10 Day Greek Isle/Italy NCL last min booking! HELP!

[eileeshb]

For those interested in Rome activities on a bit tighter budget I did the HoHO red bus, there are a few HOHO buses and they all do pretty much the same route and use the same stops. The main start point is near the main railway station. I really only had half a day as I just spent the night in Rome after disembarking the ship but I managed to book a guided tour to the colosseum floor last minute through get your guide. It was a bit of a trial and error to find the meeting point as the business name on the confirmation did not match what was on the building at the address. I didn’t really have time to hop off the bus at any other stops but if you’re going to be in Rome for a couple of days it’s probably worth it for one of the days. 
 

when I did my western Mediterranean cruise I walked about 5km every day on the various excursions. At Naples I did sorrento & Pompeii , there were still covid restrictions in place so our time and freedom to explore in Sorrento was very restricted. I did manage to get to one of the numerous tourist shops where the manager plied myself and another solo with samples of every possible flavour and style of limoncello. Back then they were having very few tourists so any of us that were there got some very attentive salespeople!  Pompeii was really interesting to see, when I was there in October the temperatures were pretty much ideal, just warm enough to be comfortable in shorts and tee but not so warm that you’re fit to collapse. I’d strongly advise bringing a big water bottle with you! I had a 1.5Lt bottle as the excursions were all so long, and I needed it.
I managed to get crossbody bottle holder that is insulated from Decathlon, it came in handy for packing the limoncello at the end of the trip. 

[southern reader]

On 4/23/2023 at 3:46 PM, gotscrapz said:

Ok I did one similiar - Rome - Santorini - Athens - Mykonos - Valleta / Malta - Naples - Messina - Livorno / Florence - Rome. I went in September and researched for a few months. I have lots of info. we spent a few days pre-cruise in Rome and went up the Amalfi coast on a private tour and to the Vatican etc. We did a mix of the ship and private tours - it was a blast, and exhausting. If you want specific booking info, it would be easier to email - but I will say many of our excursions, etc sold out well before we sailed. I will read a bit further down to see what they like and what ports they are still looking for. 

Hi, I have a few questions about Valleta, Malta I wonder if you could help me with.  I read a post that said its port is like Santorini in that if you are walking off the ship you should use the Barraka Lift to get up to town.  Is this correct?  Also, our NCL excursion Scenic Malta drive is only 4 hours long.  Are there any souvenir shops or restaurants near the ship that we could go to with our remining time in port?  Thanks

[KeithJenner]

40 minutes ago, southern reader said:

Hi, I have a few questions about Valleta, Malta I wonder if you could help me with.  I read a post that said its port is like Santorini in that if you are walking off the ship you should use the Barraka Lift to get up to town.  Is this correct?  Also, our NCL excursion Scenic Malta drive is only 4 hours long.  Are there any souvenir shops or restaurants near the ship that we could go to with our remining time in port?  Thanks

There are some very big differences between the Santorini cable car and the Barraka lift.

 

Firstly, the cable car climbs about 4x the height that the lift does, so walking is much harder and more time consuming. Also, the alternatives are not good in Santorini, as the walk is very unpleasant (there is a very good chance of you slipping and the donkeys are a big problem), whereas there are various options for walking in Valetta and they are a much nicer walking. There is also the option of getting alternative transport from the dock.

 

Basically, for most people the cable car is the only real option in Santorini (outside of NCL tours), whereas there are various other options in Valetta.

 

If I was in Valetta and there was a queue for the lift then I'd walk instead. In Santorini I would either join the queue or just head back to the ship.

 

Getting back is a lot easier as well.

Edited May 9, 2023 by KeithJenner

[southern reader]

14 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

There are some very big differences between the Santorini cable car and the Barraka lift.

 

Firstly, the cable car climbs about 4x the height that the lift does, so walking is much harder and more time consuming. Also, the alternatives are not good in Santorini, as the walk is very unpleasant (there is a very good chance of you slipping and the donkeys are a big problem), whereas there are various options for walking in Valetta and they are a much nicer walking. There is also the option of getting alternative transport from the dock.

 

Basically, for most people the cable car is the only real option in Santorini (outside of NCL tours), whereas there are various other options in Valetta.

 

If I was in Valetta and there was a queue for the lift then I'd walk instead. In Santorini I would either join the queue or just head back to the ship.

 

Getting back is a lot easier as well.

Thank you @KeithJenner.  Do you know if there are any shops and restaurants near the ship for our remaining few hours after our tour?

[KeithJenner]

14 minutes ago, southern reader said:

Thank you @KeithJenner.  Do you know if there are any shops and restaurants near the ship for our remaining few hours after our tour?

There are a few shops and bars/restaurants on the waterfront.

 

https://www.vallettawaterfront.com

 

[SightCRR]

There is a live post from the Breakaway now ending May 16. For info on the ship start with page five as 1-4 are pre cruise info. FYI Rome is 1.5 hour drive to where boarding is. Live from the NCL Breakaway May 6-16, 2023 – Spring in Italy, Greece, Malta and France Roundtrip from Rome - Page 8 - Norwegian Cruise Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

[southern reader]

2 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

There are a few shops and bars/restaurants on the waterfront.

 

https://www.vallettawaterfront.com

 

Got it. Thanks!

[StellaTN]

If you havent purchased your airfare yet, keep all options open to save $$. Try searching flying into Dublin and then buying a separate Easy Jet flight down to Rome. You could save quite a bit.

 

Also, depending on where you are departing from in the US, I often fly Southwest out of Nashville to a larger hub like BOS or ORD, then book my trans-Atlantic from there (usually on United, bc I have status/free bags with them). These two little hacks often save me 50% off the cost of booking a RT or Open Jaw Europe flight.  Check out Aer Lingus, SAS and even Tap Portugal.  As an example: Right now, BOS to DUB is only $1280 RT for Fri May 19 - Sun May 28. But BNA to FCO is $2257 RT for same dates.  Good luck! Hoping to hear how it all goes!

Edited May 10, 2023 by StellaTN

[jsn55]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

It seems odd that someone who has only cruised once and did not enjoy it has posted more than 250 times on Cruise Critic.  By comparison, I had sailed half a dozen times and enjoyed each one of them before I ever discovered the CC website.  I probably was up to 10 cruises before I hit the 250 mark on CC postings.  My intent is not to criticize, merely to point out that your circumstances seem anomalous.

Thank you for pointing this out.  Another reminder to take what you read on the internet with a grain of common sense.  If the information is something that applies to you, get out there and find some confirming facts to back up what an unidentified someone posted on the internet.