bookworm61

Thank you!

We have 2 free at sea dining vouchers for our 7 night greece/israel cruise. I see some of the dining venues are  a la carte rather prix fixe. How does that work with the voucher? Also, how far in advance can we book that? 

Finally, any nights that are best to eat in the main dining room anyway because it's a special meal? 

Thanks for all advice! 

Thanks everyone! Good information...much appreciated. 

We are traveling on the Jade in the fall with a few days prior in Athens and I think there is no way around having some laundry to do at some point. What options are there on the ship other than hand-washing or paying by the item. Is there a self service laundry or a by the bag promo? 

Thanks

Thank you cruise mom42! I will search for threads. In addition, can you tell me if your estimated prices are per person or for the entire ride?

Hi,

Thanks in advance for your help. We are 4 people arriving at the airport in Rome in the early AM. What is the best/easiest way to get to our hotel? it is near the Spanish steps. Do you recommend a cab or booking a limo.

A few days later we are leaving on a cruise. I know the port is not nearby. What is the best way to go...again, I assume cab or limo...and what cost should we expect per person.

Thanks!

Hi,

We have to make a final payment on our Italy cruise for next summer and I am wondering if anyone has chosen to book their air through Viking instead of your own. Viking doesn't tell you if the flight is nonstop (it may not be) until much closer to the trip. Airline rates are not going to be available for some time. We're looking at a premium economy. We've never booked that before, only economy and it was a bit rough.

TIA for feedback!:)

Thanks for all the good advice!

Any advice on how to get from the airport in Barcelona to the Hotel Jazz, where we are staying pre-cruise? We are 2 people with luggage.

Thanks!

Thank you. Italy Tours stopped responding to my emails, I guess I will have to look elsewhere.

Thanks for the feedback though!

Thanks for this great report! I look forward to reading more.

Thanks for all the feedback. It's a tough decision. DH would totally skip the statue and I would chose to see it, but I've actually seen it once before. Still figuring it out. :)

Is it worth the time on a shore excursion to Florence to see the real David statue as opposed to the replica? I am not concerned about the cost for skip the line tickets, but wonder if we would enjoy the time seeing more of the outside area/shops/street performers instead.

TIA!

I usually bring unsweetened almond or soy milk with me on cruises. Does this mean I can't bring it anymore?

Hello, We are booking our excursions for the ports of Naples, Livorno and Cittivecchia and are considering these 2 companies. Any feedback is welcome. We are 2 adults (mid 50s) and not looking for a private tour but small group or larger group is fine.

Thanks in advance!!

Our son has severe peanut and tree nut allergies and when we cruise we always bring him Hershey bars and rolos. Each night he chooses one for dessert. Desserts can be so hard to find safe options. Our son loves sherbet but we could not let him have it because they were using a few cream scoops for all the hard ice cream and sherbet and would clean them off in a container of water. So potential for cross contamination was too great. The soft ice cream machines were safe and they always have vanilla and chocolate. Our last NCL cruise with him was June 2015 - so definitely ask to see that container with the soft serve ice cream mixture that they pour into the machine so you can verify that it is still a peanut and tree nut free product as changes could happen.

 

Hope all of you have a fantastic and safe cruise!!! We know how worrisome it is when dealing with severe food allergies.

Your experience is exactly like mine for my son with PN/TN allergies. We bring Hershey bars and rollos and sometimes cookies, and only use the soft serve ice cream. It may seem silly to others to bring food to a cruise but it's so much easier to spend a few dollars and have some safe choices.

I asked when we booked the promo and we were told no service charge, but I found that unlikely and will be checking our statement. The charge on the UBP has made us not take it since it exceeds what we usually spend on drinks (nothing or not much). Thanks for the info.

Hello,

We have the free dining promo. Are there any out of pocket costs associated with this, such as a service charge? (Like the UBP has).

How does it work at Cagney's which I understand now has a la carte pricing?

TIA!

There are no formal nights.

 

If you do a google search for "beyondships Norwegian escape" then it will bring up the new NCL menus, which are the same as the Epic ones. Obviously there are some restaurants that are on the Escape but not the Epic, but for the restaurants which are on both ships, the menus are the same.

I just looked at these menus and they look pretty good. :) We have the 3 nights of specialty dining thorough the promo and I don't really know which night to skip the MDR. The reason I asked about formal nights, is that those are nights (regardless of dress code) when the food is a bit more special, e.g., rack of lamb, lobster, soufflés, etc. Is there anything special that would be a "don't miss"?

Thanks! I will do that. :)

Thanks!

I booked 2 shows that seem to require reservations (Pricilla and Burn the Floor).On the evenings when these shows run, is there also a headliner or other show? It's so hard to plan when you don't know the schedule of events and or the dinner times or much else. :)

Apologies if this has been recently posted somewhere...I did a quick search and didn't see it. I'm looking for menus from the Epic so I can plan our specialty dining. In a similar vein, what are the formal dining nights? I usually would not want to do specialty dining on those nights.

Thanks!!

You can go to http://www.visitacity.com/en/barcelona and put in for a 1 or 2 day easy tour and modify it your your liking and time frame, that's what we are doing. There is a ton of things to do and see there.

Thanks! I'm going to try that.

On the day we are flying into Barcelona we also have a half day.

 

We have late afternoon tix to Parc Guell. This allows us some flexibility if the flight is late and we have less than a half day. Assuming we are on time we will go to the Placa Catalunya area and walk around (probably visit the roof of the Corte Ingles). After Parc Guell we plan to take a taxi to Placa Espanyol and the Magic Fountain.

Thank you for the suggestions!