Items for discussion HAL Northern European Explorer June 15th to June 27th:

Exchange of foreign currency back to dollars: A VERY EXPENSIVE thing to do on the ship. I exchanged 30 GB Pounds and 5 Euros with the ship. According to my exchange rate, the GB Pounds should have been worth about $48.00 in US Dollars and the Euros should have been worth about $7 in US Dollars or a total of $55. What I got was $36 and change. That is about 66% of what I paid to exchange dollars for the currencies. I suggest that you use the foreign currency to provide an additional tip to your room steward or any dining room staff who provided service above and beyond. Another idea that sounded good to me was to visit a church and leave the money in their collection box.

Visiting St. Petersburg? The cruise lines all pretty much tell you that you must either use their tours or have a Russian visa in your passport to get off the ship. That is not true. If you have booked a tour with a legitimate Russian tour agency in advance of your arrival, they will issue you a ticket that includes a "Group Visa". Ship personnel do not ask for anything except your ship ID card to get off the ship. Russian immigration will want to see your passport, your tour ticket and the immigration card provided by the cruise line. Be sure to fill out the three items required on the immigration card before you go thru Russian immigration. They will stamp your passport and you will be free to enter. Your tour group will have a representation just outside immigration and will provide verbal instructions as to what to do next. We used DenRus and selected the 2-day Royal St Petersburg tour. While not cheap, it included lunch on both days and we ended up with one other couple along with our tour guide and driver in a Mercedes SUV. Our guide's English was excellent and her knowledge was outstanding. Their web site is: http://www.denrus.ru/valueex.html Read more