Northern Sights and Mickey's MAGICal Delights-1st Baltic Cruise-June 12,2010-Pt 2

[gydell]

Connie - have fun!

Happy 4th to everyone!!!

 

[WVMD]

Happy Independence Day!!!





Virgil

 

[Scott H]

Happy 4th of July……

Morning Kids the Tour Starts today….. just in from a 5K shower and coffee is on…

I was up at 1:00 AM Long travel day yesterday, office paper chase. Etc ETC , finally made it home at 6:00 PM .

Was able to get several morning runs in while in FL, will be running in VA next week, made plans For Dallas in Aug. I need a vacation, well next month a B2B Wonder trip....

 

[MJGirl]

Just wanted to wish all my American friends a Happy fourth of July!

 

[LisaG520]

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is having a great summer.

I'm hanging out waiting for 12:01 so I can book Palo brunch and excursions for Oct 3 Western cruise.

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

Hope everyone had a great 4th! We watched fireworks on TV - 4th at the Capitol, then watched private fireworks displays from our back yard - you could see fireworks in all directions from our house! It rained all evening, just stopping a bit for fireworks.

Have a great day all!

 

[hawkaye19]

lol......been a while since I checked in.....

Just saw a show on the Discovery channel about the Russian Mafia and how they are actually auctioning off credit cards and identities they have 'obtained' on an e-bay type website.

Seems very scary

Has anyone planned out how they are going to purchase items on our cruise ashore.

It seems the euro is a safe bet for most of the ports, but in Russia.....they only take rubles and it is illegal to bring in or take out any rubles...

We will be leaving our credit cards onboard when we go ashore.....

 

[gydell]

lol......been a while since I checked in.....

Just saw a show on the Discovery channel about the Russian Mafia and how they are actually auctioning off credit cards and identities they have 'obtained' on an e-bay type website.

Seems very scary

Has anyone planned out how they are going to purchase items on our cruise ashore.

It seems the euro is a safe bet for most of the ports, but in Russia.....they only take rubles and it is illegal to bring in or take out any rubles...

We will be leaving our credit cards onboard when we go ashore.....

What about MC/Visa gift cards? I will ask my tour guide closer to the date and see what they suggest.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I like the idea of the gift cards.

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

Gydell, let us all know what your travel agent suggests for methods of payment, esp in Russia.

Have a great day all!

 

[gydell]

Good Morning Cruisers!

Gydell, let us all know what your travel agent suggests for methods of payment, esp in Russia.

Have a great day all!

I sure will!

 

[kittb]

I like the idea of the gift cards.

How do the gift cards work? I'm thinking they're the cards we have that you kind of charge up with a certain amount of cash but still have the visa/ mastercard logo on so can be used in machines etc? So if something were to happen to it you'd only loose the amount you'd charged it with? Interesting point though as we had been wondering about all the different currencies we'd need. Not like when we did the Med cruise and it was all euros.

Another things we'd wondered about is visas for the different countries, especially Russia. Is this something that is covered with a blanket thing on the cruise ship as we're pre approved security checked before getting on board? or something our travel agent will organise?

Kittb

 

[gydell]

How do the gift cards work? I'm thinking they're the cards we have that you kind of charge up with a certain amount of cash but still have the visa/ mastercard logo on so can be used in machines etc? So if something were to happen to it you'd only loose the amount you'd charged it with? Interesting point though as we had been wondering about all the different currencies we'd need. Not like when we did the Med cruise and it was all euros.

Another things we'd wondered about is visas for the different countries, especially Russia. Is this something that is covered with a blanket thing on the cruise ship as we're pre approved security checked before getting on board? or something our travel agent will organise?

Kittb

Yes that's what gift cards are. The problem that we found using our credit cards in Europe was that we have 3 digit codes and they use 4 digits. Some of the stores we went to could not take our cc.

If you have a tour booked in Russia then your visa is covered, otherwise you will not be allowed off the ship unless you can get your own visa which I hear is hard to do.

 

[rotary2808]

Yes that's what gift cards are. The problem that we found using our credit cards in Europe was that we have 3 digit codes and they use 4 digits. Some of the stores we went to could not take our cc.

If you have a tour booked in Russia then your visa is covered, otherwise you will not be allowed off the ship unless you can get your own visa which I hear is hard to do.

Our bank teller told us that your debit card is the worst thing to make purchases on in Europe. With debit cards they tack on the highest exchange rates. She also advised us not to get Euros before we left, another bad exchange rate. She said just to get them over there from an ATM as needed. We did that in Italy in May and the rate wasn't that bad.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Our bank teller told us that your debit card is the worst thing to make purchases on in Europe. With debit cards they tack on the highest exchange rates. She also advised us not to get Euros before we left, another bad exchange rate. She said just to get them over there from an ATM as needed. We did that in Italy in May and the rate wasn't that bad.

So the strategy is to use the debit card to get cash from the ATM and then use the cash to make purchases? Did you have to pay a foreign transaction fee for every withdrawal?

 

[rotary2808]

So the strategy is to use the debit card to get cash from the ATM and then use the cash to make purchases? Did you have to pay a foreign transaction fee for every withdrawal?

If I remember correctly there was a 3 euro atm charge and that was it. We just got money out every so often, only 2 or 3 times. And the nice thing is you can get what you want/need. I'm pretty sure if you get euros from the bank before leaving there is a minimum amount you have to get.

 

[Lynn G]

Good Evening Cruisers!

Good info about using credit cards!

Have a great day!

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

A whole day with no posts? Everyone must be out enjoying summer!

Cloudy and cool this morning, looks like it might rain any minute, although rain is not in the forecast today.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[rotary2808]

Good Morning Cruisers!

A whole day with no posts? Everyone must be out enjoying summer!

Cloudy and cool this morning, looks like it might rain any minute, although rain is not in the forecast today.

Have a great day everyone!

Actually here I'm doing my best to try to avoid it. Temps today are 92 with a heat index of 95+.

I also spent all day yesterday (and I'll be doing it again today) trying to remember how to do algebra. I absolutely hate fractions. It's a good thing I only have to take one math class for my degree or I would go insane.

 

[gydell]

I am here at the pool where I have been for the last couple of days. Waiting to book flights. I wish DCL would release excursions, not that I am planning on doing them but may in Germany. Hope everyone has a good day!