Grampyshottub

Does anyone remember U.S. Marine, Andrew Tahmooressi who innocently crossed into Mexico because of road construction at the US/Mexican border with his legally,(US) registered guns? Did you know that when you are in a foreign port that countries law enforcement can and do random searches of cabins with dogs and other sniffer devices?, and they do (Bermuda, Bahamas, Jamaica are notorious for it). Why would anyone even want to play around with the old "I know my rights", no you don't. If your in a foreign port your under that countries laws, not US. In fact check to see where your ship is registered, that may have bearing on what the registering country may do. If your a US citizen and you have a problem, hope your entering the US. You can have access to an American lawyer, and in most cases make bail, and plead your case in a US court. Try that in Thailand, most countries can hold you for up to 24 to 72 hours before contacting the US Consulant, by then your ship is long gone. If someone says "I've never had a problem" remember, you don't want to be the one who did.

I too have a LOT of meds and insulins. Whenever I travel I have two hard combination lock cases. I paid about $10 each at Walmart. When we pack, I put all my meds in individual pill pouches (am pm) for each day of the cruise. My insulin pens fit right into inside cover of the cases. I then put all the original pill bottles in the two lock cases along with a complete med list on my Doctors letterhead and signed. I also keep a second copy in my checked luggage . I keep the meds in my carry on. If you sail domestic you might not have to worry as much, but if it's outside the USA you don't need any hassles. Also make sure you carry more than you need incase your diverted or other unforeseen circumstances.

Thanks to everyone for your input. Hopefully we can pull this off in the next year or so. Would really like to see Southwest start flying to Hawaii. Feel free to continue with your ideas.

Grampy:)

:cool: I am trying to plan a once in a lifetime cruise on the POA for my wife and I. They have an overnight on Maui and The Big Island. Do any of you good people have any suggestions as to a one day car rental on each? We are not looking for anything big, quite frankly the cheaper the better. Thanks for keeping Our dream alive.

NCL offers a package for Hawaii that includes, a four day pre cruise stay at the Marriott Waikiki with tours. We were wondering if anyone has done this package and what your thoughts are?

Now that the kids are gone, and we have a little more time together. My wife and I would like to look at sailing on the Pride of America in Hawaii. We couldn't do it for 2 or three years. Everything I've looked at is way out of reach. It's just the wishful thinking stage and we haven't been to a TA yet. The Airfare alone is a killer to the budget from Boston. Does NCL or any of the Airlines offer any fly & cruise packages?:)

Been to Bermuda seven times on the Dream, Spirit, and Dawn. Boston needs a new ship and not the Dawns sister ship either. It would be nice to be able to go into Hamilton or St Georges again. The Dream and the Spirt were both great ships. Boston doesn't need a mega ship. Try getting on or off the ship with 4,000 other people and going through customs, trying to grab a cab, getting on the ferry or the bus and not having a token or transportation pass yet. It's bad enough with 2,000 people. As for those of you who say just drive to NYC or New Jersey. Check out what the tolls, hotels, parking for a week and "other fees" are. You need a mortgage just for cab from JFK or LaGuardia, or Newark. Bringing your luggage through Penn Station is no picnic either. I'm not saying Boston is inexpensive but, Most people in New England avoid NYC and the Metro area at all cost.:cool:

Is there a Fleet Wide liquor list anywhere? The wine list is great, but would like to know more about what other selections and prices are available on NCL.

:cool: A Lemoncello Martini with Absolute :eek:

Where did the OBC go, or did I miss something? I have noticed on NCL's website that it is not showing an OBC at booking. It used to state $25,50 100, &250 depending which cabin type you chose. All I see now is free UBP, Specialty Restaurants, Excursion's, and WiFi. Is it gone?:eek:

NCL runs a 7 day Boston to Bermuda. Is there any Chance of RCC cruising out of Boston in the future? I know that RCC runs a 5 day out of Port Liberty NJ, but a 7 day out of Boston would be great. It would also let NCL know their not the only game in Town. :eek:

My wife and I have just returned from Our forth cruise to Bermuda, and I must say we have seen a fair ammount of changes of which too few were for the better. I have read post over the past few days about children in hot tubs, poor performance by the crew, (mainly by just going through the motions) which, in many cases is quite understandable. Bad food ect. This post contains three things. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly, and a lot of it. Before you jump to conclusions, and say I'm picking on NCL, or another one who will find fault with anything having to do with fun there is a good chance that you were not on this cruise. Everything that I am stating really did happen. I invite anyone to sit back and observe what is going on.

I will in no uncertian terms go on the record as stating that the UBP will be the downfall of Mr Del Rio, and the Stockholders will at some point have to adress the issue,(as well as the other cruise lines) . My wife and I enjoy our cocktails, so people can't say that we aren't drinkers (we have the weekly bar tab to prove it). We were'nt even out of Boston Harbor when my wife and I found ourselves smack in the middle of an impromptu chug fest. We were just sitting there watching the Boston Fire Department fire boat giving the Dawn a great send off by putting on a display for us. The next thing, we are surrounded by a group of people who I assume were just barely over the drinking age and who's chants of "chug chug chug" drowned out the sail away party. Well, you look forward to a vacation you saved for a year and you wind up in a frat party of the likes of a bad remake of Animal House.

Later the same evening we were in the Atrium and there was a young couple who were so smashed they had all that they could do to stand. They must have held on to one of the support columns for fifteen minutes afraid to move. Passangers gave them a wide berth. A hundred or so people saw them, they had too. The Front Desk is right there. The Atrium is a main throughfare on the Promonade deck. This stuff just goes on and on. Some people would say "well where was security"? Would you want to deal with this? Another day on the pool deck here is this young man in the Mens room smashed out of his mind throwing up all over the place. One night here is this young Mother singing Karoke at midnight with her five or six year old. Another night you got a six year old at midnight again sitting at the bar. That should not be.

I like to think that I have faith in my fellow man however, that's becoming harder and harder to grasp. A case in point. Kids in the hot tubs and pools. OK on the Dawn the upper aft section on deck 12 are the Kids pools. Use them. Kids pools for Kids. They have the best view from the ship. They were empty! no kids, why? Make those the for adults only and upgrade them for adult pools. Believe me I like kids, but some of the parents I question. We had a cabin that was next to a cabin with two little kids in them. Mom & Dad thought that their little darlhings could do no wrong. I don't blame the kids I blame Mom & Dad. Letting them run all around the hallways screaming at the top of their little lungs, getting in the elevators and pushing all the buttons so a packed elevator stops at all decks. Not realizing that everyone wants to kill Mom & Dad for thinking how cute is that...not very. These are the same people who put the dirty diapers in a plastic bag outside the door of their cabin and stink up the whole hallway. They never heard of Babies are Us, the sell travel diaper pails. That's a nice thing to have to pass on the way to your cabin after a night out. If you were a Cabin Steward would you want to deal with that? Next time you think that the crew is surly maybe they have a right to be. Our Cabin Steward was outstanding.

What's with the Gangsta get up? You go to the Venetian for dinner and your asked if you would like to share a table, no way. We are dressed up for our anniversary and you want us to share a table with a guy in cammo cutoffs and David Ortiz 500th home run tee shirt I don't think so.

The Crew did a great job. It's all the guys and gals in the trenches that carry it off. I hope that they get the recognition that they deserve. They really have to put up with a lot. We hope that they get a piece of the pie. The four worst corprate decisions, New Coke, Clear Beer, WoW potato Chips, and NCL's UBP. I overheard on a more than one occasion "Ah you don't have to tip it's included", think twice maybe with all they have to put up with, they deserve it.

It pretty much depends on what you are looking for. Don't miss out on "Elements" in the Stardust Theater, Patti & Jose perform at a couple of

different venues throughout Ship, with their main stage to be in the Atrium. They also do a great tribute show to Neil Diamond in the Stardust, (which is packed). We enjoyed sitting with cocktails listening to Ariel play the Baby Grand to the likes of Sinatra, Broadway, and a other crooners at Gatsby's. The ships orchestra plays some great Glenn Miller in the spinnaker. If you want the thumping sound of club dance music and leave with a great pounding sound check out NCL White Hot Night.

Has anyone heard if there have been any schedule changes for October 16,17, & 18th? The Dawn is getting in on Sunday the 18th and they are holding the finals of the World Series of Sailing for the America's Cup in Great Sound. Getting to Hamilton that day May be a challenge.

:cool:Does anyone know in general what the drink prices are running on the Dawn or any of the NCL ships without the UBP?

Just an FYI about a taxi from Hamilton to the Dockyard. One thing to remember is that either after 11:00PM or 12:00AM there is a surcharge that goes until 5:30am or so. That $50.00 + tip taxi can cost as much as $65.00 + tip. Like a good friend of mine who lives on the island told me years ago, "Back in the 16 & 1700's there were many families here who were pirates, then we discovered tourism". I've seen many people over the years drink their ride.:eek:

:cool: There's nothing I hate worse than scuffing up my good Gucci Luggage. Post # 4 pretty much says it all. Just poke a hole in it and through on a zip tie to the handle and your done. Last year they drove a forklift fork through one of our bags thank God it was not the one with the booze in it:eek:

:cool: Do they have a Latitudes Cocktail Party on the Dawn? I don't recall one last year.

My wife and I booked Our cruise through a TA @ a Travel Show in March for a cruise to Bermuda in October. At the time we booked, we agreed to paid what was NCL's price for the cruise, We put down a deposit. Around May(?), we got an e-mail from NCL, that we could prepay Our DSC at the original price or pay the new, (higher) price at the end of the cruise. NCL should have honored the original price that was agreed upon with the agent, (representing NCL). When we made final payment we requested to prepay Our DSC. The Agent was unaware that NCL had made that change. If you can't get through online I would call and speak with someone directly. It may not be the end of the world, and we didn't cancel Our cruise. However, you wouldn't be happy if you bought a new car and as you went to pick it up after signing a purchase and sale agreement then they change the price.:(

What's happening? They used to have a sail away BBQ on the Pool deck when we left Boston on the Dream, Spirit, and Dawn, and that was in October. Do they still have BBQ's during the day on the pool deck?:confused:

I Love hearing the crowd cheer when they first set foot on the pier. Do they have to return the towel back to NCL, or do they get to keep it as a keepsake?:rolleyes:

According to a Documentary on Smithsonian about the NCL Epic, they had a similar situation in Conzumel. A family was late in getting back on board. The Capitan waited about 20 minutes just as they made the ship. They were about to sail without them. According to the documentary, it would cost $25,000 in fuel cost just to make up the time to get to their next port. Why should any ship be late because adults can't tell time, and cut into 4000 others vacation.:D

Ok...Mickeys big hand is on the 12 and the little hand should be where? :D