judijmn

I'd agree with this. We had a 3 day tour last August and it was fast, frenzied and fantastic! But I too can't remember which palace was which, they're very very similar. If I had my time again I'd just do one palace (St Catherine's) and the fountains of Peterhof walking down to the hydrofoil for the trip back to St Petersburg.

If you really want the hydrofoil you need to check with the company. We did SPB's deluxe tour in late August and our guide said they aren't doing it anymore because it added time to an already packed 2 days, in addition to making a longer walk for the tourists from the hydrofoil. So our group didn't do it.

Does anyone know if wine toppers fit beer or cider bottles? We have a flat one from a local winery and it seems like that would work for if they opened the second bottle before we are ready. I think it was around $2 so we would buy a few more if it would also work for other bottles.

my husband was drinking bud lite and they used the aluminum bud lite bottles that you purchase in the states. Maybe try it on your bottle of choice at home?

we did this cruise leaving July 27th. we were on Princess, the odd # side of the ship. This was our first cruise and we used the balcony a lot! Had very nice weather and got the sun, so most mornings I could sit outside with coffee.

The views were wonderful and especially leaving places like Warnemunde were so much fun with the locals yelling and waving goodbye.

We were so glad we had the balcony but we were only in the shade once I think.

We booked a tour with SPB because we wanted to see the Palaces, etc. Even on our night out with a local evening, which was a lot of fun, kept us pretty insulated from what I think you want.

I have seen where people were able to set up some very private specialized tours which would probably get you what you want. You do need to go through a tour guide to avoid getting your own visa.

We did our own thing at some of the other stops but I don't think the normal tours are what you are looking for. Judi

we were just on the Regal and did laundry twice. never had a problem getting an open washer/dryer even on a sea day. People were pretty considerate.

We were just on the Regal. They said they had to open bottles but not cans

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If you need glasses they will want to deliver it. If you don't you can take it. They won't leave a corkscrew in your room so I'd take one on. I wound up buying one at our first stop

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we just did this with the same experiences everyone else had. it was so much fun! Even though the boat ride on day 2 was pretty similar, seeing it at night was beautiful

There were people on ours ranging from late 20's to 70's. Two women only did it for the boat ride. They stayed on the bus while we checked out the shops and the little local bar

We thought it was very worth it. At the beginning of the boat ride, the 18 or 19 of us were in our own groups, after much vodka and the end of the boat ride, everyone was talking, laughing and having a great time!

We leave next week on a Baltic cruise and I am stealing some of the hard work and research you did! Love your humor and pictures

I have Verizon too. We were only going to activate the travel pass on my husband's phone but the rep suggested we do it on my phone too. In case of an emergency it will only be $10 versus a potential hundreds of dollars. So from listening to her, I think anyone with Verizon should sign up for it because if you don't use it there is $0 charge

The Oslo cruise schedule can be found here: http://oslohavn.no/no/cruise/

It will dock at SAK (Sondre Akershuskai), outside Akershus Castle. A port map of Oslo can be found here: http://www.oslohavn.no/en/passengers/passenger_traffic/cruise/

thank you!

We had a 2 day tour with Ulko 3 weeks ago for 6 . 10% for the guide and 5 for the driver is normal but certainly not required. We were very happy with our guide so gave her an extra 50 € and paid for her 2 lunches.

that's a great idea. I've just been making notes to have a guideline.

a local who is taking us fishing in July asked for the address our ship (Regal on July 28( will be at. I've googled and found where the REgal will be at the Oslo port on that day but cannot find the address. Can anyone give me a link? I'm feeling pretty dumb lol

I've been taking notes so I don't know where I got it but I have at least 10% for guides and 5% for the driver

thanks for the quick replies!

We are touring with SPB in St Petersberg at the end of July. Is there time to hit an ATM for some rubles or did you get some ahead of time? thanks!