mikeanddiane4849

Thank you for the replies. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

We just booked an 10 night Europe cruise for 11/1/24-11/11/24, on Pearl and have a couple questions on recent changes. We have cruised previously on HAL. Princess, Celebrity, Premier and me on the USS Independence ( I am showing my age here). We are in our mid 70’s, married 56 yr

Years and celebrating my 75 birthday on this cruise. We are from PNW. 

1 Is room service free or is there a charge? If so how much ?

2 Anytime dinning is exactly that, correct? Dine anytime that you show up at MDR? Any problems getting table for just the two of us? 

3 We have the promotion that buy one air through NCL and second person is free. It looks like you can’t book time for land trips before/after if more than two days. Is this correct? We wanted to do 2 pre cruise days in Trieste and four days after IN ROME  and it looks like this is not allowed !?! 

4 What kind of shows/entertainment does NCL offer now? Do you have to prebook?

5 We have one free prepaid non MDR dinner. Do we reserve before or after we are on the ship? Can anyone add their suggestion on which restaurant? We like seafood/steaks/lamb.

6 Will the ship have tons of kids on the ship this time of year? We do love kids and have 4 grown kids and six grandchildren, but we’re hoping for a quiet, peaceful cruise. Last cruise to Europe in 2017 there were a number of kids, they were kept busy though and didn’t bother us. 
 

7 Is Pearl about same size as NCL Spirit? We like the smaller ships. 
 

8 what is muster drill like now on NCL?

Thank you in advance for the help. I appreciate all I can get! Thanks,  Diane

Thank you for the quick response to my questions on a caribe balcony. Looking forward to our larger balcony! 

We are taking a TA in 10/2022 and was wondering if anyone has info on this cabin? Is the balcony larger than normal? I understand it is half covered/half uncovered. Is that correct? Will we even use our balcony on a TA? Thanks for any help!

Thank you so much for the beautiful video! Nice job. I wish I was more tech savvy, so that I could post some of our pictures of our trip.

We had a trip of a lifetime in July 2017 and were able to visit the Vatican and also see Pope Francis up close. We also spent two days visiting Israel and visited Bethlehem. Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. We saw some wonderful, Spiritual sights. Thank you for posting the video. We hope to visit that area one day. Peace Be With You.

We spent five days in Rome after our cruise. The Vatican was number one on our wish list since we are Catholic and we were celebrating our 50th Anniversay. We bought two tours to the Vatican. They were:

Dark Rome Papal Audience- We rate this very highly and will remember it the rest of our lives! We were front row as the Pope rode through. I had made a sign with scrap paper and my lipstick that said "Married 50 years, Catholic, from USA". Pope Frances saw and read my sign, then gave us a thumbs up sign and then a blessing. Afterwards, a Vatican Photographer came by with a coupon. The coupon allowed us to buy picture of this great event and you can clearly see the Pope and us. . It was a long day since we met the tour guide early, we waited hours to actually see the Pope, but that time before he arrived was very special also with people singing, chanting and visiting with other nationalities that were there for the same reason- to see Pope Frances! It was well worth the $47pp we paid for the tickets.

Walks of Italy Pristine Sistine Early Entrance- We enjoyed this tour also. We had time in the Sistine Chapel with very few people. The rest of the tour though was pretty hectic and it was hard to keep up with our tour guide due to the huge amount of people. Tickets were around $103pp.

We visited the Tuesday and Wednesday after Easter, so I imagine the crowds were larger than normal. If anyone has questions let me know.

I wish I could figure out how to post pictures!

We used them in April. We took the $109. Sistine Chapel and Vatican tour with them that was semi-private. If seeing the Sistine chapel is your prime reason to go, that part was very good.

Entrance into the Chapel was before opening hours and we spent probably close to 20-30 minutes in the Sistine Chapel with very few people. We thought the rest of the tour was too rushed, but with all there is to see- I think any tour that is 3-4 hours is too short! I could spend a week there and not see everything. We loved our trip!

We did a Renewal of wedding vows. We did this onboard ship for our 40th. I wore a long white dress and my husband rented a tux. It was a very special day for us! It cost around two hundred dollars, but was well worth it. I am sure prices have gone up since 2007. It was on the Tahitian Princess, (which has since been renamed.) The captain officiated which made it very special. I think for the price we got sparkling wine with wine glasses, an 8X10 portrait, a renewal words printed out which we framed. I also carried a bridal bouquet. We like you, had a very small wedding ceremony and this vow renewal was a wonderful way to celebrate our marriage.

Congratulations on 30 years together! We just celebrated our 50th with a week in Italy and an 11 day Eastern Mediterranean cruise on NCL Spirit which included Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Greece, two days in Israel, Croatia and Montenegro. Enjoy your trip!

We were there on Easter Sunday this year (2017), and the day after and are so glad that we were able to visit. The bombings in Syria had just happened. Our ship, the NCL Spirit docked in Haifa for two days. We used GuidedtoursIsrael and had wonderful tours both days with our tour guide Mickey. She was wonderful and did a great job on getting us around to all the sites we're wanted to see safely and she knew a lot of information on Christian and Jewish history. I encourage you to try again to see this wonderful place. I was a little nervous since we visited Bethlehem also, but once we saw the sites and were able to touch where Jesus was born, see where he was crucified, and visit the western wall, we never regretted our trip. There is so much more that we saw! I hope you have success with your next trip.

We just got off the Spirit the end of April. I used the relic hairdryer in our balcony and I survived! It wasn't great and I have short, straight hair, but it sure saved room in the suitcase for our three week cruise/land trip. All hotels in Italy had great hairdryers.

We got them on Amazon- put in vapur water bottle. I think they were around $20. For two.

We just returned the end of April from two days precruise in Venice, an 11 day cruise to the Eastern Med. and Holy land and five days post cruise in Rome.

I can not stress enough to pack light! I brought wash/wear clothes that we could wash out in the sink and hang to drive. We spent 3 weeks on our trip and only did one bag of laundry on the cruise,( on NCL Spirit's $19.99 bag of laundry day). We bought our adapter in Venice for around 6 Euro and found them for sale everywhere. I would not recommend jeans- they are heavy to pack and impossible to wash/wear. My husband wore his on the flight only. They are too warm for Rome anyhow in summer. I had dresses, a skirt, capris and one pair of long knit pants. I also brought a lightweight long black cardigan that I wore over all my sleeveless blouses and dresses and I wouldn't travel without one. My husband wore khakis most of the time. We did dress up much more for our trip to Europe than we ever have for our Caribbean cruises and we felt comfortable doing that. I wore Rose Keen sandles and put in 4-6 miles of walking daily. I did break them in for a couple of weeks before our cruise. My husband carried a very small backpack that we used for souvenirs, sweater/jacket and our fold up water bottles. We used the water fountains in Rome to fill them as needed.

We took credit cards, several different debit cards and used Euro from our debit as we went. Most restaurants we visited took credit cards with no problems.

I used a small across- the-body nylon RFID safe purse from Amazon that fit one credit card, drivers license, a copy of our passport and a small amount of cash. I put my hand on it to keep it close in crowds. The only time I carried our passport was when we were flying and in Israel, since we went to Bethlehem and it was required.

We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed every port-Venice, Crete, Israel, Cyprus, Rhodes Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and our also time in Rome. Some of our most memorable times were spent just sitting in an outdoor cafe having a glass of wine. Take time to soak up the culture- you won't regret it! Did we get to visit every ruin or church that we wanted to see? No! That just gives us more reason to return !

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and land visit!

Easyboy- we used Leo at Guided tours Israel at info@GuidedToursIsrael.com. We had Mickey as our tour guide and she was excellent! We spent Easter in Bethlehem and Jerusalem and did a Christian based tour toNorthern Galilee the next day. Around 12 hours the first day, and ten the second day. Since it was a Holy Day for Christians, Jewish and Muslims, the areas we visited were packed, but they were able to get us into all the sights they promised. Words can not describe how wonderful both tours were. Be sure and rest up though- it is a very busy schedule and a lot of walking. Weather was perfect- high 60's and low 70's.

Our cabin was right under the youth center, so it was daytime noise and quiet at night. I don't think 9176 will have that problem since it is more mid ship.

As far as poor meals- ham dinner on Easter was a big disappointment. I think it was pressed meat like spam! La Bistro we had the steak and leg of lamb-both excellent. The other meals that I remember as being less than great were in the buffet. Deserts were also disappointing except for La Bistro- some kind of fruit tart-ymmmm!

We only went to a couple of shows as we were tired from touring and they were both good. We didn't think the Magician was worth watching though.

I think there are movies, but I don't think they had a special designated theater as we didn't watch any, except for a couple foreign films on TV. Not sure about activities for teens.

We did like the pub on the Spirit and my husband had a beer and I had a Bellini, which was very good. We did not have a drink package, so most of the alcohol we had was off ship. I think my husband had beer or wine in all the countries we visited! Good prices and taste excellent!

Wish I knew how to add pictures as I have some excellent ones. Maybe someone can give me some tips. I have quite a few on my iPhone.

After suffering from jet lag for a while after our cruise and land vacation, I am finally ready to do a review. We spent two days pre cruise in Venice, visited Crete, Israel, Cyprus, Rhodes Greece, Montenegro and Croatia and then spent five nights in Rome after the cruise. We booked this cruise in 1/16 and got a very good deal on a balcony cabin on deck nine, cabin # 9186.

Our info- we are a married couple in our late 60's from Central Oregon. We were celebrating our 50th Anniversary on this cruise and it was "a trip of a lifetime"! We have cruised once before on NCL and also on Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, Premier (back in 80's) and the Spirit of America. This was our first cruise to Europe together, though both of us have been to Europe before- me as a child and my husband through work.

We flew out on April 9th, and arrived in Venice on April 10th around noon. We flew Redmond to SEA on Alaska, SEA to London on BA and then London to Venice on BA. This flight was a killer as we did not sleep the whole way! Venice airport was a zoo and packed full of people. We took the bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma since our hotel Palazzo Odoni, was in that location and it was close to the cruise port and train station. After our cruise we took the fast train from Santa Lucia train station to Rome Termini train station, since our hotel was in easy walking distance or so we thought!!

Palazzo Odoni review- it was a good hotel, with a great breakfast and was in a good location for our needs and the price wasn't too bad. The room was small, but it had a great marble bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. We had to cross two bridges to get to it from the bus. I can not stress enough- pack light! We did not, had two carry ons, one large bag and a medium size bag. One bridge had a ramp, the other bridge has small steps the whole way! We were exhausted and grumpy when we arrived to find our hotel with two large stair cases and no lift. Poor planning on my part, especially since I was using a cane on our arrival to Venice due to the long flight and a knee injury in January. The first night we walked around, ate dinner and headed to bed early.

Venice- We loved it and wish we could have stayed longer. We bought a two day Vaporetto 48 hour pass and used it to get around Venice using line # 1. This is the slow water bus, but you can get on/off as you please and it helps you to understand your way around Venice. We used it and walking to get around and it served it's purpose. We saw most of Venice that we wanted to see, but spent a fair amount of time relaxing, shopping, people watching and having a beer or glass of wine! We visited San Marco at night and enjoyed less people, but of course the sights were all closed. The orchestra was playing, people were dancing and it made for a wonderful, romantic time in Venice. We may be old, but we aren't dead folks and by then I was able to get around without my cane, so we were in heaven! We even managed to buy a nice painting on linen by an artist on the way back to our hotel for 20 Euro!

Cruise- We paid to have our luggage moved from our hotel to the people mover and then rolled it ourselves the rest of the way to the cruise ship. It was 5 euro per bag, but to us, worth it. We loved the Spirit, it's small size and our balcony cabin was good size with enough storage. Pros on this cruise- our room Stewart Suitely, most meals, our cabin, the ports visited and the views of the ports and sunsets from our room/balcony.

Cons- some meals, crowds in Buffet on some days, some servers in the MDR, and the day time noise above us in our cabin. We had a nice meet and greet and met some wonderful people.

We like to relax on our cruise, so spent most of our time doing just that. We had one meal in La Bistro which was wonderful, but ate most of our meals in the MDR. I would consider this cruise our best ever, even with some of the negatives.

I will write more later. Any question I will try to answer.

We just returned from an 11 day cruise on the NCL Spirit R/T Venice and went from the cruise ship to San Lucia train station and caught a fast train to Rome.

NCL had baggage check in right after we got off the ship and they delivered all our luggage to the train station for us. I think it was 8 euro per bag, but well worth it to us. The walk was not bad at all with no luggage. It took a while to find out where our luggage was stored, but it worked for us. We loved the train trip.

Thanks for all your help! I will plan on a train around 11am just to be safe. We plan on traveling light! We aren't in our 20's anymore! We will be celebrating our 50th wedding Anniversary!

We are on the NCL Spirit cruise on April 17, 2017 to Eastern Mediterranean and Holy Land. We sail in/out of Venice. We plan on taking the fast train from Venice to Rome on departure day on April 23rd and were wondering the best time to take the train. Is 10-11am too early or should we plan an earlier/later time? I believe we sail into Venice at 7am. It saves us a little money to pre-book it and I like to have things organized and paid for. It is a non-refundable ticket. Thanks for your help.

We are also staying at Palazzo Odoni next April. Was it easy to get to from the airport? What was the room like? Restaurants close by that are reasonable? How was free breakfast ? Any pictures? How many bridges to cross to get there? Thanks!