LEtue

Norwegian Star

Western Mediterranean

roundtrip Rome

October 23-30, 2016

 

inside guarantee $561

ocean guarantee $749

 

(plus fees/taxes $120.76)

 

These are sailaway rates (guarantee categories) available directly through NCL, so no perk is currently combinable. But check what your TA might kick in.

I stumbled across this one too but airfare seems to be problem right now. Still checking options :)

I have been following this and looking to see if there was an update.

I can't imagine that an inside guarantee would ever include studios so please come back and let us know what happened.

Fantastic review Lois and I can't believe you are back home already! So, I know the cruise must have been over too quickly!

I loved reading all the details about your fabulous trip and I think a river cruise needs to be on my bucket list now :D

Welcome home!

The experience on DCL in my opinion is far superior to the other mainsteam lines.

 

That being said, I still cruise NCL and RCL because of price, but have been on 4 Disney cruises and loved them all.

 

The lack of a casino and casino revenue is one of the biggest reasons they need to charge a higher base fare.

Hmmm, I have never noticed that many people in the casinos on any Alaska cruise - or for as long. But Caribbean and the Med - yes, they always seem to be packed until the "wee" hours.

Seems they could be a little more competitive :eek: That is the equivalent of 3 cruises for me!

Who, nice of you to say. :) Thank you.

 

I was on the NCL Sun for 4 weeks.

Wow! I knew you had to be on a cruise and yes, welcome home!

Time to get ready for Alaska :D

I've seen bus trips cancelled at the end of the season due to weather, but never heard of an early opening. Can't imagine that happening, just due to the logistics involved ... having employees start early (drivers, dispatchers, ticket staff at the WAC and Riley), trying to fill buses when the reservation system didn't have openings, updating the computer.

Never "early". First- it won't happen with the buses, and employment fixed schedules.

 

Over the past 15+ years- ALWAYS- Eielson starts June 1 and Wonder Lake June 8.

Thank you both! I knew I could get the answer here. :D

And I have cruised twice in May (3rd or 4th weeks) and had bad weather both times. Never warm enough for shorts and it rained some each day. We did manage to take the coats off one day and were fine in short sleeves though.

From year to year - you just never know. Last year we sailed south from Whittier to Vancouver on August 29 and had the best weather of any Alaska cruise yet. That trip I could have used my shorts!

That's the date when the road is open to the END.

Did you want to go all the way to KANTISHNA ?

 

If you're going to Eielson Visitor Center, you're good. That opens June 1 every year. All the starting dates are listed on the reservation site.

http://www.reservedenali.com/shuttles.aspx

mapleleaves, thank you for all the helpful posts!

Is there ever a time when the road opens a couple of days early or does the NPS just stay with the same date of June 1 - no matter the weather from year to year?

Great info!

Does anyone remember the price?

We really loved the 26 Glacier Cruise with Phillips last August. Our time in front of the glaciers didn't seem too short and we spent plenty of time watching the marine life on the floating ice. Stopped for a pod of orcas too which were awesome but we didn't see anything in Esther Passage on our trip. The boat was nice and stable and the food was tasty. :)

I didn't know that Allen Marine spent more time in front of the glaciers so I will keep that in mind next time since it is always nice to try something different.

The Nieuw Amsterdam and Volendam sail from Vancouver weekly and the itinerary includes Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay :)

Wow Lois, I can't believe your trip is almost here!

Wishing you a wonderful journey filled with marvelous sights and sounds :D

Are you going to try to post daily? I would love to follow you along the way....but if not I will be waiting for your review :)

Safe travels!

Apparently the June 25, 2017 Amsterdam sailing has been chartered too. Maybe the details haven't been released yet but there were a few CC members that were notified and bumped...

I have only done 2 Med cruises but there is never a port I would intentionally skip. :eek:

Why not just spend a couple of hours ashore? You never know what you will discover and you can always sit and have some wine and people watch. I really enjoy talking with the locals and just wandering :)

Thanks for sharing!

I'm looking forward to a return visit to Sitka next year :D

Bummer, I can't open and view the pictures :(

I saw a beluga from the train heading to Anchorage. The train stopped to watch. The passengers as well as the crew were in awe.

 

Never saw one from the ship.

We had the same experience on the train heading southbound to Whittier last year. We were stopped for about 10 minutes and there were probably about 10 :) Really awesome sight!

I will have to pay attention when we sail on the Amsterdam between Anchorage and Homer next year :D

Great information here. I haven't sailed HAL in a few years but I am looking forward to 14 days on the Amsterdam in 2017 :)

Did a search and couldn't find any info on the 2 missing weeks in the Med schedule. I assume it is a dry dock but does anyone know? Not sure I want to sail right before or right after....

I don't see any details. Are you asking about the port of Chania in Crete?

We were on a Greek Isles cruise a few months ago had a wonderful local guide, Kostas Sakavaras, in Santorini.

 

I highly recommend him, he was punctual, knowledgeable, interesting and fairly priced. It seemed everyone on the island knew him!

 

I found others on my roll call to share the tour and everyone was pleased with our day in Santorini.

 

Our tour "Santorini Highlights with Akrotiri" was very good. We enjoyed going to a winery, too!

 

Here is a link to his website:

http://santorini-private-guide.com

 

This was my second visit to Santorini. The first time we did not use a guide, and I really think we got so much more out of our second visit with a guide.

 

In my humble opinion, Santorini is over-rated. It is very crowded. I enjoyed the other islands more, especially Crete and Rhodes.

 

Have fun!

A group of us from our Serenade of the Seas sailing in October 2014 used this company too and I would have no problem recommending them :)

We sailed on the Serenade from Rome on October 20, 2014 and the weather was very good for the most part - including almost 80 degrees in Rome (which was a surprise). We only had a brief shower in Crete up until the day we were scheduled to port in Mykonos. Unfortunately, there was an early morning storm that prevented the captain from docking the ship.

I was really looking forward to getting to Delos so now I have to go back in 2017 ;)

I haven't used this company and I can't remember where I found them. I have them in my file to check for next year and they may be worth a try. Good luck!

http://www.papillonservice.com/shore-excursions-private-tours.php

I am disappointed too since I was looking for a longer Western Med route that actually stayed in the Western Med instead of swinging over to the eastern. I thought I would find one early or late season but no luck. Seems they are omitting some very nice ports IMHO.

I did put one cruise on hold yesterday but just canceled it because when booking an inside cabin - only the lowest category was open. Even today all of the other inside categories are listed as sold out. So, unfortunately they haven't loaded everything for us price shoppers. Checked the outside and balcony cabin options too and same thing - not all categories are available :confused:

So much for first choice for C&A members.....

And going east, the Indy is doing essentially that cruise in reverse. I like the looks of the eastbound Jewel as stated on the Eskimo site, but it is not yet up on the Royal site. Any rumors about the Serenade?

I have been waiting for more info on the Serenade too. Just checked the same site again and nothing is loaded :(

Anyone have any details?