catbro

I am considering booking a cruise from Lisbon to Canary Islands and Morocco for Oct 25. The free airfare option for second traveler comes to $1300 for both travelers from PHL or $1200 from EWR, both doable from our home. Google flights looks to be about $830 per person so a bit of a savings. 

What has been your experiences with this option. We would want to travel to Lisbon minimum of 2 days prior to embarkation and preferably 3. Can they deny such a request and then you're stuck with the flights? How far in advance are you notified of your flights. The booking also shows $150 for ground transportation is this from the airport to the cruise terminal on arrival and can they remove that if we are arriving two days early. 

Would love to hear your experiences good, bad and ugly. Thanks.

Thank you so much. Your comments are extremely helpful for increasing my comfort level for this trip. 

For reference, I really did not like our northbound Alaska cruise because of how cold and windy it was on the open decks. It was mid summer and was still too windy/cold for me, but it was a freaky week weather-wise. 

Hello, would appreciate input from any who have done a November sailing of  Canary Islands and Morocco ports of call from Barcelona. We enjoy Barcelona to start/end a cruise and are very interested in the itinerary/ports.

However, my big concern is whether it will be too chilly and windy onboard the ship when outside. I think it will be too cool to use the pools and can manage that, but I just don't want to be forced to be inside for the majority of the sailing time between ports.  I know that weather is unpredictable and that region of the globe has some unusally warm falls. We were pleasantly surprised by a trip to Barcelona and Marbella in late October where it was still very warm and enjoyable. But I don't know if it is the same for the Canaries/Morocco.

Would love to hear your experiences on this sailing and appreciate all input and advice. 

Can anyone please confirm from first hand experience if Veuve Clicquot is included at no additional charge with the Premium Plus Beverage Package Upgrade? Can you also order a bottle as with other wines? Thank you.

3 hours ago, MkeCruzn said:

 

I read the T&C for specialty dining. It does say Seafood restaurants but does not specify. Since there is Bayamo and Adoma or something maybe it covers both since they differ on the various ship. Hoping that is accurate. I would be really pissed if it was not included. Thanks for the heads up.

I meant to post this so others on here would be aware after our OCT 2022 NCL cruise from Venice: but I had an accident on a Greek ferry afterward that required me to return home early for surgery so forgot to post. Hoping to make others aware of what to expect when taking the train from Venice to Trieste cruise embarkation.

We booked Trenitalia from Venice to Trieste. This is a train line and schedule that was obviously designed for local service. Nothing like the large Frecciarossa trains that can accommodate tourist travel with assigned seats. But with the change to embarkation ports outside of Venice proper it is experiencing incredible overload. Before the train arrived at St. Lucia station people started gathering on the tracks and I mean a LOT of people. While I observed a small fraction of locals the majority were boarding with one or two huge suitcases with cruise tags and obviously going to the cruise port.

When the train arrived, there was so much pushing and shoving to get on board it was unbelievable. Something I learned about Italian and Greek public transport. Once onboard there were small overhead racks that could store nothing larger than a backpack. So people had to put their bags on seats to not block the aisle. Therefore fewer seats were available and this train did not have reserved seats so first come first served. I truly felt sorry for the locals who had their train line turned into a tourist transport and had to deal with the unbelievable crowd. 

It was an experience I don't want to repeat and never expected to experience. So just offering this info for those sailing from "VENICE" which is no longer Venice if they are taking the local train. It was an early morning train around 8 AM. If I had to do it again I'd hire a car. 

Thank you so much for sharing this. I appreciate it. I was not aware of the bill credit option for using points. I will definitely search NCL credit card tricks on here to understand it better. If you have the time to reply here to educate me on this it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Yes you can add a package onboard

Do you know where to purchase it? Thanks

I would use it for Cruise Next Certificates but they are nonrefundable OBC so I've been told they cannot be used for that.

Thanks, I saw that offer and agree its a better deal. But I will have $350 OBC that I don't forsee using on anything else. We already have the upgraded beverage package and I'm not interested in the overpriced spa services and pushy upsell involved. Ideas welcome.

Anyone have experience using NCL Credit Card rewards for OBC. I read on some of the previous posts it was considered nonrefundable. Thanks for all the input. I'm still somewhat confused.

I'd prefer to use my OBC to pay for some additional specialty dining instead of purchasing on line and having to pay for it directly. Does anyone know if they will be offering 2 meal specialty dining packages to purchase onboard upon embarkation? If so where do I go to purchase it?  Will be sailing on Breakaway. Thanks

Also, I see many people buying the certs and say they are using them on an already booked cruise. Is this the norm because the TC say must be new cruise. Thanks again.

Thanks for the replies. I have a lot to learn. I have confirmed it is non-refundable OBC. So I guess the original amount cannot be used and the OBC from the first purchase is NR as well and cannot be used either. Sounded too good to be true.

Question about buyin CN certs online. $250 certs have a going rate of $125 which people say is what they paid, but the onboard credit for a 250 cert is only $100, what am I missing? Thanks

I've only purchased a Cruise Next certificate once and used it for a new booking But I've discovered the double up promotions and am interested in getting more, but I'm somewhat confused about how the OBC works. I have $350 of OBC upon boarding. If I purchase two $250 certificates ($500 value) how does the balance work out.

I'm assuming since the credit is applied instantly my balance initially will be negative $150, but will the two $125 on-board credits from the CN purchase be applied against the negative $150 balance, leaving me $100 OBC overall? I'm a novice on this subject so would appreciate advice. Thanks

Would you know if there is a fence around the port complex or is it possible to walk from the Lazy River area in the port to the streets downtown? Is there a single exit/entrance for those walking? THanks.

Thank you for this great review. We are booked on March 2 2024 sailing. Could you please answer some questions about VBC. Husband treated for multiple carcinomas. So we try to find two loungers somewhere around the pool that is under some sort of cover. 

I have been considering purchasing VBC because the NCL photos indicate to me there are many more options for being undercover than on the regular pool deck. But from your photos, the area looks wide open with a few umbrellas only. 

Also, I've read there is no elevator access to VBC and one has to climb a flight of stairs to access it and to leave. I have some mobility issues that might make this a deal breaker. Do you have any comments on the ease of access? Thank you for any input.

Just off NCL Gem Oct 2 adriatic itinerary. I couldn't find this information anywhere in advance of our cruise even on the 800 NCL nunber so offering the info for future cruisers on this itinerary. 

Embarkation was at Pier 57. Took a taxi from the Train Terminal, 17 euros. Taxis were a little slow in arriving but we got there. NCL has a makeshift passenger processing deal under a tent at the clearly totally industrial port. We took a train from Venice St Lucia which was a real nightmare trying to get on board with luggage and nowhere to to store it but in between the seats. Locals clearly pissed off by having their regional train service taken over by cruise passengers with tons of luggage. But we managed. 

NCL has cut back on many things especially on the menus for the restaurants removing many of my favorites and even in the specialty restaurants. Pretty disappointed with the quality of the food overall.

Disembarkation: We were told we could self assist and get off the boat by 7 AM which is exactly what we did. Grabbed a taxi at pier 57 for the train station and were able to purchase tickets for the 8:15 AM regional train from Trieste to Mestre with plenty of time to spare. Then transferred to a Freccarossa train to Naples. 

We were on the ship with you and agree with everything in your review. One question though, I never heard the captain announce any passenger covid cases during his daily announcements (which I thought was a requirement by CDC). I did hear him announce something about Covid the second to last day on the ship (at Sea) but I couldn't make out the details. So I went to the customer relations desk and inquired. I was told there was 1 passenger with Covid symptoms but was not yet a confirmed case at the time of the announcement. 

The only downside of that cruise was I doubt we will ever get to experience that again,

more staff than guest, unbelievable access to loungers, bars, theater chairs, reservations, you name it.

It was a great cruise for us.

I was on the same cruise and it was the absolute best ever. I can't even imagine we were on the same ship. We heard the captains daily anouncement the first day and there was ZERO mention of ANY covid cases on board. We listened to the announcements every day we were on board at that time and there was NEVER ANY MENTION OF Covid cases until the second to last day which was at sea and the captain said there was a passenger with Covid symptoms. There was no positive covid result at the time. We were able to visit every single port we stopped at and were never turned away. We saw the theater production shows which were fabuluous and enjoyed music and entertainment options all over the ship every single day. The staff were always masked and many were double masked. I think you must have been dreaming. I don't know how to explain the large  difference in experience. There were 900 guests on board it was like having the entire cruise ship to ourselves. Jeez what do you expect.?

There interface is the worst I've ever experienced. They are going to have to really wow us on this trip which I don't expect and I think we won't sail on the line again. They are so completely lacking in customer service.

This is my first Celebrity cruise and I have to say I really hate that customer service cannot discuss your own booking information and you are FORCED to go throught the booking agent, who I have not be very happy with. Departing in 75 days. My TA invoice included the additional fee to upgrade fom classic beverage package to upgraded beverage package. When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

Does anyone know if Le Petit Chef is part of the specialty dining package? Is it more difficult to book with the dining package on board? Thanks.

I have searched this subject on multiple boards. If anyone has a recent 2019 (or summer 2018), definitive experience and answer to my question,  I would really appreciate your reply. 

We are on the Jewel in July and will be at the AJ dock which is 1+ mile from the regular cruise ship berths downtown and shopping/excursions, etc. I have read that there is a shuttle bus from AJ dock to downtown that (for some reason) is free for NCL passengers. Perhaps it is because the NCL ships are regularly relegated to the distant AJ dock. IDK.

I called NCL and the service rep had zero information about any shuttle service in Juneau. But, I always find the NCL information online and from customer service to be seriously lacking for practical information about anything and usually wrong.

If anyone has had a 2019 stop on the Jewel in Juneau and has first hand experience with the AJ dock, it would be great to hear from you and to help others in this situation this year. If you have used a free or for fee shuttle in Juneau for this situation would love to to know the details about availability, frequency and where it drops passengers off downtown. I'm not expecting the price to be very high so that's only secondary, I just want to know it actually exists and I don't need to call a taxi or an Uber which I understand is pretty limited in the port.  I never do NCL excursions because the prices are so inflated. I guess not providing this essential information to their guests is one way to make people pay extra to book through them.

Thank you for any info you can provide.