Silver Whisper 5/31/11 - 6/10/11

[NJ Cruiserman]

We will be on the Silver Whisper from Southampton to Stickholm. It's a long way off, but is anyone else planning to join us?

[Amphitrite]

We will be on the Silver Whisper from Southampton to Stickholm. It's a long way off, but is anyone else planning to join us?

 

 

 

Hello! We are Janice and Jerome from California and we are booking this trip next week...I'll check this roll call after we book. It does seem a long way off...but something special to look forward to! Our first on Silversea!

[NJ Cruiserman]

Hello! We are Janice and Jerome from California and we are booking this trip next week...I'll check this roll call after we book. It does seem a long way off...but something special to look forward to! Our first on Silversea!

 

This will be our second cruise. We booked it while we were still on the Wind in June.

 

Apologies for misspelling Stockholm in the original post. You can't edit your own post, and when asked the moderators will edit but only for privacy and the like.

 

Look forward to meeting you....and shall we call Jerome "Poseidon"?:D

[Amphitrite]

This will be our second cruise. We booked it while we were still on the Wind in June.

 

Apologies for misspelling Stockholm in the original post. You can't edit your own post, and when asked the moderators will edit but only for privacy and the like.

 

Look forward to meeting you....and shall we call Jerome "Poseidon"?:D

 

Hi NJ Cruiserman...We have booked and put down our deposit....As for Jerome, I guess "Poseidon" would be appropriate if you see him walking around on deck with a trident. But thanks for getting the mythology connection with "Amphitrite!"

I see you are looking at the St. Pete's shore excursions thread...I read some long online reviews that really recommended the private guides. They liked Red October or Denrus and it is my understanding they get the visas if you are with them. I'll research later in the year but with private tours it seems you skip the lines and can personalize to go where you want. Silversea will probably advise guests about the visa situatuion since it seems confusing.

I also found a website Cruisebaltic.com that had good info about the various ports. Will check in here from time to time and hope more will join our thread as the months go by. Where are you from?

[NJ Cruiserman]

I see you are looking at the St. Pete's shore excursions thread...I read some long online reviews that really recommended the private guides. They liked Red October or Denrus and it is my understanding they get the visas if you are with them. I'll research later in the year but with private tours it seems you skip the lines and can personalize to go where you want. Silversea will probably advise guests about the visa situatuion since it seems confusing.

Many of the passengers on our Black Sea cruise had been to St. Petersburg previously and recommended the ships tours as well, as they skipped the lines, and may even be able to get you into museums or concert/opera when they would otherwise be closed. As the cruise approaches I will discuss this with our friends who were there on a Silversea cruies about two years ago.

 

In the Ukraine we booked private tours with four friends in Yalta and two friends in Odessa, but in Sevastopol we took the ship's tour. All were good, but we felt freer on the private tours. We also booked the private tours as for the four or six of us it was less expensive and covereed the same sights.

[Amphitrite]

Many of the passengers on our Black Sea cruise had been to St. Petersburg previously and recommended the ships tours as well, as they skipped the lines, and may even be able to get you into museums or concert/opera when they would otherwise be closed. As the cruise approaches I will discuss this with our friends who were there on a Silversea cruies about two years ago.

 

In the Ukraine we booked private tours with four friends in Yalta and two friends in Odessa, but in Sevastopol we took the ship's tour. All were good, but we felt freer on the private tours. We also booked the private tours as for the four or six of us it was less expensive and covereed the same sights.

 

We would be interested in a day or two of small group private van tours(same reason-big expense)in St. Pete's...I'll be interested to hear what you find out from your friends as it gets closer. We were thinking maybe one day of ship tours and two days of private guide and driver tours...some mix of both. I believe Silversea offers an after hours Hermitage tour as well. I have been to Berlin (when it was a divided city) but am urging my husband to go for the day, in spite of the long trek to get there.

 

You must have been very pleaed with your Silversea cruise this year as you booked again-a good recommendation! May I ask where you are from?

[msrieski]

NJ Cruiserman -- We're on the Black Sea cruise next June and I would love to have the names of the guides you used. We'll be traveling with two friends so the private tours may be more economical for us too. Any particular reason you used the ship's tour for Sevastopol?

 

Any other insights about this particular cruise you'd like to share?

 

Marie

[Amphitrite]

We are looking into hiring a private guide and driver for St. Petersburg on this cruise. Is anyone taking this trip interested in sharing a 4-8 person van? I am leaning toward using Red October USA based on CruiseCritic and Tripadvisor reviews and will be phoning them this week to get prices and more information.

[NJ Cruiserman]

NJ Cruiserman -- We're on the Black Sea cruise next June and I would love to have the names of the guides you used. We'll be traveling with two friends so the private tours may be more economical for us too. Any particular reason you used the ship's tour for Sevastopol?

 

Any other insights about this particular cruise you'd like to share?

 

Marie

We used Crimea Consulting after checking out a number of guides. We thought they were fairly priced, and didn't seem to overpromise their abilities or emphasize their academic or travel credentials. The guides were good and the vehicles were clean, well maintained and had great air conditioning. We used them because we were 6 prople touring in Yalta and the cost was significantly less than 6x the ship tour cost. In Sevastopol, we each had different ideas about waht we wanted to see so we went our separate ways. In Odessa four wanted a half-day Jewish sites tour and a private guide was the best way to do it.

 

My wife and I thought the cruise was wonderful. We loved the ships tours of Gallipoli and Troy, and wandered around Sinop for a day on our own. In Istanbul we hired our own guide for two days due to family connections there, and that was partly a mistake - we are all well traveled, experienced shoppers and the guide insisted on hanging out with us in the Grand Bazaar. The only place that we thought we should be cautions was in Constanta, Romania, and that turned out to be the only place that anyone we knew on the ship had anything stolen, which was a camera. And of course some, but not all, Istanbul taxi drivers can be a problem. In Istanbul I suggest staying at a hotel in the Sultanhamet. We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton on points, and regretted it because while the hotel was wonderful it was far away from everything we wanted to see.

 

Also as you will likely bring cash to pay for your guides, make sure that the bills are neither torn nor marked. Sometimes when I take cash out of an ATM here there are black marks on some of the bills. Those are not accepted in Ukraine.

[NJ Cruiserman]

We are looking into hiring a private guide and driver for St. Petersburg on this cruise. Is anyone taking this trip interested in sharing a 4-8 person van? I am leaning toward using Red October USA based on CruiseCritic and Tripadvisor reviews and will be phoning them this week to get prices and more information.

Sure, we'd be interested. I'll pm you when I figure out how.

[Amphitrite]

NJ Cruiserman: Sorry, I don't know what a "pm" is??? Update: I emailed Red October USA (main office is in Russia)in New York re: a 3 day private, customized tour yesterday. Very expensive for just 2-he quoted me

$2016 (not including an optional evening folklore show which we'd like to do and not including guide/driver tips) for 3 full days. I am going to look at a few others recommended on Tripadvisor and CruiseCritics such as Alla, DenRus, Anastasia and one called spb-tours. All have praise on the various sites. Obviously price would come down if we could get a group of, say, three or four couples. But basically everyone has to agree on where they want to go...or a small group could tour together for 2 days-Hermitage, hydrafoil to Catherine Palace, Peterhof or Pavlosk, P&P Fortress, main cathedrals, for example, then each couple could do one day private to be sure everyone gets to do what is important to them. We want to go to the Yusupov Palace-scene of Rasputin's murder. Not interested in much shopping time.

 

Please let me know what you think....What is most important to you to see?

[Amphitrite]

Anyone wishing to join us on a small group three day tour in St. Petersburg, please look at Red October, Alla and SPb-tours to view their three day tours. We are leaning toward Alla at the moment based on price ($420 pp) and itinerary. We welcome others to join us (10-16 people max) and would like your feedback. We'd like to secure tour arrangements in January.

 

Thanks! Janice and Jerome in California

[NJ Cruiserman]

Bump. Anyone else on the cruise?

[NJ Cruiserman]

Anyone wishing to join us on a small group three day tour in St. Petersburg, please look at Red October, Alla and SPb-tours to view their three day tours. We are leaning toward Alla at the moment based on price ($420 pp) and itinerary. We welcome others to join us (10-16 people max) and would like your feedback. We'd like to secure tour arrangements in January.

 

Thanks! Janice and Jerome in California

How does the price break down? If we join you for the three days, that would be $420 for each of the four of us for the three days, correct?

 

Marc

[Amphitrite]

How does the price break down? If we join you for the three days, that would be $420 for each of the four of us for the three days, correct?

 

Marc

 

Hi Marc: A timely post...we have just booked the 3 day St. Petersburg Grand package with Alla tours. I looked at 3 different operators. Check out their website to see the itinerary. Also they have great reviews on Tripadvisor. It is $420 per person for ALL three days (not including tips to guide and driver) whether there are 2 people or 16. Lunches and bottled water are included. Max on this package is 16. If we booked a private group of 6 from the Whisper and customize it, the price would increase. Looking at the itinerary, we were satisfied that the major sights were included. The price was much more resonable than my quote from Red October.

 

If you book, please let them know you would like to be with us. We hope they will get a small group from the Whisper to share this experience. I have emailed them several times over the last week and they have answered all emails within 24 hours. Let me know what you decide. We would be delighted for your group to join us.

 

Janice

[NJ Cruiserman]

Hi Marc: A timely post...we have just booked the 3 day St. Petersburg Grand package with Alla tours. I looked at 3 different operators. Check out their website to see the itinerary. Also they have great reviews on Tripadvisor. It is $420 per person for ALL three days (not including tips to guide and driver) whether there are 2 people or 16. Lunches and bottled water are included. Max on this package is 16. If we booked a private group of 6 from the Whisper and customize it, the price would increase. Looking at the itinerary, we were satisfied that the major sights were included. The price was much more resonable than my quote from Red October.

 

If you book, please let them know you would like to be with us. We hope they will get a small group from the Whisper to share this experience. I have emailed them several times over the last week and they have answered all emails within 24 hours. Let me know what you decide. We would be delighted for your group to join us.

 

Janice

At our friends' recommendation I contacted the Russian National Tourist Office, who they used for their small group that visited St. Petersburg on Silversea a couple of years ago. Unfortunately I was very disappointed by RNTO's vague proposal as they were highly recommended.

 

Just to be prepared, I reserved the ships tours but am still interested in private tours and. I looked at Alla and they looked good (and I may join your group but I am skeptical of all of the good ratings for the three or four best publicized tour operators, as most ratings are from people with one or two posts. If Alla does not get enough passengers from the Whisper, will they include passengers form other ships?

[Amphitrite]

Marc: We have had to cancel this cruise and have rebooked on the Whisper for the Baltic in May 2012. Have fun and send some posts about your experiences when you return.

[NJ Cruiserman]

Marc: We have had to cancel this cruise and have rebooked on the Whisper for the Baltic in May 2012. Have fun and send some posts about your experiences when you return.

I'm so sorry you won't be there, and I won't get to meet you and Poseidon. I'll post some pictures so you can prepare for your cruise in '12.

[Amphitrite]

I'm so sorry you won't be there, and I won't get to meet you and Poseidon. I'll post some pictures so you can prepare for your cruise in '12.

 

Have a fabulous trip; we'll be on the beach in Hawaii while you're on the Whisper. We'll look forward to our Baltic adventure next year. I'll check this post in the summer for your thoughts on this cruise-would love to know if anyone on your trip used Alla Tours in SP and what their experience was.

 

"Amphitrite" and "Poseidon"

[NJ Cruiserman]

Enjoy the beach in Hawaii. If you're on Maui, drive the Hana Road and bicycle down Haleakala.

 

Maybe we will meet you both on a cruise in 2013.;)