stevendom57

On 4/15/2020 at 1:35 PM, c-leg5 said:

No way to tell this far ahead. Sargassum is seasonal.

I am new to Costa Maya, my first visit is scheduled for Nov 2021. You said that sargassum is seasonal. What seasons/months are expected to be bad for the sargassum? 

TIA

Steven

Two years ago I used PortParking.com. I was very pleased with the facility. You park you own car inside an old warehouse. It may cost about $10 more than the others, but it is well worth it.

While on the cruise, Galveston had a large storm with some flooding. My car did not even get wet. I will definitely use them again.

@shipgeeks I am just a lowly nobody on RC and NCL (2 RC cruises and 1 NCL). I am not sure it will benefit me much, but I will check. Thanks

Thanks for the info. Is there any way, short of springing $1200 pp for the Aurea experience, to get access to the thermal area of the spa? My wife loves the saunas and such but I can't see spending that much money just to sweat. Perhaps a few hundred (??!!) but not $2400.

I have cruised NCL and RC, but I am considering MSC. I am looking at a 14 day out of Miami on the MSC Meraviglia for 2022.

I have a few questions about the different experience levels.

1) As far as cabin choices between the Bella and Fantastica experience, it seems that with Bella the cabin is chosen for you and with Fantastica, I get to select the cabin. Is that right?

2) If I do a mock booking and choose the Fantastica Experience, I only get a choice of 2 cabins. I can only assume that either a) there are only 2 cabins remaining at this experience level or b) they only release a few cabins at at time. Which do you think it is?

3) If I choose the Aurea experience, what parts of the spa are accessible without further charges? 

Thanks in advance.

Steven

@bearette Thanks for the advice. I have listened to a number of Rick Steves' stuff and it is good. I like his demeanor. Unfortunately the cruise that was going to take me to Dubrovnik is a no go. Perhaps I will get there in a few years. Either way, I appreciate the information.

If is 700 days from my cruise on Allure OTS. Looks like it will be canceled now. That's cruise #2 canceled by the CV. Darn.

I bought it through GetYourGuide.com and it is called the "Dubrovnik: Self-Guided Audio Tour". It's pretty good and it only cost $14. It's just a bunch of mp3 files (and a pdf map)  and can play on any player.

Hypothetical.

I have an NCL cruise scheduled for September, so my final payment date is in May. What happens if May rolls up and, just before payment date, they decide to stop cruises into and out of Italy? If I don't pay, I lose my reservation. But can I pay for a cruise that, at the moment, is not going to occur?

Just wondering.

Steven

@John Bull Thank you

Hey folks,

I will be visiting Santorini on Sept 25, 2020 on the Norwegian Getaway. We arrive at 13:00 and leave at 22:00 and we will be tendering in. I have heard of the problems of long lines for the cable cars and I have a few questions.

A little background. There will be three other ships in port that day Jewel OTS (~2500 pax, leaves at 19:00), AIDAmira (~1250 pax, leaves at 19:00), Oceana Riviera (~1250 pax, leaves at 20:00) and my ship, Getaway (~4000 pax, leaves at 22:00). Sunset for that night is at 19:10.

I have a semi-private tour scheduled and we would like to end the evening by having supper (or maybe just wine) at a place overlooking the caldera and then head back to the ship. I am expecting a lot of people to want the same thing that we want and to head to cable car at 19:15, right after sunset. We may not be in Fira for the sunset but will be close, maybe at a winery. I am figuring that all the people for the other ships will be cleared out by then, so it should just be the Getaway passengers. Correct? In your opinion, do we have enough time to watch the sunset and then hot-foot it to the cable car? I really don’t want to walk down the donkey trail after dark, but I guess that is an option if absolutely necessary. And remember, there is a tender ride to account for.

I am looking for the opinions of travelers with experience in Santorini. What do you think? Sunset viewing or not? I don’t want to be a pier runner.

TIA

Steven

Hi guys/gals,

I am looking for a good (or any) audio guide for the city walls of Dubrovnik. I have already bought a few and tried a few free audio tours for the city walk but have found none for the city walls. The only audio tours for the walls I have found have been for the ones they rent there, and those have mixed reviews. I would like to find one that I can download to my phone and play through my earbuds. It works well to have a earbuds where I wear the right one and my wife wears the left one. That way we are listening to the same recording and they stay in sync.

TIA

Steven

Thanks @Budget Queen and @Port Power. That's what I wanted to hear. Great.

From what I read in a few other forums there is no customs control in Civitavecchia. You just walk off the ship and you are on the pier. Is that true?

If so, how far from the ship is the area where they put your luggage if you let NCL take the luggage off the night before?

TIA

Steven

Hi all,

I am probably going to book a RomeCabs transfer from Civitavecchia to Rome. They say that they will pick me up at my ship and drive me into Rome. How do I handle my luggage? Do I have to do the self-assist, where I carry my own luggage off or do they actually pick me up just outside of customs and I can let NCL handle the luggage?

TIA

Steven

Thanks, all. That's kinda what I figured.

My wife and I will be on a Italian / Greek cruise next year. During our port call in Livorno we will be taking a bus to Florence. Is is permissible to buy a bottle of wine and some cheese in Florence and eat / drink it on the way back to the ship?

TIA

Steven

Thank you all very much. That is the information that I was needing, if not what I really wanted. You have been very helpful.

Steven

I am booked on the Getaway and will be in Santorini, Greece in September 2020. I am reading Rick Steves book and he says that passengers with NCL excursions tender to the new port whereas other passengers go to the old port. Is that true? I am thinking about getting the Norwegian's Priority Access, which gives me tender priority. If I do this, which port would I be tendered to, old or new? If I go to the new port, which apparently has bus access, will there be non-excursion buses to take me to one of the cities? From there I can figure out what I want to do.

I know, a lot of questions. I am just trying to get a handle on what I want to do for excursions. I appreciate your answers.

Steven

@MasterCoachThat's too bad. We did the NCL air in Sept and got pretty good flights. Ones that I would have chosen myself but only paid $125 each. Much less than I could have gotten them for.

And thanks for the spa info.

@MasterCoachHow much was it for 21 days?

My cruise is an 11 day Greek island cruise. Port intensive, only 2 sea days. Most port days are from 8:00 until 20:00. It doesn't sound like it will be worth. Thanks for the info.

I am going on the Getaway next September. It is too early to see the prices yet for the spa packages. I also know that they vary wildly and change often.

Can some give me a ballpark estimate for the cost of access to the thermal suite? Is it a daily charge or is there a "entire cruise" price also?

TIA

Steven

11 minutes ago, ollienbertsmum said:

If you are still worried, there will be a ‘Florence on your own’ tour that you can take.

That is what I am planning, getting there myself (or a NCL sponsored transportation option) and then taking a viator or other similar tour. My trip is next September, so NCL excursions are not available yet. Taking either the bus or train is about the same amount of time (~1.5 hours) but I am thinking that the train will be reliable. 

Anyway, I would not take the last train. The ship leaves at 8pm so probably taking a 4pm train back to Livorno.

Thanks for the info.

I am working on the planning for a cruise out of Rome next year. On the last day of the cruise, we stop in Livorno. Florence is 1.5 hours away, either by train or bus (time is about the same). If, for some reason due to travel delays, I miss the ship, how do I get my belongings off of the ship? I would of course make my way to Rome, as would the ship, but the ship will be unloading everyone. How do I get my stuff off of the ship.

This is of course a worse case scenario. I have NO intention of coming anywhere close to missing the ship, but stuff happens...

Steven