flapbreaker

Consider going to Montserrat outside of Barcelona. Very beautiful. Here's instructions on how to get there.

https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/barcelona-montserrat.html

Also, there is a bakery right next to the Familia Sagrada that we really enjoyed - Pannus Provença

Consider getting an apartment instead of a hotel. We stayed at Gaudi's nest. Had a fantastic view of the Familia Sagrada right out our balcony window. http://www.gaudisnest.com

As far as safety goes, we put a lot of energy into buying the right clothes so that we could avoid hauling purses ect. around. You want shirts/pants/shorts that have some zippered pockets (in the front, not rear pockets) to put your credit cards in etc. I purchased a credit cards sleeve that sticks onto the back of your phone case. Very convenient. (Just search for "stick on credit card holder" on amazon).

We've booked through Italy tours an 8 person van. It's it's 99 Euros per person. Tickets to the Vatican etc were an additional $20 or so. Excellent online reviews. Far cheaper than the cruise line price not to mention the smaller vehicles can get you closer than a 30 person bus.

It looks like Barcelona and Athens are in different time zones. Did the ship adjust their time to local time while in Athens?

To get into Athens, there is a bus stop just a short walk away from the terminal (here are the step-by-step directions that I took with me). It drops you off at a couple of places- we took it to the Acropolis stop and then picked it back up in Syntagma Square to head back to Piraeus. I was a little worried that it would be difficult to find, but the directions made plenty of sense (and the pictures helped!). :) There's also a step-by-step with pictures on this thread. Here is a map with all of the stops marked. I hope that helps!

Fantastic, thanks so much. Just what I needed.

Took the x80 bus (VERY easy!)

I've been trying to find out just where this x80 bus stops but can't really find any solid information. I know it's seasonal but were going mid summer and really just need to get back to port from the plaka area. I've got it figured out by using the metro but was curious where one might catch the x80 bus.

I was wondering if you want to book a message for an at sea day. Is it best to go straight to the spa on embarkation and make a reservation? I assume that the at sea day's are pretty popular and fill up fast. Thanks.

Thanks guys. I figured so but in my google streets views I never really saw anyone dragging luggage around that area so it got me wondering.

Can you bring luggage on the t3 bus? We plan to take the metro to the Drassanes stop and walk to the t3. We would have a carry on sized suitcase plus a back pack. Is this a reasonable plan?

Don't pay the absurd prices of the cruise line. You might check out italytours.EU we are booked with them and they are highly rated on trip adv. Rome in limo is also popular.

We just got off the Spirit. We were in an inside cabin (9569). I hate to repeat other posts. Does anyone have any questions while everything is still fresh in my mind?

Did you enjoy it? We are booked on an inside family cabin which is supposed to be bigger than average. Did you wish you had a balcony? I went with the theory that we wouldn't get our money's worth on an outside cabin considering the itinerary but who knows.

As far as staying up late, keep in mind that the MED itinerary is very port intensive and many excursion are all day so folks will probably turn in earlier on a MED cruise than other cruises but I'm just generalizing. I'm sure some people will be up late.

We'll be in Venice in August and wondered if we should be making reservations for dinner or just show up. I'm not sure how many folks speak English so wasn't sure if it's worth the effort.

Thanks for sharing. I've been quietly following along. You take great photos.

Ok, thanks for that information Cotswold, certainly worth considering the Oyster card given your explanation. Looking forward to the visit, albeit a short one.

Yes, you can purchase any type of ride you want for the tube from the machines. It sounds like you've done great research and know exactly what you need - zone, line, stops - so when you get there it should be pretty easy to use. Hopefully your credit card has the chip in it, most American cards now do or are being to chip cards so it should be no problem at all, there are machines everywhere that accept credit cards or Visa Mastercard ATM cards.

 

Enjoy London :)

Thanks!

How soon do you leave? You can buy the cards and have them sent to your home if you have enough time for shipping.

August. The problem is that we are only staying one night in london so we only need round trip transportation to and from the airport. The trip should cost £6 one way for an adult so roundtrip would be £12. The oyster card only comes in £10 or £15 denominations with a £3 surcharge per card and a £2.25 shipping charge so basically for the three of us we would be paying £15.75 in shipping and surcharges. If I can confirm with someone that there is indeed a way to buy a single ticket from a machine using a credit card then we would save almost £16. I think the card would make sense for a longer stay.

I understand that I can buy an Oyster card for travel into London from Heathrow airport. My question is, can you only buy them from the visitor center? We arrive at 6am but the visitor center does not open until 8am. I've been on the official website but there is no mention of a vending machine for the oyster card. If we don't use the oyster card can we just buy a ticket for the tube?

Can't answer your hotel question but the following link should have everything you need to know about transportation. http://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/venice-05-06-2011.pdf

I was also on this cruise, and I'm pretty sure you can get off the day before, but you definitely need to arrange with guest services. We needed to get off the ship earlier than the normal disembarkation time. Our TA told us to go to guest services on the first day and tell them we needed to get off at 7:30 am. So I did, and the guy said no problem, that he just had to inform the port authority, and wrote something in a spiral notebook. It didn't really inspire confidence in me, but I forgot about it until later in the cruise. Then a few days before the end there was a note in the daily that you could not disembark prior to 8 am, and if that was a problem to see guest services. So I went back down there and they told me that we could leave the ship at either 4:30, 5:30 or 6:30, but not at 7:30 am because the port authority dictates the times. They later sent a note to our room offering a courtesy phone call to change our pick up time. When I went back down for the third time the girl asked had I given them my flight information - that was the first I heard that they needed it. So I had to jump through a few hoops, but at 6:30 am we walked off the ship. We didn't go through customs or anything. They scanned our room card and away we went. I had changed our pick up time to 7 am, because they told me we needed time to get through customs. Nope. I guess they didn't want to start work that early. At 6:33 am we were standing on the sidewalk waiting for our driver. Who fortunately arrived a little early. We were at the airport before 7:30 am for our 11 am flight. It was fine though. I've heard Marco Polo airport can be a mess and we didn't experience any of that. Everything went smoothly.

Thanks for the info.

The Dailies specifically said you could NOT do that and if you needed to leave super early on disembarkation day to see guest services. My guess is it's something to do with customs.

I just spoke to NCL about disembarking a day earlier in Venice and they claim that I just need to go to guest services and let them know that that's our plan. We'll have to check out with them prior to leaving. I wonder if the note's on the Dailies were there just to remind people that you could not simply walk off the ship a day earlier without seeing them first. Guess I'll find out this August if the info I received is correct.

The Dailies specifically said you could NOT do that and if you needed to leave super early on disembarkation day to see guest services. My guess is it's something to do with customs.

That's unfortunate. Guess I'll have to change my plans. I'm waiting for an email from NCL just to confirm but I'm sure they will confirm what you observed.

Does anyone know if you can disembark at Venice on arrival day rather than the following day? What procedure do you follow?

If you don't go to the museum what is there to do there? Is it mainly looking around? How much time should a person plan to spend? Also, are there restrooms there?

I just priced that suite for my cruise a year from now as it's still available. It is over $14,000 :eek: Too rich for my blood. So, guess I will have to hope the price comes way down closer to the cruise date to even consider it.

I don't know who books these suites at that price but I guess someone does. I booked an family inside (rooms are bigger than balcony cabins) but have watched the suite price for a year now for our August cruise and the price has not gone down, only up. We're now inside final payment and they have not dropped. Combine that with airfare and it's too crazy. Maybe the suites are booked by Europeans who don't have the added airfare.

You might look into the hotel continental Venice. I have not stayed there but Was considering it before we decided on a bed and breakfast instead. It's near the train station and a short walk to the piazzale Roma. It's worth a look anyways.