MedCruise_2022

We have an NCL Dawn Cruise coming up in less than 3 weeks. embarking at Trieste. Our Cruise Port Address is listed down as: Trieste Cruise Terminal Via Della Rampa1, Trieste 34123, Italy. Is that the same place as Ormeggio 57--or nearby to it? By Google maps it is 4 mins walking. Thanks!

I really do not know the actual taxi company. We are booking through our reserved Hotel (Acropolis View Hotel) --- and the hotel staff told me that the Taxi company would like to get my Passport Number (and that according to them is a standard practice).

Yes, thank you! Been to Italy and other European countries and have booked taxi transfers through our hotels with no such request. First time to travel to Greece though (in October this year)-and somewhat surprised by this request. Thank you for your responses.

A bit concerned too! Booking for a taxi transfer from Piraeus Cruise Port to our Hotel (booking taxi through our Hotel), and I am being asked for my Passport Number (and telephone number).

We will be together for the British Isles and Iceland sailing/June 29-July 11, 2025. Looking at the Iceland excursions offered by Carnival--they all seem so pricey haha! Doing some "research" on the Iceland ports we are visiting through "What's in Port" https://www.whatsinport.com/Iceland.html-to get some ideas.

Thanks for all these information! Looking forward to sail on Carnival Miracle for our B2B from June 29-July 11, 2025 (British Isles and Iceland); and July 11-20, 2025 (Northern Europe). Still a year out, the July 11-20 Northern Europe sailing is sold out, except for the suite rooms.

Again, thank you very much! Santorini, I suppose is the port which needs so much planning/overthinking among the ports during our port-intensive cruise (Koper, Split, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Kusadasi, Istanbul, and Mykonos- which we pre-booked NCL excursions except in Kotor, and Mykonos). You are very helpful! Thank you!

Thanks for this information! Walking the donkey stairs is then an option. So looking forward to our Eastern Med Cruise/Santorini visit.

Thanks for the link to the discussions on "Selfie Tour". I will look into it. I have read "harrowing tales" about visiting Santorini--with some suggestions to stay put on the ship. We would like to visit Santorini very much--our first time. We are open to the option of walking down the donkey stairs-if need be. Some say the views are great from there (smile and wink)!

Thanks for the information. Glad that you had a wonderful experience in Santorini. The description of the shore excursion does not give much details except on the major places/sights to be visited. It does not say about the transport to and from Santorini- much less about a cable car ticket back to the port. Thanks!

Thanks for your reply. There will be 5 ships on Oct 23 (2 NCLs)- based on Cruisemapper info. We are arriving 1:30pm, and departing 9:30 pm. I am (over)thinking of overcrowding/chaos on that day! I think 3 ships have earlier departures than us, but both NCL ships are leaving at about the same time. If the Tour excursion starts at 2:30 pm- and ends at about 7:00 pm-- then, we will have only about 2 hours or so to navigate the cable car and the tender boat back to the ship.

Santorini is one of our ports during our Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Dawn this October (from Trieste to Athens/Oct 17-27, 2024). We booked the Santorini shore excursion: Let's Take a Selfie (4.5 hours, starts at 2:30 pm)- which begins in Oia, then visits an ocean-front restaurant, then goes to Fira (for more selfies, I suppose 😅). Has anyone taken this shore excursion? What was your experience-especially the logistics of going back to the ship? Thanks!

My first tender was in Algarve, Portugal, and looking back now--it was an exhilarating experience, of being up close (and personal) with the great Mediterranean Seas!

I so wanted to visit Porto Venere while in Cinque Terre... all the more reasons now with all those yummy goodies. Thanks again for your interesting posts!

Thanks again for these wonderful pictures of your shore excursion goodies! Will be on the look out for these gelato when in Split, Dubrovnik, and Corfu.

Thank you very much for this very interesting and detailed information/review. We will also be embarking at Trieste in October (2024) for our Eastern Mediterranean/Adriatic Seas /Greek Isles Cruise on the Dawn. Also staying for one night in Venice-Mestre, and taking the fast train from there to Trieste the day before the cruise. Looking forward to more of your port adventures/reviews. Thanks again and happy sailing! Wishing you fair winds and calm waters!

Thanks for these valuable information. We will be on Mardi Gras this August 31-Sept 8 for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise (Grand Turk, Amber Cove, San Juan PR and St Thomas).

Yes, by Narita Express Train- Tokyo is about an hour away- but we do not take the train because of our luggage. In our case, we take the Limousine bus either from Narita or Haneda to Tokyo/Shinjuku area for convenience-- of having our luggage (1 big luggage, 1 carry-on each) in the bus compartment-- and being dropped right at the Shinjuku Bus Station (and taxi onward to our hotel). Happy travels!

We have flown several times with JAL from DFW-Narita (or sometimes Haneda)-Manila and we have great experience- with their service, food, luggage handling and just about everything. When doing a stop-over in Tokyo for several nights, we choose Haneda International Airport because it is only an hour away by Limousine bus to Tokyo or Shinjuku, compared to Narita which is about 2 hours away by Limousine Bus. We have also flown ANA and it is equally great!

Last March (2024), we had DFW-Narita-Manila through JAL (one ticket). At Narita, we did not go through security check, hence our 2.5 hour connection was more than adequate. We had time to spare for some ramen in one of the airport concessions. We "met" our checked bags in Manila! Great service by JAL.

Coming from DFW, NCL Air Choice (New Program)* has gotten us outbound flight to Venice Marco Polo Airport (DFW-VCE) for our Cruise on Norwegian Dawn in October 2024, starting/embarking from Trieste. * We received an email offering us flight itinerary--more desirable flights 6 months out, with one connection, but with additional cost

Thanks for sharing! This is informative. We will also be on the "Dawn" from October 17 to 27, 2024 from Venice-Trieste to Athens.

Thank you for your kind response. Yes, there is an option in Allianz Travel Insurance Trip Cancellation Limit from $ 2,000-- to increase it--either $5,000; $10,000, or $15,000 with corresponding increase in premium price. We will explore that option too. We will look into my husband's Supplemental Plan (we did not know that...). Thank you again!

Thank you for all these valuable information! All these confirm that we need travel insurance. We are purchasing an annual “AllTrips Premier” with Allianz Travel to cover international travel to Japan this March, a Cruise to Eastern Caribbean in August, and an NCL Cruise to Eastern Mediterranean (with pre-and post-cruise stays) in October – for the period March 2024 to March 2025. Like many of you, we make sure that we are covered for medical and transportation/evacuation emergencies while on international travels. The “AllTrips Premier” with Allianz Travel while providing good coverage for medical and transportation/evacuation emergencies, will only cover $2,000 for Trip Cancellation. Hence, reading from the various inputs in this group, we are inclined to buy the NCL BookSafe Travel Protection—as additional coverage especially for “Enhanced Cancellation Protection” and for any medical needs while on the ship. Or is the NCL Travel Protection still necessary? For context, we are both seniors (H- 72 yo with Medicare and Supplemental Insurance; W- 68 yo with Medicare Advantage Plan with some international health coverage). Thank you for your kind inputs/advice.

Wow! Thanks! That's great info! I will look into it... Travel/cruise planning can be daunting indeed 😍