KeithJenner

NCL used to do regular Canary Isles cruises through the winter. Usually the Spirit (we did two of them from Barcelona). We we’re also booked on a similar one on the Epic a few years ago but the ship got repositioned and they were all cancelled. There haven’t been any scheduled for a few years, and it will be good to see them return. We would certainly do the itinerary again. As for the weather, we went at Easter and it was cool in the Med but nice and warm by the time we got to the Canaries. We have sailed on the Med in December and it was quite nice but we did need a jacket at times. The seas can be a bit rough during the winter and Casablanca is apparently a challenge in rough seas.

There are a few shops and bars/restaurants on the waterfront. https://www.vallettawaterfront.com

There are some very big differences between the Santorini cable car and the Barraka lift. Firstly, the cable car climbs about 4x the height that the lift does, so walking is much harder and more time consuming. Also, the alternatives are not good in Santorini, as the walk is very unpleasant (there is a very good chance of you slipping and the donkeys are a big problem), whereas there are various options for walking in Valetta and they are a much nicer walking. There is also the option of getting alternative transport from the dock. Basically, for most people the cable car is the only real option in Santorini (outside of NCL tours), whereas there are various other options in Valetta. If I was in Valetta and there was a queue for the lift then I'd walk instead. In Santorini I would either join the queue or just head back to the ship. Getting back is a lot easier as well.

Same thing, different wording.

You can stop there then.

Regarding cruisenext, don’t get confused by the wording regarding on board credit. That OBC gets used against the cost of the voucher, so it is basically half price. ie, buy two $250 vouchers and you will be charged $500 but then the discount gets applied to your account, meaning you only pay $250. You don’t need to find things to spend the credit on.

It is far from confirmed that these changes have no traction. These aren’t rumours, they are based on the new list of beverage issued by NCL in April. It would have been amazing, knowing NCL, if the change happened immediately on every ship. When changes happen it is very common for reports to appear saying that they weren’t applied on some ships. All that Seas2mountains report shows is that it hasn’t changed on the Sky yet (in Le Bistro at least). We need far more than that to conclude that the changes aren’t happening and even then it would be a reversal of policy rather than the reports were just rumours.

Obviously an advantage of this is that the organisation is taken out of your hands, which is an attraction for some. However, whilst Kent and Dover Castle are nice, if I had this amount of time on my first visit to the UK then I wouldn’t be leaving London on those middle two days. There is so much to do in London without blowing a few hours in a coach to get down to Dover. Something which is popular is to arrange a transfer to Southampton that visits somewhere like Stonehenge on the way and that sounds a better plan if you want to see something outside of London. Even better, add in another day or two and split your stay between London and the Southampton area. Having said all that, if you like the idea of having the itinerary set then it certainly looks like being an enjoyable (but probably busy) few days.

Yes, I suspected so. Those balconies are huge, and far bigger than club suites elsewhere. The large balcony rooms on the deck above (not club suite) are also a lot bigger than normal club suites.

That sounds like you were in a large balcony room, in which case that was the reason for the bigger balcony, rather than it being a club balcony. Generally the balcony and club suite rooms have similar sized balconies.

The latitudes tour is a different thing and is arranged with the cruisenext staff onboard.

Bands from the smaller venues (particularly the Beatles) have done one off shows in the Theatre a few times when I’ve been onboard, so it can’t be too much of a challenge.

Shorts are also not allowed in the aft MDR on some ships.

For future reference, you could have done your dining reservations 125 days out. Chances are that you would have got 6 people then (we are currently 120 days out from our Breakaway cruise and there is quite good availability for 6 & 8 at Teppanyaki).

I am always entertained by people who try to prove how discerning and sophisticated they are by pointing out all the ways that NCL didn’t meet their high expectations. One of my favourites was on here where someone claimed they weren’t fussy but then went on to express how appalling is was when the waiter served them fromthe wrong side. I assume they think I’m impressed, but all I hear them saying is “we paid all this money and are not enjoying ourselves but you, you poor idiot, are not as sophisticated as us and as a result appear to be having a great time”. I’m never as impressed with them as they think I am. 🙂

We never really worked out what it was all about and it certainly isn’t the norm. As far as I am aware it is resolved now.

Gratuities are paid upfront on the cost of the dining package (whether purchased or as a promo). The gratuity on the bill will be zero, unless there are any items not covered by the package, so adding this makes no difference to that.

You obviously missed some of the ones from when they stopped bar service at Greek ports last year. There were some real gems there.

Not tried it, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. It is spend with NCL.

It isn’t clear what the percentage is (or even if it is a consistent proportion). I have read various different percentages which people were told by NCL staff (from 20% to about 75%). Given the tendency for NCL staff, especially phone staff, to just guess or make stuff up, I wouldn’t give any credence to what they say. A proportion of bookings are held back, but the actual percentage could be anything.

The docking time will be local time in Athens. The clocks will change onboard as you sail where required.

I suspect so, if you have to pay your travel agent who then forwards the payment to NCL. I’ve never used one, so can’t talk from experience though.

You get two vouchers for two. The same as if there were just the two platinums in the room. The third person doesn’t affect things at all.

Whilst not regular as such, NCL have been going to Malaga for years. I’ve been there twice when on Canary Isles cruises from Barcelona. Lots of itineraries do seem to be going to Gibraltar itself these days though.

Yes, that’s just an issue with the app. It treats it as pounds.