MsSommelier

For my fellow Europa travelers who have been to Stockholm: Did you also anchor and tender into Stockholm's Old Town (Gamla Stan)?

We are doing Stockholm on our own (no tour) and were hoping to take the "Hop On, Hop Off" boat(s), but they stop running Sept 3 and we are there Sept 5.

Any tips to share? Thanks much!

H-L posted their shore excursions online a couple weeks ago and thanks to all the input here, I went ahead and booked excursions through the ship for St Petersburg and Danzig. We chose the full day with Catherine's Palace and Peter-Paul, with the private tour of the Hermitage and concert in the evening that same day. I was assured the tours were coordinated so that we could fit both in. Then we have another full day that includes a canal tour and St Isaacs cathedral (which I think are the tours you did, Cathaana -- BTW, forgot to mention it earlier, but I enjoyed reading your review). We also booked a full day in Danzig with Marienburg. For the rest, I think we will do on our own, since having a German speaking tour guide is not necessary and I think the other ports should be pretty easy to 'navigate'.

We also booked another cruise already - a B2B from Acapulco to Tahiti and Tahiti to Melbourne - Jan 6 to Feb 15 next year. Couldn't pass up the idea of escaping the winter here in Germany and the itinerary interested us. I hope, being a warm weather cruise, that maybe the Europa crowd will 'lighten up' a little on the formal wear? I don't think I'm bringing my ball gowns!

Given this additional booking, I believe the Club will pay off for us, since we will have credit from our Baltic trip to use on our January cruise. Then, as I think English Voyager said, we can use credits from leg 1 for leg 2 for the B2B. Does that sound right? We enjoy our wine (and our sparkling mineral water) at meals so I can imagine the beverage bill will add up on a 43 day cruise :-)

Thank you all for your feedback.

Thank you sail57 and bitob. Do you get any noise from above from the pool area or Terrace Cafe early morning (scraping chairs, etc)?

We are booking our second Oceania cruise (after being on Marina in April) on Nautica. We really enjoyed Marina but were unable to snag a Penthouse on the TA crossing. We had Concierge level, which was okay but felt the cabin was pretty small (especially storage/closet space) compared to what we experienced in Seabourn and Regent. So I really would like a PH this time.

Hence my question: Which is your favorite PH location on Nautica? I initially thought Vista Suite would be great - until I read all the helpful comments here about the strong wind and having only a tub (which I like but not DH's preference). I really enjoy sitting on the balcony, so that made the Vista Suite a no-go.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Floridiana, we will be on Europa, not Europa 2, for the Baltic and I believe Europa 2, being newer, is a lot more modern. (We have not sailed with her yet.) We were extremely impressed with Europa's food and service on our voyage to Norway. The cabin was not huge but made very good use of space, I thought. And after 3 years in Germany, soft tissues of both sorts are only a fond memory.

Sorry the thread has drifted off topic, but I appreciate the feedback and comparison.

Floridiana, re: cabin comparison between Europa and Oceania. We had the standard veranda cabin on Europa. We're leaving for an Oceania cruise (Trans-Atlantic) next week, in a veranda cabin but not Penthouse. Our German friends here (who have also been on Seabourn and Regent, but not Europa) keep raving about the food and service on Oceania and asked us numerous times to join them and this is the time :-) They didn't have any particular comments on the accommodations but they always had a Penthouse on Oceania.

What did you like better about Europa's cabins than Oceania? (except for the linens)

Is it possible to use Club points as you accumulate them on the same voyage, or do you need to wait until the next voyage? I think it is the latter but I did not receive any answer from H-L to my query.

Vistaman,

Good idea but unfortunately by the time I looked into it (over a month ago), it was already sold out. I think that one must go like hot cakes.

Floridana, thank you, I did some research on my own also, and it seemed pretty clear that one cannot go alone around St Petersburg and that one needs a guide. In any event, we thought the best way to see the city would be a guided tour -- was just trying to decide if I should privately book a guide (seems to be a lot of good options on Trip Advisor) or whether to go with H-L. Based on the comments here, it sounds like H-L tours would be a very good choice for us. I wrote them an email (actually 2) , asking about the visa situation for American citizens (ie., do they take care of it or do I need to do something). Still haven't had a response....

I have a question about the H-L Club but I'll open a new thread. Thanks all!

Thank you everyone for all the feedback. Although it is my second language, I am fluent in German and my husband is German, so language is not a problem. We were very happy with the shore excursions from H-L Europa in Norway. They were expensive, but then, Norway is an expensive country. It sounds like H-L's excursions in the Baltic could be a very good option for us. Now I just have to wait until they post them for booking!

We have not been to any of the ports of call and are especially looking forward to St. Petersburg.

We are booked on the Europa for the Baltic (Hamburg-Hamburg Aug 27 this year). I was wondering if anyone had experience with the shore excursions there? Normally, we book privately but it is too soon to see Hapag-Lloyd's offerings, so I can't compare.

If anyone has been, did you use the cruise line's shore excursions or did you book your own?

Many thanks.

We will be in port from 10-6 on a Sunday. I have read the great reviews of Calabaza and Silver Moon, but both leave at 9 AM. I can imagine that we won't be off the ship before 10:30. Does anyone know of a good snorkel tour that leaves later?

Thank you.

Oh, bummer about the smoke on deck 9 and 10. We're on Quest, deck 10, FLL on Nov 4. I sure hope that doesn't mean the smoke will drift into our suite, but I guess there's no guarantee about how many smokers or how pervasive the smoke could be....

Thanks for the replies. I guess I don't need that eye appointment after all!

I'm probably blind, but I can't find a list of the advantages of a penthouse suite vs Veranda suite - except size. Would someone be so kind as to point me to where I might find that info?

(We're looking at a penthouse on deck 10). Many thanks!

Thank you, English Voyager, for posting the link to my review on this board as well. We will be sailing on Regent next week for a short cruise (10 days Istanbul->Istanbul), so will be getting another chance for comparisons. As my 'nom de plume' implies, a good wine selection is important :-)

Cathaana, I will give Kreuzfahrtberater a try if we ever decide to book again. When I asked about on-board credits (which we are accustomed to receiving from US TAs), most of the passengers we spoke to didn't have credits from TAs but had paid the annual Hapag Lloyd membership fee and had quite a bit of credit to use towards beverages, shore excursions, etc.

Hi everyone,

For those of you who might be interested, I have posted a review of Hapag Lloyd's MS Europa. Here is the link: Europa Review by MsSommelier

We have sailed numerous times on Seabourn, Regent and Crystal, so those were our reference points for comparisons.

Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

We will be on Mariner Sept 6 Istanbul-Istanbul and making last minute decision on a Penthouse suite. Any noise problems from above from either pool deck above (for Deck 10) or Observations Lounge (for Deck 11)?

Many thanks!

At this point, I can access my account and things seem to be 'normal'. Hopefully!

This is what I found out - I called Seabourn at the number listed for assistance with bookings. She said that unfortunately, there are no supervisors on a Saturday and no way to reach one.

I can't see how they can promise your info is secure when one can see (and edit) other people's information. I cannot access my own info but the agent could, so it seems like an issue on the 'public' side of the web.

Did your TA tell Seabourn that other people's info is visible and editable?

I found an email address for corporate headquarters and sent the details I have experienced for this very serious problem. Who knows when they will see that. Seabourn opens at 6 AM Pacific (for assistance with booking) so I will try calling from here in 10 minutes when they open.

Same problem here - VERY SCARY. I am trying to find an emergency contact, no luck so far.

Thanks to all for the responses so far. I am wondering if those of you who did the trip to Indonesia last year would mind weighing in on your experiences? (I found previous postings (2013) from Clarky, La Jolla Lass, Paula JK, Buccaneer_1 and GB Travelers.)

Odyssey overnights in Benoa and Semarang. Does this make Borobodur more do-able privately?

She is in Celukan Bawang, Bali from 8 AM to 6 PM. I remember Clarky said that the snorkeling was great near Menjangan. Seabourn offers a 7-1/2 hour tour that including some snorkeling, but also a 'short' rain forest trek. Would a private tour work in this case or better to go with the ship tour? Weather permitting, we really enjoy as much snorkeling as we can get!

I know I have some time yet before the Feb 23 departure, but I like to try to get things organized in advance. Many thanks.

Hello, I am hoping someone that has been on a similar itinerary could please give me some feedback on shore excursions, esp. in Indonesia. We usually prefer to make our own arrangements, where that is possible/practical.

I did some searches and got a couple of ideas about a driver, but would love to hear more details. It also appears that Borobodur could be done independently, since this is now an overnight on our itinerary?

Last but not least - for Australia - we will be spending a few days in Sydney beforehand (first trip there). Any favorite spots to taste/buy wine?

Thanks much!