Rome/Stockholm 5/17/07 Thoughts?

[loum140]

We have only sailed in the Mediterranean and Adriatic. Any thoughts on this itinerary? Will it be too chilly in Northern Europe at this time of year to enjoy sightseeing? And are 4 sea-days too many? Thanks in advance.

[sterger]

Hi. I have booked this cruise which is a big giant step for me. As far as the weather, I think it will start out in the pleasant range and get into the chilling. I am thinking though that will add to the flavor of the area. I come from a warm climate so, can we take it? Not sure. I started thinking Med...but somehow went with this. First abroad. I am also overcome with all to think about....booking excursions...private or Oceania? Any ideas, comments and all the good stuff will really be appreciated. This is a great site. I went with an o/v room on Deck 4.

[loum140]

Hi Sterger!!! Glad to see there are others who think this is a great itinerary! We have sailed on Insignia previously and stayed in an ocean view cabin on deck 4. The size was comfortable with plenty of closets and storage. We will book the same for this trip. Re: tours, we generally prefer independent sightseeing. We do our homework and organize a schedule of things we want to see, usually sharing a cab with another couple. However, for St. Petersburg, we'll have to book with an agent because of Visa issues. Let's continue to talk about this!

[sterger]

Loum, great connecting with someone on this great sounding cruise. Will check in from time to time especilly after some research. Surprised we haven't heard from any others yet with an interest in this agenda.

[JBVols]

We (two couples) are also on this cruise as well as the Nautica cruise departing 10/10/06 from Venice to Istanbul. We have just returned from an Eastern Europe trip that included three days in St. Petersburg. We loved the ciry but the traffic is terrible! You can't get alot of touring done in one day.

[Druke I]

I think it is a great itinerary.

4 sea days too many? Not for me - I love sea days - the more the better.

Actually, the lack of sea days is one downside (for me) of many of Oceania's itineraries, which tend to be very port-intensive. I find myself very tired after a port-intensive cruise.

We have been in Scandinavia in May (1999) and it was pleasant, but perhaps too crisp for some. Layering does work!

[loum140]

Sterger and JBVols: Well, at least there's a few of us on this sailing! Druke: thanks for the info on Scandanavia in May.

We have been to St. Petersburg before, so would probably not tour Peterhof and the Catherine Palace again -- though if you've not seen them, they are not to be missed. However, we would return to the Hermitage and I would love to spend time at the Cathedral on the Spilled Blood and St. Isaacs, which we only saw from the outside. St. Petersburg is a lovely city and we're looking forward to returning. This time, I'm going with a digital camera and will not have to wait until I get home to discover that my photos did not come out!!

Looking forward to meeting my Cruise Critic buddies -- even if it takes a year!!!

[sterger]

Druke,cruising days was indeed one of the things so attractive to us on this agenda. I like not having to be on the ball every morning. Surprised about St. Petersburg so busy. I am thinking Oceania Excursions here...from things I have read here...visas..now so busy too. Have any on you ever ran into...sold out excursions? I know this is a way off, but I like the idea of starting to wind through how to setup the trip as all we have ever done is two Caribbean cruises..which I loved both. Royal Caribbean and a Celebrity. One thing I picked up from all of you is you want to return to some of these areas...that sounds great.

[KiranK]

Glad to see some others on this cruise. I booked this cruise with a couple friends and their 2 adult children. It is my first cruise and I am really excited. Not sure if we will to ship excursions or our own. It is hard to tell what Oceania is offering as far as excursions go for this trip. I guess it is too far out right now. Look forward to chatting with everyone!!!!:D

[loum140]

Dear KiranK: The list grows! As departure time gets closer, I'm sure we'll all be posting some specific ideas for touring the cities on the itinerary and possibly looking for paratners to share costs. Looking forward to meeting you on board. Regards, Lou

[CAG]

We just booked this cruise as well. This will be our third cruise on Oceania having just returned in July from the Reunion cruise that went to Iceland. We have done both private excursions and Oceania excrusions. We are planning on using a private tour in St. Petersburg, looking into Red October. If anyone is interested in joining us please let me know.

[orchestrapal]

:) We too are on this cruise and are really lloking forward to it.
We were on back to back cruises on the Insignia in may from Athens to Barcelona and loved those.
We are alsolooking into private tours in St. Petersburg as well as some other ports and would welcome another couple.

[loum140]

To all those who wish to book and share private tours for St. Petersburg - what sort of itineraries are you looking at? As noted above, we have been to St. Petersburg before, so would like to see the things we missed the first time.

Have been researching the other ports on this cruise and will probably tour independently in each city, so would welcome any taxi shares from dock to city center.

[CAG]

Red October is not yet taking bookings for 2007, but if you go to redoctober.us you will be able to see what they have to offer. They are willing to accomodate special requests as well. Since I just booked this cruise last week, I have not had an opportunity to do any serious research as of yet, but I have spoken to a number of Oceania cruisers who swear by Red October for their tours. Perhaps if we can get a group together in the next few months we can get a consensus of what everyone would like to see and put together our own private personalized tour. I can be reached at cenia@earthlink.net. Looking forward to meeting everyone.
Cenia

[Kane]

We returned from the Insignia voyage to St. Petersburg a few weeks ago. A couple of things I picked-up on about photos:

1. If you are on the Oceania tours, the guides use transmitters to headsets that everyone has. You can hear the narratives perfectly. Anyway, when touring places like Catherine's and the Hermitage, when the group stops in a room, wander over to the door to the next room and take your picture. The prior groups (in our case) had mostly cleared-out and I was able to get many photos sans the mob(s). While you are taking the photo, you will still be able to hear the narrative.

2. Digital is the way to go. If you don't already know how to use Adobe Photoshop, go to one of the classes in Oceania@Sea. You will learn how to remove "uglies" ... e.g., make the telephone wires across the front of Spilled Blood "go away". You can also make "people" go away.

The attached photo shows an example of tips 1 & 2.

[JBVols]

We (two couples) are also on this cruise. We like you have also been to St. Petersburg and would be interested in sharing a tour. When we were recently there, I asked our guide to give be some places to see that would be different from our first visit. She suggested:

1.the Aurora Battleship
2. Yusopov Palace (where Rasputin was killed)
3. Russian museum

If you are still interested e-mail me at jimglendabobo@bellsouth.net

[china addict]

Hello everyone, and I'm so pleased to find a thread on this cruise which I will be taking with my DH next year. We just returned from Nautica Aug 11th Barcelona to Athens and have become Oceania fans, although prefer private guides to ship tours. Would be interested in joining others for private tour in St. Petersburg through Red October, Denrus or Alla. Alla has been highly recommended by others and I went to her website at www.alla-tour.com (http://www.alla-tour.com) but have not yet booked. I look forward to keeping in touch with others on this thread and learning where you are staying post and pre cruise. We think O's hotels are overpriced and hope there is a poster out there who can recommend moderately priced hotels in Rome and Stockholm. Nothing is a bargain in Europe any more. Hope to hear back if anyone has insights to share.

[CAG]

I think that we are going to head over to Italy early and stay a few days down in Sorrento to visit Pompeii, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Haven't booked anything yet but doing a lot of looking. We are also planning on staying at least 2 nights in Stockholm post cruise. Again have not figured out where yet. I will keep you updated as I make these plans.

I have heard many positive reccomendations re Red October in St. Petersburg and that is who I would like to plan to use. If others are interested, please let me know and as soon as they open their booking for 2007, I will make the arrangements. I know we can customize our tours if we desire.

[CAG]

A roll call for this cruise has been started under the "new" Oceania roll call, Regatta thread. Perhaps everyone going on this cruise can begin to communicate under that thread. Looking forward to meeting all our cruise companions.

[Leonid]

Add my wife & I to this cruise...the 2nd of three for 2007...glad a roll call has been started.

[china addict]

:) Hi! Just wanted to remind all who have participated in this thread that Raquetguy has created a roll call for the Regatta May 17 Rome to Stockholm cruise, and we are planning a get-together right after the lifeboat drill so we can meet in person. If you haven't visited the Roll Call yet, please do so. Lots of nice people have signed in already, and we're going to have fun.

[dbh62ark]

I also think it is an awesome itinerary and would be interested in sailing it if we hadn't already been to the Baltics twice. Please note that if you wait until June or July to go to the Med, the weather can be hot, and the sites are much more crowded than in May. Yes, the Baltics weather is fickle, so there's no way to predict in advance, but you'll also have fewer tourists in St. Petersburg in May, so that would outweigh the risk of bad/chilly weather for us. But it really depends on what you want. If you envision lying out on the decks sunbathing for many hours during your cruise, it may not be a good match for you. For my husband and me, the sightseeing is primary, and we can sunbathe at home. :) We used Red October in 2003 and Denrus in 2005 for private tours in St. Petersburg and found Denrus to be far superior to Red October. If you check out the comments on the Baltics and Europe boards on this site (you can do a search for each of your ports), you'll find lots of great information for independent sightseeing in your ports.

Have a great trip,
Donna

[redroo]

We just booked this cruise as well. This will be our third cruise on Oceania having just returned in July from the Reunion cruise that went to Iceland. We have done both private excursions and Oceania excrusions. We are planning on using a private tour in St. Petersburg, looking into Red October. If anyone is interested in joining us please let me know.
Hi--Glad to "meet you"--we've been watching roll call but not over here!
We're a couple (48 and 59 years old) from LA area on this cruise, and had already set up a two day private itenerary with Red October on a cruise last summer that we had to cancel. They were wonderful about adjusting a proposed standard tour to our mix of interests (my husband wants to meet "real people", I could live in the museums and palaces...), adding and trimming, including a lunch with a local family, etc., We plan to continue with this, but would be interested in joining forces with another couple or two.


Ginny

[CAG]

Hi--Glad to "meet you"--we've been watching roll call but not over here!
We're a couple (48 and 59 years old) from LA area on this cruise, and had already set up a two day private itenerary with Red October on a cruise last summer that we had to cancel. They were wonderful about adjusting a proposed standard tour to our mix of interests (my husband wants to meet "real people", I could live in the museums and palaces...), adding and trimming, including a lunch with a local family, etc., We plan to continue with this, but would be interested in joining forces with another couple or two.


Ginny

Hi Ginny,
This sounds great to me. Please email me at cenia at earthlink dot net. I have sent a request to Red October for information but have not heard back from them. I happen to agree with your husband and would love to meet some real people, but at the same time am interested in palaces, etc. We are in our late 50's early 60's and are native Floridians getting ready to "retire" to South Carolina. Let's talk.
Cenia