bluesea777

We have eaten in Food Republic several times for lunch … on sea days. On various ships that have FR.

Beautiful! Better and sharper colors than Prima’s! 94 days to go for us!

… and a hard hat !!

Huh? Not moi!!!! Carry on!! I’m living on your posts! Love to you but not quite to the Star!

I don’t think you removed the one from the cart before you booked two.

Yes!

After the long overnight red-eye flight into the zoo aka FCO, the best and most sensible thing for you to do is catch the Rome Cabs to take you and your luggage all the way right up to the ship. It’ll be worth it. Forget the train as you’ll need to go into Rome center and change train to Civitavecchia, and then it’s not easy to get to the ship from the station. you can book the cab online.

Great!!! Are you staying at Harbor 360 hotel? If so, it's a great hotel and very handy. When you check out tag your luggage to the ship and they will take it to the ship for you during the day 😁. ENJOY!! That 7.5.hour cruise is about the best excursion I've been on - wild life, TWO glaciers, ice, etc. But keep in mind we went at the end of May, so your Aug will be as good as ours. Once you've done that you don't need to go on the NCL's Hubbard Glacier exploration excursion that cost an arm and a leg!

Can you change the 6 hour one to the 7.5 hour as you get to see the 2nd and bigger glacier and sail over the ice. The boat returns to Seward by 5pm and that’s plenty of time to board the ship. Yes, Seward is better to stay in and take tours than Anchorage!

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/glacial-break-causes-major-flooding-alaska-destroys-structures/story?id=102056193

We arrived in Anchorage at noon 3 days before the cruise. We had a sightseeing tour over Anchorage on the floatplane from Lake Hood in the afternoon - it took 30 mins and it was enough but good. Early the following morning we took the hotel shuttle to the rail depot in Anchorage and caught the 6:45 am train to Seward. We booked the GoldStar Dome seats and it was worth the money as the ride (4 1/2 hours) was so scenic and so beautiful and the outdoor observation deck was so well used by me. I took loads of pictures and videos. Note: when we checked in they tagged our luggage to our Seward hotel as they will deliver it to hotel themselves. When we arrived in Seward we just walked a short distance to the hotel but rooms weren’t ready so we went out for some lunch and took the free Seward shuttle to the Sea Life. Very good. Later we returned to hotel and had a little nap and walked over to Ray’s for an excellent dinner. After dinner it was still bright and light so we went for a walk around the marina looking at the boats. It was after 11pm! Next morning we took the 7.5 hour Kenai Fjords cruise (Major Marine) … that excursion just blew our minds away and we were so thankful to have gone on that boat! After that we went back to Ray’s for another excellent dinner! And another walk-about in the Marina was in order after dinner. When we checked out of hotel the next morning they said if we tagged our luggage with ship’s and cabin details they would take them to the ship later on in the day. We took the free Seward shuttle to the ship - we took the long way to the ship as we want another mini tour around Seward. The check in was so easy and we were the first ones on ship. We loved Seward - better than Anchorage.

The insurance requires the deposit date (which is the date you paid the deposit on the cruise you booked) …. I have a good example …. In 2019 we sadly had to cancel an Ultimate Baltics cruise one week before we were due to fly out. I developed a medical condition that was so severe and painful that I couldn’t walk or sleep. I was sent forms by AON insurance to complete…. One of the forms was for my doctor to complete and one of the questions asked if it was a pre-existing condition …. This is where the deposit date came into effect … I’d had that medical condition a few months beforehand but it was of a minor scale and my doctor prescribed some medication for it. The deposit date was 18 months prior so I was able to claim full cruise price from insurance as it was not pre-existing condition at the time we booked the cruise and paid the deposit. My doctor had to see our cruise confirmation that showed the date the deposit was paid so that he could complete the form accurately.

https://www.ncl.com/shipcams/vivacam/fullsize.jpg

..... and the webcam becomes live .... 😁

You haven’t said which ship and when was the cruise?

That is one beautiful looking guy!!

I think Jewel is doing Tokyo to Vancouver via Alaska next April. She goes from Vancouver to Tokyo in Oct this year at end of her Alaska season.

But if you have already downloaded the relevant languages you might not need the internet. But I'm not so sure! Maybe airalo may come to your rescue? Our son told us about it and we used that for Alaska and it was great and much cheaper for us. Next cruise is Lisbon to Miami and we're def using (and paying) airalo for Portugal (Lisbon and Azores) and USA. Still loving your reviews, might consider the REK to Tromso and back cruises for 2024 since we became Diamond on our last cruise. I understand the struggles you had with meals on the Star and we are afraid about that but if things improves with you ,,, we might consider! We were on the Star last year for the Iceland & Greenland cruise that saw us skipping Greenland and went to Norway instead. We booked balcony but got upgraded to Family Suite (SJ) via the Upgrade Advantage and it was a GODSEND! Because DH tripped and fell down the stairs on way to Versailles on the first evening and broke a couple of toes. The Family Suite being so spacious with floor to ceiling windows and a butler enabled my poor DH to enjoy the cruise as best as he could. He was able to sit in comfy chair facing the lovely views via those windows while propping his leg/foot up on window ledge while I went off at each port taking loads of photos for him to see and live/relive through me (surprise, when they decided to skip Greenland for 4 Norwegian ports at check-in we groaned saying we had been to 3 of them 3 times before!). Due to having the Family Suite on deck 12 (that NCL got rid of the original Observation Lounge for those Suites) we had Breakfast and Lunch in either Cagney's or Moderno's that made all the difference regarding DH's disability. That said, we still might reconsider Star again for the itinerary. P.S. I don't know if you realize this but the Star main pool is HEATED!! Love to you and hugs, and look forward to you enjoying the rest of the cruise and the lovely Norwegian ports!

But if you have already downloaded the relevant languages you might not need the internet.

Now that you have drank and tasted Aquavit and had a second shot and you say you like it ... I'm happy to hear!! My mother was Danish so there has been plenty of Akvavit (danish spelling) in my life since I first tried it at age of 17. My dad also loved it, and my husband loves it, too. DH and I travelled a lot to the Scandinavian countries and have drank many different varieties .... Denmark it's Aalborg Taffal, Norway it's Linie, Sweden it's O.J. Andersen, Iceland it's Brennivin (Black Death). Since you don't drink wine but like whiskies & brandies, I would suggest that you try a shot or 2 of "snaps" whenever and wherever you can. You have several Norwegian ports to go to next. And also, when you fly out of Keflavik and have time to eat before your flight, get a shot glass of Brennivin with lunch for the sky (as opposed to road). SKAAL!!

seems they're testing Viva's webcam: Getting there!!

I recall you have an iPhone, right? Google Translate app allows you to use camera to point at the text and it will translate for you.

Nope, the charter is for 4 months only - June-Sept 2024! Seems you haven't looked in NCL.com ...

California Roll - perhaps you can request that the imitation crab be left out when they make the sushi for you?

That's a hard NO for us. We just cannot grasp on hearing how fabulous and delicious Nutella is, so after so many years of hearing about it and seeing so many jars in grocery stores, etc, we decided to try that on crepes, in San Francisco, but I could only eat 1/4 of that. Note: we prefer dark chocolate, so that was why we found Nutella so sickly sweet. Sorry Nutella lovers.