fabnfortysomething

there has been a lot of posts this year that NCl are passing back costs to customer re taxes that are being misleadingly reported as due to local regulations then thanks to cruisecritic as being false In USA its pretty standard for in port taxes to be applied with no complaints when they try it in europe there are plenty of complaints as other cruise companies dont chatg the same!

I actually got my husbands Marks and spencer tuxedo from ebay for £35 at that price can always find room to pack it!

we started our cruising history with NCL liking the idea of informal dress as we both wore business suits for work However we always changed for evening which is equivalent of smart on Cunard our first Cunard cruise was on transatlantic QM2 last year and I got him a tuxedo from ebay he enjoyed wearing it and lent it his own style with his long [greying] blond hair and beard now going on a queen Victoria cruise next month and booked Queen Anne next year also booked first cruise with MSC next year with family[they status match with other lines] so expanding choices of cruise line

if you look closer at the link it says where to go for other countries-I think its a worldwide thing and as I say we only noticed it being implemented in USA to take preference over obviously disabled passengers

https://hdsunflower.com/uk/insights/post/for-people-with-non-visible-disabilities

our experience with wheelchair is that airports are better than cruise ports at an airport you have to be able to get to check in desk where wheelchair assistance will be called and get you thoygh to plane at cruise ports you often have to get through security before getting to check in therefore a lot of walking already done before you locate wheelchairs

look for a seat cane that collapses into a handy carry size when not actually required unless you are on the heavy side they are pretty sturdy and gives you the option of a seat when standing in line

my husband has rheumatoid arthritis and has had multiple hip surgeries he also suffered a brain haemorrage whcih causes disorientation issues in crowds we have requested whhelchair assistance in airports which usually fast tracks through security and immigration However last year in USA an airport employee was refusing to let anyone fast track unless they were wearing sunflower lanyards so caused wheelchair assistance guys to have to wind round long way which meant more of their time wasted before they couls get back to assist other passengers I had always understood sunflower lanyards to be for hidden disabilities such as autism however we now have one for him which allows you to list your difficulties I also agree that seat sticks/canes are a great idea when in lines

the organiser contacted Flam rail directly

I have copied and pasted our privately organised train trip in Flam a few years ago we had from meet and greet had put together 2 private groups for 12.20 and 1.35pm Flam railway -29 people on each and at a cost of $59each. In contrast the NCL excursion on the same train was $169! OK now lets be fair about this the NCL tour also offered coffee/tea and homemade Norwegian waffles with sour cream and jam at the hotel Vatnahalsen which is the penultimate stop-all I can say is expensive waffles-more on that later. We were on the 1.35 train and due to meet at 1pm outside the train station. We had a leisurely morning and lunch then armed with waterproofs and umbrella we set off the ship and explored all the town had to offer. 2 minutes later we found the train station and found an overhang to keep dry until the rest of our party turned up. A large group wearing NCL stickers were herded past us and lined up on the platform to await the train and their reserved carriages. In contrast we stayed dry until time to board. The train pulled up and disgorged its previous passengers and we boarded as a group our reserved carriage. There were 12 carriages altogether and we were in coach 8-this turned out to be a brilliant coach as will be described later. The audioguide on the train described the history of the Flam railway and its construction as we wound our way up the mountain with some spectacular views. From 0m to 866m over a distance of 20 kilometres and 7 stations. The line is single track apart from a siding at a short stretch mid way at Berekvam where we had to wait for the downhill train so points could be changed-we were waiting 10 minutes which would have an unfortunate consequence for the NCL group who’d been on the earlier train. There was a 5 minute stop at Kjos-fossen waterfall at 670m where you could get off the train to take photos from the viewing platform-we pulled up directly opposite the falls . I got off and realised how ideally placed carriage 8 was as the viewing platform was only 2 carriageways wide.Most of the train would be in blackout in the tunnel We set off again and were now definitely at snow level ie lumps of ice. Through some tunnels the audioguide promised spectacular views through a gap in the tunnel. There were groans and then laughter as we realised we were in thick cloud and couldn’t see a thing! At Vatnahalsen we paused and saw a large group of wet and cold looking people with NCL stickers huddling around the station platform hardly visible for cloud/fog and with piles of snow and ice everywhere. The people on the 1.35 excursion got off to get their waffles ,look around at the scenery[what scenery] and would get the next train back in an hour. So these people on the platform were those from the 12.20 train who would catch our train on the return. The operative word being the return! The conductor wouldn’t allow them to board saying we had to complete journey to the top and would pick them up as we were coming back down. The 10 minutes we had to wait for the downhill train meant we were running 10 minutes late. We set off for the final stop at Myrdal 866m above sea level. As the train was running late the usual 10 minute stopover was being reduced and anyway it was still cold and foggy out there. A few hardy souls jumped off to get a couple of lungfuls of nicotine before the return journey to pick up those frozen miserable NCL excursionists! Back at the waterfall we again pulled up directly opposite the falls and this time I caught the dancing “maiden” Again conjecture was is it male or female? . We had a group photo taken outside the train which was a bit hurried as was still raining but we all agreed a fantastic day .

thanks the age groups said 0-3 and 3-6 so assumed they could be in same one

I might be missing something but cant find price of drinks package-specifically Easy drinks it says save 15% on on board price but doesnt say what that is!

we are thinking on our first MSC cruise-Virtuosa and taking Dughter son in law and 2 grandaughters aged 3 and 1 we would have balcony and ideally an inside cabin opposite for them Do MSC provide cots for the little one or would they take their own travel one? they should both me able to go in same kids club for under 3 what are peoples experiences of this?

definitely

i second this recommendation we did trip in his VW 2019 and found him a great person I contacted him again later that year when we were going to a music festival near Pooole and he picked us up from coach station he said he was a bit concerned about the coming year as he had had several cancellations from people worried about news of a potential pandemic!!! so glad his business survived and would 100% recommend him

hiya how did you find getting to ship in Civitiveccia? we found the port shuttle to bus ststion to get on next shuttle to ship to be disorganised chaos we should have booked a taxi direct from hotel in Civitiveccia to ship

thanks so its always going to be expensive!

now that is interesting-they refused to take us to Staines where my daughter lives 10 minutes away last month after a delayed flight we had no option but to get a taxi back to Heathrow airport hotel first 3 in line refused the 4th said would be minimum fare of £39

we have frequently had taxis refusing to take from airport to a nearby destination as you get further down the line they may take you but for a minmum of £30!!

thanks for the Rolls Rorce cauffeur offer-would be one way to meet you in person lol Yes there is method behind madness of travelling from North East to Heathrow our dusghter son in law and perhaps more important our 2 grandaughters live very near Heathrow so excuse to visit its a QM2 transatlantic Southampton to New York with flight back to Heathrow looking to leave car Heathrow then coach down to Southampton so car there on return We could leave the car at daughters and get lift/taxi to airport coach station but the difficulty is getting taxi out of Heathrow-they either refuse to do the 10 minute journey or charge minimum £40!!!!

we are looking at Cunard cruise which will depart from Southampton and return to London Heathrow so will leave car at Heathrow long stay and get coach to Southampton Then can pick up car on return flight However did a search on Cunard partner for coach transfer Heathrow to Southampton cruise port and its £80 per person one way National express coach is £35 pp but only states to Southampton coach station not port surely a taxi from coach station to port wont cost the £90 sifference for 2 of us? Am I missing something?

hotel santa chiara is nearest land point and acess to vaparettos etc it does have stairs to some rooms and elevators are rare in Italy but worth an enquiry

just an update our suitcase arrived home yesterday-looks like BA tag came off but the NCL Luggage tag showing name home addesss and flight number was still on so should have been able to identify by that its a bright red case with blue luggage strap so pretty distinstive looking! over a week to get us back to us but everything accounted for However a dirty great boot print on outside of case makes me question the care taken with luggage ! Guess I wont be buying any Louis Vuitton luggage anytime soon

Disembarkation day Lisbon Clocks had gone back an hour putting us on same time zone as UK so gained an hour sleep However early morning announcements for self disembark came all too soon This is for people who choose to take all their luggage off themselves and suitable if you want to be first off ship. Then comes colour coding which means your luggage will be waiting for you but only if you follow the system otherwise if you try to disembark before your colour luggage will probably still be on board and you will add to congestion in disembarkation lounge We had priority luggage labels which meant ours would be first off and in priority area close to exit so could get off at any tiem Our flight back wasn’t till 6.45 pm so in no hurry and as k and D were spending an extra few days in Lisbon we intended getting off as late as possible and leaving our luggage at their hotel They want you out of your cabin by 8.30 so we headed to garden café for breakfast which was heaving It quietened down and we ended up being the only ones left there so we headed a bit further back and rested on poolside loungers The colour coded announcements continued alongside pleas not to congregate in lower levels as getting overcrowded This announcement was originally only in English but was then repeated in Spanish giving a clue as to whom were causing the problem Eventually the call came for all remaining passengers to disembark and we headed downstairs to join a very long line snaking through theatre till eventually getting off ship Just as well we had stayed in open air as long as possible-remember 5000 people to disembark! We found our cases easily and not wanting to go through hassle of putting toiletries into plastic bags at airport I put toiletries bag,extra stuff including hat and my masterpiece from canvas 4U into large case so as to minimise weight of rucksack NOOOOO my future self cries[spoiler alert] Exiting port the taxi rank was completely disorganised so found a gap and a taxi pulled up to take 4 of us and our 4 cases about 3 miles to central Lisbon hotel where K and D where to spend next 3 nights before heading back to USA Price of 45 euros was a bit eye watering! We left our cases as planned at the hotel and sat in park opposite till we were joined by V and his wife We had cruised with him in 2012 and K and D had arranged to meet up post cruise As we had time to kill we were also able to join up and he took us to the lookout point a few minutes walk which provided a beautiful panoramic view over Lisbon There is a food market there so we ordered a pizza to share and V introduced us to a local liquor based on cherries-cheers! We spent over an hour chatting ten 3pm headed back to hotel to collect our cases. V called an uber which was only 10 euros and got us to airport in 30 minutes. We joined line for BA check in-only 3 desks were open and one was for premium /business class and very slow moving. We were 3rd in line when one of the check in girls said they were prioritising 5pm flights so could we step out of line for 20 minutes. Once back in line we were given boarding cards and advised to go straightaway through security as taking a while I pointed out we needed wheelchair assistance and she called for help who arrived promptly with a manual wheelchair He took us through a shortcut of passport control and a priority lane for wheelchairs,pregnant women and young families We were left at gate 43A which was boarding the 5pm Heathrow flight so had 1 ½ hours to wait The same guy came back to pre load us so were first on shuttle bus for taxi to the aircraft at some distance away.We had to wait 10 minutes as plane was still being cleaned There were 2 sets of steps at front and back of aircraft but even though our seats were row 30 at very back of plane they insisted we had to board at front set. Trying to find our way to the back was made even worse when a second bus arrived with rest of passengers who were boarding from the rear Now I know hoe the lone NCL fish swimming against the current on the hall carpets feels. The plane was 45 minutes late taking off and our seats at very back had no windowand we were last to be served Also even though was supposedly smooth flight with seats belt signs not being turned on during flight it was very bumpy at back and my ears were hurting. Wheelchair assistance at Heathrow was via crane that goes to level of plane steps so you jus step across However it was having a malfunction and wouldn’t lower to the ground Eventually the driver got it to work and we were transferred to another asisatance person who fast tracked us through to landside. It was now 10.30pm and or final wheelchair assistance guy was due to come off shift 11 so was told could go home as soon as he’d helped us recover our baggage. Of course this was not to be and heres the spoiler alert I referred to earlier Suitcases going round on the belt but no sign of ours Eventually 1 turned up-the one with the dirty laundry but the larger one with clean clothes and more valuable items didn’t He took us to lost luggage where made claim By now he was on overtime but wanted to help us so asked whether there was someone to meet us I sowed him the card for “we know London” and he took us to the desk No cars available for 90 minutes!!! They tried to arrange an uber but no joy Having been given wrong info on timings of Hotel Hoppa our option was to take a black cab from outside near bus station The first 3 in line refused to take us the short distance wanting more lucrative fares to London Eventually one agreed to take us for £30 We got to hotel after midnight! Drove back home next day minus 1 suitcase and over a week later still no sign of it!!!! Just as had given up hope 9 days after returning home we got news that our case had been found and being returned to us via Eagle Aviation who bill themselves as leading baggage repatriation-obviously a lot of business for them! Awaiting courier with bated breath

Day 9 Cadiz 6-4 We had pre booked a private tour with a lovely man we had met on a previous cruise Unfortunately as 6 wasn’t doing well we had to cancel a few days earlier. However I can well recommend Carlos from Toursby Cadiz K D and I headed ashore,it was close enough to centre to walk. Although billed as port for Seville it’s a long trip there so we wandered round the city-it has a university so presumably an active night life! There are lots of little parks with huge knarled trunked trees-presumably so as to optimise water storage in the arid climate. Following waterfront and the old city walls we then headed inland along narrow alleys.They are set out in grid pattern so easy to navigate and as you got closer to port you could see Ships funnels rising above levels of buildings. There are lots of interesting old buildings so if you don’t want to head to Seville theres plenty to explore. Heading back on board I headed for O Sheehans for fish and chips D headed to cabin to pack ,K to go for a run 6 had seen me return to ship as he had found comfy seats on waterfront deck 8 so clear view of port gates. After a last spa session It was back to cabin to pack Done in 45 minutes On way out I cross pack in case a case lost but for return home it was dirty laundry in smaller case and everything else in larger case Headed for couple of drinks to enjoy on balcony before I headed for pre booked 4pm Canvas 4 U painting class. We went to Taste 5.30pm but service was slower than our previous experiences Sailaway on our balcony before putting cases outside door We had obviously already passed through straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic which was noticeably cooler than previously balmy nights I wish I had kept out a brand new Joules sweatshirt given as a birthday present from the kids but instead had packed it in to large suitcase which had already been collected You just know this a a spoiler alert don’t you?