Z3r0

We have a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks, and it has been way too long.  So I'm only a little excited.  We cruise out of NYC, and want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before we go.  I was wondering if anyone had any experience using switch health for their pre-boarding tests.  It will be my wife and I, so I'm thinking about getting the $80 two pack antigen tests, and hoping we don't have any issues with either of them.

If I'm going with the antigen route and my cruise leaves Sunday night, I can perform the test Saturday morning and all is good correct?

Thanks in advance!

I’m sorry, but I don’t think I understand the timeline here.  Did the injury occur a week prior to the cruise or the morning of the cruise?

My wife and I will have our first Haven experience on our 3rd NCL cruise in August (21-28) out of New York, and we're very excited, as it has been way too long since we've been on a cruise!  I have 2 questions that are related to the cruse but not to each other and was looking for some guidance.

My first question involves checking in/the first day.  The cruise disembarks New York at 11:59 PM, and we've never been on a cruise that disembarks at this time.  What time would check-in typically be for a cruise that leaves at 11:59 PM? We're trying to plan our day in NYC, and I don't want to miss too much time that I could be on the ship.  Will we be able to have dinner in the Haven restaurant on the first night (while the ship is still in port)?  My gut tells me yes, but I really hate assuming.

My second question involves special requests in the Haven restaurant.  My wife and I really enjoy French Onion Soup, and love Escargots.  I know these items are available at La Bistro, but what are the chances I could get either or both of those items in the Haven restaurant?

Thanks in advance!

My wife and I have a cruise out of LA over the Christmas break (Bliss 26th - 2nd), and we're planning to fly home on the 2nd as we both have to work.

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/refund-and-cancellation-policy-covid-19

According to the above site under the "Book with Confidence" section I see:

Simply put, for new and existing reservations for any voyage with an embarkation date through and including March 31, 2022, guests are free to cancel anytime up to 24 hours in advance of embarkation for the following reasons:

• your local government changes the travel restrictions to the destination you are travelling to at the time of your sailing and as a result you are required to quarantine upon your return home;

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid

According to our government of Canada travel page

Temporary border restrictions and measures to address COVID-19 Omicron variant of concern
In effect: Fully vaccinated travelers who have been in any country other than Canada and the United States in the 14 days prior to entry to Canada may be selected for arrival testing. They must quarantine in a suitable place until they receive a negative test result. They may take public transportation (for example, connecting flights) to their place of quarantine.

The way I look at this, I would qualify to cancel and receive future cruise credit due to the fact that I may have to quarantine when I return home as I would have been in a country that isn't the US or Canada (in this case Mexico).  And the last thing I would want to do is lie to border services.

I've tried calling NCL to see if I would qualify based on the above, and the best I've been told is that I have to cancel, put in a claim, and hope for the best, which isn't exactly encouraging.

Just wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation, and what you've done or are planning on doing.

Thanks! 

This will be my first princess cruise (I've been on 1 Carnival, 2 NCL's, and about 8 or so Royal cruises) and I'm always looking to compare experiences.

I'm a little confused with the gratuities on this ship.  The only info I can find only is that a balcony room is $14.50 USD pp/pd, which I'm totally ok with, however my understanding is that all charges on the ship are in $AUD.  Does Princess use their current exchange rate (at time or sailing or pre defined) to set what my gratuities in $AUD are each day, or will they fluctuate (which wouldn't make much sense, but I've seen stranger)?  I'm also trying to determine if it is my best interest to pre-pay my gratuities, but cant calculate that without knowing how they're calculated.

I see that there are self laundry services on board and was able to find that the price is about $3AUD to wash/dry and $1.50AUD for detergent, does anyone happen to know what the cost is to have the ship do a bag of laundry?  This will be the first time I'm on a 14 day cruise and I'm trying to keep the weight of my luggage down.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Thank you so much for this.  I saved $1200 Cdn on a Baltic cruise that I had booked earlier this week.

Thanks for the replies!

We were going to book for August, but have now decided on a July sailing.  With the 'take all free' promo, I think my wife and I have decided we would prefer a balcony over an inside cabin.  The OV cabins are either at the very front of the ship, or deck 5, and I dont really want to be directly under the hustle and bustle of deck 6.

That being said, even though the cruise is over a year away it appears that all of the cabins on the port side of the ship are sold.  Is there a reason for that?  Is there more to see on the port side, or is it just coincidence?  We're going on an Australia/New Zealand cruise later this year, and chose the port side, as it is only traveling one way and there will be more to see on that side of the ship.

If the port side is the ideal side, there are some spa balcony cabins on deck 15 that are available.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

My wife and I are thinking about taking the 9 night escape cruise out of Copenhagen in August of 2020.  I know it is too far to book flights, but assuming the airline uses the same schedule, they have a 10:40 am direct flight home.  It looks like the ship docks at 7:00 am, and if my google maps search is correct, the airport is 30 min away.  I'm I flirting with disaster thinking I can make that flight work?

Euro Cruiser, thank you for the map, thats extremely helpful as my wife and I were planning to arrive to the port by train, and a 600 m walk will not be stressful for us, especially if it means we dont have to rely on 2 buses, we'll also be there in October, so I dont anticipate it being too hot.

Is it possible to find out which dock the ship will be using?

Thanks,

Mike

Thanks Hank,

Our cruise leaves on the 3rd of October, and we disembark on the 12th.  Booking this far in advance, I can book the Frecciabianca in first class for 10 euro each.

I was looking at the regional train and it appears that they're only booking out to early June.  I would rather spend a few more bucks and know that I'm planned out and have a reasonable plan that allows some room for error (or strikes).

Another question, when the cruise is done, we're going to Venice for a few days before we go home.  If I self disembark, is it reasonable to assume that I can catch a 9:16 train from Civitavecchia to Rome Termini?  The cruise planner says that we get in at 5:00 am.

My earlier option from Florence is 9:33 am - 11:05 am.

If I still miss the connection the next train to Civitavecchia is 1:57 pm - 2:44 pm.  That would be pushing it a little for my liking.  If I were to somehow miss the connection if I took the earlier train, I would likely just take a cab to the cruise port.

Thanks for you advice.

I'm cruising on Jewel of the seas out of Civitavecchia later this year.  According to the information I have, the ship leaves at 5 pm.  We'll be spending the night before the cruise in Florence, and taking the train down in the morning, here is what I'm thinking of booking:

Italorail Firenze SMN to Roma Termini (9:52 am to 11:25 am)

Trenitalia Roma Termini to Civitavecchia (11:57 am to 12:44 pm)

Have I given myself enough time to make the connection, and have I given myself enough time to make the cruise?  I've heard train strikes are a thing, but they're less likely between Tuesdays and Thursdays, and our cruise leaves on a Thursday, so I'll stay hopeful.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

My wife and I will be taking our first Princess cruise in December (Ruby from Australia to New Zealand) and are very excited.  The itinerary shows 5 days at sea, so we want to maximize our time in Sydney as much as possible, as it will likely be a very long time before we go back.  The ship leaves Sydney at 6:45 PM.  If we planned to be at the port for 3 pm, would that give us enough time, or should we plan to be there earlier.  We will be staying in Sydney the night before, if that matters.

Any advice/recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks Bob, I hate assuming, but that’s where my head was at.

i apologize in advance if this has been answered in the past.

I understand that all adults in the same cabin must have the same drink package with the exception of a few circumstances.

If I want the drink package with voom, but my wife only wants the drink package, will RCL be ok with that, as long as I call in to order both? Or will they want both of us to have the exact same packages?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Thank you so much for this. We're going to be on the December 24th sailing, and this info will definately help with the planning!!

Whoever suggested this new format for providing info, great idea! To this poster, I'm assuming the cabins should be reversed or you would have gotten a downgrade. LOL!

:'):')Hahaha, thats what I get for trying to be quick, and not paying attention to detail. Yes I was upgraded from a OC to M3.

Here is the same info from my previous post in a different format:

Ship: Norwegian Getaway

Desitnation: Western Caribbean from Miami

Number of Days: 7 Day

Embarkation: 12/24/2017

Original Stateroom: Mini-Suite Stateroom (M3)

Upgraded Stateroom: Oceanview with Large Picture Window (OC)

Accepted Bid: $350 CDN pp

I just got upgraded from an OC to an M3 on the December 24th Getaway sailing. My bid was in in between the 2nd and 3rd group, I cant look at it now for the exact wording, but I believe it was between fair and good.

FWIW - This was a cruise booked in $CDN, I also had a bid on a balcony upgrade at $75 CDN/ea less than my mini-suite upgrade, and that one was pushing into 4th group.

macri22 Where exactly is the location you're referring to? My DW and I will be on the same cruise, and the tip seems quite helpful.

Dining - we had friends who kept taking us to Coastal Kitchen (suites only guests). Make friends with someone in a suite - amazing dining venue.

Cruisecrazycanuck, I will be on Anthem next month and am super excited. We're staying in a jr suite, and I was under the impression that we were not allowed to bring guests with us. We are sailing with 2 friends of ours and would love to be able to have dinner with them if possible. When you went to the Coastal kitchen, did the suite guests just own it, or did they ask if it would be ok?

My wife and I have booked a room on a European sailing of the Symphony for next year. We're in an 2I room 8727.

The reason we chose the room is that it was the second from the end, and we thought we would have a reasonable view of the aqua theater from our stateroom.

I'm looking at our sailing now, and I can move up a few decks as 9, 10 and 12 all show room 727 as being available. The nice thing about deck 8 is that I'm on the same level as the rising tide bar (when its all the way up), and the park cafe (we really enjoyed eating breakfast their on our AoS sailing a few years back.

I've also noticed that cabin 329 is available on decks 8, 9, 10, and 12, however they all say that they're obstructed by a life boat or other equipment.

If it was your cruise, which cabin would you select and why?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

My wife and I are currently booked for a cruise in mid July, that we booked on our last cruise. We already know what cruise we want to book next (Harmony in 2018), and I've already started looking at rooms.

We found a room that I would absolutely love, however it is much more beneficial to book on a cruise ship with the Next Cruise deposit discounted, and the extra on board credit.

If I book a room through Royals website, can they cancel the reservation while I'm on board, and then re-book the same room using the Next Cruise program?

Thanks in advance,

Mike