dumbth

The Jade has been reconfigured since my trip, but my balcony partition was easy for neighbors to stick their head around and socialize, which I did not welcome but you might.

While Geir. is great, you might pick up that fjord thru an excursion from Alesund. Alesund is supercute so try to leave some time for wandering and not all excursions. Check carefully the excursions at Bergen (for excellent Sonefjord and Hardingerfjord) and the fjord near Stavanger. I thought Geir. over hyped, and if you actually stop at it's port the excursions onward don't interest me. I would definitely visit Alesund and cruise an excursion boat at least part way to Geir. port. They have probably improved it now, but the mountains around Geir port used to block communications so no credit card ship transactions were possible for tix or special food. I prefer the fjords around Bergen over the steep ditch of Geir. fjord. You can do Sonefjord (sp) on your own with a "norway in a nutshell" combo tix sold by the city. They used to offer combo tix to Hardingerfjord which I really like. More to look at than just an extreme ditch, it is the fruitbasket microclimate of Norway (land of all my ancestors).

In half a century of traveling every corner of the world, I cannot think of a city on earth that tops Paris. It's got some problems, but the architecture, street food, gardens, etc beats all. A central dropoff is plausible since there is vast room for busses in Place Concorde. Near stunning gardens as a place to spend leftover minutes before pickup. Another cruise line describes this tour thusly: "Enjoy a half day of exploring Paris all on your own. Your tour begins with a scenic drive to the city center. You’ll disembark at Cours-la-Reine Park and promenade near the Place de la Concorde, a favorite place for shopping and sightseeing. City maps will be provided to help you plan out your day. Feel free to explore the Arc de Triomphe, the world’s largest triumphal arch, and get a glimpse of the famous Eiffel Tower. See the Notre Dame Cathedral from the outside and admire its beautiful Gothic architecture. If you’re an art lover, the Louvre Museum is a must, as it is the home of Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. After your day of exploring the City of Light, you’ll rejoin your motorcoach at Cours-la-Reine at the agreed upon time for a relaxing ride back to the pier." Even a remote dropoff may give a charming walk to center, where downsized attractions can be knocked off like intensely flavored morsals: dazzling Sainte Chapelle, Monet's water lily museum, snacks and sublime ice cream on Rue Sainte Andre des Artes, etc.

I am a frugal HI resident who in years past sailed the islands on a 40' sailboat. When looking for a lazy way to re-live such experiences, I too was hit by POA sticker shock as well as reviews not up to par with my NCL Med experiences. Furthermore I hear the itinerary no longer cruises the Na Pali coast, which was #1 highlight with no excursion logistics needed. There is an NCL alternative, which are the HI-Tahiti runs in spring and fall. The price per night is vastly more affordable, so I have been trying for out and return HI-TAH-HI. Visiting all the ports twice is fine with me, and I think the several sea-only days would be good therapy. That itinerary seems changeable and they cancelled me once, but someday...

If you can get a direct train, it has got to be the easiest. Check timetables on web. If you have overpacked, learn where to dump excess bags at end of car. Otherwise I think you might get stuck with an expensive water shuttle to airport which may be no fun to load bags into/from. Then a land shuttle from boat dock to chaotic airport, then ... Even if you get a land bus to the airport, departure spot is less handy than the train. Do the train at least as a learning experience. It is supremely civilized and convenient (well, just beforehand check if they are have scheduled a 1 day strike).

Exactly my inclination; maybe we kindred spirits should hang out together 😃. No, seriously I cherish solitude and suffer when folks intrude in a self righteous way oblivious to signals. Especially regret the attitude that numbing one's natural and wise inhibitions with alcohol is an enlightened thing. I put up with someone who spent a long cruise contorted around our balcony partition because I bored him a bit less than his wife, but someday will draw the line sharply. P.S. The above was composed before the previous post appeared and was not intended to be comment on CptAleSpill.

I also love freestyle (dining), although I wish the 24 hour snackbar had some vegan food other than heart attack french fries. Hard to stay frugal with solo cabin prices, but this forum gives timely tips. I'm concerned by the emphasis on drinking alcohol, and have suffered unpleasant intrusions by drunks on NCL. There is poor availability of diet sodas, which is my round the clock lifeblood. Should become a more frequent traveler if these factors improve or mobility declines.

If you are traveling light, such as with only a carry-on size backpack like I've used all over the world, then just take a fascinating shoreline walk to airport. Preview on google aerial maps. First take in some of the top kitesurf spots in the world, with interesting beachside activities by hotshots launching and landing. Beware of a few unsavory characters selling contraband from ramshackle cars. Next you encounter famous windsurfing spots, with interesting demographic shift to older and established wind warriors (easy to chat with). This was all pleasant and interesting to me some years ago, but there is a chance it's engulfed by territorial vagrants by now. Oh, on the way there are also friendly spots where local families go for beach time away from tourists.

(never mind)

Assuming you want a longish time ashore and mostly on your own, I would look for a trivial shore excursion. Some are just short bus rides to an attraction where you can return early, but should give you some disembarkation priority. And they may be nearly free with the common $50 deduction for excursions offered. Otherwise choose a part day morning excursion for someplace you wanted to visit anyway, then afternoon on your own.

What a great idea; I never thought of that. Wonder if there is a no-go time for maintenance or whatever.

Please don't prematurely commit to excursions. That was my greatest regret while juggling credit for 3 cancelled cruises. I forget the details but it was harder to recover and redeploy vs the cruise price. Aside from cancellation, other things may change

Probably someplace easier to access and park, like near the big white typewriter rather than congested Navona. Have a good map since you have a good menu of destinations where ever, but navigate around the many hills.

Those machines constantly run out of flavors in high traffic locations; they must have small amounts of concentrate per 100 flavors. If NCL courageously takes this on, note there is an app to have it pour your customized mix. I love mixing two of the 30 or so diet flavors plus one sugar flavor. It's silly to only have the extreme of high vs no calories.

In many visits during other Italian holidays or even strikes, I came in dread but was overtaken by serendipity. Stay flexible; the famous sights that seem challenging may be less interesting relative to easier, lesser known ones. See https://www.romewise.com/easter-in-rome.html and the like. There will be unique opportunities that you will look back on as special even if you visit Italy 10 more times while mopping up the conventional supposed highlights.

Value of lira is in freefall, dropping in half over a year. Various implications should be clear.

They are friggin wonderful and I only noticed them on our route along Spain.

There have been many accidents but I don't know if it is statistically unsafe. I am an experienced paraGlider so do not have a bias against paraSailing, but did see a horrible accident reported nearby where a honeymoon couple had a leg pulled off when blown back onto shore in high winds. So I would avoid gusty conditions, and maybe learn the paragliding trick for deflating a dragging canopy. http://www.parasail.org/accident-statistics.html says "(95%) percent of all parasail fatalities result from the parasailors(s) inability to escape/evacuate from a harness passenger support system following an unplanned waterlanding in high winds." . They go on to say the trend for higher capacity canopies gives more chance of breaking loose and harming passengers. They talk about widely divergent reports for frequency of injuries, and lack of regulation etc. If you google parasailing accidents they show some bad ones, but that is out of millions of safe outings. A lawyer site makes the worst-case claims: "Over the past 30 years, more than 1,200 parasailing accidents have resulted in more than 400 serious injuries and more than 70 tragic fatalities."

I'm surprised folks think GPS needs no backup. In the past accuracy has been intentionally degraded for national security reasons. They promise never again, but what about an EMP blast knocking out some electronics (electro magnetic pulse). Even celestial should have a backup; a famous pilot/politician became lost crossing the atlantic because his navigator couldn't shoot stars correctly. They could just barely locate one radio signal and homed in to landing on that island. It would be interesting to hear what kinds of navigation ship officers are trained for. You rarely need a backup, but if so the stakes are super high. I doubt if crew would want to wade thru various table lookups on where the stars ought to be with you. I took celestial nav in college and that can be really tedious if not digitized. Try some simple stuff alone like latitude and if getting stuck further, there is your conversation starter.

I think you should use a favorite NCL opportunity, which is bid for upgraded cabins. When they offer this a couple weeks before departure, I would bid above the minimum allowed bid and not use a round number. Often you get a wonderful bargain upgrade.

Unless it is raining Florence is small enough that walking is the best, and it is in between the spots that will have the most serendipity. Check the gelato selection along each block and find things like rose petal sorbetto. Across the river there are some semi distant spots but they are not a must. Time will probably be short since you have to commute to/from port.

I have sailed between Hawaiian islands various times on a heaving 40 foot trimaran, half at night like POA does. There is often a rough area between the islands from funneling NE tradewinds, strongest in summer. But more noticeable on a big ship should be the long period swell coming from winter storms near the arctic or antarctic in our summer, which delight surfers and also funnels between. So spring and fall should bring the least action for the super sensitive, although the ports are so close that the ship may loiter in protected zones part of the night. It can be hard to steer a course around POA when it is slowly wandering at random. I adore wave motion as long as I have no greasy food sloshing in my belly. To me the awful US diet of comfort food is the main risk factor for motion sickness.

No veggie/vegan has the slightest need to boost protein, and that can even be harmful. The reason is that every food except fruit has abundant protein PER CALORIE even if it is small per weight. For example if you only eat iceburg lettuce, you can't help but ravenously eat the large amount needed for daily caloric needs and thus plenty of protein comes along. Protein deficiency is super rare, but if it was a concern then lentils give more protein density than meat.

How about activity rooms like gym or outdoor activity areas. I gather there is no library. Maybe whatever deck is left free for standing and sightseeing. Thanks. I was going to do a b2b in reverse direction, but I don't want to risk getting stranded in Tahiti in the current regime. Also for a Hawaii resident, it seems like the Tahiti ports don't offer many activities with fresh experiences. I hope they add Marquesas back in future itineraries.