Have You Taken a Med Cruisetour Through NCL?

[ronandannette]

Seriously considering booking the 10 Day Western Med Cruisetour (3 days pre-cruise in Rome) for next November. I'd like to know what hotels are assigned for the land portion. The "fine print" on the website says that hotels won't be assigned until after final payment, which is 11 months from now. My curiosity won't tolerate not knowing for that long - LOL.:p

 

Seriously though, my issue is trying to decide whether the price of the cruisetour is favourable against doing the pre-cruise days in Rome separately. The quality of the hotel they include will make a big difference.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited September 23, 2014 by ronandannette

[milolii]

Are these cruise tours fairly new? That might be why hotel deals are not yet confirmed? My experience has been that tour operators in Europe can often secure better hotel deals than an individual. I have been on European tours with Globus, but must admit that I visited trip advisor to research the hotels before booking the trip. Sometimes tour hotels are located away from the city centre as well. I would most likely pick my own hotel and DYI.

 

I hope you get a reply from someone who has been on one of these tours. If decide to DYI, visit the Italy board for lots of excellent advice.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[TSUmom]

Seriously considering booking the 10 Day Western Med Cruisetour (3 days pre-cruise in Rome) for next November. I'd like to know what hotels are assigned for the land portion. The "fine print" on the website says that hotels won't be assigned until after final payment, which is 11 months from now. My curiosity won't tolerate not knowing for that long - LOL.:p

 

Seriously though, my issue is trying to decide whether the price of the cruisetour is favourable against doing the pre-cruise days in Rome separately. The quality of the hotel they include will make a big difference.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

We are doing this cruise tour in May. Our Hotel on our booking says The Grand Hotel Palatino and the tour is through Gate1. We are really looking forward to this and since it is our first trip to Europe we thought a tour would be easiest although probably a bit more expensive.

[ronandannette]

We are doing this cruise tour in May. Our Hotel on our booking says The Grand Hotel Palatino and the tour is through Gate1. We are really looking forward to this and since it is our first trip to Europe we thought a tour would be easiest although probably a bit more expensive.

 

I'm thinking the exact same thing.

 

Your information is very helpful. Any other details you'd be able to share? I googled that that hotel and it looks OK, although I have no idea what to expect for comparable standards. If you don't mind me asking, are you paid in full or just deposited? Maybe they will identify the hotel after I actually make a deposit. I'm quite nervous to go ahead since it's impossible to research airfare for next fall and from here, the prices really fluctuate seasonally. A high airfare could off-set any savings on a lower priced date for the cruisetour.

Edited September 23, 2014 by ronandannette

[jensmi]

We did this tour in July/August last year and the hotel they had us at was Hotel Mediterraneo. When we first booked the trip they told us it would be that hotel or there was another one close by, but they were both part of the Bettoja chain of hotels. The tour was through Gate1.

[TSUmom]

I'm thinking the exact same thing.

 

Your information is very helpful. Any other details you'd be able to share? I googled that that hotel and it looks OK, although I have no idea what to expect for comparable standards. If you don't mind me asking, are you paid in full or just deposited? Maybe they will identify the hotel after I actually make a deposit. I'm quite nervous to go ahead since it's impossible to research airfare for next fall and from here, the prices really fluctuate seasonally. A high airfare could off-set any savings on a lower priced date for the cruisetour.

 

Just the deposit and the hotel is on our reservation. My PCC gave me the name of the hotel at the time of booking. You can look up Gate1 online - the website shows the itinerary and the optional evening tours as well. On the home page under sea cruises you will see NCL. Airfare killed us but I have been watching since we booked last fall and the prices keep going up so we just booked. Besides, we needed to try and coordinate flights with others and ended up all flying to Chartlotte and then over to Rome.

 

I looked into doing a DYI and we could have saved a bit of money but as I said we are new at Europe and 3 in our group are in their 60's and 70's which made me decide catching trains may not be a pleasant experience for them. Even if it were just DH and I we would probably still do the tour though.

[jensmi]

We really liked having everything taken care of and coordinated through Gate1/NCL. Our tour guide in Rome was Francesca and she was great. There was plenty of time to do stuff on your own. Even signing up for the optional tours still gave us some time on our own. A couple of things to note:

1) Be sure you have the appropriate clothing for the Vatican. Some people on the tour did not and even though we all managed to get through, that might not always be the case.

2) The tour guide apparently has some flexibility in when they leave for different parts of the tour. It was very hot when we were there, so some of the stuff that was supposed to be later in the day ended up being done first thing in the morning. I just mention this because if you do want to schedule some things on your own, that could come into conflict.

 

We spent one last day in Rome on our own when the cruise was over and we were comfortable doing so after spending a few days with Francesca.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have based on our experience.

Edited September 23, 2014 by jensmi

[grovesteve]

My wife and I did the cruise tour this summer from Venice to Rome for 7 days before boarding the Epic for a 7 day cruise. As mentioned previously it is actually a Gate 1 tour. In Rome we also stayed in the Hotel Palatine. It is a very nice hotel. A two block way to the Collisium and near most of the historical items in Rome you will want to see. The tour guides were great. I really reccommend if you have the and money go the tour from Venice to Rome. How many times are you going to do this trip. It was worth the money.

Steve R from Ill

[brreid]

We booked the cruise tour from Venice. For June 2015. I had friends tell me the lines for the big attractions were hours long but tours skip the queu. That was the deciding factor for me. And the hotels look great too! Palatino in Rome.

Edited November 22, 2014 by brreid
Spelling

[NLVCruiser702]

DW and I are on the same NCL cruisetour that TSUmom listed for May 2015. From the reviews I have read, the tour has been identical and provided by Gate 1 for several years. When we booked in May 2014 for May 2015, I was told NCL didn't have the contracts signed with the tour provider for 2015 yet, so we had the same situation as the OP mentioned. I found the same info TSUmom mentioned at the Gate1 website, so that was a good guide as to what to expect and which hotel would LIKELY be used. Unless the Hotel Grand Palatino really messes up, I wouldn't expect a change.

[grovesteve]

We did tour this past July. It was fantastic. The hotel in Rome is in a great location. Make sure you are in good shape I think every hill in Rome is uphill. It made me realize I should loose weight and now have lost forty pounds since we got home

[brreid]

We did tour this past July. It was fantastic. The hotel in Rome is in a great location. Make sure you are in good shape I think every hill in Rome is uphill. It made me realize I should loose weight and now have lost forty pounds since we got home

 

Great! Did you get a lot of time on your own? Were you able to skip long lines for the big attractions, being with a tour?

[grovesteve]

At the Vatican there are special lines for your groups much much shorter then doing it on your own. There is free time. We took some of the extra tours. We did find this tour the perfect combination of tours snd free time. Anything else you want to know?

[brreid]

What extra tours did you take? And was there anything that wasn't covered by the tour that you wish you had seen?

 

Did you fly into Venice the day before the tour started? And did you take an extra day in Rome after the cruise? If so, where did you stay?

[grovesteve]

We did the afternoon tour of a museum in Florence and an afternoon walking tour of Rome for the fountains and other items. Unfortunately the Trevoli fountain was closed for renovation. We had plenty of time to see other things we wanted to go.

[brreid]

Did you fly into Venice the day before the tour started? And did you take an extra day in Rome after the cruise? If so, where did you stay?

[grovesteve]

The tour started with a dinner the first day. We flew in that morning. We had all day to your Venice on our own. It was wonderful. We flew home the day the cruise ended. By that time we were ready to be home.

[puddles99]

I'm so glad to read about experiences with the CruiseTours! We're considering one of these for 2016. Did anyone notice if there were many (or any!) kids on the tours? If so, did they seem engaged / interested or bored out of their minds? For reference, I'm not talking about little ones - mine would be 11 & 14 if we book for 2016. Thanks in advance!

[grovesteve]

One preteen girl only

[jensmi]

Did you fly into Venice the day before the tour started? And did you take an extra day in Rome after the cruise? If so, where did you stay?

 

We stayed at the Airport Hilton Rome after the cruise for 1 night. We had an early flight the next day so wanted to be close to the airport. But they also had a free shuttle into downtown Rome several times a day so we did that and were able to wander around on our own.

 

I'm so glad to read about experiences with the CruiseTours! We're considering one of these for 2016. Did anyone notice if there were many (or any!) kids on the tours? If so, did they seem engaged / interested or bored out of their minds? For reference, I'm not talking about little ones - mine would be 11 & 14 if we book for 2016. Thanks in advance!

 

We had a couple teenagers - maybe age 14 or 15 - on our tour. At least one seemed to enjoy it, the other was very quiet so hard to tell.

[brreid]

Jensmi, do you how long was the shuttle ride from the Hilton to Rome centre?

[jensmi]

Jensmi, do you how long was the shuttle ride from the Hilton to Rome centre?

 

I think about 1/2 hour. I know they had a shuttle schedule posted on their website.

[TSUmom]

We stayed at the Airport Hilton Rome after the cruise for 1 night. We had an early flight the next day so wanted to be close to the airport. But they also had a free shuttle into downtown Rome several times a day so we did that and were able to wander around on our own.

 

 

 

We are staying at the Airport Hilton for one night also and the shuttle was the selling point.

[brreid]

I will definitely look into the Hilton then. And I am assuming they have a shuttle to the airport also?

[jensmi]

I will definitely look into the Hilton then. And I am assuming they have a shuttle to the airport also?

 

 

Yes, they had an airport shuttle.