PIPER50

What were the hours the ship was docked? I am on the Star the first week of September, ours is docked 2pm-10pm

In Santorini our ship docked from 8.00am until 5pm

The Star used to have 4 hot tubs by the main pool. 2 were adults only and the other 2 open to all. Are you saying kids were in all 4?

Yes kids - very young around ages 3 and upwards were running around and in the hot tubs with arm bands on:(. Parents and NCL staff did not do anything to prevent it:(:( :(

Try O'Sheehan's for breakfast - not nearly so busy as the Garden Cafe. Their omelettes are delicious as are their fish and chips for lunch :) Did not enjoy Moderno - sides were cold, the dining room was also cold and our table was in a bad position for draughts from the outside door. It seemed to be a major problem for them to close the dining room doors. Was disappointed in all of the speciality restaurants to be honest - NCL have not changed their menu in each of them for years. They need to remember that not everyone in the party is a meat eater e.g. when you go to Cagney's unless you like shrimp or the tasteless sea bass there is nothing else apart from meat! A bit more variety in all the menus would be good. We looked at the menus for the main dining rooms and they seemed to offer more variety of fish dishes, baked potatoes etc. I asked for some potatoes as a side at Le Bistro and the waiter nearly had a heart attack! No sides there whatsoever :( We would seriously reconsider buying the UDP on our next cruise as the main restaurants had food more to our taste. Having said all that, the crew were outstanding and the ship was well decorated and in good order

Just back from the Star and the band around the pool and in the Bliss Lounge in the evenings were superb (if a little loud). We really enjoyed their music. The latin duo in Spice H20 were very good also. Didn't care for the piano player/singer Dave at Gatsby's (drove us away from a good area on the ship) :(

Just off the Star and the tender tickets were available from 6.30am in The Bliss Lounge. People were lining upfrom around 5.30am!!! Getting up at that time of the morning is not really what you want to be doing on holiday - NCL really need to reconsider this and perhaps issue the tickets the evening before. We went at 6.30am and got tender tickets No. 18 - we got off the boat around 10.00am. Plenty of time to go to Oia and Fira and see the attractions and get back to the ship in good time before sail away.

The Spice H20 bar itself is very nice but the area outside could do with more comfortable chairs and tables. High bar style chairs which are not very comfortable to sit in for long. It had a good latin type band in the evenings and we enjoyed the music and watching the salsa dancing :) I too noticed that although it is meant to be for 18+ there were kids running around. Very young children were in the hot tubs around the main pool area - no-one from NCL seemed to be checking or monitoring the situation, so I'm afraid I avoided the hot tubs for the whole cruise

Yep and that would be the "ATVO express buses. They depart from right outside the main airport exit (just cross over to the pedestrian island where you can find the bus and a ticket vending machine). You can also buy ATVO tickets inside the terminal at the kiosk near the exit. I believe the buses run about every 20 minutes, they are luxury coaches, have plenty of luggage storage underneath, and its a nice comfy way to get to the Piazale Roma.

 

Another option is to purchase your ATVO bus ticket in advance (online) where you even get a small discount. Here is a link to their site:

http://www.atvo.it/en-venice-airport.html

 

Hank

This thread has been so informative. I have now purchased my ATVO bus tickets in advance which I have printed off. How do I get this paper document validated? Do I just hand it to the bus driver? I notice that there is a small bar code on the paper - do I put that into the ticket validating machine? Any help with this would be much appreciated :)

Book a day room at a hotel close to the airport. They gave us a bedroom and we had the use of it for the whole day. We were also able to use the pool and loungers and got free transportation to the airport when we were ready. The price was very reasonable for the 3 of us.

We are staying at Hampton Inn & Suites at Brickell. Great reviews on Trip Advisor. Lots of restaurants and places for shopping nearby. Total price for 2 for 2 nights was $533.80. This includes a free drink on arrival and breakfast. You can get there using the metrorail from the airport for around $2.50 each or you can take a taxi. They offer a shuttle to the port or you can take the free metromover to Bayside and get a taxi from there :)

I don't know what the cost of the ncl package was for flight and cruise but I paid £1348 for 2 of us direct with BA. That was flights from Glasgow to Heathrow and Heathrow to Miami

Meant to say that I have yet to meet up with other UK cruisers once on the ship. The first time we cruised, we met some folk in the hotel before transfer to the ship but on our last cruise we didn't see anyone else from the UK but were happy to meet lots of USA folks, some of whom we will be meeting again next month :)

Being from the UK also I first went to Miami with the NCL package and found it to be fine. However we decided to make our own arrangements on our last cruise and found it to be significantly cheaper. We stayed in a nicer hotel when we arrived and got a day pass free for the way back and transport to the airport for $10 which was great. We are going on a cruise via Miami again next month and plan to spend a couple of days in Miami pre cruise - flights for both of us from Scotland, accommodation for two nights pre cruise in good hotel plus a day room at the Sofitel near the airport came to a total of £1670. I have not included transfers as we are going to take the Metrorail from the airport to our hotel $5 for both of us! Hope you enjoyed your cruise - we are hooked as you can probably tell :D

We have a similar flight time when disembarking from our cruise. We have hired a 'day room' at Sofitel near the airport. $90 gives you the use of a room and all facilities for the whole day. We planned on just relaxing round the pool, leisurely lunch and a few drinks. There are some restaurants and shops within a 5-10 min walk in a safe area so we can also stock up on items for the flight. There is also a shuttle from the hotel to the airport which runs every 30 mins and takes about 5 mins travel time :)

Yes, its exactly as the previous poster said! It is very tiring and time consuming reading the whole menu out to my husband each time we go out for a meal. By doing it in advance, he has a rough idea of what he might like to eat in each restaurant before we set sail. Its not set in stone and he is free to change his mind lol Just makes it a bit easier for me.

Thank you to everyone who has tried to help out - knew I could rely on CC once again :)

My daughter and I went to Stingray City at it was a fantastic experience for me but my daughter hated it. She was terrified of the stingrays and did not like the experience at all. Before entering the water, we were advised to shuffle our feet along the sea floor just in case we stepped on a stingray. You will be fine if you follow the instructions and are not freaked out by very large fish

Thank you for your reply - I was sure I had seen it mentioned somewhere and suspect you are right about the lobster, shrimp meal in Le Bistro as being the best probability.

Can anyone remember if a 'Seafood Tower' is featured on any NCL menu? I am sure I noticed a reference to it recently but can't remember where. I did have a look at the menus for the speciality restaurants but can't find it. Need the information for my husband who is blind and is trying to plan what he might eat in each restaurant on our forthcoming cruise. Thanks in advance

Hoping someone out there can help with this request. A while back I saw a reference to a seafood tower being available either as a starter or main in one of the restaurants. I have looked at the menus for the speciality restaurants and cannot find it. Does anyone have any recollection of a seafood tower? Thanks in advance

You might want to consider booking a Day Use Room at a hotel. I am doing this once I disembark the ship after my cruise next March at a hotel very near the airport. The cost is $90.00 for the use of the room, pool facilities etc. The hotel also organises free shuttles to the airport.

If this is true, then it is great news :D

We are on the same cruise - join us on the roll call :D

My husband and I surprised our teenage daughter with a suite. We managed to keep it a surprise right until we got to the suite itself! She thought we were in the wrong area whilst waiting to board the ship but I just said there must have been a mistake and she worried the whole time of boarding that we were going to 'be found out' lol. Her face was priceless when she saw the suite and realised we had a butler :D

Be aware that if you book excursions with NCL at a certain price they can still put the price up at sailing date. This happened to us a couple of years ago as we had booked an excursion at £30pp with NCL and they put it up to $45 a couple of weeks before we were due to sail. We cancelled and got the same trip much cheaper with a local company.