AlaskaGoer

On 4/16/2024 at 4:22 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

We have always done our own thing in Cannes.  We actually spent our 30th Wedding Anniversary (like you we never had a honeymoon) at Cannes.  We had been a couple of times before and had enjoyed just walking around for the atmosphere - expensive cars, views, buying a croissant using schoolgirl French, Le suquet, swimming from the public beach -(in summer) but as this was in November we decided to go on a ferry to St Marguerite a little island that offered nice walks.  We had a lovely day.  
 

I always say ‘next time Monaco’ but in reality I think we would likely have a more enjoyable day taking the train to Nice.

 

You want to do a ship tour I think so you have different considerations to me, in your case I think I would want to include Eze view with Nice.  I hope that the weather is kind to you during the cruise - we have had several in November and I find it much more comfortable walking around than July.  You do risk a storm though. 

We will be in Canne next month, and its the one port that I am struggling to find something to do.

Can you recommend anything in Canne? Resturants? Places to check out?

Just now, marazul said:

Dream on! 😁

One can dream lol

2 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

Yes, we pretty much walked right in. But leaving, the line was long already. And like I said, it was raining! But it gave us some great skies!

 

We thought we were going to be soaked, but it never came, just some light sprinkles.

 

And a gorgeous rainbow!

 

 

Can't wait!

6 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

OK... we were there at 8:30 a.m., but we were there as part of the pre-cruise extension, so it was a group we were with. Within an hour of starting, climbing to the top, and heading down, the line to go up was all the way to the bottom. It gets really busy pretty fast. Just be prepared. And it's windy up there, so be prepared for that too. Of course, we were there in mid-April and a Saturday morning.

I assume your group went through the main entrance, correct? 

We're at the beginning of June, and during a weekday. Hope to lesser crowds lol

Just now, kctwinmommy said:

For what sight?

Sorry, Acropolis.

20 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

Yes, Olympia is totally a must do! We thought it was going to be kind of boring. But no! It's really neat. Plus, you can run the 200M race on the field where they ran the very first one. My husband did it, twice! LOL! It's really pretty and just so amazing to think of what took place there.

 

And yes, the Acropolis and museum there are a must see as well. I would also recommend the changing of the guard. We did the National Archaeological museum too, it was pretty good, but very busy! There were a lot of school groups there. I would definitely get your Acropolis tickets in advance, and try to go early. We went on a Saturday morning, pretty early, before we boarded our ship (it was part of our pre-cruise extension through Viking). It was a slightly rainy morning, with a lot more dark clouds on the horizon, and by the time we were coming back down, the lines were so long already!

I grabbed 10:00a ticket (meaning we can go in at 9:45a). What time was yours?

If I could impose on someone to help guide me.

I copy and pasted this rough guide on where to go at the Acropolis. However, I'm not sure if I am following it correctly?

"

-- After the Acropolis, walk back down the slope (making sure to see the Theatre of Dionysus) and then along the short path to the Greek Agora. It's not as visited but is well worth it. There is a Greek temple there (you can see it from the top of the Acropolis) that is far more complete than the Parthenon and is well worth seeing up close. Also there is a small museum inside the reconstructed stoa (Stoa of Attalos) that's fascinating. It includes actual ostraka (broken pottery pieces) that Athenians used to vote out or "ostracize" citizens who they felt were abusing power

-- you'll see actual written names of famous "classical" Greeks such as Themistocles and Xanthippus. 

  -- After this, you can continue on foot to the nearby Monastiraki area and have a gyro platter or some souvlaki for a quick lunch. (This area is known for its casual restaurants, easy to find one. They range from basic hole-in-the-wall takeout with tables on the sidewalk to real cafes.)

  -- Now you're close to the Roman Forum, which includes an actual paced space (forum) as well as remains of several Roman buildings, including a library built by Hadrian.  At the bottom of the Roman Forum is the wonderful Tower of the Winds, a beautiful but rather enigmatic octagonal building built entirely of marble.

  -- From here it's up to you. You could walk back through the Plaka, with a quick stop to look at the Arch of Hadrian and the Temple of Olympian Zeus (unless really interested, a quick outside view is fine).  End at the Acropolis Museum, where you can learn more about the current and previous buildings on the acropolis, as well as see bits of sculpture from excavations there. You should be able to catch a taxi from here or, slightly backtrack to the area in front of Hadrian's arch where the X80 express bus stops.

  -- Alternatively you could walk to Syntagma Square from the Roman Forum to see the old Royal Palace and Changing of the Guard. The X80 bus also has a stop here, and there are always taxis in this area.

"

I took a screen shot of Acropolis. I know here the side entrance is (bottom right) and the Theater of Dionysus.  The description sounds like it has you go down to the Theater but take a short path to a more complete Greek Temple? Which one is that?

Lastly, is the yellow circled also open to Acropolis goers? If so, do you just follow directions on the nothern end of the hill?

I'm very much a visual thinker, and need to see ***** to figure it out.

16 hours ago, Middleager said:

We've been on several NCL cruises, including 6 since Covid.  Never heard of "Early Bird" window for tendering.

 

Before we became Gold/Platinum, we always had to either get a tender ticket or an excursion.  For excursion, we'd go to a specific area and are given/assigned tender tickets there, and basically followed the group as we're called.

 

For Gold/Plat and up, we were told to wait in a (different than the excursions) specific area.  While waiting there, we don't need tender tickets and we're just escorted to get on a tender.  There's usually not that many people, and we thought we were on the first tender going out, for guests.

 

Never heard of "Early Bird" tendering, for all of the NCL cruises we had been on.

I'm about 10 to 12 points shy after this cruise from Gold level.

Something to look forward to I guess. 

16 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

I thought it was called early bird. I don't usually keep all my FS dailies, but here's an example of the "get off during an early window with no ticket", and there was something similar on the Escape when I went. 

free-style-daily-5 (3).pdf 745.27 kB · 12 downloads

Interesting. Might have been that specific ship / port thing?

I browsed through a few threads on here to find other FS dailies, and none had that either. All stated to get a ticket.

I guess I'll be the chosen one to get in line for tickets 😉

9 minutes ago, marazul said:

"Acropolis Plaka entrance". If you want to add "across from Acropolis Museum."

Thanks. 

12 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

8:30 would give plenty of time. You would probably have time to walk up using the longer but easier approach to the Acropolis, the one that leads through the Theatre of Dionysus, which is well worth it (assuming you have the time, if traffic is bad or you are running late, you can always do it later...or not at all...thought it is a shame to miss it). The Greek Agora is also VERY worthwhile.

 

The X80 bus would be fine going back to the port.

I assume there are plenty of taxis once we get off the ship?

I know the entrance you're talking about. I read that's the better entrance to go through if you already purchased the tickets (I have). What would I tell the taxi driver to ensure I go to that entrance vs the main?

3 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

So on just about every NCL sailing I've been on, for tendering, it goes like this:

The first lifeboats/tenders are dropped and crew goes over to the land to set up the security area and where people get on and off the tenders. (Edited to add: I remember there was a post from someone who got to over with the crew, due to a super early excursion. That was dependent on the crew being really nice, though.)

 

Next, there is a 90 minute window, called Early Bird, where you don't need any tickets. You go down to the deck where the tendering will take place and just get on. 

 

After that Early Bird window is done, now starts the ticket parts, with Groups 1 to whatever. Never having been Gold or above, I have no idea how the ticketed groups work, since I always go early bird. I assume that I would have had to go to the assigned place to ask for my tickets and hope that I get a good time. High level Latitudes might be able to just get on, I don't know... someone with high Lat status can chime in.

 

The alternative is if you have an NCL excursion, that is your tender ticket and you meet at the assigned place for that excursion.

 

After a certain number of hours, when the ticketed groups and NCL excursion tenders have gone, now is open tendering. You will no longer need a ticket.

 

I hope this explained the process.

 

Thank you much. As I have never been on a cruise that I needed to tender for the port, does the Freestyle give the location on the ship to  meet for the Early Bird drop off in addition to the time?

I'd say the only port that is giving me a bit of stress is this one. I'll probably take the boat to Ori instead of taking the cable car (unless for whatever reason the cable car has a line that moves quickly, ha ha). The only upside is our ship is the last to dock and its hours after the other 2 or 3 have docked. The downside is our cruise ship is still over 4500 passengers.

Coming back isn't a problem for the cable car. We'll just walk down if the line is ridiculous.

@cruisemom42

Appreciate the information. 

I saw after booking a 10am reservation for Acropolis we have a 15 minute window before and after to get in. 

With that said, you recommended using a taxi vs bus to get to Acropolis to ensure we get there in time. What time should we be off the ship? 830? I assume there are plenty of taxis waiting at the port to take folks?

I assume taking the X80 bus going back should be sufficient?

On 5/7/2024 at 6:21 PM, BirdTravels said:

 

The gangway will be open at or shortly after your advertised arrival time. I.e., the ship will dock a bit earlier as it waits for clearance from the local port authorities to disembark passengers. There will be 4000+ other passengers who will want to get an early start or who have early shore excursion times. So, grab a quick bite to eat and get in line. The lines will be long and slow. 

 

It is hard to find a good strategy. You will be disembarking from Deck 4. They usually prevent people from going to Deck 4 and 5, holding you on Deck 6 or higher. Even to the extent of disabling the elevators from stopping on the lower decks. There are always those who can find a way to bypass the mob being held on Deck 6 and sneak their way onto a lower deck...

 

For your tender port, ask about when tender tickets are available. And make sure you try to grab one as soon as possible for a low board group number.  

 

Priority tendering just means you can join the back of the tender line without a boarding group number. You are the same as anyone with a shore ex ticket or anyone with Latitudes status. All can join the back of the line at any time. That is Priority. That being said, lately, Latitudes has been escorting their people to the front of the line at some ports. I have no idea what they will do at Cannes. 

Does this apply to the majority of ships or just his specific one?

On 5/5/2024 at 4:35 PM, Ellis1138 said:

1. It will depend on when the ship clears customs. Whatever time it generally says on the Freestyle Daily for arrival is usually the time they will let people get off, not when the ship starts docking. This can vary based on weather, port issues, etc. My strategy is: get up early, eat as early as possible and go down to the deck with the gangplank so that when it does open, we're close and not waiting on elevators.

 

2. Check the Freestyle Daily for tendering instructions on "Early Bird, no tickets". You don't need to pay for Priority Access, nor should you, since it won't get you off earlier than Early Birds. And for tendering, you don't get Priority Access on the way back; you have to stand in line. Get to the waiting place for Early Bird and wait until they let you on the first tenders. 

Hi, could you explain #2 a bit more? I thought you needed tickets if you weren't latitude level gold and above?

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Thanks for the link. That was an interesting read.

Writer has a gift for words. 

My 2 cents.

Bring cash, but if places use cards,  use it to save the cash.

1 minute ago, marazul said:

The port is tiny. Go up this thread for photos.

I'll browse, thank you. 

On 5/2/2024 at 3:11 PM, ImpressedCruiser said:

Day 5 - Glacier Bay! Also attaching the Park Ranger schedule if anyone is interested.

)

This is where having a balcony, (even better an aft) handy. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the views and even had our family we were traveling with over on the balcony to watch. 

53 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

The water taxi is pretty large, holding about 80-100 pax IIRC.  It sits at the dock until it collects enough pax to make it worthwhile.  The employees 'worked' the cable car line encouraging people to take their boat instead.  It sat there for an hour before it finally left for Amoudi Bay. In hindsight we should have taken it, but I didn't expect to wait a 2nd hr for the cable car.  When the water taxi gets to Amoudi Bay, there's a shuttle that takes you up the hill to Oia, and they give you a bus ticket to Fira.

 

BTW, last yr someone reported that there were 2 small boats at Amoudi Bay taking people BACK to Fira.  They didn't use the same dock as the water taxi.  These 2 boats were across the Bay, at the foot of the stairs going up to Oia.  So look for them.  That would be ideal .... you'd skip the cable cars altogether. 

Stupid question,  but the water transports are probably easy to find? Do you buy a ticket while getting on the boat or is there a kiosk or booth?

13 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

They are available once you get onboard. If you are on a NCL shore excursion, your shore ex ticket serves as your tender ticket. 
 

We have used the touch screen kiosks near public elevator lobbies in the past. 

Are they available X amount of hours prior to each port?

We only have one excursion booked through NCL. I'll be responsible for the others. 

3 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

10,000+ cruise pax and only 40 taxis.  

IIRC the taxi stand and bus depot were on the same block in Fira.  When you exit the cable cars, instead of going right or left along the cliffside walkway, you go straight ahead to a main street then turn right for 5/6 blocks.

 

I was on the NCL Dawn 2pm-10pm and the only other large ship was 8am-4pm.  So I didn't expect much of a cable car line, esp since we were on the 4th tender.  Wrong! 

The only positive was that the other ship left at 4 so those pax were long gone when we decided to return to the ship around 6:30 to watch the sunset.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Getting back to the ship via the cable car doesn't worry me, we'll just walk the steps if needed. 

Getting off the ship with the ability to hop on a bus or taxi to Oia is a bit more stressful. 

I'll look for the water taxi when we get off the tender. Cross my fingers. 

Been on a few NCL crusies.. and by luck, never had to tender.

I know you can get the tickets ahead of time for the ports. I've read you can possibly grab them on the app? I tried looking for the area on where they might be, and can't find the category. Any advice? 

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Has anyone ever been on a cruise like this before?

I've never even heard of a cruise like this before...