Swan Hellenic Minerva

[Mave 20]

I have had four outside cabins on B deck (and two inside on A deck). The cabins are almost identical on both decks but B deck has port holes. A deck inside has a large mirror instead. There is no problem with noise usually but you could have noisy neighbours. On the Marco Polo we had two deaf old ladies who never stopped talking in very loud voices but I have never had noise on Minerva.

[comcox]

Thanks Mave 20

[Birder1]

Anyone who has Qs @ Minerva, I just returned fr Colombo - Singapore. I have posts during cruise on Other CruiseLines Roll Call, Minerva, 19Dec - 3Jan thread. Specific Qs I can hopefully answer. :-)

[myotis]

Birder: I have just been reading your very thorough posts on the roll call pages. As you can see, we will be in several of the areas you mention.

Several questions that I have are: Since we have decided to stay on after disembarkation in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a car and driver will be meeting us at the dock. Will it be difficult for us to meet the driver?

We will take the Kandy tour with SH, but want to do the elephants when we are on our own. I think we would be satisfied with watching them bathing in the river. Do you have a suggestion as to the best viewing situation? We do hope to do some whale watching (or searching for) any suggestions on that? Lastly, we have not been assigned our cabin as yet. Do you have any information to share as to how and when the cabin assignments are made? Thanks for all the information you have shared. I will reread and try to absorb it all

[Birder1]

Hi, Myotis!

 

I'll try to answer your Qs to the best of my ability! ;-)

 

1. Colombo port access is highly restricted (vestige of Tamil war?). I did not disembark during 2-days in port, except on SH excursion. Sri Lankan driver may not know if they have access. I would contact Swan Hellenic directly to ask. Some taxis apparently were sanctioned, but I didn't see any. It's a long (hot) walk to the port exit. May I ask, is your driver w Mal-Key?

2. Pinnewala (elephant orphanage) is about 3-hr drive, one-way. Many switchbacks, tuk-tuks, cattle, & people as obstacles. Make sure your driver knows what time the elephants bathe (around 10am & 1:30pm(?)). Your driver should drop you about 100 steps (&, many souvenir shops...) from the walkway the elephants use to access the river. Easy to view fr end of that walkway. You can climb steps to right to narrow platform beneath restaurant; if you pay the mahouts $2USD, you can have your pic w one of the elephants & maybe touch. Do NOT let your driver to the Spice Farm...waste of (my) time & shopping pressure. We didn't have time on the excursion to see process by which poop changed into paper (elephants eat 250kilos / day = 90kilos poop / day!).

3. Whale watching...gotta get out my map. Little town Marissa 45 mins fr Galle offers trips (only co that does). http://Http://holidaysinsrilanka.net/whale_watching_in_sri_lanka.html. Or, http://www.jetwingco.com/content/best-blue-sri-Lanka-worlds-top-spot-seeing-blue-and-sperm-whales. Trincolmee is the best spot fr which to see them...there are best months to see them...I "think" you'd still leave fr Marissa to find the whales off Trinc, but you nee to ask company. I didn't have time ;-( to go on this tour, as you must arrive no later than 5:30am.

4. If & when there is a price drop, for those w GTY bookings, you may be upgraded (free) if cruise not sold-out. I received my assignment (I was GTY) which was a free upgrade, 2 weeks b4 the cruise. Received notification by SH via letter fr Florida w luggage tags & info on Port of Colombo.

[Birder1]

Myotis:

 

The stop for the elephants is adjacent to poop store & restaurant (ha! They are separate places! Each on each corner). You should see yellow, diamond shaped signs on the road, w pics of elephants, indicating elephant crossing. If you go to the main entrance, you'll have to pay a fee there, so if you just want to see bathing, don't go to that "official" entrance.

[Birder1]

Comcox:

 

I never heard a peep fr my neighbors...only noise I heard fr my outside cabin on B deck were fr v loud people congregating outside my room (even when I had "do not disturb" sign hung...sigh). B30 is midship, so I wouldn't expect you'd have the smoke issue, & unsure if people like to congregate there.

[myotis]

Birder 1: Thank you so much for all your hints. We have contracted with Boutique Sri Lanka who have suggested hotels and a car agency for our stay. We have confirmed the hotels but are holding off on the final car arrangements until we receive our paperwork from Swan H as I am not sure we have gotten the excursion to Kandy that we requested. If not we will then opt for the elephant excursion. Therefore things not quite settled. As soon as I get final paperwork I will contact the Boutique and the car agency and try to clear up meeting us at the dock. It seems most tourists arrive at the airport. I hope you will be able to help me further when I am clearer on how we will spend our time in Sri Lanka. Thanks again.

[Birder1]

No problem, Myotis. :-)

 

I can personally recommend the Hilton Colombo (not the Hilton Residence). I also stayed in the Galadari...I would say that the Galadari is geared more for Middle-Eastern, Indian, & Sri-Lankan guests. Others recommend the Cinammon Grand. Outside of Colombo, I stayed at Chaaya Wild Yala, which I highly recommend.

[Birder1]

A Shangri-La hotel is being built on a lot of the military installation, just south of the Galadari & Hilton hotels in Colombo; however, I believe it won't be ready for a couple years.

[Seacooky]

We are also sailing on Minerva May 2013 Baltic Splendour.

We might take the National Express bus from Heathrow to

Portsmouth Cruise Terminal. Can anyone advise how we get

from the bus terminal in Portsmouth to the Minerva? Will the

Minerva docked there be walking distance from the terminal

or do we take a taxi, we will have luggage with us.

Thank you.

 

Rusty

 

Hi Rusty,

You should call Swan as transportation to cruise terminal may have been included in your price.

We're going on Spring Celebration!

Seacooky

[bozo5404]

Thank you, Seacooky for your suggestion but alas, no transportation

is offered from Heathrow by Swan Hellenic. They do offer a coach

free from Victoria Station but our flight time does not fit this schedule.

Have you sailed with them before your Spring Celebration cruise.

This is our first trip with them and not sure what to expect. Being

from the U.S. not much info is available. Have fun on your cruise--

Istanbul is very interesting as is all of Turkey.

 

Rusty

[Seacooky]

Hi Rusty,

You should call Swan as transportation to cruise terminal may have been included in your price.

We're going on Spring Celebration!

Seacooky

 

Hi Rusty,

Yes, about 8 yrs ago when they used a former Ren ship; everything very good except for the food--not many choices & not good quality or tasty.

For that cruise we used air miles & arrived 2 days early in London so that we could use all their transportation:Victoria station to Heathrow & charter flight to Greece.

We've been to London, my favorite city in the world, several times to depart on cruises; we always arrive at least 2 days early and stay at CITY INN in Westminster which is about 10 years old,very modern(think IKEA) & reasonably priced, you can ask a travel agent about a 'package' that includes breakfast. We book a shuttle from Heathrow, it's the least expensive way to get into town, and we take a BlackCab to Victoria Station to use the cruise lines transportation to port. You'll want to do that because it is the only way to guarantee you'll arrive on time. Look at http://www.londontown.com to find shuttle & hotels.

We did 2 weeks of the Baltic on Celebrity about 6 years ago,be sure to go on all the shore excursions SWAN offers, they're a bargain.BTW who is getting your VISA for USSR?

Hope this helps. We leave in 20 days, we've booked our shore ex and are very excited to get back to our 2nd favorite place in the world...the MED.

Bon Voyage,

Seacooky

[Seacooky]

Thank you, Seacooky for your suggestion but alas, no transportation

is offered from Heathrow by Swan Hellenic. They do offer a coach

free from Victoria Station but our flight time does not fit this schedule.

Have you sailed with them before your Spring Celebration cruise.

This is our first trip with them and not sure what to expect. Being

from the U.S. not much info is available. Have fun on your cruise--

Istanbul is very interesting as is all of Turkey.

 

Rusty

 

Hi Rusty,

Yes, about 8 yrs ago when they used a former Ren ship; everything very good except for the food--not many choices & not good quality or tasty.

For that cruise we used air miles & arrived 2 days early in London so that we could use all their transportation:Victoria station to Heathrow & charter flight to Greece.

We've been to London, my favorite city in the world, several times to depart on cruises; we always arrive at least 2 days early and stay at CITY INN in Westminster which is about 10 years old,very modern(think IKEA) & reasonably priced, you can ask a travel agent about a 'package' that includes breakfast. We book a shuttle from Heathrow, it's the least expensive way to get into town, and we take a BlackCab to Victoria Station to use the cruise lines transportation to port. You'll want to do that because it is the only way to guarantee you'll arrive on time. Look at http://www.londontown.com to find shuttle & hotels.

We did 2 weeks of the Baltic on Celebrity about 6 years ago,be sure to go on all the shore excursions SWAN offers, they're a bargain.BTW who is getting your VISA for USSR?

Hope this helps. We leave in 20 days, we've booked our shore ex and are very excited to get back to our 2nd favorite place in the world...the MED.

Bon Voyage,

Seacooky

[bozo5404]

Hi Seacooky,

We are also flying in one day early and will stay in Portsmouth at

the George Hotel--it's a very short distance to the Historic Dockyards

and we thought that would be nice to also see while we are there.

Ditto our affection for London, have been there more than a few times

BUT my all time favorite is still Paris have just come back from a 2

week stay in an apartment rental. C'est magnifique!!!!

I'm disappointed that you did not think the food on Minerva was that

good, I'm not a big eater but I love really good food. Oh well, there

is always wine, he he. Enjoy your trip and look forward to your posts

afterwards.

 

P.S. we are taking National Express coach from Heathrow, not too

expensive, about $40 for the both of us.

 

Bon Voyage,

Rusty

[Seacooky]

Hi Seacooky,

We are also flying in one day early and will stay in Portsmouth at

the George Hotel--it's a very short distance to the Historic Dockyards

and we thought that would be nice to also see while we are there.

Ditto our affection for London, have been there more than a few times

BUT my all time favorite is still Paris have just come back from a 2

week stay in an apartment rental. C'est magnifique!!!!

I'm disappointed that you did not think the food on Minerva was that

good, I'm not a big eater but I love really good food. Oh well, there

is always wine, he he. Enjoy your trip and look forward to your posts

afterwards.

 

P.S. we are taking National Express coach from Heathrow, not too

expensive, about $40 for the both of us.

 

Bon Voyage,

Rusty

 

AHHHHH Paris ;) I envy you. Hopefully food on Minerva gotten better. We just got our docs last week,chose our ex & faxd to Swan. Are you working with TA or did you complete your booking Swan website? Did you get Russia Visas? Our next cruise is BB Jewel from SanJuan in Dec. & I'm looking for bargain cruise in July for heat relief (live in AZ) How about you?

Bon Voyage,

Darlene aka Seacooky

[cruisemom42]

I thought the food was pretty good on Minerva last October.

 

But of course, it's not like dining at a good restaurant in Paris!

[bozo5404]

TA in Florida is the agent for Swan here in the U.S. Have checked more than

once with them and was advised (and I have photocopied response) that

if we travel with the Swan excursions that we do NOT need a Russian visa

only need one if we plan to explore on our own and we do not intend to do

that. So hopefully we will have no problem (and no visa). We have had no

info on excursions yet and have heard that we in the U.S. get ours much

later than the Brits, hope that is not a problem with avail. Our next trip is

in Sept. to the Maritime provinces but could also use a little cooling off here

in the Chicago suburbs. Last year we had record heat and was almost

impossible to be outdoors at all.

"Cruisemom42" thanks for input hope our meals are also good.

 

Bye for now Seacooky,

Diane aka Rusty

[comcox]

TA in Florida is the agent for Swan here in the U.S. Have checked more than

once with them and was advised (and I have photocopied response) that

if we travel with the Swan excursions that we do NOT need a Russian visa

only need one if we plan to explore on our own and we do not intend to do

that. So hopefully we will have no problem (and no visa). We have had no

info on excursions yet and have heard that we in the U.S. get ours much

later than the Brits, hope that is not a problem with avail. Our next trip is

in Sept. to the Maritime provinces but could also use a little cooling off here

in the Chicago suburbs. Last year we had record heat and was almost

impossible to be outdoors at all.

"Cruisemom42" thanks for input hope our meals are also good.

 

Bye for now Seacooky,

Diane aka Rusty

 

You will probably get your shore ex booklet about 3 weeks before sailing. But you can always keep your eye on both the British (www.swanhellenic.com) and Australian (au.swanhellenic.com) as well as the US site to see who posts them first--there seems to be no consistency there. I've sailed with Swan twice and have not been shut out of a tour yet as I pre-book as soon as I get the info. There will be a few tours marked with an "L" which have limited capacity so if you want one of those respond quickly by faxing or emailing a scanned copy of your order form to the U.S. office. I've found the U.S. staff very helpful.

 

Two places to look for tours on the website as under Already Booked then Cruise Information Booklet or from Home Page search for your cruise date then Cruise Details for your cruise then Excursions. You can also find Cruise Booklets for prior sailings of the same itinerary and that will give you an idea of what might be offered.

 

Let me know if you need more info. I just returned from a month-long Minerva cruise.

[bozo5404]

Hi Tamara,

Did you find any other passengers from the U.S. or Canada on your

cruise. 2 years ago we went on aSaga voyage, Spirit of Adventure,

very similar to Minerva in size and capacity and we were the only

Americans. It was kind of weird because we became known as the

"Americans" and were quite popular almost like the rare DODO birds!

Just kidding but would like to know if Minerva draws more North

Americans. Thanks.

 

Diane aka Rusty

[Seacooky]

TA in Florida is the agent for Swan here in the U.S. Have checked more than

once with them and was advised (and I have photocopied response) that

if we travel with the Swan excursions that we do NOT need a Russian visa

only need one if we plan to explore on our own and we do not intend to do

that. So hopefully we will have no problem (and no visa). We have had no

info on excursions yet and have heard that we in the U.S. get ours much

later than the Brits, hope that is not a problem with avail. Our next trip is

in Sept. to the Maritime provinces but could also use a little cooling off here

in the Chicago suburbs. Last year we had record heat and was almost

impossible to be outdoors at all.

"Cruisemom42" thanks for input hope our meals are also good.

 

Bye for now Seacooky,

Diane aka Rusty

Hey Rusty,

LOL. Which suburb? We grew up Waukegan & sure don't miss the hot humid summers & bugs, do miss the culture! Good that Swan does Russia visa's like Celebrity,when you get off ship. Don't think you have prob getting shore ex you want,we just got docs (3 week before) immediately filled out form, faxed it & Swan confirmed them all, & our cruise has only 5 cabins left.

Darlene aka Seacooky

[Seacooky]

You will probably get your shore ex booklet about 3 weeks before sailing. But you can always keep your eye on both the British (www.swanhellenic.com) and Australian (au.swanhellenic.com) as well as the US site to see who posts them first--there seems to be no consistency there. I've sailed with Swan twice and have not been shut out of a tour yet as I pre-book as soon as I get the info. There will be a few tours marked with an "L" which have limited capacity so if you want one of those respond quickly by faxing or emailing a scanned copy of your order form to the U.S. office. I've found the U.S. staff very helpful.

 

Two places to look for tours on the website as under Already Booked then Cruise Information Booklet or from Home Page search for your cruise date then Cruise Details for your cruise then Excursions. You can also find Cruise Booklets for prior sailings of the same itinerary and that will give you an idea of what might be offered.

 

Let me know if you need more info. I just returned from a month-long Minerva cruise.

Hi Tamara,

We're going on Swan in a few weeks, info please. How was the food & where did you eat most of the time? Do we need BPS on board? Is the laundry free? Is there an ATM on board? We were on Minerva II 8 yrs ago, imagine things different now. Hope food is better now.

Seacooky

[bozo5404]

Hi Seacooky,

Good questions for Tamara, looking forward to her response.

We are pretty far from Waukegan, think South and West. We live

in Burr Ridge. If you don't know that suburb, it was originally the

South end of Hinsdale before it became Burr Ridge. Have lived here

most of my adult life but was born and raised on the Westside of

Chicago and later Oak Park. As you know it can get miserably hot or

cold in Chi land but I love the Midwest. I have a good friend in Phoenix,

a transplant from LaGrange. She also loves Arizona--I guess I just

couldn't live with one beautiful day after another beautiful day!

Do you know if there are any others from the U.S. on your cruise?

 

Have fun,

Diane

[cruisemom42]

Hi Tamara,

Did you find any other passengers from the U.S. or Canada on your

cruise. 2 years ago we went on aSaga voyage, Spirit of Adventure,

very similar to Minerva in size and capacity and we were the only

Americans. It was kind of weird because we became known as the

"Americans" and were quite popular almost like the rare DODO birds!

Just kidding but would like to know if Minerva draws more North

Americans. Thanks.

 

Diane aka Rusty

 

There weren't a lot of Americans onboard on my cruise last fall, but more than just a handful. There were more Canadians, but of course the majority of passengers were British -- can't give a specific number but perhaps 70%.

 

Hi Tamara,

We're going on Swan in a few weeks, info please. How was the food & where did you eat most of the time? Do we need BPS on board? Is the laundry free? Is there an ATM on board? We were on Minerva II 8 yrs ago, imagine things different now. Hope food is better now.

Seacooky

 

Not Tamara, but thought my experience was recent enough to be helpful. I ate most dinners in the main dining room. Service there was very good and food was quite decent; I thought it a step above the mass market cruise lines anyway. I believe I ate most breakfasts and most lunches in the buffet area. Breakfasts had plenty of choices though they didn't change much from one day to the next (not that I expected it). Breakfast in the MDR was nice for a change but really only had the time for it on sea days. They had a special roast beef lunch one Sunday, with Yorkshire pudding, very proper British meal though of course no pleasing everyone, as some of the British passengers moaned that this or that wasn't exactly the way they had it at home....

 

Charges onboard are in British pounds, but you don't need cash for anything onboard. Drinks etc. are all charged to your onboard account and you can settle at the end with a credit card.

 

Laundry was free, including powder.

 

I don't recall an ATM onboard. Reception desk had limited resources to change some money but they obviously couldn't do it for everyone nor for large amounts.

[comcox]

Hi Tamara,

Did you find any other passengers from the U.S. or Canada on your

cruise. 2 years ago we went on aSaga voyage, Spirit of Adventure,

very similar to Minerva in size and capacity and we were the only

Americans. It was kind of weird because we became known as the

"Americans" and were quite popular almost like the rare DODO birds!

Just kidding but would like to know if Minerva draws more North

Americans. Thanks.

 

Diane aka Rusty

 

On our cruise there were at least four Canadians and at least ten Americans. And we tended to gravitate together. Now that Swan has opened its U.S. office they are beginning to draw more.