MeHeartCruising

Larger international airports (like Barcelona) will have currency exchange booths for you to convert Euros to Dollars. Expect a bad exchange rate. They usually won’t accept coins unless it helps round out the transaction to make it easier for them. I also would recommend that you only bring a minimal amount with you (or none) and just get a small amount from ATMs as needed. Then I just try to spend it down to as close to zero as I can before I leave Europe. Use credit cards whenever you can. I also just keep the leftover Euros for a future trip. But, if you don’t think you will go again, convert the rest even though the exchange rate sucks.

You MAY be able to purchase an excursion once on the ship, so you can check that if you don't pre-book something else. But it's not a guarantee. If you're up to walking in the heat, it's a beautiful walk along the caldera from Fira to Oia. You would need to ride the cable car up to Fira from the tender boat dock. With your short time in port, you'd probably just be able to walk part of the way and then back to Fia, however. In summer temps, it's dry and hot. Take water. If you're not interested in eating/drinking/buying crap (I'm not either), then simply going up to Fira won't excite you much. However, there are great views and small museum and church to visit, if I recall. Certainly better than staying on the ship all day. There is a public bus that runs to various points on the island (such as Oia) and back. But they can be crowded when tourists pack the island. But worth looking into. There usually is a boat waiting at the tender dock to take people to Oia (for a fee). It will sit there for a while until they have a full boat for the voyage. I think that includes a bus ticket back to Fira (but you should check on that).

I forget the details, but this is a problem caused by your choice of computer or browser. I had it happen to me. I think when I open the doc from my Mac computer using Safari Browser. I think I found it was normal using a Windows computer using Firefox browser. Or something like that. Perhaps others can provide more current info.

I would bet that the guided portion of the tour takes you to near where they turn you free for your “on your own time”. I bet they say you can go in the theatre if you choose to, after paying the fee. But just a guess.

Our Bruges stop was also cancelled last fall and replaced with the Amsterdam overnight. Taking the train to Delft makes for a nice day.

This does indeed sound like a way to avoid riding the cable car up or walking/riding the donkey path up to Fira. How much are they charging for what will likely be a 15 minute bus ride (each way?)?

To clarify a bit. Fira/Thira does not have a port that supports buses. Fira is perched on a high cliff. The port below Fira is referred to as the "Old Port". Motorized vehicles cannot reach this port. This is the port where tender boats drop you off from the ship when you are not on an excursion. You then ride the cable car or a donkey up to Fira. It is possible that some boat-based excursions can begin here. There are usually private boats here that can take you over to Oia for a fee. But be aware that the common complaint is that the boat will sit there for quite a long time until it is full. People have complained about how long this process takes. When you do take a boat over to Oia, it drops you off at a port and then they provide a bus up to the top where Oia sits. There is a second port called Athinios, which DOES support buses. This port is a mile or 2 south of Fira, so not far. But technically, it is not the Fira port. This is where tender boats drop you if you are on a SHIP excursion that is met by a bus. Generally, you cannot ride a tender to this port from a ship without being on a ship excursion. To the OP, it is confusing what the private tour is telling you. If they say they pick up at FIRA PORT, that sounds like the Old Port. Which would mean that they are taking you to Oia by boat with no buses involved in that part of the trip. They probably provide you with a private bus or a ticket for a public bus to get from Oia back to Fira. But you should ask about that portion of the trip. You would then ride the cable car back down to your ship. If they are saying they would pick you up at Athinios port, then your issue is that you can't get there without being on a ship excursion. I would ask the tour company for clarification. There are many discussions on this topic in the Greece port forum. You should read thru them if you have not already.

A couple of the above answers seem to be preoccupied with the online bidding upgrade process that NCL now uses. However, You can always call NCL at any time and ask what it would cost to upgrade your cabin to a higher category. They are happy to do that math for you. But it will be based on current pricing of the higher cabin. There have been reports of people doing just this. Especially if the price of the cruise has dropped since initial booking. If “I can pay this” gets you to the current selling price of the higher cabin, they will indeed happily take your money.

Don’t feel bad. You are not the only one. Someone asks about it almost every month I would say. You’d think NCL would change the wording, but it’s been that way for many years. Enjoy Barcelona. It’s a great city. Also, the official “all aboard” time for each port will be written in the daily flyer they give you each day. They also typically have a reminder sign on the gangway as you leave the ship.

The cruise line doesn’t offer one? I went to Sounion on a Royal Caribbean excursion many years ago. While I loved the Temple of Poseidon and the surrounding views, to be honest, I thought that the drive to get there was too long and boring to make the trip worth it. I would have rather visited more in Athens at that time. Just my unsolicited two cents.

ok. But in this thread you posted a picture of a map showing your desired Vista Yauchting location. That map location is in Fira. Not Oia. Just want to make sure you know that.

You would need to piece together multiple threads to follow the logic. If I understand it correctly, The OP only wants to use an Oia excursion to get off the boat quickly in Athinios early so they can then get a private ride to Fira where the private excursion meets. It’s all an effort to meet a 9:15 private excursion.

I'm not sure what you've read, but your "2 hour" reasoning won't apply in Barcelona. For a ship arriving in Barcelona, you will probably be able to get off for sightseeing within 30-45 minutes of the stated docking time. Possibly 15-30 minutes, if everyone does their job properly. And generally, at almost all ports of call, passengers need to be back on ship 30 minutes prior to the stated sailing time. Sometimes it is an hour. I suggest you try to be back one hour prior to sailing. I suspect you might be on an NCL ship and have read this 2 hour guideline on their website. NCL has a badly worded statement on their site indicating you must be on ship 2 hours prior to sailing. This only applies to your initial embarkation port. So if your cruise begins in Rome and sails at 4pm. They want you on board by 2pm. But only for that initial embarkation port. Other ports its typically 30 minutes prior to sailing. So if you're docked in Barcelona from 9am to 9pm (based on what you said above), I would expect that you will have roughly 9:30am to 8:30pm on shore if you wish to push it. I would probably do 9:30 to 8:00 to be safe.

Your plan may work. However, you really cannot (I say again, cannot) be certain of any timing in Santorini to the exact time. There are lots of moving parts with the ships arriving, getting ready to tender, coordinating with tender boats (they usually use ones from the island), etc. In my experience an excursion that says it starts at 7:30 will have you meet in a public area (the ship theatre, for example) at 7:15. You will sit there and wait until it is your turn to get on a tender boat that is in place to take you. Keep in mind, there may be other excursions in addition to your also starting at 7:30. There may be some starting at 7:15. There may be so many people on your excursion that they need to do 3, 4, 5 busloads of people. Each of those will be in a different group, potentially called to different tender boats. Potentially everyone going to Oia On Your Own will fit in one bus and will all be called together. You just won't know until it happens. Again, in my experience, ideally, an excursion starting at 7:30 will be heading toward a tender boat between 7:30 and 7:45. I would expect that process to get you to shore would be 30-45 minutes. But it could be longer. A best guess, would be to tell your driver 8:30-8:45. But do not blame anyone but yourself if stars do not align and your plans are thwarted negatively impacted. Your plan is not a normal plan of operation for anyone involved. I should add, that when tendering is involved, I have waited for 30-45 minutes past the "start time" of my excursion without any movement from the theatre. It can happen. Please, please, please, do take the time to specifically find the tour guide (not an NCL employee) who is assigned to your tour group for the bus ride. Find them and tell them you will not be actually going on the tour. Otherwise, they will sit there trying to figure out why the number of passengers doesn't match up to what NCL is telling them. If you don't do this, Everyone on that bus will suffer with a delay for their excursion while you are in a vehicle on the way to meet your special situation.

I filled out the forms well in advance for my May B2B Explorer cruise out of Rome and Ravenna. The info showed up on my cruise confirmation well before sailing. Upon arrival to my cabin there was nothing in my room. I had to ask my steward about it. A gallon of distilled water and an extension cord were in my room after I got back from dinner.

Yes, you will be able to change specialty restaurant reservations. subject to availability, of course. Same with excursions. Some will still likely be sold out.

Good point cruisemom42. There was a vending machine selling at least water in the same structure as the bathrooms. I don't recall if it had other beverages. It wasn't hot when we were there, so there wasn't a real rush to buy drinks really. There was a little bit of space in this area to get shade. But nothing designed specifically for that. Also, this building is right by the pier where you arrive/depart. Once you're out and about on the island, it's not exactly a convenient place to pop into to continue with your exploration of the island. You'd be backtracking. But I suppose you could if you wanted to bad enough.

I would agree with marazul. This sounds like the traditional excursions that have existed for years. Excursion tender boat to Athinios port (south of Fira). Bus ride to Oia (north of Fira). Time on your own in Oia. Bus ride back to Fira. Cable car back to the Old Port. Regular tender boat back to ship.

Oh, they are primarily for hauling tourists up the cliff (and down, I think).

I was just on Delos in May. There were no open buildings other than the restrooms.

What exactly does the ship excursion say it will do? Typically, ship excursions tender passengers to Athinios port where they meet buses that take you to the excursion locations. After that is done, the ship repositions to the Old Port where they tender the rest of the passengers to the cable car lower station. At this cable car location, there is usually a private boat (or 2) that sell tickets to Oia. These boats are not part of any ship excursion. These are the boats that generally sit there until they are full. Once they are full, they head toward Oia. Included in this boat is a bus ride from the port below Oia (it is not Athinios!) up to Oia. They also, I think, include a ticket for the public bus ride back to Fira (the upper town where the cable car ends). The map you posted indicates that you want to get to Fira. I think your fastest route to get up there is via the cable car or the donkey path. Or take a ship excursion that brings you back to Fira (most do) in time to meet your appointment. With your long day in port, perhaps that is what you had in mind.

Worst case, are you willing and able to do a 30 minute walk down the donkey path? (I've done it and it wasn't awful, but opinions vary). I think your suggested timing should work. But just in case it doesn't...

I would guess between 8:30 and 9:00. You have to be tendered to shore and put on a bus. Then the bus drives to Oia, which is 20-30 minutes probably.

Unless the cruise line has told you otherwise, the boarding process/timing in Europe is pretty much exactly as you've experienced in Miami or elsewhere for your Caribbean cruises. I'm usually a 10-10:30 arrival. I like to get on the ship quickly and start the trip. As in the States, sometimes I have to wait around before they start the process.

I was recently on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas for B2B cruises to the Adriatic and Greek ports. The Windjammer buffet had a different nationality theme night pretty much every night on one portion of their buffet. Greek was one of those nights. But the majority of the buffet was normal cruise buffet variety. I didn't visit the MDRs. The Specialty restaurants had their normal menu.