jazzydiver

My husband & I dive in the Caribbean quite a bit - we just did a cruise last month with great dives in Cozumel & Roatan. Next week we are going on a Panama Canal cruise. The Mexican ports on the Pacific side are mostly new to us, and we have never dove on the Pacific side. My husband has the impression the visibility and amount of life aren't nearly as good, and I have the impression water may be cool enough I'll need a wetsuit (I never use a wetsuit in the Caribbean). On the one hand, we may never get the chance to dive the Pacific side again. On the other, we just had some fantastic diving just last month and maybe this will seem mediocre in comparison. The two ports where we might choose to dive are Puerto Vallarta or Acapulco. Trying to decide if it's worth it. Any input out there from anyone who has dove either of those places? Thanks! J

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Hi all, I have sailed on the Escape and the Breakaway and recall that unfortunately there are *zero* drawers for storage in interior cabins. I'm on the Joy next month, and I'm thinking of getting those collapsible pseudo-cloth bins from Dollar Tree to make the shelves more pleasant to use. Anyone have info on approximately how long/deep/tall the interior cabin closet shelves are? I don't quite remember well enough to be sure of how large of bins to buy. Thanks! J

Hmm...my January cruise includes "free gratuities" from the travel agent. My booking (made it back in August) does not show gratuities as being pre-paid, but when I checked with the TA in September they said that is normal - it will be paid. With the rate increase, I wonder if I should double-check with the TA....

My husband & I are cruising this month, and under our guest info online, I checked the "anniversary" boxes for each of us. Does anyone know what sort of acknowledgement is being done lately? (I didn't tell my husband I checked the boxes so it would be a surprise.) BTW, not a big number anniversary for us - just thought it would be fun if a little something happened. Thought I heard the cakes weren't be done anymore, so I wondered if someone has a recent experience.

I have a cruise in early November, and as of today my scuba excursions are still showing up. The cruise is a B2B, and several weeks ago the second week (second cruise) of our itinerary was changed. When I looked to add a scuba excursion in Roatan (port was added), there was none available, which I thought was odd. However, my existing scuba excursions on the first (Cozumel & Roatan) and second week (Cozumel) are unchanged. Hope that holds!

I have found that some of the buffet dispensers have more tolerable iced tea than others. Not sure why, but perhaps try a couple of different drink stations before giving up. (Brewing your own and pouring over ice would be a good alternative.)

Yes, I agree, you should definitely be receiving $250 rather than $100. Keep pursuing this until they fix it. Let us know how things turn out. Good luck.

Most of the time, just have ship card in my pocket, sunglasses on my head (when not on my face, lol).

Just curious, how is the cruise you're going on described on the NCL website? For example, I received $250 OBC for my "15-Day Cruise on Norwegian Joy". Boards Jan 6, ends Jan 21. That is 15 nights. And is 15 days as described by Ken the cruiser above. So it occupies 16 days on a calendar, but is described as a 15-day cruise. Hope that helps. (BTW, other cruise lines jump from $100 to $250 benefit at the 14 day mark, but NCL does not - has to be 15 days.)

OK, I haven't read the whole thread, so not sure if anyone has addressed the issue of how loud the screaming from the slides is. Ugly is one thing - annoying loud noise is an even bigger issue IMHO, lol.

Do you mean an attachment to an email that is labeled "amenity invoice"? I got one, but upon opening it, the title on the document itself is "amenity confirmation" and shows $0 due. Just the way accounting labels the amenities attachments, I figure. I got my OBC confirmation within 24 hrs (submitted yesterday, received this morning). $250 for a 15-day cruise, and is split $125 each between my husband and me.

That seems odd to me, too. It seems like if Carnival thinks they need until February to work on sorting out propulsion issues (or whatever other issue there may be), that they would have used the shorter itinerary (distance-wise) for all of the cruises in that time period. But who knows, I'm just speculating. Enjoy your cruise! 🙂

JCrewz, you mention having done a 5-day Caribbean cruise before, but not which ports you have been to in the past. If you haven't been to any of them, I'd say it's a fair trade. I guess I'd also say it's a fair trade as long as you aren't having to repeat any port that you for some reason you may have disliked in the past. I am on a back-to-back on this cruise, and the change means I'm now doing the exact same cruise twice rather than having a varied itinerary. However, I think it is a fair trade overall. I think Belize City is interesting, and I'm more than happy to dive at Roatan again! Plus getting the OBC is nice. (Wondering if there's any chance they'll add a scuba excursion for Belize...there isn't one on our other booking.)

On the days I happen to carry more than just my keycard, I use a wristlet. At dinner I put it on my lap and then put my napkin on my lap over it. No purse on the table this way, and don't have to put it on the floor. I have yet to drop it or lose it doing this, and it isn't big enough to be bothersome on my lap.

ShakyBeef, I love your signature line! 🤣😂

That's hilarious, I totally have that problem! I have cruise clothes that I like and I'm not a big fan of shopping, so...yeah, that is starting to happen.

Lol, I have this rule too! Also, I will put on a fresh top in the evening for dinner, and then re-wear it a couple days later on a port day. I figure clothes don't get dirty if I'm wearing them in the evening for dinner, but on a warm weather cruise all bets are off when running around in port. So I still manage to get at least a couple wearings out of each top.

My husband got a 10% off coupon but I did not. Our last cruise was in February 2020. I don't know when it showed up in his account, but I'm really glad the NCL rep mentioned it when I started looking to book a cruise or I never would have seen it and it would have expired soon (9/30/2022). We were able to use it to book a January 2023 cruise in conjunction with my Cruise Next certificate. I guess everyone should log onto the NCL website periodically to check your account for random discounts - and check your cruise partner's account as well, since it seems there is no telling who will get what.

I just looked, and cruisedeckplans dot com has it correct.

Ditto on the battery operated candles. I get the little tea-light size ones from the dollar store. I leave one on all night in the bathroom and keep one (off) on the nightstand to turn on as a sort of flashlight if/when I get up in the night. Also, I don't leave the TV on at night, but if I'm in the cabin for a while during the day I turn on the bridge cam channel for a "window". Really helps counteract the feeling of being in a cave. (Actually, I put on the navigation channel pretty often too because I'm geeky and like all the info.)

Does your health insurance cover you while you're in other countries? This is something important to check on.

Hello tree.critter, I am considering buying stock, and I have a b2b booked in November. When you made the onboard credit request, did you specifically mention being on a back-to-back? Or was it just a pleasant surprise to get the $150 the second week? I just want to make sure I request the OBC in the correct way. Had thought about sending a separate email for each booking number, but maybe I should send one email and specify the booking numbers are back-to-back - is that what you did? Thank you!