If you are coming in by cruise ship, the ships will port at the industrial shipping port. So, prior to departing on your cruise, you will either need to 1) purchase a shore excursion or 2) provide your visa.  If you do not have a pre-arranged shore excursion, you WILL NEED a visa here.  They are not difficult to obtain, you will just need a little pre-planning, a little bit of time and $125.

A must see while you are in St. Petersburg is the Church of Spilled Blood and Peterhof.  Peterhof contains a series of gardens and fountains, built on the orders of Peter the Great and is sometimes called the Russian Versailles.  The most amazing thing about this area are the fountains themselves.  The fountains operate without the use of electricity or pumps.  Water is supplied from natural springs collects in the Upper Gardens and the difference of elevation between here and the Lower Gardens operates the fountains.

Going to Alaska without seeing Glacier Bay is an incredible mistake. Only a few cruise lines will spend the time and money for their all day cruise.

When you go, you’ll see scenic mountains and glaciers, birds seals and bears. The whales are there, but can sometimes be elusive. This park has it all. Park Rangers board the ship to offer extensive information to passengers about the park. This is a great day to relax, view and listen. Make sure your camera battery is charged!

Just as beautiful, but not quite as big as Glacier Bay. Cruising past six glaciers as you eat lunch on the ship deck is a marvelous experience. Your cruise ship will get quite close to these and they are very picturesque. You’ll have millions of great pictures and none to throw away.

We pulled into Oranjestad, Aruba around 8a and got off the boat.  It was about 82 degrees with a nice breeze – Aruba has a constant tradewind that blows across the island – towards the hotel zone if you ever get lost.  Right outside the port, there is a nice shopping area, bars and restaurants.

None of the bars/restaurants really have a great view (unless you want to look at a cruise ship).  Typical cruise shopping; jewelry, souvenirs, alcohol.

As you walked off the ship, there was a lineup of car rental companies – Hertz, American Car Rental and another Jeep provider.  We had thought we would rent from Hertz, but there were several passengers there that were waiting for the Hertz representative to show up.  They had already reserved cars, but we had not.

One of the incredible benefits of using Above & Beyond Travel is that we regularly travel and can give you an insiders view of what to expect on many cruises and resorts. In March, Caryn took a 4-day trip to Cable Beach on Paradise Island in the Bahamas to visit the Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort & Offshore Island, voted the Caribbean's top resort by readers of Conde Nast Magazine.

Many of you are familiar with the Sandals concept of the “luxury-included” vacation which includes beautifully upscale accommodations, gourmet restaurants, top shelf liquor and wine, and a number of activities including scuba diving. This particular resort, along with the Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay, Jamaica, offers a vacation within a vacation by offering an offshore island. Now, let's get in to how her trip was!