DeckLife

Very very helpful! Thanks so much.

I appreciate your advice! We dock at 7 a.m. I have no idea how long it will take to get off the ship, though. Since our cruise is 22 days, I'm afraid our luggage will be too much for us to cart off ourselves, even though we do plan laundry use on board.:)

I asked about this in the Holland America forums, and was urged to come here for more input. We will be staying overnight in Rome after our upcoming HAL Noordam cruise. The hotel is asking what time we want to be picked up at Citavecchia port. I need some insight about what happens in port after leaving the ship and how long it takes to be ready for a transfer. The only end-of-cruise debarkation I've done has been in U.S. How does the Italian port compare? Will we be able to find our luggage fairly quickly? Is the customs process lengthy? Will there be a long walk to a pickup point or can we be collected near the luggage/customs area? Any suggestions as to how much time to allow are greatly appreciated, as are general insights.

Thanks so much! It took the hotel two days to answer my initial query so I'm gathering info before putting forth another query. I'll check on the ports forum as well.

I thought about posting in the ports forum, but I figured this is where the Holland America experts are.

We dock at 7 a.m. And we will be claiming luggage in the port.

Is 9:30 still a good time, do you think? Thanks for the customs info; yes, we are coming from other Mediterranean ports.

We will be staying overnight in Rome after our upcoming Noordam cruise. The hotel is asking what time we want to be picked up. I need some ideas as to how long debarkation itself takes and how long claiming luggage and going through customs might take. Thanks for any help.

Could I get a copy, too? Thanks so much.....

susanoutloud at yahoo dot com

Thanks for the info on ironing. We'll be on a 22-day cruise after four days in Rome, so I am definitely going to want the laundry package.

What about having clothes ironed as well as washed? I like wearing linen and am looking forward to doing so on our upcoming Noordam cruise. Is ironing included in the unlimited package for selected items?

Legal concepts are for the courtroom. There is no reason whatsoever in a public forum for anybody to use the word alleged to describe the crimes. And his confession can be accepted in public discourse for exactly that. Whether it stands in court is immaterial to our discussion.

Also, there are posters who believe other posters are blaming the victim. I have read the whole thread and contend not one blamed the victim. All I see are people pointing out how absurd it is to take the victim's words as alleged by the perpetrator as a reason to assault her. (Here I think "alleged" is appropriate.)

Also, I find it surprising that news reports are omitting the fact (if it is) that this occurred on a nude charter. If it was a nude charter, that should be reported, but I suspect news outlets are afraid of being accused of blaming the victim. So they are keeping facts to themselves. I believe all the circumstances should be reported. And we should be able to discuss the circumstances without fear of being accused of siding with the criminal or blaming the victim.

Hey, good for him!

Thanks for egg crate tip and the pointer to the User CP!

I have a question about how bathroom towels are handled. We would try to reuse towels but our steward would triple-fold them over the towel rod, and they then would not dry. (I spread out my towel, so it might not look that good, but it does dry out.) I got a little creeped out knowing my towel had been handled, but I suppose it was handled when fresh as well. Is the neatening up typical for NCL? I haven't seen this before, at least not that I recall.

Is there a way to make a signature permanent on my posts or do I just cut and paste each time?

We were on our first NCL cruise Feb. 3-13 on the Sun. We were very pleased. Some of the small things we liked:

1. Napkins and utensils were stocked on the tables in the buffet areas.

2. Extremely smooth method for dispatching people on shore excursions at most ports. I wish all cruise lines would follow suit. We went to the theater according to the time given on our excursion tickets, and the excursion staffer called out the tours in order, so there was no confusion or crowding getting off the ship. And, once off, we were (magically) at the right place because we weren't there with a bunch of people from other tour groups.

3. Learning from Cruise Critic, we didn't wait to complain here but rather complained on board about a particular excursion. We were unhappy with the Best of St. Thomas tour, which lasted 2 rather than 3 hours, with minimal narration. The excursion agent listened to us graciously and actually seemed interested. (We didn't ask for it, but we did get a small credit.)

4. There were numerous antibacterial dispensers, not just at food venues, but also at lounges, the theater, and at the elevator banks. This is impressive. The only complaint I have on the cleanliness front is that paper towel dispensers in public bathrooms were slow to dispense and gave little toweling, meaning that it's likely people skipped using a towel to leave the bathroom.

5. The library was impressive.

6. The outdoor space at the stern past the buffets was wonderful.

7. Embarkation was very smooth. Debarkation was rather amazing. We were told in the Daily that we could choose our own debarkation time! We collected our colored tags for the earliest time then available. The deadline for putting luggage outside our door was midnight, allowing us plenty of time to enjoy the evening entertainment and pack. On debarkation morning, we had a fairly leisurely breakfast, followed by a wait in the comfortable chairs of the Sports Bar.

8. Our cabin was 9205, high up but with a window rather than a balcony. We were pleased that our thick luggage fit under the bed! Storage space was ample, though not in the bathroom. There was only one bedside table but we managed.

I have very few complaints. 1. The bed was a little firm for my taste. (I didn't think to ask if anything could be done; is that something that could be fixed? Do tell.) 2. We played bingo the first day on a lark and thought the cash payouts were dinky - 3 games paying between $120 and $150. But maybe this is typical, for all we know as non-Bingo regulars. 3. Poolside chair hogs don't have anything to worry about.

Over all, we were well pleased. We liked the dining flexibility and not needing to dress up too much. We even ordered pizza one time, delivered via the Sports Bar so we could eat outside.

I get the feeling that Norwegian must have a policy or "core value" of getting rid of irritants that mar a cruise. (Forgotten utensils? Put them on the tables. Mixed up crowds awaiting excursions? Stagger the times, and have the waiting done in comfort. Etc.)

My signature to be: Cruising is like a long picnic with no prep and no bugs.

Well, I carry what might appear to be a large purse (a softsided LeSportSac bag with long strap). In it I have at least my current book and my down travel pillow, which I use to prop up my book. I might also have my insulated cup in there. Sometimes I have my iPad and moderate-size camera in there. Depending on dining area temperatures, there might be a sweater. Plus tissues and lipstick. Maybe I look like a first-time cruiser, but it's all easier to carry this way.

OK, what's wrong with lanyards?

Ah, but we DID have to deal with the problem on the last morning. For an hour.

We showed them a copy of the order history, but it didn't help.

My husband and I had a fun time on the Christmas week cruise on Navigator out of Galveston. The ice show was fantastic! However, we had a serious problem at the end of the cruise.

Five days before we cruised, we purchased two premium beverage packages and paid for them online. Yet on day 7 of the cruise, late in the day or overnight, a $330 beverage package was charged to our account ($330, it turns out, is the cost of a 6-day package).

How does something like this happen? What's wrong with the ship's software that it doesn't kick out a beverage package being charged on the last day of the cruise, to a cabin with two people already with packages?

Why, at Customer Service on debarkation morning, was this charge not immediately conceded to be the bogus charge that it was? The service person helping us was friendly enough but her mindset seemed to be not on correcting an error but rather on explaining and justifying the charge.

We were at Customer Service for a full hour. We explained over and over again that we had paid in full five days before cruising for two premium beverage packages. We showed the stamps on our sail cards. We repeated that there were only two of us. (Some of our explanation had to do with our changing our package choices online but still concluding with two premiums purchased five days ahead.)

Early in this process, no bar staff were answering their phones. Eventually a senior bar crew member or officer came to the desk and instantly upon hearing our summary of the situation said he would take care of it right away. He went off and returned moments later, and we got a correct statement at last. (This is what should have happened immediately when we went to Customer Service.)

It was clear to us that Customer Service people are not empowered either with any kind of authority or with suitable information. It seems doubtful that our online purchases showed up on the desk person's screen. I don't even know whether her screen showed that we had the two packages.

Early in the week we noticed five drinks charged to our account. When we brought this up with Customer Service, the desk person had to forward the issue to a supervisor to remove the $35 in bogus charges later in the day. The charges were indeed removed, but why wouldn't you have your regular Customer Service staff empowered to do this?

Our ultimate question is who charged the $330 to our account and why. I would assume that bar staff get gratuity credit when they swipe our cards for each drink. We also tipped one server with some cash on the last night. Is it possible this was assumed to be the only tip? Am I right that the servers get credit for the drinks they serve to package passengers?

This will undoubtedly be an unsolved mystery, but I thought it worthwhile to tell people about it. In future, I'll bring credit card statements with me showing charges made. (Showing them on my phone was not persuasive.)

By the way, Royal Caribbean is to be commended for not requiring both adults in a cabin to buy the beverage package. I wish other cruise lines would follow suit.

"If you don't give them a chance to make things right while onboard, it's not really fair to come here and complain."

This sentiment is voiced frequently in these forums when people have critical comments.

Making complaints while on board ought not be a prerequisite for sharing information and opinions and complaints here.

Also, how can things be made "right"? The wrong still happened. NCL and other cruise lines might lessen bad feelings with credits and apologies, but they can't turn back time and remove the wrong.

That said, improvements can only be made when problems are known. For that reason, I would encourage the OP to make a formal complaint about the medical issue, especially now that the fears and worries of that stressful day are past.

The biggest difference, to me and my husband, is that the Carnival ships we've been on (Liberty last April and Magic in early December) are focused to the outdoors, whereas Navigator (Christmas week) is focused to the indoors. Navigator reminded me of a mall; a great deal of the public space is in the Promenade. Yes, it is pretty, but if you don't want to shop or move among clubby bars, the prettiness doesn't matter for very long. Outdoor space had little activity or entertainment, but that will surely change after the dry-dock.

As for getting around the ship, picture a circle that is vertical. Go forward to back on a higher deck, go down the aft-wards "Centrum" elevators, and then forward via Promenade, and up the forward elevators. (Or a combination of such maneuvers.) FYI, the casino is on deck four and I generally find passing through that way filled with hurdles, i.e. people. Try it on deck 3 and you run into the ice rink, which when we wanted to go there was hard to get to from our forward cabin. There were seemingly not enough elevators on this ship, and the waits could be quite long.

Navigator did not appear very well cared for, in some respects. Maybe the nearness of dry-dock led Royal to forgo pleasing the last two weeks of pre-dry-dock cruisers with cleanliness. Elevator buttons were gross and sticky to the touch and sometimes required repeated pressing to activate; bells signaling a car's arrival were uncommon. in the Solarium area, I noticed a coffee spill early on that was still there at the end of the cruise. We never saw any floor mopping or scrubbing. I would see cleaners in the public bathroom who did not bother to wipe the countertops dry. Grout lines around floor obstacles (like stall walls and trashcans) did not look as though they had been scrubbed anytime recently. Our cabin was well-kept, though.

Carnival Liberty had constant scrubbing of floors and decks in the later hours. I don't remember seeing that too much on Magic but since the weather was colder we were not "up top" much at night.

People sometimes make fun of Carnival's bacon police, but I'd rather that than drink police. On Carnival, you can get yourself water, tea or coffee anytime in the buffet (which was physically open even when no food was being served). Navigator's drink area was controlled by staff and was closed when the buffet closed.

Navigator also has a check-out system for pool towels, whereas Carnival supplies pool towels in the cabin and keeps track that way. Navigator's system meant lining up one time to get the towels (via the sail card) and lining up again to return them. Towel use was light on our cruise, making me wonder how bad the bottleneck is in hot weather.

Navigator uses lounge chairs for seating outside with only a handful of dining-style table and chair sets on each side in the main pool area (with one side devoted to smokers). There was no outdoor dining in the buffet or indeed anywhere. On Magic and Liberty there were outdoor dining spaces - upright chairs and dining tables that also served us well for reading and playing games.

Navigator has a game room but it was often closed for special purposes, leaving us hardly any place to play. Even the table in our cabin was not good for games or for dining because it was at a fixed coffee-table height. (The one day we did room service breakfast, we had to eat sequentially at the desk - first him, then me.) The oblong table in each of our Carnival cabins was adjustable in height and orientation, providing a second spot for cabin dining, and making it suitable for some games.

My husband and I like to read and there weren't really many places at all to do that according to our comfort level. We like more or less upright seating, and Navigator's lounge chairs were ok for that, but the lights were too low at night, so we ended up sitting in the sports bar on Deck 14 until the smoking allowed there would finally chase us to our cabin.

In the cabin, by the way, there is no separately controlled lighting over the sofa for reading while another person is in bed asleep.

Navigator has a really nice feature in the Solarium area (and possibly the main pool area, too, for all I know). The glass walls along the ship sides had sliding windows so that there was nice air circulation even in the shade. Likewise, our balcony door could be kept open since it was a sliding door. Very pleasant. The balcony is deeper than Carnival's, I'm pretty sure.

We had a major billing issue with Navigator that was most surprising and disappointing, though all was worked out. (A six-day premium beverage package was charged to our account on the last night and cost us an hour at customer service on debarkation morning. Why isn't such a charge kicked out by the software? And why does it take an hour to resolve an obviously bogus charge?) In general, we found staff behind the counter lacking the data needed to quickly assess a problem and lacking the power needed for resolution.

I cannot compare Carnival in this respect since we haven't had any issues.

Navigator is much prettier, by the way.

We too just got back from a Magic cruise. We really liked the our time dining. We nearly always went early so did not have to wait long. The central location of the Northern Lights dining room was very convenient for us since our cabin was forward. A particular highlight was the singing of one of the wait staff. Her name was Catherine, I believe, and she was truly excellent with her performances.