jkgourmet

My husband and I booked a last minute 21 day Med/Greece/Turkey cruise for January. We will be arriving in R ome five days prior to cruise departure. We have never been to Rome before.

My husband cannot walk long distances, or stand in lines for long periods of time. In fact, we probably will skip most of the museums, but will want to visit the Vatican, Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and some other major sites. But what we REALLY enjoy when we travel is going to cafe's and restaurants that are favored by the locals (in fact, we rarely visit large cities anymore, preferring the smaller cities and towns).

I have very little time to plan our 5 night stay in Rome, but have been reading about Trastevere area, which sounds more like what we enjoy. Can anyone comment on this idea? And recommend a budget priced hotel or B&B?

Having decided at the last minute to book the Jan 8th 21 night departure of the Jade Med/Greece cruise, I'm in a serious rush to get myself organized. Hopefully, you'll forgive me for asking a few questions here instead of googling around for the answers.

1. Does the Jade have a lending library that I can access for books?

2. Is smoking allowed in the casino? (please say no)

3. Best places to sit indoors on bad weather or sea days to watch the scenery, preferably with a nearby bar?

4. Is it true that we absolutely DO NOT NEED formal wear?

5. Are there any self-service laundry facilities? If not, any idea what laundry is going to cost us? (We don't check luggage, so only one carry on bag a piece for a 21 day cruise!)

6. Your favorite restaurant and why?

Can you please provide the links? :D;)

Whoops, should have thought of that myself!

Here's the link to the fleet wide wine list. http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/WineList_Fleetwide_071513.pdf

HAL should take a page from X's book- two levels of beverage cards. X is offering the standard level card for drinks up to $8 and offers an up-sell to the "premium" package for drinks up to $12 (no limit per day on either). We'd gladly take the up-sell to the premium package and HAL would make something as opposed to just giving us the card on Explore 4

Very true. But even the basic package on X offers a decent choice and variety of wines. Not just one cab, one merlot, one chardonnay.

Not likely to be in wine shops. Try the grocery store and drug store shelves. Maybe trader joes.

I'm not trying to sound like a wine snob. Really! We drink two buck chuck regularly. And the Santa Carolina cab fits into that range of wine. It's certainly drinkable, but for another few bucks, I can get a bottle of something far better.

HAL needs to include a wider choice of wines by the glass to make their alcohol package acceptable, let alone competitive.

My apologies if this is in the wrong forum. Moderator, please move it if necessary.

We had been planning a Med/Greece 16+ day cruise for March, April or May. We prefer traveling shoulder season. But I came across a smoking deal on the NCL Jade in January. The price for this trip would be roughly 50% of what we would pay in April. Not sure if I can post a link here, but it departs 01/08/2014 for 21 nights.

So I'm wondering: What would the weather be like, overall, for these ports? We tend to stay on the ship quite a lot, and limit our excursions to shorter trips or only those that visit one place. We live in Raleigh, NC so we have winter and rain gear, but cold is definitely NOT our favorite thing.

Advice most appreciated and welcome.

found it. Thanks.

We are considering the alcohol package and need to see what the drinks and wine by the glass costs are to fully see if it's worth it to us.

anyone have a link or can post a recent copy?

Thank you JK.

 

Since the package is included I guess I can't complain too much but I agree with you - the house wine election seem to be sort of weak.

 

As for comparing NCL and Holland America for me there's no choice: Holland America is clearly the better selection?

I don't think one is "better" than the other. They are different products, and each appeal to different people. Probably both appeal to most people.

I will state, unequivocally, the NCL and Celebrity basic alcohol packages are FAR BETTER than HAL's.

In fact, Celebrity was our first choice. Unfortunately, the itineraries aren't as interesting as HAL and NCL, and many of the X ships don't get to the med until later in the year. That said, I'm going back to review them again.

Especially since the current promotion includes the alcohol package AND gratuities!

I'm confused. On our prior HAL cruises (some years ago), there was always a couple of bottles of water in the cabin and it was given out free when we got on or off the ship on port days.

On our Celebrity Cruise in December 2012, it was given out free when we got on or off the ship on port days. We often saved those for our cabin.

Are you saying HAL now charges three bucks for a bottle of water?

The explore four deal includes the Signature Alcohol package, correct?

If so, that will give you a choice of exactly three wines. Chardonnay, merlot and cabernet. All Santa Carolina, regular pruce $5.50 per glass. That's it. You'll pay full price (not just the difference) for any other wines.

IMHO, that is the greatest flaw in HAL's alcohol package.

Thanks for the reply. We absolutely DO skip port days as part of the pleasure of cruising for us is enjoying the ship on those days. And my husband has a limit on how much he can walk. So the lack of a pool or hot tub area for a march or April Med cruise may be the deciding factor.

The HAL signature package only includes 3 wines. The house chardonnay, cabernet and merlot, which regularly cost $5.50 per glass. No other wines are included. That would get pretty boring within just a few days.

Likewise, many of the drinks we would order are priced just a bit higher than the package limit. Even a vodka martini

To be fair, HAL's basic drink prices are a bit less than some other cruise lines, making the package value less significant. (for example, house wine on HAL $5.50 per glass, Celebrity $6.00-$7. 00 per glass. However, the celebrity house wine was considerably better than the Santa Carolina that HAL currently serves.)

We've sailed HAL many times very happily, but not in about 6-7 years. We sailed NCL once and it was a disappointing cruise. In retrospect, I think our problems were due to the time of year (many kids), embarkation/deparkation port (Galveston - mostly locals on the cruise) and the cost of the cruise itself (dirt cheap). Given the great itineraries offered by NCL for Med/Greek cruises, we are willing to give them another go.

One of the things that really bugs on cruises is constantly being nickle and dimed. This is something we hear a lot of complaints about on NCL. OTOH, we would prefer not to dress up much on this longer cruise, which is kinda required on HAL. And the Signature Alcohol package on HAL is awful, while NCL's is quite attractive (and we would prefer to have a package.)

We do inside guarantee cabins, and spend most of our time in the bar or poolside. We aren't spa people, and we go to about half the shows. We enjoy the MDR because we typically have enjoyed meeting new people when we cruise. We would like a pool/hot tub area that is covered when it's cool out (as it's likely to be in March/April). We are 57 and 70.

Can anyone compare and contrast the two cruiselines and two ships for us?

We've sailed HAL many times very happily, but not in about 6-7 years. We sailed NCL once and it was a disappointing cruise. In retrospect, I think our problems were due to the time of year (many kids), embarkation/deparkation port (Galveston - mostly locals on the cruise) and the cost of the cruise itself (dirt cheap). Given the great itineraries offered by NCL for Med/Greek cruises, we are willing to give them another go.

One of the things that really bugs on cruises is constantly being nickle and dimed. This is something we hear a lot of complaints about on NCL. OTOH, we would prefer not to dress up much on this longer cruise, which is kinda required on HAL.

We do inside guarantee cabins, and spend most of our time in the bar or poolside. We aren't spa people, and we go to about half the shows. We enjoy the MDR because we typically have enjoyed meeting new people when we cruise. We would like a pool/hot tub area that is covered when it's cool out (as it's likely to be in March/April). We are 57 and 70.

Can anyone compare and contrast the two cruiselines and two ships for us?

Bob Lin, where did you get this information? Link please???

It's their 123 Go offer:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/genericHtmlTemplate.do?icid=hp_cr2_123g_1311_s1go_lk_446917&pagename=choose_your_offer

Thanks. Sadly, Transatlantic cruises are exempt.

Don't forget to switch to the Nieuw Amsterdam instead of the Noordam.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean????

And thanks EVERYONE for the reassuring answers.

Like 32 cent a gallon gas with a set of glasses got us all hooked on driving way back when. :cool:

THAT'S the kind of thing that makes everyone worry that HAL is for old people who go to sleep at 7:30pm! :)

Don't forget to switch to the Nieuw Amsterdam instead of the Noordam.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean????

And thanks EVERYONE for the reassuring answers.

This is quite standard. The Collectors cruises can cost even less on a per diem basis sometimes. Air fare is the problem, but overall these Transatlantics can be very good deals

What are Collectors Cruises?

We cruised with HAL several times - very happily - but not in about ten years.

We are currently considering a repositioning cruise for spring or fall, 2014, and I came across a 14 night March 21, 2014 departure on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona for $699 inside, $799 oceanview for past guests, balcony $999. (from a very large online TA that we've successfully used several times before).

And an April 6, 2014 departure on the Nieuw Amsterdam, 14 nights, inside $699, Oceanview $899, Balcony $1099.

And 15 nights, April 8, 2014 departure on the Ryndam $699 inside, Ocean View $799, balcony much higher.

And 23 nights, March 30, 2014 departure on the Eurodam, $1399 inside, $1699 Ocean view. (with a very interesting itinerary that includes Spain and Greece.)

All of these also have at least $150+ OBC.

Those prices strike me as in the 'too good to be true' category. And we ALWAYS have sailed with an inside guarantee! So I gotta ask: What's the catch?

no cards in the room about the drink packages and no info sheet on the selection and prices for bottles for the room.

I suspect that's because you have to buy these packages BEFORE departure?

You can buy the signature beverage package online prior to sailing from HAL website. The cards will be in your room on embarkation. For the op remember that the signature beverage package cards only cover drinks of 7.00$ and less,also a maximum of 15 drinks per day.If you buy this package you must take your key card along with the beverage card on the first purchase, then all you will need for drink purchases would be the beverage card.

So what can you buy for a $7 drink? If you buy a more expensive drink, say a $10 martini, are you charged for the entire $10 or just the $3 difference?

Actually, if you pop over to the HAL board, I think you'll find that they have discontinued allowing passengers to bring wine aboard everywhere. Embarkation AND ports of call.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk