thera

i had the Plus package on Sky recently. When I asked for a diet Coke, they always gave me a can, and it was part of the package.

That's crazy! We had a lot of people in the line when we were dropped off but we kept moving. Wonder what the issue was here. I hope you have a great time!

Churchill's was closed every time we went by to Take Five, so I think it never opened.

I know the ice machines were broken at the buffet, the coffee machines were working during the times we had breakfast there.

We wanted to go to the Caribbean and I found a pretty good price on an obstructed balcony on Sky Princess leaving Fort Lauderdale on Nov 25th in June. Our TA gave us some OBC to use so we booked it. Never been on Princess before; we've done Royal, Carnival, Holland, Norwegian. We wanted to relax but also see something we hadn't before (San Juan). Flights fluctuated quite a bit, we had thought about driving since we had the two Thanksgiving days off. In Sept, I pulled the trigger on flights out of my regional airport when the price came down to where I wanted. We had a short connection in Charlotte coming and going which usually isn't a big deal, but I would think about that later. I looked at TripAdvisor for a room as we would travel to Fort Lauderdale on Black Friday. I booked a "garden view" room at the Manhattan Tower Apartments for a very good price in June. I also bought travel insurance just in case something happened. All packed, I decided to do standby for an earlier flight (@11am) since a) they had available seats, b) our connection was very tight and c) we only had carry ons. We succeeded in getting on the earlier flight. We had time to stop for lunch in Charlotte, were on the flight to Fort Lauderdale and landed on time (@4:40). Finding the busy rideshare area between Terminal 3 and 4, we got a Lyft to Manhattan Tower @5:22pm. There was traffic, we were dropped off @5:50pm (cost @$22). The manager was texting me while we were on our way so he would be there to see us to our room, which was across the street from the hotel. Sort of odd, but hey, only for a night. The area was residential and very quiet. Our room had a little kitchenette, the A/C was working great and it was clean. We freshened up, walked to Wild Thyme Oceanside for dinner which was very good. Of course this time of year, it was dark and we could only hear the ocean. The main issue I had with the hotel was the bed, pretty uncomfortable. The next morning we walked to Archibalds Village Bakery for breakfast. Sitting outside on a late November morning in Florida is something. We strolled around the neighborhood and back to the hotel. There were 7 ships in port that day, so we decided to leave sooner rather than later. The Uber picked us up @10:04am and dropped off @10:18am (cost @$13). People were already lined up in a long queue and we kept moving through security and to pick up our medallions fairly quickly. We were on board at 10:50am. We asked someone if we could add Plus to our accounts and he got us squared away and showed us how to access WiFi on our phones/tablets. We found our way to the Retreat where we ordered our first drinks. The hubby wanted the buffet, so we made our way there and found a seat. Was impressed with the food selection. The rest of the afternoon, we chilled at the Retreat then went to dinner. We had made a reservation for one of the main dining rooms but it took a while to be seated then a long time to get our courses. As the cruise went along, it was apparent that there was a staffing problem for the amount of cruisers. All the staff were friendly even though they were working their tails off. We ate at the various main dining rooms, buffet and International Cafe. Some things were great (the Indian and Mediterranean food section in the buffet as an example), some things weren't (desserts were mostly misses). Alfredo's was supposed to be this incredible pizza, but it was just ok to us. Plus the food service there was extremely slow. Not worth an upcharge. The husband thought that the pool drinks were watered down also. But the drinks we tried at Take Five and the Crown Grill bar were excellent and didn't take a ton of time to get a drink. Vines was always busy but we met nice cruisers there. Good Spirits was the busiest indoor bar, it was always packed. The ship didn't have any hard seltzers on the ship, apparently didn't get a shipment we were told. The ship was in great condition, and the layout worked well for us. Steward was awesome. She of course knew when we were in/out of the room because of the Medallion. The Medallion is a nice feature, but has its kinks to work out. Most times I had to tell servers my room number, their tablet didn't recognize me. Other times, like in the International Cafe, the Medallion always worked. The ports had very humid weather so we didn't do much. We were delayed in getting off the ship due to a medical emergency in Princess Cays, so we just ventured out after lunch and swam a little. We took a walking tour in Old San Juan which was worth it, but sweaty. We drank a lot of bottled water. Amber Cove wasn't great, we discovered there wasn't an easy beach to walk to, so we got back on the ship and chilled at the Retreat. Grand Turk we had been to before but several years ago. We walked on the narrow beach (didn't recall if it was like that before?) past all the people trying to sell chairs for the day and decided to go back and do some souvenir shopping. We discovered late that the chairs to the right of the pier were first come first serve and free. We swam in that area for a bit which was nice. Our room was fine, a little small for a balcony room, but for two people it was fine. The obstruction was just a lifeboat below. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've had on a cruise, 5 stars. Debarkation was easy, we did express walk off since we had a 10:15am flight. We had a light breakfast in the International Cafe and took an Uber to the airport at 7:30am. Arrived at the airport at 7:46am (@$13) and there were only a handful of people at security, we were at the gate area before 8am. Sadly the flight was delayed and we had to run to barely make our next connection home. Air travel, ya know. Overall I enjoyed the cruise, just a few things noted that could be improved. Pros: Take Five - Having 3 sets per night of jazz music was great, also the bartenders were fantastic. Closes for certain private functions at certain times during the day. Retreat - Nice and relaxing with calm music in the background. Great area to read a book, nice bartenders (but they were super busy!). Needs more shade, however. And a lot of chair hogs were out. International Cafe - Very good option for coffee and light meals. Way faster than the buffet coffee shop (in the Pastry Shop) but seems like the Cafe had more espresso machines. Laundromat - I loved having the self-service laundry on the ship, we didn't have to pack as much. Wash and dry was only $6. Cons: Staffing - Long lines for drinks, long waits for food in most places. More staff is needed, but that's the case in a lot of places these days. Princess app - I heard that they are retooling this, thankfully. Scrolling through what's happening isn't great and there are no notifications on what you have bookmarked. I wanted to order from OceanNow a couple of times but the app couldn't find where I was when I wanted it. Also would be nice to have a world map and see where you are in real time, where you're going, etc. The shipmate locator is pretty neat, tho. Shade - We noticed that the Carnival Vista (when parked next to us) had umbrellas; that would have been a nice feature on this ship. There aren't a lot of places for shade and I didn't want to be out in the sun all day. Happy to answer any questions I can.

Hi, we are scheduled to hop on the Sky on Saturday and there are seven (!) ships in port. What time did you get to the port? We have to pick up our Medallions as well. Our boarding times are from 10:30am-2pm so I was thinking we would get there earlier rather than later. Thanks!

Ugh. That's one of the reasons we booked Sky in November. Hugely disappointing.

Y'all have been through it, I sincerely hope you get your bags today. Barcelona is beautiful though, enjoy your time there.

I fell in love with caipirinhas on my last cruise. They had a nice pineapple surplus drink that I had by the pool. Enjoyed the botanical spritz. We sampled a few martinis as well that I liked (rum cake, basil cucumber).

Went to Greece for 10 days in Sept, no COVID. Spouse and I got the new booster before the cruise. Spouse did come back with a cold though. 🙃

The Terrace houses are definitely a highlight.

It was ΦΑΡΜΑΚΕΙΟ ΧΑΛΑΡΗΣ, Kallirrois 15. Several pharmacies I believe have them at a similar price as well, you can ask your hotel.

No clue on the first two questions, sorry. The CD Danny introduced himself while we were at Spinnaker and we talked for a bit. He seemed very nice. The MDR was not open for lunch day 1.

The cruise terminal has tents, the big one is where you take a number and sit for a while. I think there was a sign for Haven. The Bazaar to the port is walkable, took us about an hour but we stopped to take pictures occasionally and we were going downhill. There's so much traffic in Istanbul, you could also take a tram from the port to the Bazaar area as I understand.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd save the money for shore excursions or something else if it's the same or similar cruise that's port heavy. We had entertained bidding on a balcony but thought (and we were right) that we would never be in the room to use it, so we stuck with the OV. 🙂

Just wanted to throw this here for anyone interested as this site has helped me so much with planning over the years. Happy to answer any questions. This was an anniversary cruise that was delayed due to the pandemic and we finally got to Greece this time in September. We booked the cruise through a third party and received BOGO flights, drinks package, 2 specialty restaurant visits, 250 mins of WiFi, and $50 off shore excursions. NCL booked us on very good flights (shocker!), only 1 connection through Philly (coming and going). We did a one day deviation, left on Friday and arrived Saturday morning. We had an obstructed OV on deck 8 which was fine for us since we only were in the room for sleeping & getting ready. We've been on the Jade before, many years ago on a western Med cruise. I booked a taxi service through Athens Airport Taxi (40 euros, used the ATM in the arrivals hall with no issues) and the driver was waiting for us in the arrivals hall right after picking up our luggage. Very nice Mercedes van with water provided. It was around a 30-35 min drive to our hotel, B4B Athens Signature, which I HIGHLY recommend. We did our COVID tests at a pharmacy (7 Euros) that was a 3 min walk away, had lunch at a great spot called the Coffee Joint and then rested a bit before going back out at 4pm to hike the Acropolis. There were a lot of folks around but no large line at the south entrance. After taking a hundred pictures and sweating for a while, we decided to walk to the Plaka and then back to the hotel. We freshened up and had dinner and drinks at the rooftop of our hotel which was very nice. The next day, the hotel breakfast buffet was simply awesome. The hotel provided excellent service throughout our short stay. We checked out, stored our luggage and got an Uber to the Archaeological Museum, where we stayed for probably 5 hours looking at everything. Got an Uber back to the hotel, got a taxi to the port and arrived around 2:45 pm. This is where things started to suck a bit. The first line they wanted our COVID tests, which we showed them. Next line was to dump off luggage. Then another line to get a number and sit inside a tent for a very long time to check in. When we got to actual check in, they did all the stuff that I did online during that check in process. It saved no time at all doing it online and I was a little annoyed. People we spoke to were also complaining about the COVID tests, so much confusion around it. First thing we had to do on the ship was muster, which thankfully didn't take but a couple of minutes. We dropped off our stuff in our room, got snacks and drinks at around 4:30pm. We had dinner in Alizar which was fine, drinks at the martini bar then it was sleepy time. We were up early for the NCL shore excursion to Ephesus. Got breakfast at the packed buffet, and went to the theater to be called. Lots of excursions this day, we waited quite a while and thought, dang, we could have had more coffee. The tour guide, Phillis, was great, and the terrace houses were definitely something to see. We stopped for bathrooms and a little shopping. The unfortunate thing was that we stopped for a carpet sale after that, which was not on the itinerary when I booked, and I was a little annoyed that we could have spent time in Kusadasi instead. There was a note attached to the shore excursion tickets saying we could opt out and walk back to the port but the store we stopped at was too far away from the port. We got back on the ship and had lunch and then relaxed poolside for the afternoon. We had Le Bistro for dinner and it did not disappoint. The lamb chops were some of the best I've had. Istanbul was very interesting with a ton of history. Again an early day, we booked a half-day tour with Tour Altinkum Travel, meeting at 8:30am. Some things were closed, the reason for us picking a half-day tour. Found our guide where he said he would be at the port and he said we needed to pick up a couple and we would then be on our way. Traffic is a major issue here so the van dropped us off near the hotel where we picked up the other couple and we walked to Hagia Sophia. It was around 9:20 am by this time and there was a huge line to get in. But when it opened, the line moved very fast. Very neat place. After learning a lot of the history here, we walked basically across the square to the Blue Mosque, which was under construction, but you could still see some tiles and things inside. Then walked around the corner to the Hippodrome, another highlight. After this, we walked towards the Grand Bazaar, but first, our tour guide said we would watch a "fashion show" at a leather store "where they had good bathrooms, unlike the Bazaar." It was super strange and off putting. Again, this was not on the itinerary I booked. After that, our tour guide stated we would stop at a Turkish delight shop and then finally the Grand Bazaar, but we would have to walk back to the port. This was not stated again on the booking, so I was very peeved at this point. We walked into the Bazaar for a bit and then decided since we had to walk all the way back, we better start. I wouldn't book the tour again, I would pick another company. It took us an hour but we finally got back and then ate a late lunch and rested again in the afternoon on the ship. We had dinner at Alizar again then hit the hay. Volos was the next stop and we didn't have to leave on our excursion until 12:45 pm. We had a leisurely breakfast in the MDR and watched the Aegean for a while. Off to the theater at exactly the time where they were calling our bus tour. We stopped at the Volos Archaeological Museum which was tiny compared to Athens but our tour guide was an archaeologist so it was interesting to hear from her point of view on the antiquities. We boogied out of there and started up Mt Pelion to Makrinitsa, a cute village which I enjoyed a lot. Great views of the harbor way down below and great prices on gifts to bring back home. The weather was turning cool and semi-rainy and we started back down. We had dinner at Cagney's and it was delicious. The ahi tuna tartare was so good. We probably ate too much though. Had a nightcap at Spinnaker and went to bed. Up and early once again in Mykonos, we booked another shore excursion to Delos. We kept laughing at how we were on one boat, then transferred on another boat (tender) to shore to get on another boat to the other side of the harbor to get on another boat to Delos. That Delos trip had probably the choppiest waters I've seen and we are boaters (albeit on the lake and not the open sea). I was regretting not taking Bonine, it was that sketchy. We had an hour and change in Delos (again, another very cool place) before we had to get on the boat again at 11am back to Mykonos. Once there, I kissed the ground and noticed all the people that had flooded into the town. We couldn't find the tour guide and someone in our party said we had to walk back to the tender. Really bad for any folks with mobility issues. I would have liked to have seen the museum on Delos but found out it's closed. We took some pictures around the windmills and did the walk back to the tender and ship. Too many ships and people in town for my taste. Noticing a trend here, we got a late lunch and relaxed. Dinner was in the MDR and was good. In Rhodes we did a DIY tour via the GPSmycity app. Had a great leisurely walk through town then toured the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights for 8 euros PP. Very cool mosaics and view of the harbor! We continued our walk to the harbor and to where the Colossus of Rhodes once was, then walked back to the ship. Had dinner again in the MDR. Santorini day, the only plan I had was to find a restaurant for lunch and have a glass of wine while viewing the caldera. We got off the ship around 10am and did the cable car thing. Not a fan but there's few options of course. Took 45-50 mins coming and going. Walked to Imerovigli, did some shopping. The views are just incredible, I don't think pictures really do them justice. Only two ships in port but it still felt super busy. Checked in for our return flights. Had dinner at the buffet since we wanted to watch the sunset from the ship. Last day we were up early since we had a 11:30am flight and did self-debarkation. We had a quick breakfast in the buffet and retrieved our luggage, but then had difficulty getting off the ship. The elevators were packed. We eventually went up to 12 then headed midship and back down to 4 where we walked off. I had pre-booked the taxi service again but there were plenty of taxis at the port. Was the same price as a taxi (55 euros) though and a nicer ride in my opinion. Just a side note if you're coming back into the states. The olive oil I bought after security in Athens was confiscated in Philly since we had no idea we had to completely go through another security checkpoint there and they wouldn't accept the duty free items (and yes it was in a tamper-evident bag). They were throwing out everyone's liquid purchased at duty free, not just us. Last time we flew internationally a few years ago this didn't happen but don't know if it's an airport issue or what. Everyone on the ship was polite and helpful, we had no issues. Our steward was very efficient. We used the hot tubs daily which helped us recover from all the walking. There were some chair hogs out during popular pool times as expected. We didn't make it to any shows, that's really not our thing anyway. I honestly didn't have any food on the ship I would consider bad. Some things were better than others. Never had an issue with waits at restaurants, it wasn't a full ship but I don't know what the capacity was. Lots of folks washed their hands at the buffet which was nice. We did have to walk back to near the Great Outdoors a few times for a seat at popular times, and they have a little buffet out there as well with less people. We had a fun time trying drinks we've never had before without worrying about a massive bar bill. The WiFi was very slow but I only used it for checking email and a few other things (I had an eSIM for Greece that worked great, I should have upped it from 1 GB though since I almost used it up). Weather was almost perfect (pretty hot in Athens). I'd love to come back and go to Crete, maybe some smaller islands like Paros, but this gave me a good intro. Overall it was an incredible trip seeing a lot of things that I've only read about in art history classes and the History Channel.

We went at 4pm on a Saturday recently and there were only a few people in line at the south entrance ticket window. Super easy.

@cmecruise1962, hello, we'll be on the ship in a few weeks. Can you tell me if you did a Covid test at the port or beforehand? Thanks!

It's not just NCL, it's others (e.g. Princess) as well. I keep seeing "The Greek government have their own testing requirements" but not seeing any evidence of that on an official government site. It makes no sense to me. A ship can stop at Greek port and not have to test.

@Levanah if it's the Jade, we're on this same cruise and coming in the day before (if flights are not delayed/cancelled). I have heard two things, 1) that there are many pharmacies that can easily do a test for 10 euros or less (hotel can suggest one) and 2) NCL will test for free at the port if you sign up via Eurofins during your check in. I'm leaning towards getting a test after we arrive. I noticed you're from Asheville, we're practically neighbors (Bristol here). 🙂

We're staying at a hotel in the same area, can you tell me what pharmacy you used? I've also heard that if you register for a Eurofins account during the check in process, NCL will test you at the port for free since it's a Greece requirement. Just wanting to know options if case things change between now and Sept. Thanks!

We received our flights (American) for our Sept cruise on NCL and were pleasantly surprised. Times are quite good. I hope nothing changes, but you know how that goes these days. 😏 We were able to pick our seats (tickets assigned were basic economy, upgrade to main cabin for a cost). Checked bags are extra.

We're planning on doing a Delos excursion in the morning we're there but want to explore the town a little, walk to the windmills and maybe dip in the beach there in the afternoon since we're scheduled to be there for 11 or 12 hours. Thanks for the pictures, this looks very nice.

NCL booked our flights and we're scheduled on a flight at 11:30am, so it's very doable it seems. I figured we would leave the ship between 7-7:30 and get our taxi service to the airport (port is 50 mins from the airport I heard).

What site did you use for your combo ticket (multiples sites within in 5 days for 30E) please? I may want to look into the same. Thanks!