Macirish

Thank you all for your replies.

Is there ballroom dancing on Silver Muse ?

On 9/7/2019 at 1:25 PM, worldtraveller99 said:

Wow Terry you went to Botswana. Is there one of your ace blogs for that somewhere? It is my bucket list destination. 

 

For SE Asia I found an inbound travel agent for Borneo (on Trip Advisor), and booked nice chain hotels - Fairmont, Shangri-La, and BA & Malaysian Airlines flights myself on all their websites. Worked really well - I think the trip report is on Trip Advisor.

On 9/12/2019 at 7:59 PM, TLCOhio said:

 

Great news that Hubbard Glacier worked so well for our Richmond, Va., friend.  Keep up the wonderful updating and details. Are you doing the post-cruise trip to Denali.   Nice, added "FUN!!" from worldtraveller99 and Stumblefoot about the sea air, shrinking clothes, etc.  

 

Above for Paula in Arizona, appreciate your good questions.  In Dubai, we stayed the Habtoor Grand Resort, a part of the Autograph Collection connected with Marriott, at Al Falea Street, Jumeirah Beach, Dubai.  As to your question as to whether it is in "a GOOD LOCATION for sightseeing", that response would mandate a fairly subjective judgement.  Dubai is big and sprawled out!!  There is not one location in Dubai that has it "ALL", close and handy.  

 

Our hotel and location worked very, very well in many ways.  It offered a number of nice facilities and options, including its own beach and resort areas.  Sights around here were interesting as some of my pictures on the live/blog documented. BUT, it was not right next to a giant shopping mall, nor at the old market areas, nor at the world's tallest building.  BUT, it was relatively handy and worked super well for our interests and needs.  With our private guide and those tours, it all worked well and reasonably handy.  

 

For our private guide for Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we worked with Ute Kostle at  www.konzept-arabia.com/en.  She was super good, very knowledgeable, excellent English, etc., etc., etc.  Loved having "conversations" with her and learning so much about this area, its people, rulers, growth, etc.   Her email is:  ute@konzept-arabia.com

 

If you need more, just post any and all added questions on the live/blog for that trip last fall.     

 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

From late 2018, you can see “Holy Lands, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Dubai, Greece, etc.”, with many visuals, details and ideas for the historic and scenic Middle East. Now at 15,561 views.  Connect at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2607054-livenautica-greece-holy-lands-egypt-dubai-terrypix’s/

 

I quite agreed with you. A commission will be paid to someone so you might as well pick someone that you can turn to at a moment’s notice and receive the help you need. I will never forget our first booking direct with Regent. A very nice lady answered the phone, answered all my questions over the next few days and made the reservation.  However, after the reservation was complete, she was hard to get a hold of. Seemed very busy all the time. Now I bring my research to a local TA and let her make the reservations, and be our spokesperson to make sure everything is setup for a pleasant vacation. 

P.S. Not all TA’s are the same so do a little bit of homework and find one that will “work for you” more than make one phone call to the Cruise line reservation desk. 

I found this information on the Japan.Travel web site:

Any foreign visitor entering Japan must have a valid passport for the duration of their stay, and all visitors must comply with the conditions of their visas. Visa exemptions are currently made for citizens of sixty-eight different countries provided that their stays are within ninety days, for sightseeing purposes and that they do not engage in activities where they earn compensation.

This page provides information on short stays. Visa conditions are periodically revised, therefore, make sure to check the Visa section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: Visa / Residing in Japan for the latest and detailed information on standard visas or visas other than for those for short stay programs.

On Short Stays

Countries and regions that do not require visas

The following is a list of countries that have Reciprocal Visa Exemption Arrangements with Japan:

For a period of 90 days or less

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria(7), Bahamas, Barbados(6), Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany(7), Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong(3), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland(7), Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lesotho(6), Liechtenstein(7), Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao(4), Malaysia(1), Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, San Marino, Serbia(2), Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Surinam, Sweden, Switzerland(7), Taiwan(5), Tunisia, Turkey(6), United Kingdom(7), United States and Uruguay

Thank you both for the response.

I intend to change cabins to make sure we don’t experience that. I imagine noise from the setup of the chairs starts real early every morning !

We are booked to stay in 936 on the Muse.

I'm concerned that the pool deck on Deck 10 is right above our Suite.

Has anyone stayed in a Silver Suite (936 or 937 ?) which below the pool deck on the Muse ?

I see that there are Owner's Suites also on deck 9.

Is there a noise problem from above ?

I see that the Master Suites on Voyager have two bedrooms. Does anyone know what the charge is for the third and fourth person?

When I cruised on NCL, the Garden Suite has 3 bedrooms and they only charge the full price for the first two people.

Thanks !

:)Thanks for taking the time from your vacation to post all these pictures.

 

 

 

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The coffee at the buffet is fresh ground.

 

Leave your kettle at home. It will cause your bag to be confiscated and you will spend time on embarkation evening and disembarkation day getting your contraband from security.

 

Hot water is available at all boulder drink stations for tea. We are just off the Jewel and they had esspreso machines in the buffet.

Would you happen to know if NCL allows us to bring travel steamers ? To help with wrinkled clothes ?

Hello! There is Gatorade onboard but only from the arcade at an extra cost, think it was $2. (Onboard Getaway in May)

 

I definitely have never seen it at any buffet, they only have lemonade/some type of tropical water (kiwi/strawberry).

 

I wrote a blog post about the package here: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2016/09/10/ncls-unlimited-beverage-package/ which talks about what is included and what isn't. Hopefully it is useful to you :)

 

Have a fabulous cruise!!

 

 

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Thanks for the link. It was very informative both for the package and the other articles you wrote. I would suggest everyone visit your blog and learn more about cruising !

Thanks for the replies.

Are the men wearing sports jackets in the evening ?

Ladies in dresses ?

I have been tracking the temperature for the various ports but was wondering what temperature they keep the ship at ?

Most of the ports for our cruise predict a high of 70 but didn't know what to expect on board.

Short sleeve temp ? Long sleeve ? Sweater ?

Also, what does mostly everyone wear to dinner ?

I'm working on my packing list and my wife and I are flying to Copenhagen to board the Marina on Friday !

Looking forward to hearing how your cruise goes. We will be boarding Marina in Copenhagen for an 8 day cruise and will look forward to hear how the ship and all on board are doing. Especially anyone that provides you excellent service.

We too have $400 OBC each for our 10 night cruise on Sirena in June and wondered if we would also spend it all, but when you break it down it's only 80 dollars a day and a bottle of wine at dinner and a couple of drinks each per day and that's your OBC gone.

I wonder if putting it towards a drinks package would be better value?

Millions

Another thing to consider is how much you will be off the ship on tours of the ports. I believe The package they oFFER as part of O-Life applies only to Lunch and Dinner. If you aren't on the ship for lunch or a light drinker at lunch, then Dinner and only Dinner is where you will use the majority of the package.

It comes back to how much will you drink DURING YOUR MEALS.

And it may not include cocktails according to what I just read.

Recommend that you take a look at the "Roll Calls" for various Baltic Cruises- here is just one of them: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2138132

All cover a full range of tour companies that are available, and most are ranked very equal on Trip Advisor. I'll not be surprised if you get at least 10 recommendations for St. Petersburg tour companies from your question.

 

You don't say what dates you're planning for next year, but there may already be a Roll Call started for your cruise. Check under "find your roll call."

 

Yes, I'll be the first. We used "SPB Tours" - which has branches in almost all the Baltic cruise ports, with discounts if you book multiple ports with them.

Thank you for the info !

We will cruise Aug 26- Sep 3, 2016

What a fabulous first day in St. Petersburg - exhausting but fabulous! There is just so much to see, to learn, to experience. Our tour guide and driver were just unbelievable - how the driver got into the tiniest spaces and was always there for us and how our guide bypassed all the lines so that we never had a wait. Apparently there are three stages to the hierarchy - those who are not in a group; those who are in a group; and those who have private tour guides. We just zipped by all the group tours and there were even special entrances and elevators with no one else there.

 

As far as the places we visited (Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, Church of Spilled Blood, Hermitage Museum, Nevsky Prospect, Jewish Synagogue, plus the harbor and other places I don't remember their names) my head was spinning with the opulence and the number of famous paintings, the history of the Czars, their intrigue, creativeness and deaths. We have SO many pictures! Even though I transferred all of them to my iPad, posting them online will be a whole different project.

 

We were exhausted by the end of the day, but I am sure tomorrow we will be refreshed for more.

 

For the second night in a row, we were so pleased with our tablemates for dinner. While I know some people prefer to eat alone or only with friends, we learn so much from the people we sit with. Tonight we sat with a couple from Ottawa, Canada and another who live in Houston but emigrated from the Netherlands. We all shared our day in town, plus stories from our past.

 

By the way we ate tonight at Red Ginger and the quality of the food matched the outstanding presentation and service.

 

Overall we are half way through our cruise and are very pleased with our itinerary, ship and and fellow passengers. I would highly recommend taking a Baltic cruise for those who have not yet done so.

What tour company did you use for your Baltic Cruise ?

Six of us are planning on Oceania's cruise next year.