Back from the Baltic
 

Well...thanks to all of you Veteran Cruisers, our trip to the Baltic was wonderful. Everything went off without any problems. Getting off the ship for our private St. Petersburg tour was very easy. It seemed like everyone disembarked at the same time; I guess Carnival got the word not to interfere. The only hitch was we were told that going through customs the non-Carnival tours should enter to the right, but the Russian customs personnel just moved us on with no concern about Carnival's signs.

The Splendor is a brand new ship, and is certainly the largest I've ever been on. My granddaughter joined the teens' club and had a blast! We had walkie talkies in case of any problems as did other families. The staff was excellent, and with our upgrade, which was unexpected, we had a port side balcony cabin.

All the shore touring except St. Petersburg was done independently with no problems, and except for bus and ferry fares, American money and credit cards would have been enough. So...all the postings you offered were very accurate.

The only negative thing had to do with British Air. We were waiting for our luggage when I noticed a bag coming off completely open. It happened to be mine. I made a claim and thought all was okay until I unpacked the next day and found one of my dress shoes gone. Sounds like a Cinderella story, but I don't think it will end up the same. Instead of a prince, I'll be buying a new pair of shoes.

Thanks again for all your help.

Sorry about the shoe. I hope that pair was not your fav. Oh well now you have an excuse to buy another pair or two. :D. I'm glad all went well. The Baltic is a dream cruise I think. I assume the ship wasn't full, hence the upgrade? How else was the ship, i.e. in terms of food, shows, etc? Thank you. Larry :-)

Welcome back trapsma.

Glad everything went okay except for that luggage glitch.

Actually more than a glitch.

Hmm ,I am wondering who wanted a one shoe ...at least you did not turn into a pumpkin at midnight!!:)


Hi jacketwatch

Percy

Yes, that particular pair of shoes was my favorite, but as you say, Jacketwatch, I'll just have to go shopping.

The food on the Splendor was fairly good. The Lido had stations where the chefs made meals to order. The dining room's food was good depending on what one ordered. Some of my meals were very good and some were just okay. Breakfast and lunch in the dining rooms and the Lido were quite good. However, this is just my opinion.

The shows that I saw were excellent. However, I didn't go to all of them. I did win $100 one night in the Casino, netting $80. It helped pay for some of the Sign and Sail purchases.

All in all, I would recommend Carnival's Splendor.

I am being pressured to join my parents on a Baltic cruise next July or August. Truth be told, it's not really taking much pressure at all for me to seriously consider it. :) Just need to figure out the expenses, since my daughter's going on a school trip to Japan in May.

I've been reading prior trip reports on private shore excursions in St. Petersburg and am glad to hear that getting off is relatively easy.

My mother has been hearing things about the necessity of taking the ship's shore excursions in St. Petersburg, otherwise they won't be able to get off the ship, yada yada yada. Although I know this is not true, I was wondering about the hassle factor of trying to beat the hordes off the ship.

Other than St. Petersburg, did you have a particular port/activity/tour that you enjoyed especially?

chepar

I can only relate what happened to me as I disembarked at St. Petersburg.

I was prepared for a good 30-45 minute wait.

I got off the ship at 7 AM... I must have been the first one off because there was not another person( passenger) tobe seen.

The Russian Band was playing ( thye entertain you as you wait in line!!)

1. I had my passport
2. A copy of my passport.
3. An e-mail statement from Alla Tours to show that I do indeed have a private tour guide waiting for me.

4.A copy of my Itinerary for the day from Alla Tours.

So I walked into this flat roof small building(like a construction site building) ..this is the Customs House !

I handed her my passport ..she stamped it ...gave me a Red Card... and off I went.....don't lose the Red Card, you will need to hand it back to the Customs Agent at the end of the day as you go back through the Customs Building again.!

That was it !!..it took about 20 seconds.

But you could have a line up ( a small one) and you are standing outside... so hopefully no rain !

I do not know why the cruise ships still try to intimidate you by saying you have to wait until their tour people get off the ship first !!!


Percy

Thanks Percy, that's exactly the kind of information (step by step) I was hoping for. By the way, how many Customs Agents did they have on hand to handle everyone coming off the ship?

I've been looking into Alla Tours and am pretty excited about seeing some of St. Petersburg, if I do go on this cruise.

chepar

There were three customs agent and I am sure they know how to move passengers through very quickly.

Alla Tours was very very good ,we had a tour guide and a van driver.

Because we left so early in the morning..the first place we headed to was Catherine's Palace.... again there was a band playing for us at the gate.!!

Next it was off to Peterhof.....then back to St. Petersburg.

I told Alla (via e-mails) all the places I wanted to see and I saw them all ,plus more.

Then, Alla comes to meet you at the cruise ship at the end of the second day and greets you and gives you a DVD on St. Petersburg.!

Our tour guide was Julie(about 25 years old and perfect English) and our driver was Boris.

Our group was four.

However, Alla asked me if I wanted to form a larger group ..this way the cost is much less.....so I had six other people join us.

I told Alla to close this group off at 10.!

Also ,Alla told me it was totally up to me if I wanted anybody else
to join our group of four.

Ten people in a nice 16 pasenger Van turned out to be very good.

I have nothing but high praise for Alla.

There is another private tour company called Red October.

Alla handles the Visa problem for you.

If you decide to go on your own ( worse option!!) then you will have to get a Visa on your own.

Next worse option is taking the ship tour. !!!

Also you cannot just go wandering around when you get off the cruise ship in St.Petersburg...
because...

The ship docks about 6 miles from downtown and it docks in a shipyard...so you will see about 50 cranes sticking up in the air... in

case you have any doubts you are in a shipyard.!!! :)

Percy

Percy do you remember what the band was playing? When we got off around 0700 I could now believe my ears to hear them play Franks Sinatras "New York." It was almost surreal. :D :D

Chepar, Percy and Jacketwatch and a few others are great with information. Carnival did not try to intimidate us. I took Percy's advice and acted like I owned the ship, but as it turned out, it wasn't necessary. There were four of us first in line waiting to get off for the DenRus tour. We had to wait for the Russian officials to clear the ship, which took about 30 minutes. By the time we were able to get off, the stairways were crowded, Carnival and non Carnival excursions mixed together. The person letting us pass didn't say a word about detaining us. I was ready with information I received from Stan, the DenRus web administrator, which said it is illegal for a ship to interfere with disembarkation when in a country's territorial waters. However, we had no hassles.

The Russian customs personnel were very stern, but kept us moving, and cared less about what line we were in.

I chose to go on a set tour which covered a great deal. Also, the folk show at night was spectacular. There were 57 people on the DenRus Value Tour split up on 3 mini busses. Our guide was excellent. Alla Tours was waiting as well as Optima (I think that's the name), Red October, and others, so...there were lots of people going on private tours, either set or custom. The company you choose sends all the information you'll need to go through customs, but Percy has pretty well spelled it out.

The other ports were very easy to do on our own, and gave us a chance to experience a little of the local flavor. We bought tickets for the Anne Frank house on line, saving a lot time. Hellsinki sent a packet of info, and web sites for other ports gave us all we needed. At all the ports there were information centers.

You'll have a great time.

Good outline trapsma. !

I am happy you had a great time.

jacketwatch:

You are right , the band played New York, New York.

They also played "When the Saints go Marching in".

Also..."This land is your Land, this land is my Land".


In fact ( and of course they want a tip) they may ask you what country your are from ....and then right away they play your National Anthem.!!

Oh, I know I was extremely lucky that I went through customs so easy.!

Percy

:D :D We went to some park on day one and there was a band there as well and they plated the USN song "Anchors away." :D

At the entrance to the building where the Folkloric Show was being held, a group was playing America the Beautiful or one of those favorites. Even though it was for donations, it was a nice touch.