KeithJenner

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.

The corkage fee is charged to your room when you board (you should bring it in your carry on). Quite often they don't charge you, either because they don't see it or they can't be bothered.

It''s difficult to get unopened bottles of wine with Premium Plus. They will want to open them (although experiences do vary). We took along a few bottle stoppers just in case and I planned on getting some beers in advance. Luckily it wasn't needed. Taking bottles onboard sounds like a good plan.

If they push it then they will end up with less tourists to do the drinking. We went to a bar in Greek ports all four days when we were there last time. If they try to force it then it will be zero.

I upgraded to Premium Plus on the Jade. If we had been restricted in multiple ports then I would certainly have been asking for a credit.

When we were onboard you could get coke when eating, but all bars were closed. Apparently the week before the only drinks available were from the machines in the buffet. The staff were asked on the Jade and they said they had been told they couldn’t serve whilst in port. We did wonder whether someone was getting mixed up with duty free shop sales.

The other reposts that I had heard of this didn’t state the ship, but I think that it was the Gem. As I haven’t heard anything about this from the Jade since we disembarked I had assumed that it was a misunderstanding that had been resolved. As this is the first visit to Greece for the Gem (it has only just arrived in Europe) it does seem that it is having the same issue as the Jade did, although escalated by including every port in Greece, not just embarkation. If the Jade had been having this problem at every port then we would have heard something my now, as it is a major issue in Greece. Late port times mean that people wouldn’t be able to have a drink with their meals for example. Hopefully this will get resolved soon, although that won’t help the people on the ship now. If it is a permanent thing that this would have serious implications on the Greek Isles as a cruise destination. I’m booked to go back next year and would have to consider cancelling if this was the case. Any feedback from others who have sailed to Greece in the past few weeks would be appreciated, as well as those who do so in the coming weeks.

You can only order one entree. There are some upcharges on a couple of dishes, which are shown on the menus. There is no restriction on apps, sides and desserts (although your waiter may apparently suggest that there are).

I’m not aware of anything covid related which is delaying disembarkation. Is there something specific at Civitavecchia? When we disembarked in Athens a few weeks ago it was perfectly normal.

There are Teppanyaki tables that seat 10, and they can squeeze more places in (we had a group of 9 on an 8 person table on the Escape). It probably depends a bit on the ship. Some tables are a bit longer along the side so can fit three people each side (and 4 facing the chef).

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.

People are still drinking the beer and wine, just getting and paying for them in different ways.

Yes, although they did carry on offering them for some time after they started offering the beverage package under free at sea, even though few people used it. Its similar to Viva Vino which was still available when the covid shutdown happened. It looks like that may have been discontinued as well now.

Not seen them for a while. Not sure when they were discontinued, but they certainly seem to have been.

Yes, no need to put flights in, as you say it’s just to offer you transfers. The registration for testing is a standard thing which is usually not needed now. It’s worth registering as it may speed things up should they be doing their own testing at the port, but you still need to do your own.

If you do ask then please come back here and let us know what they say. I always say that they are unlikely to make exceptions because it is extremely rare that anyone reports back with positive experiences. Any feedback you can give will help others who have the same question in future.

The dining package is not transferable, so you can’t do what you suggest. People often suggest that it is worth asking, just in case they let you, and there is never any harm in asking, but it is very rare that they make exceptions like this. I would plan around not being able to share the credits.

I have had experience with this, although mine was more complicated (and caused some problems). It was back in 2015 though, so things have likely changed anyway. When the Escape launched, I did a three day cruise from Hamburg to Southampton with my wife and son. They then went home and I stayed onboard for the one night CTN when I was joined by my brother. Following that, he left whilst I carried on to Miami as a solo. All three legs were in different cabins. The system tried to pull all three bookings together, so I just had one onboard account for the full two weeks. This caused a number of problems, good and bad. The good was that, as I had the beverage package for the transatlantic, and had purchased corks and caps for the three day, I actually had them both for the full two weeks, including the CTN. I was the only person on the ship who had the beverage package that day, and saved a fortune. As both were marked on my room card, I did get lots of questions from bar staff who assumed I had purchased both packages. 🙂 Before the CTN I got off the ship with my family and walked to the station with them. When I returned back I met my brother at check in, but I didn't need to check in again (I think I had got a new card at guest services in the morning). The problem was that things started going wrong with my room card. We discovered on the CTN that only by brothers card opened the door. That wasn't a problem, but when he left the ship the next morning and cabins were available for the transatlantic, I found that my card still didn't let me in the room. For a period I had to call a number if I wanted to get into my room so that they could let me in. This wasn't ideal, but I decided to live with it for a while. When I couldn't get a drink with it though, I decided to get something done about it. Senior staff got involved, and eventually they got it sorted (plus some OBC for the inconvenience). It was certainly an experience, and I have a unique room card as a souvenir. Another inconvenience was having to do 4 muster drills in 5 days. 🙂 I suspect that your experience won't be quite that complicated.

I wouldn’t say they are easier to do onboard. You either have to go to the reservation desk or go through the same process as you would at home to do it on the app/touchscreen. I’d rather do that at lunchtime at work than when I’m onboard. I’d say they are similarly easy, and it comes down to personal preference.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that people who don't want to be seated with others at dinner don';t necessarily want to meet people as well. I go to the meet & greet, I talk to people at the bar, and count many people who I have met on cruises amongst my friends. Some of them I have cruised with on multiple occasions. I have eaten with others quite a few times on cruises. However, we have always selected the people we dine with. Generally we like to eat with by ourselves. There is plenty of time to socialise during the rest of the cruise. When we eat with others it is because we specifically want to spend time with those people, rather than feeling that we need to use the dining table as a place to make friends (with people randomly selected for us). I'm a big boy now and I can find my own friends.

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