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Robin1961

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Posts posted by Robin1961

    NCL MED Cruise...Casino Royale

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Hey Gang,

     

    I have been asking a lot of questions for our MED Cruise, which I can now say is "NEXT MONTH".[OCT 28th 2018]

    We are making a stop in Monaco, for those that have been to the Casino Royal, before you head into the Casino, is there a gift shop of any kind?

    Can you buy chips before heading into the Casino?

     

    any other tips besides dress code can you share would be greatly appreciated

     

    Thank you in advance

     

    Robin & Angel "D"

    Our Family's "Epic" Mediterranean Adventure

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Before getting on the bus for the 2nd day, we walked to the Boqueria Market. We got there mid-morning and it was just starting to get crowded. If you like freshed squeezed juices, this is your place. Lots of delicious combinations to choose from. We also tried the chocolate covered strawberries on a stick--5 huge strawberries for only 3 euros. We also found an olive stand which sold Spanish olive oils and vinegars in small bottles (ok for carry on luggage) that were vacuum sealed.

     

    After the market, we walked to Gothic Quarter to explore before we began day 2 of our bus adventure. There is an excellent pastry/sweets shop called La Colmena located right by the Jaume 1 metro stop on the Placa de l'Angel. Excellent pastries and sweets! Next stop was the Gothic Cathedral. They do enforce their dress code here. We all had shorts on, but they were long shorts to our knees. We were allowed entry, but I did see a young lady in very short shorts turned away. After our visit, we caught the bus right by the Cathedral and headed to Park Guell. It took us over an hour on the bus to get to the park. Granted, not the best use of time, but we paid for the tickets so we might as well use them. The hop on hop off buses drop you near the park, but it is still a long walk up very steep hills to get to the entrance. If you have any mobility or health issues, I'd find another way to get to the Park. The city bus will drop you by the entrance and the taxis will as well.

     

    Part of Park Guell is open to the public, but if you want to visit the Monuments area, you must purchase timed tickets. I waited to the day before to purchase the tickets, so the earliest I could get was 2:30. If I had it to over again, I would purchase tickets for earlier in the morning before the crowds and the heat set in. The park does offer incredible views of Barcelona and it was worth the trek!

     

    After the park, we got back on the bus and headed back to our hotel. Our hearts wanted to keep going, but after 3 long days of touring, we were just wiped out. We did a little packing and took a nap. For our last night in Barcelona, we went to Can Majo, a paella restaurant on the beach. The setting was lovely. DD and DH shared the lobster paella and I had the veggie paella. The sangria was mighty tasty as well!

     

    We woke up on Sunday morning knowing we had time before we needed to get on the ship. We didn't want to stray too far from the port area, so DD suggested the Aquarium. It's described as the largest aquarium in Europe and being huge animal/nature lovers we try to visit some type of animal/nature venue on our trips. So, that's where we went. It was a nice aquarium. The best part getting to bottle feed koi fish. IMHO, it wasn't worth the price.

     

    After the aquarium, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and headed to the port. For us, the embarkation process at Barcelona was the fastest and easiest we have experienced. We arrived around 2:00 and were on the ship in 15 minutes. Our room was ready, so we dropped off our carry on luggage and headed to the buffet.

     

    We had a private tour in Cannes that started at 8:30. I was concerned about the tendering process and stopped by the shore excursion desk. I was able to book a tender for 7:45. If you want to get to shore early in Cannes, reserve an early spot as soon as you can once on board. You can reserve through the TV in your stateroom. Our room was missing the remote, hence the trip to the shore excursion desk!

     

    Our first full day on the ship was a sea day. We woke up to wind and rain. Normally, this would be disappointing, but we were still wiped out from our time in Barcelona. We used this day to nap and relax.

     

    Next installment...Naples!

     

     

    we are going on the Epic MED Cruise in OCT/ How was getting to port with your luggage? did they have luggage drop off point as they do stateside? we already have our luggage tags printed.

     

    Please help

     

    Robin & Angel "D"

    MED Cruise in OCTOBER....help

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Hey Gang,

     

    we are going on our 1st MED cruise in 68 days, pretty excited. Couple of questions:

     

    We are staying in Barcelona two days prior, when we get dropped off at the port, do they have luggage drop off like they do stateside?/ as long as you have you pre-printed luggage tags...

     

    any tips/ hacks prior to this cruise?

     

    Thanks in advance

     

    Robin & Angel "D"

    Mini suite...Epic

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    May I ask you where found this information.....

    For future referance

     

    Thank you

     

    Robin

     

     

    Not quite ....

     

    MA and MC have bed next to balcony and have bathtub.

    MB and MD have bed closer to entrance and have shower.

     

    MA & MB - Higher decks.

     

     

    MC & MD - Lower decks.

    Med Cruise....

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Thank you for the quick response

     

    Robin

     

    Least expensive is to get out of an actual bank machine using your debit card once in Europe. My bank doesn’t charge a fee so it’s just a straight exchange. Some atms charge a couple euro fee per withdrawal.

     

    Most expensive is to exchange on the ship. They offer the service as a courtesy but charge handsomely for it.

     

    If you’re uncomfortable arriving without local currency, check with your bank. My bank offered, “free” exchange but the rate was terrible. Just checked and going rate today is $1.14 which is really good.

     

    Your local Travel X store might be the best bet if you want to arrive with euro in hand. They do have a fee but it was much less $ than my bank. I had to budget a little time waiting in line just because we only have one Travel x store in my city so about a half hour wait. They’ll also buy back what you don’t use at a better rate than the airports.

    Fans/Extention Cords

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    from the NCL website:

    PROHIBITED ITEMS LIST



     

     

    The safety and security of our guests and crew is our number one priority. The following items are prohibited on-board vessels. These items will be confiscated and not transported aboard. When an item is determined to be illegal the appropriate authorities will be informed.

     

    • 1. All illegal narcotics/drugs. (Including Marijuana prescribed for medical purposes and other items used as drug paraphernalia. This includes Hookah Pipes).
    • 2. All firearms including replicas, imitations, non-firing weapons, starting pistols and their components
    • 3. Air, BB or pellet pistols or rifles
    • 4. Any other projectile-weapon or item that resembles or can be mistaken as a firearm (e.g., paint ball guns)
    • 5. All ammunition or replica ammunition for listed line items 2, 3 & 4
    • 6. All explosives, component parts (i.e. detonators) including imitation explosives and devices
    • 7. Fireworks, flares, and pyrotechnics
    • 8. Martial Arts Weapons (i.e. throwing stars, flails)
    • 9. Knives with a blade longer than 4 inches/10.16 cm
    • 10. Open razors
    • 11. Swords, Skean Dhus, or Kirpans
    • 12. Spears or spear guns
    • 13. Crossbows, crossbow bolts, and long bow arrows
    • 14. Blunt weapons including knuckle dusters, brass knuckles, clubs, telescopic batons, batons, flails or nunchaku
    • 15. Items containing incapacitating substances (e.g. gas guns, tear gas sprays, mace, phosphorus, acid and other dangerous chemicals that could be used to maim or disable
    • 16. Restraining Devices (i.e. handcuffs, leg, and head restraining straps)
    • 17. Flammable substances and hazardous chemicals. (e.g., petrol, methylated spirits, paint thinners, lighter fuel, etc.)
    • 18. Any other item made, adapted or intended for use as an offensive weapon
    • 19. Stun devices (i.e. Tazers and Stun Guns)
    • 20. Large batteries
    • 21. Items brought on board the vessel and not supplied by the Company containing any kind of heating element, such as but not limited to: immersion heaters, heating blankets, flat irons, water heaters, coffee machines with heating/hot plates, etc.
    • 22. Any remotely controlled or autonomously flying devices, toys or drones
    • 23. Self-balancing hover boards, air wheels, scooters, or Segway’s
    • 24. Compressed gas tanks, bottles, cylinders including dive tanks, propane tanks and large aerosol cans
    • 25. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), ham radios, satellite phones, transformers, lasers and laser pointers
    • 26. Any form of radio/ telephone signal jamming equipment
    • 27. Samsung Note 7
    • 28. Candles
    • Nothing about Fan/ extension cords

    Robin & Angel "D"



     

     

    Fans/Extention Cords

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I agree, we been on ver 40 cruises, and with the A/C in the cabin, it is luck of the draw, plus where you are going to, for the P/C crossing, muggy & HOT...the fan was worth it.

    But the white noise is a must....cabin walls are paper thin...the white noise is great.

     

    Robin & Angel "D"

    Your favorite magic server

    in Disney Cruise Line

    Posted

    WE LOVE SAMMY....Have had him 4 different cruise / we always ask for to be our server...He is now part of our family!

     

    Is this different from Sampong? Sampong is original crew from 1998' date=' and is amazing. We've never had him at dinner but have enjoyed him at sit down lunch. And we watched him with one of those horrible tables--10 adults at one large table ignoring 9 kids at their own table and Sampong managing the mess. Seriously, only one set of parents ever said anything to their kids the entire week. That dad talked to us later...the cruise was paid for by his in-laws and he couldn't deal with any but his own kids. The kids were basically OK, but a little parenting would have gone a long way to stop the running around the table, etc. We even said something to Sampong, who laughed and said that as long as he kept the Mickey Bars coming, all was well. On our next cruise, we asked whether he'd received his sainthood notification yet--at that point, he said , "Oh, you mean table number XYZ. Yes, they were a handful."

     

    We have many favs, but I don't know who is on the Magic this summer.[/quote']

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