Just returned from our 22 days on the Eurodam!

[canadarocks]

We just did the Gems of the Baltic and North Sea Adventure cruises on the Eurodam with stops in 15 ports in 10 different countries from July 21 - August 12.

Unfortunately hubby and I now have horrible colds :(, so it will be a while before I do some major reviewing, but if anyone has any last minute questions before they go ..... I'll try to help! :)

[maxout]

We just did the Gems of the Baltic and North Sea Adventure cruises on the Eurodam with stops in 15 ports in 10 different countries from July 21 - August 12.

Unfortunately hubby and I now have horrible colds :(, so it will be a while before I do some major reviewing, but if anyone has any last minute questions before they go ..... I'll try to help! :)

Welcome home! Sorry you're unwell. Basic overall impression of your cruise?

[canadarocks]

Welcome home! Sorry you're unwell. Basic overall impression of your cruise?

Thanks! Overall, 8.5 out of 10. :)

I promise more to come within a few days... I just wanted to offer last minute answers if anyone needs them about specific questions. At this point my brain is too fuzzy to do an actual review. :o

[maxout]

Thanks! Overall, 8.5 out of 10. :)

I promise more to come within a few days... I just wanted to offer last minute answers if anyone needs them about specific questions. At this point my brain is too fuzzy to do an actual review. :o

Take care of each other and we'll just have to be patient. :D

[RuthC]

Awwwww. So sorry to read that you don't feel well. I've been thinking about you the last couple of days, and wondering how it all went.
Get better, and come back to let us know all about it when you're ready.

[Joy2Day]

Welcome home. We came home from the 10-day with bad colds too.

And John came down with pink-eye onboard. He was on a 1st name basis with the medical staff.

[debsjc]

Hope you feel better soon.

We are on the Eurodam next week. I think you went to Zeebrugge, did HAL provide a shuttle bus to Blankenburg train station (there the train to Bruges goes from)?

Did you have open sitting for dinner? Just wondered how easy it was to make reservations.

[canadarocks]

Awwwww. So sorry to read that you don't feel well. I've been thinking about you the last couple of days, and wondering how it all went.
Get better, and come back to let us know all about it when you're ready.

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts and all your great advice Ruth.

I am so grateful to you for your cabin recommendation. We were in 1063, an inside J on the Main Deck that you said was a good choice. It was a GREAT choice, by far the biggest room we have had (and we were in one of the double wide VD balcony cabins on the Westerdam in March!). It was the perfect location to access everything on and off the ship, huge, quiet, and dark..... just the best possible option for this cruise.

I'll have more to post about the Alesund fjord tour later... but thanks again!

[canadarocks]

Welcome home. We came home from the 10-day with bad colds too.

And John came down with pink-eye onboard. He was on a 1st name basis with the medical staff.

Glad you're safely home. You and John had some interesting predicaments, right? ;)

[swin26]

We just did the Gems of the Baltic and North Sea Adventure cruises on the Eurodam with stops in 15 ports in 10 different countries from July 21 - August 12.

Unfortunately hubby and I now have horrible colds :(, so it will be a while before I do some major reviewing, but if anyone has any last minute questions before they go ..... I'll try to help! :)

Welcome home and I hope you feel better soon!! As we are doing the 10 day Gems tour next June, I am looking forward to your review and helpful tips. Also, if you came home with any of the daily sheets and/or menus, it would be wonderful if you would post them. Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[canadarocks]

Hope you feel better soon.

We are on the Eurodam next week. I think you went to Zeebrugge, did HAL provide a shuttle bus to Blankenburg train station (there the train to Bruges goes from)?

Did you have open sitting for dinner? Just wondered how easy it was to make reservations.

Yes HAL provided a free shuttle bus to and from the Blankenburg train station. We had organized a private group to take a taxi into Bruges (which worked out wonderfully!) and decided to take advantage of HAL's offer for our return trip. We caught the train from Bruges back to the Blankenburg station (just over 5 Euros for two adults) and found hordes of angry people (far more than one bus load) waiting for the shuttle bus that we were told was way overdue in arriving.

We had met another couple walking to the train while in Bruges and we decided to grab a cab back to the ship instead. It was 10 Euros well spent!

We had fixed seating, so I'm sorry I can't help you with the dining question.

If you have any other questions, please let me know! :)

[canadarocks]

Welcome home and I hope you feel better soon!! As we are doing the 10 day Gems tour next June, I am looking forward to your review and helpful tips. Also, if you came home with any of the daily sheets and/or menus, it would be wonderful if you would post them. Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Unfortunately, I didn't keep any of the daily Explorers or menus because I wouldn't have a clue as to how to scan them! :o

I have a pretty good memory though, so if there's something in particular you want to know?

[debsjc]

Thanks very much for the information. Look forward to reading your review after you are feeling well again.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home.

Looking forward to your review when you are feeling better.

[canadarocks]

This was our fourth HAL cruise and by sheer coincidence we keep getting on bigger ships! Veendam - Ryndam - Westerdam - and now the Eurodam. I was worried because we didn't really enjoy the Westerdam and I thought it might have something to do with the size.

But that was definitely not the case! We LOVED this ship. As mentioned in my previous post, our own wonderful RuthC helped me pick the perfect cabin location. I'm certain this had a big impact on our enjoyment because it was an easy walk to everything!

I loved the show lounge and the screening room especially (compared to the Westerdam's, which I really did not care for). There are so many different venues that my husband and I kept commenting that on a ship of over 2000 passengers, where was everyone? Truly it was rare that there was a crowd anywhere and we had 4 sea days that all had awful weather!

I would choose the Eurodam again in a heartbeat! :D

[canadarocks]

I had read here that Cabanas and especially the Retreat ones were very hard to come by and often booked up months in advance..... so when we boarded early on July 21 my first trip was to the front desk to see if I could luck out and get one for a sea day.

I had compiled a list of the best Retreat Cabanas from here on CC and so I figured I'd start with asking for one of those. To my surprise my first choice was available, so I booked it for both sea days. My husband and I went up to the 11th deck to check out "our" cabin. We met the steward who would be serving us and everything was set.

Unfortunately our first sea day was a miserable one (it rained ALL day) and we cancelled the cabin early that morning. I was pleasantly surprised that HAL refunded our money without question. The exact same thing happened on the 2nd sea day. :(

But here's the interesting thing..... we never saw ANYONE in the Retreat Cabanas the entire cruise. Even on our port days when the weather was lovely. And many of the Lido Cabanas stayed empty as well.

I'm not sure if it was because it was so port intensive, but at least on this cruise the Cabanas were definitely easily available!

[aloisia]

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well.
Look forward to your review later. :)

RE: Cabanas .... we have reserved one for our Jan cruise. Is the list for the better ones easy to post or where did you find this on CC?
Thanks.

[canadarocks]

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well.
Look forward to your review later. :)

RE: Cabanas .... we have reserved one for our Jan cruise. Is the list for the better ones easy to post or where did you find this on CC?
Thanks.

I guess I should have said "what I think are the better ones", because that's obviously a personal opinion.... but for a cabana for two people (the family ones are the nicest, but more expensive) what I learned from someone's post here is that these are in the best location:

Naples, Portofino, Sorrento, and Palma de Mallorca

[Joy2Day]

Glad you're safely home. You and John had some interesting predicaments, right? ;)

Did you hear about our trip home? We went to the Copenhagen airport on Monday afternoon, but our plane was cancelled due to mechanical problems. There was 1 guy to handle ALL the passengers. I stayed in line and John started looking at other options. He ended up at the SAS ticket office (at the airport). They rebooked us for Tuesday, set up taxi vouchers to and from the Radisson Blu Scandanavia hotel, free hotel room, free dinner vouchers .... no breakfast vouchers because we had to be at the airport before breakfast opened.

5:30 Tuesday morning, we head back to the airport to catch a plane to London, then Virgin Atlantic (premium economy which is more like business class) to Chicago. Unfortunately, we had a 9-hour layover in Chicago before the first open seat. Then our 10 pm Chicago flight was late. It got there, but a thunderstorm prevented us from leaving, then the flight crew ran past their hours, so we had to wait for another plane. We finally left Chicago at 2 am on Wednesday morning!!!!!

But ... like I told a couple of teenagers who were frustrated by the cancelled flight ... everything we went through will make a great story some day. We weren't seeing the humor then, but we would later.

[kazu]

Oh my heavens, colds, bad flights - I do hope you enjoyed your cruise and especially the Baltics;) hoping when you feel better you will share:D

[canadarocks]

everything we went through will make a great story some day. We weren't seeing the humor then, but we would later.

OMG! :eek: From start to finish you will have amazing stories to tell about this cruise. Good for you to know enough to see things with the right attitude! :)

[RetiredMustang]

canadarocks,

Hope your cold is better!

We board Eurodam on Aug. 24 for the trans-atlantic, so my questions are about the ship, not the port visits since we won't be doing those.

We have been on Eurodam before, two years ago. How is she looking?

Was your captain Darin Bowland (I hope)? Who was the cruise director?

What was your favorite meal on board? Did they do the Master Chef's Dinner? If so, and you went, what did you think? Did you eat in the Tamarind, Canaletto or Pinnacle?

Did you see a string quartet?

OK, I know you may do a review after you feel better, but I would appreciate any insight about the on-board experience (outside of the J cabin you obviously enjoyed) before we head off to join the ship. It has been two years, and I know things can change (these days, it seems, with alarming regularity :D).

Cheers,
Dave

[canadarocks]

Oh my heavens, colds, bad flights - I do hope you enjoyed your cruise and especially the Baltics;) hoping when you feel better you will share:D

Hi kazu! :) No bad flights for us (other than enduring the long trip home with the start of this horrific cold on Saturday) and being on here this evening is actually helping me feel better.... well, at least "distracted"! ;)

[debshomespun]

How did you make out with the "inside" cabin? We did the Ryndam 30 day Hawaii/Tahiti and booked an inside GTE, and were assigned an oceanview in middle of the ship. We lucked out. We are looking at doing a B2B2B from Ensenada to Hawaii, to Sydney to Singapore, on Celebrity, and are looking at doing an inside (would be a total of 47 nights). We have had many insides, several oceanviews, and several balconys. I am thinking I would be ok in an inside . . . 47 nights is a long time though! I would prefer to do lots of shore excursions, and save the $$$$ and go with an inside cabin. We can use the whole rest of the ship!

Glad you had a great cruise, and hope you are feeling much better!

[canadarocks]

Hope your cold is better!
thank you, I'm feeling better just being here

We board Eurodam on Aug. 24 for the trans-atlantic, so my questions are about the ship, not the port visits since we won't be doing those.

We have been on Eurodam before, two years ago. How is she looking?
I found her beautiful and spotlessly clean!

Was your captain Darin Bowland (I hope)? Who was the cruise director?
I feel like a fool not knowing the captain's name, but I am pretty sure it was not Bowland. Our cruise director was named Patti H. and she was great, but she left the same day we did and I don't know who has replaced her, sorry.

What was your favorite meal on board? Did they do the Master Chef's Dinner? If so, and you went, what did you think? Did you eat in the Tamarind, Canaletto or Pinnacle?

oooh lots of questions there sir! :) My favorite meals onboard were at the Tamarind for our two dinners, especially the second when we had an amazing sunset. My husband's favorites were our dinners in the Canaletto (we ate there four times and I had the Veal Milanese three times! :eek: It was that good!!). We decided to forgo formal nights this trip and that's partly why we reserved the Canaletto so often, but we ended up just loving it! We did not go to the Pinnacle (we haven't been fans of it our last three cruises).

Fortunately there was no Master Chef dinner on either leg of our cruise. :D

Did you see a string quartet?
Yes, the Adagio Strings played every evening in the Explorer's Lounge. They were a lovely and talented group of ladies. The only unfortunate thing was that there was Happy Hour there from 7:00-8:00PM and the crowd got a little loud. I felt bad for them as often they could not be heard unless you were seated directly in front of them.

OK, I know you may do a review after you feel better, but I would appreciate any insight about the on-board experience (outside of the J cabin you obviously enjoyed) before we head off to join the ship. It has been two years, and I know things can change (these days, it seems, with alarming regularity :D).
If you have any other questions Dave, just let me know! :)

[RetiredMustang]

Thanks for the quick replies! Good to know the ship is doing well (and, it appears, I won't starve :D). Great news about the strings ... we usually prefer to listen to them than attend the show.

Dave

[canadarocks]

How did you make out with the "inside" cabin? We did the Ryndam 30 day Hawaii/Tahiti and booked an inside GTE, and were assigned an oceanview in middle of the ship. We lucked out. We are looking at doing a B2B2B from Ensenada to Hawaii, to Sydney to Singapore, on Celebrity, and are looking at doing an inside (would be a total of 47 nights). We have had many insides, several oceanviews, and several balconys. I am thinking I would be ok in an inside . . . 47 nights is a long time though! I would prefer to do lots of shore excursions, and save the $$$$ and go with an inside cabin. We can use the whole rest of the ship!

Glad you had a great cruise, and hope you are feeling much better!

We were 22 nights onboard and honestly we both loved our cabin. We slept so well and it was such a busy tour filled cruise that our "dark cave" was just wonderful. Sometimes it was hard to get out of that great big bed because it was so dark and so cozy that we always thought it was waaaayyy earlier than it was! :D

When we were deciding on a cabin I compared the price of the inside J versus the VD we had on the Westerdam this past March..... $2500 paid for a lot of great tours!! :cool: Just make sure you get one of the big cabins, not a standard one...... those are really small!

[canadarocks]

My husband and I love to play trivia while onboard HAL ships. The Eurodam had lots of trivia opportunities. There was team trivia, pub trivia (we never could tell the difference between these other than where they were held ;)), travel trivia, food trivia, and name that tune! :) The venues were in the Crow's Nest, the Queen's Lounge/Culinary Arts Center (the same place - just redesigned which was pretty cool), and the Northern Lights disco.

There was no consistency about the timing but that made sense with such a diverse docking schedule. Some days there were two or three different ones. Tyler the DJ (really great young guy, who's mother and brother came aboard for the second leg and were awesome as well) and Patti the cruise director (by far the best of the 4 we've had) ran all the ones we went to. Sydney (the party planner - who was very friendly and down to earth) did Culinary Trivia - we never did get to one of those. Ian (the shore information expert) ran the Travel Trivia and we heard that it was really hard.

But the prizes SUCKED! We won quite a few times (thanks Bill for your amazing music knowledge! ;))and attended a lot of others and saw the "reward". Insulated HAL water bottles (for the 40 question trivias) and pins... lots and lots and lots of pins! Have I mentioned the PINS????? :eek:

A few times Tyler (I think he was embarrassed to give out any more pins! :rolleyes:) gave the winners a round of drinks. We enjoyed those a few times but I prefer actually getting a prize. People who sailed with HAL "back in the day" told us that the prizes used to be great. No more DAM dollars either. Heck, I'd have been happy with a coaster!

[debshomespun]

When we were deciding on a cabin I compared the price of the inside J versus the VD we had on the Westerdam this past March..... $2500 paid for a lot of great tours!! :cool: Just make sure you get one of the big cabins, not a standard one...... those are really small![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the reply. I feel the same way. The saved money by booking an interior cabin can pay for a whole lot of fun times!

[canadarocks]

The price per bag of laundry was $26, quite a jump from the $20 charge in March on the Westerdam! The unlimited price for our 22 days was $200. :eek:

We decided to go with the "by the bag" option and we did that 4 times (I am amazed how much we can get into that little blue bag! :cool:) They actually "lost" one of my tops for a few days, but eventually it was returned (I wondered what sorts of travels it had been on....:D). So do be sure to either have pictures or notes on what you send out - it just happened to be one of my favorite "everyday" tops and I could describe it to our room steward easily. And count your items both before you send them (you also write it on their slip) and when they return.

I love HAL's laundry system, they do a far better job of it than I do at home... and you end up with so many hangers! :D

[swin26]

Unfortunately, I didn't keep any of the daily Explorers or menus because I wouldn't have a clue as to how to scan them! :o

I have a pretty good memory though, so if there's something in particular you want to know?

Thanks for your help. Do you recall what time the evening shows were held. Right now we have open seating for dinner, but I am thinking of changing to fixed dining. With the early calls at some of the ports and the walking intensive tours, I want to be able to enjoy dinner and a show before I collapse into bed. Also, I would love to hear about your SPB tours. Did you think the Tallinn and Helsinki tours were worth doing or would you have preferred a DIY tour. Thanks Again!!:)

[canadarocks]

Thanks for your help. Do you recall what time the evening shows were held. Right now we have open seating for dinner, but I am thinking of changing to fixed dining. With the early calls at some of the ports and the walking intensive tours, I want to be able to enjoy dinner and a show before I collapse into bed.

When there were two evening shows (most nights) they were at 8:00 & 10:00. We had late fixed (Main) dining at 8:00 PM at a table for 2. This is always my preference and so far we have lucked out all four times we have cruised.

On this cruise especially it worked out great, because we often ate dinner, saw the show, and (as you said) collapsed into bed. But, to be honest, we really found the entertainment severely lacking this cruise. I take the "golden rule" concept pretty seriously...... so let's just say we found both HAL's singers and dancers AND the guest entertainers "less than stellar". :(

There were a few exceptions and entertainment is such a personal thing, that "Your Mileage May Vary". ;)

[canadarocks]

Also, I would love to hear about your SPB tours. Did you think the Tallinn and Helsinki tours were worth doing or would you have preferred a DIY tour. Thanks Again!!:)

I LOVE SPB Tours!! :D Truly my best decision this cruise was to book every single tour I could with them. I only wish their tours were available everywhere we travelled, as Scandinavian private tour companies are few and far between.

For 20 Euros apiece a group of 14 of us (not all from Cruise Critic, but most) got to walk through Tallinn with the most lovely Triin, a local young woman who grew up there and was our SPB Tours guide. It was a wonderful morning and then we had the afternoon to explore on our own if we wished. All I read before we left is that you can easily do Tallinn on your own..... that is in fact true, but I don't regret organizing this tour in the slightest! We learned so much about the city and its history, and Triin was one of the sweetest young women I've ever had the good fortune to meet! :D

In Helsinki we were a group of just 11 (so sorry Abanne that you couldn't make it :() and I had booked the 3 hour "panoramic" bus tour. We had just come from two very jam-packed days with SPB Tours in St. Petersburg and I knew we would be wanting some "downtime". To our delight we were met by a wonderful young Italian woman named Corina and a full sized bus! It was great being able to spread out and everyone could have their own window seat! At first I was a little disappointed that the guide was not from Helsinki, but Corina turned out to be a delight. She is a PhD student and has lived in Helsinki for quite a few years, and was a great guide! She even took us to the Market (which was not planned) and extended the length of the tour because of that. For those that wanted to stay in the city to explore, she explained in detail where to catch the HAL shuttle back to the ship. 30 Euros very well spent! :cool:

[canadarocks]

When we were in St. Petersburg, our SPB Tours guide Alexander very early on the first day of our two day tour asked...

"Does anyone need to make a technical stop?"

Our group of 15 was completely confused.

Alex asked a second time and was surprised that no one seemed to need one. Someone eventually realized that he meant a "restroom" stop and we joked about it from then on.

When we got to Helsinki our SPB Tours guide Corina was so much fun that I told her about Alex's description. She laughed and then explained that in Italy when you are out in public (especially a woman on a date), and you need to use the restroom the custom is to say:

"Excuse me, but I have to make a call to Paris."

I can't think of a better way to explain the difference between the attitudes of these two great nationalities! :D

[LAN41]

Thanks for your help. Do you recall what time the evening shows were held. Right now we have open seating for dinner, but I am thinking of changing to fixed dining. With the early calls at some of the ports and the walking intensive tours, I want to be able to enjoy dinner and a show before I collapse into bed. Also, I would love to hear about your SPB tours. Did you think the Tallinn and Helsinki tours were worth doing or would you have preferred a DIY tour. Thanks Again!!:)

I was on Eurodam 7/9 -7-21 in the Baltic and the shows were always 7pm and 9pm. People were complaining because it was hard to plan around dinner time. We had open seating and only had a problem one night (took 45 minutes in line to get a table)...after that made sure to have reservations. They take them 3 days in advance and had no problem at all after that. Did Tallinn and Helsinki DIY and had no problem at all. Loved those days, maybe best of the whole trip! Have a wonderful time.

Leslie

[LAN41]

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts and all your great advice Ruth.

I am so grateful to you for your cabin recommendation. We were in 1063, an inside J on the Main Deck that you said was a good choice. It was a GREAT choice, by far the biggest room we have had (and we were in one of the double wide VD balcony cabins on the Westerdam in March!). It was the perfect location to access everything on and off the ship, huge, quiet, and dark..... just the best possible option for this cruise.

I'll have more to post about the Alesund fjord tour later... but thanks again!

Hi CanadaRocks!
We were in 1063 right before you and totally agree.....roomiest and best cabin we have been in! Glad you had a great trip. I am reading through your thread and it is funny that we had many of the same opinions...loved SPB, thought entertainment on Eurodam was lacking in many areas, etc. I am still trying to work on my review. Going through my 800+ pictures has been taking my spare time :)!

Leslie

[swin26]

Thank You

[canadarocks]

We were in 1063 right before you and totally agree.....roomiest and best cabin we have been in! Glad you had a great trip. I am reading through your thread and it is funny that we had many of the same opinions...loved SPB, thought entertainment on Eurodam was lacking in many areas, etc. I am still trying to work on my review. Going through my 800+ pictures has been taking my spare time :)!

Leslie

Well how cool is that? Thanks for keeping "our" room just perfect! ;)

And the complaining about the show times paid off, because they switched them to 8 & 10...... too bad they weren't a lot better! :rolleyes:

I've decided to make this thread my "review" and I'll post when I think of things or to answer questions, etc. I just know that I'll never take the time to write it ALL down at once! :o

[canadarocks]

We found the BEST little restaurant while in Tallinn. It is in the main square, at the corner of one of the sides of the square, with a small sign: Tristan und Isolde

Authentically medieval looking place, wonderfully friendly staff (you go to them to be served), and the very best food! It is all served in the very coolest way. They even have a pickle barrel that you can spear your own pickle out of!

My husband and I each had a beer, a bowl of amazing elk soup, and we shared a spinach pie. All of the food choices (they had fruit and meat pies as well) were one Euro apiece, and all of the drinks were two. One of the very best lunches I've ever had and it only cost us 7 Euro..... :cool::D

If you're going to Tallinn, do not miss this place! And make sure to use the restroom before you leave! ;)

[Al_Frescoe]

But, to be honest, we really found the entertainment severely lacking this cruise. I take the "golden rule" concept pretty seriously...... so let's just say we found both HAL's singers and dancers AND the guest entertainers "less than stellar". :(

There were a few exceptions and entertainment is such a personal thing, that "Your Mileage May Vary". ;)

We were on the Norway/UK leg of that cruise and I agree, the entertainment was lacking. One exception for me was "The Neptunes", a jazzy trio that played in one of the lounges every night.

Al

[EGCruisers]

Do you have a guess as to the size (dimensions or square footage) of your cabin? We have 1063 booked for a cruise next spring and I'm wondering how it compares to some others we have had.

[Live4cruises]

[QUOTE=canadarocks;30227776]I LOVE SPB Tours!! :D Truly my best decision this cruise was to book every single tour I could with them. I only wish their tours were available everywhere we travelled, as Scandinavian private tour companies are few and far between.


We were on the July 9 Eurodam sailing, and used SPB tours in Berlin (Sylvia) and St. Petersburg (Andrew). We were very pleased with the service, friendliness, knowledge, and value we received. The guides were among the best we've had in our travels. Their personalities were quite different, but both were well educated, well trained, and enthusiastic about their respective cities.

[Bippie]

On a Baltic Cruise earlier this summer, I also booked the Tallin and Helsinki tours with SPB. The Tallin walking tour was great. We didn't have the greatest experience in Helsinki but that may not all be SPB's fault. We started with a rainy morning, the bus was small and the speaker system was annoyingly harsh. We were all a bit weary from the previous ports without a sea day to rest. The day of our tour was the last day the rock church was closed for renovations. This was also the dark day for a museum I wanted to visit. On top of that, we also caught colds on the cruise. I did enjoy the shopping in Helsinki after the tour - the sun came out and the afternoon was very nice. I did take the HAL shuttle back to the ship but found out they only accepted payments in Euros - they would not allow me to charge this to my shipboard account as they did in Copenhagen.

In St. Petersburg we booked with Denrus and they were incredible. As you've probably seen there are a few tour companies who get rave reviews - Denrus, SPB, and Red October all seem to deliver. So glad we didn't pay the grossly inflated prices for the HAL excursions (except in Stockholm because of the distant port and tendering).

[kazu]

On a Baltic Cruise earlier this summer, I also booked the Tallin and Helsinki tours with SPB. The Tallin walking tour was great. We didn't have the greatest experience in Helsinki but that may not all be SPB's fault. We started with a rainy morning, the bus was small and the speaker system was annoyingly harsh. We were all a bit weary from the previous ports without a sea day to rest. The day of our tour was the last day the rock church was closed for renovations. This was also the dark day for a museum I wanted to visit. On top of that, we also caught colds on the cruise. I did enjoy the shopping in Helsinki after the tour - the sun came out and the afternoon was very nice. I did take the HAL shuttle back to the ship but found out they only accepted payments in Euros - they would not allow me to charge this to my shipboard account as they did in Copenhagen.

In St. Petersburg we booked with Denrus and they were incredible. As you've probably seen there are a few tour companies who get rave reviews - Denrus, SPB, and Red October all seem to deliver. So glad we didn't pay the grossly inflated prices for the HAL excursions (except in Stockholm because of the distant port and tendering).

Bippie - thanks for the great tips on the private tours. Dh and I plan to return to the Baltics. The first time we did it, we did do HAL tours. (at the time we understood we had to in order to avoid a visa). This time we will definitely be seeking other sources. muchly appreciated:)

[canadarocks]

Do you have a guess as to the size (dimensions or square footage) of your cabin? We have 1063 booked for a cruise next spring and I'm wondering how it compares to some others we have had.

Nope, I'm a dummy when it comes to measurements :o, but I'm sure Joanie has all the info on her sticky at the very top of this board.

But trust me, it was BIG! :D

[canadarocks]

Where private tours in St. Petersburg are concerned, we found Holland America to be at its worst.

In their Shore Excursion booklet it states: if you do not have a Holland America excursion or a tourist visa "issued from your home country", you cannot leave the ship.

A complete and utter lie. The daily explorers said almost the exact same thing.

Not surprisingly, quite a few people we met onboard were stunned when I told them we had used a private tour company that actually got our tour tickets ("visas") for us, and that there was no extra charge to get them.

Every person we spoke to, both in our group of 15 and those who took HAL based tours, was furious with HAL and brought up the issue of trust. This only happened in St. Petersburg, and as Alex (our SPB Tours guide) said: they are using scare tactics where "big bad Russia" is concerned to try to insure HAL gets everyone to use their overpriced and overly busy group tours. :mad:

[Mary Ellen]

In their Shore Excursion booklet it states: if you do not have a Holland America excursion or a tourist visa "issued from your home country", you cannot leave the ship. :mad:That is just plain stupid. "Issued from your home country"????? My home country has nothing to do with issuing a visa (other than my being a citizen of it determining if I need one in the first place). It is the country one is entering that issues the visa. If I were to see this in any cruise line info, I'd question everything they said, as whoever wrote (and approved) that knows very little. :eek:

OK, now that I've gone off on HAL, I went to look for this "quote". I don't find it in the shore excursion on-line brochure. The 26 Aug for the Rotterdam to be specific. Could you please point us to the quote?

[canadarocks]

That is just plain stupid. "Issued from your home country"????? My home country has nothing to do with issuing a visa (other than my being a citizen of it determining if I need one in the first place). It is the country one is entering that issues the visa. If I were to see this in any cruise line info, I'd question everything they said, as whoever wrote (and approved) that knows very little. :eek:

OK, now that I've gone off on HAL, I went to look for this "quote". I don't find it in the shore excursion on-line brochure. The 26 Aug for the Rotterdam to be specific. Could you please point us to the quote?

In the Shore Excursions brochure in our cabin (which we brought home as we intend to write HAL about this issue and some others) it states:

Guests who do not already have a Russian visa (issued from your home country) will only be allowed ashore if participating on a Holland America Shore Excursion.

I was stunned when I read it. :eek:

[Mary Ellen]

Well at that point, for all intents and purposes, it is too late to book a private shore ex anyway. All that is doing is let passengers know that they won't be able to get off the ship and wander around on their own unless they already have a visa. Now, putting that in the on-line shore ex brochure would deter passengers into booking private tours on their own. Not nearly as misleading as what was originally posted. Actually, I'd consider them to be on par.

[canadarocks]

Not nearly as misleading as what was originally posted.

My original post: In their Shore Excursion booklet it states: if you do not have a Holland America excursion or a tourist visa "issued from your home country", you cannot leave the ship.

How on earth is that misleading?

[Mary Ellen]

Because people on private tours will have already booked them prior to boarding. They will already know better (the private companies make this VERY clear) and it is too late at that point for anyone else. IF this was in the Shore Ex book that people read prior to boarding, which you omitted saying it wasn't, that would be another matter. I was led to believe from your post that this notice was THE shore ex booklet, not the flyer in the cabin. I now find this misleading.

I can't even remember the last time I even read about shore ex while on the ship. All of that is done prior to boarding.

[MovingForward]

canadarocks,

Thank you for posting! I hope you're feeling better. My first cruise was on Eurodam, 12/2010. I went solo and it was a wonderful experience. I'm booked on carnival's Magic for this coming December (traveling with family), but I sure am missing the Eurodam. I can't wait to sail on her again.

[canadarocks]

I can't even remember the last time I even read about shore ex while on the ship. All of that is done prior to boarding.

While that may be true for an experienced cruiser like yourself, believe me that the long line ups at the shore excursion desk throughout our cruise would indicate that perhaps not everyone does the same......

We will agree to disagree on this issue. Let's leave it at that.

[canadarocks]

canadarocks,

Thank you for posting! I hope you're feeling better. My first cruise was on Eurodam, 12/2010. I went solo and it was a wonderful experience. I'm booked on carnival's Magic for this coming December (traveling with family), but I sure am missing the Eurodam. I can't wait to sail on her again.

Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful family cruise and I agree that the Eurodam is a great ship. :)

[Mary Ellen]

While that may be true for an experienced cruiser like yourself, believe me that the long line ups at the shore excursion desk throughout our cruise would indicate that perhaps not everyone does the same......

We will agree to disagree on this issue. Let's leave it at that.Very true. But HAL's comments re the visa situation have no bearing at that point. I don't expect them to advertise (non-HAL) private tours.

I believe both were misleading, you don't. Life goes on... :D

[canadarocks]

We usually bring our own wine when we sail with HAL, but as this was an overseas vacation we decided to purchase our wine after we boarded. I know we could have purchased it at each port, but wine is very expensive in Northern Europe and we were too busy seeing everything to stop and look for wine anyways! :)

I had pre-purchased some beverage cards (which we used up surprisingly fast! ;)) and bought more as we needed them.

Here's what I learned and wanted to share (it may be old news, but as I said this was our first time purchasing bottles onboard):

For some reason the wine in the Canaletto is priced at only $22 a bottle and it is very good..... well I can vouch for 3: the Pinot Noir, the Pinot Grigio, and the Abrusso (the last one of the menu). We found it far better than a few we tried in the dining room.

Not only will the Canaletto send an unfinished bottle of their wine to the dining room (and vice versa), you can order bottles of wine from the Canaletto while you are eating in the dining room! :cool:

The first time we did this we went to the Canaletto a few hours before our dinner and pre-ordered two bottles to be sent to the MDR. But you can also order a bottle from your MDR Wine Steward as well with no problem at all.

[canadarocks]

I found the staff at the Front Desk on the Eurodam to be the very nicest yet. On the first day when we boarded I went to book a Retreat Cabana (which I discussed previously).

While I was there, I asked about booking Canaletto dinners and a lunch at the Tamarind. Without hesitation, the girl at the Front Desk dialed the Dining number for me and handed me the phone. I was able to do everything at one time, without having to traipse up to the 9th floor or return to my cabin to call.

Everytime I had a question or wanted an update of our bill, I was greeted with a big smile and the best of service.

Also, for those cruising in this part of the world where there are so many different types of currency... at the Front Desk HAL has a giant glass jar for any leftover change or bills that you want to contribute to charity.

I thought this was a great option, as I don't think most financial institutions will accept coins for exchanges. That jar was pretty full of coins (and a few bills) when we left! :cool:

[canadarocks]

Please remember to check your Beverage Card receipt when the server returns the card to you. A very sweet young man in the Explorer's Lounge mixed up my Beverage Card with someone else's and I forgot to check it when he returned with our order.

When I went to order a bottle of wine in the Canaletto I was astounded when the Wine Steward said there was only $4 left on the card I knew had over $70 still remaining! :eek:

It was all cleared up quickly with a trip to the Front Desk, but I was stressed out for a few minutes, believe me!

What happens is that the cards you pre-order have your name on them, but the ones you buy from the bars do not. From then on, I used a marker to label any cards we got, and I checked each receipt! :)

[debsjc]

Thanks for the tip about the beverage cards.

Would you remember the phone number to call dining by any chance? I seem to think last time I called before we had access to our cabin.

Also what time did you board, and did you have access to your cabin straight away?

Thanks

[swin26]

Canadarocks: What did you do in Copenhagen before the cruise? We will only have a day and a half in Copenhagen before our cruise. I know Danish Viking is a great source of information, but was curious what you found interesting. Also, was it fairly easy to navigate walking around the cities.

[canadarocks]

Thanks for the tip about the beverage cards.

Would you remember the phone number to call dining by any chance? I seem to think last time I called before we had access to our cabin.

Also what time did you board, and did you have access to your cabin straight away?

Thanks

When you are onboard the number to call dining is 88.

We boarded at 11:30 AM and we were able to go to our cabin right away! :D

[canadarocks]

Canadarocks: What did you do in Copenhagen before the cruise? We will only have a day and a half in Copenhagen before our cruise. I know Danish Viking is a great source of information, but was curious what you found interesting. Also, was it fairly easy to navigate walking around the cities.

We also had a day and a half in Copenhagen. I ordered the 72 hour Copenhagen Cards and we had them mailed to us here in Canada. Unfortunately they don't have 48 hour cards. When we arrived we used the wonderful transit system to get around and the Cards covered everything we wanted to see! :cool:

We took the train from the airport to Central Station and then walked the few short blocks (with our 2 large wheeled suitcases on the cobblestone streets it was a little interesting, but certainly do-able! ;)) to our hotel, the Clarion Mayfair. This place was great as it was very centrally located, and it included breakfast each morning and a light dinner each night.

What we most enjoyed in Copenhagen was: the canal boat ride in Nynhaven (we did it both days at different times of the day), the Zoo (that I absolutely LOVED!), and Tivoli Gardens (although I'd have enjoyed it more if it wasn't quite so busy). We ate a great lunch at an outdoor cafe in Nynhaven as well.

The two days we were there it was very sunny and hot. We toured the Rosenberg Castle and then decided to forgo any other indoor museums, etc. just because it was so beautiful outside and so very warm indoors.

That's why we ended up at the zoo and I will always be grateful we did. Entry was included with the Copenhagen Card, and we spent the afternoon surrounded by happy Danish families and the most wonderful animal exhibits.

We got very comfortable using the public buses and used a bunch of different numbered ones to tour. We even used #26 to get to the ship! :cool:

[melissasimon]

From now on, I'm just doing whatever Canadarocks does. She's a trip planner extraordinaire! :D

[canadarocks]

From now on, I'm just doing whatever Canadarocks does. She's a trip planner extraordinaire! :D

Awwwww..... how are you? Did you enjoy your day in Bruges?? :) ..... or should I say "bleeping" Bruges? ;)

(inside joke between us - absolutely nothing against lovely Bruges!)

[debsjc]

When you are onboard the number to call dining is 88.

We boarded at 11:30 AM and we were able to go to our cabin right away! :D

Thank you. Only 4 days to go, i'm getting excited now!

[swin26]

We also had a day and a half in Copenhagen. I ordered the 72 hour Copenhagen Cards and we had them mailed to us here in Canada. Unfortunately they don't have 48 hour cards. When we arrived we used the wonderful transit system to get around and the Cards covered everything we wanted to see! :cool:

We took the train from the airport to Central Station and then walked the few short blocks (with our 2 large wheeled suitcases on the cobblestone streets it was a little interesting, but certainly do-able! ;)) to our hotel, the Clarion Mayfair. This place was great as it was very centrally located, and it included breakfast each morning and a light dinner each night.

What we most enjoyed in Copenhagen was: the canal boat ride in Nynhaven (we did it both days at different times of the day), the Zoo (that I absolutely LOVED!), and Tivoli Gardens (although I'd have enjoyed it more if it wasn't quite so busy). We ate a great lunch at an outdoor cafe in Nynhaven as well.

The two days we were there it was very sunny and hot. We toured the Rosenberg Castle and then decided to forgo any other indoor museums, etc. just because it was so beautiful outside and so very warm indoors.

That's why we ended up at the zoo and I will always be grateful we did. Entry was included with the Copenhagen Card, and we spent the afternoon surrounded by happy Danish families and the most wonderful animal exhibits.

We got very comfortable using the public buses and used a bunch of different numbered ones to tour. We even used #26 to get to the ship! :cool:

Thanks, my plan is to buy the 24 hour card at the airport. We can't use the 26 bus because we board on Sunday, so 24 hours should be more than enough for us. We arrive very early on Saturday (7:15 am) and hopefully after sleeping on the plane, I have a busy day planned. We are hoping to take the train to the Central Station, walk to the Marriott ($104 + tax on Priceline:)), then take the bus to the Danish Resistance Museum, walk to Amalienborg Palace, go to the Round Tower, have lunch then explore Rosenborg Castle and grounds and then take the Metro to Nyhavn for the canal tour and hotdogs and beer for dinner. We may need to crawl back to the Marriott. Sunday we will probably just explore the city hall square area and then go to the ship. We can rest when we get on the ship and the next day is a Sea Day:) I appreciate your insight - I like planning almost as much as you seem to do.

[canadarocks]

This was a 22 day cruise for us, by far our longest (we have been lucky enough to do 2 back to back cruises of 14 days apiece). I don't know if it was because we were onboard so long that we had time to notice, or whether the Eurodam is the exception....... but the staff on this ship was 90% amazing! :cool:

Yes there were a few crew members who didn't "pop" in that way of being memorable or overtly cheerful, but there were very few I can say that of.

Almost everyone we dealt with was incredibly helpful, friendly, and "relaxed". And by relaxed I mean... not trying to be nice, not "working" to get a tip, etc. Just great people who were obviously happy in their jobs and comfortable in talking to us.

I'm not even going to mention names (although I could list a bunch! :D) because they were such a great group of people that I don't need to!

I do know that many of them called me by my name with affection, from very early on in the cruise and I think that is partly because I try to do the same .... and if I didn't thank them by name, I did it with a genuine smile and true appreciation for the very demanding work that they do.

Please remember to appreciate the great people who work for HAL! :)

[canadarocks]

Thanks, my plan is to buy the 24 hour card at the airport. We can't use the 26 bus because we board on Sunday, so 24 hours should be more than enough for us. We arrive very early on Saturday (7:15 am) and hopefully after sleeping on the plane, I have a busy day planned. We are hoping to take the train to the Central Station, walk to the Marriott ($104 + tax on Priceline:)), then take the bus to the Danish Resistance Museum, walk to Amalienborg Palace, go to the Round Tower, have lunch then explore Rosenborg Castle and grounds and then take the Metro to Nyhavn for the canal tour and hotdogs and beer for dinner. We may need to crawl back to the Marriott. Sunday we will probably just explore the city hall square area and then go to the ship. We can rest when we get on the ship and the next day is a Sea Day:) I appreciate your insight - I like planning almost as much as you seem to do.

Wow...... that is one ambitious day...... :eek: I can tell you that I fully intended to sleep on the plane and then didn't at all. Please know that many things in Copenhagen don't open until 10:00AM and be sure to check the closing times. My advice would be to see and do as much as you can within that one day, but don't stress if you can't manage it all.

Good friends that we met on the cruise did the Danish Resistance Museum and the Round Tower and they enjoyed both very much. :) We enjoyed touring Rosenberg Castle as well.

Depending upon when you are going, the canal tours run until 8:00PM so definitely plan to do Nyhaven in the evening. We were underwhelmed with the hot dogs in Copenhagen, but the area itself is beautiful! :)

Have a wonderful time!

[melissasimon]

Awwwww..... how are you? Did you enjoy your day in Bruges?? :) ..... or should I say "bleeping" Bruges? ;)

(inside joke between us - absolutely nothing against lovely Bruges!)

We had a great day in bleepin' Bruges. ;) Hope your segway tour was fun!

[canadarocks]

We had a great day in bleepin' Bruges. ;) Hope your segway tour was fun!

Our Segway Tour was amazing! Charlie "Papparazzo", our guide, was brilliant and we got the very best overview of the amazing city of Bruges.

We even got to see the actual hotel where Colin Farrell jumped out of the window into the canal below! :cool:

[melissasimon]

Swin26,

We arrived in Copenhagen early on the day before our cruise and stayed at the Marriott. I slept well on the plane, but we were still in a bit of a fog all day that first day. I admire your planning and hope your busy day goes well! Maybe there's a reason that you aren't planning to go to Tivoli, but I thought I'd mention that it's a very short pleasant walk from the Marriott to Tivoli. We went around dusk, ate dinner there, and had a lovely time walking around admiring the lights, a perfect ending for our jet-lagged day. Some of our prettiest photos are from that evening. We also enjoyed the architecture around the Marriott. Have a great time!

[melissasimon]

Our Segway Tour was amazing! Charlie "Papparazzo", our guide, was brilliant and we got the very best overview of the amazing city of Bruges.

We even got to see the actual hotel where Colin Farrell jumped out of the window into the canal below! :cool:

Gosh, that sounds like so much fun! I've always thought those segway tours looked like fun but we've never done it. Next time! My husband was not at his best that day ( we didn't know it then but he was getting sick ) so we had a shorter day in Bruges than we had planned. But still fun!

I'm so bummed that our trip is over. So I'm already working on the next one! :)

[canadarocks]

To my surprise this cruise our very favorite place to eat breakfast was in the Lido! There was an unbelievable variety of choices, by far the best quality of any of our cruises, and the longest time frame that a full breakfast was available each day. Literally everything you could ask for! :cool:

Room service breakfasts were delivered hot and in the proper time frame. The one time it was late, we received a phone call to apologize and then it was only a few minutes late when it did arrive. Remember to ask for the Mixed Berries (it's not on the menu)! :)

Breakfast in the main dining room, while tasty, was far too slow a process. Even a very simple order took a very long time. After two attempts, we settled on the Lido and preferred the food there as well.

[canadarocks]

Now lunch was another story. I loved having lunch in the MDR. Of course we hardly ever got to do it, because we were off the ship almost every day..... but when we did it was lovely! Having a three course lunch is such a treat and although it was a relaxing time, the service was prompt and seemed quicker and more attentive than at breakfast.

We ate lunch just once in the Tamarind and we weren't really fans. DH especially didn't enjoy it, and while I am a little more adventurous I found one try was enough. I guess Dim Sum is more of an acquired taste. The Tamarind has a completely different "vibe" at dinner time too. But we thoroughly enjoyed the company, as we ate with a couple we had met through CC on our private tours (and it turned out that my husband and she were alumni of the same high school graduating class! :cool:).

[canadarocks]

Wow half of the posts on this thread have disappeared..... :eek:
I hope they get put back somehow! :(

[canadarocks]

Whoa, how strange..... when I posted the above, the missing posts reappeared.
I wonder if these two posts will now show up on the actual list of threads? :confused:

[Bippie]

Canadarocks: What did you do in Copenhagen before the cruise? We will only have a day and a half in Copenhagen before our cruise. I know Danish Viking is a great source of information, but was curious what you found interesting. Also, was it fairly easy to navigate walking around the cities.

I know you didn't ask me but I do want to share a thought. My Baltic cruise started in Dover so I only had the day in Copenhagen. I realized someday i must return to see the Tivoli in the evening with all of the lights. I suspect it is quite beautiful. While I did enjoy the day visit, I suspect the Tivoli at night is even better.

For the day in Copenhagen, we took the HAL shuttle that dropped off across from the Tivoli. Walked down the main shopping street, crossed a park, and found the canal tour boats. Thanks to advice online, I knew to go to the second tour boat company. The first and obvious one was almost twice the price for the same tour. After the canal tour, had lunch on the top floor of the nearby large department store (sorry I can't remember the name for now). Returned to the Tivoli for the afternoon and wished I had waited for lunch because they have a Wagamama which is a favorite chain of mine for Japanese noodles and such. Afterwards, took the shuttle back to the ship.

This was all very easy to do. Just be prepared for everything to be very expensive. Enjoy your time in Copenhagen!

[swin26]

Thank you to all for your comments and suggestions. I have some mixed feelings about going to Tivoli. DH is not a fan of amusement parks (I go to Disney World with my kids and leave him home) and he may resist going even though I heard the lights and gardens are very nice. As we will have Copenhagen Cards and admission is included, I will keep it on our "list" for evening activities. Thanks also for the 10:00 opening time reminder. If we get in on time and make it to the hotel in time, we can do the 9:00 canal tour that leaves from the Marriott.

[kazu]

Canadarocks - I am so glad to see that your cruise went so well:D

:DPlanning always pays off and you did a great job of it:)

Thank you for your fabulous posts and your sharing:D

The Baltics had to be one of our favourite cruises - in fact, we plan to go back. Thank you again. Wonderful, wonderful posts and so glad you had the wonderful time you deserved;)

[canadarocks]

Canadarocks - I am so glad to see that your cruise went so well:D

:DPlanning always pays off and you did a great job of it:)

Thank you for your fabulous posts and your sharing:D

The Baltics had to be one of our favourite cruises - in fact, we plan to go back. Thank you again. Wonderful, wonderful posts and so glad you had the wonderful time you deserved;)

Thank you so much Jacqui! You are so sweet in all of your posts; it is always a treat to read them. :D

[canadarocks]

This HAL tour was one of very favorite tours on this cruise. While the drive to Lillesand and the small city itself were lovely, I was not prepared by how wonderful the boat ride back from Lillesand to Kristiansand would be. :cool:

It was a beautiful sunny day (which obviously helps! ;)) and we sat on the top level of the boat, outside and had stunning views. The boat literally sailed into areas where Norwegian families were out swimming and enjoying the summer weather. The homes and the scenery were simply amazing!

We were late getting back to the ship (which seemed to be the rule rather than the exception for HAL tours this trip! :rolleyes:), so we missed Trivia that day. But it was soooooo worth it! :D

[canadarocks]

Okay this is kind of a mixed review, but it's partly my fault. We were in Alesund from 8:00AM - 9:00PM and this tour didn't depart until 3:00 PM. It was a beautiful morning and we didn't want to waste it on the ship..... so we got out there and toured Alesund. We took the very first Bytoget (a small train that's actually really just a tram pulling cars - but cool nonetheless) at 9:30 for 20 Euros apiece and toured the city for an hour, and then walked around some more after that and went in a beautiful church right near the pier.

We returned to the Eurodam and had a lovely lunch in the MDR. At 3:00PM we left for our HAL tour. The first two hours were a city tour..... :rolleyes: like I said - partly my fault. But where the train stopped at the Aksla viewpoint for 10 minutes for pictures (which was more than enough time), the HAL tour stayed there for 30 minutes! And then we drove and drove, on a city bus with no air conditioning, with no more stops to get out ...... :mad:

But the Hjorundfjord boat trip......... OMG, the best highlight for me of the entire cruise! :eek: We went up to the top level of the boat, outside, and never left (well other than a two minute restroom break! ;)).

I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was...... and the tour included free coffee and waffles (I forced myself to go down to grab one right before the trip was over!) :D.

I said to my husband that if HAL was smart they would scratch the city tour part and just run as many of the fjord tours as possible! It was truly priceless!

[canadarocks]

I forgot to say that we also loved the city of Kristiansand itself. There is a brand new port there, so we didn't need to tender, but it is a bit of a walk from there (which looks pretty "industrial") into the nicer area of town.

There is a lovely harbor area, and there were some wonderful sand sculptures. The town was setting up for a big volleyball competition that was to occur soon. The fish market is very cool and all in all it was a lovely port, and very easy to get around in! :)

[luvcruisn']

I have some mixed feelings about going to Tivoli. DH is not a fan of amusement parks (I go to Disney World with my kids and leave him home) and he may resist going even though I heard the lights and gardens are very nice. As we will have Copenhagen Cards and admission is included, I will keep it on our "list" for evening activities.

I went to Tivoli some years ago on a Baltic Cruise. I found that it was nothing like Disney World or Disneyland. It is very much smaller, and the area for rides is not very big also. There was a stage with a Punch and Judy type show that I enjoyed, and the gardens were nice.

[jdvmd]

I LOVE SPB Tours!! :D Truly my best decision this cruise was to book every single tour I could with them. I only wish their tours were available everywhere we travelled, as Scandinavian private tour companies are few and far between.

For 20 Euros apiece a group of 14 of us (not all from Cruise Critic, but most) got to walk through Tallinn with the most lovely Triin, a local young woman who grew up there and was our SPB Tours guide. It was a wonderful morning and then we had the afternoon to explore on our own if we wished. All I read before we left is that you can easily do Tallinn on your own..... that is in fact true, but I don't regret organizing this tour in the slightest! We learned so much about the city and its history, and Triin was one of the sweetest young women I've ever had the good fortune to meet! :D
In Helsinki we were a group of just 11 (so sorry Abanne that you couldn't make it :() and I had booked the 3 hour "panoramic" bus tour. We had just come from two very jam-packed days with SPB Tours in St. Petersburg and I knew we would be wanting some "downtime". To our delight we were met by a wonderful young Italian woman named Corina and a full sized bus! It was great being able to spread out and everyone could have their own window seat! At first I was a little disappointed that the guide was not from Helsinki, but Corina turned out to be a delight. She is a PhD student and has lived in Helsinki for quite a few years, and was a great guide! She even took us to the Market (which was not planned) and extended the length of the tour because of that. For those that wanted to stay in the city to explore, she explained in detail where to catch the HAL shuttle back to the ship. 30 Euros very well spent! :cool:

Ha! We had both Corina and Triin in June when we were on the NCL Sun. Felt the same way you did about both ladies. How is Triin's pregnancy going?
Also, can you explain what is the double wide balcony on the VD verandah? Any cabin numbers?

[canadarocks]

I decided before this trip that Stockholm (and Edinburgh - more on that later!) were going to be my - "let HAL take care of us" days. I had planned so many private tours and independent stuff, and we had 16 ports to deal with in 10 different countries...... yeah I know, "quit your whining you spoiled brat!" :rolleyes:

Well, this tour was ...... okay. Both my husband and I were blown away by how beautiful Stockholm is, really gorgeous even compared to all of the other wonderful cities we visited. And I guess it was a good introduction to the city.

But, in hindsight, we probably should have used the HoHo bus here. It would have taken us to the Vasa museum (truly a "must see"!) and to the other sites we ended up doing between this HAL tour and the other one I booked for a lot less money.

Live and learn! ;)

[canadarocks]

Ha! We had both Corina and Triin in June when we were on the NCL Sun. Felt the same way you did about both ladies. How is Triin's pregnancy going?
Also, can you explain what is the double wide balcony on the VD verandah? Any cabin numbers?

Triin's pregnancy is going extremely well, and she just found out a few days before our tour that she is having a BOY!! She was ecstatic because she already has a daughter and she said her husband and their families were hoping for a boy. :D Really an awesome young woman!

Ah, the double wides! Now you must keep this secret....;).. on the Westerdam we were in 4164 (which had a bath tub as well! Heaven I tell you!) and the other one is 4166 (shower only, but the balcony is the same double size). On the Eurodam the double wides are 4166 and 4168, I believe (haven't actually seen those - but that's what I read here). :cool:

[canadarocks]

This was an interesting tour, but not for the reasons you might think :). After returning from the morning tour we had a good lunch and then turned around and went back out to another bus. We went to the City Hall, which I really wanted to visit as that is where the Nobel Prizes (other than the peace prize which is in Oslo - which we would visit later) are given out.

We saw the Blue Room (where they actually award the Nobel prizes) which is not blue at all and yet for some reason kept the name after they decided to not paint the room blue :rolleyes:. And we saw the Gold Room which is where the awards banquet is held. And this is where the tour got interesting.... our guide said we had 10 minutes to wander around and she would meet us just near the gift shop, which was next to the Gold Room.

Well, I am a bit of a "wanderer" and if there are spots to be explored..... ;) So we went out of the Gold Room into a hallway and soon entered a room with murals depicting somewhat "mature" activities. Interesting, we thought. Then we proceeded down that long hallway to another room which was very elegant looking with red carpeting and drapery that led to another room. In this room were two young women in uniforms.....

Suffice it to say..... we were not supposed to be there. :o We were led back to our guide who (although I don't speak Swedish) got a bit of a "talking to"
and I never did find out about the room with the murals. But I did ask the young woman in uniform while she "escorted" us back to our guide, and she assured us it was just a regular room.

Our guide was surprisingly not upset with us at all (or she certainly didn't let on if she was! ;)). We then drove to Gamla Stan (the old town) and we were allowed to tour pretty much on our own. We loved Gamla Stan, but we could have and should have done Stockholm DIY. :)

[RuthC]

But the Hjorundfjord boat trip......... OMG, the best highlight for me of the entire cruise! :eek: We went up to the top level of the boat, outside, and never left (well other than a two minute restroom break! ;)).

I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was...... and the tour included free coffee and waffles (I forced myself to go down to grab one right before the trip was over!) :D.

I said to my husband that if HAL was smart they would scratch the city tour part and just run as many of the fjord tours as possible! It was truly priceless!
Whew! I am so glad that one worked out well for you. Isn't it a fabulous ride! I'd do it again. And again!

[canadarocks]

Whew! I am so glad that one worked out well for you. Isn't it a fabulous ride! I'd do it again. And again!

I should have listened to you Ruth about the city tour part..... but the morning was so lovely and I was worried the weather might change before the afternoon tour.

But yes, it was a FABULOUS ride!!

And I'm so glad you got the idea to do it because of my question on CC!! :)

We will probably never get a chance to meet, so it is a small token of gratitude from me to you for all your great advice here! :D

[canadarocks]

As I mentioned previously, we decided to forgo the formal nights this trip and it worked out wonderfully because on 4 of them we ate in the Canaletto (on the port side of the Lido). There was one "formal optional" evening (our second day in St. Petersburg) so we ate in the MDR that night.

We also ate in the Lido for one formal evening and that was NOT enjoyable at all..... the food was great, but the waitstaff were awful (no dirty dishes removed from the table as we went to get food, guys standing around doing nothing but talking to each other, the wine steward brought us a completely different wine than what we ordered which was $15 more expensive..... just a totally different experience than any other we have had in the Lido! :mad:). It wasn't busy in there at all, so really no excuse for the bad service.

Anyways....... we had four wonderful dinners in the Canaletto on the formal nights! :D It wasn't very busy and the service and food were great! Our favorite thing about the Canaletto is the Antipasto! They come around with a huge platter and you get to choose what you want and how much of everything that's on this AWESOME platter!

Salami, proscuitto, Italian ham, bocconcini cheese, grilled vegetables, olives, asparagus, peppers, mushrooms...... you name it, it's there! :cool: You could easily make a meal just out of this great appetizer!

We ordered salad once and it wasn't much..... but who needs it with the Antipasto? ;) The minestrone soup is delicious too!

And don't even get me started on how great the entrees and desserts are!! :eek: Oh, and cotton candy too! :cool:

We LOVED the Canaletto!!!

[COLLEYBERRY]

I am so enjoying reading about your cruise.:):)
Best Wishes Colleen

[canadarocks]

I am so enjoying reading about your cruise.:):)
Best Wishes Colleen


Well thank you, fellow Ontarian! :)

I just found out that this cruise made us 3 Star Mariners :cool: and I have no idea if that is in any way a real benefit to us! ;)

Other than a slight discount at the Pinnacle and the Tamarind, I'll be darned if I can see any difference now that I'm *** !

And I have yet to receive "a free picture of our ship"! :rolleyes:

[Mary Ellen]

And I have yet to receive "a free picture of our ship"! :rolleyes:All you need to do is ask at the photo gallery on the ship. They'll let you select one right then and there.