njkate

14 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings njkate:

I have done the great DD beaches 2x - once on a part day excursion from Le Havre off a Celebrity, and the other from Paris, a drive trip.

If you Really want to see the DD beaches and Normandy area, which is gorgeous, - DO THE DRIVE TRIP.

Rental vehicle easy, drive north on freeway to Bayeux, many hotels, inns and great restaurants. Hire Over Lord tours. They will drive you to each of the beaches, the US cemetery. The guide is full time with you, the guide has a customized book for each beach with photos, historical presentation etc. Very important to get to the DD Museum, it is the essence of understanding what happened....

https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/memorial-museum-battle-of-normandy/

Our tour was 2 full days, outstanding and our guide took us to the Canadian cemetery as well. Was not expensive at all. You see what you want on your time not on a tour.

After DDay beaches, go to Mont St. Michele, OMG, a total amazing castle on top of a hill in the tidal flats, built 1,100 AD. No cruise line takes people to this amazing place. 

https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/unmissable-sites/the-mont-saint-michel/

 

Can drive to Honfleur which is a wonderful spot with an amazing harbour and then go to Le Havre, wonderful location and stay at the newish Hilton Garden Inn on the waterfront, great hotel and great restaurants.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

 

 

Thank you!! Very helpful and yes as far as touring the DDay sights I would go with Overlord have already researched them! Many don’t know Overlord was the code for the operation 

37 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Just to add what has been said (including earlier by me), Gate 1 is great at efficiently following details. Plus, you really get the sense that their employees and local guides really give the impression that they love what they are doing. They also rotate seats on buses. Everyone gets headphones so as to make sure they can hear the guides.

 

As for your cruise from Southampton, we did the same cruise last summer. And even though we missed Isafjordur (like everyone else) and Brugge (low tides) we had a great time. You will read both positives and negative review of the ship, especially because it is different than earlier NCL ships. Go with the attitude that you will have a wonderful cruise as opposed to looking what could go wrong, and you should have a wonderful time.

Thanks for info. I’m going to check them out! I was looking at Northern European cruise that had Le Harve as a port as DDay landing beaches are on the bucket list! I’m not comfortable plunking down thousands of dollars on a cruise with no guarantee I’d actually get the port. 
A nice Paris/Normandy land tour is looking better and better 

20 hours ago, LLCoolDoc said:

Yes....there are certain areas with smoking receptacles found throughout the island. In 2022, we rented a cabana and the smoking area was in between the restrooms and one of the food trucks. Last year we rented a Villa and smoking was allowed outside the back door. 

Thank you so much! This will make the smoker in my party happy! When we have a smoker we do follow the rules and I’m so hesitant to ask sometimes as I can do without the judgy snarky comments so again many thanks

27 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

They can change itineraries any time they want for no reason given nor are the obligated to provide any kind of compensation.

 

Apparently, you have not followed the news. Tortola, British Virgin Islands may not be all that safe.  In the past month 5 passengers from two separate Norwegian cruises has gone MISSING in Tortola.  As of a few days ago NONE of them have been found.

It’s still unknown if they went missing due to some nefarious reason or because it was on their own volition, Have read articles that say in the case of one group all personal articles were not in cabin and none of the families are looking for them or concerned, 3 were Colombian nationals so who knows, until they surface on their own or found it’s speculation on what happened. Cruises after the disappearance up to cancellations have stopped there 

I’m sailing on her mid June so look forward to your reviews 

Asking for someone in my party, if you can’t answer please keep your pitchforks at bay and keep scrolling lol

Does the island have a smoking area? 

3 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Yes, I'm assuming this will exclude all of the major cruise lines going forward.  One of the reasons we booked it was that we were thinking "last chance" to port in Bar Harbor.  Years ago we booked one of the last sail outs from Venice for the same reason.  Looks like Juneau and Key West are on the endangered list now.  Bar Harbor, Key West and Venice get plenty tourism by land but Juneau is a bit of a surprise since nobody can be driving there.

18 minutes ago, Jordan61 said:

I'm on this cruise too. The email says, "Given recent guest feedback, and to accommodate certain circumstances". I've never been to Tortola, was there negative feedback about that port?

I got the same blurb for my cruise in June dropping Key West and adding Cozumel and swapping Ocho Rios for Falmouth

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

Yes, I'm assuming this will exclude all of the major cruise lines going forward.  One of the reasons we booked it was that we were thinking "last chance" to port in Bar Harbor.  Years ago we booked one of the last sail outs from Venice for the same reason.  Looks like Juneau and Key West are on the endangered list now.  Bar Harbor, Key West and Venice get plenty tourism by land but Juneau is a bit of a surprise since nobody can be driving there.

Yep Key West has been dropped and replaced with Cozumel on upcoming Jade cruises

4 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Looks like Key West is now limiting # of ships/passengers. 
 

 

Yes, I have read that seems to be Key West is responsible for NCl dropping port!

Truth though people are losing their minds and clutching their pearls on my roll call over this!

I don’t usually cruise Caribbean anymore, been there done that, but my daughter wanted to take the grandkids on a cruise and none of them have a dam passport 

2 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

They need to read the contract (aka small print). All cruise lines do change itineraries, not just NCL. We have had ours changed a few times. 🤷‍♀️
 

Falmouth has a gated compound area with shops and eateries for cruise ship pax. 
 

 

Is that all there is? Hoping NCL will load some excursions

37 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

I haven't been there personally but you may find some useful info on the Jamaica forum.  Here is the link for you.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/67-jamaica/

Thanks

On Jade 06-15 received the email of itinerary changes!

They dropped Key West and added Cozumel. Switched from Ocho Rios to Falmouth Jamaica.

New excursions won’t hit web for 2 weeks!!

What the heck is in Falmouth? Should I just stay on the ship?

Been to Cozumel many times! 
 Oh well just go with the flow all though my roll call on that other site people are losing their dam minds, plenty of “I won’t ever sail NCL again” I have insurance I’m canceling, told a few unless you have cancel for any reason insurance will not cover

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

Yes, but you get what you pay for.  We have taken several trips with the WW II Museum travel department.  You might be able to save a little money on some other tour, but you can savor the wonderful memories from the WW II tours.

Oh I get it but it’s entirely out of my budget

3 hours ago, Cigar King said:

I have friends who are going on...

 

80th Anniversary of D-Day Cruise: D-Day & The Bomber War | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans (nationalww2museum.org)

Nice but $$$$$

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

They won’t cancel,  but may alter the itinerary.  EM

Well on a 4 day Bahama cruise itinerary change would be very limited lol

Not worried about it as no air involved we would drive to Port Canaveral from Savannah the day before!

I was indulging my grandson, he wanted to go on a cruise before he has to go back north and back to school

I have the same concern as we booked a 4 day cruise to Bahamas end of August! Wasn’t even thinking of hurricanes when I booked! Thankfully no flying involved but curious if any cruise lines ever canceled a cruise because of hurricanes 

Makes sense! I love the Jade but beginning to think the round trip from Miami on Gem makes more sense, 

I still would not drive, Miami is a good 6 hour drive barring no traffic, no accidents  from Savannah. AA has direct flights that I’d use

Looking at Panama on Jade for Jan or Feb next year. 
Would you do Miami ending in Panama or start in Panama ending in Miami?

Tampa/ Panama or Panama/ Tampa

Thank you for taking the time to write a thought out well balanced review. Hope your next cruise to Bermuda is wonderful 

3 minutes ago, LongIsland-Cruiser said:

 

Probably b/c no one is going to try to bully the tour operator for a fat payout or for future vacations.  Follow the money.  There is a reason this couple immediately went to the media and blamed everything on NCL.

I think you just might be right 

1 minute ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Probably because the cruise lines also use the tour operator for other stuff.

The couple from SC who have been doing all the squawking could have easily named them 

And yet the tour operator who should of got them to Senegal remains unnamed, of which the name should be public so others know to steer clear

Usually I have email confirm within an hour. Booked early this morning and no email yet

Never mind for some reason went to my junk folder

45 minutes ago, beastlet said:

This was years ago, before the Ukraine invasion. 

Even then Russia is not a place to be stranded 

On 3/30/2024 at 1:24 PM, beastlet said:

 

Yes, I suppose. But you are not stranded, and any expenses will be on Norwegian's dime.

They do wait a while though. My parents were on a tour in St. Petersburg that got stuck in traffic and was hours late. When they got to the ship, the captain was standing there waiting and people were on the deck and clapped while they all got on the ship. 

St Petersburg Russia? That’s a horse of a different color, last place someone needs to be stranded