turbo321

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

No.  It's in the terms and conditions that Carnival has the right to change ports.

Thanks I was not sure.

Alright A question for you who have their cruise changed. What is the policy for changes, are you allowed to cancel for full refund if ports of call are changed?

Awesome thanks for your help.

Anywhere you live, anywhere you go you need to be informed, and keep your heads up. Travel to all places but remember you are a tourist, plan your excursions so they are in safe areas, let others know your exact plans, be alert and keep together, have a communications plan if you get separated and a agreed on meeting place. I recommend watching the DHS video Run, Hide, Fight, it teaches you common sense but often forgotten information in a active shooter or terrorist situation. The video is only about six minutes long and very basic but just knowing a few of these things may really prove useful, I hope you never need it.

I have only sailed the Grandeur and loved the solarium pool design. the restaurants were average but the buffet was a little less. I found the entertainment much better than Carnival but not as good as NCL. I truly loved the service on the ship was not just pleasant and nice but really seemed genuine. I am looking forward to booking another RC cruise but I am having trouble finding comparative prices. As for the big ship i am giving in and will try the Breakaway, maybe the waterfront area will help but i know I love the smaller ships for their feel.

I've never seen anyone turned away from the specialties when I've eaten in them, but to be honest, I don't pay attention to what people are wearing.

 

There is a tendency to equate "Freestyle" with nearly any libertine position taken by anyone, and then declare that you may as well go back to formal nights with tuxedos if someone can't, say, clip their toenails in the dining room. This position is usually taken by someone looking for a reason to not like NCL before they cruise on the line.

 

You don't have to go that far. Just don't cruise on the line. You don't have to have a reason to not like NCL, you can just not like them. Maybe you don't like consonants and won't go on any line that does not have at least one vowel in their initials. That's fine. No one cares.

 

Freestyle eliminated the formal dress nights, and introduced true any time dining. That's what the term means. It doesn't mean you can go in without a shirt, or clip your toenails during dinner. It was never intended to be an all-encompassing term that reflected on anything and everything.

This is a great all encompassing answer that offers further explanation in answer to a question. Thank you for taking the time to answer. The comparison you used has been seen in many post across all lines and was taken to mean what the extremes could be and was in no way a reflection on you.

Well people do not sit in their cabin for the three days.there is plenty to do on the ship and the prices are very attractive after Thanksgiving and before the Christmas rush. As a poster above said even the Bahamas can have cool days that time of year that are definitely not swimming days. Sailing out of NY is special in its own right and if the cost savings are high enough then go for it, if beach/pool days are the most important than go for the Caribbean out of the south. You will be on a cruise, you are going to have a great time wherever you leave from make a decision and ejoy.

We really liked going to the Tropicante in Costa Maya. Great beach day, great food, cheap and fabulous massages.

I agree the Tropicante and others in that area offer a great beach day with service food and drink for a terrific price, you do have to get out of the port area though.

#9 my first cruise.

i have had great service with UDP no issues but what is really refreshing is that the bars are lively now. You used to walk around the ship and you would see the lone bartender waiting for orders, sure on or two of the bars were busy but the others would be dead. Now everything is lively most of the time, it becomes much more sociable.

Just searched on the home page for all cruises May 2017/later longer than a week.

I see now. must be a misplaced placeholder, If you search by Ship or Europe for those dates you do not find. Thanks for info.

2017 11-day Grand Med from Venice

...

from US $3799 pp for an inside.

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruises/11-day-grand-mediterranean-from-venice-SPIRIT11VCEDBVPIRKUSJTRCIVLIVMRSBCN?duration=8053&numberOfGuests=4294915774&state=null&sailmonths=4294905714%204294905715%204294905716%204294905717%204294905718%204294905719%204294905720%204294905721%204294905722%204294905723%204294905724%204294905725&&itineraryCode=SPIRIT11VCEDBVPIRKUSJTRCIVLIVMRSBCN

If you do a search on NCL for cruises on the Spirit it does not let you go Past April 2017, so I suspect that this is some type of page we are not supposed to see at this time and that is being readied for when they actually go on sale (and will be updated). out of curiosity where did you find the link?

You could drive up to Bethlehem Pa and take direct bus to port, parking at the bus company is cheap and bus drops off and picks you up at the port. I think about a hour to Bethlehem and then about a hour and a half on nice comfortable coach with WIFI. Transbridge lines look them up on Internet if interested.

OK now I get it. We booked early April. So we're good. I guess we'll be charged the tax for drinks while in port in the US, which I've seen. No problem. Now all we're left with is figuring out the parking or alternative method of getting to the port. $40 a day for parking :eek: is quite a bit of sticker shock when you used to leaving from Bayonne. In fact we have always gotten a free parking pass from Celebrity the laswhat'st two years, so this is quite something.

I suspect this will be our first and last trip out of

Manhattan.

Leaving out of Manhattan gives you a beautiful ride past the Ny skyline. There are also many other options for transportation to pier, ferry, bus, train, etc where are you coming from?

Thank you for all your help, CC IS THE BEST.

I did not know how to search multi-city efficiently the Matrix site makes it simple, and going out of Rome is another option. Thank you much.

So I have a cruise booked for April on the NCL Spirit, it leaves from Barcelona and ends in Venice. I am looking to find the best way to book flights economically. Should I try to get a round trip to Barcelona and then just add a flight back to Barcelona from Venice or should I try to book one ways? Or is there another option? Could really use some help from past Europe travelers.

Another reason why I always book my cruise online. No need to rely on a stranger, put up with wait time over the phone and I get a hard copy of my reservation/24 hour hold with a click of the mouse.

I like to book online also, but last time I had to put a AARP discount, UBP, a Latitudes 2x point reward, and a reduced deposit. Do you find that you can add several promotions online? I was having trouble with this, so I called and the rep did me well, but I still like booking online.

It is alright to ask for help in getting a answer without stating the problem, but it raises concern when the post is titled the "NCL - Worst Guest Services" without stating what the issue is.

We did this walk with our luggage in tow and although it was longer then I thought it would be, it was very easy. You could have a issue on bad weather days. I would do it again because of the ease of getting into the city.

Are the safes combination or do you use a credit card

Just off the Pride on the December 7th sailing and they were credit card in my room at least.

Turbo...Such a helpful post :)

 

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Why thank you PittsburghGirlee, it is appreciated.

Well with the luggage it is definitely a pain I think I would just take my time and have lunch at the airport and perhaps wait there, the main terminal is pretty nice and comfortable. They have a TGI Fridays and Carrabbas among other others. I think that lunch would kill a good hour and half, and then just wait there for a bit.

Here is a map of the main terminal. http://beta.tampaairport.com/maps

Taxi's are flat 25 dollars and plentiful no need to wait for a shuttle or try to find it just get in a cab and go.

We have sailed out of Tampa twice, the first time was great. Recently on the Pride sailing of 12/7/14 disembarkation was very messy. According to all the paperwork we were given and asked to adhere to we were supposed to be off the ship around 08:30.The Pride arrived in Port on time but somehow by 08:30 they were at least running a hour behind. That happens and is acceptable but there was no words or announcements coming from Carnival and more people kept showing up at there allotted times and it became quite a mess. When we finally got off the ship we found out that the escalator was broken. They were informing people to wait in elevator line and then moving you to stairs and then telling you you couldn't bring your luggage down the stairs so go back to the elevator. People were confused at best and it was taking way to much time. When we got to the customs area it was wide open and they were starving for people. Lack of Communication and not being flexible were the port and Carnivals fault they could have easily let most off from deck one instead and have avoided the escalator and go right into customs. Even if only for a half a hour this would have alleviated the problem. Butt know wanted to make a decision. The cruise was great and still like Tampa but they need to figure this out, it is a reoccurring theme as of late.