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Everything posted by ConnieTact
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I get through quite a few books on a transatlantic cruise but not so many when it is port intensive such as this one. I do have a talking book ready on my iPad in case I wake up in the night or wake early in the morning. At the moment I have a 5am habit of waking! I’m hoping this trip, and the drinks package(!) may break that annoying habit! 😂🥂
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Wow! Thank you @The Traveling Manand @tsahall01 for your additional stories! Wow! What a time the Star has had. I’m surprised they kept it in the fleet! When we were onboard both times previously, we thought it was a great ship with fantastic staff and that is what counts a lot. Delays and missed ports are a shame, especially when you’ve travelled so far, and frustrating too but it all adds to the overall stories of our travels! Thanks for sharing. (…but I hope we get a smooth one this time! )
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Well, I’m officially packed! Stop reading now if you don’t like cats! 😂 Today I went to buy lots of supplies for the cats and have arranged for my son to pop in each evening to give them supper and ‘put them to bed’. My lovely neighbours next door have taken on the morning duty of the morning feed and play time. I have catcams so I connect to watch them from abroad! Last time we went away I only had one cat but I kept getting feedback that he seemed lonely and missed us when we were away. So we looked into getting another and rescued one from Cat Protection League and to our surprise our new one is the nephew of our existing one! 😻❤️😻🐾 They get along well so we can go away and not feel too bad about that! 😅
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Story time! The last time we were onboard the Star was in July 2016 on a trip around Northern Europe which included two days in St Petersburg. The embarkation on this particular sailing is one that I will never, ever forget! We had an hour or so wait after we arrived at the Copenhagen airport for our transfer. Then, when on the shuttle to port to meet the ship, we were told we would be dropped off in the city ‘to enjoy a look around’ before going on to the terminal. The reason we were given was that the ship had not arrived yet. It had needed maintenance and then missed the tide, so was unable to sail Stockholm’s archipelago. This had unavoidably, delayed the ship. We got off the coach in Copenhagen, and we went for an Italian meal and, little did we know, this food would need to sustain us until the next day! When we went to meet the shuttle to go to the port there was a huge queue of around 300 people. When we got near the port the driver warned us the ship had only just arrived and there was “a lot of angry people at the port”. He requested for us to “please do your best not to take it out on staff!’ Nothing prepared us to see more than 2,000 people in the queue that wrapped around the front and both sides of the terminal buildings! Even worse, as we joined the end of the queue little did we know we would not board the ship for another four hours! We were outside standing for three hours and reached the inside of the terminal for the last hour. There were no seats so we sat in the floor of the terminal building as we were so tired! Ships crew had not disembarked when we first arrived, so people ahead of us where already tired and thirsty and some were even finding it hard to stand. We were one of the last to board and were in our cabin by 10pm. By then, of course, the main and specialty restaurants were closed and we missed the birthday meal we had planned-it was Mr CT’s birthday that day! I have no worries that history will repeat itself, as the very new Horizon terminal and our ship isn’t coming from Copenhagen this time! This was by far the worst embarkation we have experienced in all our cruises and hopefully will remain that way! As I write, the Star is on her way to Southampton so no delay this time! 😅
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Will NCL honor lower prices after final payment?
ConnieTact replied to Married90's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
congratulations Married90. That’s great news! Thanks for starting this thread you have helped a lot of people by doing so! Me included! Like you, we now have to choose a cruise at least 5 days long to spend the FCC on! May just get this cruise out of the way before we look! 😀 -
Thanks for all that fabulous information and photos. That last one is particularly stunning! I’d love to see that! The video was fun too! Great to have violinists in the ship. I wonder what entertainment we will have. The areas you mention all sound good. So glad the service is still good, I remember the staff all seemed really happy and the captain was friendly too. I’m sure that makes a difference when the people at the top are happy it filters down through the team.
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Live(ish) Epic Transatlantic April 22-May 7
ConnieTact replied to Clay Clayton's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
Stunning photo Clay! Wish I was there! -
Good you got to enjoy at least some of Dario this trip. We loved him and look forward to seeing him again on the World Europa in January. I enjoyed your live report. Always good to see everything Virtuosa! 😀
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Although I have never hidden ducks on a ship before, this time I will! There is a craze for hiding rubber ducks for other passengers, children, and even staff to find! People often find them and post on social media using #cruisingducks Others just keep the ducks, and some decide to hide them again, for another person to get the buzz of finding a little beaked buddy! Still others are left in wonder as to why any one would ‘waste their time and money leaving ducks around!’ Well, I guess some answers are, the joy of giving, the fun of finding the hiding places, and the satisfaction of knowing you will make another person smile! I’m still labelling mine up! It’s taking ages! A good friend helped me with designing the tags and my son used his colour printer to make them look cheerful. Mr CT and I have been diligently tying them on with orange and white string to reflect the colours of the Irish flag. 🇮🇪 I joined a dedicated group of Cruise Duck Hiders on the Book of Faces too. Apparently this can become addictive! 😅🐥
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Over the past 13 years, we have sailed 31 times, with various lines and sizes of ship. To start with we sailed with Royal Caribbean, until we discovered the more relaxed dress code and dining style of NCL. We then tried MSC and loved it for its Italian roots and extremely fair prices and generous upgrades. We found that the newer ships were more stable and the larger ones even better. In the past few years we have generally stuck with new, larger ships. This month though, we will return to a smaller ship to give it one more try! We are booked on the Norwegian Star and our itinerary circumnavigates Ireland. We have been on the Star twice before and a few of the main ports in Ireland, such as Dublin and Belfast. We haven’t gone to all the other smaller ports though so we’re attracted by this cruise. We wonder if we will be disappointed by the smaller offering of entertainment, dining venues and bars having been spoilt by larger MSC Grandiosa, Virtuosa nod RC Anthem of the Seas. Maybe there will be benefits of a smaller ship? I will let you know! Follow along, and I promise lots of port pictures, and food ones too! Anything I think that will help future passengers to know before they board the Star I will also add.
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Will NCL honor lower prices after final payment?
ConnieTact replied to Married90's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
I think you did well to cash in now. Otherwise you risk not getting anything at all! Not worth the gamble. May response was in just 24 hrs so it must vary from region to region. -
Live(ish) Epic Transatlantic April 22-May 7
ConnieTact replied to Clay Clayton's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
European countries protesting about austerity measures by governments. A lot were planned for May 1st. Glad you got to see the flowers though. -
Live(ish) Epic Transatlantic April 22-May 7
ConnieTact replied to Clay Clayton's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
Ha ha! Your idea of fun and mine must be different! 😬😂🤣 that’s great then. I just love maxing-out all my benefits!! 😜 -
Live(ish) Epic Transatlantic April 22-May 7
ConnieTact replied to Clay Clayton's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
Hi Clay Enjoying your live report. We love the Epic. As platinum you both have two free laundry bags on a cruise that is more than a week. it is one bag each per week per person. You can check with Cruise Next/Latitudes desk. I just write my Nane and Platinum Free Bag 1 and thenPlatinum Free Bag 2. No need to overpack your bag! In fact on our last 12 day cruise we only used three between us. -
Will NCL honor lower prices after final payment?
ConnieTact replied to Married90's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
I am in the U.K. yes. I didn’t have a guarantee stateroom though. I chose my cabin so I could get midship. It didn’t cost that much more. -
Will NCL honor lower prices after final payment?
ConnieTact replied to Married90's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
I phoned NCL yesterday and gave them details of booking. They said they would get back to me and sure enough in just 24 hours I had an email to offer me just under £400 in FCC, in total for my booking for two. I wasn’t planning on sailing with NCL again in the next 12 months but as a result I probably will! -
Will NCL honor lower prices after final payment?
ConnieTact replied to Married90's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
I just called and asked and my case is being looked at. I should be within 24 hrs. I’ll let you know what the result is.