Ski Mamma

While on our NCL Baltic Cruise in July, my husband and I had the privilege of being under the supreme guidance of Valentina from Alla Tours as we toured the beautiful and historic city of St. Petersburg. Our two days there were packed from morning until evening with incredible sights and unforgettable information. We learned so much and had a fantastic time. My only regret is that we did not have even more time in each of our destinations. It would have been wonderful to have at least a week in St. Petersburg under the tutelage of Valentina!

Booking with Alla was so easy, and everything worked out exactly as they said it would. We did not miss a thing!! Our small group of 14 jelled nicely, and everyone was ready to go right on time. The customs lines can be long on the first day, but the papers that Alla provided allowed us to sail right through within seconds once we were at the customs window.

I ranked Alla a 10 out of 10, and I recommend them without hesitation!!

The Magasin du Nord had some very decent specials on display for the equivalent of $10 US, and the selection in the $20 to $25 range is extensive.

Weather here is great for touring. Temps in upper 60's with intermittent sun. I wore a skirt, t-top, light jean jacket and my favorite Birkenstock Gizeh sandals yesterday and was perfectly comfortable. My husband wore chinos and a long sleeve shirt. He only added his light pullover sweater for our long walk back after dinner in Nyhavn.

Today's forecast calls for more of the same. It is sunny and 59 as I write this at 6:30 AM.

We are in Copenhagen now and found a fine selection of wine in the lower level food hall at Magasin du Nord, Kongens Nytorv. This very large department store is located moments from Nyhavn. Cash or credit cards with a chip and pin or chip and signature are accepted there. We will definitely be buying wine to take on board NCL Star.

We are on the 14 July NCL Star Baltic Capitals cruise. We are savvy travelers but first time NCL cruisers. Are there any tips and/or pitfalls to this process that we need to be made aware of?

Thanks and Tak!

I very much appreciate the answers to my questions as posted by one user. I now know what to expect as far as available water, cash for casino play and "hyyga" (a wonderful Danish word) at sea!

Any other additional insights from other previous Star cruisers would be welcome, too.:)

We leave on our Baltic cruise in two weeks, and I am beginning to prepare. Several questions have come to mind, and I am hoping to find quick answers via this forum.

1) What is the quality/taste of the tap water on board the Star? We do not use bottled water at all but rather fill our own reusable bottles daily. We would like to bring our bottle son the cruise and do the same rather than tote large quantities of bottled water with us or buy water along the way.

2) What currencies are accepted by the slot machines in the casino? Do they accept dollars or Euros or both?

3) Are there quiet areas where one can sit outside and read on sea days? While the main pool areas can be very nice, they can also be very noisy, crowded and distracting. We prefer peaceful to packed mayhem.

Perhaps these questions have been asked and answered before, and if so, my apologies in advance for redundancy.

This will be our first cruise on NCL (one previous cruise on Azamara Journey and two Viking River Cruises), and we are looking forward to it with great anticipation albeit a bit a of trepidation. We are normally independent travelers, or smaller ship passengers, and we are not really sure that this kind of experience will be our thing. It was the ports that attracted us initially, and we chose NCL due to price and scheduling. Any tips or insights from previous travelers who might have felt as we do prior to their trip would be particularly welcome.

Cagney's is now available for UDP reservations on the NCL Star sailing from Copenhagen on 14 July. Have made ours! Will be visiting each of the specialty during the cruise and hope that we will be reasonably pleased with all of them. Again, our expectations are not the highest, but we are ever hopeful that they will be exceeded :).

I do appreciate the prompt reply to my question. I read through the link that was included, and while it does help to explain what is going on, it does not please me at all. IF everyone has to wait until the cruise to reserve Cagney's, I can only imagine the resulting chaotic scene, and IF Cagney's will no longer be included as an option on the UDP, I feel for those who will have to field all of the complaints.

This is our first large ship cruise, and our first on NCL, and my expectations just keep falling. While everyone raves about the Baltic ports in the reviews, there are far fewer raves about the ship and especially about the food. Additionally, the nickel and diming mentality that seems to prevail, and be increasing, in this form of travel is very discouraging and also condescending.

My husband and I are very excited about this vacation, and in spite of all, we plan to approach the Star with an open mind. Hopefully our lowering expectations will end up being exceeded. That would be wonderful!

With our cruise a mere 89 days away, I have begun making plans in earnest. One of the first things I did was attempt to make reservations in the specialty restaurants on board the Norwegian Star. I had no problem whatsoever booking 4 of the restaurants on the website BUT although the ship information lists Cagney's as a specialty restaurant, it is NOT in the list of those for which advance reservations can be made. I find this quite puzzling, and I was hoping that someone could please explain to me why this is so. We definitely want to dine at Cagney's twice while on our Baltic cruise, and I would love to be able to make reservations for the two nights I have left unreserved to date.

Thanks for any insight, information and/or explanation for this strange discrepancy.

Love his response on this thread! It is right on the money. However, I am happy to report that, even for those who cannot resist all of the wine, sparking wine, schnapps and other tasty beverages offered in the Explorer Lounge, Restaurant and on the Aquavit Terrace (not us :)), the noise on the standard level of our cruise was minimal.

We just returned home from our "Romantic Danube" cruise last evening, and I am delighted to say that most of the time we heard absolutely NOTHING in our stateroom number 118. Most of the time we were not even aware we were moving. That said, there were times when moving through locks during the night slight bumps against the lock walls or another ship would briefly wake us. At those times we would hear some back thrusting of the engines or the bubbling or rushing water sounds of water filling the lock, but after the first two nights, even this did not bother us or really wake us any longer.

Our cruise was beautiful, busy, relaxing, totally fun, a fantastic experience and just an overall great time! There was not one system that did not work perfectly nor one staff member who was anything less than amazing. :D

Cannot wait for our next Viking cruise!

All of your responses have been so helpful, and we don't foresee any real issues with noise now. We live in a residential area within walking distance of the main downtown area of a very large city. It actually will probably be quieter on the boat at night than it is in our neighborhood!

Happy travels to those of you on a river now!

We leave in two days and are full of excited anticipation :)

I really appreciate these replies to my question about cabin noise in the standard/aquarium level cabins. I feel like I now know what to expect. However, I will continue to happily receive any other feedback on the "Romantic Danube" Budapest to Nuremberg direction cruise that anyone would like to offer. This time next week we will be on board the Idun and heading toward Vienna :)

Have a lovely Monday everyone!

For your reply to my request for honest information. It is helpful to know about the lock situation. Is the noise from the workings of the lock or from slight bumping of the boat or something else?

I hope to hear from others as well. Our cabin is #118 which is considerably back from #100, plus we would love to hear some other opinions.

We are preparing to leave on our second river cruise next week, and we are looking for some honest information on exactly how much engine noise to expect in an aquarium level/standard Viking Longship cabin. On our last cruise, we were on one of the older ships, and we were stuck in port the entire time due to exceptionally high water and flooding. We had a wonderful time nonetheless, but we missed the experience of actually moving on a river under power. Do I need to pack earplugs to ensure a good night's sleep or is the noise a minor inconvenience at worst?

We selected the lower level cabins simply because we saw no need to spend extra for a space that we plan to stay in only for bathing, dressing and sleeping. We love the public spaces in and on any accommodation, and that is where we will be most of our time on board. Just want to make sure that we will sleep well enough to have plenty of energy for socializing and seeing the sights!

Thanks in advance to all of you who have sailed in E or F cabins for your honest answers.

This is such a great, informative and honest review. I am really enjoying it and cannot wait for the next installment. :)

My husband and I will be taking a Baltic cruise on the Norwegian Star in July 2015, and while we are very much looking forward to the large cruise ship experience, we are also not sure what to really expect. We have only taken two river cruises in Europe and one smaller ship cruise to Bermuda prior to this. We chose the Star based solely on the itinerary offered and the dates it was being offered. As a result, I have been searching high and low for anything and everything written about the Star. Your comments and complete rundown are proving to be beyond helpful.

Do hope that today will prove to be a better day, and that those rude Aussies will stay far away from the Star Bar from now on!

Thanks Heaps! Vielen Dank! Grazie Mille! Tak! Merci Beaucoup!

My husband and I, along with 2 dear friends, are booked on the 12-19 October "Romantic Danube" cruise traveling from Budapest to Nuremberg on board the Viking Idun. In preparation for the trip, I wanted to do some relevant reading.

When searching all available titles, I came upon this wonderful book by Andrew Eames entitled Blue River, Black Sea. In the book, published originally in 2009, Eames essentially retraces the trip taken in the 1930's, and written so eloquently about, by Patrick Leigh Fermoy. In a most entertaining fashion, Eames brings the reader up to date on life along the Danube from its source in Donaueschingen, Germany to its end as it enters the Black Sea just beyond Sulina, Romania.

Although the references to River Cruising are not very flattering to say the least, the book is an excellent read and so informative. It certainly put me even more in the mood for our long anticipated second cruise with Viking. I cannot wait to take my own journey along such an historic and incredibly diverse river. I plan to disembark from the Idun as often as I can, and without a bit of hesitation, Mr. Eames ;). I plan to see and experience as much as I possibly can!

Happy Reading Fellow Cruisers!

Thanks to all of you for the responses. My question has been answered very satisfactorily!

Your report and the extra info is excellent. This is the Viking trip that I want to take next.

Perhaps you can enlighten me about something.

I just spoke with someone who was on a large passenger ship cruise during the same period as you were with Viking, and she said that they were not allowed to go into St. Petersburg on their own but only with tours. They were told that they would have to pay $200 plus dollars for a visa if they wanted to visit the city in their free time. Thus, unless on a guided tour, most everyone on that trip stayed on the ship when in port.

Does Viking include this visa in the trip package, or was this person simply misinformed by the concierge on her Princess cruise? Thanks.

Cash Flow, I will happily e-mail you my packing list next week :). If anyone else would like to see it, I am happy to share. Just include your e-mail address in your response.

I have found the reactions to my post very interesting albeit slightly disturbing, and I am truly sorry that some of you interpreted my intentions incorrectly.

The bottom line is really this - Why must Americans always be seen as "the lowest common denominator"? Decency and respect in dress is really not so hard, and it does leave a lasting and positive impression with very little effort.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

This reply might make me seem "stuffy" or priggish but that is not my intention at all. As a young at heart and VERY active 64 year old, no one would ever consider me even remotely stuffy! Instead, I am trying to help the average Viking traveler better fit with their new surroundings by dressing with the respect that European and Asian destinations and their people absolutely deserve.

Why Americans feel that they can dress in such a casual manner when out in public has always bewildered really me. I lived in Europe for 6 years n the 1970's and have vacationed there untold times since then, including one Viking cruise and a booking on another to come in October. What I have found is that people in other parts of the world, and especially those in the Viking age groups, pride themselves on a neat and polished appearance. That does not include jeans at dinner or really at any time except the most casual. They are only commonly worn by teens and University students. Men wear nice pants (no shorts except at the beach), collared or polo shirts and sweaters. Women wear nice skirts, slacks (no capris or shorts except at the beach), blouses, sweaters and scarves as accessories. Often a blazer is casually tossed on as a jacket. Workout wear is for the gym or jogging ONLY.

In addition, jeans are the heaviest pants there are, and in these days of careful weighing of luggage and easily charged overage fees, why take heavy pants when Dockers type slacks are so much lighter and far more suitable? Jeans don't keep anyone warm when it is cold or cool when it is hot, either.

My final note concerns something that happened on my Viking cruise last year. Please, please, please don't come to the coffee/tea station in the morning or at any time without a shirt and wearing pants (in his case jeans) drooping below the belly. A man on our cruise in May did that EVERY morning, and it was so incredibly offensive. A Viking ship is not a place to wander about shirtless, unless you have abs like Matthew McConaghey!!

It is really all a matter of respect for yourselves and for your fellow man/woman. Dress with pride and respect, and you will be treated the same.

Thanks for reading, and if you are interested, I would be delighted to share my packing list. My husband and I were able to get everything needed for our cruise in a 21" rolling carry-on bag each. A large purse for me and a backpack for him completed our luggage. We looked neat and fashionable all week, too, with nary a pair of jeans in sight.

Loved the latest installment in your trip report. Keep them coming, please!

We, along with 3 other couples, will be taking the "Portraits of Southern France" cruise in late April, but we are going north to south. I LOVED your report, and I would really enjoy hearing much more about your trip. We are also vigorous travelers (skiers all as well as avid walkers/hikers), and I admit that I have been worrying about the pace of the tours being too slow. Perhaps by the time we leave on our cruise, Viking will have taken your suggestions to heart. Please, please write more about what you saw and did that was particularly interesting on the remaining 6 days of your cruise.:) Merci Beaucoup!