Just Off the Spirit May 7-May 19. Questions?

[jrpjk]

What did you do in the port of Toulon? Did you DIY? I am traveling with 2 teen boys so your suggestions might be relevant as a wine tour is out of the question.

 

Also Dubrovnik? Did you walk the wall? Money must be exchanged correct? Need cash for cab is what I have read but what else?

 

Was it chaos for Disembarking in Venice? We leave straight for the airport so was just planning on taking the bus. Any suggestions on navigating that.

 

Thanks for your help

[cardbucfan]

Can you tell me what time they were allowing people to board on embarkation day. We like to try and get on board at around 11am if we can.

 

I don't know, sorry. Since we were on a tour we were in no hurry to get there.

[cardbucfan]

What did you do in the port of Toulon? Did you DIY? I am traveling with 2 teen boys so your suggestions might be relevant as a wine tour is out of the question.

we did a tour with some other folks on our roll call. We went to Aix en Provence and Cassis. I think the tour company was Papillion

 

Also Dubrovnik? Did you walk the wall? Money must be exchanged correct? Need cash for cab is what I have read but what else?

 

We took a cab to the Pile gate and paid euros. Much cheaper than the NCL transfer and the rates are posted right there on the wall at the race stand. We paid for the wall with credit cards. All of the vendors in the old town area we dealt with either took euros or credit cards. We never got Kunas. There were taxis waiting right outside the gate yo take you back to the ship afterwards. Several people did the cable car for some amazing views.

 

Was it chaos for Disembarking in Venice? We leave straight for the airport so was just planning on taking the bus. Any suggestions on navigating that.

 

The pier we docked at was FAR from the people mover and terminal exit. We took a cab for 20 euros to Pia Roma and our hotel was right there across one bridge. Disembarkation was a breeze! We chose "brown" which was 9:15 and went up for breakfast at 8:30 when we had o leave our cabins. We couldn't hear them calling any colors but the TV outside the buffet showed what colors had been called. We grabbed our carryons, walked down the stairs and straight off the ship. Found our luggage and walked outside with no customs! Got our taxi and were off. We had arranged a taxi with a guy the previous day but he was a no show so just grabbed another one. The drivers want to fill their vehicles fully so we shared with 4 other people.

 

We stayed two extra days and when it was time to go to the airport we opted or a taxi again. The bus was 8 euros pp so 32 for the 4 of us and a taxi was 40. The convenience of having our own vehicle and schedule was worth the 8 extra euros.

 

Thanks for your help

 

You're welcome! Have a great trip! Our kids loved it.

Edited May 23, 2016 by cardbucfan

[jrpjk]

You're welcome! Have a great trip! Our kids loved it.

 

Thank you for your answers. I'm glad to hear your kids loved it. I am more excited for my kids then for myself. It will be exciting to experience this with them. Yes that will be a better option to just take a cab. I thought I saw the cab would cost us 50E so glad to hear it was only 40E

 

One more question for you. The day the ship arrives in Venice at 2pm was there a time restriction with NCL as to when you had to be back on board? I heard the people movers stop running at a certain time but if we are docked far from those anyway I guess that really doesn't matter. Hoping we can go with the flow and stay out till when we are ready to return. Since we leave 1st thing in morning it will be the only time kids get to see things there. DH and I have been before.

[cardbucfan]

Thank you for your answers. I'm glad to hear your kids loved it. I am more excited for my kids then for myself. It will be exciting to experience this with them. Yes that will be a better option to just take a cab. I thought I saw the cab would cost us 50E so glad to hear it was only 40E

 

One more question for you. The day the ship arrives in Venice at 2pm was there a time restriction with NCL as to when you had to be back on board? I heard the people movers stop running at a certain time but if we are docked far from those anyway I guess that really doesn't matter. Hoping we can go with the flow and stay out till when we are ready to return. Since we leave 1st thing in morning it will be the only time kids get to see things there. DH and I have been before.

 

 

That 40€ was from P Roma so it might be 50€ from the port.

 

 

There was no all aboard or curfew for the overnight. The people mover is worth using, certainly better than walking that distance! We left the ship at 2:15, went to our hotel, bought our vaporetto passes then walked around a lot before doing a walking tour. We were tired and hungry so ended up going back to the ship about 9:00 and ate dinner there. getting back on the ship was a PITA because the port people made us jump through a zillion hoops and walk far out of our way to get back on the ship. We were not happy campers.

[stormynow]

Hi, Was the new menu in the MDR?

[cardbucfan]

Hi, Was the new menu in the MDR?

 

 

I think so but this was only our second NCL cruise so don't hold me to it!

[flapbreaker]

Does anyone know if you can disembark at Venice on arrival day rather than the following day? What procedure do you follow?

[cardbucfan]

Does anyone know if you can disembark at Venice on arrival day rather than the following day? What procedure do you follow?

 

The Dailies specifically said you could NOT do that and if you needed to leave super early on disembarkation day to see guest services. My guess is it's something to do with customs.

[Loving My Life]

 

One more question for you. The day the ship arrives in Venice at 2pm was there a time restriction with NCL as to when you had to be back on board? I heard the people movers stop running at a certain time but if we are docked far from those anyway I guess that really doesn't matter. Hoping we can go with the flow and stay out till when we are ready to return. Since we leave 1st thing in morning it will be the only time kids get to see things there. DH and I have been before.

 

One year ago today we were on this cruise and it was our best vacation ever!

 

As to your question, there is no curfew or time to be back on the ship but the people mover ends fairly early in the evening (7pm IIRC) and the convoluted, though clearly marked, path to the ship is several miles, which nobody warned us about. As we were walking back at 11 pm, we passed an elderly couple with walking issues struggling to get to the ship. And because it's Venice, there are no cabs, nor where there any police, security, or dock workers to help the elderly couple. Friends of ours had purchased a NCL water shuttle from St. Mark's to the pier a couple of days before we reached Venice. I think it was around $25 per person and it left from St. Mark's at 11pm I believe. I don't attend the ship's excursion talks so I missed out on this option. In my opinion, this is the way to go if you want to see Venice at night without walking several miles back to the ship.

 

Enjoy!!!

[flapbreaker]

The Dailies specifically said you could NOT do that and if you needed to leave super early on disembarkation day to see guest services. My guess is it's something to do with customs.

 

That's unfortunate. Guess I'll have to change my plans. I'm waiting for an email from NCL just to confirm but I'm sure they will confirm what you observed.

[aussie cruzer]

Does anyone know if you can disembark at Venice on arrival day rather than the following day? What procedure do you follow?

 

You need to arrange this with Ncl before your departure.....some people get off before final port of call.

 

Example Rome.....some folks get off in Naples and spend time their before returning home.

[racingraysswimmom]

Can you confirm which night was the Hot White Party?

 

Thanks!

[cardbucfan]

Can you confirm which night was the Hot White Party?

 

Thanks!

 

Pretty sure it was Dubrovnik night after the Elements show. The stuff we didn't do all starts to run together!

[riclop]

Looking forward to it.

[racingraysswimmom]

Pretty sure it was Dubrovnik night after the Elements show. The stuff we didn't do all starts to run together!

 

 

Thank you cardbucfan! :)

[ljgirl]

What excursions did you do?

[flapbreaker]

The Dailies specifically said you could NOT do that and if you needed to leave super early on disembarkation day to see guest services. My guess is it's something to do with customs.

 

I just spoke to NCL about disembarking a day earlier in Venice and they claim that I just need to go to guest services and let them know that that's our plan. We'll have to check out with them prior to leaving. I wonder if the note's on the Dailies were there just to remind people that you could not simply walk off the ship a day earlier without seeing them first. Guess I'll find out this August if the info I received is correct.

[cardbucfan]

I just spoke to NCL about disembarking a day earlier in Venice and they claim that I just need to go to guest services and let them know that that's our plan. We'll have to check out with them prior to leaving. I wonder if the note's on the Dailies were there just to remind people that you could not simply walk off the ship a day earlier without seeing them first. Guess I'll find out this August if the info I received is correct.

 

 

It probably was!

[cardbucfan]

@ljgirl-I'm working on the review and will cover all the excursions we did in that. We did all private tours though.

[vinotinto]

Any tips / suggestions for Livorno? Still trying to figure out if I want to take a taxi to the train station and do Pisa / Lucca on our own, or get a driver. Did you happen to notice if NCL offered a shuttle bus to the train station (and how much was it) and if there were many taxis when you exit the ship?

 

(and thanks for posting :-)

Edited May 26, 2016 by vinotinto

[vinotinto]

Also, which companies did you use for your private shore excursions, and were they all good, or some excellent or some not so good? Thank you!

 

(we leave in two weeks, and I'm trying to decide on our last few DIY or private company options).

Edited May 26, 2016 by vinotinto

[cardbucfan]

As far as Livorno is concerned, we wanted to go to Florence and Pisa so did a tour. We had tunnel vision every morning when we left the ship-first looking for our driver, then following along to the vehicle. I noticed that the ports were very busy with lots of vehicles and drivers standing around holding signs but couldn't begin to tell you about taxis or how many there were in any of the ports.

 

We used Barcelona Day Tours for Barcelona, RomeinLimo for Livorno, Civitecchia and Naples, PKTravel for Athens and Milo for Kotor. Dubrovnik we DIY'd and Venice we did Free Walking tour of Venice and Walks of Italy. They were all great and I'd highly recommend every one of them!

[TMS9539]

I just spoke to NCL about disembarking a day earlier in Venice and they claim that I just need to go to guest services and let them know that that's our plan. We'll have to check out with them prior to leaving. I wonder if the note's on the Dailies were there just to remind people that you could not simply walk off the ship a day earlier without seeing them first. Guess I'll find out this August if the info I received is correct.

 

I was also on this cruise, and I'm pretty sure you can get off the day before, but you definitely need to arrange with guest services. We needed to get off the ship earlier than the normal disembarkation time. Our TA told us to go to guest services on the first day and tell them we needed to get off at 7:30 am. So I did, and the guy said no problem, that he just had to inform the port authority, and wrote something in a spiral notebook. It didn't really inspire confidence in me, but I forgot about it until later in the cruise. Then a few days before the end there was a note in the daily that you could not disembark prior to 8 am, and if that was a problem to see guest services. So I went back down there and they told me that we could leave the ship at either 4:30, 5:30 or 6:30, but not at 7:30 am because the port authority dictates the times. They later sent a note to our room offering a courtesy phone call to change our pick up time. When I went back down for the third time the girl asked had I given them my flight information - that was the first I heard that they needed it. So I had to jump through a few hoops, but at 6:30 am we walked off the ship. We didn't go through customs or anything. They scanned our room card and away we went. I had changed our pick up time to 7 am, because they told me we needed time to get through customs. Nope. I guess they didn't want to start work that early. At 6:33 am we were standing on the sidewalk waiting for our driver. Who fortunately arrived a little early. We were at the airport before 7:30 am for our 11 am flight. It was fine though. I've heard Marco Polo airport can be a mess and we didn't experience any of that. Everything went smoothly.

[flapbreaker]

I was also on this cruise, and I'm pretty sure you can get off the day before, but you definitely need to arrange with guest services. We needed to get off the ship earlier than the normal disembarkation time. Our TA told us to go to guest services on the first day and tell them we needed to get off at 7:30 am. So I did, and the guy said no problem, that he just had to inform the port authority, and wrote something in a spiral notebook. It didn't really inspire confidence in me, but I forgot about it until later in the cruise. Then a few days before the end there was a note in the daily that you could not disembark prior to 8 am, and if that was a problem to see guest services. So I went back down there and they told me that we could leave the ship at either 4:30, 5:30 or 6:30, but not at 7:30 am because the port authority dictates the times. They later sent a note to our room offering a courtesy phone call to change our pick up time. When I went back down for the third time the girl asked had I given them my flight information - that was the first I heard that they needed it. So I had to jump through a few hoops, but at 6:30 am we walked off the ship. We didn't go through customs or anything. They scanned our room card and away we went. I had changed our pick up time to 7 am, because they told me we needed time to get through customs. Nope. I guess they didn't want to start work that early. At 6:33 am we were standing on the sidewalk waiting for our driver. Who fortunately arrived a little early. We were at the airport before 7:30 am for our 11 am flight. It was fine though. I've heard Marco Polo airport can be a mess and we didn't experience any of that. Everything went smoothly.

 

Thanks for the info.