NCL Jade May 2-16, 2015

This was our guide, Gizem Eti. She was wonderful.

and some more pics of Ephesus. At this point I no longer had a camera/phone so I had asked the girls to take lots of pictures with their phones and share. I think one took probably 10 additional pictures the rest of the trip and one took 26 pictures for the remainder of the trip.

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r564/Kimberlyhaney/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpslz7yec5o.jpg?1432575884230&1432575887325

Terrace houses

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r564/Kimberlyhaney/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps89ul8ang.jpg?1432575884215&1432575887315

Not sure why it's loading pictures as a link vs. showing on the site.

Afterwards our guide gave us some free time to explore. We walked toward the church of Mary and found a lot of little frogs. We sat in the shade for a while, watched a little show of sorts on the road out and then used the restroom (free and clean) before leaving with our guide.

She asked us if we wanted to go back to the ship, be dropped off for some shopping or go to a non pressure rug school in Seluk. She promised the rug thing was not going to be a hard sell and said she would be with us the whole time. Our driver took us to the rug school and it was really fun and educational. One of the girls had my daughters practice making a rug, we learned about the different rugs and then had a rug show and Turkish coffee and teas.

It was one of my older daughters highlights of the trip. The guys did the whole rug demo while we sipped our drinks and for $150, no dickering, I purchased a nice sized rug for back door. It's my favorite souvenir and I was able to fit into my luggage. I would say it's probably about 2.5 x 4 feet and beautiful deep colors, wool and hand made. I figure I would easily have paid $75 for a machine made acrylic copy. The entire experience was fun, educational and stress free. It was also fun that it was just the three of us getting all the treatment. The other nice thing was I used my debit card and they only charged me in usd so no conversion fee from the bank. I checked prior to leaving Seleuk and the charge was usd.

After this we went back to Kusadasi. Our guide showed us a place to eat and purchase the good Turkish Delight. She showed us the way to a nicer shopping and then the shopping by the ship which she said was fine but a little hard sell.

We went into the Turkish Delite store and the guys gave us a show and tasting of delicious candies. This stuff tasted 100 percent different than the stuff you purchase for souvenirs in boxes. We purchased a box and you pick out what you want, they cut it and box it for you. Cost was 6 euro. All stores took credit and debit cards in the area. We found one very inexpensive store that was selling souvenirs for a fraction of the other stores.

The girls did shopping in the touristy shops where they are a little pushy. The lines such as, I'll give you 20 camels for your daughter....

Once back on board the girls had fun looking at all their prized purchases and I watched sail away from the back of the ship on deck seven. I could hear the prayer call as we were leaving port and it was surreal.

Dubrovnik view from the wall. The walk takes a while. There are several places to ascend. I felt it was worthwhile to walk the entire wall but then again it may not be so fun in the heat of the summer. It was a hot walk and probably about 85 degrees with little shade. The views are just so incredible along the walk though. We started where most people end and walked around. There are exits along the way. We saw the famed little restaurants with the spray painted do not enter on the rocks. We exited the wall around this point and walked down a alley with lots of cats to find the entrance to the area where you can jump off the rocks. I did see an elderly lady slip and fall on the sloping stones when entering the walled city and this is on a day where it was dry. Good shoes are a must.

 

 

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I agree, you must do the city wall walk. It was beautiful and well worth it. We stopped 2/3 of the way at a little spot with umbrellas and cold sodas and beer, as well as a clean bathroom!

Sea day. This was the only day we got a little bored. I went to lunch with cc roll call.

I forgot to mention, One of my new friends, Rochelle, told me if you purchase a future cruise credit and take the obc as casino play they give you $125 of casino play. I went down and got the fcc from the cruise consultant, Kim. The casino host suggested I switch machines vs. putting the $125 in one machine. I was down to my last $20 and won $280. Cashed out and took the dollars to a machine for what in my mind was free play. Well that went quick but on one of my last rolls I hit a hand pay. It was just enough where I needed a W-4 form but it paid for my new iPhone!

On this sea day I donated a little back to the casino but just lost it pretty quick so was done with the casino. It was never busy when I walked thru. I'm not sure about late at night but every time I walked by it was quiet in there.

Regarding smoking on the ship. I have read some of the past anti smoking threads on these boards and some people are evidently deathly allergic to second hand smoke. If this is the case you probably should skip a trip to Europe. Smoking in designated areas occurs on the ship. More so than the Alaska cruise but much less than on land in Europe. There are designated areas on the ship which smokers respected and very easy to avoid if you detest smoke. But Europe in general is MUCH more tolerant of smoking. Our bus driver in Athens and Santorini smoked while driving the bus. It's just the way things are. I guess you can have a fit about it but it's not going to change things. The fit you throw about smoking will go on deaf ears in Europe. People there don't care if you detest their habit.

I saw some people get pretty upset about improper cueing. To be honest the ship passengers as a whole were very polite and not pushy. The ones who accidently skipped in line did so totally on accident and had no idea they had cut. I got yelled at one day by some guy who thought I had cut, which I evidently had but had not done so intentionally. Some poor ladies accidently cut in line and were mortified when some lady yelled at them. The poor ladies kept apologizing and I told them nobody except the lady who yelled at them cared and she was someone who had nothing better to do than make others feel bad. When the guy yelled at me some other guy stood up for me.

Laundry: It's $24.95 per bag on the bag special day. A bargain in my mind. We took full advantage. Someone had suggested a pillow case inside the bag to avoid the bag tearing and this was an excellent idea. We fit an entire basket of laundry for $24.95. I think laundry days were on Tuesdays with a return of items on Thursday. The only pain is having to itemize/count 40 socks.... I would pay someone on land that price to do my laundry and was quite happy it was available.

The coffee machine sitting in blue lagoon is a pay per coffee machine serving Lavisso. I was using it and was thinking that the coffee on board was top notch. Then a staff pointed out that it's a pay for service. Oops. The staff however will get you a coffee paid or the free stuff here. They often had carafes of the free stuff out during breakfast time with the condiments. I thought even the free coffee tasted better than the Pearl's free coffee.

Last port: Split. This was another wonderful day. Rochelle from our CC roll call was a very organized person. She had been on this particular cruise before and booked a walking tour. I had originally signed up for this but my younger daughter had really wanted to try and visit krka national forest. The couple from Australia we met onboard took our place in the walking tour and we went to see about the national forest. The taxi stand across the street from port quoted me 200 euro. I'm not sure if that was rt or each way because 200 euro was too much for me. It was also quite a drive and would have eaten up a good chunk of time in port.

A little further down the road there was a tourist booth. I enquired about a tour and they said the group tours leave early and we had missed it. He quoted me 975 for a private tour.

After that we walked along the marina. Daughter had a 10 kuna note left over from her travels during the year which I thought would not be enough to purchase anything. I asked a lady at a bakery if it would buy anything and she gave us a large bag of assorted fresh hot delicious baked goods. Some filled with a tomato base and some with nut or chocolate. They were heavenly. The exchange rate was 15 kuna for one usd. So a large bag of baked goodies, enough calories for a days worth for less than a dollar!

This town was another extremely easy do it yourself port. Diocletian's walled ruins are easily explored and locals are happy to help out. We purchased the ticket for I think 300 kuna each to get to several sites. We picked up a map along the street and had fun touring. The bell tower is not for the claustrophobic. I made it half way and bagged out. DD's went to the top and when they came down the older daughter said her legs felt shaky. We went to the crypt and sat in the cool dungeon till she felt better. Then we explored more. This pic is a view of the ship from the bell tower.

After we visited the sites on the ticket which were the Treasury, the Crypt, the Bell Tower and the Baptistery, we just walked around town. We wandered down a street and found a delightful Library Bar. It was run by a very nice half Italian half Croatian guy who told us BB King had died. We had some drinks and Tapas. The place was by the city museum at the end toward the WC sign. This was also very inexpensive. I think he charged my debit card $10. He said the only crime in Split is an occasional late night drunken sailor fight at the marina. After we felt refreshed he gave us some suggestions for outside the walls. We walked some more and then on the way back walked thru an open air market. This is the place to purchase very inexpensive everything. The groups from China must have got the memo because they were carrying bags and bags of stuff out of the market. Even clothing is super inexpensive. If you have this as the first half vs. last half of your trip its a good place to pick up shorts, bathing suits, shoes... anything you may have forget to pack.

We had a very nice walk back to the ship to pack our stuff.

Leaving the ship. We packed. Had a hard time closing the suitcases and ended up purging old clothes and shoes for enough room. Put our luggage out and went to the last show. Had fun. Jorgos, the world famous magician, was actually not that bad when placed in the Elements show.

I had prebooked a taxi to the airport from the ship. I found the guy in a forum on Tripadvisor and so was not even sure he would be there but he was. Didn't spot him right off the bat but a nice brit pointed him out for me. We walked off the ship at 9:30 after a slow breakfast in the Grand Pacific. Picked up our luggage and went to the airport, again in a Mercedes Sprinter. Cost was 45 euro total door to door. The ship was offering bus transfers for $30 usd pp.

The Venice airport is a very crowded place. It's hard because everyone is trying to get around with all their bags and its people gridlock. I had checked in online on the way to the airport so our line was not a long to check in as those who hadn't checked in. We checked our bags and had plenty of time to kill before our flight at 12.

Both weeks the ship was cleared in Venice at 8:05 am. Not sure if there was a mad rush to get off at this time but I know in hindsight we could have made our original 10:45 am flight. I had changed it to much less convenient connection flights because I didn't want to stress about making the 10:45 am flight.

Regarding money: My bank had a 200 euro limit per day withdraw from checking. I hit up the cash machine every day we were in Florence. I got some more in Venice on turnaround day. I had just enough to last us leaving enough for an extra tip for the room steward. I think I came home with just coins left.

Some friends I met onboard from Australia said the exchange rate and fees to get Euro on the ship was not good at all. They were able to take out 600 euro in one shot at a bank in Athens.

I never ended up getting Kuna or Turkish Lira. We just used debit card there for the wall and shopping/eating.

Everything with this trip was much easier than I had anticipated before hand and I ended up spending within my budget.

Thank you so very much!

Quick questions

1. In Ephesus , to use the washroom, you mentioned a 50 cent charge and the same for water bottles. Can we pay that in euros?

2. What is Turkish delight?

Kim,

Great review!

It was a pleasure for both my mother and I to meet you and your lovely daughters. Sounds like your day in Split worked out just fine. It is a wonderful city and so easy to get around, even as a DIY day. Thank you very much for the gift of bubbly you left, we shared it with some Cruise Critic folks at dinner one night. :)

Glad to hear you used some of your winnings to get a new phone, hopefully that takes a little of the sting out of having to purchase a new one. I won't be hoe for a couple more days but when I get to it I will work away at a review myself, not sure if i will include any pictures but I must say that yours are excellent!

I hope our paths might cross again on a cruise someday. Say hi to the girls.

Rochelle

Thank you so very much!

 

Quick questions

1. In Ephesus , to use the washroom, you mentioned a 50 cent charge and the same for water bottles. Can we pay that in euros?

2. What is Turkish delight?

We went directly to Ephesus from the ship. Our guide mentioned that it would be our last chance before entering the park. There is a free restroom in the park but its at the end so it would break up the flow of tour if you need to take a potty break.

You can pay in euros. There is an elderly lady sitting outside the restroom with a collection for toilet use.

We had brought water bottles but I left them in the van. Our guide said she could call and have the van come back with our water but it was just easier to get waters at the stand. I tried to mention bathroom opportunities because you never know when someone will need to go.

Turkish delite is a Turkish candy. It's a great gift. A sweet jellied candy rolled in nuts or cocoanut or powdered sugar. They have all different flavors like fruit, chocolate, flowers....

Thanks for the quick reply :)

Kim,

 

Great review!

 

It was a pleasure for both my mother and I to meet you and your lovely daughters. Sounds like your day in Split worked out just fine. It is a wonderful city and so easy to get around, even as a DIY day. Thank you very much for the gift of bubbly you left, we shared it with some Cruise Critic folks at dinner one night. :)

 

Glad to hear you used some of your winnings to get a new phone, hopefully that takes a little of the sting out of having to purchase a new one. I won't be hoe for a couple more days but when I get to it I will work away at a review myself, not sure if i will include any pictures but I must say that yours are excellent!

 

I hope our paths might cross again on a cruise someday. Say hi to the girls.

 

 

Rochelle

It was a pleasure meeting both of you and thank you for all you did for the roll call and for the FCC tip. The new phone had almost everything up till venice on it when I set it up. I felt whole again once I got it back up and running. Good luck with your phones as well.

I hope to meet you both again on a cruise in the future.

Were the taxis readily available at the Mestre train station or were they difficult to come by?

Thank you

Were the taxis readily available at the Mestre train station or were they difficult to come by?

Thank you

Yes. There is a taxi stand with taxis lined up as you exit the station right hand side.

Yes. There is a taxi stand with taxis lined up as you exit the station right hand side.

Thank you for replying so quickly!

I loved your review especially all of the pictures.

Very nice Kim! Thanks for posting the link in our Med RC.