suech1970

Booked Celebrity Beyond 12 months ago, only another 12 months to go🥳

Just booked NCL DAWN, for Indian Ocean, 697 days to go 🥳🥳

We’ve got a few in between to keep us going 😉

Tried P&O last year in Caribbean, last minute cheaply. One and done. Just not our fit, too many formal nights, really slow bar service, poor food, and people glaring at you coz you’re still in swim wear at 6pm and they’re all dressed for dinner🙄. 

We started cruising with Ocean Village, their tag “the cruise for people who don’t do cruises”.  They had a feel very much like Marella, revamped older ships, casual, family, and very friendly atmosphere with awesome itineraries. We did 4 with our kids till they got sold off…my girls actually cried!! 
 

I’m struggling between 2 med cruises atm, one with Discovery 2 and the other on NCL Sky.  Both great itineraries, minimal sea days, both  ships tried and tested, but the £££££ for just the Med 😱, just can’t get my head around. Just back off Far East cruise and that cost roughly the same! It’s not like Marella are dropping their prices for last minute deals now either. Haven’t sailed with them since 2022 but we get a few nice perks with NCL now, so maybe I’ll just toss a coin 😆

My hubby has never worn a dinner suit on chic night or whatever they call it on Marella. A smart shirt and trousers/chinos alway suffices. There will be the odd tux or kilt knocking about the ship but in general, trousers, shirt, with or without jacket is fine. You’ll not feel out of place whatever you wear.

In fact he had a fit when we had to take his suit on our P&O and hated it, that’s why we’re one and done with them😆.

Georgeanddan.com have lots of info about Explorer, including the daily programs.

Tips…relax and enjoy

Back from our 1st Far East cruise and it was worth every bit of hassle pre cruise.

Every day was a pinch me moment! Every place we went was better than any photos! Except Jakarta.

Bumped into Marella cruisers in Singapore, they said they were having a blast too.

Definitely a more active cruise, sometimes to the point of collapse, with the heat and humidity compared to Caribbean. However we did feel like we should see and do everything as we may not return. Turns out now we probably will🙄.

Hard choice to make, 2 very different cruises IMO.

Flying out on our 1st Far East cruise tomorrow. Here’s what I know so far…

Indonesian visa was absolute nightmare to get on line, took me 10 days of trying and a lot of stress. A lot of our roll call had probs.

Found excursions were definitely well over priced. We are sailing NCL so you might be Ok with Marella.

Getting info on certain ports of call  for transfer/ tours/ prices etc. hard.

Malaysian arrival card was also nightmare, still not got that sorted yet!

4 currencies to take. 
 

All negatives pre travel but I may forget  this when these places totally blow me away, here’s hoping.

Caribbean…book it, rock up with us$ in your pocket and your away. Never gets old or less beautiful 

Take snorkelling gear for 14 year old, and a set for yourself, if they like swimming of course. Easy to do from most beaches, no need for pro trip, some beaches better for coral and fish than others. Beach toys for little ones, you don’t see that many around ports. Some beaches have inflatables to use, trampolines, rib rides and jet skis to hire.

When we  traveled with our kids we took them to Dickinson Bay on Antigua

To see planes at Maho beach on St Maarten

To see Pirates of Caribbean film set on St Vincents

To see Pitons  and drive in volcano on catermaran trip with snorkelling

You’ll see in excursion from ship there’s a load of things you can do, but you’d be best judge of what you want a 3 year old to do, or won’t bore a 14 year old😆. Our kids were 6 & 9 when we did our first Caribbean cruise and lapped it up. You may not get them out of the kids club!

Obviously ships excursions going to be more expensive and everything is available from taxi drivers waiting at port whether it be island tours or beach shuttles.  Depends on how comfortable you are going your own way. Caribbean ports are great to get round on your own and most are incredibly friendly and helpful.
 

Loads of info on Ports of Call for you to get idea of prices of taxi etc. Ship App also a good place to look. 

Took a cheap deal with MSC in Jan some years back out of Barbados. It was like a roll on/off ferry. Passengers getting on and off every island with daily musters, announcements daily in several languages, drove us potty! Never again but you live and learn🙄

I think these days you’re better off grabbing early prices just for cruise and just guesstimating price of scheduled flights and overnight accommodation and booking them nearer the time. 
I have a very good cruise TA, he’ll put an early cruise  price with flights, sometimes transfers or accommodation and if I’m happy with it I’ll book it.

Only booked 1 cruise direct with cruise line in the last 6 cruises.

You're absolutely right about Marella these days. I’m not seeing any big price drops 6 to 8 weeks prior to sailing, so the cabins must be selling even though they’re crazy prices. Loved sailing Marella though, everything was just so easy with them.

Im sure you’ll find something between your rock and a hard place😉
 

39 plus 10% service charge and tax.

shocking but I’ve been told it’s gotta be done🙄

We picked up a very good deal with NCL, on a flash sale for this April. However the flight and the overnite accommodation was more than the cruise🙄 but it was 9 nights no sea days!

They have a ship sailing out of Dom Rep for a couple of months. Not sure when you were looking at but they have 9 to 14 nights out of Miami, Tampa and their itineraries are pretty good. Their older ships get the better itineraries, which are probably about the same age as Marella’s.

May be worth a look😁

Doing abit of Far East research for our NCL cruise later this month and my notes says 100 Bahts 2 beds and brolly. I wouldn’t put my life on it but I must have read it somewhere😆

I’d swop you inside cabin on Deck 10 in Caribbean in a heartbeat right now!!!

Availability still showing for inside on deck 10, 12 also outside 8 & 9 so it’s nowhere near sold  out. If you absolutely hate it go moan to customer services on aboard. If you have paid to select your original cabin you are also entitled to a refund as they have not provided this. They moved us without notice and I had to sort out on board, they will wanna see proof you paid so take your original booking invoice.

I’m sure you will have a great time!🍹🍹

My major con would be travelling to the Med high season. July/Aug too busy too hot! If June / Sept/ Oct would be much more comfortable on this port heavy itinerary, which is amazing btw!
If there is no movement in dates then just check your actual port dates on a cruise port schedule to see how many ships you have in port with you. At least you will be prepared for the crowds, those pretty blue and white streets you see in the photos look a lot different when you have 7000 passengers ashore🙄

Personally, I wouldn’t worry about tenders, you have decent/long times for your tender ports.

Personally, we choose to stay on board at Santorini,(yes everyone thought we were mad) but judging by the horror stories we heard, we did the right thing. 4 ships in that day.

We should have tendered at Mykonos but docked instead, so you never know. If you do dock, they have Sea Bus straight from the pier to town, nice ride and ours had a glass bottom. €2 pp each way.

I haven’t sailed Breakaway but done a few other ships on NCL and we always like a night at Cagneys steakhouse. Have also enjoyed excellent meals at Le Bistro and Moderno. If you want to do multiple speciality dining then keep an eye out for price drops on NCL app or your booking on line. Also book on line as soon as reservations open to get times you prefer.

Puerto Plato, nice around port area, Taino Bay, free pools, loungers lazy river but they had doubled their drinks prices between our visits, so didn’t spend long there in May. Take ship excursion if you want to see island, we’re not fond of Dom Rep.

St Thomas, we prefer Emerald Beach to Megan’s Bay, not a rip off for drinks and chairs etc and much quieter, even with the airport across the road😆. 
Tortola always Cane Garden Bay. Usually go independently as ship uses same open sided taxi buses from port. Beers get cheaper the further you go down beach😉. Hubby always make the short walk to the Callwood Distillery just behind beach for the samples of rum, 5 shots for $1, usually comes back a bit wrecked🙄

Great Stirrup….Beautiful island with plenty to do if you choose. Your drinks package will work on island and plenty of free dining too. They have certain premium spots where you have to pay extra for clam shells / umberallas. 
 

We really enjoy the Game shows on NCL, so funny. Don’t miss the Newly Wed,Not so Newly Wed game show, usually the best.

Wow what an amazing journey! You certainly don’t do things by halves!

We have our 1st Far East cruise Jan 24 on Jewel and have been taken some tips from your posts, thanks!
Just wondered if you had a band on board called Sonata?

We saw them on Sky in May and were the best band we’ve seen at sea, totally out of the box. They mentioned they were going to the Far East, so we were keeping our fingers crossed

The sun loungers were only $5 May this year. Beach drinks cheaper here than other islands. If you have the whole day in port go independently and have and have as much time as you like there, nicer when the ships excursion gone and you can sit where u like not where they put you😉

Visit the Callwood distillery, only a few mins walk behind beach. They do 4 shots of rum for $1.

Always a risk of noise booking  cabin anywhere below the lido/pool deck. If your cabin is below seating of Snack Shack then if there’s any noise it’s only going to be when it open. Last time we sailed the Snack Shack wasn’t open very early or very late, lunch till 6ish if memory serves.

Other cabins you mention appear to be under open deck and whirl pools, you may get, early morning cleaning, maintenance noise or deck party noise here. Quietest place under this deck would be under Spa, imo.

Personally, I’d stay put 

It’s a major mess! Learned my lesson long time ago and always go thru security on fast pass in Bham anyway. Hate travelling through my local airport😖

I assume you booked the cruise with TUI, as a package.  I would say that this flight is a charter flight for your cruise, so I shouldn’t worry.

Gotcha. Will have to start fracturing in VAT for Med cruises in future🙄

😖😡

I did read a notification from NCL saying that VAT was applicable for cruises departing from Spanish ports. 
Hubby did say it would be up to the individual countries to collect the VAT, clutching at straws I know😆

Thanks again!

Thanks all for replies😁

I hadn’t read anything about leaving EU to exempt from VAT, sadly this doesn’t apply on our cruise. We are quite used to paying taxi in US ports, but nothing after that as we usually sail the Caribbean. It never occurred to me about EU VAT and doing the maths on our average consumption on cruises it could be quite a bit😖

I guess I’ll find out in 17 days, we’ll fear the worse and hope for the best.

CHEERS🍹🥃🍸🥂🍷🍻

How long since you sailed in Europe? 
This seems to be quite a recent thing and only on “certain” sailings ie ones departing from Spain, it’s all very sketchy 🙄

Sailing Reflection in couple of weeks, Rome to Barcelona. Wanted to know if anyone was charged VAT (not gratuities)for drinks purchased on board while either in port or in Spanish, Italian or French waters? If so we’re you on drinks package or pay as you go.

Seeing conflicting stories on the boards.

Thanks all 😁

Absolutely agree with above posts. We couldn’t pick between Celebrity or NCL as our favourite line.

It’s a great itinerary and decent price with Flash Sale on. 
Itinerary is always our 1st choice over anything else, so we usually end up on smaller and older ships, because they usually have the better ones. 
Done a Gem and Jade, same class as Jewel (got her Jan next year) and found inside cabins are too small for us but ocean view were fine. That said I’d say they are a little smaller than Celebrity, at least Reflection & Silhouette, but nothing I couldn’t live with.

Our last time on NCL, Sky in May, the service & food was the best we’ve had on all of their sailings. Although their French onion soup isn’t as good as Celebrity, imo!

I’d get booking before that flash sale ends😉

Our fav on board Silhouette & Reflection😍. Good tips here how to get threw to dessert!
Got booked for next month and our tactic this time is fast from midday and share a flat bread. Hubby hasn’t managed a dessert yet, so we’ll see how it goes😆