mirsown

I was wondering how port taxes/VAT will affect UBP in Europe- we will be on the Spirit out of Venice, through to Barcelona with stops outside the EU in Turkey. Does anyone have any experience of this?

We used SPB tours last year for deluxe St Petersburg tour. On both days we were very glad of a chance to sit down comfortably to eat and chat with fellow travellers. The food was as described previously, with borscht and stroganoff on day 1, and whilst we were anticipating a trip to a pie place the 2nd day,we were taken to another restaurant with a cabbage soup to start, rice and chicken in a mild curry sauce, with chocolate fondants to follow ( the fondants were glorious, with lovely oozing centre!).We also toured Berlin with SPB, where we had a sensational guide, who arranged to take those who wanted to a local cafe. Whilst she was probably getting some sort of reward for taking us there , it was reasonably priced and she was able to telephone ahead with our orders. The food was delicious as was the cold German beer!:D Enjoy your cruise!

We were on this cruise last August.I don't consider there was any bullying going on, however we heard no announcement to say we were docked and ready for disembarkation as usually occurs. I had read previously on here the lines could be long to get off, but we were still amazed when we to investigate to find the line snaking all round the ship especially as we had got up early!

It was a slow process going through immigration, but the lines seemed to be a mixture of those on ships tours and those on private tours. We had booked a tour with SPB Tours and our group were all ready at approximately the same time. The tour would not leave without all who had booked. Our tour guide did comment that NCL is renowned for being amongst the slowest for getting passengers off the ship.

The second day was quicker, but make sure you have all the same documentation again - they would not let one of our group through as he had forgotten to bring the confirmation of his tour. We had a wonderful time in St Petes. Enjoy your cruise!

Thankyou so much for the wonderful photos of the Spirit! We have just booked her for September 2015, which feels a long way off but these pictures have reassured me we have made a great choice :)

I've booked the St. Petersburg 2-day deluxe tour with SPB tours for our Celebrity Baltic cruise departing on June 2nd. I also see that SPB has tours in other Baltic cities. I am particularly interested in people's reviews of the SPB tours in Stockholm, Tallin, Berlin and Rostock/Warnemude. Any reviews of these tours would be most appreciated.

We used SPB tours last year for St Petersburg, Berlin and Stockholm. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience with them, especially St Petersburg and Berlin where we had fantastic guides.We saw and learned so much more than we had expected. Stockholm was not as well organized, but i think it was a fairly new venture for them, and we were still pleased that we had used there services.

We were in Helsinki and Stockholm last year (2012) and I don't recall there being NCL shuttles in either port.

We usually DIY in most ports, but because this itinerary was so hectic we decided to book excursions just for ease. In Stockholm we used an independent company (SPB Tours) who I would highly recommend (we also used them for Berlin and St Petersburg which resulted in a discount with them). In Helsinki we chose an NCL excursion- 'Helsinki by land and sea' which was pleasant enough apart from the incessant narration from the guides, much of which was repetitive!

Have a wonderful time! It really is a fantastic itinerary :)

if you have ever had Moroccan cuisine the food is very similar; think tagines and you would not be too far off the mark. Spicy but generally mild, unless you add harissa for a bigger kick!:D

I haven't been on a ship excursion to these places, but stayed a week in Tunisia last year on a land based holiday (its just a short flight from the UK and great for a little winter sun, cheap too!). We took an excursion which included all that is mentioned by you. Carthage is interesting, not the most complete ancient site I've been to, compared with say Ephesus in Turkey.

Sidi Bou Said was pretty and we went into a museum (bankers residence I think) which was in the traditional style and had an exhibit of traditional wedding clothes. There are shops along the main street, some selling some interesting objects and there is a collection of vendors at the entrance for the coach parking. All the stall holders will try to get you to buy, especially if they catch you looking at their wares. They can be quite persistent, especially the ones in the parking lot, but be firm but polite when you decline to buy and continue walking. It can be a little un -nerving, but look on it as an experience and a chance to experience a different culture. We had a lot of fun with the local vendors in Hammamet, where we stayed and loved their banter to try to entice you into there shops:)

We were taken to the medina in Tunis and our guide advised to follow just one passage way through it, which was ok because it meant we didn't get lost in the maze that is the medina, but all we saw was tourist goods, not what the locals buy. The medina in Hammamet was much more to our liking and easily explored on our own.

The Bardo museum is certainly well worth a visit, with the most beautiful and extensive mosaics. I hope you enjoy Tunisia as much as we did and that my experiences may help a little. I would happily return there :)

We recently used the services of SPB tours and have only praise for them. I was always a little nervous booking independent tours until I read the reviews on here. I'm so glad I did; we saw and learned so much, had a wonderful experience and at a fraction of the cost of ships excursions. Go ahead, you won't be disappointed!:)

Wednesday.....Mykonos

 

This turned out to be my favourite stop of all. Not sure why....apart from it was beautiful.....I just had a good feeling about it....I definitely want to go back!

 

Great review! Brought back lots of happy memories from a similar cruise we did 3 years ago on the Gem:) Like you I wanted to return to Mykonos and did so a year later, taking in a trip to Delos on that visit. I could happily retire there, sitting on the harbour and people watching.

Firstly, thank you for your review; we will be doing this trip in just 2 weeks!:)

I was pleased by your comments about the Helsinki excursion, its exactly why we chose it- nothing too strenuous or demanding after what looks to be some extremely tiring days at previous ports of call.

andybfk, thankyou for your reply. It is always worth hearing different points of view and experience. Yours will help me to ask informed questions of the company so that I will hopefully be better informed as to what to expect. I hope these experiences did not detract too much from your overall enjoyment of your cruise.

Your posting has me a little concerned as we ,too, have booked SPB for tours to Berlin, SPB and Stockholm.I wondered if you could please give more details of what you actually did get to see whilst in Stockholm, having decided to book this tour because I wanted a stress free overview of the city!:confused:

I second, third, fourth all of this. Months ago, when we were planning Stockholm, I dove into all of this information. The info doesn't seem to be cut and dry. There seems to be a lot of walking involved and waiting at bus stops. Frankly, with 7 hours to work with and a beautiful city to take in, I gave up. After I had everything planned, it just seemed overwhelming to have our group of 5 commuting everywhere via public transportation in such a short time.

 

We booked a tour and that was that.

I'm so glad I'm not alone in finding it hard to plan for this city! I too gave up and booked a tour, because like someone else said I had no problems with the Med but I really can't get to grips with the Baltics!:o

With regards to visiting Tunisia it is a lovely country with much to see. We stayed for a week last year and found the majority of locals freindly, however they definitely go for the hard sell! We went on an excursion and one woman in our group made the mistake of looking at merchandise with interest and then was persued down the road the by the seller trying to pesuade her to buy, an incident she found quite un-nerving!So my advice is don't let them catch you studying the goods and also to buy items in fixed price shops, you may pay a little more but its a lot less hassle! A tour guide is an excellent idea, especially if you go to any of the medinas as it is very easy to find yourself disorientated in all the little alley ways!Enjoy, it is a fascinating country :)