. Apologies for such a long reply, but anymore questions please ask.

Sonia

It looks my thread was deleted. I am not sure why. I would highly recommend Insider Tours, they organised the tour around what we would wanted to see and we were very happy with them. St Petersburg was the port I wanted to see the most but it was not my favourite port. It is a very full on 2 days and you are exhausted with information overload once it is finished. If you have any questions I am happy to answer them for you

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Our guide was an Australian and we were Aussies too. He was absolutely fantastic and I don't know if this made it such a wonderful day and it was our favourite port as well. We booked through Insider Tours and he was our guide. An amazing city that has gone through so much especially in the last 80 years

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We used Insider Tours and highly recommend them as well.

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Do it! Very easy to get to - on the hop and off ferry it is the same stop as the Vasa museum. Prebook your tickets online as you get in much quicker and you do not have to line up

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We did a private tour. It took us 2 and half hours to Berlin and back and had an amazing time. It is well worth the long drive, Berlin was our favourite port.

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I am not sure if I would do Moscow even if it was a 3 day stop in St Petersburg. I have written a review on our Insider Tours in SPB as well. We only did a moderate tour and we were exhausted after these 2 days. It would be a very long day, but we did do Berlin and it was also very long day, but we had a sea days between these 2 ports so we were able to rest.

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I use TripAdvisor to research Shore Excursions, look up your port and you will find plenty of choices. Also depending where you are going there are always plenty of choices when you disembark at the port.

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I have written my experience of our tour in St Petersburg with Insider Tours on the Europe board. It was a private tour as well, and it is a very honest opinion of the tour. I highly recommend Insiders Tours

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This was our 6th cruise, the second with Celebrity, as I had booked this cruise on the Solstice last November. We previously have cruised Princess and one with Norwegian Cruise Lines. The moment we embarked on the Solstice last November, we fell in love with the S Class Celebrity Ships, and we were hoping the Eclipse would be just as good. The Eclipse if possible was even better and I am hoping one day she comes down to Australia and we can go on her again.

We arrived in London, 4 days before the cruise and spent those days touring London. We had organised a private transfer for the four of us from London to Southampton with PNK Executive Travel Ltd (a small family company from Southampton) who were much more reasonable in price than other private transfer companies recommend on Cruise Critic. Our transfer was promptly there at 9.00am and we arrived in Southampton just before 11.00am. The porters were there waiting to take our bags, as soon as we opened our car door.

We had booked Concierge Class and my cousin and his wife had booked a Verandah room, as we were Concierge we could embark whenever we wanted to. My cousin was advised that he could embark at 2.00pm, after speaking to staff at the cruise terminal they embarked with us, and we were sitting at the Martini Bar at 11.20am. We also upgraded to the Premium Beverage Package.

From the moment we boarded to the moment we finished the cruise, we could not fault anything. Our room was in a perfect location, and was always kept spotless. The Eclipse like her sister ship The Solstice is such an elegant ship and the artwork throughout the ship even for me who is not an art lover is done beautifully. The ship never feels crowded even on the five sea days we had on this cruise.

The service from our Stateroom attendants, to the bar staff, the Café Del Bacio staff and even the bathroom staff was always friendly, smiling and helpful. A few times I saw a few passengers berate the staff for taking too long to take their coffee order etc, some of these passengers need to step into the shoes of the staff and maybe then they will treat the staff a little bit better.

The food in the MDR was superb, yes there is only 3 courses now and the serving sizes are smaller and if you are still hungry you can always order extra plate. We had fixed dinning at 8.30pm and after the second night, our Sommelier – Tony knew exactly what wine we liked and it was poured for us a soon as we sat down. Our waiters Mario and Jason service was always fast and friendly.

The food in the buffet was also fresh and lots of choices. Some sea days it was hard to find a table for four, but there is always tables outside if we could not find one inside. We ate at Murano on the first night, and it was good, but our favourite speciality dining was Tuscan Grille. We enjoyed it so much we went there twice for dinner and once for lunch.

Chic night was perfect for us as my husband does not like to wear suits, he always wore long pants and a short sleeve dress shirt most nights but on Chic night he wore a long sleeve dress shirt. As most of the passengers were from the United Kingdom, there were many tuxedo’s and formal gowns, but we never felt underdressed. I cannot understand why the biggest complaint from many previous Celebrity passengers that this was a big mistake by Celebrity, and that they will never cruise Celebrity again because of this. Go ahead and cruise with another company there will be many more new people who will be cruising with Celebrity in the future who will take your place, remember “clothes don’t make a man”

We booked our own shore tours, in Copenhagen we booked with a three hour walking tour with “Copenhagen Fairytale Tours”. Stockholm was wet, cold and windy and we used the hop and off ferry to visit the Abba Museum and the Old Town. Tallnin we did our own walking tour in the old town, St Petersburg we completed a private tour with Insider Tours (which I have reviewed on Northern Europe Board) and Berlin we did a private tour with Insider Tours.

Disembarkation was quick as well, we were due to disembark at 8.15am as we had a private transfer to St Pancras station with PNK Executive Travel. They called our number at 7.45am and we were waiting for our transfer with our bags at 7.55am. The most efficient embarkation and disembarkation we have ever seen.

Prior to the cruise I was starting to worry that sailing with Celebrity again we were going to be disappointed with some of the very negative points I read on the Cruise Critic forum regarding Celebrity cruises and their changes. Every time I read a bad review, I would think remember this is only one or two passenger on a cruise ship that hold over 2,800 people, and probably over 80% of people do not read or subscribe to Cruise Critic and take a lot of the negative comments with a grain of salt. I

We could not fault Celebrity and its beautiful ship, and have booked another cruise to the South Pacific in April 2017 and are hoping to do a Panama Canal cruise in late 2018 with Celebrity!

Mooloolaba is approximately one hour from the airport, confirm that the hire car has a GPS or if you can use your phone use Google Maps. We have just returned from Germany and Italy and our brand new hire car had an inbuilt GPS and a few times was slightly incorrect and we found Google Maps was always correct. During your stay you could go Australia Zoo which is also on the Sunshine Coast on one day, also Maleny and Montville are beautiful hinterland towns not far from Mooloolaba. If the Edmundi craft markets are on ( I think it is every Wednesday) you could spend a couple of hours there as well. There is also Underwater World. The hotel will have plenty of brochures on what to do and would be happy to organise trips for you.

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Classic Package includes everything except for the normal size martinis, any drinks from The World Bar and the top shelf spirits, and sparkling water. There is a restriction on the wines you purchase, but all the wines are good in the Package including Prosecco, All the bartenders will advise you if the drink is not in the Classic Package. All coffees are included including the speciality ones (Irish coffees etc). You do not pay any gratuities on the drinks you purchase as it is already included in the Package, whether you are sailing in Australia or anywhere else in the world. Enjoy the Solstice she is a beautiful ship and we are back on her in April.

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The "sounds" are the fjords and you will be cruising through them. It is not actual port.

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