Asawi

Oh dear! And here I thought one every day for a week or two was bad!

Perfect!

LOL! So I'm not the only one. Maybe you and I can share a table and not have a conversation. 😄

In teppanyaki, absolutely possible/likely! Even when marked sold out there often are single seats available around the 8 (?) seat table since bookings only is in even numbers!

That is a really good point!

I am in no way at all claiming to be representative of... well anything really... But here's my thoughts: I am not particularly interested in chatting before a cruise. I have joined roll calls though in the hope of maybe getting useful information/inspiration. I have found some good info both in roll calls and the general forum and for that I am grateful! I am a solo traveller, but I'm perfectly happy being solo. I cruise to relax, read books and experience nature/places/culture. Not to meet people. (Having said that, I have to say that there are so many nice people out there, but a small chat waiting for the elevator or whatever is enough for me. Thank heavens most people are more sociable than I am!) Meeting the officers? Nah, no interest whatsoever!

No I haven't. So I'm just guessing with Place de Concorde

It's probably the sailing out time and you should be on board at least 2 hours before that according to their terms. There should be no problem getting food.

IF they drop you off att Place de la Concorde it's about 2,4 km (1,5 mile) according to Google Maps

It makes absolutely no sense at all! Daughter had a theory that maybe Spain wants less tourists and Italy wants more. Doesn't make much sense either since many cruises visit both countries. Maybe it's just a random roll of the dice...

I have to agree that it's way too little time in Paris, especially considering all the time spent on the coach. I said in my previous post that the Louvre at least is probably close, but then the Louvre needs a couple of hours and that's about all you'll get. If you just got dropped down in Paris and had three hours, ok, you could dip your toes and plan to return at some other point. But to travel about 3 hours each way to get 3 hours in Paris... I wouldn't do it!

Oh yeah! Lots of "this page took a vacation". I'm trying to make a payment, but I guess I'll just keep my money a little longer.

I have not done this tour and it's a long time since I was in Paris. The things we wanted to see were not in easily walking distance between each other. We used public transport. I do believe there is a Hop-on-hop-off bus in Paris though that might fit you. But looking at the tour you don't seen to get a lot of time in Paris considering the long drive from-to port. Drop-off should be somewhere central, like Place de la Concorde or similar. Then at least Louvre is nearby!

I have been experiencing the same lately! Annoying!

When VAT is added, does it show up realtively right away (same/next day) on the onboard account? My daughter boarded the Getaway i Rome yesterday and they have not been given any info about VAT (that she has noticed anyway), and her account shows 0.

It's supposes to be down for another 2 or so hours. The announced this yesterday.

But that was around Easter wasn't it. Should make quite a difference! Easter 2024 is (I think) one week earlier.

Reminding you! (And hoping you had a wonderful time!)

I don't think it's just UK. I suspect it's EU. There is a cancellation fee of 20% from the start. And then it goes up in a couple of stages that I don't recall off hand (On the other hand, final payment for me (Sweden) is just 30 day from sailing.)

3 violins in the Atrium... I think I'll try Band on the run. 😉 Thanks!

Agree! What I did with the Senseo (so called) Extra Strong when I really craved a strong cup was I didn't let the machine dispense all the water it wanted too. Most of the time I settled for the "not at all extra strong, but still OK". 😄

I have been given espressos from a similar one. It was good, but I wasn't tempted to get the machine anyway. It needs (near)boiling water, and personally I can just as well use my single cup pourover filter holder if I've got access to hot water. But I'm equally fonf of (strong) drip coffee and espresso. If espresso is your poison of choice this could very well be for you!

I cannot comment on the ship stuff since I haven't been on Star yet. But I'd like to comment on land prices: Iceland and Norway are EXPENSIVE countries! Yes, NCL makes them even more expensive, but still... I live in Sweden, near the Norwegian border, and you wouldn't believe the number of Norwegians we have coming over just to shop food and what have you whenever there's a long weekend or something like that. And it's not like Sweden is a particularly "budget friendly" country either. I do agree that som "excursions" are kind of, for lack of a better word, ridicilous. You do need to read up and use common sense (as it seems like you did when NOT doing the NCL "walking tours"). Entertainment... Did you see Band on the run? If so, how was it?

Exactly! As much as I love my coffees <taking another sip>, it's not the end of the world to go without or have some bad ones. If all else fails, drop a shot of Kahlua or rum or whatever in the buffet coffee and hey, it still may not be great but at least more fun! 😄

Oh! Another nerd! 96 degrees Celcius, right? 😉 My water kettle at home has adjustable temperature, and OF COURSE I have also measured it to know it's correct. 😄 Just went through a pack of Senseo Extra Strong in my summer house. I found it to be OK, but didn't agree on the "extra strong" bit. Still nice though!