First time cruiser: NCL JADE 12/3

Hello everyone,

This will be a first for us. We are lost trying to figure out what to do and where to go on these ports. We do not want to spend more than we have to and we have heard that the excursions by the ship are very expensive. Any tips or ideas? or if there are tours you can direct us to.

Will it be too cold to swim in the pool?

and finally how long does it take for embarktion and disembarktion?

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Without knowing what ports you are going to, very hard to answer any questions you have.

So, the first I would suggest is some reading on the Ports boards, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

I would join the roll call for your cruise, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1992767

to see what others on your cruise are doing.

Lastly, for all the NCL info you will ever need, check out the NCL board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

Thank you very much CruiserBruce!

I will def look at those links.

This is the itenerary:

Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Civitavecchia (rome)

Thursday, December 4, 2014 At Sea -- --

Friday, December 5, 2014 Olympia (katakolon)

Saturday, December 6, 2014 Piraeus (athens)

Sunday, December 7, 2014 Kusadasi

Monday, December 8, 2014 Istanbul

Tuesday, December 9, 2014 Istanbul

Wednesday, December 10, 2014 At Sea

Thursday, December 11, 2014 At Sea

Friday, December 12, 2014 Naples/pompei

Saturday, December 13, 2014 Civitavecchia (rome)

Any more help would be greatly appreciated.

At both Civitavecchia and Piraeus, it's fairly easy to catch a train- follow the crowds! Both stations are around 20 mins away from where the ship will dock- in Piraeus, watch the traffic....if you stay sea-side, you will eventually reach a bridge across the road. In Istanbul, you'll need Turkish money if you want to use local transport....in Kusadasi, there will probably be taxis offering prices if you want to go to Ephesus- the crowds shouldn't be too bad in December.

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports, find out what there is to do/see in each port. how to DIY, and what it should cost. EM

I also recommend Tom's Port Guides http://www.tomsportguides.com

You have a fantastic itinerary!!

Join your roll call, as some of your fellow cruisers might be putting together private tours and need to fill open seats and this will be more personal as well as probably being cheaper than the NCL excursions.

Check out the PORTS OF CALL board for EUROPE and you'll find out what others have done

Have a wonderful time!

Hello everyone,

 

This will be a first for us. We are lost trying to figure out what to do and where to go on these ports. We do not want to spend more than we have to and we have heard that the excursions by the ship are very expensive. Any tips or ideas? or if there are tours you can direct us to.

 

 

Will it be too cold to swim in the pool?

 

 

and finally how long does it take for embarktion and disembarktion?

When on each port we see what the venders offer for activates.

Ask if the pool is heated.