complawyer

personally, i found going from venice to trieste not to be a problem, living with los angeles traffic, it was a shorter ride than some days on my commute to work (lol)

we are flying non stop (10 hrs) from l.a. to lhr. staying overnight in london and hiring a private shuttle to take us to southampton. i dont believe there are direct flights to southampton, you probably will need to connect either at heathrow or gatway. also i tried booking that way, and the flights are much more expensive

regardless of how you try to accomplish it, you are doing yourself a massive disservice if you dont get to venice. it's amazing, breathtaking, and a must see if you are able to. w're booked oct 2024 from venice (trieste) and once again, we plan to fly into venice a few days early, book private transportation to trieste the day before sailing, and then happily board the ship the next day. belive me, it's totally worth it.

yes, the advantage is you dont need to schlep your luggage with you. trust me, if you check it in with a porter, most likely it will appear in front of your cabin before the evening is over. if you need something essential, it is advisable to keep it in your carry on. on the off and very unlikely chance it doesnt show up, this occurs in airlines also. in 25 cruises i have never had a problem getting my bag, and have never been advised there is a place to check it while youre enjoying the 1st day of the cruise. we normally take either 7 day b2b cruises, 10-14 day cruises, and were booked for b2b 19 days this july, 21 days in march and 20 days oct 2024. add in the few days prior and after the cruise in the port cities, and that's an awful lot to carry. so my vote always goes to the porter (and a $10 bill)

again, the only thing that p***es me off on an ncl cruise (and i've posted this before) is that the hamburger buns always seem to fall apart before im done with the burger LOL!

well chief mate, my offer to buy the 1st round if we're ever on the same cruise still stands, but not for a $200 shot! LOL!!!

i agree 100% with seeking killer whales. my wife and i have been on roughly 25 cruises since 2010, all with ncl. we have also sailed on the majority of their ships. havent been on breakaway, encore, escape joy, prima or poa. these are the only ones to date we havent as yet been on. that being said, i can honestly say, we have never had a "bad" cruise, even the ever dam**d epic (sailed on her twice) . to me, what is the most important for a successful trip is the itinerary and of course the price. most on the cabins we have stayed in are more or less similar (even the haven 2 bedroom suites) i believe there is a simple joy in merely sailing from port to port. to date, i really have nothing to complain about for any of the past cruises we have taken. we have an additional 4 booked thru 2024. again, it's the itinerary that has interested me. we're going to capetown next march, and another on the DAWN next oct the stops in egypt. some of the shore excursions have already been listed, and one is to the pyramids (definitely a stop on mybucket list) so please pay no attention to either the man behind the curtain, or any of the negative reviews. go, sail, enjoy. youre on a floating luxury hotel, quoting my sainted gramma, "dont sweat the small stuff"

we were on an ncl cruise last year from Venice (trieste). we flew from los angeles, to venice 3 days prior to the cruise departure. by the way, if you've never been there, it's an amazing city. just sitting in st marks square watching al the people and having a cup of coffee was wonderful. we also had pre-booked a tour that took us to morano, borano and one other city. cruise ended in rome (civitivecchia) where we also hired a cab to drive us to rome, also about a hr + from the dock prior to leaving for venice, we also prebooked a shuttle to drive us to trieste. i believe it took slightly over an hr, and we stayed in trieste overnight. (trieste is also a beautiful city) we had an ncl agent on site at the hotel, and signed up. the next morning at around 10, there was a shuttle bus waiting outside the hotel to drive us directly to the ship. while i certainly wouldnt want to take a 90 minute tender, spending time in venice, prior to sailing is more than worth the effort. btw, since C/C wont allow you to name names, the hotel in trieste was beautiful, think two evergreens, maples, or pine, paris and conrad, (one of liz taylors former husband) and you'll probably be able to figure out the name of the hotel

if this helps any, when we book a suite it's usually the 2 bedroom, as my really good friend travels with my wife and i. she only drinks de-caf, my wife likes regular coffee, and for purposes in the morning, i prefer tea. on the very first meeting with the butler, i request every morning he bring in a pot of decaf, a pot of regular coffee a pot of hot water for tea. i also ask him to bring some croissants. muffins and sweet rolls. you can have it all, all from the comfort of your cabin.

heyrussiamomm, ok if after 125 pages and god knows how many posts, if you still find who bid what and what was the outcome, still to be interesting and informative, please continue to read on. i only suggest t hat regardless of someone else's bid whether it gets accepted or rejected, what cabin they bid on for the upgrade, and what they bid, in reality has no bearing whatsoever on any one else. how can someone else's bid an any specific cabin, on and specific sailing date or ship, possibly be any help to you in either planning or strategizing your particular plans? if some one bids on the haven deluxe owners suite on the prima, how does that help you if youre sailing on the dawn? moreover how does it help you if youre on the exact same sailing, but can only afford to bid on an upgrade from a balcony to a club suite? isnt it 100% easier and more certain of success if you just book the cabin you want, rather than booking a lower category cabin in the hopes that an upgrade will come your way. even if you bid, the most certain way to get the cabin is to place the max bid. other than that, to upgrade form an inside to oceanview, ocean view to balcony, isnt worth the hassle, if i want the balcony, i'm going to book the balcony from the get go, or merely book whichever cabin is within my price range, it wasnt my intent to stir up a tempest in a tea cup, i was only trying to point out that i think this horse has more than been beaten to death

so zelliott, can you honestly say, you really care about whether or not someone else's bid was accepted, what cabin they bid on, and what was the bid, and further do you honestly care whose bids were turned down. if you wish to bid for an upgrade, and you get it, good for you. if you dontget it, isay again, youre no worse off that stayingin the cabin you originally booked what effect can this information have on you and your choices? regardless of your answers, dont you think 125 pages and ongoing on this 1 topic has now become excessive

as you have, i have never had less than a spotless cabin, whenever it was available, regardless of the cabin, former mid ship mini suite, club balcony, suite or haven suite. they have always been in tip top shape when we settled in. and yes, the correct response is to merely get hold of the cabin steward, point out the problem(s) and im absolutely certain it will be quickly rectified. but as a good friend of mine once put it very succinctly, "some people would complain even if they were hung with a new rope"

well then jrt.mom, if you readily acknowledge that you're to cheap to offer much, why even bother. i know even a broken watch is right at least twice a day, but if i know that my bid is so low that there is a 0 chance of accepting, isnt this an exercise in futility? would you not be better served just booking a cabin you really want?

do you mean not really as i'm not raining on a parade, or not really that it's not time to end this discussion. if its the 1st, and there is anything i can add to help you out, just respond once more to this post, if it's the latter, i guess people will keep asking. personally, it matters not to me who gets upgraded what they bid, and who does not

a 2 bedroom suite will work wonders on any ncl ship you choose, plus you get all the perks that accompany the suites. we have taken our grandson on many cruises when he was 12 thru 18, and (1) he enjoyed the kids club until he turned 13 and then the entourage designed especially for teens (2) he was jazzed at being able to utilize the 24 hr on call butler to order pizza to the cabin. the 4 of you will get to eat breakfast and lunch at the private dining rooms, priority embarkation and disembarkation, if the sisters get a little restless with each other the pull out sofa is very comfortable.

while i dont mean to rain on anyone else's parade, we are now on page 125 of this post. some people will get upgrade notifications, some others will not. it has been posted before, ncl has absolutely no obligation to offer anyone an upgrade choice. for those of you that bid and are successful, great, for those of you that bid and are unsuccessful you are no worse off then the cabin you originally booked. whether or not anyone else got the upgrade is completely irrelevant to anyone else's chances for the same. isnt it time we put this post to rest?

hey schmoop!. i think you're comparing apples to oranges. i dont think any restaurant on board a cruise ship, or a hotel would sit anyone at a table as you described. most of the time, even before we finish a meal, the waiter comes over with his utensil to wipe away the crumbs. i have never been seated at any table where there are dirty napkins, the staff always comes by and askes "are you finished" and then proceeds to take away the dirty glasses, dishes, silverware and napkins, if you end up with a dirty knife/ fork or spoon, or lipstick/coffee cup stained glass, it was probably a dishwashing problem, and im sure the staff will rectify it immediately certainly not on the same level as finding schmootz (jewish word for dirt and dust) in your cabin. also remember ncl has reduced the daily room cleaning from twice to once, making it extremely difficult for the stewards to finish. while that's no justification, it might help to understand the problem. beside, and i'm sure good buddy chief mate will agree, a little extra time at the bar (especially sugarcane) never hurt anyone LOL!

my all time favorite helper will strike again. the $20 vegas handshake to the cabin steward on the 1st day will do wonders. personally, in 25 ncl cruises over the past 12 years, i have never encountered this problem. on the other hand, i have often left bottles of beer and soda in the fridge for the enjoyment of the next passengers, or i have told the steward he is more than welcome to take the bottles for him/herself. and for my really good buddy, chief mate jrk, while i agree with you in principal most of the time, i dont think it's totally unreasonable to expect a totally clean cabin when you get in. i can forgive leftover ncl dailies, but a dirty bathroom, UGH! personally, on the last night of the cruise, wego through the cabin, and make sure nothing is a mess for the next group.

venice to trieste is slightly over an hour. btw trieste itself is a beautiful port city. last year we stayed in venice for 3 days prior to the cruise, hired a shuttle to drive us to trieste, spent a night in an amazing hotel, and the next morning a shuttle bus as there waiting to take us directly to the ship, only about15 minutes. in the past we have also hired a cab in civitavecchia to drive us to rome, around the citry and back, and also in liverno to pisa . we also hired a can from the dock in naples to the amalfi coats. t was on my bucket list.

on the QT, whenever we've stayed in a haven, i only had 1 problem with a butler not brining me cans of soda. but after a few days, he relented and brought 4 cans. usually, we arent charged for them either. by the way, $20-50 at the start of the cruise to the butler goes a long way to getting what you want again, just sayin"

hey panoramaof thepast!! while i dont consider myself a tea totaler, and take full advantage of the basic drink package, i am addicted to pepsi, and it broke my heart when ncl switched to coke. that being said, however, cans of soda can be bought onboard. i think it's about $3.00 per can. i also enjoy a cold cola with my breakfast. so, i would ask the cabin steward or any bartender if you can buy a 6 pack. if youre in a suite, the butler might just bring you the 6 pack at no charge, this is assuming that you wish to pay the price. if you dont get the drink package, im sure the cost of a weeks worth of diet coke is a decent price offset. just sayin"

hey quack2. you'll get the docs online within 24 hrs as prior posts above have indicated. it may not have the same level of excitement as getting a stack of docs in the mail, but for me the excitement is (1) getting any type of notification that im ready to board (2) actually being on the ship

if you happen to be on another cruise prior to using your fcc, there are usually brochures at the cruise next desk or by shore excursions that show what cruises are available. we picked out a b2b 19 days cruise on the dawn when we were on the jewel trans canal last january.

we've brought back souvenir food items many times, went through ncl security no questions asked. i think she'll be fine bringing the cheese on board, as long as it's not an entire wheel

by the way, SIX is an amazing show!