Live Updates NCL Star June 9-16

[Cyclospora]

7 hours ago, Jenjohncourt said:

 

Does the Star dock or tender in Mykonos and Dubrovnik

 

Thanks

It docks in those 2 places. There is a free shuttle to Mykonos and the Dubrovnik shuttle costs $15 for a return.

[Cyclospora]

6 hours ago, blondelinda said:

@Cyclospora. Thanks for your post. How scary for your Dad, I hope he was ok

 

>>We caught the fast boat from where the tender lands in Santorini and went to Fira. It's 15 euros per person. The boat takes you around to Oia and they tell you that there is a shuttle after the boat lands to take you into the town. They don't tell you that there is a 10 minute walk up a steep hill to get to the shuttle. It is worth it though :). There is another bus included in the price which goes from where the first bus drops you off which takes you to Fira and this is also included in the 15 euros.>>

 

When you get dropped off from the ferry to Oia, is the bus not at the landing where the ferry is? I have read it to believe the bus meets you where the ferry drops you off?. Also, can you confirm is it easy enough to get to Oia on your own, with this fast ferry and did you pre buy the tickets online or just get them once you tendered without any problems?

 

>>>Mykonos was lovely and we had a nice stroll around the town and up to the windmills. Corfu, Kotor  and Argostoli were also lovely places. (My takeaway has just arrived so will talk about Dubrovnik GoT later!>>>

 

Cant wait to read what you did in these ports, and also are you getting take away on the boat?? Please tell! lol

Thanks!

 

It was very easy to buy tickets for the ferry as soon as you get off the tender. We thought the bus would be there too but there was a 10 min slow or 5 min fast walk uphill. We just took it slowly but it would be good to have water. Perhaps ask at the dock before you buy the tickets incase we missed a minibus. This is the place we bought them and you can see the queue for the cable car.

[Cyclospora]

7 hours ago, blondelinda said:

@Cyclospora. Thanks for your post. How scary for your Dad, I hope he was ok

 

>>We caught the fast boat from where the tender lands in Santorini and went to Fira. It's 15 euros per person. The boat takes you around to Oia and they tell you that there is a shuttle after the boat lands to take you into the town. They don't tell you that there is a 10 minute walk up a steep hill to get to the shuttle. It is worth it though :). There is another bus included in the price which goes from where the first bus drops you off which takes you to Fira and this is also included in the 15 euros.>>

 

When you get dropped off from the ferry to Oia, is the bus not at the landing where the ferry is? I have read it to believe the bus meets you where the ferry drops you off?. Also, can you confirm is it easy enough to get to Oia on your own, with this fast ferry and did you pre buy the tickets online or just get them once you tendered without any problems?

 

>>>Mykonos was lovely and we had a nice stroll around the town and up to the windmills. Corfu, Kotor  and Argostoli were also lovely places. (My takeaway has just arrived so will talk about Dubrovnik GoT later!>>>

 

Cant wait to read what you did in these ports, and also are you getting take away on the boat?? Please tell! lol

Thanks!

 

There was a local bus to take you from the port into Corfu but there were loads of taxis too. There were 4 of us and we took a taxi there for 10 euros and the bus back which was about 7 for the 4 of us. We had a walk around the town and went on the little train. We didn't go to the forts.

There was a tender in Kotor as there was already a big ship in. It had rained a little bit before we got off the ship and the cobbles were wet and a bit slippery.  We tried to walk up the hill to the castle but everyone seemed to have the same idea and there was a queue so we turned around and just walked across the walls at the front of the town.

 

We walked into Argostoli and then caught the little hop on hop off tourist train. We got off at the lagoon and saw the turtles and then walked back to the ship through the town. It was very hot!

 

Dubrovnik- there was a shuttle for $15 which is charged to your keycard before you get on the bus. They put a sticker on your card as proof you have paid.  When you get off the bus it is a bit confusing at first but just follow the crowds! If you are looking at the sea - it's on your left! 

 

On the advice of a previous poster in this thread, we did the 2 hour Game of Thrones Tour. We got off the ship early at about 8am as the clocks had gone back. We took advantage of the early start to wander around and try and spot some of the scenes. The steps from the walk of shame were easy to find and are just by the marketplace. At that time people had also started queueing to buy tickets for walking the walls. We did not have time to do this as we had to be back on the ship by 12.30. The tour started early at 9.15 as we were all there early but still finished at 11.30. There were loads of other tours going around at the same time but the guides are used to this and mindful of not staying too long in one place so everyone could see everything. We went to the fort (Red Keep!) and had to pay 50 Luna each and had plenty of time here. There are toilets here too. The tour guide was great telling us behind the scenes gossip and held up photos of the scenes at the different sites. It finished at a gift shop where you can sit on the throne and have photos taken. This trip cost £18 for the tour, $15 for the shuttle and 50 kuna for the fort so MUCH cheaper than the $102 that the ship was charging! There were big queues for the shuttle back to the ship but there is a water fountain to top up water bottles and the water was much colder than the bottle I bought from the kiosk there. 

 

One final tip.... there is a white party on the ship which I hadn't noticed in any info but luckily my mum had spotted in someone's review. Brilliant cruise!

[blondelinda]

@Cyclospora.

 

Thanks. So where the boat tender drops off for "non ncl excursions" in Santorini is the same place you get the cable car up? AND that is the line , outside the Oia Fast Line?

 

Also, with the GOT tour, you mentioned you did, where did you book this? Did you do this from the landing at Dubrovnik since you mention its not a ship one? Also , would you recommend the tour now you have done it, or would you just do the walls and walk around on your own?

Thanks

[Cyclospora]

9 minutes ago, blondelinda said:

@Cyclospora.

 

Thanks. So where the boat tender drops off for "non ncl excursions" in Santorini is the same place you get the cable car up? AND that is the line , outside the Oia Fast Line?

Yes. It was quite a long line and there was not much shade. There are 8 gondolas for 6 people each.

9 minutes ago, blondelinda said:

 

Also, with the GOT tour, you mentioned you did, where did you book this? Did you do this from the landing at Dubrovnik since you mention its not a ship one? Also , would you recommend the tour now you have done it, or would you just do the walls and walk around on your own?

Thanks

There is a link further up this thread. It was Viator I think through TripAdvisor. My husband is a big GoT fan and I have not seen 1 episode! I enjoyed it and would recommend it too. The walls were very busy! If I was there for longer then yes- I would have done them too but if I had to pick 1 then it would be the tour. When you get off the ships shuttle, you enter the town through the Pile Gate with the drawbridge (photo below) and when you go through an archway there is a big round structure in front of you which is the fountain. You cant miss it! The guides will have a red umbrella. We booked online and just gave them our confirmation. It was very easy.

[Cyclospora]

41 minutes ago, Cyclospora said:

Yes. It was quite a long line and there was not much shade. There are 8 gondolas for 6 people each.

There is a link further up this thread. It was Viator I think through TripAdvisor. My husband is a big GoT fan and I have not seen 1 episode! I enjoyed it and would recommend it too. The walls were very busy! If I was there for longer then yes- I would have done them too but if I had to pick 1 then it would be the tour. When you get off the ships shuttle, you enter the town through the Pile Gate with the drawbridge (photo below) and when you go through an archway there is a big round structure in front of you which is the fountain. You cant miss it! The guides will have a red umbrella. We booked online and just gave them our confirmation. It was very easy.

This is a brochure for the tour with a picture of the fountain.

[Stealthdog]

11 hours ago, jvswine said:

Thank You!!!  Needed good advice and I got it!!!!!

 

The cold plunge sold it in for me.

 

Eric loved the cold plunge.  I think he told me it was only in the men’s locker room.  

[Cyclospora]

6 hours ago, Cyclospora said:

It was very easy to buy tickets for the ferry as soon as you get off the tender. We thought the bus would be there too but there was a 10 min slow or 5 min fast walk uphill. We just took it slowly but it would be good to have water. Perhaps ask at the dock before you buy the tickets incase we missed a minibus. This is the place we bought them and you can see the queue for the cable car.

 

 

Apologies - I may have confused things!!!

 

You get off the ships tender and it is here that you can either queue for the cable car or buy a ticket for a boat ride to Oia.

 

The boat ride will take you to near Oia but there is a walk up a hill to catch a shuttle bus (coach) which will take you to Oia itself.

[Stealthdog]

@Cyclospora - glad you had a great cruise!  Sorry to hear about the donkey steps and your parents. :(  Hope they are doing well now!

[Cyclospora]

4 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

@Cyclospora - glad you had a great cruise!  Sorry to hear about the donkey steps and your parents. :(  Hope they are doing well now!

It was like going on holiday with toddlers at times! But it was great - we had a lovely time. Thank you for posting this thread and to @Firstimer for the link to the GoT tour.

[imwmn913]

On 7/1/2019 at 11:58 PM, Cyclospora said:

It docks in those 2 places. There is a free shuttle to Mykonos and the Dubrovnik shuttle costs $15 for a return.

Regarding the shuttle for Dubrovnik - the charge of $15.00 - is that round trip and is that paid to NCL or..?  Could someone give a bit more detail on this?

Thanks!

 

[eowyn13]

24 minutes ago, imwmn913 said:

Regarding the shuttle for Dubrovnik - the charge of $15.00 - is that round trip and is that paid to NCL or..?  Could someone give a bit more detail on this?

Thanks!

 

It is $15 round trip and you can charge it to your onboard account. You book it through the excursion desk on the ship

[Cyclospora]

12 minutes ago, eowyn13 said:

It is $15 round trip and you can charge it to your onboard account. You book it through the excursion desk on the ship

We didn't have to book it beforehand. There were staff waiting on the quayside who took your key pass card numbers to charg your account and then put a red sticker on your card.

[imwmn913]

Thank you!  This information is exactly what we needed!

[chipmaster]

22 hours ago, eowyn13 said:

It is $15 round trip and you can charge it to your onboard account. You book it through the excursion desk on the ship

 

If you are a party of 4 you could consider the efficiency of a taxi, it is something like 13E to the oldtown, 50 for a tour, 40 for top of cable car and old town, and you avoid bus crowds, but do plan 30' wait for return taxi and possible huge traffic, but same as the tour bus back

[imwmn913]

Thank you chipmaster - it will be just the 2 of us so we will probably just utilize the NCL bus.