FantasyGoddess

We have been to Maya Chan 3 times and will visit again if our cruise stops in Costa Maya.   We LOVE it so much and think the care taken by the staff is awesome.  If you don't like unpaved roads and less than OCD organization, I suggest not going to Mexico.

I am very prone to motion sickness.  I have not tried the patch but I tried the wrist bands.   They did nothing.  What works for me are the non-drowsy generic seasick pills (like dramamine or bonine).  The trick is you have to take them BEFORE you get sick.  I take one or two when we board the ship and one or two each morning we are "at sea."  There is no need for me to take one in the morning on the days we are in port.  Once we board after a port day, I take the pills.  

One time I neglected to take the pills and I got sick.  It took 4-5 hours to feel any relief after I finally took the pills.  I won't make that mistake again!

Good luck!

Our first cruise to Alaska for our 15th wedding anniversary is in August and we are going on Oceania (our first time on this cruise line).  We are Norwegian cruisers and have platinum status but chose Oceania to try a more upscale line.  I have to admit I did not do alot of research on the itinerary as I am fairly certain this will not be our last cruise to Alaska.

We have been on the Pearl (twice), Star, Spirit, Dawn and Getaway. I would agree with the comments made previously about all the ships. The Dawn was our least favorite because the common areas were tight. We LOVE the Pearl as the size is right for us. We don't like the mega ships...too big. The Star and the Spirit were ok and really didn't matter as the Star was a Baltic cruise and the Spirit was a Mediterranean cruise, neither of which do you spend much time on the ship.

We did stay in the Haven on the Getaway and we have one word for that....AHHHMAZING! What a way to be spoiled and I can tell you that the Getaway is way too big for our liking. The only way we would cruise on the Getaway again would be in the Haven. We basically did not leave the Haven except to go to shows or dine in a specialty restaurant.

Hope this helps!

It's my understanding that you are allowed to bid up 2 categories. I would call Norwegian and see if you are eligible to do this and if you are, go for it and good luck.

Bob

You can only bid up 2 categories...I just spoke to NCL yesterday. Took our chances on a guaranteed oceanview and got one of the "anchor cabins"...not going to chance getting stuck in one of those with the bidding process so we simply upgraded to a balcony.

Haven...both weeks. Why not be treated like royalty? You only live once!

I was on the Getaway in the Haven a couple of years ago and all I can think about is going back to the Haven. And we just booked a Getaway Haven cruise yesterday! :)

So I am probably shooting myself in the foot here but if you want a HUGE cabin, ask for room 16128 - it's the handicap accessible room and available for anyone but you have to ask for it. We stayed in it last time and were part of a 50+ person cabin crawl. Everyone fit in the cabin at the same time. However, the balcony for this room is a bit smaller so if that is important, choose a different cabin. Also, you will be bumped out of the cabin if a handicap person wants to book the cabin but NCL cannot downgrade your cabin class when you are bumped. ;)

Oh - I meant to say that we DID get to see some of the archipelago as we were sailing out, for several hours actually. It was some consolation for not seeing the whole thing on the way into Stockholm. You may want to delay your dining plans to view that, if it is particularly important to you.

The archipelago into Stockholm is amazing. Having done this cruise on the Dawn, a significantly smaller ship than the Getaway, we were able to navigate to Stockholm. The day we were there, a thick fog accompanied us all the way to Stockholm so we were blissfully unaware of just how close the small islands and large rocks were to our ship until we sailed out. WOW...is all I can say. And, it was at that point, we understood the full impact of the announcement made upon arrival that without the ships highly advanced navigational equipment, we would not have been allowed to pass through to Stockholm. :o

I did the Baltic capital cruise on the Dawn a couple of years ago...what a fantastic cruise! Your pictures brought back a flood of memories. My tips...use Alla Tours...they were fantastic! My daughter and I loved St. Petersburg and you need to use a tour to get the most out of your time there. You will need lots of different kinds of currency so plan ahead. We used the hop on hop off bus in Helsinki and it was great. We did not go to Berlin in Germany...too many hours on a train...and opted for Warnemunde and Schwein castle and it was amazing! We loved Talinn as well, what a surprise! Such a charming place....

I have also cruised on the Getaway (in the Haven in the Caribbean). It's a great ship but I spent most of my time in the Haven away from the crowds. And my cruise was in the Caribbean which is a completely different kind of cruise than the Baltic cruise. Not sure I would want to cruise on a bigger ship with so many neat amenities when so much of your time will be spent off the ship.

I am envious of all who will be cruising in the Baltic. We will return someday. Have a blast! :D

Just got back from cruise and we used ItalyTours.eu for Florence/Pisa, Rome and Amalfi Coast tours. The Florence/Pisa tour was average. The guide was knowledgeable but talked too fast and too much. The flow of the tour wasted alot of precious time. The van was very comfortable.

The Rome tour was a disaster. We were met at the pier and put into mini-vans holding 7 passengers, driven a couple of minutes then transferred to a mini-van that crammed 14 people. I sat directly behind the driver and had so little leg room that my knees were smashed into the back of the driver's seat. No room to move my feet as there was a box under the driver's seat...and I am not tall (5'4"). We sat like that for HOURS and it was not pleasant. When we arrived in Rome, we were taken to the Vatican where the guide took us outside (it was 50, overcast and windy) and talked about the details of what we were going to see for in excess of 20 minutes while we stood around getting cold. After the Vatican we went to the Colliseum. Only 2 of the 14 people purchased the passes to go inside the Colliseum so the rest of us had to wait around for more than an hour while they toured inside the Colliseum. My husband and I were told we had five minutes to finish our lunch that had just been placed in front of us so we hurried along only to find out that there was no rush since we had nothing to do but wait for the Colliseum tour to be completed. We did not get to see at least 2 of the sites listed in ItalyTours.eu's itinerary.

The Amalfi Coast tour was ok, the guide was pleasant and provided enough time in each location. The van was comfortable. The only problem with this tour was the guide spoke so softly that unless you sat in the front row with him in the van, you could not hear him. He was asked to speak up but did not.

I contacted ItalyTours to let them know of our experience and received a reply stating that they would offer a gesture of a free tour the next time we were in Italy providing we did not post anything negative about the tour. REALLY?? I guess you can't buy my silence because I want to see HONEST reviews, not ones bought by the tour company. Keep that in mind when you read reviews. I am not suggesting that ItalyTours does not have some good tours. But our experience was one that was truly disappointing and one that I can assure you we will not repeat. Vacation time is too precious to risk it on a tour company that can't be relied on to deliver what was promised.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the input. :)

Yes at the central station.

 

 

http://en.hovedbanen.dk/dsb-information/dsb-luggage-service/

Thanks so much, Danish Viking! :)

Can we pay with a credit card?

So my daughter and I are going on a cruise on Aug 28th out of Copenhagen. We will be arriving in Copenhagen very early in the morning and not sailing until late afternoon. We would like to explore Copenhagen for a few hours before boarding the ship.

Norwegian has no ability to store our luggage before boarding. Any ideas on where we can safely store our luggage? Thanks so much! :)

The layout of the ship is horrible IMO. The food was horrible....even hubby said it was horrible and very salty. The service we got in the dining room was horrible.....our server and the matre'd never got my basic salad right (I am veggie) and would tell me they wanted it to be right. I would end up with whatever for dinner as they didn't listen. That doesn't sound like much of a problem but when you have limitations of what to eat for 7 days it is aggravating especially since I email NCL ahead of time about dietary issues. I am told to talk to them once onboard. I am hoping since it is 3 1/2 years later that we have a better experience.

I agree with your assessment of the Dawn's layout. We usually only eat in the upgrade restaurants and don't have dietary issues so our food experience was much different. I like the way NCL handles dining.

We had the pleasure of sailing in the Haven on the Getaway 2/7-2/14/15. Adrian is truly one of a kind and made a huge difference in our experience.

Here are a few of our thoughts….

- Spa not worth it…we bought the week pass and ended up asking for a refund after the first day. The large pool in the spa is too much work to get into and not relaxing due to the waves. And the amount of water that ends up on the deck from the pool is unbelievable. The staff in the spa are non-existent and not outgoing (except on the first day of the cruise when they are trying to sell you services). We liked the spa on the Pearl much better than this one.

- Haven restaurant and staff (especially Raluca) were amazing. The food was always good and everyone treated us like royalty. We loved not having to deal with the masses at mealtime.

- We purchased the UDP and ate at a specialty restaurant every night. Moderno and Teppanyaki were good. Cagney's food is always good but there is just too much of it! And the ambiance of Cagney's on the Getaway is lacking. It was loud and crowded. Le Bistro was our favorite…amazing food and good service. We liked how it was set up and the service was very good. In fact, we liked Le Bistro so much we cancelled our reservation at Cagney's for our last night on the cruise and ordered Le Bistro for a dinner in our cabin. :)

- We never set foot on Deck 15 (where the main pool and buffet are)…why would we?

- Our cabin steward, Gonzalo, was top notch!

- Venus and Julio, bartenders at the Haven bar, were fun and always ready to make a new concoction for us.

This was our first time in the Haven…but not our last! :D

We have sailed on the Pearl (twice), the Dawn and, most recently, the Getaway in the Haven.

We loved the Pearl so much we sailed her twice in two years.

The Getaway is huge and a nice new ship. The Haven is amazing and has spoiled us rotten….

The Dawn left us underwhelmed. The common areas are cramped and crowded and I think it is due to the "new" suites added at the expense of common areas. We won't sail the Dawn again…ever…..unless someone invites us to stay in the Villa which is beyond words gorgeous and something like 8000 square feet.

I hope to provide some positivity soon. I'm real close to my first cruise on that ship. Of course, I go knowing it's Vision Class and not Oasis Class, so I'm not looking for wow. I'm just looking for a nice weekend getaway. :)

Me too!!! I will be on the 8/14 cruise..first time on RCI so we shall see. I have been reading reviews and always take them with a grain of salt. It's all about your expectations being framed appropriately. If you want grand and new, then book grand and new and pay for it!

Personally, I am looking forward to getting away, drinking martinis and having a blast!