catlib55

We were on the Atlas in July of 1982. We sailed out of Piraeus to Egypt, Israel and Turkey, plus a couple of Greek islands (Rhodes and Patmos). It was a great cruise and a nice ship.

17 hours ago, tipsygirl said:

I just assumed that I would need to get our boarding passes by logging into the Airlines and checking in. Our flights are ticketed, and the confirmation numbers are on MVJ, so I have what I need to login.

You are right! I just forgot that is what we need to do, go to the United website and check in for our flights 24 hours ahead of time! Thank you!

We have receive our luggage tags, made as many restaurant reservations as were available, and have booked all of our shore excursions. I checked us in today and received our boarding passes (for the ship). We have also completed our VeriFly app and have received our digital vaccination certificates on the app. The only thing we haven't received is our airline ticket info. I know United has our reservations because I have been to their site and chosen our seats. I suppose they will e-mail our boarding passes to us. We did a Viking river cruise in 2019, using Viking air, but I don't remember how we got our airline tickets and boarding passes.

On 4/7/2022 at 6:26 PM, FolsomMike said:

A question for experienced Viking cruisers…Our cruise is scheduled for late July and we are hoping that excursion information will be posted before the dining reservations are opened. This will allow us to pick our dining times/locations based on the times/itineraries of the excursions. Thoughts?

We are booked on Into the Midnight Sun June 11-25. We have made as many dining reservations as we could (Manfredi's had no reservations available, Chef's Table had one) and booked as many restaurant reservations as we could. Shore excursions are still not available for any of the ports. 

Other scrapped ships we've been on: Carnival Tropicale (1999) and Carnival Jubilee (early 2000's). 

TSS Atlas in 1982 Greek Isles, Egypt, Israel, and Turkey from Athens ( Piraus, Greece). It was part of the Epiritiki  company. 

After that, several years later, we went on the Dolphin IV, the Seabreeze, and the Ocean Breeze.

I’m assuming the answer is no but, do you happen to know if the balcony cabins on the Sky have a coffee maker in the room? My husband is always much happier if he can have a cup of coffee before leaving the cabin �� I know we can order it through room service but we have been in the Haven or a suite on our 2 previous cruises in the last year and he has been spoiled by having a coffee pot in the room. Thanks!

We were in 9232 mid ship balcony cabin. No coffee maker in our room. Just got off the ship this morning.

Not sure if they are still offering as it has been a few years since I was on the Sky but if memory serves me correctly, it was just some pasta and pizza. Nothing to get excited about. Definitely not the same as the dinner menu. Was complimentary.

At lunch, Il Adagio is pizza. Didn't see any other Italian dishes in there, just pizza.

I did not see any sushi restaurant, but i was not actively looking for one either. So my assumption is no, but i could be wrong.

 

Quick general tips: Bring an extension cord for rooms, only 1 outlet in our oceanview room.

 

At GSC they use Tender Tickets, they announce that 1 person from each party should go to Dazzles to report their group size and receive their Tender time. However, if you go with your full group and are ready to get off immediately, they will put you on the next available Tender.

You could order sushi in the Plantation Club lounge on deck 12, next door to Cagney's. I don't care for sushi so didn't order any, but people at other tables did order it. Not sure how much it was or if you had to pay extra for it, but I'm assuming it wasn't free.

Haven't been on the Sky yet, but we were on the Jewel last year. The BBQs on deck were on sea days. Our Sky cruise does not have any sea days.

Been to Freeport several times and done different excursions each time. This time we signed up for the glass bottom boat and look forward to doing that (weather permitting). If the excursion is cancelled due to the weather, we'll probably stay on the ship.

This happened to us in Cozumel on the Norwegian Sun. We were coming back from an excursion and the weather turned very windy, churning up the sea. We sat in the ferry boat for about an hour waiting for the tender ahead of us to leave. We found out later that a crew member had fallen overboard trying to help passengers get from the tender to the ship. Weather can change very quickly on the sea!!

You know your offer better than us, but one thing I would double check. We have $50 excursion credit PER PORT, not per excursion. The difference being we get a $50 credit for each port. So if all 5 of us go on an excursion through NCL we each save $10. If you have 2 then it would be $25 per excursion off (under our promo). I would double check the fine print (remember NCL customer service very often does not have right answers if you call).

 

So that leads me to the other thought - does it make sense to exchange the UBP for Shore Excursion credit? Only you can decide.

 

Enjoy it either way!

That's the same offer we have - $25.00 for me and $25.00 for my husband. We are taking shore excursions in all but one port.

Our offer was for a six night dining package and a $50.00 shore excursion credit for each shore excursion we take. We still have to pay the gratuities for the six nights we are dining in the specialty restaurants, plus the regular pre-paid gratuities we have already paid.

I would change my perk to the beverage one. Your tab will far exceed the money you save on the dinning package.

The cost of a beer now with 18% tip is around $8 Wine will exceed $10 and most drinks will be be between $10 to $12 a piece with out the tip.

Thank you for the suggestion but we are traveling with another couple who are non-drinkers, and we already have our dining reservations for the six nights we have the free dining.

Thank you for your quick responses! Guess we'll have to pay full price for our drinks :(

Do any bars on the Jewel offer 2 for 1 drinks? We did not get the UBP but got the dining package and the shore excursion discount. Just wondering if any of the bars offer any special besides the drink of the day. Been on the Sun twice and the Gem once. Going on the Jewel through the Panama Canal Feb. 19-Mar. 5. We have had specials in the bars on the other NCL ships, on Holland America ships, and Carnival ships.

We are going on the Feb. 19th Norwegian Jewel 14 day Panama Canal sailing, and Puerto Quetzal is the only place where none of the ships excursions appealed to us. Is there a beach nearby or a resort on a beach where we could spend a few hours? We have excursions booked for all the other ports.

Our family took a 7 night cruise out of Piraeus, Greece on the TSS Atlas in the summer of 1982, and it was still a part of Epirotiki Cruises. We went to the island of Rhodes, Port Said, Egypt, Ashdod, Israel, Patmos, Greece, Kusadasi, Turkey, which is where we got off the ship because we were living in Izmir, Turkey at the time. The ship went on to Istanbul and then back to Greece.

We had a great time on her.

We saw this ship in Izmir, Turkey this summer. I thought it was an old Carnival ship, and I was right. The Carnival Celebration.

TSS Atlas (Epirotiki)

Dolphin IV, Seabreeze, Ocean Breeze (Dolphin)

Tropicale, Jubilee (Carnival)

Regent Star (Regent)

All these ships we have sailed on are either sunken, scrapped, or changed names.

They were all very old and expensive to run.

My very first experience with "cruising" was when I was in high school in 1960. My family and I went to Yokohama, Japan on the SS President Wilson. It wasn't considered "cruising" at that time, just a trans-ocean passage on an ocean liner. When we returned to the US two years later, we took the SS United States from Southampton, England to NYC. Both of those ship rides were awesome for me. Unfortunately, my poor mother was seasick the whole time!!

Mary Ellen

I should also mention that we are booked on the Carnival Legend for January 2011, sailing out of Tampa to the western Caribbean. Can't wait. We were just on the Norwegian Gem the end of June out of Venice, Italy and actually went back to Izmir, Turkey for the first time since we lived there in 1981-1983. What fun!!

Mary Ellen

Our first cruise was in August of 1982 on the TSS Atlas out of Piraeus, Greece. We went to the island of Rhodes, Port Said, Egypt, Ashdod, Israel, the island of Patmos, Kusadasi, Turkey. We actually disembarked in Kusadasi because we were stationed in Izmir, Turkey at the time, and Izmir was only 65km from Kusadasi. The ship went on to Istanbul, Turkey, and back to Piraeus, Greece. The Atlas was the head of the fleet of the Greek line Epirotiki at the time.

Our next cruise was on the Dolphin IV out of Miami to Freeport, Nassau, and a private island in the Bahamas. That was in October of 1989 - a birthday gift from my husband.

We have been hooked on cruising ever since.

This is a fun board. It is fun to see where everyone has been and on what ships. The cruising industry has really changed!!

Mary Ellen

When we were on the Statendam, at least one of the bars had 2 for one drinks. They also have daily specials that are significantly less expensive than the other drinks.

Also, make sure you find the lower promenade deck. Most of the newer ships don't have a deck that goes all around the ship any more. They are taken up by balcony suites and cabins. One of the nice things about most of the HAL ships is that on the lower promenade deck, you can walk all the way around the ship. It's like the old ocean liners used to be.

Enjoy your cruise!!