Dexysgirl

Hi all, We will be in Kusadasi for my birthday in August and I want to do something special.There will be at least 6 of us and probably more (up to 10) I was thinking of a sailing trip where we could cool off in the sea as we will be there in the summer. Has anyone any recommendations. 

Thanks for your help😎

Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice and recommendations. I love the idea of a lazy lunch overlooking the Italian countryside before heading for home. 

Hi everyone,

I would love to get some recommendations or ideas on what to do for our daughter's 22nd birthday in Rome on the day we disembark Odyssey Sunday Aug 21 2022 in Civitavecchia. 

Our flight departs from Ciampino at 21.00hrs. We are a family of 4 (DS 19)

I am thinking that my options are, booking a private tour which will bring us somewhere nice for lunch and then onto the airport or doing it ourselves and taking the train into Rome . The problem is we will have our bags  but we are travelling light with just a small 10kg carry-on case each. Has anyone experience of a private company who might do a bespoke tour . We have seen Rome and would prefer to go somewhere outside the city if we chose this option. 

If we catch the train, can anyone particularly recommend a restaurant that is special, with views of Rome, where we can while away the afternoon over an amazing lunch , have a few nice bottles of the local vino, then grab a cab to Campino around 18.30pm. 

Any suggestions are gratefully received. Many thanks in advance. 

Perfect is very difficult/impossible to achieve....relax...enjoy your vacation and embrace your friends.

Yes Bob you are correct in what you say. I tend to over plan things on occasion and in the end it doesn't make one bit of difference so Im going to sit back and enjoy the good company ( Thanks CB at Sea) .This cruise is with amazing friends we met on our last cruise and we are introducing more friends and family to the joys of cruising. Only 4 weeks and we will be on board.

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone has any information on the table layout in 'Edelweiss' on Rhapsody.

We are a group of 16 and have asked to be seated at the same or adjacent tables. RCL have allocated us tables

44(10 guests) and 42(6 guests) on the lower level. Does anyone know these tables or have a table map of the table layout. I don't want to sound picky (we are going on a fantastic cruise after all) but I would prefer to do whatever I can before we board to get the best option. It is a very special cruise for one of our group and I want everything to be perfect.

Any thoughts or ideas out there. Many thanks in advance.

***Selected Sailings from Southampton will received free Pre-Paid Gratuities for each guest in the stateroom. These will be applied to the booking within 1-2 weeks of the booking creation.***

Thanks Barb, we've planned on three evenings in Dublin mainly because my nephew and niece wanted to explore the youth scene and the musical pub crawl sounds ideal. DH, my sister and I will probably do something similar, only a little more sedate perhaps!

 

I'll be booking a sea view apartment at Jameson Court in Salthill, it's a little away from Galway but we'll have a car, so getting to and fro shouldn't be an issue. Hopefully parking won't be a problem in Galway, but we'll figure it out.

 

Any suggestions for a car rental company at Shannon, where do you suggest we turn in the car in Dublin? We'll be staying somewhere near Trinity, no sure we want to drive in the city:D

 

Thanks again for all the tips and suggestions, planning the trip is half the fun!

 

http://www.jamesonselfcateringgalway.ie/

Hi there,

You have chosen well in Galway. those apts have a great reputation.

If the weather is ok it is a short walk into town via Whitestrand Rd and Fr Griffen Road. this walk brings you in the the best side of the city. The Spanish Arch.Keys Street area are where its all happening in Galway City.

A few recommendations are

Da Robertas Italian Restaurant is located directly across from the Church in Salthill ( 2 mins from your apt) and it is excellent.

For a tasty and very good value lunch try out 'The Burito Bar' at Spainish Arch.

Don't miss the Fish and chips at Naughtons at the botton of Keys Streed.

there is Naughtons pub a few doors up at the intersection of Keys Street and Cross street...one of the bests pubs in the world!!!!!

Drive out to "The Twelve' in Barna for great food also.http://www.thetwelvehotel.ie . you can walk down toe the pier after dinner and look over Galwway Bay.

Blakes is also great http://brasseriegalway.com and it is located in the middle of the city.

You are spoiled for choice in galway with food and things to see/do.

Its the best little city in the world.

Try and pick a good day to do Connemara. The scenery is wild and magical. This is a good route but you will need the full day. http://www.goconnemara.com

For traditional Irish music go to The Crane Bar. Its a bit of a dive but great Guinness and musichttp://www.thecranebar.com

All Galway people walk 'The Prom' out in Salthill and kick the wall when you reach the end at the Blackrock Diving boards ( you can't miss them). You won't have 'done' Galway unless you 'walk the prom'

Have a great trip.

Failte,

If you have a full week you should get out of Dublin for a few days. Catch a train or bus to Galway (only a few hours journey). Its the best little city in the world.

There is always a buzz and great Irish music. Get a flavour of the west coast and the 'Wild Atlantic Way' .

Pop out to the Aran Islands for a night where the pub doesn't close if the only policeman on the island if off duty that night!!!!

2/3 days is plenty to see Dublin.

Get to see the real Ireland outside our capital.

Get ready to be gutted!! Especially if you support Irlande!! they will be turned "inside out".

A bit like how the Irish U20 Rugby team turned the New Zealand U20's 'inside out' in the World Cup last week!!!!!!!!!!!!

NCL are teamed with this sports provider and here is their schedule .

http://www.sport24-tv.com/Schedule

You might be in luck.

WE were on The Epic over Easter and loved it.

Cmon ye boys in green. :):):)

We are a family of 4 who stayed at http://www.navonapt.com for a few days

pre cruise in 2014. They are in an amazing location and were great value.

Enjoy your cruise.

Hi

I just posted in this thread re. large balcony stateroom choice.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2329223&highlight=epic

Hi

We are just back from a 12 night cruise on NCL Epic. We had 12072, a large balcony on deck 12 port side. What an amazing cabin. So near the lifts but very quiet. HUGE balcony with 2 chairs, a small table and a recliner chair. It is the same floor space as the adjoining mini suite but the room is a standard balcony size, making the balcony itself massive.

I have attempted to attach some pics of our family cabin showing the balcony in the background. We travelled with our 2 children and used the extra beds.

Hope this helps you make your decision.

Just back from Epic. Sailed in a large balcony with our 15 & 12 year olds. All our previous cruises were in a mini suite and we found this quite tight for room. Wouldn't do it again. The mini suite on the Epic is only slightly larger than a balcony but it is do-able. Txagfan's recommendation of a balcony & inside is a good option. We thought about it but our kids wanted to be in the same room as us. You could look at 2 adjoining insides. Its nice to have the balcony but in Dec you may not get a massive amount of use from it. There is so much to do on this ship that you find you don't spent a lot of time in your stateroom.

Hi Orozkokm

We are also a family of 4 sailing on Epic on March 16th.

You should go the the roll call for our sailing at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2148117

There is now 42 pages of chat and you can sign up for our Meet & Greet on board. This is also our 2nd cruise with NCL. We find the freestyle suits us as a family.

I'm sure it's just me, but I can't even find the Prosecco on this list? Am I just missing it?

Check out #102 on wine list.

We are on NCL Epic this March and really enjoyed your port reviews. Your description of running for the train in Sollar made me laugh out loud but sorry to hear of your wife's fall. i hope she is feeling much better.

The New Library on Deck 5 behind the art gallery. Well used on a sea day.

 

 

 

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Thank you so much for posting pics of the new Library.

My daughter will be spending some time in there throughout our vacation as she has state exams a few months later (major condition of us going on this particular cruise!!!). We didn't realise that there was no library when we booked and were delighted when we heard it one of the big additions being made by NCL during drydock . Cant wait to sail her.

Thanks again

I would love to see some pics of the new library????

I feel just the opposite. Keep the fares low and charge for "choice" items. You can still cruise for free if you eat in the complimentary dining venues, drink free beverages, see free entertainment, etc.

From a European perspective I agree completely. If it wasn't for NCL our family could not afford to cruise at this level. We only book 'special offers, eat in complementary restaurants, which I think are splendid. We plan our own cheaper excursions, which we have great fun planning at home before we travel. Cruising is our preferred holiday and if it wasn't for NCL we would never have been able to afford our last or next cruise. As our children got older and therefore more expensive there is a lot less disposable income for holidays. When planning our next cruise I spend a lot of time checking out prices and have found that RCCL is hardly ever an option for us (in Europe) with much higher prices than NCL. We want to sail on "American " ships for ease of lauguage etc. Thanks to NCL we can still have our preferred vacation. There are many families like us. We meet them on board.

Like you, we are cruising the Med Spring 2016 with our 15 &12 year olds in a large balcony. We chose 12072 for its massive balcony as this is like having an extra room during the daytime especially. We have done this before with an aft bacony cabin and found that we used the balcony a lot. From what I can see all the large balcony staterooms that accommodate 4 have the bed positioned nearer to the door and not the balcony. Having the bed nearer the balcony is preferable but I think not available for a 4 bed room. I looked at the deck plans for hours before booking and had a list of my favourites (all large balconys) ready when I rang up and booked.

Some for you to look at are 11076 11073 12072 12069 13041 13067 13056 14069 14088

Thank you for giving me the idea of using the fitness centre for extra shower facilities.

We have just booked a "family & friends" room at TRYP Apollo in Barcelona for 144 euros for the night before our cruise departs.This is 2 interconnected rooms with beds for 4. It is a type of suite. They also have family rooms with a king size and 2 bunks. Think they are the same price. I chose it as it is a short walk from the seafront where the cruise shuttle bus departs or a short taxi ride away.

On our Eastern Med cruise aboard NCL Jade, I brought a large bottle of Chianti aboard after a few days pre-cruise in Rome. It was one of those bottles that have a wicker base (the ones you see in Italian restaurants with the melted wax all over them). I thought how lovely it would be to sip a glass of wine on the balcony before going down for dinner. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't find anyone at check-in who would take the corkage fee for my lovely bottle of wine and because of this, each sip was all the sweeter.

PS. I even brought the empty bottle home, and every day it reminds me of those wonderful evenings, sailing away from another beautiful city and knowing I had another lovely evening ahead of me.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1743132&page=3

I found the above thread and it is the cabin (12072) that we have booked for March 2016. It is an extended balcony and this is why I chose it. We are travelling with our 2 children aged 15 & 12 when we sail.

In this cabin there is almost the same floor space as a mini suite but more of it is on the balcony and if we can put 4 chairs out there it gives us a 'lounge' area. The photos in this review are excellent.

We sailed Easter 2013 on the Jade with our then 12 & 9 year olds.. At least once a week one of us will reminisce on the amazing family holiday we experienced. You will have a great time. We took part in the following and as a result made lots of friends with the other family's involved.

Family trivia, charades and quizzes held in the Spinnaker lounge often in the afternoon. They turned out to be quite a laugh and our kids loved winning the prizes.

The children attend a circus school as part of the kids club and put on a show one afternoon in the main theatre. All the parents attend. It's very sweet.

We loved playing shuffle-board at night when the ship was moving. I always felt that we were preserving an age-old sea travel experience. Can't really explain it but it was lovely and our kids loved playing a game with us. Great competition.

Do the tepanyaki together. I think they only charged half price for the kids. If you pre book they will charge full price but will refund you on board.

We had a little routine that every evening at sail away we sat at the front window of the spinnaker lounge and had a cocktail/beer/juice together. It was an amazing place for departing views and more than often it included a sunset. The kids have often said that we had the best "chats" at this time. In our house we call those times" golden moments" . We seem to have had a lot of those on the Jade.

Hope you have a great time.

We did this cruise last March with our 2 children. It is the most fantastic cruise. The best we have ever done. All of us fell in love with the Jade. We became so fond of her and loved everything about her. We would go ashore at every port but loved coming back to her. Our kids would say "Lets go back to the Blue Lagoon for some Buffalo Wings". We have created some of our best family memories on this cruise. Every evening for sailaway we would go up to the Spinnaker, buy a cocktail or a bucket of beer (the kids had their soda cards), sit in the front corner seats and watch coastline as we sailed away. The sun was usually just setting and I'll remember those evenings for the rest of my life. It became our little "thing" and we had the best chats.

Thats what its all about...making those memories. We didnt have a 2 bed suite either(would have loved one) but as long as you are together thats all thast matters.

Make sure the kids( if they are of that age) do the circus . We were so proud of ours up in the big stage performing. The theatre was full of adoring parents!!!

We founds the food excellent and there is no need to spend extra on the speciality restaurants unless you want to splurge one night.

Rome is so expensive with kids (ice cream etc) that I would avoid if possible.

Hope you have a wonderful family holiday.