Toby459

What's the most economical way to get from Rome's Airport (FCO) to the port at Civitavecchia?  Does NCL offer a shuttle and if so, what's the cost?

On 8/23/2022 at 5:35 PM, spanishguy1970 said:

there is only one draw back but i don't see it that way. We were given the BF category in enclosed Balcony, on Deck 14 at first, but it was too close to La Cucina and high traffic area for us so we were able to move to another BF balcony also enclosed on Deck 10. Is a free upgrade so you can't choose what Balcony you get..  I am sure you know that. We are happy just the same, we got a Balcony for an inside guarantee price :-)....EL CHEAPO. 🙂 LOL

I had a very simiilar experience.  One thing I learned is that all BF cabins are not the same.  I searched online for videos of the specific cabin I was offered and got four of them to compare.  I also searched for photos of the outside of the ship.  Between the two, I could see a clear difference.  I went to my TA and asked if they could relocate us to another room (giving them the specific number).  That was done almost instantaneously.  I'm happy with my search and interaction with my TA.  If something goes wrong due to the selection, I will bear full responsibility.

1 hour ago, napper777 said:

We are Platinum Plus and cruised NCL about 2-3 times a year. Makes me really sad/angry to see the steady downfall of what I so enjoyed.

So true.  We are also Platinum Plus but that seems to mean less with each passing cruise/year.  This year, we went to LeBistro for our reward dinner.  The waiter came over and explained we could have any entree BUT only ones that cost less than $35.00.  Last year (6 months ago) the Dover Sole was $25.00.  Now, it is $39.00.  So, at the end of the meal, I signed a check for $4.00.  Some people would say this is nickle and diming us to death.  Our other chosen entree was the duck.  For some reason, the duck was cut up/minced so fine it almost appeared as pate', covered with gelatin which was covered with mashed potatoes.  It tasted old and definitely not like duck.  It went back and was replaced with beef madallions.

We have NOT given up on NCL and transatlantic cruises.  Transatlantic is probably our favorite route as we love the sea days, the quiet an the opportunity it affords to relax.  We'll be on the Epic headed East in April, 2020 and on the Jade heading West later in the year.  But after that, we'll have to see.

Smile: On the night we went through Customs, a black coat was making the rounds in the Tropicana where we usually ate dinner and she said, "Did you have a good day?"  Together, without consulting each other, we said "No".  She replied "Well, are you ready to go home yet?"  Whether or not she intended to, she made us laugh.

As for Customs ....

Once we went through Customs and were put into the Cattle Holding Pen, I chose to stand near the floor to ceiling plate glass windows on one side of the room.  From my vantage point, I could see the last straglers arrive for their customs check.  The last group of 6-8 arrived with a shepherd, an NCL officer.  As they passed the window, they pointed at those of us on the other side and began laughing.  They went into Customs and within 3-5 minutes, they were passing by the glass headed back to the ship with their escort.  The person the PA ;system in the room said they were now reboarding Haven passengers and boarding for the rest of us would begin shortly.  Obviously, this man had little experience in how/what to say to crowds of people.  The response from the crowd at this point was loud booing.  Within two minutes, police officers arrived on the other side of the plate glass window.

For this final comment, it helps if you know how large groups of cattle are vaccinated.  Picture an upside down Y.  The carttle are forced into the V portion of the Y, and go through a chute single file, one at a time where they are vaccinated.  When we went through Customs, were were given laminated plastic cards which said, for instance, Boarding Group 18.  There were at least 20 boarding groups.  So, when the person boarding said, "We will now board Special Assistance Individuals (wheelchair), Ambassadors, Platinum Plus, Platinum, Gold and Bronze", the booing started again.  The crowd s u r g e d toward the chute.  At first, the man at the head of the chute was checking all boarding cards but within a few minutes .... before those groups could be cleared .... he announced that they would soon be reboarding Group 1.  When the remainder of the Groups 2-20 realized that they were not boarding by any process other than who pushed, shoved and crushed those in front of them through the chute (which was opened to two lanes and no one was checking for your Boarding Group), the entire room surged toward the chute.  Pushing, shoving, elbowing, cursing, yelling!  Back up the gangway to the ship ... woe unto you if you needed physical assistance, had a problem walking.  When you finally got to ship security, we were greeted with a friendly "Welcome Back".   

Whether you believe the problems were caused by Norwegian, Customs, the Coast Guard, terminal personnel or a combination of the above, it is hard not to conclude there was a lack of adequate planning for this event.  Remember the five P's: Prior Planning Prevents P__s Poor Performance!  This lacked Prior Planning and was P__s Poor Performance.  

All of these reviews provide factual information of what happened to Norwegian Guests on the Norwegian Getaway at Terminal 2.  They say nothing about other Norwegian Ships, at different ports, on different days.  But they should alert us to potential future problems and assist us in deciding if we want to enter the US through Miami on a large ship during the next two years.  

On the morning we left the ship our elevator had a Custom's  Boarding Group 15 sign discarded on the floor.  On the wall was a sign saying MIAMI, All Aboard 1:30 PM, a sign left on the wall for two days,

5 hours ago, JennKach said:

Why did customs take so long?  Were they terribly understaffed?

When we went through, there were three customs officials on duty; one was on a break.

22 minutes ago, newcruise12 said:

 I’m glad we decided against purchasing CruiseNext on our recent cruise — they sure were pushing the purchase of them.  I hope NCL sends you a survey. I didn’t receive one for this last trip. 

Cruise Next were offered on this cruise as well.  Sometimes people were in line for 30 minutes to see a Cruise Consultant.  They also sent out voicemail reminders.  On the next to last cruise day, while standing in line, I watched a couple telling the Cruise Consultant they no longer wanted their certificates.  How it ended, I'm not sure but the conversation was short and the guests left grousing to each other.

I find their cruise surveys to be useless.  I used to fill them out.  Since then, as I will do with this cruise, I will write the critique but send it to our Cruise Consultant who is proactive and not Norwegian.  Several times, she has forwarded them to Norwegian and followed up as to how they would respond.  We were surprised recently when she called and said she had finally gotten a response after following up for a year and a half. I think that Norwegian must have received thousands and thousands of comments on their Lattitude program.  No response.  At their second highest tier you get two bottles of Norwegian Water and an onboard conceirge to assist you.  Try and find the phone number of the onboard conceirge.

53 minutes ago, jasoneats said:

They did not have a Farewell Show with the officers and staff.  We guessed that they were afraid of getting booed off of the stage.

I noticed that during disembarcation they had an officer at the final gangway saying, "Thank you for coming.  Have a good trip home.  We'll see you soon."  NO ONE responded to her.  No Good Bye.  No Thank You.  Nothing.

And your use of "show" reminds me of the entertainment.  Early on, we went to see "The Knights" or "Three Guys who could harmonize together and were out of tune.  I will say that the Norwegian stage technicians handled their performance well by turning the volume on their mikes to 10/10.  Hey, it's not everyday that you can have the audience holding their ears after pne song.  People began to walk out after their opening number and it continued throughout the show.  During their encoe, people walked out.  Applause was minimal and I saw no one looking at their CD's or telling them how wonderful they were.  I heard they were getting off in Miami to see their agent.  

8 minutes ago, tomservo said:

This is really disheartening to read. Our first NCL cruise was on the Getaway this past April and I thought it was a great ship. I wonder if they were severely understaffed, and that led to the slow/non-existent service? Not sure how to explain the poor attitudes you guys ran into onboard. 

Yes, they were understaffed.  The staff looked exhausted.  We overheard one waiter tell a "black coat", "We don't have enough staff."  The black coat had no comment.  On the final morning of the cruise, we observed three officers chewing out  a crew member who was manning the yogurt/cereal display.  The crew member stood there saying nothing as the officers got louder and in his face.  We felt bad for the crew member that his superiors did not seemingly have any respect for him to be chewing him out in front of all the guests who could observe this.

The staff may have been tired but we saw again and again how the left hand did not know what the riight hand was doing and in many cases did not care to know.

irdWe were on this cruise as well.  My summation is Get Away Getaway!  Here are some of my observations.

Embarcation in Copenhagen went smoothly.  European shore excursions provided by Norwegian were good to excellent.  Our cabin steward (Anthony Fernandes) was the best that we have had with Norwegian in our last 15 cruises.  He was unobtrusive, anticipated our needs and always greeted us in a cheerful manner.  In regards to our cabin, we wanted for nothing.  Laundry service was very good.  But ... this is about the end our pros.

About Day 3-4, we were told that in the Tropicana Dining Room there are no reservations.  When I asked why there were two lines, another "black coat" told me the other line was for reservations.  When I showed him my key card and he read Platinum Plus, he moved us to another line.  We learned that there really were not reservations but that if we showed up at 5:00 PM, we would be seated.  So, the choice was be in line at 5:00 PM, get in another line that was about 30 minutes long or eat at 7:30 PM.  We chose 5:00 PM even though the reservation line formed at 4:45 PM.  But then, another surprise.  Once we were seated, the table often did not have any bread, butter, candle, complete silver service, both salt and pepper.  Although the restaurant opened at 5:00 PM, there was often just one waiter to cover 35-45 guests.  Additional waiters showed up between 5:20 and 5:30.  Eventually, our order was taken.  Sometimes bread came, sometimes it did not come.  When we looked in the butter dish, there was one pat of butter.  We asked for butter and were given a second pat of fakbutter.  This was repeated for breakfast when there was one container of jelly in the holder to serve 4 persons.  When another teaspoon was requested, it was delivered after 5-10 minutes.  If you asked for a SINGLE muffin, they brought three Danish.  Some days the waiter would say there was no orange juice today, the machine is broken.  But if you looked up, tables all around you were getting orange juice.  It was not unusual to order an item from the menu and have the waiter return 10-15 minutes later to tell us it was not on the menu or they had run out by 5:45.  Most of our dining experiences in the Tropicana took two hours plus.

On Wednesday before the cruise ended on Friday, I called Room Service as I have on other ships to request that three ice packs be frozen so that I could keep insulin cool while flying home.  The person that answered said, "we don't do that" and hung up.  I went down to Guest Services (which has to be a misnomer on this ship).  I explained to the Guest Service agent that I was diabetic, took insulin and need three of my ice packs frozen.  I related that Room Service said they did not do that.  The Guest Service Agent said, "this is the first time I have ever heard of such a thing".  I thought OK, there is a first for everything but a guest needing to freeze an ice pack for medical reasons would not be one of them.  He said he would check.  He got on his cell phone, dialed a number and then disappeared so that I could not see him.  He returned about 7 minutes later and said, "OK, go to your cabin and I'll send someone to pick them up."  When I asked where they would be, he repeated "Go to your cabin".  After two hours of waiting, I went back to the Guest Services Desk and got another Agent.  She pulled up my file and yes, they had a record of what I needed and yes, no one had been sent to pick them up and yes, they would come now.   Back to the cabin where someone from House Keeping picked them up.   But, it doesn't end there.  I was told to call Guest Services (that name irritates me for some reason) on the last morning of the cruise and they would be delivered to me.  Embarcation Day came.  I phoned 00.  After the phone rang for 8-10 times, it automatically put me into an automated wait system ... which disconnected after 3 minutes.  No one ever came on the phone.  I did this three times.  On the fourth try, I got a live person who said she would have them delivered and they were.

The spa sinks were dirty.  The spa bathrooms ran out of toilet paper.  The spa floor was littered with paper debris and fruit squeers where they remained for FIVE days.  Popcorn was in the main swimming pool.  A shower in the pool put out scalding water, only scalding water.  When I reported this to a ships officer, he said "Let it run for 5 minutes."  I asked if he might put a sign on it warning people that the water was Very Hot, he said, "Let it run for 5 minutes".  The noise level was so high in the spa that I could not listen to an audio book no matter how high I turned up the volume.  Yes, there were spa attendants. Sometimes there were as many of three of them, standing in the corner, talking to each other for 20 minutes at a time.  You get to pay extra to experience this.  Yes, I did put a note in the Hotel Director's box in the atrium.  No, I never heard from him.

On the morning (Thursday) before the cruise ended, I decided to do something that I had never done before.  I had prepaid my service charges but I was going to dispute them.  At 8:30 in the morning, the line of people waiting for Guest Services extended out of the Atrium down the hall.  Eighty percent of those people had had ENOUGH and were attempting to do the same thing.  Although there were 5-6 Guest Service agents on duty, it took almost an hour to get to the counter, another 15 minutes to fill out the forms.  You had to fill out the form there, now and immediately turn it it.  I was told that it would be reviewed by the On Board Credit Officers and I could come back in two hours and they would pay me what they determined my immediate, stand up, don't thiink it over complaint was worth.  I returned at 3:30 PM (six hours later) and was told I'd have to come back later, my claim had not yet been reviewed.  They knew this without even checking.  I asked what "later" meant and was told I could get in line (third time today) "to see if it were done".  The On Board Credit people would be there between 5-8 PM.  I said I had been there for four hours of my last day on the cruise.  I noted how they would form another line which just happened to occur during the dinner hours and NO, this was unacceptable.  The agent said she would see if my claim had been processed.  She returned eight minutes later to tell me that yes, it had been processed and "if you will be so kind as to get in that line over there, we will pay you when you get to the counter."  She disappeard before others in the line could make a similar claim.  Four lines, five hours.

Others have talked about Customs and Immigration.  What a farce!  One thing I have not seen commented on which I think I'll remember for a very long time is seeing a woman coming down the winding gangway heading to customs try to help her husband to stand and move.  This man had severe spoinal deformities, his back at a right angle to his legs.  He was gasping for breath.  Other cruisers were trying to help.  A Norwegian officer came up to her and said the woman needed to keep the line moving.  They woman at her witts end said, "I asked for a wheel chair to be brought to Deck7 over 45 minutes ago and no one ever came.  I'm doing the best that I can.  He's doing the best that he can.  We can't go any faster."  The officer got on his phone and after 5-6 minutes, the wheelchair arrived.

And during the Lattitude Party for Ambassadors, Platinum Plus, Platinum members, we were told the "company line" of 'We're glad you are part of the Norwegian Family, that you have come back to experience us again.  You are our backbone.  Yada yada yada."  Me thinks NOT!

Get Away, Getaway.

We have done 28 & 29 days cruises and i thought they were too short..LOL, i agree with others here 7 day cruises in Europe are way too short for the amount of travel you have to do, I think OP will enjoy it and will want to go back :D

I agree. I don't know if I would fly to Europe for a seven day cruise bracketed by 8-10 hour flights. I'd be exhausted by day two of the trip. I've taken long cruises like you. I really could care less about most ports. I have no problem enjoying an empty ship ... reading, people watching. I would even consider a cargo ship it I had the time. My next cruise is a trans Atlantic in just 2+ weeks. I plan on enjoying it regardless of what others like ... something I hope the originator of this thread will do as well.

we live in pa and we're hoping to avoid bringing our car so we were thinking the train may be best...it's only a 1 1/2 hr train ride for us so probably won't get a hotel

 

 

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We took the first AMTRAK train out of D.C. (3:30 AM) to Penn Station. Enjoyed the trip. The train was clean, quiet and arrived on time. It was also considerably cheaper than flying and having to get downtown. We took a cab to the port. Would gladly repeat the experience.

MDR desserts are not the highlight of my cruise. However, I do like the pound cake with strawberries at O'Shehans. I also ask for the cheese plate in the MDR as it is no longer on the menu (or wasn't on my last cruise).

Hope you enjoy both NCL and your upsell.

I’m really not giving much thought to leaving NCL. I like the product, the price, the departure cities and the routes (I love trans-atlantics). I’m also one who believes that eventually, if one lives long enough, loyalty pays off.

When I used to do a lot of travelling with my job, I picked one airline and did all of my flying with them for years and years. The result of that is that I had almost two million frequent flyer miles. I’m still flying free but for tax today. Other things that I considered an advantage was that I got to know the flight crews and they knew me by name. With that came numerous perks not all of which were written down as benefits. We have gotten to know some of the Norwegian staff by name and we recognize each other when we board. It’s a good feeling.

In time, I believe Norwegian will upgrade its rewards program and I’m pretty sure that when it does, I’ll be somewhere near the top. It might not be “the top” but it will be far enough up there for me to appreciate the difference for my loyalty.

Now, this is my opinion. To those of you who are more interested in shredding another person’s opinion that putting forth your own; relax, take a breath and realize that we can both be civil even though we have different experiences and values.

I leave on another trans-atlantic in five weeks and I’m looking forward to again being on board. :D

The freestyle concept wins hands down for me all the time [emoji4]

 

 

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Like the freestyle, atmosphere on board, friendliness of the crew.

See you on board on 30 October. Time for a TA.:)

I have thought about leaving NCL from time to time but have not done so. In general, I am very happy with the service received in the various dining rooms, the cabin attendants and the public areas. I feel there needs to be improvement in the front desk service and the resolving of issues. I would be willing to share my main issues in that regard but I have the feeling that it might be the same/similar on other lines. Just recently, I was talking with friends who had just sailed for the first time on Carnival; previously they did all of their sailing on Holland America. In describing their cruise, they said that is was noise, Noise, NOISE. Even when attending bingo, the noise was so loud that they couldn’t hear the numbers. When I hear stories like that, I appreciate NCL all the more. We like Freestyle Cruising. the staff, the routes and what appear to be more reasonable fares. As of now, we have not been seriously tempted to leave NCL.

Maybe you have been chosen to evaluate the new Latitude Silver Reward Program for which we've been waiting for over five years. Depending on your response, the new rewards will be released this year. :):):)

We had that issue on the Disney Magic a few years back, in my mothers accessible cabin. It was a floor drain.

Just goes to show that even Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy also have this problem. Pluto, did you ?????

spoke to another supervisor this morning regarding this issue. he said he has never heard of this problem. asked how long he's been with ncl. he said 5+ years. asked to escalate the issue to his supervisor. was told he would do so & get back to me by june 3, 2016. would not give me the contact info for his supervisor. said he would handle at his "escalation area."

 

was looking at reviews today and saw sewage smell problems in reviews dated january 2006 (cruisereport.com). also read another review talking about the same problem dated january 2012 (ripoffreport.com). so it's something that has been around for at least 10 years.

The person you said had never heard of it must have been having treatment for wax occlusion of his ear canals. Really, five years never heard of it?

Cruise questions now asked on TV. This past week, contestants on Family Feud were asked what they found the hardest thing to do when ships encountered rough seas. The first person responding said "sleeping". :eek:

Sleeping was not my first choice. How about you?

I've done B2B before and enjoyed them. My preference would be: 1) a different route, 2) the same cabin and 3) each segment being 14+ days. My favorite B2B are repositioning cruises. I tend to like staying on board and so it really does not matter to me if I have been to some of the ports before. The "draw" for me is the ship and the water. Of course, there is something to be said the last day of the first segment where you are watching everyone getting ready and leaving and YOU ARE STAYING. Just a great feeling.

Enjoy.

As others have said, I think this group has been on everyone of the cruises I've been on. The first time, I thought they were OK. But once you hear the same act, the same monolog, coupled with some off-key singers, I am left thinking "Oh what a night!" I'm ready for their contract to be over with Norwegian. Shouldn't we share them with other lines?

I no longer go to their shows. I'd much rather sit in the lounge or the atrium and listen to less well know entertainers. On several of my cruises I remember a man and his wife from New Orleans. He plays a keyboard and she sings. A pleasant evening for all attending. On my last cruise, someone must have talked to the Cruise Director for they ended up doing the main theater on the last night of the cruise. Would like to see this happen more often.

I don't do hypnotists any more either. My last hypnotist had 15 people come on stage from the audience. He whittled it down to 4. Then he tried to hypnotize them and NOT ONE of them "went under". The audience was laughing at the man. Oh my, we don't need more of them either.

I will be travelling on the Epic for my first time. What is your favorite embarkation restaurant and why? On other NCL ships, I usually head to the main dining room which is quiet and usually pretty empty as most people are encouraged to go to the buffet or outside barbeque. Thanks for your suggestions and comments.

In addition to the member receptions, there used to be other ways for NCL to recognize Latitude members - like the airline's FF ... with personalized luggage tags upon reaching different tiers. Remember these from the old days - maybe NCL can do this ;) if they are discontinuing them once the current inventory run out :rolleyes:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/Travel%20Gadgets/IMG20150224A.jpg

 

The ship pins are going away soon, per other thread posted. Now, that's good for eBay for those with "extra" pins ... another way to get some if missing. Speaking of which, we are missing our pins from one ship - NCL had stopped it briefly a few years ago or at least not giving them out (changed to the new design now seen on the *Away ships ??) Going to email the Latitude desk & see if they can & will mail us ours.

 

Nowadays, nobody seemed excited about the Latitude member onboard discount for photos, gift shops & other services like spa ... if I am not mistaken, they are still being offered ... some of it useless to us. Will see what's up lately when we sail in under 20 days ...

Luggage Tags seem a nice way to reward loyalty. My luggage still carries a Continental Airlines luggage tag .. my choice of a US air carrier. (Well, you see where that got me.) I'd prefer the luggage tags to the world atlas that I received for reaching the first goal (250). But, I won't complain .... it is nice to hear Thanks.

I hope you come back after your cruise and post anything that you have learned. Have a good one.

Latitude Rewards are designed to reward Norwegian cruisers for their repeated patronage. For several cruises now, first as a Gold Member and more recently as a Platinum Member, I have received invitations to attend a party designed for Gold and Platinum. The party has consisted of a premade cocktail, a glass of beer/wine or a soft drink and an appetizer snack. I would imagine given the buying power that Norwegian has that this party costs them between $1.00 - $1.25 a person. Not a bad investment when you can get 200 persons in a room, THANK them for their patronage, give a few onboard gifts and tell them about upcoming cruises.

In the near future, I will cruise on the Epic where I understand there is no such recognition. None on the Epic, on the Spirit, on the Breakaway or the Getaway. I'm guessing Norwegian might say there are too many guests to have such a party. But wouldn't it be possible to have a series of parties so guests hear THANK YOU? Couldn't Norwegian include a drink voucher for the Gold and Platinum Members in place of the party?

Thank You!!