Sageblue47

Also, check out the Splitwise app, which facilitates squaring group trip finances.

We did the air program, but not the hotel, choosing to find our own hotel instead. We are flying in one day early, and our flight from NYC goes through Paris on Delta to Rome, and arrives at a good time. We were able to choose our seats on this flight, and I arranged a special, gluten-free meal. Our return flight is through Lisbon on TAP. After spending an hour on hold, I discovered we’d have to pay for assigned seats and to request a special meal. One saving grace on this flight is the times are good. We may end up paying for these amenities, but we’re still hoping we can get them free somehow. Overall, our experience has been fine. If you’re flying out of Missouri, I doubt you were planning on a nonstop flight, so you won’t be disappointed there. If you’re not picky about times and airlines, then I think it’s a fine way to go.

Thanks folks: in checking the specific NCL page for Piraeus, it does indeed say it’s a docking port, so I will chalk it up to an error on their part for our specific travel documents. In that case, we’ll plan on getting a 9-10am ticket for the Acropolis…if they ever open. 🤨

Folks in the roll call have checked with NCL and haven’t gotten any different information. If we are in fact docking at the port at 7, if we were to take the X80 (if it’s running) or the subway, do you think we could get to the Acropolis by 9 am or should we just be safe with the 10 am entry window?

I thought it was strange too, but I was going off of what NCL sent to us:

I am on the Norwegian Epic, docking in Athens/Piraeus on May 2nd, and our itinerary says we are tendering at 7 am. Does anyone have experience tendering at that port and what kind of timeframe we are looking at in order to get to the Acropolis as soon as possible? I was thinking that we could reserve the 10-11 am timeframe for the Acropolis and be pretty safe with that, but would love to hear anyone’s advice.

Thanks for the replies and guidance. I should have mentioned that I flew TAP two years ago and connected in Lisbon. I had already been a member of their program, but the flight still didn’t show up when I put in the code; the rep had to make the connection manually. Now, it appears when I login, but it says that I cannot upgrade through the website, and I don’t really feel like wasting another hour right now. I think our plan is to try their upgrade bidding program and then see what happens, before maybe stopping by their counter at the airport when we fly to Europe. Thanks again!

NCL booked us on a TAP Portugal flight back from Rome through Lisbon to Newark. Because I could not connect my flight to TAP’s online system because it’s a horrible website, I called to do so. After spending an hour waiting, I had a rep tell me that I could not select a seat without a fee. The rep also told me that I could not request a special meal (I have Celiac disease) without paying a fee. I then called NCL Air, who basically didn’t have any answers. Has anyone else flown with TAP through NCL and been able to select seats in advance and/or arrange special meals? I was able to both on Air France going to Rome, but NCL appears to have chosen the rock bottom fare with TAP, which doesn’t allow for such “amenities.”

We are taking the Charming Oia and Winery tour on May 1 in Spanish. Granted, my BF is fluent and I am Duoingo'ing my way through the language, but my sense is that the tour is a fair amount of free time in Oia and then basically having a wine tasting. We chose to do it to avoid the tender lines and lines getting up to Fira. I will report back on our experience and let you know how challenging it is if one doesn't speak the language.

Thanks for that. Is the above approach from klfrodo an option as well? Also, at the bottom of the World Trips Atlas International plan, it says that the plan cannot be purchased by those living in NY: is that only for part of the plan, or for the whole plan? Since I'm a NY resident, I guess I would have to go with the HTH Worldwide plan.

My cruise starts in 100 days, and I am not concerned with losing the cost of the cruise at this point. However, I would like to purchase health insurance for the cruise, but all of the ones I looked for on InsureMyTrip included cancellation insurance. Is there a way to search just for health insurance? Are there policies you recommend?

It was on Venture Ashore, and it is called “Taormina Shared Return Transfer.” I would want to verify that it’s to and from Taormina, since the language is a little odd. NCL has a “Taormina On Your Own” excursion that is basically what this is, but an hour less and $20 more, which is why we were looking for alternatives.

We are going to be in port at Messina from 8am to 6pm. I think we will therefore have plenty of time to do a bus or train to Taormina. However, I’ve found a 5.5-hour transport excursion, which would make things easy, though more expensive ($50pp). My question is whether folks think ~3.5 hours in Taormina is sufficient to soak up the scenery, get a cannoli, and visit the teatro. I suppose we can always train back if we would like another hour, but I would appreciate your opinion if you’ve spent a half-day in Taormina. Thanks!