arianna.capri

Hi all,

I just wanted to confirm with other NCL cruisers this summer that you also have not received your air confirmation from NCL.

Called NCL today, cruise is on 7/5 so I anticipated receiving our flight itinerary 2 days ago at the latest. I asked what the hold up is, and they said "there is a backlog," and that they might not send it to us until 30 days pre-cruise.

Well, wonderful, because I need to know how many nights of hotel to book pre-cruise (deviated 2 nights, but flying from West Coast US to Rome so who knows what day NCL counts as a 2 day deviation, 7/3 or 7/2 departure). 

Is anyone else running into this issue?

Thanks.

12 hours ago, marazul said:

However you work out getting to Florence, you should get your tickets to the Ufizzi in their website to avoid the lines. Same for the Accademia. (Consider the Bargello instead.) Also, the Baptistry.

 

And tell your parents that a grandma says you will be alright. 

Thank you for the recommendations! I was planning on advanced tickets for Uffizi. And I hadn't even thought about the Baptistry!

I will let them know, lol.

12 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

You won't have to rush in the morning, there is an 8:00 train from Naples that arrives to Pompei at 8:35, plenty of time prior to opening.  You can purchase your tickets on line ahead of time to avoid waiting in the line and guided tours are available at the entrance (for an extra fee of about 15 euro per person).

This is great to know! Sounds like Naples will be a good morning to get some extra sleep even with the 6am dock. I plan on purchasing the tickets ahead of time, thank you for your help!!

10 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

The details on how to do both of these ports are indeed unfolding nicely for you.  Keep reading this forum as there are many posts on people's experiences doing this.

 

I have done both of these DIY and had no issues.  Both times it was several years ago, and something have changed, but only to make your life easier.

I'm glad its worked out for you! I think it will be fine. Especially with all the help I've gotten here, the only thing I need to really work out is timing, because it caught up to us in Mykonos and we ended up with half an hour on Paradise Beach. I'm just trying to avoid a repeat episode 🙂

7 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I don't think I'd try to do the Ufizzi and the Accademia in a day trip from the ship.  The only way I could see this would be if you just ran into the Accademia, peek at the David, and run back out.  I think you need time to just wander around the town - so much to just see.  

You don't need a private tour like Rome in Limo - if you want to put out the money for just the car service, maybe.  But check out the train or NCL's bus option.

I had the same thought about the Accademia and David. Honestly, I would prefer to see the Uffizi and spend more time walking around town, so I think we are going to skip David on this trip (we have plans to return to the region again in the near future). 

I have to agree about the private tour. We did one last summer in Santorini and while it was a good value for transportation, I don't know that I would do it again. People are quick to recommend the private tours but we aren't the type looking for a broad selection of things to glance at, more a smaller grouping of one or two things to actually enjoy.

12 hours ago, John Bull said:

Both are pretty easy. 🙂

 

Livorno to Florence

NCL is the only cruise line which offers bus transfers between the ship and Livorno centrale train station.

But do check with NCL that's still offered - if not, it's either share a taxi to the station, or ship's transfer bus to Livorno city centre then a local bus to the station.

Direct trains to Florence (Firenze Santa Maria Novella station) about half-hourly, journey time  between 1hr 15 and 1hr 40 depending whether its the fast train or the stopping train, return fare about €20. Simplest to buy your tickets at the station.

The Uffizi is on the bank of the River Arno, a pleasant & interesting 15 to 20 minute walk from the station thro' the old town. 

https://www.trenitalia.com/it.html (not the world's most user-friendly website 🙄)

Alternatively there are tour operators who offer bus transfers from the ship to Florence, either by googling or checking your cruise RollCall to see if anyone is looking for sharers. 

 

Naples to Pompei

Most flexible is by train, the Sorrento-bound  "Circumvesuviana" train from Napoli Porta Nolana station (to the station by bus or metro from the port ). Again, simplest to buy your tickets at the station.

Half-hourly service 7-days-a-week, journey time about 20 minutes, fare about €10 (?) return, your stop is Pompei Scavi & the site is close by the station.

https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule (easyy to read)

Alternatively tour buses from the port, but you are constrained by their return times.

 

JB 🙂

Thank you for this! An awesome start to add to my research. I did notice that NCL was the only cruise line offering transport to the train station, but the NCL reps do not know if that is still offered...so I guess I will wait and see what other cruisers experience this summer. Thanks for your help!

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend (23) and I (22) are going on the Norwegian Epic's Med itinerary this summer. We have 2 port stops in Italy (Naples and Livorno) that I am wringing my hands about because we learned on our Greek cruise that we prefer to DIY ports. For example, Mykonos and Rhodes were our two favorite port stops on our Greek Isles cruise because we were not loaded onto a bus or given numbered stickers, and we got to plan our own day. We are both able-bodied young people, so we have no mobility issues or concerns (and are from AZ, so heat isn't a problem either). 

With this information, I am wondering what an experienced cruiser would do. 

My goal with our port in Naples is quite simply to visit Pompeii. Is it possible to get from the port of Naples to Pompeii, enjoy our time in Pompeii, and get back to the ship without much trouble? We are docked in Naples from 6am-5pm.

My goal with our port in Livorno is to visit the Uffizi gallery, maybe David, and certainly the Duomo (outside at least, unsure if we want to do inside). My main concern here is getting from the port of Livorno to the Florence city center and back. Is this possible to do without extreme difficulty, or do we need to acquiesce and pay the ship price for transfer and their unfortunate time cap? We are docked in Livorno from 9am to 9pm.

Basically, we know what we want to do, we believe it won't be incredibly impossible for us to get there, but my parents who have been to Italy (25 years ago) are convinced we are going to get lost/lose the ship/etc.

Any tips or recommendations are greatly appreciated! 

Hi! I'm on the same itinerary on the Jade's 8/8 sailing. I've spent a LOT of time researching ports, distances, DIY options, etc, and this is what I landed on, if it helps at all. 

Crete/Heraklion- ship excursion (Knossos & Heraklion City) did this due to time/concerns about it being our first day after flying in the day of boarding so we wanted something easy and stress-free. Plus, its relatively low cost.

Rhodes- DIY Old Town Rhodes. Every trip report/review I have read states its super easy to get off of the ship and have a fun, fulfilling day in Old Town. Supposedly there are lots of ruins to see, shops to peruse, and good food. We aren't booking anything beforehand, just walking off the ship to see what the day brings.

Mykonos- DIY Old Town Mykonos area. Our goal here is to get beautiful photos on the streets of Mykonos and hopefully see some of the churches in the area. Also shopping, so we are planning on taking the Sea Bus from the New Port (where the ship docks) to the Old Port (walking distance of Mykonos Town)

Olympia/Katakolon- ship excursion (Olympia & Archeological Museum). Chose this again, due to time concerns and wanting an easy day where we can just really get lost in the history. After two DIY days, it will be nice to have someone else in charge. 

Corfu- ship excursion (Corfu Beach Break). Same reasoning as above. Figuring we might want a break from all the walking and sightseeing, a nice day at the beach with someone else handling the transportation sounds perfect and allows us to rest before Santorini. 

Santorini- the day I have way too much stress about, but we are going to DIY it. We want as much time in Oia as possible. At first, I was concerned about crowds so we were going to do the black sand beach. Then I saw that we are the only cruise ship currently scheduled in port that day, and this is a golden opportunity for good photos and to see Santorini without the streets packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Planning on paying for the boat transfer to Oia at the Fira port. 

Any updates from anyone? I haven’t seen or heard anything new since they disappeared. I really don’t want to call again and be told what I’m seeing isn’t what I’m seeing. I’m hoping they don’t drag their feet on this because I’d like to make other plans for that time off and jump on cheaper airline tickets to other land vacations if they’re going to cancel.

32 minutes ago, ohioNCLcruiser said:

From what I've been told by someone who I really trust, the itin won't be cancelled but the ship is changing to a different ship in the same class. That was as of last week though so maybe it will change next week lol

I hope this is the case! I was all excited to be part of the return to sea experiment, so I hope we sail one way or another.

I had been booked on the Jade (or still am, I guess) since the beginning of the "return to sea" marketing/promo/attempt. It would appear as though the Jade is about to get cancelled at least for the beginning and middle of August since all of the cruises including my 8/8 sailing are showing as completely sold out. I called NCL to ask them if they are frozen, but then was told I was wrong and that they were bookable for my date still. I asked the representative to try and complete a booking, and then she acquiesced and said she wasn't sure what is going on but they are showing as completely sold out for my date (and 7/25 and 8/1). 

Time will tell if this is just a reduced capacity cruise, or if even those of us willing to fly to Greece are unfortunately cancelled as well.  I fully acknowledge that NCL moving the staff from the Joy to the Bliss was not right, and they should not have done it from a customer relations standpoint, but from a business standpoint, I guess it makes sense. I cannot think of the reasoning behind this one, with Greece being fully open to US citizens.

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/8-europe/

Thank you! This is an awesome resource I didn't even know existed. I really appreciate it. 

Hi everyone! 

I figured we could all use a break from the typical covid/vaccine post. However, I will start by saying that both my traveling companion and I have been vaccinated, so there are no issues there.

I recently booked an 11-day Greek Isles (and Italy and Turkey) sailing on the Norwegian Jade for March 2022. We have our air booked thru NCL (yikes, I know) but despite being a repeat cruiser of NCL, I still have some questions I would rather ask the community than a Guest Services Agent. Plus maybe this will take minds off vaccinations and COVID regulations for a minute. I have sailed NCL multiple times, but this will be my boyfriend's first cruise. It will also be the first time doing major international travel for both of us outside of Mexico and Canada. I will take any advice you have for me!

1. If anyone has any tips for the following ports: 

Kusadasi, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Thessaloniki, Greece

Volos, Greece

(Iraklion) Crete, Greece

Corfu, Greece

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Messina (Sicily), Italy

Napes (Pompeii), Italy

Livorno (Florence/Pisa) Italy

Please let me know what experiences or excursions you did that you would recommended! While I am 99.9% sure this ship will sail, I am not sure if shorex will still need to be booked entirely through NCL (likely but not guaranteed that will be the outcome). My boyfriend and I are both college students, and it would cripple our budget to do 100/per 3 hour activities in each port, but we do not want to stay on the ship either. I've searched the boards already (to avoid asking the same question a million times) and there are a bunch of resources for other Greek ports, and Naples/Livorno, but not the others on my itinerary. We are both avid lovers of history, and are not at all afraid of physically demanding activities, if anything we prefer them. Otherwise we would not have chosen an itinerary with no sea days! :)

2. Our schedules are a little limited (college students, this is our spring break) so we can only do a pre- or post-cruise stay. We are most interested in staying in Rome for 2 days post-cruise rather than flying out a day or two early to Athens, but we are a little nervous about arranging our transportation to/from the Hotel in Rome since we typically go for packages with transfers included. Given the choice, would you spend a day in Athens pre-cruise for peace of mind or two days in Rome post-cruise. These post-cruise days would be to primarily to explore the Vatican and the Colosseum- we know the Sistine Chapel is not likely to happen for us. 

3. This is our first cruise with both of us being 21+, so are there any drinks we must try? This is also our longest cruise yet, does MDR food get repetitive after 7 days? 

4. More for me rather than my boyfriend- how should I dress to visit religious sites (the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, etc.) because I do not feel comfortable wearing blue jeans in such places. It just feels entirely out of place, but so do slacks or dress pants, but it's going to be March weather, so a dress won't exactly work either.

Thanks in advance for all your help :)

O'Sheehans is the only restaurant where you can get soft drinks 24/7, as they are the only restaurant that is open 24/7