Happycrafter123

Here is the listing of excursions. The availability fluctuated day by day and minute by minute as folks cancelled and booked spots. The tv in bedroom is best way to book as these don’t all show up in the app, possibly newer or locally developed. We each got a $50 USD discount as we had the PLUS package. i had compared prices with shore excursions group and other operators but with the discount it was very comparable price wise.

Cabin was 13838. It is about half way between the aft and forward stairwells and elevators. Room is the same as all the other standard balconies, however the placement is a little awkward for the balcony. The ship is wider in the middle, and then narrows on the edges, our neighbour, 13836, had an angled balcony facing in to ours, which diminished our privacy and view. Cabin 13834 next to that would have had a more unobstructed view and privacy.

Thank you! Yes I’ll be doing a lot of research in the next few days and weeks for the next one! Luckily my Alaska journey is later in the season so time to hear hmwhat others are experiencing.

Thank you for the well wishes!! Life and vacations too are a lottery of experiences, I will wish you an excellent vacation too and hopefully some of the bugs will have worked out as the season goes so it is smoother for you. I hope these tips will help your planning.

All in all, investing 8 hours of my day to enjoy less than an hour of time in Vence was extremely disappointing. Time is precious. This would be like going to Walt Disney world for a full day and getting one ride done. I do not plan to travel like this in the future, that is for sure. I could have paid for a private taxi or tour. I have on my last two cruises booked all excursions with NCL, and for my upcoming Alaskan one have $$$$ invested with NCL for 6 days of tours, but reconsidering that as well as what to do differently in future so that I have opportunity to enjoy the destinations I spend so much time and money travelling to.

St. Paul de vence was gorgeous and deserved a full day or two, not 40 minutes to peruse. We were turned away from two restaurants who said we would need a full hour for lunch, but finally found a little spot that could accommodate us and our 30 minute timeline.

Cannes was beautiful! I was tired and wanted to just sleep in, but glad I didn’t. The NCL excursion was horrible, and I would recommend a private cab or tour if you can find one. Do not do this tour!! We did go to St Paul de Vence which was stunningly beautiful but the tour was so mismanaged that despite investing about 8 hours of time in to this endeavor we had only about an hour of time to enjoy the destination. Absolute fail, NCL!! The French Riviera is on my bucket list now, but I think my plan will be to rent a car and some hostels and have a driving holiday as France should be enjoyed at leisure. Here is how today went: Met in Manhattan room at 7:45 Waited to get called for boarding till 8:20 Got on tender at 830 and waited for others to board Got on bus at 9 and waited till 915 for others to board Got to grasse at 945 - we are now in to 2 hours spent “going on day trip and not done anything except wait and wait”. Next step - waited for everyone to go bathroom Finally started perfume factory tour at 10:00. 10:20 perfume sampling and shopping Supposed to meet at bus at 10:50. Several did not board will 11. Left perfume factory at 11:07 Got to parking lot at Vance at 1145 Wait for people to go bathroom before walking tour Have to be back at bus (a 15 m walk from the walled city) at 115. Less than an hour to explore and get lunch At 115 get back to bus and wait for late people Leave at 1:45 Back to tender at 2:35 Long tender line On board at 3:40 the life rafts we’re used for tendering which was bouncy.

Today’s daily

Interesting questions. I have had nausea every day on this trip which has made me a bit worried about future cruises— we are committed to Alaska in a couple months so hoping that will be better. But I like cruising, in general, very similar to a good quality all inclusive resort for onboard experience. The excursions on this trip have been generally disappointing, but on our last cruise they were generally very good. When traveling independently, if you do your research, you can find better experiences for things to visit as you are not constrained by the ships itinerary. Even on this trip, our excursions privately arranged in and around Rome were way better than NCL arranged excursions. I know others have talked about private excursions and do see the benefit more now than I realized before.

Today we have the following excursion it is 5 hours so should be back by 2 pm to enjoy the pool area and pack up. I sure Hope everything fits in my bags and I don’t have to leave lemon candies behind lol!

lovely morning in Cannes! Right at 7 am they called boarding groups 1-4.

Freestyle daily for yesterday

Today’s excursion was AMAZING!! The highlight of our trip. It was the bocelli wine experience . We were a small group of 23 people, so went in a mini van. The tour guide spoke excellent English. We drove about an hour and a half to Volterra, which really deserved a whole day of its own to explore. It was unfortunate the guide felt we had to stay together the whole time, so we spent a half hour stuck in a coffee shop while 23 people used the single toilet one at a time, and then spent a half hour standing in a small alabaster store while a handful of people shopped. I would have liked free time to go in one of the museums, city hall or church but that was not allowed. The only bad thing I can say about this tour. Of interest there was a car event this day so we got to see some cool old cars. It was very rainy, even with jackets and umbrellas most of us got wet. after this we drove about a half hour to the restaurant where we had a wine tasting of three wines with charcuterie, then lunch including a course of pasta with bolognese sauce, a main course of beef and potatoes, and dessert of chocolate mousse, all paired with an excellent wine. after that they treated us to delicious espresso and cappuccino and then upstairs for an exclusive 1 hour musical concert with a female opera singer and piano player. it was absolutely an amazing experience.

lunch in Sorrentto on the farm yesterday was small. There was a small plate each with one small (1inch round) bococini ball and a small piece of ricotta, 2 slices of salami and one slice of prosciutto, and one very tiny crust of baguette. There was a small plate of pasta noodles with plain tomato sauce, and a slice of lemon tart. A glass of water, one of table wine and a shot of limoncello. it was not bad, but not memorable, and definitely on the small size. the man came out for less than 5 minutes to show some a very small demonstration on cheese.

Hi, I have not noticed about any special dress events, some folks dress up, some don’t, every night it seems. Photographers are always mulling about for photos.

They repetitively advise you must carry photo Id off the ship. We have not had to show to return. We spoke to someone who missed the ship the stop before the end on the transatlantic before us and met with the ship again in Rome, he luckily had his passport with him. it is a personal choice but I always take my passport when traveling in a foreign country.

Just back on board the ship and it is wine and beer only (and Starbucks!)

As for the tour yesterday, I do agree with what others have stated that private tours would be a better option. However hubby disagreed with me finding it his favorite excursion of the trip. Here are his comments he shared with friends, in comparison: “Today was Sorento and Pompeii, it was a super scenic drive to Sorento, reminded me of an old James Bond movie where they were racing through the mountains, except we weren’t racing. I must say the bus drivers here have to be the best in the world, at home if two bicycles were passing on these narrow roads there would be a collision, but these drivers somehow manage to get around the tightest corners with another bus on the opposite side of the road, if you have been here you understand what I’m saying, I guarantee you these drivers would not be hitting every single overpass we have on our roads🤣. Anyway beautiful drive to Sorento and it was a really nice little town, unfortunately we did not have enough time to really venture around there, we did get the best cappuccino so far on this trip for 2 Euros each ($3 cdn) very reasonable☕️. After the visit to Sorento the tour carried on to a local farm, where we had a local lunch and wine, which was good as well. Then we headed to Pompeii, which was definitely the most interesting part of the day to me. Pompeii was a village built in the 7-6th century BC, so yeah a few years ago🤣. It was buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, and because of the ash it actually preserved a lot of the town and it’s inhabitants for thousands of years before it was uncovered, it really is unbelievable. After that it was back to the ship for a very nice dinner and a show, now we are cruising to Florence for tomorrow’s adventure😊 Have a great weekend🥳🍻” so it really is all perspective! For me, I like more data and content and better food, for hubby the scenery and chatting with other group members made his day.

Took some time to walk around the waterfront deck on the 8th floor and look at the view. The seagulls were friendly and it is lovely out there.

What a great view for breakfast!

Another beautiful day out there as we approach Florence. and due to getting laundry back last night, today we have the joy of fresh clothing! (It really is the small things that make a day lol!) Today was originally going to be a visit to Cinque terre which we cancelled due to a desire not to spend all day going up and down dangerous stairs, given our experiences at Santorini and athens. Not many tour options left so we splurged more money than I thought we ever would on one of the few tours left to pick from, the Bocelli wine experience. Let’s all cross our fingers this is an amazing day!!

@eileeshb that sums it up well, though now there are also massive crowds everywhere. I try not to show that inmy photos but here is what it is like navigating Pompéi now:

Some pretty good music in the hub, it’s too bad they don’t have more seating.

Dinner at le Bistro was delicious! gluten free so could not have the marinated lamb hock but they substituted an extra chop. pear dessert was surprisingly good. excellent service. We let them know we had a show and we were in and out in less than 1 1/2 hours. watched a bit of some live music in the central hub area and then on to see SIx

Happy news - our laundry came back! We were a bit worried, we sent virtually all our clothes to the laundry two days ago. It should have been back yesterday by 6pm. It came back tonight at 9 pm. We called last night and then this afternoon, apparently we were one of about 1500 (!!!) rooms who were excited to send clothes on the $29 deal, all in the same day, and they are struggling to get the laundry done