European Tours Thread 4

[^Vain_Chiq^]

^ Hi sis you're welcome and pasensya na di kita mareplyan kasi busy lang ngayon.  I'm currently in Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal and the beaches here are fantastic. Every corner ata there's a "praia". Lol. Weather here is very sunny but surprisingly not that malagkit feeling na pagpapawisan ka but don't ever forget to apply sunblock or else you will get sunburnt. I want to visit sana the apparition site in  Fatima but unfortunately it's 4 hours drive from here so next time na lang. Will update pagbalik namin ng NL next week .

[i_miss_sleep]

Mga sis (or ^Vain_Chiq^, since you discussed going to the beach ), we will be in Venice and plan to hit Lido beach. Any tips on how to get our stuff secured while all of us are in the water? It's a public beach. Would you know if merong mga lockers sa public beaches ng Italy? TIA.

Also, mga sisses, any tips on SIM I can use on all countries we'll visit? We're hopping on the following places: UK, Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris, Geneva, Rome, Florence, Venice. For each cities/countries ba, dapat one SIM each?

[mama squeak!]

^I would suggest to get local SIMs since you'll be paying roaming charges when you hop on to the next country. Our last trip I was planning to get one for my iPad mini but didn't push through since WiFi was readily available in all the places we visited. But if you're planning to use the SIM for calls and text then get from the local telcos.

[^Vain_Chiq^]

@i_miss_sleep - Sis better leave your valuables in the hotel safe instead of bringing it to the beach. I haven't seen a locker in any public beach I've been to here in Europe . Just bring a big beach bag and wrap your phones and wallet in the towel and always keep a look out on it. Regarding sim cards, I use Vodafone and roaming sya within Europe and the rates are reasonable.   

[i_miss_sleep]

Thanks! Follow-up, where can i buy vodafone or sim cards in those cities? Sa airport/train stations meron ba?

[^Vain_Chiq^]

^I'm not sure kung meron sa train stations sis but just look for their shops since they're all over europe naman .

Update: We will be flying to Malta on 9th of July and will be staying for a week in Qawra.

[vhanya]

Girls, just need clarification re: plane reservation for the visa. Does it have to be active?

I coursed my plane reservation via Emirates office by calling them today. Agent told me the ticket is valid til July 4th for payment (our visa appointment thru VIa.ph is not til july 14th). Of course di ko pa babayaran coz I need to secure visa first although meron naman na ako used schengen visa before.

I don't want to pay for it yet kasi di pa final if we will push through or not for our august trip (company problem ekek). I just want to secure visa so if ever we did push through, i can buy the plane ticket asap and we can go anytime on the validity dates on the visa (our itinerary and hotels bookings are good for a 1 month visa but actually baka nga 2 weeks lang kami).

Is this plane reservation good na? It has our flight details naman eh or do i need to course our plane ticket reservation through a travel agency like what we did before?

Thank sisses! Im trying to be 100% DIY sa trips namin =)

[mama squeak!]

@vhanya, I replied to your PM already. 

I have also copy/pasted your post and replied in the Schengen Visa thread since your Q concerns more of the visa application process. It might also help members here who might find themselves in the same situation in the future.

Link to the Schengen Visa thread: http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,272617.180.html

[vhanya]

^thanks so much mamasqueak =)

[mama squeak!]

Ladies, if you have plans to go to Europe this October to January 2015 KLM just came out with their $888 all-in fares to selected destinations. Booking period is until July06. Good deal na yan!

[vhanya]

Help sisses. Only took Cathay Pacific and Emirates. How is your Singapore Airlines experience when you flew to Europe?

[mama squeak!]

^I've flown with SQ before but not to Europe. They're among the top premier airlines together with CX and EK (I've flown with EK too and they're good). As expected from a top airline SQ's inflight services are top-notch (even on economy). Their ticket prices together with CX and EK can be a bit expensive since you are paying for their services/amenities. But for me worth it if you want a little comfort for a 15-16 hour flight to Europe.

Oh just to let you know CX is Skytrax 2014 Airline of the year.

[little_princess]

^^ flew SQ a couple of times to Europe and the experience was good. The stewards are the strictest that I have encountered (compared to middle eastern carries and some asian) but the quality is there and it was a pretty comfortable flight. Can't say much about the entertainment system because I usually sleep throughout the flights but if I can recall, the monitor is bigger on Emirates. SG is also a good stopover = more shopping

[vhanya]

Thanks guys! =) I wanted to try SQ for a change hehe. I checked kasi EK on our flight dates and ang mahal na so I was thinking might as well mag CX or SQ na lang ako. =)

CX uses A380 and 777 to Rome but SQ only uses A340. Ill check the reviews for A340 online =)

[mama squeak!]

^vhanya, we still don't have the A380  CX flies both the A340 and B77W to Rome. I prefer flying with the B77W specially on business class since bin storage space and the toilets are much bigger than the A340s.

I know SQ flies the A380 to Paris. Hubby and I were wanting to try it out before but our flight/dates didn't match.

[vhanya]

^sorry, its B77 to HK and A380 to Rome pala =) I did a mock booking with SQ and the flight to Rome is A340 lang =(

[112214bride]

mga sis, paano ba ang visa pag europe tour? kailangan ba bawat bansa sa europe may visa tayo? TIA!

[mama squeak!]

^sis depends where in Europe ka pupunta. Para di tayo OT you can back read on the threads below discussing the different visas:

Schengen Visa thread

UK Visa thread

 

[112214bride]

got it! thanks sis mama squeak! 

[i_miss_sleep]

Mga sisses...I know maraming beses niyo na narinig ito, there are lots of pick-pocketers in Europe, especially in Amsterdam. Don't lose your focus, especially when riding a train and you're mind is so pre-occupied on how to get on that train with your heavy luggages and all. Sadly, despite many warnings, I lost focus and lost my wallets instead to those clever gypsies! Bummer! Sabi ng mga mga police, bata pa lang sila tine-train na sila on how to steal!

What happened was, while riding on a train, 3 young girls tried to cut me and so I let one get in front of me. Then instead of going in, that girl pretended she doesn't speak Dutch or English while asking for directions from the train staff, so she was actually delaying me on hopping on the train so her fellow thieves can reach into my wallet. Ako naman, busy iakyat yung heavy luggage ko to the train. Yun pala dinudukutan na ako It was the first leg of my tour so you could just imagine the grief I had after knowing that I lost my wallet. I was going to keep everything in my belt bag pero naunahan na ako. I lost my guard! Good thing, I booked first class train and wifi was free so I was able to log in to my accounts and call the banks while on a journey to Belgium. Kaso everytime I speak to bank support our lines get cut off kase dumadaan sa tunnels! I reported this incident to the police in Belgium pero it happened in Amsterdam. The only thing they can do is log the details and if anything turns up, they'll ship those items to me. Most of the time daw kase these thieves are interested only in cash and just dump everything in trash. Pero they attempted to use one of my cards. The bank called and asked if I was the one buying an apple computer! Kaya buti na lang nakatawag ako kaagad.

Nakapag-withdraw ako ng cash pero buti na lang yung ATM only allowed max of 200 euros a day. I bought souvenirs and siguro natira is 150 euros.

Just be careful, fellow Euro travellers, don't trust anyone!

ps. they also got hold of my iphone. Good thing I also have another Iphone and I got it tied to my ICloud account. So I was able to remote reset that Iphone that was stolen through 'Find my Iphone' app.