hank_moody_pl

44 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

Wouldn't disagree with you in relation to the judgement by the media.  But not sure that this bias would lead to the Italian Govt. making separate rules for it.  Someone will find the official rule somewhere hopefully that explains it!

You can find this regulation in italian DPCM from March 2, 2021. Point 53, paragraph 5: "Stopovers are permitted only in the states and territories listed in lists A, B and C of Annex 20 and free excursions are prohibited, for which the cruise services cannot adopt specific measures to prevent contagion. "

I don't know why, NCL, knowing this rule, was still advertising the cruise with the slogan: "No Restrictions on Shore Excursions, Feel Free to take the shore excursion you've been dreaming of or explore on your own!"

We can say that they cheated on us by selling West Mediterranean cruises without telling us what the truth is.

I asked the editor of the Italian marine portal shipmag.it if he knew anything about the new restrictions of the Italian government and he said that nothing is known about it and the last regulation is from March 2, 2021. In point 53, paragraph 5, we can read: "Stopovers are permitted only in the states and territories listed in lists A, B and C of Annex 20 and free excursions are prohibited, for which the cruise services cannot adopt specific measures to prevent contagion. " According to him, or from the beginning, NCL knew that it would not be possible to leave the ship without excursions, but maybe they tried to negotiate it with the Italian government. Either way, it was unfair to advertise this option before getting government approval. In my case, I will cancel my cruise and request a cash refund.