suech1970

My major con would be travelling to the Med high season. July/Aug too busy too hot! If June / Sept/ Oct would be much more comfortable on this port heavy itinerary, which is amazing btw! If there is no movement in dates then just check your actual port dates on a cruise port schedule to see how many ships you have in port with you. At least you will be prepared for the crowds, those pretty blue and white streets you see in the photos look a lot different when you have 7000 passengers ashore🙄 Personally, I wouldn’t worry about tenders, you have decent/long times for your tender ports. Personally, we choose to stay on board at Santorini,(yes everyone thought we were mad) but judging by the horror stories we heard, we did the right thing. 4 ships in that day. We should have tendered at Mykonos but docked instead, so you never know. If you do dock, they have Sea Bus straight from the pier to town, nice ride and ours had a glass bottom. €2 pp each way.

I haven’t sailed Breakaway but done a few other ships on NCL and we always like a night at Cagneys steakhouse. Have also enjoyed excellent meals at Le Bistro and Moderno. If you want to do multiple speciality dining then keep an eye out for price drops on NCL app or your booking on line. Also book on line as soon as reservations open to get times you prefer. Puerto Plato, nice around port area, Taino Bay, free pools, loungers lazy river but they had doubled their drinks prices between our visits, so didn’t spend long there in May. Take ship excursion if you want to see island, we’re not fond of Dom Rep. St Thomas, we prefer Emerald Beach to Megan’s Bay, not a rip off for drinks and chairs etc and much quieter, even with the airport across the road😆. Tortola always Cane Garden Bay. Usually go independently as ship uses same open sided taxi buses from port. Beers get cheaper the further you go down beach😉. Hubby always make the short walk to the Callwood Distillery just behind beach for the samples of rum, 5 shots for $1, usually comes back a bit wrecked🙄 Great Stirrup….Beautiful island with plenty to do if you choose. Your drinks package will work on island and plenty of free dining too. They have certain premium spots where you have to pay extra for clam shells / umberallas. We really enjoy the Game shows on NCL, so funny. Don’t miss the Newly Wed,Not so Newly Wed game show, usually the best.

Wow what an amazing journey! You certainly don’t do things by halves! We have our 1st Far East cruise Jan 24 on Jewel and have been taken some tips from your posts, thanks! Just wondered if you had a band on board called Sonata? We saw them on Sky in May and were the best band we’ve seen at sea, totally out of the box. They mentioned they were going to the Far East, so we were keeping our fingers crossed

The sun loungers were only $5 May this year. Beach drinks cheaper here than other islands. If you have the whole day in port go independently and have and have as much time as you like there, nicer when the ships excursion gone and you can sit where u like not where they put you😉 Visit the Callwood distillery, only a few mins walk behind beach. They do 4 shots of rum for $1.

Always a risk of noise booking cabin anywhere below the lido/pool deck. If your cabin is below seating of Snack Shack then if there’s any noise it’s only going to be when it open. Last time we sailed the Snack Shack wasn’t open very early or very late, lunch till 6ish if memory serves. Other cabins you mention appear to be under open deck and whirl pools, you may get, early morning cleaning, maintenance noise or deck party noise here. Quietest place under this deck would be under Spa, imo. Personally, I’d stay put

It’s a major mess! Learned my lesson long time ago and always go thru security on fast pass in Bham anyway. Hate travelling through my local airport😖

I assume you booked the cruise with TUI, as a package. I would say that this flight is a charter flight for your cruise, so I shouldn’t worry.

Gotcha. Will have to start fracturing in VAT for Med cruises in future🙄

😖😡 I did read a notification from NCL saying that VAT was applicable for cruises departing from Spanish ports. Hubby did say it would be up to the individual countries to collect the VAT, clutching at straws I know😆 Thanks again!

Thanks all for replies😁 I hadn’t read anything about leaving EU to exempt from VAT, sadly this doesn’t apply on our cruise. We are quite used to paying taxi in US ports, but nothing after that as we usually sail the Caribbean. It never occurred to me about EU VAT and doing the maths on our average consumption on cruises it could be quite a bit😖 I guess I’ll find out in 17 days, we’ll fear the worse and hope for the best. CHEERS🍹🥃🍸🥂🍷🍻

How long since you sailed in Europe? This seems to be quite a recent thing and only on “certain” sailings ie ones departing from Spain, it’s all very sketchy 🙄

Sailing Reflection in couple of weeks, Rome to Barcelona. Wanted to know if anyone was charged VAT (not gratuities)for drinks purchased on board while either in port or in Spanish, Italian or French waters? If so we’re you on drinks package or pay as you go. Seeing conflicting stories on the boards. Thanks all 😁

Absolutely agree with above posts. We couldn’t pick between Celebrity or NCL as our favourite line. It’s a great itinerary and decent price with Flash Sale on. Itinerary is always our 1st choice over anything else, so we usually end up on smaller and older ships, because they usually have the better ones. Done a Gem and Jade, same class as Jewel (got her Jan next year) and found inside cabins are too small for us but ocean view were fine. That said I’d say they are a little smaller than Celebrity, at least Reflection & Silhouette, but nothing I couldn’t live with. Our last time on NCL, Sky in May, the service & food was the best we’ve had on all of their sailings. Although their French onion soup isn’t as good as Celebrity, imo! I’d get booking before that flash sale ends😉

Our fav on board Silhouette & Reflection😍. Good tips here how to get threw to dessert! Got booked for next month and our tactic this time is fast from midday and share a flat bread. Hubby hasn’t managed a dessert yet, so we’ll see how it goes😆

Deck 3 is always our 1st pick on Solstice ships. Perfect for us, quiet with very little footfall, not far for hubby to pick up couple of decent coffees, bar at end of corridor and very easy on and off on shore days. No waiting on heaving elevators after a long day ashore, up 1 deck and you’re home, via the Passport bar to pick up a 🍹. Its our 1st time in an inside cabin next month on Reflection, must remember not to slam the doors🤣

Great review! We sailed with friends May on Sky for a second time, the service and food was even better than than previous year. They were thoroughly impressed, thank goodness as we had recommended it! I saw a chat on the boards about Sky doing a great itinerary next year, out from the Dom Rep, 9 nights with 8 ports, all top picks imo, no sea days! Couldn’t resist, so we’re sailing on her for a third time and can’t wait!

NCL had put out their schedule for Hawaii to Tahiti for 2025 on Spirit, because I was pricing it up😱. However they pulled the itinerary from Feb to Nov 2025, due to “fleet redeployment “. Their prices aren’t too bad for 2024 atm, but we already have plans for next year😣

Omg, what stress for you. Please let us know how it goes but I’m sure you’ll have a great time. It’s may be possible to get that OBC back in cash. You can have that £200 charged to your room, changed to chips at casino tables and then just walk away, take to cashier and she’ll give you cash back. Maybe just play a hand or two? Haven’t tried it on Marella but it worked on NCL😉

Yeh, it would be too good to be true getting a cheap cruise with cheap flights🙄 Totally agree about islands. Never thought I’d find a 9 night cruise which includes A B C islands and Tortola with no sea days😁. Love it!

Wow, I thought our flights were expensive £600/$750 but it’s transatlantic, unlike yours!! Seems like DR flights are pricey right across the board, or a faff flying indirect🙄

Couldn’t resist the flash sale and booked the 9 day sailing in May out of DR. Flights & stop over were more than cruise🙄 but really looking forward to 3rd trip on Sky. Lisapop totally agree about buffet, just don’t think canteen style layout works We tried 2 MDR breakfast and it took far too long. So we started using the great outdoors at aft, same food selection and the omelette counters were always quieter. If it was too hot or couldn’t get table we used the Local bar, sorted😁. Think the food this year on Sky was the best we’ve had in the 4 cruises we’ve done with them, never used the MDR so much! Just jinked it now haven’t I 😆

Wow, itinerary for Feb IS amazing, not a single sea day in 14 days! I would have done this for sure, but Feb was too early. We’ve done this itinerary on b2b cruises was fabulous. Was on another cruise line out of Barbados, one week did southern Caribbean then the north following week. Don’t get to the ABC islands and Grenada that often on itineraries. We’ve sailed Sky twice in 12 months, so it’s safe to say we like her. Good luck with airfare, seems flights aren’t cheap to the DR from anywhere😖

Applied March 2022 for ours, things may have changed… I would have thought you should each have one with your name, DOB and individual application number. I didn’t apply as a group, I applied as individual then added another applicant, don’t know if this makes a difference but if I were you I’d double check

The NCL flash sale was too tempting and booked Sky out of the DR on 20th April 23 ystrday🥳🥳🥳. Wanted the earlier sailing on 10th but like you, flights from UK too expensive, in our Easter hols£££🙄

Sailed Sky in May and the lunch buffet served the most amazing tasting Beef Bourguignon. Easily worthy of being served in Le Bistro! We all agreed it was the best we’ve ever tasted. I wanted to take their omelette guy home with me, they were superb! Consistently the best food we’ve had on all our NCLs