KeithJenner

I would book a transfer for 7am. Disembarkation should start at 6.30 for self walk off. It is rare that there are any delays at Rome.

Yes, this is the issue where you are only able to book an individual restaurant once per cruise.

I can’t think of any reason why it would be different as a solo.

Firstly, your Teppanyaki reservation is fine and will be covered by the dining package (assuming all 8 people have it). That is why you were able to book it without paying. The wording you quoted isn’t clear, but it is referring to the dinner shows that are on some newer ships, where you have a show accompanied by a meal. I don’t know exactly how these work these days (I have only ever gone a couple of times and those were years ago), but it seems that those need booking onboard, based on my understanding of what they are saying there.

The two meal upgrade works well for us, as we then have 6 meals on all our upcoming 10 night cruises, which is about right for us. It does make it much more unlikely that we would go for more than that number though, as it makes the per meal cost for a bigger package a lot higher. If you plan on using the specialities every night on a 10 day cruise then it is less of an issue.

@willetstravel don’t be too concerned about any comments relating to customs clearance etc. That won’t be an issue for you arriving in Athens. Disembarkation is consistently quick and efficient in the Med. No customs to worry about for these round trips (if you are going to Israel then that will have been dealt with earlier in the cruise) and the weather is reliable with likely a short journey from the last port. There are never guarantees, but problems are very unlikely.

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I think people may have missed my post earlier, but it doesn’t actually charge extra if you select a different cabin. Ignore the costs shown during the selection process and then compare the final price when you have selected your new cabin. If it is in the same category then the price will be the same.

It is the next screen which comes up after you select the cabin category. I would say maybe it’s just a UK thing, but post 4 is from someone in the US. I can’t think why I’m you wouldn’t get see it.

They introduced the upgrade option for the dining package a few months ago, but only for cruises booked since then, so it doesn’t show up for everyone. It will be there next cruise. It gives a discount off the two meal package, if you have free at sea. I don’t know the dollar costs, but for my next reservation the costs are: 2 meals - £59 (£29.50 each) 3 meals - £108.69 (£36.23 each) 4 meals - £133.44 (£33.36 each) etc its a nice offer, but it does make the 3 meal package particularly unappealing as you pay £50 for that third meal.

You click “choose a different stateroom” on the page shown in post 4

If you buy additional meals over the free at sea ones the best value is two more, as that is offered as an upgrade. If you go for three then that third one is extremely bad value. Then, as you say, it does get cheaper per meal as you add more on.

I just tried this on the UK site. I picked a category and then selected choose a different stateroom. Every option had a +£xx amount next to it. However, if I then selected a deck or room the prices weren’t increased. In fact, on one of them I seem to have selected a lower grade balcony and the price went down. My conclusion (and this rings a bell from when I booked a few weeks ago) is that the amount it is showing an increased fare from isn’t the cabin you were originally selected. If that makes sense So, if I pick a balcony, it recommends 9178 at a total of £1,978. If I say I want to choose another then it says mid ship is +£124. If I select that it says deck 9 is +£137, but then if I select room 9182 the price is still £1,978. it’s just badly presented.

If you are carrying your own bags off then you don’t need to do anything in advance. Just leave when you want. If you do decide to leave your bags out then you need to collect a coloured tag a couple of days beforehand (first come first served I think - I’ve never done it), which will determine your time.

I’d have to ask why you should stick with the information coming from NCL when it was so obviously incorrect, and in conflict with that was printed in the freestyle daily. The thing that has annoyed me most about this was when NCL were saying that the reports were false. Openly calling your customers liars is not a good look.

Someone on Facebook has just reported being able to get a drink whilst in Mykonos on the Gem.

Kotor isn’t a Greek port, so that should be fine anyway. But you are right about Greek ports being late. We had a 9pm departure from Volos as well as the 10pm from Santorini on our Jade cruise. Other than Hawaii I struggle to think of another itinerary which would be as impacted as these ones.

Not in the UK. We pay a fixed fee for free at sea. If you pay the fee you get them all, if you don't then you get none. Those are your two options.

Yes, they don't seem to be applying the $35 restriction since the recent price rise. We were specifically told to ignore it on the Jade, and I have heard lots of other similar reports. I've not heard of anyone being restricted lately.

We booked the Jade (2nd cruise of the season and one where there was no bar service in Athens) on 31st May last year. I don't know how long it had been on sale before that, but it certainly wasn't a short notice deployment.

I’ve not been directing any ire at anyone, and we don’t know what the real reason is, but to just close the bars, put a little note in the daily and hope that will be the end of it is just crazy. How did they ever think that would work out?

When we sailed on the Jade back in April, we had read reports from the previous cruise, where there was no bar service on embarkation day until a while after we left Athens. There was talk that this would apply at all Greek ports, but that wasn't the case. The following week, we experienced the same thing. No bar service on embarkation day until a while after sail away. I haven't seen any comment on this since, so assumed that it had been resolved, but today I have seen a couple of posts on Facebook from people who are in Santorini today saying that there is no bar service there, and in other Greek ports. Obviously, this is a significant thing for cruises around the Greek Islands, especially as there are some late port times in some places. We never did work out what the problem was, and I don't know what can be done about it, but anyone sailing Greece in the coming weeks should be aware that this could be a problem.

I've just scanned and uploaded the freestyle dailies from last weeks 7 day Greek Island cruise. This is not the itinerary which heads out to Israel, but I think that this one is boing done a few times during the Summer. Hope it helps. Day 1.pdf Day 2.pdf Day 3.pdf Day 4.pdf Day 5.pdf Day 6.pdf Day 7.pdf Disembark.pdf