July 6, 2010 - 7/6/2010 ~ Pounds to Rubles ~ Mickey invades the Baltic Sea

[Thistle]

I had pretty decent luck for a change! Kept kicking me out each time I made a reservation for something, but eventually got all I wanted. Glad that's done!

 

[LisaTex]

Im finished too. 1 hr and 15 (literally) re-starts later.
Now to see how many times I change my mind.....
good night - i'm worn out

 

[wintergreen]

Alice,

I've added you to the special occasions list.....

Spasiba!

 

[Stimpy]

Does our 15th anniversary count? It's actually this week but we're doing the cruise to celebrate. LOL

 

[OurDogCisco]

Wow what a tough time I had. When I made the first Palo reservation, when I hit confirm, it gave me an error message. I went back into cruise activities and it was there. This happened to me several time throughout my session. The last spa treatment I was reserving, same thing happened, but the system had logged me out. I logged back in and it said I couldn't access the reservation for 20 minutes. So, I gave up.

Anyone else have that problem?

I started at about 3 am since I was on a plane at midnight but I didn't have any computer loging out problems. Everything was there and I had my pick of times. Now, let's see how many times I change my mind.

 

[babybear42]

Hi Jill, thank you for the offer! I will be searching through my London books now that we are into the countdown! Will check in with you if any questions. What kinds of things are in the British Museum? thanks..

Hi
The British Museum has a large collection of Eygptian items, including the famous Rosetta Stone and some mummies. They've also got the largest collection of gold ever found in England at a burial and one of the stone heads from Easter Island. It's full of very interesting items, it just depends on your taste.

 

[Monstro]

Does our 15th anniversary count? It's actually this week but we're doing the cruise to celebrate. LOL

I'll add it on as a celebration item. Congratulations!

 

[Monstro]

Due to popular demand, we've started a second Palo Brunch Group. Each group is limited to 14 adults as the private dining room in Palo sits 14. Group #1 has 1 spot left. Group 2 has 4 spots left. Please let Lisa or me know if you are interested in joining either of these groups. This meet will be on a sea day. The Palo surcharge applies and is the responsibility of each individual party.

Good fun, good food and good company in the middle of the Baltic Sea. What more could you ask for?

Hurry – 5 spots left.

Jeff

 

[justhat]

I tried booking last night too, but also had those problems with the website. Ultimately, after an hour, I gave up and emailed the concierge team with our requests and explained that while we usually do it ourselves, this time I have a 6 week old baby with reflux who cries all the time so staying up hours overnight was not cutting it. Well this morning I tried again (around 11am) and was able to log in and book, but I am on a different reservation than my husband and kids (we have 2 rooms) and my friend is linked, but also in another room. All 3 rooms are linked and all the people show up, but I can only book for my husband, mom, and kids. I could book Palo for all of us, but the times/days I wanted were booked so I had to change plans, which is ok, but annoying as that might not have been the case if I could have done it last night. Well here we are at 7pm and still no word from the concierge team. This is mildly annoying as it means I am not booked into the excursions with my family and if concierge doesn't respond I have to get up at midnight again to book at my window (23rd). Annoying is an understatement.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I tried booking last night too, but also had those problems with the website. Ultimately, after an hour, I gave up and emailed the concierge team with our requests and explained that while we usually do it ourselves, this time I have a 6 week old baby with reflux who cries all the time so staying up hours overnight was not cutting it. Well this morning I tried again (around 11am) and was able to log in and book, but I am on a different reservation than my husband and kids (we have 2 rooms) and my friend is linked, but also in another room. All 3 rooms are linked and all the people show up, but I can only book for my husband, mom, and kids. I could book Palo for all of us, but the times/days I wanted were booked so I had to change plans, which is ok, but annoying as that might not have been the case if I could have done it last night. Well here we are at 7pm and still no word from the concierge team. This is mildly annoying as it means I am not booked into the excursions with my family and if concierge doesn't respond I have to get up at midnight again to book at my window (23rd). Annoying is an understatement.

Man that really bites.... From what I've read on these boards that you shouldn't link reservations until after you made you excursions, palo & spa reservations. For someone reason I believe the system gets confused. Can you unlink them? Are you linking them so you dine together?

 

[denise]

for those lucky ones who have booked their excursions...
..what did you pick?

 

[OurDogCisco]

for those lucky ones who have booked their excursions...
..what did you pick?

I picked:

Hadeland Glass Works and Viking Ships

Tivoli Gardens - All Inclusive Experience (not sure if I'm gonna keep this one. This tour starts at 8:30 am. But if you wait until the park is open to the public we won't get in until 11 am. 2 hours to me is a huge amount of time. So, I'm really undecided about this one because of the cost & time).

Rostock's Regional Highlights

Helsinki Highlights and Santa's Summerhouse

Best of Drottningholm

St. Pete's I'm doing a private tour with you know who!

I wasn't really sure about these ports. I need to research more but I don't have much time. Nothing seems too exciting to me and we aren't the type to walk around a town. We like guided tours.

What are you planning on doing in each port?

I do have to say this online thing doesn't show time available or anything until you confirm so, I couldn't see times for different for the different excursions. Has it always been that way?

Tina

 

[LisaTex]

I tried booking last night too, but also had those problems with the website. Ultimately, after an hour, I gave up and emailed the concierge team with our requests and explained that while we usually do it ourselves, this time I have a 6 week old baby with reflux who cries all the time so staying up hours overnight was not cutting it. Well this morning I tried again (around 11am) and was able to log in and book, but I am on a different reservation than my husband and kids (we have 2 rooms) and my friend is linked, but also in another room. All 3 rooms are linked and all the people show up, but I can only book for my husband, mom, and kids. I could book Palo for all of us, but the times/days I wanted were booked so I had to change plans, which is ok, but annoying as that might not have been the case if I could have done it last night. Well here we are at 7pm and still no word from the concierge team. This is mildly annoying as it means I am not booked into the excursions with my family and if concierge doesn't respond I have to get up at midnight again to book at my window (23rd). Annoying is an understatement.

would try again tonight - concierge is closed for today

 

[OurDogCisco]

Also, most of the tours I picked are over early so, we should have some time to walk around the port afterwards.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I never can get this straight about the dollar being strong or weak and what that means so hopefully someone can help me. We have a couple of things we want to prepurchase for our time in London so I was trying to figure out how to know when to do that in relation to the exchange rates. For example the tower of London online family ticket is 44 pounds. I don't know how much that is in US dollars because I didn't use a currency converter but say $1 = 1.25 pounds, does that mean my US dollars cost would be about $38? But if it were the other way where $1 US = 0.75 pounds then it would be closer to $50? Also if I were to order tix online for things, I am supposing my bank will charge me a currency exchange fee. I should probably call and ask.

Also can someone tell me what our best options are for the Tube? As far as ticketing I mean. Like can we get an all day or multiday fare card? Most of what we want to do is within zone 1 but the beatles walk on Sunday requires a zone 2 for going to Abbey Road.

Thx.

 

[LisaTex]

I think times were available earlier in the process in the past. This way really made it more difficult to plan - especially since everytime i wanted to change something it booted me off.

 

[LisaTex]

Just remember even though it's been better recently it still always costs more in US$.

check with your card - i ordered some tics ahead of time and was charged the fee - capitol one doesn't charge and with other banks you can sometimes get the fee refunded.

 

[Fivepin]

I never can get this straight about the dollar being strong or weak and what that means so hopefully someone can help me. We have a couple of things we want to prepurchase for our time in London so I was trying to figure out how to know when to do that in relation to the exchange rates. For example the tower of London online family ticket is 44 pounds. I don't know how much that is in US dollars because I didn't use a currency converter but say $1 = 1.25 pounds, does that mean my US dollars cost would be about $38? But if it were the other way where $1 US = 0.75 pounds then it would be closer to $50? Also if I were to order tix online for things, I am supposing my bank will charge me a currency exchange fee. I should probably call and ask.

Also can someone tell me what our best options are for the Tube? As far as ticketing I mean. Like can we get an all day or multiday fare card? Most of what we want to do is within zone 1 but the beatles walk on Sunday requires a zone 2 for going to Abbey Road.

Thx.

i can't help you with the tube. The currency I can. I checked earlier today and 1 pound is around 1.50 US. So the 44 pounds is around $66 I'm looking into buying stuff ahead of time. I am considering the London Pass, but don't know if it's worth it. We want to do the tower as well. My credit card charges a 2% fee, but you should check with your bank. I use a currency converter tool online to help me with all this stuff. You put in how much you want to convert and into what currency.
I hope this helped some.

 

[Fivepin]

I'll add it on as a celebration item. Congratulations!

Hi Jeff-

Well this is the year Ray and I celebrate our 15th anniversary. Also, it's the year Ray, Debbie(djpate)-my bf, and I turn 40. So, this cruise is celebrating all of that. So, we are definitely going to live it up, especially since Grandma is watching all of my boys for me.

Thanks

 

[Monstro]

I think times were available earlier in the process in the past. This way really made it more difficult to plan - especially since everytime i wanted to change something it booted me off.

I agree. This is the first time I've had to plan excursions for two days in one port. It was kind of tricky. I went through the excursion for St. Petersburg and added days and times excursions are offered to our website. I hope this helps those who have yet to book. These times are specefic to our cruise.

See "top menu" - port information - Saint Petersburg.

http://pounds2rubles.wikidot.com/port-information

Jeff