Splendor August 30, 08

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larsfun

Guest
Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone out there is going to be on the Splendor August 30, 08 out of Dover UK? We are very excited about it, did the Freedom last Sept/Oct in the med and it was outstanding. It is my understanding that John (Cruise director on the Freedom) will be aboard this cruise. In any case let us know if any of you will be there!

Lars
 
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travellingcouple

Guest
Good morning fellow cruiser!
We have never been on a Baltic cruise before and are very excited.
Is this your 1st cruise to the Baltic as well?
This is going to be a long 20 weeks!
 
L

larsfun

Guest
Absolutely first time for us. Last year we were on the sister ship (Freedom) in the Mediterranean and enjoyed it very much we too are excited to do the Baltic side. Will you be on this one the 30th Aug?
 
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travellingcouple

Guest
Yes on the same sailing.
So what month did you go the Freedom and how was the weather?
How was the entertainment?
It has been awhile since we were on a Carnival cruise.
 
L

larsfun

Guest
Excellent, maybe we will run into each other on the Baltic side! I can honestly say everything on the Freedom in the Med was excellent. Top notch shows and entertainment. The service was absolutely the best of any Carnival we have been on. The food I must say was an improvement over past cruises. The cruise director I believe has a lot to do with all of the above and we had the best cruise director in the Carnival Fleet. The good news is he will be our cruise director on this Baltic cruise. If you have never been on the larger ships before I might suggest you try the special dining offered on the larger ships. It is usually an additional $30 per person for the evening but trust me an experience well well worth it. For the price you will experience a type of dining usually reserved for the affluent. quality and presentation above and beyond, excellent with white glove service.

While on the subject let me ask, did you reserve any tours yet? We booked (yesterday) the "grand tour of St. Petersburg" and the "Sachenhausen Berlin" tour. They are expensive but we were afraid they would be booked up so we purchased them now. In St Petersburg you must take the ships tour or you must obtain a visa to go out on you own which I understand is not advisable.

Keep in touch
 
L

larsfun

Guest
I forgot to add, we were on the freedom last sept to October. The weather was hot hot hot. One day in Athens it was over 100 degrees f. but we enjoyed every min. of it. we didn't have one single rainy or cloudy day until the day we left for the airport, how perfect was that!
 
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travellingcouple

Guest
Hi Again!
We did book our 2 day tour in St Petersburg with Alla.They have smaller groups than the large buses with the ship and have had great reviews.They obtain the visa for you.
I think in a few other places we are just going to take the Hop on Hop off buses .
It has been about 6 or 7 years since we have done Carnival and can't remember if they had the specialty dining then but we have on other lines and enjoy trying them 1 or 2 nights?
Are you going a few days early or staying after the cruise ?
 
L

larsfun

Guest
Ahoy!

Your 2 day tour sounds far more exciting than ours just in the fact that it's a smaller group and probably allows a little more latitude. Can you explain a little more about it? We are leaving the 28th arriving on the 29th at Heathrow. From there we will travel to Dover staying in a B&B. When we get back we will travel back to Heathrow, stay overnight and travel back to the states the next day. Our friends however will be staying on a few day extra in London. There are 7 of us going, My wife and I, My cousin and his wife, Our friends Michael, Ray and Harvey. If possible, and you are not traveling with a large group we might be able to arrange seating together at dinner (late seating of course).

As I said before if this cruise is anywhere near as good as the Freedom it's going to be sensational. Our cruise director on Freedom is the head cruise director of the Carnival fleet, he is supposed to be the cruise director on the Splendor. I believe his name is John Heald. There has been much written about him in travel publications. Below is one web site with a story and info on him.

http://www.cruise-addicts.com/Cruise-News/Carnival-Cruises/John_Heald_Named_Seatrade_Insider-.html
 
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travellingcouple

Guest
Hi
Alla-tours have different 2 day tours depending on what you want to see and how intensive .
We took the complete tour.
You can also put your own group together and customize it as you want.Like I said they take care of everything.With the 7 of you it would be great. Alla-tours.com
We booked thorugh the St Petersburg website .They are very helpful and you pay your 1st day of tour.Any questions they answer within the day by email.
The one we are taking includes a hydrofoil trip for a little ride.
Price wise they are as good or even better than cruiseline and less people.
We usually prefer early sitting but thank you for the offer.
We are going a few days early to avoid jetlag and late or cancelled flights and staying for 10 days after .
 
L

larsfun

Guest
Hello,

Your tour sounds wonderful. We did check out the ALLA-tours as they also have an office near us here in So. Florida and indeed they are reasonable (more so than the ship) however there are some in our party that just felt more comfortable doing it through the ships purser but we will be looking at alternative sources such as Alla next time. Thanks for that tip!

My wife and I used to like early dining but on the Europe tours we got used to the late seating as the tours were usually all day long such as Berlin and Russia are with this cruise.

We are very much looking forward to this trip as I said in past postings the cuisine is improved as well as amenities and entertainment.

Hopefully we will have the good fortune to meet and compare notes over a glass of sherry.
 
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