cricket200

My DH and I will be on the Sept 2nd sailing so I am taking notes 🙂

Hope you and your Dad have a wonderful time.

Hi,

We have booked NCL's BOGO (used it before and I am aware of the possible dangers) - we are sailing from Vancouver (we have 2 day deviation for the NCL air) but on the way back we have not as yet booked a deviation. We are flying to Massachusetts.

My question: for those of you that have previously booked a deviation from Anchorage did they put you on an early morning flight or a night flight?

Thanks!

They check both your "Green card" and passport normally.

Hi,

This excursion is been offered by NCL on our cruise in September 24 - I would like feedback on this excursion from those of you that have taken it?

Thanks,

You could connect with https://www.bermudabyways.com/   Heidi offers a wonderful island tour! Also second the suggestion of the National Bermuda Museum or a ferry/bus to Hamilton.

Absolutely recommend Heidi https://www.bermudabyways.com/. We have been to Bermuda many times and her tour was fantastic! She knows and loves her island and was knowledgeable about history and facts, I also liked that when we pulled into our first stop she saw two other tours and announced we need to get ahead of these people otherwise we will be crowded at every stop so she changed the order of her itinerary on the spot:)  This was in September this year.

We had a fabulous tour with Heidi at Bermuda Byways https://www.bermudabyways.com/.

She knows and LOVES her island - we did the 6+ hour tour in September and loved it!

Thank you all! I will email ahead and then face-to-face with a smile will be my back-up 🙂

Difficulty in the booking is I booked through the US site and my mom and sisters through the UK and Ireland sites so it wasn't possible to book all 5 cabins on the same booking.

If we can't link the dining then I guess it will be buffet😉

Hi,

This is our first time on MSC - we are sailing out of Barcelona on the Grandiosa and I am meeting other family members on board. We have all chosen early dining but can I request that we all sit together? Would I do that before the cruise or when on-board?

Does it matter that my DH and I have the EasyPlus drinks package and they don't?

Thanks!

4 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

 

(3) We rented two cars from Dimitris Vardaramatos (dvardar_89kef@me.com) from kefalonia-auto.rentals .  I was very happy with the rental in part for the following reasons:

- the cars that he rented were in a great shape;

- the rental process was very quick, both outgoing and returning;

- the price was reasonable;

- we did not need a deposit when I reserved the cars; and

- the car rental place is very close to the pier (Leof. Ioannou Metaxa 10, corner with Leof. Antoni Tritsi, 38.1838°N 20.4879°E) compared to other car rental places.

Thank you!

On 6/25/2022 at 3:44 PM, pdmlynek said:

SummerInKefalonia is right, as usual.  

 

We rented cars in Argostoli, and drove exactly like SummerInKefalonia suggested.  We stopped by Assos on our way to Fiskardo, had a delicious lunch at Fiskardo, and stopped by  Myrtos Beach on the way back.  Kefalonia was our favorite island, actually.

Which car rental did you use? I have sent messages to three different agencies and all say they do not rent for one day.

@Jaclyn1945What did you think of your tour? Will be in Santorini this September on NCL.

They all have the same menu but the Manhattan room has music and a dance floor!

Thank you for sharing! I love your positive attitude! 

Can you take your own photos? Not during the "interaction"  but just photos of the beach with the pigs on it? And non-interactng pigs? Or are "cameras" banned (for safety reasons of course 🙂 )

Look at the menus - ask the bartender - don't ask for the souvenir glasses (they are not included) We have never been charged extra (not to say that others may have!) I will order a double Baileys as my after dinner drink and its always been included - multiple ships, multiple times.  Be nice to your bartenders and servers ! The one thing that might be charged unknowlingly is if you order an Irish coffee (or other 'specialty coffees') it is not included but a coffee and a whiskey is... just have to mix it yourself!

My DH and I check our onboard account everyday (on the TV in the cabin) and then there are no surprises.

My favorite thing about the having the drinks package is NOT having to think about having the $15 cocktail that I may or may not like or trying the special of the day just to see what's so special about it!

13 hours ago, RBrowny said:

Hi, I haven’t cruised in a very long time and I’m a little confused. We have the drinks package which comes with the current offer.

 

I was wondering how it works, I think it’s drinks up to $15 if I’m correct. But what if I order say a Vodka and a Coke, would that add both the values together which could go over $15 or how does it work? 
 

Also, with every order, do you have to sign or can you just go to the bar, order drink then walk away? Again, sorry it’s been a while since I’ve been on a cruise, probably 8 years now.

 

thanks in advance! 

Drinks up to $15 - they have quite a selection of vodkas that qualify under the program. You can order two drinks at a time and I have never noticed a limit on the number of drinks you can have in an hour but I am sure someone on here will know! On our recent cruise in October we did not sign for anything at any bar the only time we signed was in Cagneys but that was for an upcharge. Even in NYC where we had to pay taxes there was no paper - just got to count our drinks on hte on-board accout! Generally you order your drinks and they run the card, if there are two of you sharing a cabin they will only run one card. You can also order glasses of wine with dinner, just not a bottle, with the package - well you can drink a bottle of wine with dinner just one glass at a time😁

Thanks! @debenson0723 and @tony@stanton19.freeserve.

Hi,

How much was the taxi from the cruise terminal to the airport? There will be four of us with luggage trying to decide if i will go with the NCL transfer or go it alone.

Thanks

I have severe food allergies and NCL are wonderful! I fill out the access form ahead of the cruise then on embarkation day I go to where they are doing restaurant reservations (in Headliners on my most recent cruise on the Breakaway) and meet with the Maitre'D responsible for "special dining".

I have to preorder my food for the next day but I have never had any food issues on NCL unlike may restaurants on land! I generally only eat at the MDR for breakfast and lunch, dinner either at the MDR or a specialty restaurant. I have on past cruises at the buffet but I always ask the  Maitre'D if I am "OK" to eat whatever I have picked.  Only downside is that you have to know a day ahead what you want to eat 🙂

You can book reservations at all the MDR - we never have. Not sure about "outdoor activities" but I just like walking around the deck or the jogging track or just sitting looking at the ocean!

As for paying extra for "stuff" while onboard the choice is yours! The only "upcharge" my DH and I pay is his "has to be Starbucks" morning coffee!

Agree with @KeithJenner the Getaway docked at Nynashamn when we did this cruise in 2019.

While I would always book a balcony this was such a port intensive cruise that we didn't spend much time on our balcony though the bartenders at Syd Normans knew us by name 😄

That said I did enjoy my early mornings on my balcony and the cruise into St. Petersburg is really nice and worth the early morning rise!  Most of the piers that you dock at are in commercial ports so not the prettiest but interesting.

If money was a concern I would go for an interior and spend the cash you saved on a private tour of St. Petersburg - it was definitely worth the money!

This weekend I stayed at CitizenM hotel on 50th (between 7th and 8th) - clean,  quiet and nice restaurant/bar area of the lobby. They have another bar but we didn't go to it. All the staff we dealt with were very nice.

Rooms are small (think inside cabin!) but you have an ipad to control blinds, lights and AC, comfortable bed. Close to subway.

Doable walk to cruise terminal - actually walked down on Sunday to see the Breakaway! Would consider staying here if going on a cruise - this weekend was in NYC for a family event.

20 hours ago, njhorseman said:

If there are no ships arriving or departing that day you will not be able to park at the terminal. Even in there is a ship or ships arriving/departing that day the parking deck(s) being used might not be the same as will be used for your ship, meaning that upon disembarkation you would have to trudge to the proper parking deck.

Thank you!

Question - if we arrive in NYC on Saturday (we cruise sunday) can we park at the cruise terminal? Or would we have to find a lot for the Saturday night and then drive to the terminal to park on Sunday?

If you accidentally don't log out then a trip to the Internet cafe will normally get it reset  - at least for your first memory slip! On one of my cruises the server went down while I was was logging off so I couldn't log off. As with almost every crew member I have ever encountered on NCL the Internet Cafe "guy" was really nice and he reinstated my minutes.

My husband and I share the minutes and would say that the 250 minute limit reinforces "you are on vacation put down the device" 🙂