KeithJenner

You don’t pay any gratuities on the free at sea packages. Nothing will be charged on what you get, as long as it is covered by the package (ie drinks under $15 etc).

Yes it is.

Also remember it takes some time to get from Civitavecchia station to the ship:

Yes, I can see the concern. The VAT on just the champagne could really add up over a week.

Spanish VAT is chargeable on all drink purchases for the whole of the cruise as the ship doesn’t leave the EU. However, if you have the beverage package then it doesn’t get charged. There was a short period of time a few years ago (around 2015 or 2016 I think) when it was charged on drinks served with the package, but that did stop. If it had started again then it would have certainly been mentioned here.

There are no sister ships to the Epic, she was a one off.

You can book the platinum meals in advance. Just do it the normal way, but make sure that you book any with a fixed charge (Moderno and Teppanyaki) first if you also have the dining package. The difference is that the latitudes meal is restricted to an app, entree and dessert, whilst the dining package meal is only restricted on entrees (despite what the waiters say). There is a specified limit to the cost on entrees, but they don’t seem to be enforcing that at the moment as prices have risen and the limit hasn’t.

Just ignore it. Bidding is voluntary. Many of us don't bother with it.

The POA generally has fewer high latitudes level people onboard than other itineraries. It attracts a lot of people who don’t usually cruise, and there are always lots of first timers onboard. When we did the cruise there were only a handful of platinums onboard. As we were the only platinum plus onboard we got suite perks. They used to offer that quite frequently as they get so few.

When did you book the cruise? If it was more than a few months ago then you won’t see the upgrade price on the dining package.

People tend to focus on the up charge on “top shelf” drinks when evaluating this package. That is a mistake. We upgraded last time to see how it worked for us. This was our experience: I drink quite a bit of coffee, and on a cruise will grab a latte or something, but mainly rely on the stuff at the buffet. On this cruise I would grab an espresso a couple of times a day. We has a Nespresso machine in the room so had less use for the cafe but in a normal room I would probably get 3-4 coffees a day. My wife drinks sparking water and I don’t particularly like coke. During the day if we wanted to grab a drink we could get a bottle of sparking water to share rather than me sip on a coke or iced water. We also always had a bottle of two of sparking water with meals. My wife usually drinks Prosecco, so really enjoyed the upgrade to Champagne. I joined her with the champagne a few nights and we got through a few bottles across the week. For some meals I ordered a bottle of red for the meal whilst my wife carried on with champagne. It was nice to get better wine, but I’m no wine expert, and am usually happy with the wines available in the normal package so that wasn’t a big upgrade for me. I did intend to use the package to try a couple of more expensive whiskeys (I’m not a big whiskey drinker, but like one every now and then), but never got round to it. No matter, we more than got our value elsewhere. We enjoyed the package so much that we have decided that we will upgrade on most, if not all, future cruises. We also upgraded to a suite on the last cruise and the upgraded beverage package added to our holiday much more than the suite did. The bit that we really appreciated most was the water and coffee. If we had purchased those things a la carte then we wouldn’t have spent quite as much as the package cost, but it did mean that we got unlimited champagne for the cruise for a few dollars a day.

You will be able to get off at around the arrival time. The problem you will have is that Livorno and Civitavecchia stations are a way from the port (so is Naples, but there is a metro station nearby and you seem to have plenty of time there). In Livorno you have to take the port shuttle to town and then a bus to the station (they sometimes run a shuttle direct to the station but it isn’t guaranteed). In Civitavecchia there is also a port shuttle (although there is an option to walk that one) and then a walk to the station. You should have time, but it is tight, especially Livorno.

There are all the thoughts anyone has ever had about the Prima in the Everything Prima thread.

NCL use BA when booking flights for UK customers, so I suspect that they often use them for flights to London as well.

I don’t think so. The first report was the week before Easter (two weeks before Greek Orthodox Easter). We had the problem the following week (sailing Easter Sunday), but I don’t think they did on the following cruise (which was during Greek Easter weekend).

It’s been around for a while. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve seen it mentioned in the dailies before, but in my experience it isn’t usually specifically announced like that. Even on a specific cruise it can be random. Someone else on the Jade a few weeks back reported getting on, but it didn’t work for me. Its good that you have evidence though. Last time it was discussed on here some people refused to believe that it was a real thing that happens.

At the end of May there is a weeks school holiday in the UK. We went on the Epic that week a few times when our son was younger and there were plenty of kids onboard.

Is this in the Epic?

The discounted meal package upgrade is new and only applies to bookings made in the last couple of months. That is why some people can’t see it. To answer the original question, I have never seen sales on the dining package. The price doesn’t fluctuate, but does go up periodically (about once a year) so that can be an advantage of purchasing it early. The negative is obviously that they have your money for longer.

I haven’t seen any. There are a few confirming that the Jade is ok, but no conflicting info about the Gem.

The Escape has also been in Greece this week (although they missed Santorini). I’ve not heard of any problems there, so this does seem to relate specifically to the Gem at the moment.

What that does confirm is that my assumption that the situation was resolved on the Jade after a couple of cruises was correct. This must also be good news for people booked on the Gem in the coming weeks. If it was sorted on the Jade then you’d hope that it will be on the Gem as well.

Before our cruise I was keeping an eye on the forums of other lines which had ships in Greece, and saw nothing being reported.

I’d agree. I thought the same when I was onboard. I knew about it because someone onboard the week before was posting on their roll call. I mentioned it on my live report, but I was expecting it to be mentioned more. That’s why I assume that it was resolved on the Jade. I suspect there will be some noise when the Gem people reach disembark.

They almost certainly don’t know what you are talking about.