ptuser

I missed the part about the afternoon excursion. It's pretty easy to spend a good part of the day at the glacier, hiking the various trails, etc. If you're doing an unrelated excursion besides it's impractical to take the city bus, even with a lengthy day in port.

The city bus has always been an option but you have to have several factors work in your favor for it to be practical during a typical cruise ship port stop. You have to add the 3 miles of walking to and from the bus to however many miles you plan to walk once you get to the visitor center. Timing is somewhat critical since the bus runs so infrequently. My thinking has been that for a single person who feels up to the extra walking (or especially running) the savings might be worthwhile, but not so much for two or more, since rental cars and taxis are generally not priced per-person.

Have you tried to get a rental car instead?

Since I'm investigating this now for May 2024... My understanding is that the traditional dedicated bus shuttles (Blue Bus, Glacier Tours, etc.) are not operating at any time during 2024 "open-ended" as they used to, meaning they are doing timed tours (typically 2hrs at the Glacier, so... inadequate) and you can't just hop on any bus at any time (until 6pm) to get back, as you could for decades. The city bus still leaves you 1mi from the visitor center, 2mi round trip roughly, and only runs every hour. Some taxi companies have permits to drop you at the visitor center, but ask as not all of them do. Rental cars are allowed to drive to the visitor center.

It might have been fortunate to have that happen now (or actually a couple of weeks ago now), since using completely different names as on different accounts in general could cause more significant problems later on. I'm not an expert but I would want my legal name on any financial account. I've even experienced occasional problems with including or excluding my middle name or initial. I would never have thought of Missy as an alternative form of Melissa (maybe "Mel", or even "Lissa.") When I first had to submit a statement from my broker for a shareholder credit, I learned that the website provided me with the ability to label each account. So even if my IRA was owned by "John Smith", I could have the account statements show any title, for example "Mary Jones' IRA." Of course I had no reason to do that; just saying it was possible. The label has nothing to do with who owns the account - it's completely arbitrary. I put my actual name into the label for each account, because if I hadn't, I would have had to supply even more of the statement, since my name and the share listing didn't appear on the same page until I included my name in the label.

Yes, as I mentioned my cabin was located on deck 4 aft. However during all the usual hours I moved around the ship's public areas on the other decks. Between about midnight and maybe 7am-ish I was sleeping (although still getting up and moving around the cabin occasionally.)

No, I was mostly oblivious to there being any problems at all. I've been on other cruises where walking in the common areas or around my cabin - or even standing in the shower - were somewhat difficult due to motion, but I didn't experience that at all during this cruise. I did respect the "deck closed" notices, and felt it would have been potentially dangerous to venture outside at times due to the high winds. I also realize the ship had difficulty maneuvering in ports at times due to the wind, possibly more so than during my previous cruises.

This is an interesting thread because it's almost like I was on a different cruise from everyone else. I didn't find the conditions particularly poor relative to some of my other cruise experiences. I had almost no difficulty walking around the ship (inside) to the usual destinations during the typical hours, or in my cabin at all hours of the night. A few times I decided to go down to deck 10 vs. walk across the exposed deck on 11 between the front and rear of the ship, but that was due to the high winds and rain, not ship stability concerns. For the first time ever I found myself assigned a room below deck 6; it was on deck 4, near where a water leak occurred early in the cruise (it was unrelated to weather, as far as I know.) Upon first climbing into bed on the first night I thought the surprisingly severe engine noise and vibration (which had nothing to do with weather) would keep me from sleeping. Apparently about two minutes later I fell asleep, and slept normally throughout the rest of the cruise. I'd agree that there could have been more information provided in a more timely manner, along with maybe some reassurances that all was well. I felt the crew was exceptionally friendly and helpful overall, and I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Of course I was disappointed to miss one port, and have a shorter-than-planned time in another. I appreciated the longer time in Victoria, although I understand it didn't fully compensate.

Are these mock bookings done at different times, weeks/months/years apart? What I meant was whether the taxes/fees are updated daily for purchases, so someone who booked (at least put down a deposit, maybe?) last week/month/year would pay more/less for the taxes/fees portion than someone who booked at a different time. Or, the cruise line could come up with an amount at the time they create the cruise, and stick with that throughout the multi-year life of the cruise (until that trip actually occurs.) I had never thought about how they handle that.

It makes sense that NCL could recover for underestimated charges at other ports, although presumably if it works that way they would explain the charges. Do the charges get updated at least daily for new reservations, so someone making a reservation today would pay the current correct amount based on the latest information? I had never thought about it but possibly everyone on a cruise would pay a different amount in port charges?

It seemed that until a few days ago, I could have bought the 250-minute internet plan for my upcoming cruise online, but when it vanished from the website I asked and was told it was now online-only. Does anybody have very recent experience buying internet once onboard? Are there ever promotions for purchasing onboard? I used to squeak by on the 30 minutes I used to get for free for my loyalty level, but that was eliminated before my last cruise.

I've always parked at the port in Miami, but in a couple of weeks will need to get back to the airport (MIA) via some kind of transportation. Is there any delay/problem getting a rideshare or taxi? I usually don't rush off the ship but do have a flight departing at noon. Any recent info/experiences would be appreciated. I was a little surprised that the usual shared shuttle services seem to be less available than at other ports I've experienced, but maybe I've been looking in the wrong places.

My itinerary showed "dock" for all the ports, including one where I'd been countless times on NCL and always docked. Not this time, though: while the dock facilities were of course still there (and used later in the day by other ships), it was definitely a tender port this time around. So docking vs. tendering is always subject to change without notice.

I assume concern about being located near an isolation cabin would be that the air would circulate between cabins without filtering, but I don't know if that's the case, or if it varies from ship to ship.

As of last week there was one 8pm show with the production cast on three nights in the theater, plus a smaller vocal-only show in the lounge, for a 7-day cruise. There were nights with just a movie in the theater. However, I don't think you can plan beyond maybe one day ahead. Some people at NCL probably have some idea of what entertainment won't be happening months from now, but even they have no idea of what will be happening. Nobody can assume anything to the degree that was reasonable to before the pandemic. Overall the crew made the most of what resources were available and seemed very appreciative to be back at their jobs.