Loving My Life

Sure, with a med cruise, you only get a day or two in each port, but in one 12 night Med cruise with 8 days land pre and post cruise, we saw:

- the Eiffel Tower

- the Louvre and D'Orsay museums

- Notre Dame

- Sagrada Familia

- Montserrat

- Park Gruel

- Las Ramblas

- Coliseum

- Vatican and Sistine Chapel

- Amalfi coast

- Pompeii

- Cinque Terre

- Pisa

- Acropolis

- Ephesus

- Blue Mosque

- Grand Bazaar

- windmills and shops in Mykonos

- St. Mark's cathedral and square

- Grand Canal

- Islands of Burano and Murano

We tend to do more land based vacations than cruises, but sometimes it's hard to beat one flight but multiple countries and dozens of historic/tourist sites. 🛳 🗼 🏟 🌋 🏰 🏛 🕌

We have only sailed with NCL once 2 years ago and that was on the Spirit, one of their oldest ships, but we found the food in main dining rooms to be awful. We had the ultimate dining package (back when it was yruly free) but 3 nights were fully booked in the specialty restaurants so we ate in the main dining room. The waiters were very nice when we requested different meals but our second (and sometimes third) choices were just as bad as the first choices. We have sailed on Carnival 5 times and found the food in their main dining rooms to be far superior to NCL.

The food and service in the specialty restaurants on NCL, on the other hand, were great (with the exception of Teppanyaki - I think it was just an off night so I'd try it again on the next cruise). I agree with a previous poster, however, in that the menus stay the same so after 12 nights, it gets a bit repetitive. My husband and I loved everything else about that Med cruise with NCL so we will definitely sail with them again but we decided that we will always purchase the SDP and consider it part of the cost of the cruise.

If I had to rank them in order of preference, I'd go with:

Le Bistro

Cagneys

La Trattoria

Teppanyaki

I have a similar story on Carnival. On the first day of the cruise, I left an expensive camera lens by my seat on deck and realized it within 1 minute. Went back and it was gone. Put in a report at guest services and got a claim number. Checked back every morning of the cruise and nobody turned it in. I thought all hope was lost so I bought a new lens in one of the ports so I could get good pictures. About 5 weeks after we got home, I received a call asking me to describe the lens including any unique markers. She found my lens and would send it to me COD. One month later, the package arrived and I got my lens back. It took 9-10 weeks but it finally got to me. 😃😃

We were on a 12 night Med cruise on the Spirit in May of 2015 but we had very different ports on our itinerary. I'm interested in reading what you did in each of your ports.

I absolutely loved your review! Although I haven't sailed Celebrity yet, I hope to and this itinerary would definitely get me to book. Hopefully they offer this again at some point.

I live on Bonine (non-drowsy Dramamine) when I cruise, not only on the ship but also for shore excursions. I also get extreme motion sickness, even as the driver. I take one morning and night starting the night before boarding the ship all the way through to boarding the plane to go home. It never makes me drowsy and works like a charm.

I haven't sailed either of these ships, but I have sailed with both NCL and Carnival and I've been to most of these ports. Based on what you've stated, I think you will enjoy the Getaway more than the Conquest but I like the Carnival itinerary much better.

St. Maarten has beautiful beaches (some are clothing optional). Grand Turk is a lovely beach and you can swim up to (and get pictures of) the ship. St. Kitt is a pretty island and it does have some beaches although not as beautiful as you will find in St. Maarten and Grand Turk. We did a fun and picturesque island tour there that included the fort and the beach. I also love San Juan. Pretty sail in with the fort. We've done the forts, strolled through old San Juan, eaten some fabulous meals, night kayaked in the biobay, and visited El Younque. So much to see and do there. There are beaches, but again, not as amazing as St. M or GT.

That said, Coz obviously has beautiful beaches and I just love the unspoiled beauty of Rostan. I've heard, however, that many people are not as pleased with Harvest Caye as other cruise line private islands due to coarse sand and limited/expensive food. I love Belize for ruins and cave tubing but you can't do any of those things from Harvest Caye.

Sounds like you guys need to decide whether the ship or the ports are the most important to you. Enjoy!

I have two:

1) Calabaza in Barbados - a full day on a private catamaran on a picture perfect day that included swimming with turtles, snorkeling at a shipwreck, a fabulous homemade lunch, and unlimited rum punch.

2) America's Cup Regatta Race in St. Maarten - another picture perfect day on the water. So fun to become a crew member for the day and race against another boat.

I also loved kayaking in the bio bay on a moonless night in San Juan.

I don't have a picture but I can tell you how I use mine. I have multiple sizes. In the largest, I pack all of my bottoms - shorts, capris, pants, etc. In the medium size, I pack my tops. In the small size I pack my bras, panties, and socks. Actually, I have several small ones that I also use to pack bathing suits, charging cords for all of my devices, small first aid kit and meds, etc.

I should add that I roll all of my clothes rather than fold them as I place them in the cubes which cuts down on wrinkles.

I also pack all of my toiletries and make up in cosmetic bags so that if my suitcase is ever opened by TSA or if I have to move things between suitcases (for weight issues), there is nothing loose in my suitcase except my blow dryer and hair brush.

I've also heard of people getting a bunch of the smaller ones and packing each day's complete outfit individually but that doesn't work for me as I find that I need to take weather and comfort into account in choosing my clothing for the day.

Hope that helps. 🙂

Can't wait to read the rest. I've been waiting for a few reviews from this itinerary before booking our own Baltic cruise. 🛳⚓️🕌

Our sailing, 6/12 from Copenhagen was supposed to dock in Stockholm. We paid extra for this "variation". Received notice a week or so ago that its now docking in Nynashavn. Do not trust them or pay more for this! The ship is just too big. I don't believe any cruise this season will go through the archipelago and dock in Stockholm

I've been following this thread because I'm looking to book a Baltic cruise next year and THIS is what I've been afraid of. May have to look at other cruise lines for this trip.

Please come back a do a review after your cruise. I'd love to hear your feedback.

We cruised the Med in May 2015 and it was already hot, especially in Greece and Turkey (90 degrees). Spain, France, and Italy were in the 80s the whole time. I can't imagine how hot it must be in July and August.

On my Med cruise in 2015, which was a 12 night cruise, I also expected an older crowd given the length, but was surprised that it was a younger crowd than I expected. I'd say the vast majority of passengers were 25-55, with the largest group being 35-45. Lots of young families and honeymooners. Dh and I were 38 and 40 at the time and fit right in. Your chosen cruise line also influences the age demographic. We were on NCL, which attracts younger people/families. I would expect that Princess, HAL, and perhaps Celebrity attract an older crowd. Despite that, I'm hoping to try Celebrity and Princess next.

Only been on 1 NCL cruise (although 5 other cruises) but it was by far our best cruise/vacation ever. Why? 1) Grand Med [amazing ports!]; 2) 12 nights [loved the length!]; 3) entire trip was 3 weeks; 4) 3 nights Paris + 2 nights Barcelona precruise; 5) 2 nights Venice post cruise; 6) smaller ship; 7) great staff; 8) suite perks d/t organizing M&G; 9) fantastic roll call; 10) amazing private excursions; 11) beautiful weather; 12) free drinks and specialty dining (back when they were truly free); 13) little extras like cold towels, beverages, and frozen ice when arriving back to the ship after a full (hot!) day of touring. Really, I could go on and on...

I was in your place 2 years ago, having taken 5 Carnival Caribbean cruises and booking an NCL Spirit 12 day Med cruise. The lines are more similar than different. My biggest suggestion would be buy a specialty restaurant package! I found the food in their 2 free dining rooms to be terrible. Only ate in each one once then stuck to the pay restaurants, which were very good (with the exception of one meal). Another suggestion is to join your roll call and join private tours with others in your sailing. It will save you a ton of $, be smaller groups, and let you customize to your liking.

Not sure what your ports are, but you may want to read my review of our Med cruise (link in signature below). At the end, I have a whole post comparing CCL and NCL that you might find helpful. It also contains detailed info on the private tours we took in each port.

Our 12 day Med cruise (which also included 3 days in Paris and 2 days in Barcelona pre-cruise and 2 days in Venice post-cruise) was the best vacation we have ever taken!! Enjoy!

Hi there,

First time cruisers on the NCL Escape to the Eastern Caribbean. Would you mind if I asked a few questions?

 

1. Embarkation is at 12 sailing at 7, if boarding at 12 are all the facilities open to use and are the rooms ready.

 

2. Can you choose where to sit for dining or are you made to share tables with others.

 

3. Leaving on the 24th Nov, is the weather nice in the caribean, can you walk around the ship in shorts,T shirts during the day or is it to breezy.

 

4. Is there free wifi on the ship

 

5. On arriving back into Miami at 7am do you need to leave ship lmmediatly, is breakfast available prior to arrival.

 

Thanks in anticipation....

1. Cabins may not be ready yet, but food (buffet and restaurants), pools, gym, spa, etc are all available as soon as you board.

2. On NCL, you will be seated alone unless you ask to be seated with others.

3. Barring some extreme weather, you will be good with shorts on the ship and in ports.

4. There is not free wifi (unless you have an Internet package). Internet is REALLY slow on ships so it can be very costly. Check the Internet cafe on board if interested. You can buy unlimited or by the minute.

5. You don't need to get off the ship immediately but by 9:30-10am so they can clean and prepare for the next round of passengers. Breakfast will be available in the buffet and one of the restaurants will have limited hours for seated breakfast (like 6:30-8:30 or so).

Have fun!!

We went the second half of May last year and it was 80+ every day. If I were to do it again I'd go end of April or beginning of May.

We cruised to Grand Turk, HMC, and Nassau in January a few years ago and it was definitely warm enough to swim -far warmer than the water near us even in the the middle of the summer. In GT and HMC, the air temps were 80 and 85 respectively and the water was like bath water. I'd guess it to be in the upper 70s. It rained the day we were in Nassau so we didn't head to the beach so I can't help you there. It is probably important to know, however, that we are hardy New Englanders who swim in Maine in 60 degree water, especially the kids. Nov, Dec, and Jan are my favorite months to sail to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

We did the 12 night Grand Med on NCL Spirit last year and it was amazing!! We spent 3 nights in Paris, 2 nights in Barcelona, and two extra nights in Venice at the be if the cruise. Not sure that this itinerary will be offered next year though.

Ok, so this probably isn't a fair comparison as I sailed on the Spirit, which is their oldest ship, and sailed the Med, which is very port intensive, but we felt the exact opposite as many of these posts.

Cabins. The cabins and balconies on both lines felt similar in size. Also, there was a shower door on NCL vs a shower curtain on CCL, so a point to NCL for cabins.

Food. We thought the food in the main dining rooms was significantly better on CCL. We ate in the dining room twice on our NCL cruise, didn't care for any of our choices, so went to specialty restaurants the rest of the nights, which were very good. Loved having so many specialty restaurants. Not sure I'd sail NCL without a dining package. Buffet was better quality on NCL but not a lot of variety. Desserts were rather tasteless on NCL. Over all, definite point to CCL for food.

Entertainment. We thought the entertainment was...how to say this nicely...pathetic on NCL. Now, it was the Med as I said, and evening entertainment was not high on our list of priorities, BUT in 12 nights, there wasn't one comedian. The illusionist was very good, but other than that, we left every show after 5 minutes or didn't go at all. I'm sure entertainment is much better on the newer, bigger ships, but if you are not sailing on one, it's something to keep in mind. Definite point to CCL for entertainment if not on getaway, breakaway, etc.

Service. Although the service has always been top notch on CCL, I thought it was even better on NCL. LOVED coming back to the ship and being offered cold towels, water, and frozen treats. Also had full suite perks for hosting the M&G, so loved having the concierge, breakfast and lunch in Cagneys, canapés and other treats every afternoon, priority tendering, and all of the other perks. Big point to NCL for service.

Guests/Behavior. This was exactly the same on both lines. Families, young adults, middle aged, older adults. Not many kids because we sailed when school was in session. Have yet to see obnoxious, unruly children or drunk, disinhibited college students with out-of-control behavior on either line, just couples and families relaxing and having fun.

Over all, they were quite similar, but I think for us, NCL edged out CCL, but I would happily sail either line in the future and also want try other cruise line as well.

I found the food in the main dining room on Carnival to be far superior to NCL, the food in the specialty restaurants were comparable, and the food in the buffets was better on NCL, but the variety better on Carnival.

In terms of entertainment, keep in mind we were on the oldest NCL ship, without any bells and whistles and without any premium shows. On our 12 night NCL cruise, there were NO comedians, which we missed. There were 2 shows in the main theater that were pretty good, probably equal to the shows on Carnival. The rest of the shows were pretty bad.

I found the 2 lines to be quite similar. I enjoyed all of my cruises on both lines. Unlike some people, I don't find Carnival to be the rowdy booze cruise line that many describe (with the exception of my 4 night Coz & KW cruise, which I expected). The key is when you cruise. I avoid the summer when school is out, spring break, and holidays, choosing rather Nov, Jan, and May when it is mostly couples sailing. With that said, I'm looking forward to trying Celebrity for the Baltics cruise we are planning in 2018.

Enjoy whichever cruise you take!

Waiting to read all about St. Petersburg!

We did the 12 night Grand Med cruise last year on the Spirit. We had a few children, some teens, and mostly adults. The adults ranged from 18-80, with the majority being between 30 and 60 years old. We were 38 and 39 and fit right in. Our sailing had a lot of Asians, followed by Europeans, Americans, Aussies, and Canadians. Because the cruise was so port intensive, we tended to go to bed earlier than we normally would on vacation, but most nights we did dinner, Galaxy of the Stars for karaoke or some other entertainment, and the show in the theater. We were definitely in bed by 11pm so I'm not sure about the late night/early morning atmosphere. It was fun but not the party atmosphere of a shorter Carnival Caribbean cruise. We had a great, active roll call and we spent a lot of time together in the evenings. I would do it again in a heartbeat and I'm looking forward to our next European cruise.

Great review so far! Can't wait to read the rest.

Can't wait to read the rest as we are in the very early stages of planning a Baltics cruise for May 2018!