MaineYachtClub

I've been casually watching this thread since making our Monarch Governess reservation oh so many months ago.  Now we're down to 3 weeks and am paying a lot more attention.  Thanks for keeping us informed.  Looking forward to reading more.

2 hours ago, doverboy said:

 

Uh, where do you think the town water comes from? But there was no shortage of bottled water on scenic

Good point. 

That is good to know.  The idea of drinking filtered river water wasn't real appealing 😝

Thanks!

I'm preparing for my first river cruise and cannot find information on one persistent question.

There are several excellent articles on the ocean cruise forums about how the sea water is desalinated and used throughout the ship.  Most of us have no concerns about drinking the water and find no reason to pay extra for bottled water.  On river cruises, it seems to be common practice that each cabin is provided a bottle of water each day in the cabin.  For myself, 1 bottle won't make it past breakfast.  Which brings me to the question about the quality of the water in the sink in the cabin.  Is it safe to brush your teeth with the tap water?  Are there places to fill up a Nalgene or to just get a drink of water during the day?

Looking for information about Biotopo Monterrico-Hawaii National Park. There are some great reviews on other sites, but so far, I've not found anything on CC.

The park looks to be about 15 miles south of the port at Puerto Quetzal. The park offers lagoon and wildlife boat tours, as well as the Tortugario Monterrico where endangered species are raised.

If anyone knows anything about it, I'd like to hear from you.

Information about how to get to the national park from the port would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

I may be resurrecting an old thread, but I have to add a recommendation for Steel Pan Alley. DW and I did it 2 weeks ago and really enjoyed ourselves. Deborah is wonderful and the 4 student teachers were polite and helpful. Our "Mambo #5" rocked! Great fun, very informative and a worthy cause.

If anyone reading this has done the Amazing Race in Cozumel recently I have a question.... We did the Amazing Race in 2011. We would like to do it again but only if it is different...........Spoiler - don't read on if you don't want to know what we did............................................................................................We found a fountain and decoded a message, got a tattoo, someone had to dive, putt putt golf, etc. If that what is still being done?

We did the Amazing Cozumel Race 2 weeks ago and it was the most fun excursion of the entire cruise. It was not offered by Norwegian, but I found the link here. There were 6 teams; 5 from Carnival, which offers the race as an excursion and ourselves. It was great getting off the main shopping street and further into town. Never did we feel unsafe and the townspeople were wonderful, offering suggestions and rooting us on.

From your description, some of the activities were the same, but others were different. The map has about 30 locations, so I hope they mix it up.

Highly recommended for those who want something very different. And if anyone is concerned about how strenuous is the race, DW and I are mid-60s and we got the gold!

Bids go out 80 days from sailing. March 3 is 80 days from today

What is the latest that folks have gotten bid offers? We're 66 days out and have not received one. I did a mock booking and there are lots of balconies available. We're inside right now, which is fine, as we don't tend to be in the cabin much anyway.

We are thinking to do the The Amazing Race in Cozumel in January, can someone let me know if a 11 year old would enjoy doing this race with her parents?

DW and I are on the other end of the age scale. Do you think a couple of active seniors would enjoy the race?

I vote for the Amazing Cozumel Race. It was a LOT of fun. You don't have to get in the water if you don't want to. They do not require it.

The Amazing Cozumel Race sounds great. Would it be too much for a fairly active 65 year old couple?

We had a 21 day cruise once and it had 18 port days. First time I ever came back from a cruise tired lol.

That sounds very frantic. I've looked at river cruises and they seem to be the same way. I'm afraid that I would be dragging after a trip like that.

I'm with you, Vent1020, and would love to hear the advice and experiences. We have our 1st over-7-day cruise scheduled for next year. It is 15 days through the Panama Canal. It took a fair amount of cajolery to get DW to agree to be on a ship for that long. I'd like to try even longer if the time and pocketbook can handle it.

The point is that one must be savvy enough to understand not to spend that OBC on something else. I hope that is adequately explained at the promotion.

I've never bought nor used Next coupons, but they sound like a nice deal, so I'm trying to learn about them before my upcoming cruise when I may invest in a couple.

Consider this scenario. If while on board, I purchase a $250 certificate, it sounds like my on board account will then show a purchase of $250 AND an OBC of $100. Is this what I would expect to see on my account? If so, I can fully understand how the OBC becomes confusing.

Last year when I booked the cruise I took in June, one of the Free at Sea promos was "Free Gratuities." What did I get for free? The DSC. So, this idea that the DSC has nothing to do with tipping doesn't match with the way NCL talks about it.

I really wanted to hear how those making the claim that the DSC was not equivalent to gratuities would explain this, but no one picked it up.

At what point do you use the coupon? Does it have to be at initial booking? I have a cruise booked for next year that I am paying into monthly. If I happen to come across a coupon can I apply it to my already booked cruise?

There is an ideal thing to spend the OBC on. The cruise next vouchers themselves.

 

As stated above, the OBC is applied to your cruise account, which is the same pool as you you pay for the cruise next vouchers out of.

 

You don't pay $250 for a voucher and get $100 OBC, you just pay $150 for the voucher.

 

You don't need to spend it on anything else.

I have $150 of OBC that came with the booking. Can those funds be used to pay for the Next voucher, effectively getting it for free?

Since concessions on Harvest Caye can be charged to the on-board account, does anyone know if OBC can be used to cover the purchases?

Are there any rules about drinking in the spa? I'm guessing there is no bar there, but can one bring in adult beverages? Hey, it's all about relaxing, right?

Pearl sails from Vancouver to LA in early October. Then 2 weeks later leaves for the Caribbean. Seems odd that it would dry dock again. That's what made me curious.

Does anyone know why there is a 14 day gap in the Pearl's cruising schedule in October 2018? We are booked on the Panama Canal cruise starting 10/20 and are wondering if we will be the first sailing after a refit.

I booked our Panama Canal cruise for October 2018 back in April -- about 500 days out. The anticipation immediately hit. I've read everything I could find on CC about the ship, the canal, the ports, everything. I'm about half way through "The Path Between the Seas". Yesterday, I found out that the Sun has been repositioned and our cruise is canceled. AAAARGH!

There is a dark side to booking over a year ahead.

The Panama Canal cruise on the Sun in October 2018 is missing also. The only PC traverse that I see in October is on the Pearl. Both end ports have changed. The NCL site still shows my reservation on the Sun, but I guess I'll be getting a letter.

But if you like dressing up, you can do that, too. You will see men in sports coats and ladies in nice dresses. It is all up to you.

Ship - Escape

Deck - 12

Stateroom # - 12290

Stateroom Category – BE (Balcony Stateroom)

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Quiet. Occasional strange shudder--not a problem, just strange.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - No obstructions

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal.

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - None

Any other comments? - Very nice cabin. Quiet area of the ship. Bed was by the balcony.