suech1970

Absolutely a kitchen!

Not sure if you’re meaning the Mediterranean by Europe cruise, if you are and you can, avoid July / August if possible. Temperatures get stupid for sightseeing and won’t get the best experience with multiple ships in port. Try June, Sept or Oct. Weather and crowds much more tolerable plus a little cheaper.

I was in the market for Med cruise next year and even from  here in the UK the prices are just crazy, so we’re of to the South Pacific 😆

Sept 2025 NCL Sun

Fiji to Tahiti and a lot in between🥳

We are disembarking that cruise on 17th and have to over night at hotel for very long flight home. So yeh it’s all about the flights.
We’ve had to fly out 30 aug to make cruise on 3rd Sept with scheduled flights, the time difference is disturbing🤪
Glad I’m leaving flights to our TA!

Cabin reviews right here on CC if you look for your specific ship, both Editor and passenger reviews.

Best and obvious advice is to use the ships deck plans and pick one that has cabin decks above and below and on both sides. Avoid anything below lido/pool decks, MDR and Buffets and the large white areas, which could  be kitchens, crew areas and anything under or above a bar/nighclub. 

Personally I find cabin decks at the aft the quietest, away from lift with little footfall.

Celebrity’s French Onion Soup is the BEST at sea!! A must try 😋

That’s great info to be going on with, thank you😁

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Enjoyed reading your cruise very much, just booked 14 nights on Sun for South Pacific next year😁

Would appreciate your recommendations and details of 3rd party excursions on the islands you visited, when you get chance. I’m not one for ships excursions either.

just one random question, can you legally bring vanilla back with you from the farm? Thinking my cakes could do with a real kick😋

Just booked our 7th NCL cruise to South Pacific and like so many others, it’s not the ship it’s the itinerary.  Also turns out we’ve bagged some cracking cruises after NCL cancellations and “redeployments”.
About to take our 3rd sailing on Sky, guess age means nothing to us. I quite like a creaky ship, feels like the the ships got a bit of character and gives you the feeling of actually being at sea😁

🥳🥳🥳🥳😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰

Superb pictures, did a GREAT job for me. I’ve just woke up, what a great way to start my day.

BIG thanks 81Zoomie😁

🥳🥳🥳 maybe when he’s finished the officers v passengers pool volleyball game?😍

So enjoying reading these posts, big thanks 😁

I’m very jealous to see Giuseppe is your CD plus he’s doing the The Naughty List tonight! Our most memorable night with him by far! Totally adult only entertainment but I’ve never ever seen my mother in law laugh so hard😂

Any pictures of that crazy Sicilian will be gratefully appreciated 😉

Marella is a great way to start cruising without a doubt, flights, transfers, all inclusive all neatly packaged but wow the prices atm!  
The reviews will have you running yourself in circles, so take them with a pinch of salt. Instead take a look at you tube for some ship and cabin vlogs. See if you like the look of the food,  cabins, entertainment etc, there’s plenty out there! 
 

We’ve never found Marella like Butlins, maybe too fun or casual for some, but that’s the way we like to cruise. Yes, I’d say nearly 3 grand is a bit rich for Marella for a week but if the cruises are selling they won’t drop the prices.  I’m having trouble getting my head round one of their 2 weeks cruises around Greece &Turkey costing nearly £5000😖😖😖 but after comparing other lines, it’s in the ball park.  
 

Yes, Celebrity is a step up on Marella.  We’ve done 3 Celebrity  cruises and the ships are a little more glitzy, cabins more modern and the food was generally better but we enjoyed Marella just as much.  If your looking at celebrity’s Infinity, she’s on the smaller side of their ships, great for a first timer. I wouldn’t have no problems booking any of their inside cabins for sure, just check there is no public areas on deck above, ie pool deck, bars or restaurants.  There drinks/Wi-Fi package is definitely worth it🍹

If you are considering Celebrity, remember to cost in your own transfers and fly out the day before you sail, so overnight in hotel too. 

We have huge suitcases, and had no problems getting them under the bed. Sometimes need a bit of wiggling around frames under bed.

A Greek cruise is a wonderful experience but timing is everything. So best try to avoid peak times July to Sept.

Yes, Celestyal do dock with larger ships, but you can also check the cruise port schedules on Cruise Mapper, to avoid ports with multiple ships in. 
Some ports, like Athens can absorb multiple ships in on same day, others like Santorini, turn out to be a compete bun fight.

Looks like another 11lb er trip again, with breakfasts like that and black Angus steaks.

Thats one thing I don’t like about Sky, the canteen style lay out, rather than islands like on other ships, just causes queues. Given the choice we’d skip out back to Great outdoors, less manic out there, especially for breakfast.

Good to know things aren’t going downhill, glad you had good time.

Did you go to Catalina island?

ColdCruise……..that’s an amazing itinerary you’ve had, unless NCL changed it, like ours on Sky 20 April ?? 
 
Did you get off or do an excursion on Catalina island? Reading very mixed reports about it. Don’t wanna do a ship trip and not feeling the hassle of the tender for half a day, we have plenty of beautiful beaches to come.

Also, about La Romana mini resort. Do you think you could use it for a few hours on disembarkation day. Obviously off ship early and our flight doesn’t leave till 6.30 pm. Looking for day pass but only coming up with stupid money atm. Just really after a bar, pool and shower, maybe somewhere to store luggage. Don’t want to do ship excursion, way too expensive. 
 

Our 3rd time on Sky, she gets the best itineraries, till they change em😡. We are hoping that the food and service WON’T be as good as last year….we put on 11lbs in 9 days😂. Love the ship plus our fav band Sonata is on board🤞
 

ColdCruise….any thoughts appreciated

Understanding that!
Remember you also get a bit of discount if you are a certain tier on the Latitudes program also.

I’m now looking at a couple of beach transfers with the ship on our next cruise😆. After doing the maths ships beach excursions are either within a few dollars or quite a bit cheaper! I just hate being part of the herd off the ship😖

Or you could get a shared beach shuttle from the taxi guys on the pier, pick your own preferred beach, not be part of the herd and save yourself a load of $$$

Assuming your doing Equinox, if so most of your ports of call are pretty easy, with a bit of research, to do under your own steam. Unless your looking at doing very specific trips ie wine tasting etc.

You have a good length of time in every port so using the local trains or the tourist hop on/off buses would be a massive saving.

Having watched hundreds of ports of call videos on You Tube, I can’t tell you how helpful they are, feel like I’ve already been by the time I get there😆. There’s very little you can’t find on the Ports of Call, especially on the European destinations here on CC.

I have loved reading this thread. I’ve got so fed up lately of reading moaning posts about NCL. We’ve only done 5 NCL’s, 2 more booked though, but they’ve turned out to be 1st go to cruise line.  They were the first cruise line we tried after a long time with a tried and tested and well loved, small UK line after they went out of of business.

There have been so many fantastic memories made aboard their ships, too many to list for sure, but here’s a few…..

*Our 1st sail on Gem out of NY down to the Caribbean, pinch me moment. Coolest captain on the seas who performed live at Rock night Eric Claptons Cocaine.

*Our first “Newly/Not so Newly Wed” games show. We still laugh to this day and still don’t know what “backy  backy” referred to🤣.

*Miami Vices & Dark & Stormys our favourite cocktails on board. NCL bar tenders are the best at sea🍹

*Our Panama Canal cruise on Jade and winning my first Champions t~shirt.

*Caribbean cruise on Sky last year, food and drink were so good we gained 10lbs  in 9 days 😖

* Our recent Far East cruise on Jewel, the most amazing experience to date. After reading so many awful reviews pre cruise, ship, staff, food, drinks and service was superb.

*Sonata, the best band NCL have. Blowed us away with their out of the box rock performances on Sky. Can’t wait to see them again in 6 weeks🥳

*Chilled breakfast in O’Sheehans, our best find on Jewel.

Good to see I’m not the only one that loves NCL😁

I’ve had a very nice pair of diamond studs from Gemini jewellers next to the Royal Plaza Mall. Sales guy very honest, actually recommended the smaller pair for my ears, not many people would have done this. Also had some nice pieces out of Shivas Gold & Gems. 

I try and avoid Effy and Diamonds international. Always think they’re overpriced. 

I always have a rough idea of price at home and barter hard. Haven’t bought jewellery at home for years, save my money for Caribbean now. Happy shopping😉

I can remember the taxi being $100 in 2021. Friendly taxis just quoted $120 return for upto 4 passengers.

Mambo beach is 15 mins from port. Usually plenty of taxis doing this run. Beach has plenty of bars and loungers, cocktails were pricey though last time we went so we grabbed a bottle of rums from the shops behind and just bought coke😉

I was just looking up taxi rates to Playa Porto Marie beach. Have emailed Friendly taxis for fare but it says on their site $50 each way for upto 4 passengers. Will let you know