Any planning tips for 23 ports in 30 days

AKA....it seemed like a good idea at the time....

We are so fortunate to be struggling with the challenge of planning the September 3 Baltic Jewels & Iberian Adventure cruise aboard the Koningsdam. Any experienced cruisers willing to share?

How do you balance your time, energy, finances to make the most of the wonderful ports without running yourself ragged?

How do you prioritize? I want to see it all but I know that is a foolhardy approach.

How do you manage your pre cruise planning research materials and resources? I have a mountain and I've already confused myself. There's so much information out there, including the port of call boards here but the challenge is keeping it all straight and in a way that is easily managed.

I've looked at the roll calls and have seen lots of arrangements being made for private tours. I am honestly a little concerned about throwing in with folks with whom I am not acquainted (from the perspective of both point person responsible for arrangements or participant in a tour arranged by someone else) Any thoughts both pro and con on how these adventures work out?

Just as a point of reference, the ports are: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Warnemunde (Berlin), Talinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Kiel (Hamburg), Arhus, Denmark, Portland, England, A Coruna, Leixoes, Lisbon, Huelva, Gibralter, Malaga, Cartagena, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Ajaccio, Livorno, Rome.

Any random thoughts or key pieces of advice you would be willing to share would be much appreciated. Must sees, must dos, save for another times, definitely skips? How lucky we are to be struggling with this "terrible" problem. :D Thank you for your thoughts.

The first thing I'd do would be to get a guidebook on ALL my ports...and find out what is a "must do"...then prioritize other things that interest me...(i.e.; if we have time, if the weather is good, how we feel that morning, etc...). You already know you don't want to go go go the entire trip....so knowing something about where you're visiting will allow you to make sure you see the things that REALLY matter to you, and skip those that can be skipped!

A guidebook will also allow you to tell if the things that interest you are doable without relying on others...many things are pretty easy to do on your own.

I think outside tours are a great way to go. Consider size of group, price, and find reviews of the providers.

Often times the outside tours will discourage participants that might have a problem. HAL very seldom will. Always make sure that you are comfortable with the arranged time of return. Stuff happens, we have waited for 40 person HAL buses. Often times the smaller groups will get into "spots" that the big buses can't / will not.

Last of all, how much time do you want to spend loading and unloading a big bus. Not to mention taking attendance. It is a lot easier to "pier group pressure" a group of 8 then a 40 person bus.

1) Set a budget for excursions & shopping.

2) Consider selecting one to three themes, such as art museums & galleries, or beer+wine+distilleries, or gardens+zoos+parks, or weird museums, or wilderness, or water, or the local history walk.

3) Alternate exhausting & leisurely port days.

What I do, particularly for port intensive cruises, is do a spreadsheet with the full itinerary, from the time we leave home until the time we get back. I also will have additional tabs for each port where I can put detailed information. I also start researching the various ports from the time we book the cruise (typically more than a year in advance). When I find something that I think we'd like to do, or a tip, I enter that information into the appropriate tab in the spreadsheet.

As for pacing yourselves, I try to plan a full day tour followed by a light day of touring, if not a sea day. Sometimes, the ports just don't work out like that but sometimes they do.

I often get overwhelmed with the planning but find by breaking it down, port by port, it does come together. However, I also do like to take the occasional cruise with no planning required!!

When we did our Baltic cruise, we did book a private tour with SPB in St Petersburg. I highly recommend booking a private tour there but it was two busy days of touring. I also highly recommend that you consider the HAL tour "Evening at the Hermitage". It was very cool to see it without the crowds that we had the next day (for our "special early entrance" that every one else had, too!). For Warnemunde, we took it easy and walked around Warnemunde and Rostock. We had been to Berlin before so didn't need to go again. In Stockholm, I highly recommend the Vasa Museum; I didn't think I'd be interested but it was fascinating. In Helsinki, there is a large market that is supposed to be good; unfortunately, we didn't get there.

For Barcelona, make sure you get to the Sagrada Familia. I think it looks like a melting sand castle from the outside, and parts of it are a little weird on the inside, but it was the most joyous church I've ever been in. In Palma de Majorca, we did tour the Bellver Castle before meeting family members for lunch, so we didn't see much of Palma. I believe one can DIY easily there. For Livorno, I recommend a private tour to Pisa and Florence, if you haven't been there before, but it's another full day.

I totally understand your difficulty. However, we've found that we must figure out what is most important for US to see. Do NOT make the mistake of planning to do excursions in every port...or even getting off in every port...you'll become exhausted. We like to plan excursions for our "Must Sees"...whether by ship tour or private. Then, look and see what that leaves us...often the HOHO "trains" or busses will give us plenty of time to see a city without expending a lot of time/money/and energy. (You'll get tired of those early morning tour calls!)

Find out what towns are doable on your own which allows you the freedom of more leisurely exploring them (Tallinn, Amsterdam, A Coruna, etc.) and which ones MUST have an excursion (Rome, Livorno (ship's tour there to Cingue Terre is fabulous), etc. Remember to enjoy the trip! Smell the flowers!

For planning, visit the Port section of CruiseCritic and ask questions...you'll get loads of answers quickly. Netflix has a lot of short documentaries for travelers that cover a lot of cities and gives you an overview. I copy important info about ports to my "Evernote" file which helps (just make sure to link it as a favorite so you download it to your iPad or Phone and don't rely on an internet connection once there.) Maps are great to download of some of the cities, too.

You'll love your itinerary! Did half of it a few years ago and doing Baltics this year.

I did two 28 days on the Prinsendam in 2015, that were also port intensive.

The first thing I do is look at the HAL tours and jot down one or two favorites. With these two cruises, we did a lot of HAL tours only because its just much easier and less exhausting.

Then I go to tripadvisor and see what the top three things to do in each port would be.

Then I go to cruise critic and see if I see anything interesting that people are doing with private tours.

I can determine from that what I want to do.

I also try to have several ports where you just leisurely walk around. You can determine that from tripadvisor usually.

I remember we did a HAL tour in Copenhagen that cruised the canal. It was fantastic.

Gibraltar we just walked around and took the funicular to the top of the mountain.

Just some thoughts.

Trust me, 30 days will fly by.

So, I do a combination of all of these research tools.

Some other thoughts

Cartagena. Been here twice. A great city to walk around with shops and cafes. Beautiful marble streets. Beautiful architecture.

Stockholm. Don't miss the Vasa museum.

Warnemunde. Beautiful seaside town. Spent the afternoon walking and drinking beer. Climbed to the top of the tower in the middle of town for great views of the beach. Going to Berlin was too exhausting. When you are on vacation, don't worry about the finances. Use a credit care and worry about it when you get home!!!!

Make a list of the ports, and the things you would like to do.

I am on the same cruise, and actually continuing on from Rome for another 37 days! I presume the OP is most concerned with organization, so, first I print a copy of the itinerary from my booking page. It will have each port and date listed along with a good size block of blank space, sufficient for making quick notes. Next to each port I jot down the expected weather (within reason). For instance, I am not fond of walking tours on wet, icy cobblestones.

Then, as noted above by another poster, I use the HAL offerings as a starting point since that will eliminate getting excited about a must-see, only to find it is closed on the day we are in port. From there I check out Trip Advisor and the Roll Calls, making notes on the printed itinerary as I go along, including contact info, times, and prices.

As my plans firm and I download tour descriptions, I use the info on the working itinerary to confirm bookings, arrange finances, and organize the mountains of paperwork in the order of the ports. I also pencil in sea day activities and reservations. Lastly, I print a fresh itinerary and transfer final notes from my working itinerary to it, providing a quick reference each evening of the cruise for what to expect the next day.

I won't waste time here debating HAL or private excursions; I do a mixture of both, as I have had disastrous experiences on private tours, magical adventures on HAL excursions, and visa versa. Every port and excursion is different, and one must do what catches one's interest and feels comfortable in each.

Hope this helps. If you are interested in communicating directly, post an email address.

Lonny

We have done the Baltic twice and found SPB tours and Victoria to be incredible. I would contact her to plan what you want to see. We wanted to see the gold room in the hermitage and she made it happen, along with a visit to the subways, local market, and restaurant, canal boat tour, peterhof, and the place Rasputin died. It was so much superior to the first Ship tour we did, for lower cost. You have to be comfortable organizing but she made it easy. Berlin is a long train or bus ride but worthwhile and SPB also does that.

I would alternate busy with just exploring. Tallin, and Helsinki are all easy and fun to wander. Palma and Ajaccio are also easy. I would consider a tour in Lisbon as there is a lot to see. Or take the train to Sintra.

Don't miss the Sagrada familia in Barcelona. Book online for no lines and grab a taxi there! Then go have some tapas.

For Livorno, Florence is a lengthy train ride and intense but worth it. For something lower key I would share a van and go to Lucca for a beautiful Italian town experience where you can cycle the walls. You can easily take a train back and even stop in Pisa if you wish.

For Rome, spend a few days right in the old city, I like the Campo di fiori area after your cruise.

Wear a moneybelt so as not to worry!

Have a blast!

I hear you on your dilemma.

I do a spread sheet. Actually I create one for my roll call that we can all use and convert it to pdf before we cruise so it can be downloaded in Ibooks, mobile devices or just printed off. (the newest one is in my signature, but it is at the beginning stages).

Whether you go on a private tour or a HAL tour, you are going to be with strangers.

If you participate in your roll call and supply your email you can get a "feel" for those on your roll call and a good idea of your comfort level with them on a private tour.

We have done some HAL tours certainly but prefer private for the smaller size and flexibility.

For St. Petersburg, we have done both HAL and private and private is far superior. Whatever you do in St. Petersburg, you either need a HAL tour or a private tour that arranges the tourist visa. You can't just walk off the ship unless you want to get your own Russian visa. (I wouldn't do it).

We used Alla tours, but any of the top companies (a couple have already been mentioned) do a great job. They can also help you in your other Baltic ports.

We have certainly been on port intensive tours and here's what I have learned.

find the ports that you can diy and just walk, enjoy and smell the roses (as others have said). Tallin is a great example.

Decide what is important and set that up first.

Then, look at the rest and say - ok, what do I really want to do? Recognize that you can't see everything and don't try to cram everything in barely seeing it. Instead, choose and see fewer things and truly enjoy and soak them in.

You don't want to come back from your cruise needing a vacation from a vacation.

the simplest things in ports can be as exciting sometimes as the tour intensive ones. It depends upon what you discover.

I will just focus on ports that are not visited as often and not seen as often on the Ports boards...

We just did Portland and while we explored the Jurassic coast, you can easily take the shuttle provided and enjoy Weymouth - very pretty and great food.

In Huelva (forget the posts that say it is awful), we did a private tour of the "way of Columbus". The monastery where he stayed while awaiting the interview of Isabella is absolutely gorgeous. Exceeded my expectations. I posted some pics on my live thread at the time. Highly recommend this if you like history and want to follow in the path that Columbus went. A shuttle is provided to the town but it takes about 20- 30 minutes so, for us a private tour (or a HAL tour) was the way to go. We arranged for our private tour to drop us off in Huelva at the end. They showed us where the shuttle stopped and we soaked in some of Huelva's ambience before we headed back to the ship.

For featured ports.... Lisbon is very hilly and it takes a lot of time to get from place to place. We used Portugal Premium tours and they drove us to every spot and we explored. It was wonderful.

hope this helps a bit, but I can't emphasize enough that to try to see "everything" means you will experience a bare taste. A photo stop and carry on is not how to savour the flavour. So pick, choose and explore the places that are important to you and take time to savour the flavour (food) and the culture in the different ports.

It seems daunting at the beginning but as you work along, it becomes very manageable. Remember it's easier to eat the elephant a bite at a time.

Have fun planning :) It's part of the fun of cruising IMO :)

My advice is not to take the cruise.

That itinerary is insanely port intensive, and thus would be exhausting for us. We cruise to relax, and that is not a relaxing itinerary IMHO..

My advice is not to take the cruise.

 

That itinerary is insanely port intensive, and thus would be exhausting for us. We cruise to relax, and that is not a relaxing itinerary IMHO..

OMG - why you cruise is not necessarily why the OP cruises ;)

Some of us cruise for itinerary and the OP's itinerary sounds lovely.

Everyone has their own priorities and one of HAL's highlights is their great itineraries (and I'm not talking about the Caribbean). I am glad the OP is about to enjoy one of them.

OMG - why you cruise is not necessarily why the OP cruises ;)

 

Some of us cruise for itinerary and the OP's itinerary sounds lovely.

 

Everyone has their own priorities and one of HAL's highlights is their great itineraries (and I'm not talking about the Caribbean). I am glad the OP is about to enjoy one of them.

OP asked for tips for managing such a port intensive itinerary, and I offered mine. OP even started their post with "it seemed like a good idea at the time", implying that they may be having second thoughts?

Anyway, I offered my opinion about their cruise in the hope that my input might possibly provide them with something they may not have considered.

It was only advice/opinion, and intended as such... nothing more.:)

I have done the Baltic twice ---for 26 and 31 days respectively ---both as part of a trans Atlantic--- as well as a 27 day Med repo cruise from Fort Lauderdale.

There is a lot of excellent advice here. I would really stress the advice about not taking a tour in every port. Touring all day every day in Europe is exhausting. Granted, it is Europe and there is so much to see that is worthwhile, but what might seem like a good idea sitting at home by your computer in the winter translates to "what was I thinking?" when you start trying to work all those tours in. It is exhausting to say the least.

Our European cruises were fabulous and we are so glad we took them when we did but you really have to learn to pace yourself.

Absolutely, pace yourself. It is an intense 2 days in St. Petersburg, so plan to rest the next day (or two). Other than that, alternating a full day of sightseeing with a half-day, including sleeping in before heading out, helps to conserve energy.

Whatever you don't see/do this time can always be done on the next trip. You aren't limited to taking this cruise just once. ;)

OP: You're upcoming cruise sounds amazing! And good for you for planning ahead, thinking about what works for others.

I try to envision each step, and especially the connecting steps. For me a lot of the stress is the connecting - so I try to make sure I'm comfortable with those, meaning sometimes walking is ok, sometimes a taxi is better, sometimes a metro works great, or maybe a HOHO would be the ticket to get us around. Only you will be able to tell what's comfortable for you. I use a lot of Rick Steve's resources including downloading his audio tours if even for "study". And he can suggest how to get around a lot of places.

Some times we work on a theme... in the south Pacific we went kayaking in several ports; on our upcoming 49 nighter in Europe we want to take in several Etruscian sites where we can.... these themes don't mean we have to do this sort of thing in every port, but it gives us a focus.

We try to avoid consecutive days of having to set an early wake-up alarm. We will do it if it's worth it to us but not more than 2 days in a row, and not many of those, it's just too exhausting and then we don't enjoy or absorb. So when there are must see things, maybe we'll try to only do one must see and make a shorter day not doing the full blown all day tours.. so we save those longer days for the most important to US, which might not be what other's prefer. At some point we get saturated with churches, museums and palaces, magnificent as they each may be, my brain can only take in so much. So I try to change it up a bit every few ports and so something different, whatever that might be for you.

You begin and end in fabulous ports, so I hope you have a couple of days in each, Amsterdam and Rome. They are each very easy to get around and lots of variety.

One of my favorite things we've done was in Cartagena, right next to the pier is the Nautical Archeological museum of history of the med told by the shipwrecks and their cargo, and excellent and modern way of displaying -- that was different, easy, close, inexpensive, and short!

We love Lucca (from Livorno), been there 3 times now. Though I don't bicycle, we have walked parts of the wall, DH climbs towers for panoramic views, but the wall has a lovely park atmosphere with shade trees. The town within is a vibrant, thriving town with the old integrated into it. Lots of little cafes, beautiful marbles and a lively feel. Plus it's very close to Pisa where you can stop for an hour or two at the Field of Miracles and the leaning tower, both town easily accessible DIY by train, or just pick one for a shorter day.

To organize at home I set up a Word file for each port and "cut and paste" info into it as I run across. I don't print all this out, it's voluminous, but I take it with me on a thumb drive for reference. I do print out every confirmation and sometimes google maps of certain places, even walking maps. I segment the trip into manageable chunks, maybe 4 or 5 ports or transitions. Each segment's hard-copies I put in a clear plastic report sleeve or even a "recycles" 8x10 mailing envelope slit on 2 sides so I can slip pages in and out. I label each segment's packet on the outside with the cities/ports and keep them together with me in my carry-on traveling to the ship. Many people use ring binders, folders, etc. You iwll find a system that works for you.

We didn't get to Barcelona's Sagrada Familia the first time, nor the second time (many reasons) but we will this next cruise... my point is that if you miss something this trip (and you will) it will most likely still be there next time. And that you did something else that worked for you.

Go with a happy heart, and be flexible knowing that not every detail will work out perfectly. You will see amazing places, remember to enjoy it! m--

Keep in mind much of the history of this area grew up around the sea so coming in by ship will often put you right near the center of things. It was not until railroads and autos did Europe centers expand beyond the coastal towns. So often the best vistas of where you will be visiting will be had from the ship itself.

I can naturally think of several instances this is not the case, but for the most part you are visiting the old Hanseatic sea trading cities and the land of the Spanish and Portuguese sea explorers. While one has to travel a bit from the port to see St Petersburg and surroundings, the "real" Russia today is what is close to the ship. Just not the stuff for photos and souvenirs, but it too is Russia. So that is one other way to approach this if you find yourself just too worn out to go see the "sights".

I got this best advice before a major trip: There is no uninteresting street in India. While my trip in fact was to India, the point was no matter what you end up doing in any port - whether it is the must-see, check off the list sights or just wandering around the port itself and observing port activity and what the crew members themselves do on their own, the stop can and will be interesting.

One of our more fascinating memories was watching the container juggling activity in the port of Goteburg, Sweden from the ship itself. And why were all those logs leaving the Burma port outside Yangon - when at that time their exports were allegedly all being embargoed for human rights violations - but in fact were leaving out the back door via Singapore. Not on anyone's tour book list of things to see in Burma, but fascinating to learn in its own right just by watching what goes on in port.

So that does sound like a daunting bit of activity - we find port-port-port-port (4) about as much as we can handle without a break. In fact the captain on one similar cruise laughed that he was finally giving us a break after working us so hard a particularly intense stretch of ports - and a break for him too, when you think about it.

I start filing out 3x5 cards on each port once I start doing my homework - very low tech, but easy to tuck into the suitcase and pocket after we arrive at that port. We do not carry any electronics. Another tip is to think about having a few "port uniforms" that are ready to go, so you don't have to think about what you are going to wear - for me that means lots of pockets.

I never take a purse and keep everything else pinned to me either inside a pocket or inside my waist band or on a pinned strap to a pocket, so I can take out my camera but never leave it behind. An small umbrella is about the only carry along I now take. And a wind-breaker wrapped around my waist. Shoes, of course, these need to be comfortable and broken in for sure. And be ready for any kind of toilet facilities. Now you are good to go. Have fun.

Wow....talk about port intensive. We have to all those ports (multiple times for quite a few) except for Portland. In keeping with our usual practice we have never taken a tour in any of those ports (we nearly always opt to do things on our own unless a tour is the only possible option). If we were doing that cruise we would simply stay in the port cities for several of the ports (like A Coruna) and just take a nice walk and enjoy a long lunch. Ajaccio would likely just be a relaxing beach day (there is a nice beach right in town)....although that is one of the very few places in Europe where we have ever taken a cruise tour which was a long bus ride to the Calanches. We only did that tour because we were unable to rent a car that day. For St Petersburg we would again book full day tours with one of the reputable local tour companies (i.e. Alla, TJ, etc). Many of the ports on your list can be done at pretty relaxing paces. Others such as Livorno are going to be long and tiring days. The trick is to not try to do it all in every port...of they might have to carry you off the ship on a stretcher :).

Hank

We are doing this cruise as well. All the comments about spreadsheets, avg temp (packing) and joint your roll call are excellent. We typically have a rest day after 2 intensive tour days (like St.Petersburg). As was mentioned earlier, you can always come back to area's where you may have skipped tours on another cruise!

Thank you all for the thoughtful advice. I think taking it in small bites is the way to go. KroozNut, you made me laugh out loud. Just don't go is not what I was expecting but it's good that you are clear on your personal cruising style.

So, we are taking it a port at a time. There are some ports that we each have very clear priorities for and others that we know very little about. I appreciated hearing that others engage in the same kind of mad research that I am burying myself in and read with interest all of the different approaches to managing.

I think that I needed your very kind reminders that this is supposed to be fun and to lighten up on the "have to" and focus on the "want to". Funny how caught up one can get in checking off what you are "supposed" to see or do in each port, regardless of whether or not it is of particular interest.

I also appreciated the insights on ports that were easy DIYs and others that would be best experienced with a tour. So, we are sitting down and choosing our VIP ports and VIP experiences and then working the rest around those. We do have a few days in Amsterdam and Rome (pre and post) so we have a more leisurely pace in those places. Loved the Netflix idea! I'm a great reader and researcher so the planning tends to fall to me. This way we can both share in a little bit more of the big picture and then the nitty gritty can be tended to (by me!)

Thank you all again for the very thoughtful responses you were most generous in sharing.

............ Others such as Livorno are going to be long and tiring days. ... :).

Hank

I have to disagree with Hank on one point: Livorno is only a long and tiring day if you you make it such, especially going into Florence but Pisa and Lucca are handy, inexpensive DIY options that are close and by train. We always take enough money with us to get a taxi back to the ship if something unexpected happens.

Additional thoughts, Gibraltar is quite small and not hard to get around, though it's hilly. Taxis to some places won't break the bank, but British Pounds will be needed; these can be gotten at the Front Desk at a high exchange rate, or at an ATM with a bank card. I loved seeing the tunnels, and of course the cable car up to the top for the views and the Barbary Apes is unique. The small museum was a good first stop on a tour we did there, it put many things into perspective for us.

And thanks to all for the sharing of different approaches, we are heading to the Med in October on the Atlantic Adventurer which is also very port intensive once we get there. Once I get past granddaughter's wedding Saturday it'll back to the very fun trip planning! m--

AKA....it seemed like a good idea at the time....

 

We are so fortunate to be struggling with the challenge of planning the September 3 Baltic Jewels & Iberian Adventure cruise aboard the Koningsdam. Any experienced cruisers willing to share?

 

How do you balance your time, energy, finances to make the most of the wonderful ports without running yourself ragged?

 

How do you prioritize? I want to see it all but I know that is a foolhardy approach.

 

How do you manage your pre cruise planning research materials and resources? I have a mountain and I've already confused myself. There's so much information out there, including the port of call boards here but the challenge is keeping it all straight and in a way that is easily managed.

 

I've looked at the roll calls and have seen lots of arrangements being made for private tours. I am honestly a little concerned about throwing in with folks with whom I am not acquainted (from the perspective of both point person responsible for arrangements or participant in a tour arranged by someone else) Any thoughts both pro and con on how these adventures work out?

 

Just as a point of reference, the ports are: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Warnemunde (Berlin), Talinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Kiel (Hamburg), Arhus, Denmark, Portland, England, A Coruna, Leixoes, Lisbon, Huelva, Gibralter, Malaga, Cartagena, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Ajaccio, Livorno, Rome.

 

Any random thoughts or key pieces of advice you would be willing to share would be much appreciated. Must sees, must dos, save for another times, definitely skips? How lucky we are to be struggling with this "terrible" problem. :D Thank you for your thoughts.

Based on watching Rick Steves DVD you will not want to miss Tallin, Lisbon, Barcelona, and St Petersburg. Berlin is a bit away from the ship and you might want to skip. What I would do is go on the web and do a research of each place. Make a list of what is really unique and popular. I would go onto HAL and check out reviews of the excursions and also check out other cruise lines excurions as folks posts there as well. I agree with you, book the ones from the ship as they are proven to be safe and worthwhile. Taking a risk to save a few bucks is not worth it. And you will be tired after two days in St. Petersburg but I am told it is WORTH IT. Check out the beautiful buildings in Barcelona. and for Gibralter make sure you go up to the top for the view and be careful of the monkeys. So make a list of Pro and Con of each port and best of luck. I have Tallin is really nice

Another point of view, we were extremely disappointed in the ships tours in St Petersburg, weren't allowed in the churches, omitted one entirely that was to be on the tour, couldn't visit the gold treasure room in the hermitage, in a group of 50! The next time we booked with SPB tours and saw the local markets, the subways, rode a canal boat, on a hydrofoil from Peterhof, after seeing behind the scenes of the fountains. We saw the amazing jewelled armour for the horses in the hermitage treasure room, ate at a local specialty restaurant and all in a group of 14! It is not about saving money it is about the best tour seeing what you want to see. I took on the organization and this agency went above and beyond. You need to do your research but this is one of the best tours we have ever been on!