sushraya

We are planning to fly into Bologna as well.  Then take the monorail or taxi to the Bologna train station and from there a train to Ravenna.   We will take a shuttle from Ravenna to the cruise port.

Thank you so much!  That's a great view and lets us know what to expect.  We were late to the party - so only guarantee cabins were left.  Interestingly enough, of the four couples that booked, only one has been assigned a cabin thus far and it is this one.   We are still a few months away from cruise date though.

surfnsun - this might be a long shot, but do you have any idea how cabin 2152 is on this ship?  Friends have been assigned this cabin and from what I can find online, it looks like this might be next to where the pilot boat comes in?  So perhaps a bit noisy in the morning?

Thanks for the wonderful review.  It was great fun following along.

We too had an early morning flight from Venice on our trip years ago.  Vaparettos were on strike, and we hadn't made plans for an arranged pickup.  My husband decided it might be best if we walked ...two kids, bags in hand, we walked the entire distance at 3.30am in the morning.  Very quiet, so different from the day time!   Lots of little bridges and even the little one (my 6 yr old) carried his own bag up and down the bridges.  Both kids remember that morning walk even today.  

Great review and very helpful for those of us on a similar itinerary in a few months. 

Can I ask a quick question on entertainment?  What kind of shows were there and what were the timings?  On NCL, typically, the main show was done twice in one evening and you had a choice of attending the early or the late show and could schedule dinner around that if you wished.  Am making dinner reservations and wanted to figure out if there was a show we shouldn't miss out on!

Love the trip report, especially all the details.  I know this is an expensive cruise - been on my bucket list.   Are all the excursion options you mentioned included as part of the cruise or is all that additional?  Trying to figure out how much to budget for this cruise 🙂

Fantastic live report!  In Kotor, did you try to go up to the Fortress?  Or take the ladder (stairs) up?  I've heard the view is fantastic from there, but that even the shortest part of the hike is over a 1000 steps!

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 It's simple, you order the drink and they present you with a bill for the price of the drink, minus the $10 credit for your classic drink package, plus a 20% service fee.  So a $17 drink would cost you $7 plus $1.40 or $8.40.

  

Thanks!!  I assume if you order one that's under the "10$" limit, there's no charge or service fee (we have prepaid gratuities).

How does it work if you have the classic drink package?  Most of these cocktails are over the 10$ limit of that package...

We have the basic wifi package included in our cruise.   Does this mean that both of us in the cabin can login on one device each?  Or is it just one device per cabin at a time?

We were on the same cruise with NCL Epic. We did the quick morning stop at Pisa - we loved this. After Pisa, we drove to Tenuta Torciano - a winery near San Gimignano. About 1 1/2 hour drive, very easy driving in the tuscan countryside. Spent about 2 hours there - was a great wine tasting with lunch. Lunch was delicious and wine flowed through the lunch - a very enjoyable afternoon.

I think some private tour operators might take you to the winery - we booked a van since we were six in the party headed out together.

The law requires passports. But having almost been the victim of pickpocketing earlier in Barcelona, we decided to leave the passports on the ship and just take our driving license. Worked out ok for us - luckily we were not stopped or asked for ID anywhere.

We were in Barcelona last week. We got to the train station (close to midnight) and were waiting for an uber. Bags around us, backpacks and purse - must have looked as great targets. H was busy looking at his phone when I felt something hit me - someone threw bird poop (or what looked like bird poop) on our backs. This guy materialized next to us with a tissue, helping H clean his back. He suggested that H put his backpack down so they could clean properly - I suddenly remembered reading about this pickpocketing trick and refused to let H take the backpack off. Fortunately for us, the uber had arrived just then and we managed to get into the car with all our belongings. A little freaked out.

Friends had gotten to Barcelona a day earlier. One of them lost her wallet with credit cards and money while shopping after touring Park Guell.

We got off late (9.30 or so) and the lines for taxis were really long. There was a bus there though that would take folks to the airport for 17 euros a person. The last bus left at 10. There was also the cruise bus which took you to the city (christopher columbus monument) for 3 euros a person. We did that and took a taxi from there to our hotel.

We just put in the cruise port when we ordered an uber. They had no problem finding the Epic terminal for us. We left the hotel around 12.30 and were there by 1. No lines at all - which was very surprising and we were onboard after a quick check-in.

We flew into Madrid, spent a couple of days there and then took the train to Barcelona. Went to Montserrat the day before the cruise. We also had a couple of days after the cruise in Barcelona. Worked well for us. If you want to book the train, I suggest booking the renfe fast trains - takes about 2 1/2 - 3 hours for the trip between Madrid and Barcelona. Booking about 60 days in advance gets you the best fares.

I think you are right that the Nativity tower is more popular. We will be there in Sept and H wants to do the climb. I couldn't get tickets to the Nativity tower first thing in the morning - so he's going to have to make do with the Passion tower instead.

We've been to Rome before and do not want to do the main sights. We would like to get to Rome from Civitavecchia and then spend a relaxing afternoon there before heading back. I read about Monte Mario - a hill that overlooks Rome. Apparently, there's a restaurant there where you can get lunch and good views of Rome. It looks fairly easy to get to this by train - but has anyone who's been there, comment on this? Do we need to hike up the hill ? Is the view worth it?

Any other alternatives? We loved the time we spent in Piazza Margherita in Venice and Piazza Navona in Rome - guess we could go back to Piazza Navona if we didn't come up with anything better,

For those of you that visited Tenuta Torciano, did you do a tour of the vineyard, followed by lunch + tasting? How much did this cost per person?

H almost always drives a stick shift car. So, no problems there. I know that's been a rude shock to several of our friends who've wanted to drive in Europe though.

Some of our friends are not inclined to climb the tower. Of course, H wants to do it and I might go along. Was wondering if I should get tickets for all of us if only the two of us were climbing the tower. I am guessing the others will just wander around in the area, take pictures and relax. Can't see them going into any of the other buildings either.

Thanks all for your help.

Another quick question - looked at the tower of pisa site - do we need tickets ONLY if we are climbing to the top of the tower?

Hank - thanks so much for your help. Got a good laugh looking at the various ZTL sign pictures!

Sifracar told me that they will take us by minibus from the ship to the parking lot where we can pick up the car (1 km away). We did contact Hertz and unfortunately, you just get the international desk - so very generic info on renting the car, no specifics about where the pickup location etc. We'd probably just go with sifracar.

Tenuta Torciano is the only winery I've heard recommendations for. Will look into booking their lunch/tasting. Any specific recommendations in San Gimignano?

Also, how's traffic in general in this area? When should we plan on heading out from San Gimignano to make it back to the ship without stressing out?

Thanks Hank for the info! I contacted sifracar for a car - they do have the cruise ship special. But they are no longer a Hertz franchise!

You nailed the problem with driving to Pisa - H will look for a "free" parking spot. Will have to show him your email. How will we know we've entered a ZTL? If we rent a GPS along with the car, does the GPS warn you?

I'll look at tickets for the leaning tower first thing in the morning - and then figure we'll make our way to San Gimignano.

We will be in Livorno off the Norwegian Epic in Sept. 3 couples. We'd like to rent a car and drive to Pisa and then the tuscan countryside. Perhaps stop at a winery for lunch and wine tasting of course. Maybe visit San Gimignano.

Any recommendations for a winery to try and visit? Where can we park and what should we do in San Gimignano? H wants to visit Pisa - and knowing him, he'll want to climb the tower. Should we plan on doing that first thing in the morning or on the way back to the ship?

I've read about the driving zones in italian cities and the horrific fines. But if we stay with the countryside mainly, will this be an issue? Any dos/don'ts ?

We are looking to do something similar. Quick stop in Pisa followed by a winery tour/lunch. More interested in the countryside and the winery.

But we will be renting a car and driving ourselves. Is Tenuta Torciano the place to go? Are there other recommendations?