gracebest

We first cruised with Windstar about 2 years ago, and have been on 2 more since then. We have also cruised with O. We really enjoyed WS. Yachts only have about 300 passengers and sailing ships about 200. The motor yacht cabins are so much larger- OV cabins are 275sq ft. With nice bathrooms and walk-in closets. The downside is the balcony cabins are just French balconies. The highest category cabins have real balconies. Specialty restaurants included- you reserve when you board. We’ve experienced friendly staff. In fact on the last cruise, the captain had breakfast and sometimes lunch in the terrace and always joined passengers at their tables. They have a great bbq night on the deck, weather permitting. One time it was held in the dining room because of bad weather.

We were there about a year ago and also stayed at the Skuggi Hotel. It was a few blocks from the city center, but we don’t mind walking. The breakfast was very good. We booked our own flights and booked a shuttle with Air Direct. I can’t remember the price but it was very reasonable. Choose the option for hotel drop off. We weren’t sure how long it would take us to get luggage and clear customs, so we booked a shuttle time over an hour an d an half after arrival time. However, we got through quickly and just went to the Air Direct desk in the airport and they were able to get us on the earlier shuttle. However, get there quickly, because the people behind us had to wait for their scheduled time because the van was full. We booked a Golden Circle tour and a walking tour pre cruise. It was an awesome trip. Enjoy!

Hello I have so enjoyed your posts. I noticed that your next cruise leaves from Nice/ Monte Carlo. Have you worked hotel/ transportation logistics yet? We will be doing the same in October and are just starting to look at the options. We’re not sure if we’ll get a hotel pre cruise in Nice or Monte Carlo, but are leaning towards Nice.

We will also be on Onward in October. Please post if you find anything to do there. I haven't found mucha and the few ship excursions don't really interest us.

When will you be there? We would also like to rent bikes, so would love for you to post your experience? Thanks!

Thanks so much. I will check out these tours. I appreciate your help so much!

Did you end up going with Ato on Fakarava. I am having a hard time finding excursions for our upcoming cruise. Do you have recommendations for Ranigiroa, Moorea, Raitaea, Nuku Hiva?

I know you are asking about 404 , but we had friends in 403. Their cabin was the same size as ours, but configured a bit differently. They couldn't see the tv from the bed, if that matters. They also had a lot of anchor noise when we were tendering. But, they said it wouldn't be a deal breaker if they got that cabin again.

We were just there yesterday and it was rainy and foggy. We did take a bus tour that we bought tickets for in town. Because lots of the upper roads were closed, we only went to two viewpoints, one being the waterfall. We met some people there who walked there from the cruise ship They had to walk on the side of the road and it often didn’t have much shoulder area. It is a steep walk, but doable. There were several mini rental cars still available when we were there. You can’t miss them, they’re right in the town center.

We are doing Windstar in a few weeks and we overnight in Dublin and Belfast.

That is interesting as we are booked on a cruise the end of May and have 2 grandchildren with us in a 2 bedroom and thought they would get the soda package, but was told no.

We received ours 58 days in advance and they were the same flights we would have chosen.

I’m glad it worked out for you!

I did mine while I was on the phone with my TA and about ready to book my cruise. It showed up on My NCL almost immediately. Now whenever I look for cruises on NCL there is a little banner that says military discount will be applied.

I think so, too! It seems to be the only date that has that itinerary, and then later in the month they start rotating between Mexico itinerary and ours that include Tortola, St Thomas, DR, and GSC. I love Tortola, but hate the port time!

There are no port changes on the Escape when it changes from Port Canaveral to Miami departure. The only difference is a few changes in port times and Miami is Sunday to Sunday.

Yes, that’s what I thought. Thanks.

I thought the form was only for getting in the ship and any emergency treatments while on the ship. We are traveling with our grandchildren soon and plan to have the NCL consent form and a separate medical consent form in case something should happen before or after we get in the ship and also when doing excursions.

If you are before final payment, you can cancel airfare promotion. FYI, you are also relying to a post that is almost a year old and the info in this thread is no longer accurate. NCL no longer offers the $25 option for people in different cabins to fly together on same flights.

We also used a TA, but NCL flight department talked to us several times without us having to go through our TA. It was so helpful to talk to them directly. As soon as we had our confirmation number (which fo us was 68 days before cruise) we were able to go to the airline’s website and choose seats. Lots of people report that they are also able to pay extra and upgrade also. Good luck with your flight home!

I totally understand. You had high expectations and paid dearly for your cabin selection. I don’t understand why NCL doesn’t compensate you. Especially when they changed your cabin for a day and they switched it again. Is there any way of knowing what the dollar value of the cabin you are in now compared to what you paid? Are there still cabins available? Can you do a mock booking. It appears that the real insult is that you overpaid for your current cabin in comparison to what you originally booked. You have every right to be upset. I’m sure you can still have a great cruise, but it is hard when you feel NCL didn’t give you a comparable cabin to what you booked. I’d be upset, too.

I know that is the gamble when we let NCL book for us. My husband is picking up our granddaughter in a different state and the flights he got were probably the same ones he would have booked himself. There weren’t many options and he does have a 6pm departure post cruise. Mine (and my grandson’s was just a little later but was not direct. I was able to change to a direct flight and will now get home around 8pm instead of midnight. We are renting a car for the day and doing some sightseeing.

My same thoughts! When is the first Miami departure? I hope someone will post those.

Interesting, because someone here on the boards said they don’t offer it, but you can ask them to take over the reservation from a travel agent or cruise for a $50 fee. That person said they have had good luck with that. When we changed our SW flights they told us that NCL would no longer have control of our booking. I’m just fine with that!

You may be able to change flights for a fee, depending on the airline. We changed our southwest flights, no change fee, just had to pay difference of new flight costs. I think you can also change with Delta and American.