dritan

Glad you are on your way. I definitely would consider a Costa or MSC world cruise when I retire as I don't like the very "sea day" heavy options offered from Southampton ( P&O and Cunard). REally keen to hear what the solo experience for a world cruise will be like.

I have disembarked from Taranto last summer. I checked train times on trenitalia and was able to walk to the station from the ship ( about 10-15 mins), got the train to Bari and then a tram/train to the airport from there. ( the train to Bari was around 80 mins and then 15 min journey time from Bari Centrale to the airport. Not too bad. Costa did not offer a shuttle to Bari. I have also booked a cruise that is starting in Taranto next year. We are flying into Bari the afternoon before and catching the train to Taranto and staying overnight there. I've done the journey to Savona many times and most regularly get a flight to Milan and either stay near airport overnight and get a Costa shuttle from airport to ship the next day. Or I stay in Milan if we are staying a few nights and catch the train to Savona directly from there. I also love the option of Nice for a short pre cruise stay. I've got the train to Savona from Nice and it's a beautiful journey. I've also got the Costa shuttle from Savona to Nice airport and it's a stunning way to end the holiday.

Perhaps an expansion or additional Cafe Al Baccio. On the Apex, the Cafe al Baccio is big but always overly busy with staff having to take time to make complex coffee/alcohol confections when loads where just queuing for their bog standard caffeine fix. Although some of us were only there for the pastries 😉

I did and wrote a polite note suggesting they review that policy and that their don't imply I'm lying when I explain how it ripped. "No ma'am, that's not possible!!!" Meh. Annoyed us at the time, flagged it up but life goes on.

Thanks for everyone's replies and suggestions. I've also had a few laughs.

Lol. I was equally incredulous and did ask if the paper bands had some hidden tech I didn't know about, but no, they really were just paper.

The charge is only 5 dollars for the younger ones, it's only the crafty teens who get whacked for 20 dollars.

Lol. It was bizarre. Apparently the reason is that teens run a black market in those Entourage paper bands, so if the teen club is over subscribed, teens share the bands in this manner with their unlucky friends. Who knew?? There were 55 teens on our cruise but apparently the rules are the rules. In all seriousness, it sounds like a punishment for a problem that doesn't really exist. God help my family if they ever do the same with re issuing lost key cards.

Being asked to pay 20 dollars for a replacement paper wrist band for the teen club was a new one on me. I did check and yes it was in their policy. When we just stuck the old one with tape, my son was refused entry unless a new one was bought. He spent the last few evenings with his mum lol

I probably assumed that quite a bit of space at the front was for the Haven, but generally yes the pool area for under 18s is very cramped, as it's stuck between the water slides and the aqua park for younger kids. Son was told by staff to move over to the adjoining hot tub as the one he was in was apparently for adults only. As I said, not a big issue on a cold weather cruise but wouldn't be great in the Med. As regards comedy shows, on other lines the late night show has been 10pm or after. 9pm is a bit early. And personally if I read signs stating 18 and over only, I don't tend to take it as a suggestion. I've just not come across this on other lines to the same extent, that's all. Somewhat off putting.

Hi We have just disembarked from the Escape (adult , 15 and 13 year old). There were some really good aspects to the cruise such as the food, most of the staff ( a few challenges with Entourage Staff) and Choir of Man was a great show. The tendering process was also really smooth. However, it feels like NCL has a bit of an identity crisis. Deck space for those under 18 is extremely limited, Thank goodness this wasn't a hot weather cruise but the line is branded as family friendly? Given the time of year there werent many teens on board but alternative options were limited. Any comedy shows from 9pm onwards were adult only, we couldn't go into the District at 7pm one evening to enjoy the pianist due to age restrictions. Other areas such as Spice, Skyline had age restrictions too. Do any of the more modern ncl ships have fewer restrictions. NCL tend to have good Med itineraries but the ship needs to be more "open". Thanks in advance.

Well I got the confirmation email last night to say that I've been upgraded from the inside to an outside family cabin. Really happy with this as the room looks huge compared with the inside and most importantly, has enough storage for the three of us. So worth sharing as it took almost 5 days from appearing on my credit card statement online to getting the email. I had put in a low - ish bid previously, was worried about cabin size and was quoted around £600 to pay for the upgrade outright. I could see on the website that everything was "sold out" so thought I had nothing to lose by upping the bid to the full suggested amount £410 total. Was surprised to note that the payment from credit card was within a day of this upped bid. Perhaps I could have been successful with a lower bid but it's worth it for the peace of mind. Really excited to enjoy our extra space and bath tub 🙂 Good luck all.

Sounds good - we are planning to do the early self disembarkation option.

Thanks for this as I'm also heading to the Escape for the 15th Oct cruise. Really love the detail about embarking and disembarking as I'll be working out the route via Uber or taxi and have to catch an 11.15 flight from Laguardia to Miami. But feels very doable.

Little update from me - so the pending transaction for NCL has moved from pending to complete on my credit card online statement. But still no change on my NCL account and no email. Am I crazy for assuming that Ive been successful otherwise why would they have taken the money already?

I'm also on 15th. The other bids are still saying Pending but the outside one is "unable to upgrade" which seems a bit odd. It's the fact that there is a pending transaction on my credit card account that is making me hope.

I noticed that all cabins for my cruise on Escape are sold out on the website ( apart from inside which is what I currently have). I thought I might as well go ahead and bump up my offer on the outside cabin to the max ( £205 each) as "you never know". So did that yesterday as the increased bid is still a lot cheaper than what my TA quoted me a few weeks ago if I just wanted to pay for an upgrade directly. I was on my online banking just now and see that there is a pending transaction for this exact amount for NCL on my credit card. Whilst my other bids are marked as pending, the outside is "unable to upgrade"? Does this mean that I may have been successful? Not had any email and my NCL account still references my current inside cabin. I'm feeling impatient 🙂

I've also been able to check in this morning and now just need to wait 24 hours for the edocs. Will be following others advice here and printing docs.

Yes - just had the same issue, trying to go to check in for our cruise on 15th Oct. Will keep trying.

Great thread as we are on this itinerary in mid Oct. Fab to read about the little details like the amount of time to tender and when you found it busiest ( we have a 10am trolley tour so from reading your accounts, sounds like we'd be okay for an 8.30-9am tender). Love seeing the menus etc as well.

Hi Me again! I'm trying to book two cabins for my family but as I'm logged into my account, it doesn't allow me to edit the passenger 1 details in the second booking - the fields are greyed out and non editable, even when I go back in. I have seen other people on here reference that they have 2 and 3 cabins booked on a ship, so just wondering how they do it? Will I have to call Costa to arrange this? Really frustrating that I can't seem to do it online.

Thanks for all this info - it's great. It looks like I can only book them as independent bookings as I don't get an option to select 2 cabins. I'll take a look and see what the cost impact is if I do a three cabin with both kids and 1 cabin with a single but expect it will end up more costly. Alternatively I can pay as he drinks for my son if that's the only option.

Hi all I wonder if someone with a booking can help. I'm thinking of booking a 2 cabin trip on Favolosa next year. My daughter and myself will be in 1 cabin and as I drink alcohol, I'll get us the My Drinks package at time of booking. My brother is a non alcohol drinker and doesn't really do fizzy drinks either. If I book a cruise only cabin for him and my son, would I have the option of getting my son a kids drinks package after booking and my brother a water package? Not sure if a water package exists as that's only available to see after you book and the website only references the My Drinks and My Drinks Plus options. Thanks

LOL - yes a typo on my part. In the UK we just have the concept of a Promenade, so Boardwalks and Broadwalks are new lingo. I've seen videos of it, so know what to expect.

Thanks - I'll take a look in that area too. I hadn't heard of it previously. Will take on board your comment about traffic and will also check to see how many other ships are in port that day.