NCL Epic from Barcelona

[ScratchTheRat]

1 minute ago, Trimone said:

Having been on this cruise twice before, the large percentage of passengers are U.K. and European, it’s like a British party ship

Huh. That's surprising. The group I am part of on social media I am the only brit.

[soloscientist]

2 hours ago, Trimone said:

I just checked Italian Covid cases it’s nothing like the U.K. much lower, our R number has also dropped this week, I can see Italy dropping 5days quarantine before September. 

With my luck *knocks on wood*, the UK will be able to go without quarantine, but the US will then be restricted due to our rising cases. My worries about UK airside transit and changing flights will be irrelevant then.

[Trimone]

11 minutes ago, soloscientist said:

With my luck *knocks on wood*, the UK will be able to go without quarantine, but the US will then be restricted due to our rising cases. My worries about UK airside transit and changing flights will be irrelevant then.

I noticed the CDC are getting itchy about Turkey, Greece and Italy?

[Trimone]

15 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Huh. That's surprising. The group I am part of on social media I am the only brit.

It’s surprising, Brits don’t like Costa, MSC and Aida because of language, we class it as a more lively alternative to P&O…

[ScratchTheRat]

1 minute ago, Trimone said:

It’s surprising, Brits don’t like Costa, MSC and Aida because of language, we class it as a more lively alternative to P&O…

It'll be my first time on NCL. I was attracted partly based on itinerary/dates (my birthday) but also because I got all four free at sea things and third passenger free so quids in! We usually sail Carnival.

[Trimone]

1 minute ago, ScratchTheRat said:

It'll be my first time on NCL. I was attracted partly based on itinerary/dates (my birthday) but also because I got all four free at sea things and third passenger free so quids in! We usually sail Carnival.

On meeting carnival passengers in the past they are generally disappointed with the entertainment and ask where it’s happening? They are normally dressed to impress unlike the normal NCL passenger! 
Freestyle dining and attire is what NCL is sold on, and the brand works.

[ScratchTheRat]

6 minutes ago, Trimone said:

On meeting carnival passengers in the past they are generally disappointed with the entertainment and ask where it’s happening? They are normally dressed to impress unlike the normal NCL passenger! 
Freestyle dining and attire is what NCL is sold on, and the brand works.

Freestyle heavily appeals to me and so does the entertainment. It all looks incredible. Plus my OH hates dressing up for dinner too!

[Trimone]

4 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Freestyle heavily appeals to me and so does the entertainment. It all looks incredible. Plus my OH hates dressing up for dinner too!

You will fit in fine..

[ScratchTheRat]

2 minutes ago, Trimone said:

You will fit in fine..

Just hoping I can get there. Getting anxious hah

[soloscientist]

36 minutes ago, Trimone said:

I noticed the CDC are getting itchy about Turkey, Greece and Italy?

They're itchy about everything. I don't even follow it anymore because I can't keep up and at some point you become numb to the mandates, suggestions, and warnings.

Edited August 6, 2021 by soloscientist

[CruizinKittie40]

On 8/3/2021 at 2:16 AM, ScratchTheRat said:

I'm just not sure what to do. The Peace of Mind is 15 days before you can cancel for free but the rules for entering Italy are ending/renewing 14 days before my Sept 13th cruise, 1 day short. So it's a lot of risk!

If you elected the Travel Protection and cancel with Peace of Mind, do you get a refund on the Travel Protection? We are booked Oct 18 out of Barcelona so this is all making me nervous.  If we can't go to Rome then there's no point in going at all; the main purpose of our trip was for the excursions in Rome and Pompeii 

[Trimone]

5 minutes ago, CruizinKittie40 said:

If you elected the Travel Protection and cancel with Peace of Mind, do you get a refund on the Travel Protection? We are booked Oct 18 out of Barcelona so this is all making me nervous.  If we can't go to Rome then there's no point in going at all; the main purpose of our trip was for the excursions in Rome and Pompeii 

Once you are on the ship in Barcelona you can travel to Italy under the ships transit which allows 36 hours without any restrictions 

[classy_cruiser]

Greece is already on the State Department page as Do Not Travel. But none of the Jade or Celebrity Apex cruises have been cancelled so far 🤷‍♀️ The highest risk is in the 2 week period before the cruise. The peace of mind guarantee has expired at that point and it seems the only way to back out and get a refund after that is to get a positive covid test result. I saw some comments on another social media site from someone who wanted to cancel due to the new mask requirements and do not travel warning and they were apparently not able to. 

[ScratchTheRat]

1 minute ago, classy_cruiser said:

Greece is already on the State Department page as Do Not Travel. But none of the Jade or Celebrity Apex cruises have been cancelled so far 🤷‍♀️ The highest risk is in the 2 week period before the cruise. The peace of mind guarantee has expired at that point and it seems the only way to back out and get a refund after that is to get a positive covid test result. I saw some comments on another social media site from someone who wanted to cancel due to the new mask requirements and do not travel warning and they were apparently not able to. 

I called NCL this week and they told me that if you have to cancel after the Peace of Mind policy expires, if you're doing so due to an inconvenience (such as a quarantine when you get home) they will give you a FCC. If you have to cancel because of government restrictions on you, you will get a full refund.

[classy_cruiser]

25 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

I called NCL this week and they told me that if you have to cancel after the Peace of Mind policy expires, if you're doing so due to an inconvenience (such as a quarantine when you get home) they will give you a FCC. If you have to cancel because of government restrictions on you, you will get a full refund.

That makes sense, probably since the Do Not Travel warning is really just a warning and not a restriction, it doesn't count for refund purposes

[ScratchTheRat]

1 minute ago, classy_cruiser said:

That makes sense, probably since the Do Not Travel warning is really just a warning and not a restriction, it doesn't count for refund purposes

He did say he was reading it off a new email that had come round, so chances are it's just not been made public yet

[soloscientist]

59 minutes ago, Trimone said:

Once you are on the ship in Barcelona you can travel to Italy under the ships transit which allows 36 hours without any restrictions 

Does the 36 hours come from NCL or some documentation on Italy's website?

[ScratchTheRat]

3 minutes ago, soloscientist said:

Does the 36 hours come from NCL or some documentation on Italy's website?

It's from the Italian government

[Trimone]

Don’t know about the 30 days though:

 

[ScratchTheRat]

14 minutes ago, Trimone said:

Don’t know about the 30 days though:

 

You should get it tonight hopefully!

[CruizinKittie40]

1 hour ago, Trimone said:

Once you are on the ship in Barcelona you can travel to Italy under the ships transit which allows 36 hours without any restrictions 

thank you!!! 

[Happy2b@sea]

I spoke to a UK rep today. He said everyone needs to be doubly vaccinated and have a PCR test within 72 hours of sailing. He also said the Epic for 5th September would be at a reduced capacity of about 45% therefore there would be no need to pre-book restaurants.

[roxette]

3 hours ago, Trimone said:

Don’t know about the 30 days though:

 

Have not recieved anything either. But it is Still just afternoon in the US...

[victory2020]

This for my September 23rd round trip room Cruise

[Jayneykul]

I will leave it in place for another couple of weeks see what happens 🤷‍♀️Wish I hadn’t booked it in the first place!