Escape, May 5th and May 16, B2B, Live Review

[Grumpella]

While the laundry was impressive, the $34 I was charged for the laundry was not, even though I wrote “platinum” and “free” on the bag and taped my free voucher to the bag. I had to go to guest services to get this removed. Very annoying.

[Grumpella]

Also, as an fyi, getting off the ship yesterday was a mess. NCL locked down 4 of the 8 elevators, forcing many people to carry their bags down the stairs. I don’t know why NCL can’t get this together like other cruise lines.

 

The ship was cleared of people at 10:15 it was announced and people began boarding at 10:30.

[Grumpella]

Today was Split, I changed my tour to Charming Split Riviera and River Cruise. The tour was a boat ride down the Cetina River and a 25 minute visit to Omis and then a 1 hour tour of Split. I skipped the tour of Split as I just did this 2 days ago. The boat ride and Omis vist was ok, not much to see/do in Omis. I give this part of the tour a 5 out of 10. Trogir and Split tour was much better.

[Grumpella]

Last night in the elevator, a couple said the toilet in their room has not worked since they got on, Thursday. No, I didnt ask the room number. The ship is full and NCL said there is nothing they can do. They have to go use the public toilets.

 

I had a problem with a toilet not working once on Holland America. They sent up the plumber in 1/2 hour and had the toilet working in another 1/2 hour.

 

Bad service by NCL. 

[Grumpella]

Today was Scenic Dubronik by Land and Sea, an NCL excursion. Once we got off the ship, we walked a little way to a 2 level boat that we took to the pier in the old town section, right by the clock tower. It was a very pretty ride. I did not take the tour of Dubronik afterwards as I was just there a few days ago. We met back at the pier to take the boat back to the ship area, after the tour and free time. Based on the boat ride only, I give this tour an 8 out of 10.

 

fyi right before u walk out under the tower at the pier area, there is a public toilet for 1 euro. 

[Grumpella]

Today’s tour was Timeless Villages and Scenic Drive, Small Group, in Corfu. This tour consisted of driving around the island and stopping at small villages for scenic photos and usually a shop or 2, for 1/2 hour. The tour also included lunch at a restaurant. The lunch was a 5 out of 10, it was ok. I give the overall tour a 7, as it was nice to see alot of the island and most of the ride was beautiful. The tour guide was very good.

[Grumpella]

Today’s tour was Savoca and Forza D’Agro, the Godfather Tour. The only thing to see in Forza was 2 churches in the movie. Savoca was pretty, but there was not much there. The guide was terrible, worst ever. I give this tour a 3, don’t waste your time. 

[Winterstar9]

On 5/17/2024 at 5:19 AM, Grumpella said:

Also, as an fyi, getting off the ship yesterday was a mess. NCL locked down 4 of the 8 elevators, forcing many people to carry their bags down the stairs. I don’t know why NCL can’t get this together like other cruise lines.

 

The ship was cleared of people at 10:15 it was announced and people began boarding at 10:30.

This was disembarkation in Trieste? I guess you didn't get off since you're doing the back to back cruises?  You wouldn't happen to know how soon people were allowed to disembark the ship after docking (despite the mess)? We're doing a Barcelona to Trieste NCL cruise later this year and I didn't realize how long the disembarkation might take PLUS the time to get from Trieste to Venice (rookie mistake). Really hoping to be among the first to be able to get off the ship, lol!  

 

And thanks for your descriptions of the shore excursions.  We have some of the same ones scheduled so good to see you mostly liked them!

[Grumpella]

The ship was cleared for people to get off in Trieste at 7:15.

[Grumpella]

My tour on Tuesday was the Amalfi coast with italytours.eu. They were supposed to be there holding up a sign with all of our names on it. There was a tour guide holding up a sign with 1 of our last names (common name) but he said he was waiting for a group of 8 from Virgin. We were a group of 6. 
 

Someone from our group called italytours.eu, and they gave him a number to call, which turned out to be a wrong number. After 45 minutes and many phone calls, we found out that this guy was our tour guide.

 

I emailed italytours.eu for an explanation on how this happened and I am waiting for a response.

[Grumpella]

As soon as we were in the van, the tour guide says his friend owns a restaurant with a beautiful view and we can go there for lunch, a quick lunch. Being a pessimist, I said no, I figured this would be an expensive restaurant and he would be getting a kickback.  
 

Everyone else wanted to go. So we went. The view was beautiful and smelled like lemons, lemon trees everywhere. I had a very small plate of pasta with marinara sauce, 2 scoops of a lemon cake and still water for 33 euros, which included 6.5 euros for service and tip. Lunch took an hour and 15 minutes.

 

Because of this, we only had 5 minutes in Positano, yes 5 minutes, to jump out and take a picture. 
 

The tour guide also brought us to a limincello “factory” which was just an expensive tour. The other people were happy with the restaurant and store.

 

The Amalfi tour with italytoursharing was much better. It is hard to give this tour a score as I feel I was conned. And I didnt get to tour Positano. Lol
 

 

[Grumpella]

My tour on Weds to Orvieto with NCL was nice, but it is 1 1/2 hr drive each way and there were no good views of the town. We had to take a cable car up and then a shuttle bus to the center and then the reverse again. I give the tour a 5.

[Grumpella]

Today’s tour was the Best of Tuscany with italytours.eu. We went to Siena (1 hr 45 min drive) and San Gimignano (1 hr 20 min back to Livorno). We had 3 hrs in Siena and 1 hr in San Gimignano. Both places were great. The views were beautiful in the towns and on the way there. The shopping was also good. The tour guide was also excellent. I give this tour a 10.

[Grumpella]

Friday’s tour was the Riviera with italytours.eu. We were supposed to go to Nice and Eze, because of the Gran Prix this week, there was no Monaco. The tour guide was terrible. While he did stop at many places for a nice photo, we got to Nice so early (8:15) and left at 9:00, pretty much nothing was open. And he left us a block from the water front. 
 

Eze never happened. He pulled into the parking lot abd said it was too full and he would get stuck in there, so he brought us to the perfume factory next to the parking lot and wanted us to walk 1 mile up a very steep winding hill to get there. So people send no.

 

So just more photo stops. And the tour was only 6 hrs, not 8 as advertised. I give this tour a 4. 

 

I have been disappointed with italytours.eu.  I took 5 tours with them and only 2 had good guides and were as described. They subcontract out for tour guides, which I think is their problem.

 

Italytoursharing was much, much better and the tour guides work for them.

[schmoopie17]

We did those exact same tours with italytours.eu and I completely agree with your assessments.

 

We did, however, go to both Monaco and Eze, but the grumpy (no offense, @Grumpella) tour guide was a bit of a turn-off. Maybe you had the same guy.

[Grumpella]

I changed my tour today to Scenic Palma and Valdemossa. The tour started 45 minutes late and was only 3 1/2 hrs, not 4. The tour guide just talked and talked and talked. Valdemossa is very pretty and worth a visit. I give the tour a 5.

[Grumpella]

Today is the last day.  My thoughts:

 

1. You get what you pay for. In my opinion, the service and food is better on Princess and Royal, but those lines are more expensive, especially for solo passengers.

 

2. I found that the private tours were much better than NCL tours, especially italytoursharing. They are fabulous!!!

 

    There are also some long waits in the theater for the tours. I waited 50 minutes for 1 tour and 45 minutes another time. 

 

3.  Book your tours before the cruise. There are slim pickings once on board and looooong lines for the shore excursion desk, most times over an hour wait.

 

4.  As mentioned by others, there are definitely less options for desserts and entrees. Most of the food was good, but I ate the same thing several times.

 

5. Bring some euros on the trip for tips and more importantly, coins for the toilets. Also bring tissue for the toilets.   I found 2 stores that

 

did not take credit cards and 1 that charged 10 percent more to take the credit card.

 

6.  Please search Whats in Port for all your ports before you cruise. Many people were entirely clueless thinking they could just walk off at all the ports.

 

7. There is no rhyme or reason for how the elevators are set up to be called. Press the button on both sides.

 

8. There is a difference between FAS dinners and my free Platinum dinners. The platinum dinners did not include an appetizer and a soup/salad, it was either an appetizer or soup/salad.

 

9. When doing a B2B, my internet minutes from the first cruise could be used on the 2nd cruise, before I started my 2nd cruise minutes.

 

    Also, my account was just 1 long bill, it was never “closed out” after the first cruise.

 

THE END!!  Lol

 

I will post tomorrow on how getting off the ship went. Lol

[TashaB]

Thank you for taking us along and your much valued reviews of the shore excursions.   They have helped us to decide on our excursions for the September 29 sailing of Escape from Barcelona to Trieste, that 7 of us have booked (5 solo cabins and 1 couple).  I have been to virtually every one of the ports, often several times.   So those in our group, who are novices, are choosing longer and more involved excursions,  all with NCL.   

[Grumpella]

Imagine my surprise this morning at 6 am when I opened my door to see my luggage was still there from the night before. I put the luggage out at 8:30 pm. There were 4 other people in my hall that had their luggage there.

 

I tried to call Guest Services and Housekeeping, big surprise, no answer.

 

When I went to the buffet, I talked to an officer about my luggage. He made some calls and they said I was on my own, it was too late for luggage pickup.

 

I am traveling solo. I had 2 large suitcase, 1 carryon suitcase, 2 backpacks and 1 bag. I was able to move everything myself, but was not fast enough to get in an elevator. Lol  Some passengers helped me into the elevator and out of the elevator.

 

I complained to some shore excursion people and the asst. general manager of hotels actually came down, apologized, and took my bags off for me.

 

I had a scenic tour of Barcelona with airport drop off. When I first signed up, the tour was at 10 am with a 2 pm drop off at airport. When I got my ticket onboard, the tour was at 8:15. The last night, I got a phone message at 8:30 pm that my tour was now at 7:15.  The tour started at 8 and I was dropped off at the airport at noon. Other people who wanted to be left in the town center, were left wherever the bus last stopped in Barcelona.  I have taken tours with airport drop off before, but this was the worst. If I knew I would get to airport at noon, I would have just slept in and taken a much cheaper and later transfer.

 

The good news was the ship was cleared at 6:05 am and people started walking off. Also, none of the elevators were locked, maybe because getting off was on deck 7.

[schmoopie17]

4 hours ago, Grumpella said:

 

The good news was the ship was cleared at 6:05 am and people started walking off. 

What time did the ship arrive in port? Just trying to figure out how much time to figure between arrival and self-disembarkment.

 

Edited May 26 by schmoopie17

[Grumpella]

I was asleep in an inside room, no idea.  lol