pfopma

On 2/15/2019 at 4:33 AM, TGraUk said:

pfopma, great picture!

We will be on Santorini in April this year, gonna use your recommendation for restaurant Classico with such gorgeous view! Not sure we'll manage to see sunset, but the view itself is terrific! Worth visiting!

By the way - what about food? Was it good?

Best moussaka I ever had. My travel companions also enjoyed their meals - one person had grilled octopus - can't remember the others. The food tends to take a back seat to the view.

Here is an image of the position of a ship in the caldera and Fira. There are some nice views sailing into the port but you really want to get off the ship to see the views from the top.

Most European hotels also ask to see your passport. Not sure what they do with it but if the number is input into their systems that could be where a breach occurred. 

We ate at a restaurant called Classico and had a seat by the railing and perfect views of the sunset. It's a short walk to cable car and had about a 10 minute wait. We will be in Santorini again on the NCL Spirit in May and our ship also docks from noon to 10 pm.

When you choose the Ultimate Drink package on Free at Sea there is a service charge tacked on to the promo. If you just do the open bar cruise there is no additional service charge above the gratuity charge you pay pp/per day. Most alcoholic beverages are covered up to a certain dollar limit. I think on our Cuba Sun Cruise last year it was $14 - anything above that you pay OOP. It doesn't seem worth it to choose the Ultimate Beverage Package for the FAS promo when most of it is covered by the open bar. If you think you are going to buy drinks that are more then $14 you should call and see if you can find out pricing and then do the math.

On 1/19/2019 at 11:20 PM, Bases5 said:

Any update on the volcano. Has she settled down and are tours running?

Our NCL Spirit Cruise on April 28 does not have any shore excursions up for Messina yet. I called the Shore Excursion Dept and they said all excursions should be up by end of January. We have already had one port change - we were in Athens on May 1. The Acropolis is closed that day so they switched Mykonos and Athens dates.

Our ship NCL Spirit will be in Athens on May 1. I found out recently that this is a holiday in Europe and many museums and businesses will be closed including the Acropolis. I have called NCL twice and they are aware of the date and said they have reached out to excursion vendors for options. I noticed today that they deleted any excursions that go to the Acropolis from our shore excursion list (that leaves only 3). I am OK with just viewing the Acropolis from a distance but I am not sure how to make the most of the one day we have considering the holiday. Looking for any suggestions! Thanks.

We visited in 2016 on the Jade. It did not seem that crazy but we were on a ship excursion. The cable car down at 9 pm was about a 10 min wait but we were the only ship port at that point. We are on the Spirit next May and hope that we have a similar experience. I think many ports need limits - they have already started doing this in Venice and there has been some talk of banning cruise ships altogether.

We loved Classico in Fira. Not far from Cable Car.

http://www.santorini-classico.gr/en/

Does anyone have any insight to what the cable car is like for those ships that arrive at 2 PM? We have just booked the Norwegian Jade for next year and we are there from 2 PM - 10 PM. As of now our thoughts are just to see either just Fira or also Oia, but since my knees aren't great I need to plan around hordes of people. Any info greatly appreciated.

I was on that cruise a few years ago. We took a shore excursion and tendered to Althinios and took a bus up so I am not sure how the 2 pm arrival affected the cable car getting up to Fira. But coming back was no problem. There was a line going down but it was not bad - we already had cable car tickets which were included with the excursion. We had time for a leisurely dinner with sunset views from Fira before getting the cable car. I would just say monitor the port for the number of ships and the time they are scheduled to leave. We were the last ship to leave that day.

We are in 9 ports on a 10 day cruise. Does that mean that we need to do a shore excursion in each port or loose the credit? We were not planing to do an excursion in Malta and Mykonos but will in other ports. This must be a way for NCL to get people to take their excursions as many people go the DIY route.

Thanks for your response. When I looked at Sicily there were no excursions offered at all. I called NCL and they said that all excursions should be offered but it is still early but check the booking after it is made and we should see what is available.

We are thinking of booking an NCL Greece/Italy cruise on NCL Spirit for April/May 2019. We noticed that when you go through the individual cruise page that many of the Shore Excursions that you see on the Ports page are different from the excursions you can access on the Shore Excursions page. There seems to be fewer excursions offered going through the cruise page. Some not offered were the ones we were interested in. The Spirit is a smaller ship - could that be why?

Has anyone had any experience with this?

Thanks for the help!

I have been to the Big Island and drove completely around it. It's BIG. I can understand not stopping in Hilo but I don't understand why NCL is not stopping at Kona. Maybe to prevent stupid people from renting a car and trying to get a "closer look" at the Volcano. NCL can't be held responsible for stupid things people do in port if not on their excursions.

You don't have to pre-pay when you book on the phone just tell them you want it charged to your cabin. Then they will apply the $50 credit on your final bill.

I don't know anything about cigars but want to bring a few back for friends. What would be a good cigar to bring back? Nothing too expensive.

I had the same problem on NCL. We booked at 10 am to give us 2 full hours from ship docking time. I've been reassured from a few parties that this is enough time.

We are on NCL Sun in a few weeks. We were doing all tours through NCL but then decided to cancel our morning walking tour and go with Old Car Tours for a 2 hour overview of the city in a classic convertible. Old Car Tours has been very good with getting back to us promptly and answering our questions. We are also doing a Hemingway Tour and going to the Tropicana with NCL. So we've got all the bases covered. I am sure after the cruise I will have wished that we had gone out on our own the whole day but this is the bet of both worlds for our first cruise to Cuba.

Per Google Maps it is a 4 minute walk. Stop in Museo del Ron Havana Club, which is literally next door to the church. If you enter through the bar there is a store where you can buy Havana Club, nice variety including the more expensive items, some cigars as well.

Yes, I noticed that on the map this morning!! I am excited as that is the rum I would like to bring back as gifts. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the help - We plan to watch the sail in to harbor so will be up and out early. We have the guide added to our tour. How long was the walk to the church to meet the tour? It looks pretty easy by the map they sent.

Hi all - excited to be visiting Cuba for the first time. We have a day and overnight in Havana on our NCL Sun cruise. We booked a 2 hour Old Cars Tour on our own for 10 am and then have an excursion through NCL later in the day. A few questions:

1. We dock at 8 am - is two hours enough time to disembark, go through security, exchange money, and walk to Our Lady of Kazan Church where we meet or tour guide?

2. I would like to purchase a few bottles of Havana Club Rum as gifts. Would I be allowed to bring these back on board? In the past I know that Cruise lines frown on bringing any liquor on board.

3. For anyone who has been on the Sun recently - any reviews of the ship after the refurbishment?

4. Has anyone used Old Car Tours? Opinions?

Curious about this too. We leave on the Sun in a few weeks.

I'm not so sure that there is NO impact to cruises. While it certainly seems the cruise lines can continue with their Cuba itineraries, it seems unclear whether the passengers can hire individual cars/drivers in Cuba, or if they must do a ship's tour. Having been there recently, I can definitely say that an individual, personalized tour is 1000% better than a ship's tour. In my case, it allowed for a very personal, emotional experience that I never could have had on a group tour. I do want to go back, but have to wait & see exactly what the Regs will say about private tours.

I was thinking that too - not affecting the Cruise itself but only how you spend your time in port. This may also affect the shore excursions - I am sure a majority of the tours are run by government controlled companies now. If the cruise lines are no longer allowed to use these companies will the non-government run companies be allowed to pick up the slack? And will there be enough of them to fill the demand if this is the only option? Will the Cuban government let the cruise lines negotiate with these companies? Still a lot of unanswered questions about the future of cruising to Cuba. I can see many cruise lines pulling out of Cuba if it becomes a hassle.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2017/06/16/cuba-cruises-could-become-less-flexible/102915746/