Zam

Okay gang, sorry for the delay but time for an update! It has been a crazy month trying to get the airlines to agree to our claim. So anyway, here is an update for you, if I left something out, let me know and I will try to answer each question. To review,

1. The airline canceled our origination flight without notifying us. Since this is turning into a legal matter I cannot mention the airline name but we did book a flight that did not exist (We have a partner airline who agrees with us) and our bags were lost because of that. ALWAYS, ALWAYS confirm you flight within the week of your trip.

2. We were pick-pocketed: Lost my wife's passport. Sorry guys, copies, no matter who it is with (which ever cloud it is in), does not work. You CANNOT board a shop (nor leave a country) without an actual hardcopy passport. Photo copies in your phone, in the cloud or with ANY of the verification services do not work, you need the actual passport! We met people from the US who had traveled all over Italy who were pick-pocketed (included a professional travel guide) who had to visit the US Embassy ($140 fee for a new passport BTW) to get a new passport. NO ONE BOARDS A SHIP without a current passport (copies do not count - we tried!)

Once the shock of not being able to get on your dream cruise set in, we made the best of it, but we had only booked hotel rooms up to the cruise night (we landed in Rome on Thursday with a cruise date on Saturday - 3 days seemed enough in case of trouble) so once we knew we were going to miss our ship, we had to find a place to stay (it was one week after the Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II so it was still very busy in Rome (can you say 3,000,000 extra visitors?) so rooms were a little sparse. The hotel we were in was already booked so we had to leave (The Hotel Vaticano Roma was awesome - Lilly there is the best! She actually tried to figure out a way we could stay with her because of the SNAFU!) So while my wife went to the local police station to report the lost passport and money (always get a police report for insurance purposes) I went on a hotel hunt. Okay guys, picture leaving your bride of 30 years at a police station in a foreign city while you hunt for a place to stay - at least is was a police station - but it closed 30 minute after I left - they kicked her out!! - it took me about 2 hours to get back once I found a place to stay but I found her crying, in the park as the police had kicked her out - talk about a heart break for me - sorry if that is TMI)

Normally we leave all passports in the hotel safe but since we were supposed to be headed to the ship, we had to check out of our current hotel and go (that is when all the bad stuff happened). Note, one of the people we met at the US Embassy who had their passports stolen told us that they were trying to find their hotel when someone offered to help them (they had been looking at a map) and when they finally looked up from the map, ALL their suitcases were gone! They lost everything! Hold onto EVERYTHING when you are there, you cannot be too careful!.

Since we were in a pinch and did not want to sleep on the street, we accepted a hotel close to the Vatican (add European Roaming to one of your cell phones so you can do internet stuff - it is worth the extra money) and Expedia did a great job finding us a place to stay. The cost was 250 Euro (about $310 US and that was an expense we did not anticipate). So then we had to drag our suitcases across the city to our new hotel (through all the crowds - but it is a common sight) and check into a new hotel on the night we were supposed to be on the NCL Jade. A sad night!

More to follow on this story, I will keep you updated!

Last year we booked a week long trip on the Jade (30 years of wedded bliss) and we started planning (the cruise was from Rome, Italy to Venice, Italy). It should have been a great trip but sometimes things happen that prevent it from being a great trip and without going into too many details (okay I am going to give some details), we missed the ship! Please note, this was NOT NCL's fault, it was ours but I figured that maybe others could learn from our mistakes and not have the issues we did.

- Problem #1: Cancelled Flight - Our airline cancelled our flight and did not tell us. I had confirmed the flight about 30 days before hand but did not think to do it again until departure day. From now on I check on flights 2 or 3 days before departure date - I want NO surprises from the airlines the day we fly.

- Problem #2: Lost luggage - We were on a connection flight with a "partner" airline and that partner airline checked our bags from our departing city all the way to Rome. Because of the cancelled flight (see problem #1) our luggage was gone. We had the claim tickets given to us from the first flight but because they were trying to find our luggage at the second airport, they took our claim checks so they could search for the bags - guess what - they lost one of our claims tags. So NEVER, EVER give up those luggage claim tags to anyone - take a picture of them first - this becomes very important when you start trying to find your bags using the claim tag numbers - you need those numbers to find the bags. Side note, one of our bags actually went from New Jersey to Ghana and we departed from Los Angeles - go figure!

- Problem #3: Because our luggage was lost we had been wearing the same clothes for 4 days and we were about to board the Jade so we needed to go shopping for at least one change of clothes. Never shop in a foreign city! We tried not to look like total tourists in Rome but we only had an hour to get some shopping in and we were 2 hours from boarding the Jade. We were excited to finally have some clean clothes to put on (plus the fact we were about to head for the Jade) we let our guard down and one of our passports was stolen. We are usually very diligent about pick-pockets but we got hit. It was a Saturday so we could not get a replacement passport until Monday (fortunately there is a U.S. Embassy in Rome) and you CANNOT board a shop without a passport, so we missed the ship!

It was a very sad day and my wife and I cried together but what could we do? F'n pick-pockets! But this story does not end here, there is more that happened but I am running our of space and time so will add more in the next couple of days, and I will also tell you what we did to make the best of the trip - and what we did to catch up to the Jade a few days later.

Okay I hit enter too soon and did not finish this post. I will try again - oops!

Last year we booked a week long trip on the Jade

Okay so we are just about 21 days out from our Italy based cruise on the Jade (yea!) Have been cruising many times before but never... never have we booked so far out. When we started this adventure, it was close to 400 days away... here we are at 21 days to go. We had so many plans...... learn Italian, lose weight, start packing.... WOW - now 21 days to go - hey I can say Buongiorno! or Ciao! and the weight thing..... well I am glad I don't have to wear my tuxedo on NCL! So when you book that vacation of a lifetime remember when it seemed SO FAR away - in a blink of an eye you too can be 21 days away! So get to it - learn that language, eat that salad and as for packing..... well that can still wait until the night before - just remember to do the laundry! :D

We were in the middle of Central America -had recently gotten off a small cruise to the Galapagos Islands and were doing a tour south of the equator when the travel company we had booked through decided to file for Chapter 13. I guess they had collected money from all the travelers but never paid it to the various providers (cruise line, hotels, travel companies) and they were at the end of the rope so to speak. We had just finished a tour of some remote Mayan ruins and the bus that was supposed to come get us was late - and late - and late. There was no phones or anything for us to contact anyone but thank goodness for human kindness - I guess the bus driver could not stand the fact that he know our group was stuck out there in the middle of nowhere and he came for us - even without payment. Long story short, we had pre-purchased a group tour - all inclusive BUT the travel company we had booked with never paid all the travel providers because of the bankruptcy. We ended up having to pay for everything again using credit cards in order to get home. We had purchased travel insurance that included an 'insolvency' clause (read your policy) and we were reimbursed for all the additional expenses. Others in our group who did not have travel insurance are still trying to get money back.

Hey Gary,

Thanks for the advice! Have already checked the roll calls and there many groups doing some great different things but we want to hear from people who have been there. What would you guys go see and do again?

Thanx Guru - will keep that in mind - that is great advice! I lobe having the whole day on our own, sounds great!

Okay guys & gals, we are on the Jade this coming May. Here are our stops along the way; what would you say are the "Must Sees or do's" at each of these? We have an idea of what we want to do but any insight you guys have are appreciated. Thanks!

ROME, ITALY

NAPLES/POMPEII, ITALY

MESSINA, ITALY

KOTOR, MONTENEGRO

SPLIT, CROATIA

KOPER, SLOVENI

VENICE, ITALY

Deck - 12

Cabin # - 2151

Class – Sky Suite

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – Middle of suite but near "the pole"

Quiet Cabin (With comments on problems. Note if connecting. ) – No - very noisy from Ocean View Cafe/Bar directly above. During the day not a problem as we weren't in the cabin but they usually started cleaning and arranging chairs/tables at about 5:15 a.m. (dragging chairs sound was amplified in our room). We did complain and they changed the cleaning time till after 6am. Also if you try to rest during the day, the noice from above will never stop as guests are using the area and that cannot be controled.

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – View is aft and partial port side. Nice view

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Larger but probably normal for a suite

Was wind a problem? 1st two days were very blustery - could not sit out. Later days were great - no wind at all while ship was moving.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? Some at times but never a problem.

Any specific problems with this cabin? Yes noise from cafe/bar above was very bad in the early mornings as noted above. Loved the view and the size but would not take this cabin again due to the noise.

Any other comments? Bathtub/shower ceiling is low. If you are taller than 6' 3", your head will hit the showerhead (rain type) while standing and if you're talling than 6'5" your head will hit the ceiling in the shower. Will post pics of the room after I download