QuattroRomeo

I'm going on the Jade for Christmas and I hope you ment Kipling bags, with little monkeys on the side?

Was it maybe Vera Bradley? On the Dawn a couple of months ago they had a nice selection of Guess and Kenneth Cole Reaction handbags. There was one that I really liked but couldn't justify buying a purse on a ship... I am sure the prices were comparable to land based shops but I didn't need it. :)

Sorry, I have tried to remember the name and even looked through my photos, but to no avail. It was definitely not Kipling (sorry) or Vera Bradley- both of those brands look much nicer than what was on board! They did have a few Fiorelli bags, but they were quite plain looking. The selection wasn't great on the Jade, maybe because the VAT taxes added for goods sold on the western Med itinerary meant that sales were slower?

Anyway I hope that the Breakaway has a better assortment. Abe3, you might try posting your question on the Cruise Discussion topics forum, via the Cruise Fashion and Beauty threads; the ladies there are very helpful and can find deals on just about everything!

On the Jade last month, I recall seeing some Guess bags, (and another brand whose name escapes me- with very brightly coloured geometric patterns on the fabric).Not a huge selection, nor were the prices 'deals' to me. But Getaway should have a bit larger inventory I would think. Then you could compare prices and styles with the duty free shops in your ports of call.

Strange: I can't think of any configuration that would require WT+ to walk all the way to the aft end of the cabin to get to a toilet. There are some configurations where the nearest toilets are at the aft of the first economy section, so you'd have to walk through that to get to them, but they're still forward of another economy section.

You are probably right; we had a 787 going over, and the PE section was smaller on it than on the 777 coming back. The 777 had a washroom immediately after the curtain behind PE. The 787 did not though; I remember having to walk past several rows of passengers (and seeing how cramped they looked)!So maybe 2 sections of economy? Anyway I was half asleep, but it felt funny on both planes to pass through a curtain, and get the 'why are you using our washroom' looks! Certainly not a big deal comfort wise, but it did feel a little odd!

Yes, we had 1 stop at Heathrow for a couple of hours. The flight to Rome was of course on a different, smaller plane and had no PE, but we still got really good seat positions and it was a short flight. The timing of arrival was fine for us, so the stopover wasn't a problem. We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise so even if the luggage was late, we had a bit of a cushion.

The seats were quite comfy, the meals were really good, and there was a decent variety of shows to choose from on the tv screen. Plus hubby could plug in his CPAP. As a tall person, I appreciated the leg room. We did enjoy the extra comfort, and felt much better on arrival, than our last trip.

The only thing that was a little odd was the washroom wasteland for our seat class! It felt weirdly intrusive to have to walk to the back of the plane for a washroom! It was better on the flight home-on that plane, the washroom was just behind our PE area, but still had to part through the curtain!

Hi Travelanni, I had a look at your terrific site and think that we will want to see Warnemunde, Schwerin and Ludwigslust during our port stop next September!

We are there on a Monday, and although I can see many sites are closed, I am hoping that it will be an interesting day without too much travel time between the towns. We would like a relaxed day with time to explore and enjoy meeting the local residents, trying the food and enjoying the scenery.

Do you think Schwerin will not be disappointing even if the castle is closed? Of course it will give us more time to try out the cafes! Combined with Ludwigslust - are these towns small enough to do this without being rushed? The ship is is port until 10 pm. So hopefully there will be time in late afternoon or evening for Warnemunde too. Appreciate any suggestions or thoughts. Thanks!

We booked starboard for our future NCL cruise out of Copenhagen. Looked at the itinerary and a map, and for the direction we go in, IF there is anything close enough to see landwise, it will be starboard. On other cruises we've had, only a few ports were light enough to see anything (as in morning light), as we got close to port. But if you have the choice, why not pick that side??:)

Once you're in port, you never know which side the dock will be on! Hope you enjoy the cruise, no matter where your room is located!

Thanks for the report Calex, it is interesting to know what happens in such circumstances!

Just thought I would come back and thank everyone who helped us decide on flights to Rome, for our November cruise! We very much enjoyed BA's premium economy flights..(Heathrow itself, not so much..!)

Now to decide on what to do for Copenhagen next year!

Thanks again.

Thanks for sharing the lovely photos! I enjoyed the Salerno ones, as we haven't docked there yet; and, if I read your descriptions correctly, the town near/of Mt. Etna? We haven't gone near Etna yet, just Taormina. Is there enough there to recommend it as a trip for the day from Messina?

We had several hangers with clips, on the Jade earlier this month. You could always ask your room steward for some I would think.

Make sure you try Moderno! The skewers of different types of meat will keep coming, until you turn your card over from green to red. Once you figure out your favourites, you can then just limit it to those ones!

We also enjoy the jazz brunch on NCL; it was offered on our cruise this month and the one last December. So at least that is still available (Jade and Sun).

We embarked on the Jade Nov.1 at Civitavecchia. Our shuttle left the hotel around noon, I think we got there about 1230 and it wasn't a bad lineup; they kept it moving right along. We boarded around 1pm, and headed to the dining room for a nice leisurely lunch.

Thank you QuattroRomeo for sharing your experience on the Jade. I'm glad to find out that if I go to a specialty restaurant by 7:30, there should be no wait and no reservation required.

Yes Chelly, that was our experience on the Jade this month and the Sun last December. The exception is the Teppanyaki restaurant, which has fewer seats and is more of an event dinner, being one where the food is chopped and cooked in front of you.

If you like special meals, the Jazz brunch on a sea day, and the Chef's Table gourmet dining event, are very nice. You will need to reserve those as soon as you get on board.

We just returned from a Med cruise on the Jade; because it was very port intensive, the ship amenities weren't the most important thing . However, the flexible dining was very convenient since we returned from ports at various times and were pretty tired, so we could just go and eat whenever we were ready. We go to the specialty restaurants and found it very easy to walk right in, no reservation, at most of them between 530-730.

We find the fares on NCL to be very good and so even with specialty dining, we still come out ahead. The entertainment is better than other lines we've been on, and there are still real live musicians in various bars and venues. There are quiet areas of the ship to retreat to as well.

The decor was less refined and less understated than say a HAL or Celebrity ship, but nothing wrong with it either. And we find NCL customer service orientation and the types of food available, much more to our liking than Carnival, but of course everyone has different ideas of good and bad when it comes to those things! For the cruise you have planned, I think NCL will serve you well!

Thanks Turtle, we were on board that sailing, so I'll have to add this photo to our souvenirs!

Thanks for taking the time to share your Baltics experience! It will definitely help us to prioritize things to see there on our next cruise.

We were there just 2 weeks ago on a guided tour that started at 1:30. The lineup wasn't bad at all to get in. As we went through, it was busy but I was able to take unobstructed photos just fine. By the time we got to the Sistine chapel, probably about 2:30, that room was noticeably more crowded-not shoulder to shoulder, but pretty crowded, though I was able to move around okay. The step that runs the length of the 2 sides of the room was completely full of people sitting. You can't take photos in there though, so it is easier to just look and admire. And they do want you to be quiet in the chapel, which is understandable. But it was kind of amusing-the security guards that were hushing people by shouting 'silence' were louder than the people talking..!

I ordered the party package last December for my DH's birthday on the Sun, through the "my NCL" log- in pre-cruise. The cabin was decorated with streamers and 2 happy birthday signs, plus a beautiful and delicious big cake! When we returned to the cabin after our day in port, he was greeted with the surprise. Your hubby will like it!

We just got back from our Med cruise and we had an excellent day in Florence . I set up a transfer from Livorno to Florence for 8 of us on the roll call, where 4 couples had their own plans for the day. DH and I visited both Accademia and Uffizi galleries.

The company we used was livornotoflorence.com and the driver/owner is Nicola Scavenna. Nicola offered to get the reservations for us and then helped us pick up our tickets to go right in! It was a great day for all, and' Nico' is just wonderful! Just describe to him what you want to do and he is very good at responding!

Pam

We just returned from our cruise and had excellent service from 2 Rome driver companies.

We used Bob's Limo: see romelimousines.com for our airport transfers, and we also used Stefano Rome tours, see stefanorometours.com for a combination transfer from the port at Civitavecchia, then continued on to Rome for an Angels and Demons all day tour, then were dropped off to our Rome hotel. They have a sister company that does straight transfers, see : romecabs.com

Both were absolutely reliable for pickup times and professional drivers!

Have you considered maybe a private tour, that you could post on your roll call to see if others want to join? Even with 4 people it can be affordable.

That way you can be picked up right outside the terminal. Tours like wine tastings, lunch at a farmhouse, or even pizza making are available from private tours, which wouldn't involve a lot of walking.

Thanks kiwi! Guess we'll need to research all the towns, to see what non-castle things there are to see. It sounds like you enjoyed Rostock, so at least that's a start!

Thanks for the comments about things to see from Warnemunde! The cruise we have planned for the Baltics next year will be there, unfortunately, on a Monday.. when I checked the various towns and their castles, everything like that is closed on Mondays.. Is Schwerin worth the visit anyway, or should we focus on other towns do you think? Thanks for any opinions!

We ordered the Anniversary package for our Sun cruise, which included roses and wine. Both were in the cabin when we arrived on embarkation day, along with cards detailing the rest of our goodies. It was very nicely done.

I also ordered the birthday package for DH (also pre-cruise online order) , for delivery mid-cruise. The decorations and a beautiful cake were there when we got back from our port of call visit!