deefer

On 4/27/2024 at 10:45 AM, dbrown84 said:

Now, I'm not saying that I've given up on NCL just yet, but their decisions has at least open the door for the competition 

This is exactly how we feel .... our next cruise is on celebrity.  Our last 14 (or so) were on NCL.

I believe that Ruby status gives you free drinks anywhere on the ship (not just the casino).
 

But it does look like free drinks casino invited guests used to receive in the casino is no longer happening......?

Hello almost a year later!  

The advantage of doing a review is when you want to reminisce about your amazing vacation you just have to scroll through your posts.  That is what I was doing today when I realized I never finished.  My plan was to finish up when we got home but I guess after our 30hr travel time (to the west coast of the USA) and life/work getting in the way it slipped my mind.  So here is the finish ..... better late than never.

Our return flight out of Cape Town was on United - it departed around 8pm.  The ticket counter opened for check in around 4pm so we decided to do a shore excursion with airport drop off.  Our visit was going to be to table mountain,

The cost of this tour to Table Mountain was $109pp.  Total cost for the 2 of us after our 15% discount and $50 shore excursion credit was $135.30.

Our meeting time was 9am.  Although organzed there were 3 buses doing this tour and with all the other excursions meeting in the theatre, it was a bit chaotic.  We finally left around 1030am and arrived at Table Mountain at 1115am. 

The lines were very long - we finally got to the top of the mountain around 1240pm.  Almost a 90 minute wait in line.

If you do this on your own - your wait time would probably be shorter as you would have gotten there before all the buses arrived (If I recall there were about 7-8 buses in total).

Here were the ticket prices for 2023 if you were to do it on your own,

You get on the the gondola to get to the top (and same of the return)

There is no bad spot on the gondola as it slowly spins so everybody has good views.   I have never inserted a video before .... hopefullly it works.  This is from the gondola... I am standing still. 

We get to the top and we have about 40 minutes to walk around.  If you have a lot a time you can grab a bite

There is a gift shop where we did some browsing

We only had about 30-40 minutes on the top of the mountain - we just wanted to see the views so for us that was okay.  But if you want more leisurely time/have some lunch I would book this on your own and not as a shore excursion.  

Some views from the top ..... really beautiful. 

We get back on the bus around 115pm and get a quick tour of Cape Town on route to the Airport.  The guide points out some buildings that have historic significance.    We arrive at the airport just before 3pm so we have about an hour wait until the ticket counter opens for us to check in.  

Would I recommend this shore excursion?  I'm torn.  

There was a lot of just sitting around & waiting.  90 minutes to initially get on the bus, 90 minutes to get to the top of the mountain and we were dropped off 5 hours before our flight.

If you only have your disembarkation day to explore Cape Town I would not recommend this tour.  I would book something on your own.  You can see a lot in the 5 hours we just sat around.  It was okay for us as we had seen a lot of the Capetown area prior to the cruise.

Loved visiting South Africa - would highly recommend visiting this part of the world.   I believe NCL is there again in Jan of 2024 and wish all on those cruises a fantastic time!     Happy to answer any questions!

9 hours ago, rxlowry said:

Time for another LIVE report!  After the wonderful first cruise I had with my daughter on Summit this summer, the husband and I decided to book Infinity to celebrate our upcoming milestone birthday (yes we share the same exact birthday). We booked a Suite guarantee and ended up with an accessible Sky suite.  
With all the changes, will we like the sky suite experience?  How will Luminae compare to Blu?  Is the Infinity in desperate need for dry dock?   These questions and much more we can explore. 
We departed last night with aisle seats across from each other in economy select (only means extra leg room and group three boarding) but after the doors closed the lady in middle seat next to me moved back to be near husband and I scored an empty middle seat next to me!  It made the flight much nicer for sure although I couldn’t sleep.  
We arrived in Lisbon shortly before 6am and met our driver to take us to our hotel, The Ivens.   

The hotel is gorgeous.  They comped us breakfast since our room wasn’t ready which we did not expect it to be. Amazing food! We did get a little nap before going out to lunch though.  The trip is off to a great start!  I’m excited to try the Gastrobar for dinner tonight!

Following.....we will be on the infinity out of Athens in June.  But visiting Lisbon a few months later.   What is the name of the hotel?  Looks perfect.

Looking forward unto the rest of your review.  Thank you for posting!

20 hours ago, micruiser2002 said:

Who did you get the free certificate from for the 7 day balcony cruise?  I am also Gold and have not received any type of cruise offers from MGM?  Was the offer sent from MGM or from RCL/Celebrity?  TY

20 hours ago, def0715 said:

Would like to know more about the 7-day balcony deal.

So this was the email we got from MGM.....

And here is the certificate we picked up.....

Not sure how we qualified for a balcony as we are only at the gold level (and did not elevate to platinum during the stay when we picked up the certificate).

Like def0715 mentioned in a previous post you have to either pick celebrity or Royal Caribbean on the spot when you pick up the certificate.  We did some research ahead of time and decided on a 7 day from Athens in the Spring of 2024 on celebrity.   It's by dumb luck that the cruise we picked is offered by this certificate.   It would be nice if the actual limitations of the certificate were in the initial email so that people can make an informed decision on wether the trip to pick up this certificate will work for them. I saw another persons certificate and their Europe ports were only valid for 2023.  This would not have worked for us with getting vacation from work.

The day we picked up the certificate there was only one balcony cabin left on the date we want to sail.  We immediately phoned to book - unfortunately the cerificates had not been uploaded yet so we couldn't apply the certificate.   We got around this by booking a refundable cabin with a credit card and it will be converted to the "free cruise" once Celebrity can see the certificate "uploaded".  We picked up the certificate on Aug 3rd and as of Aug 8th we still could not apply the certificate.  

The hold times at Celbrity are over an hour and the are only open M-F.  My next mid week day off is the 15th - will try again then.   I did phone the MGM to ask when the certificates will be uploaded ..... they said they would look into it and let me know - nothing yet.   Not worried about it as we have secured the cabin ..... just an fyi!

Let me know if you have any other questions! 

I still think you should give Urcomped a try .... your pearl status on NCL may get you free/highly discounted cruise.   Might save you some $$.

On 7/25/2023 at 4:53 PM, phillygwm said:

Sorry if this has come up in the past.  I'm a long-standing NCL cruiser.  My first sailing was on the Epic, simply because it was the first to feature Studio cabins.  After that, a NCL host reached out to me and the next 11 cruises -- all NCL -- were history.  Even my land-based casino play has resulted in offers from NCL.  I don't DISlike NCL but, as I suppose many cruise lines have, there have been recent cutbacks, enough to get me to consider trying a different line for a future cruise.

 

Here's my problem:  I'm a solo traveler.  Even if I'm not literally traveling alone, I'm in my own (now balcony or better) cabin thanks to NCL Casinos at Sea.  Those familiar with NCL will know it's not totally free; there are taxes, port fees, admin fees, daily service charges, etc.  So I'm not looking for a freebie, but I'd like to avoid a single supplement, at a bare minimum.  

 

So two questions:  1) Any ideas on how to "break into" a new cruise line?  Do any offer status match?  I know I could find a cruise where SS is reduced/waived but those tend to be on short notice and I'm still working so can't do anything spur of the moment; 2) If I were to cruise on a different line, which has the best benefits for casino players?  I tend to play higher limit ($50) tables mostly.  Though usually play enough slots so I'm Pearl level (one level up from basic.)

 

TIA!

It seems that Urcomped has been used successfully by others (no personal experience).   There is a thread here that may be helpful.

If you frequent Vegas at all - the MGM group of hotels is affiliated with Celebrity/Royal Carribean and usually offer a yearly cruise certificate.   If you reach platinum status with MGM you automatically get a free yearly cruise (I think it's for an inside)

We have gold status (one level below platinum) - and have just received a certificate for a 7 day balcony cruise - we are picking it up next week and going to give it a try.  

Port:  Bangkok (nudged other ports out bc we had an overnight)

Ship:  Any medium sized ship (I think bc they have more exotic itineraries)

Cabin:  Any one that gives us priority disembarkation to explore the ports 

             sooner!

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

There is no special disembarkation for those who book concierge class.  You are probably right to avoid the itinerary with three tender ports since you will not have any privileged status as far as tendering goes.

 

At the end of the cruise there is also no priority disembarkation for concierge class. There is just a designated waiting area.

9 minutes ago, SPacificbound said:

When I have booked concierge class it has been because I liked the location of the cabin.

Thanks for your quick answers .... looks like we will book the retreat if we go with this itinerary!

Our last several cruises have been on NCL.  We usually book private tours for just the two of us and want to be off the ship first (or close to first!) to start enjoying the port.   For this reason, on NCL we tend to book suites on the more exotic itineraries.   This gives us priority disembarkation not only at the end of the cruise but for all the ports as well.

To us this is the most valuable perk of a suite on NCL.   Does the concierge class cabin give us priority disembarkation for every port?  Or only at the end 

of the cruise.   

I did a search on these boards but just couldn't find the information.  I'm sure it's there somewhere!

We are ready to sample another cruise line - have found an interesting cruise out of Athens on Celebrity- it has 3 tender ports.   We have no status (yet) with Celebrity so would be "last" in line getting off - have no desire to wait in line for 1-2 hours to get off the ship.  

Thanks in advance for your knowledge!

On 5/25/2023 at 4:34 AM, Serengeti228 said:

 

I got a NO answer from the cabin steward if I could have my clothes washed only without tumble dry. I prefer to hang dry my laundry.

 

Did anyone make a similar request and successfully get their wet clothes returned?

 

Yes.   I requested that all my shirts/skirts not be tumbled dried.  They were returned individually hung on hangers and I just hung them in the closet to dry.   We were staying in a suite cabin ....not sure if that helped in getting the request.  This was on the Jewel, a smaller ship may also be a contributing factor.
 

On 3/27/2023 at 12:49 AM, amygutman said:

We've checked many different forums, and there is a dearth information online re: South African itineraries and most of it is specific to the Jade. From what I have read you either loved the experience or hated it with very little in between. It looks like the Dawn now has those routes from 2023 onward though no dates in 2025 have been published. We love the NCL product for our family and are looking to book A South African itinerary for 2025. Myself (50F), husband (51M) and son (13M) are very interested in safaris but river cruises would be prohibitively expensive as we'd have to book 2 rooms (most have 2 person occupancies). 

 

We would appreciate anyone with past experiences specific to NCL in Africa to give their opinion - good, bad or ugly. We have been on the Dawn before and really liked the ship.

 

Thank you in advance. Warmest, Amy

We did a 12 day cruise out of Cape Town this past Jan - I did a live review here's the link if you want to take a look:

Live from Cape Town: Jan 14-26, 2023. NCL Jade

We did a precruise safari and I would absolutely recommend that.  We used Discover Africa to coordinate this and I highly recommend them.  We worked with Megan Warrington - excellent experience - her email is megan@discoverafrica.com.  She also coordinated our stay and tours in Cape Town prior to the cruise.

Although I found the entire trip amazing - the cruise portion just a bit disappointing, When we booked this cruise there was only 3 sea days.   We didn't stop in Durban and on day 2 of Richards Bay (it was an overnight port) we could not leave the ship because we had to do some immigration stuff for entry into Namibia - so really, it's a sea day.    For me 5 sea days on a 12 day cruise when you have to fly 30 hours to get there is too many.   We cruise for the ports - not the ship experience. 

We did mostly do our own excursions when in port - but had nothing planned for Port Elizabeth and incorrectly assumed we could book something last minute on the ship.  ALL ship excursions were sold out for all ports prior to us getting on the ship - if you plan on using ship excursions make sure you book them in advance. 

I just realized that I still have one more entry to do add to my live review - we did table mountain ship tour as an airport excursion that I did not put in yet!  Will do that in the next few days.

Freestyle Daily - Day 12

Day 12 - Sea Day

My plans to catch up on my live review were thwarted by ROUGH seas. Vomit bags were out but fortunately I did not need them.  Just laid around the room! (That is why I am in the airport lounge doing day 11 & 12s updates!)

We did get information on how to disembark for the next day

As our flight was not leaving until 8pm we decided to do an NCL excursion with airport drop off ( I will review in another post), this was our disembark instruction

Freestyle Daily - Day 11

Day 11 - Walvis Bay (and mandatory face to face exit with Namibia immigration)

Today we did a private tour (just the 2 of us) of Walvis Bay & Swakopmund.

We used Awesome Chapters and work with Every Vorster to coordinate this tour.  Cost was 3600 Rand total for the 2 of us - paid by credit card at the end of the tour but they said they would also take US dollars. They have other tours available.  Would recommend this company.

The port itself is again industrial - and smelled funky.  Apparently it is near a fish cannery.

We started by driving around Walvis Bay.  Saw lots of flamingos in the Meersing Lagoon

Some beautiful homes in this area

We went all around Walvis Bay and got a good sense of the town/it's history.

We then drove to their salt mines (where they mine the salt from the sea).  Explained how we get sea salt.- pretty cool.

In this area the have some smaller sand dunes (still quite big) and we had some fun driving over them - quite steep going down!

We then head to Swakopmund - about 30km away.   Swakopmund & Walvis Bay were both very clean (and seemed like very safe) towns.  Walvis Bay reminded me of Pheonix (but not land locked) - and Swakopmund of Fullerton, Orange County CA.

Swakopmund 

We stopped and did some shopping - bought a handmade small area rug!

We stopped to learn a bit about the steam engine car that used to pull goods in the 1890s

And then walked around the crystal gallery

We ended our 5 hour tour by stopping by Dune #7 - the biggest dune in the area.   We could have hiked up .....but passed.

We got back to the ship and met with face to face with Namibia Immigration.   I'm guessing the line around 2p was about a 30 minute wait.

The form that needs to be filled out

All and all an enjoyable day!

Freestyle Daily -Day 10

Day 10 - Luderitz

This is a tender port - we had priority disembarkation  but they were calling for anyone ready to tender to go to deck 4 even before our first meeting time.  It seemed to go smoothly & quickly for all.

We joined fellow cruise critic members on a Ghost Town & Pennisula Tour with Heinz of Noextours - I would recommend this tour.  The cost was $2900 Namibia dollars (or Rand).  Cash at the end of the tour - no credit cards.

Our SUV held 6 people - the other had 11.  We were met were the tender docked.  I forgot to take pictures - but if I recall correctly there were some shops/restaurants in the area.

Our 1st stop is the Kolmanskop Ghost Town tour.   On our way there Heinz points out the National Park...very different looking than the National Parks  than the West Coast National Parks we are used to in Canada/USA.

We then arrive and tour the Ghost Town

There is lots of walking on this tour

This is the view from the top of the town ..... note the rocks.  It's a bit of a climb and quite rocky going up - coming down much less rock - mostly sand.

At the end of the Ghost town tour we had a very good cup of coffee at the coffee shop - food is also available

....they take several currencies & credit cards

and they have a gift shop

We then do a tour of the entire Peninsula- a map of what we covered

Just some of what we saw.....

Grosse Beach

Kleiner Bogenfels (arch rock)

Some different landscapes

Knochen Beach - where we stopped for coffee (or tea)  & cake

We saw the Dias Crooss and then the lighthouse

Sturmvogel Beach (which was this site on an old whaling factory)

Freestyle Daily - Day 9

Freestyle Daily - Day 8

Day 8 & 9 - Sea Days

So I am a bit behind with the "live" review - today is Day 11!   I had a hard time connecting to the internet when we were at sea - so now I have some catching up to do!

We met with Namibia immigration on Day 8 - we were in the first group so it took about 15 minutes.   There were only 2 officers doing the entry - not sure if it took longer for the later groups.

My focus on this review has been more about the ports  than the ship as there are some awesome reviews about the Jade already out there - but if you have any specific questions I'm on board for just about 48 hrs more and would be happy to find the answers for you.

Things I have noticed on this cruise:

We were informed about 1/2 way through the cruise the norovirus broke out.  No self serve in the buffet.   Thankfully we have had no issues - but I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to hand washing so I should stay safe!

We had to watch the safety video twice before the sailing but on board we had a full regular mandatory muster drill

and go through the entire thing again (in English & German).   On our last cruise when we watched the video we just had to key in at our muster station.- not sit and listen to the whole thing again.  Not a big deal - just an observation.

The fishes swimming forward in the hallway has been replaced.   I think it's a nicer look - but I do miss the fishes!

I mentioned it before - but will mention it again.  Except for some disembarkation tours - ALL NCL tours were sold out prior to us getting on the ship.   If you plan on doing NCL excursions just book them.  

In the suites you used to get a silk laundry bag - on this sailing it's a paper bag.   You also used to get individual shampoo/conditioner & soap.   Now (although a very good product) - you just pump out what you need.  Can't take the left overs home :).    Not a deal breaker - just an observation.

Freestyle Daily - Day 7

Day 7 - 2nd day Richard's Bay (but really it's a sea day)

We depart at 10am and the whole ship needs to meet with immigration- all aboard is 930 - so really its a sea day.  Not enough time in the morning to do anything.

This morning our group is 1st to meet with South African immigration for our face to face exit process.  We go with our passports and filled out immigration form.  We arrive promptly at 6am - the immigration people are 45 mins late - but there are 9 of them so we went through quickly.

So today is was another lazy day - went to the spa.  Unfortunately our Durban stop was canceled- not sure why - our guide yesterday came from Durban and he said there were other cruise ships in port.    So on top of doing nothing today - the next 2 days are sea days.    

In our room is a notice that over the next 2 days we need to meet face to face  with Namibia immigration for entry.  The immigration officers must be staying on board as like I said earlier we are at sea for the next 2 days.

If you are in a suite your meeting time is 9am.  This is the schedule for everyone else

And this is the form that needs to be filled out.

Freestyle Daily - Day 6

Day 6 - Richard's Bay Overnight

The day started off with some confusion.  In the daily it noted that guests had to take the shuttle to a mall as we were not allowed to walk in the port area

What it didn't say was that if you had a private tour arranged your tour company probably had clearance to pick you up right at the ship.  It also didn't say that the shuttle could also drop you off at the gate (port entrance) if that was where you were meeting your private tour - that was announced over the PA.    Our tour picked us up right at the ship but we needed to make some last minute emails to figure out where we were meeting.

Also - note the 2nd paragraph.   We did have a bottle of wine with dinner last night - because of this regulation they could not leave the bottle on the table but would come and refill as needed.    We also had the complimentary sparkling wine still in our cabin - it was not removed.  Really not sure what this is about.

So the port is very industrial.  The decks are closed for walking "due to dust" - you can see the coal right beside the ship

For this port we again join autotripper (Rosie) from our roll call who has coordinated this tour.   The cost was 4200 rand pp.   (there was only 4 of us). It includes all entrance fees & lunch with pickup & drop off at the port.   

The tour is of the wetlands @ iSemangalso Park & 2 hour Hippo & Crocodile boat cruise,

It's about a 1 hour drive to St Lucia where the Park and boat cruise take place.

There is really not that much to see on the drive.  We kept busy by chatting.

**Tip - bring tissue paper & hand sanitizer.  Sometimes the bathrooms don't have running water - sometimes no toilet paper **

We arrive at the wetland park

We drive around the park and see the grasslands, the wetlands, the beach and the coastal forest - which is what gave it unesco world heritage site

We also see some animals on the drive around the park.  This is a kudu but we see water buffalo, hippos, a rhino, red darker, wart hogs and several birds.

We stop for picnic lunch at Vidal Beach

We also stop at Mission Rock Beach - short walk to the coast but uneven

Mission Rock Beach - pristine- no one else there but us

We were probably in the park for about 3 hours total.  We then head to the hippo boat cruise.

We are on the last sailing - 4p and there are online 6 people on the boat.  It was like we chartered the boat for a private sailing.   

We start with the safety briefing

Throughout the cruise there are announcements pointing out birds, interesting vegetation.

And of course we see many hippos

We see no crocodiles - apparently they are rarely seen.  

Our cruise is over and we drive about 1 hr back to the ship.

Thoughts on this tour:

On this tour the tour guide was more on a driver than a guide - he did  point out/tell us about  animals on the game drive.   But did not share any information about the town of St Lucia, interesting things on the drive to and from the port.  At one point we drove by a tree farm - we would have not known it was a farm but Rosie & her husband knew about it and shared their knowledge on how they work.

I did enjoy the hippo tour as on our safari we did not get as close to the hippos as on this tour.   I am glad we saw the wetlands but even though we saw a couple of animals we hadn't seen before,  the game drive portion was underwhelming....but only because we had an amazing precruise safari.   If you have had some great animal viewing you may want to skip the game drive portion and replace it with something else. 

Having said that - still an enjoyable day & good company!