UCLAman

Hey all, I just got home and they were charging VAT but only if you got drinks while the boat was docked. I have no idea what the actual percent was cuz I, nor my wife, was keeping count on number of drinks while we were docked. TBH, i didnt really care if they were going to charge me a dollar or 2 for drinks. Most of the time we were off the boat while docked. To me it’s not a life changer. 🤷‍♂️ Here is my final bill and you can see the small charges from the different bars.

While I agree with the electrical outlet being an oversight on my end, perhaps you didn’t read my other issues. I wish I had taken pictures of our room to see if you believed this particular room had been renovated in 2015. The tile in the shower was pink and old! While the lobby was very nice, our room just looked like it was not part of the Marriott hotel remodel. In fact I was right about the bathroom and shower in our stateroom on the Getaway. It completely blows away the bathroom in the Marriott!!

I will update/ confirm in a few hours as we will board later today.

Just wondering if anyone has stayed here before. There were a few Issues upon check in and the room is subpar IMO. I did call NCL twice - once prior to actual check in (after arriving at the hotel) and a second time while standing at the check in desk to make NCL aware of the type of hotel they are contracting with. And this was before walking into the hotel room! Long story short, are 2 adults with our 18 y/o daughter. The hotel said that NCL ordered a king bedroom for us. The Marriott wanted to charge us for a roll away bed! 🤦‍♂️ Not happening. After some back snd forth, they said they would provide a roll away at no charge. 🤷‍♂️ Room itself is old. Willing to bet that the room aboard the Getaway ship we are about to board in 6 hours is better than the room the Marriott assigned to us! Before you ask - hair drier doesn’t work, mold in the shower grout, AC doesn’t work properly, outlets in hotel room are ONLY European style outlets, no clock in the room. Its the small things in my view that make the biggest impressions. 🤷‍♂️ Rant over.

Correct. I was referring to the return flights. That is were the last minute flight change occurred. The outbound flights I was able to select our economy seats as soon as I got the flight info 2 months prior to our departure aboard the AirCanada flights. Hope that makes more sense.

Yes. In fact last Tuesday (exactly 1 week prior to air departure) , NCL COMPLETELY changed our return flights (from Westjet to Lufthansa). At the time I was not able to select my seats for the new flights. But I ended up calling Lufthansa directly, and was able to get seats together (and upgrade to more leg room seats) over the phone! I was able to find a plane seat layout while speaking to the Lufthansa agent and picked my seats!

Not true. We leave for our cruise tomorrow, and picked our seats in Mid April. (Air Canada was the carrier for the first 2 legs).

You are awesome!! I had read about the train but you were very specific and that will help us out!!!

I’m a few days from boarding the Getaway in Lisbon and need help in getting from Livorno to Florence. Nearly all tours (besides private tours) are sold out. 😔 Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!!! Will be arriving Livorno in Friday, June 23.

Just out of curiosity, what ship are you on? Our ship (Getaway) leaves in 3 days too!

Ok. Didn’t realize it was your FOURTH time on an Alaska cruise. I don’t think you had mentioned it. I was just trying to help.

If you are heading to Alaska, I would suggest getting a balcony room. We did an Alaska cruise last summer and I certainly appreciated getting out of bed (putting jacket on, LOL) and being on my balcony joining the peacefulness and the scenery!!! if you friend wants an inside cabin, see if there is an adjacent inside room across the hallway from your balcony room! Hopefully you can find this combo on a lower level!! Enjoy the cruise!

Ok, so then you suggest to bring them in a bag and give them to who? Upon check in? just trying to figure out my game plan as we leave this Tuesday.

Thank you pointing this out @mjkacmom ! So on embarkation day, do we have the bottles in a bag or put them into our luggage? I know it’s probably a silly question but we are embarking in Lisbon, Portugal and our plan is to do an early arrival time check in and drop off our bags. But before we board we are doing a 4 hour city tour. So the question is put them into the luggage so the bottles get on board without us OR bring them with us when board the ship even though we have already checked in?? I’m new to this brining wine bottles onboard concept so TIA for the response(s)!

Is there a limit as to how many bottles can be brought on board? we are boarding the ship in Lisbon, Portugal and will probably look for a nice Sangria and moscato for the wife. 😁

LOL. You didn’t read the posts in this thread. You missed that I already posted that HAL does have proper tea times.

I thought HAL was Holland American. 🤷‍♂️

Last summer we went on a HAL Alaska cruise and they had a “traditional” tea time with cookies and finger sandwiches and of course tea. I cant remember if they had the event 2 or 3 times during the week long cruise. What I do remember is how AWESOME the staff was at the event! Turns out that there was a tequila tasting event at the same time that I was more interested in attending - and I was HUNGRY. The staff ended up setting me up with a “to go” plate! At the next tea time, a different alcohol tasting event was set up at the same time and this time the staff hooked me up with a few plates to take back to the event!!! Needless to say, I made a number of new friends on that cruise!! 😁

Bummer. Thank you for confirming. My wife and daughter are into that - me, not so much.

Im new to cruising on NCL and was wondering if NCL cruises have a daily “tea time” where tea and cookies/sandwiches are served at an afternoon time. We have been on other cruise lines that do have an afternoon tea time, not every day, but a few times on a week long cruise.

Yes, for sure, just remind me! Or perhaps if I see or hear something while on board, I will post!

I hope this is the case! We embark on the Getaway next Thursday (June 15) and end in Rome. We also have the drink package, so I cant imagine that they would tack on some cost at the end of the cruise. I certainly hope not. I feel like this should have been something that was pointed out prior to booking the cruise.

I don't know the rules about posting prices from hotels/transportation and I don't want to get in trouble. I tried to sending you a DM but that feature is disabled apparently. The hotel does not have a free shuttle but they do offer (very nice) transportation that can be booked through them. We are getting all transportation through them - port to hotel and then hotel to airport. Here is what they offer. I can send you the prices they quoted me if you email me - rizo@roadrunner.com Greetings from Rome! Greetings from Rome and thank you for choosing Hotel Romanico Palace! To get you from your ship to Hotel Romanico Palace the fares are as follows: - Mercedes E Class ( or similar car type) - fits 3 passengers and 3 large suitcases - Mercedes Van ( or similar car type) - fits up from 4 to 6 passengers and suitcases If you would like us to organize a pick up, please send us your ship details and which size car works best for you. We can organize the pick-up service for your departure once you will be here in Hotel! About tours, I need to know to which tour are you interested, information are different for any tour.

We were supposed to stay there as a post cruise 2 nt stay in Rome. But NCL told my TA no rooms, so we looked at option B. I did like its vicinity to the train station as we wanted to do a Naples day tour. Instead we are staying at the HOTEL ROMANICO PALACE. The name sounds cheesy but my TA assured me that people are happy when they stay there and apparently its in a very good location. Will let you know after June 26. 🙂

All I was after was to ensure that my family sit together. Being that the flight was a week away I was concerned that we would end up not being seated together. Now its been resolved and got some extra legroom seats in the process! Anyhow thanks again!! Moving forward, I will probably book my own flights in the future and not rely on NCL air.