hoopslover

We just booked the Viva for June 2025 and our TA added the BOGO airfare with 2 day deviation. Got confirmation from NCL as soon as we paid our deposits.

We were there last July in your same type of itinerary. I know that some people left the first evening and didn't spend the night. Since our flight wasn't until 4 pm we did a tour of the town with a drop off at the airport at noon. I think the ship clears customs when it arrives and you can self walk off as early as you need to. Hope this helps.

Has anyone done the Supper Club on the Escape? If so please give me details. This is our first time on this ship. Have done other NCL ships but that wasn't an option I don't think.

I have been on 2 NCL cruises since the one a day service. I don't miss the turn down service but I missed the clean towels. I solved that by requesting the cabin attendant leave 2 or 3 bath towels per person when the room was cleaned each day and there were always dry towels. We tipped him well!

There were 4 of us traveling together. I asked on our roll call and got 2 other couples to join us so we had 8

We used Overlord Tours. Best excursion ever!

Thanks. I already contacted them but since we dock so late and the sites close at either 5 or 6 it wasn't possible for them to help.

Thanks for sharing. That is the excursion in Malta that we wanted but we don't dock until 1 pm and it isn't listed. I finally found a private guide through Viator and am hoping they show up and take us to the ruins.

Did you book the ancient ruins through NCL? It is not being offered on our cruise as our port times are 1-10 pm. If you booked private could you please share who you used. My husband really wants to see the ruins on Malta. The ones on Viator leave too early for our port times. Thanks for any help.

My friend ordered it without fois gras and it was fine with them.

We did the Jewel b2b and loved it. On the turnaround day in Seward we booked the excursion through Major Marine for 6 hours. We saw so much wildlife and it was a great day. They are located near the pier and may have transportation to their office a few blocks away. Loved the Jewel with the observation lounge to be able to see all of the scenery when we didn't want to be in our stateroom. Enjoy!

Same with us. I can't wait to go back to Norway. The Golden Circle small group tour in Reykjavik was great.

Wasn't able to get in on the Prima in July so I was determined to wait forever to get in on the Breakaway. First show waited about 15 minutes and got a seat. The next time for Rumours we got in but there were no seats left so we went out back and they had the speakers by the bar outside and we listened to the show. We got in the last night for the Prom Night performance. It was also a new crew of performers that boarded when we did and they were amazing!

We couldn't make reservations for all of our specialty dining and latitude perk dinners. Halfway through the cruise on the Breakaway I called the dining number from our stateroom and he said that since we were sapphire we had priority dining and to just go to the restaurant and ask if we could get in without a reservation. She looked at our card saying sapphire and said that we would be seated very quickly. The hostess at Taste also noted the latitude status and we were always seated before others who were waiting. Doesn't hurt to ask if you have status. I wouldn't have been disappointed if they couldn't accommodate us but it was good to know that our loyalty was appreciated last month on the Breakaway.

With record number of travelers going to Europe I would wait a few days to hear from them. Unless it is a private tour they have to check the ship, the date and see if a group has already been started for that particular excursion. If there isn't one they usually reply that they will start a group and let you know when the minimum reservations have occurred. I have only used them for shared excursions and I don't know what the procedure is for booking a private tour. It may also depend on when you are sailing. They may still be having staffing problems or lack of tour guides in all of their ports. There is a lot of follow up closer to your sailing once booked. Hope this helps.

We experienced the train on disembarkation day. Our Uber kept cancelling because he could not get over the train tracks. The taxis came in another way so we had to go down to that exit and take a taxi to our hotel.

Thanks. One less thing to pack

We were on the Prima in Amsterdam and they changed the starting time for the NCL excursion by 30 minutes. That put our return time at back on board time. They said not to worry. Well two busses full of that excursion was caught in rush hour traffic returning to the ship and we arrived an hour late which was after sailing time. The ship waited for us. We were less than half a mile from the ship and could have walked back faster than the busses were moving.

If anyone has done the dolphin encounter and stingray sandbar excursion on Grand Cayman could you please comment on the advisability of water shoes. It says you will be standing on a submerged platform for the entirety of the program. Is it rough with splinters or smooth enough to go barefoot? Any help or advise welcome.

We were on Prima in July from Southampton to Iceland. Loved the ship but not for cold weather cruise. Most of the outside was unusable due to the colder weather. I would like to sail her again in warm weather. The ship is beautiful.

Did you enjoy the mini train in Nice?

Thanks so much for the information.

How was your tour from Livorno to Siena and San Giminagno? We were booked on this tour when covid hit and we were cancelled. We are booked for next May and are beginning to look at excursions. Thanks for any additional information or suggestions for this excursion. Donnna

Thanks for your personal opinion. We used a private guide in a mini van when we were there in 2004 and it was a wonderful day. I was trying to decide on private vs. Italytours.eu. We have a year to go before we sail so I am just gathering information. It was very crowded even then but I am sure it is so much worse now. We did Pompeii on our way back to Naples which we don't care to do again. You can't beat the beautiful views!

Can you give any more specific details of your day on the Amalfi coast? How long in each city, how much walking, what not to miss, etc. Thanks!