Happycruiserhw

On 11/30/2018 at 6:03 PM, jc822 said:

 

Congrats! Unless my upgrade invoice was wrong, your bid is per person for the whole cruise, not per person per day. I apologize if I just called out a typo, but thought you’d appreciate good news if you were under the impression it was per day.

You are correct -- I meant per person (150/ pp)  so $300 total for the trip.

Calling out the typo was fine. 🙂

I was booked in an inside (guarantee) -  sailing on the NCL Dawn, from Puerto Rico on Dec 6 (10 days) and bid only $150 per person for a balcony. ($300/day bid upgrade total). I was just awarded the upgrade to mid-ship balcony on deck 10. Very nice area. 

And I have not lost any of the perks (all 5 that were awarded because I booked a latitudes special when I booked the inside cabin)

I'm very happy with the arrangement.

My wife Donna and I loved cruising, taking close to twenty during our 18yr marriage. Sadly, she passed away last year and I'm considering taking my first solo cruise. Probably one of Carnival's 3-4 day Mexican cruises, as the Long Beach terminal is so convenient. We are also Platinum members so that always makes boarding and other things a delight.

 

Any suggestions for me for this first solo trip? I haven't booked anything yet, but want to start planning for 2019.

So sorry to hear your loss. I hope you have a good time away from whatever pressures for a nice break.

I've been a solo cruiser for quite some time -- as a few suggestions: If you are a socially out going person, I've met other folks on board while waiting to board and struck up conversations. I've invited people I think interesting to have dinner with me (as a platinum member on NCL I get a free dinner for 2 and a bottle of wine at their french restaurant so I like sharing those perks with people I think interesting. Sometimes they are other solo travelers -- sometimes a couple. Depends on how well I get along with them. So don't be afraid to share perks.

The other thing I often do is attend the mixers on the roll-call board. And always participate in at least one activity with them -- the slot pull or whatever the group likes. It breaks the ice. I had a blast on the last cruise with a couple of younger folks who loved to play cards.

The trick is getting to know a few people the first day or so -- then staying in touch on the ship -- etc -- especially for excursions on port days.

Just a few thoughts.

Happy sailing!

Hi all, I just discovered this thread.

I'm booked to sail on NCL Dawn on Dec 6, 2018 (10 days) - Solo. On that roll call, but wondered if any other Solo will be on the Ship then? So far I've sailed Solo on HAL (Eurodam) and NCL (Escape and Jade).

Have to say NCL is a much younger crowd! HAL is slightly more gourmet and musical - but closes down pretty well at 11 PM.

anyway -- just dropping in to say hello

Thank you,

All the advice was very helpful!

HC

Hi all,

I am considering going on a 7-10 day Alaska Cruise/trip this summer 2016 (last minute decision). I've been to Alaska before when a kid, but thought this would be a nice way to see it again, and get out of the heat in Texas.

So have 2 questions:

1) Which NCL ship would you recommend? (I have several trip credits on NCL)

2) Considering the changeable weather, is it worth getting a Balcony or Mini-Suite vs an Outside cabin?

Thank you in advance for the advice.

Just wondering, any opinions?

For an Alaska Cruise does a Balcony vs Ocean View Room make sense?

I was wondering if the cooler weather outside would make having a balcony not that great?

On a previous cruise a gentleman (?) sat next to me (I was wearing a formal gown & my DH his tuxedo) he was wearing torn, dirty, jeans, dirty boots (mud caked on them), a very old and worn T-shirt and a old, worn black leather jacket. That is not my idea of proper dress in any venue for dinner. There were a lot of people dressed very casual, no ties, jeans, etc.

 

I have talked to many couples that cruise and out of those people it was about 95% of the men that refused to "dress" for formal nights. Equally about 95% of the women that wanted to "dress" for dinner. When I asked the men if they thought that they could "dress" as a gift to their wives or girl friends considering all that they do for them. the majority of them said "well, if she asked me to I would." So my conclusion is that the majority of the wives would most likely enjoy dressing up and enjoy Formal Nights but are too 'woozy' to even ask. :confused:

I know of at least 1 cruise line, Seabourn, that has a "true formal" evening out of 7 days. It is quite luxurious, (all suite) rooms, small ships, with butler service. I have cruised Seabourn. It has a very formal evening(tuxedo for men, evening gown for women). If you wish to dine in their main restaurant on that evening, you must dress appropriately. They also have alternative dining if you don't wish to dress up that evening - so it is nice option. Another line (I think) might be Cunard. I've never cruised on that line, but have heard it can be formal.

I know Holland America has a formal dining option of at least 1 day of 7 day cruise, but it is voluntary for the most part, as is Celebrity. Dining gowns and tuxedos are encouraged, but not absolutely required. (FYI)

Was there a time difference between Cayman time and your Ship time? Maybe that was the issue.

Hi!

I wondered about that too. I checked, and the local time was Central Time (US) and the ship was on the same time.

Anyway, live and learn ... :)

Who did you book the the private island snorkel all inclusive through? Where are they when docked? Thanks!

I will return to Belize again.

If it was not for the trip on shore negotiated with "Belize Eco-Excursion Adventures" - (I paid cash ($45 US) - so no cc reciept - sorry - I dind't think to make a note of it) --I think that was the name of the private island snorkel group -- They were in an interrior hallway outside of Terminal 2. I'm sorry, I didn't catch the name of the cay. But it was not Goff's cay - that was offered too, but had 20+ people on it already, and I'd been there - it's a very small island. They suggested this private island if I was willing to wait a few more minutes.

anyway, if I had not had such a happy experience with them, I would never wish to return to Belize.

I also had a very bad experience with shoreescursioner in Belize. Last year we booked 2 excursions with them 1 in Belize and 1 in Roatan.

 

The tour for Belize was suppose to be the ruins and a tour of the Belikin brewery. We arrived on time and were taken to the little pier where the rest of our money was collected and were directed to have a seat and wait for our tour operator. We waited and waited. Ended up waiting 2 hours past the time our tour was supposed to start. Everybody else had left for their tours except for one other couple and us.

 

We became antsy and started asking for a refund. The reply was the lady with the cash box had already left for their main office.

 

Finally the lady came and rounded up the four of us for our tour and escorted us to a boat. I told her that a boat ride was not listed for our tour. She said because we had to wait so long it was a bonus, and we would have the rest of the tour as advertised.

 

Well, 4 hours down and back the River Wallace, and we were not happy. At the end of the tour she gave us some water, but we were all parched. DD and I did not come prepared for a boat ride ( no sunscreen, etc).

 

At the halfway point the tour operator got a "call", and she informed us that the Belikin tour was no longer offered and that is why the substituted the River Wallace tour. We were very upset, because the company, the lady who took our money, and the tour operator were all aware of this, but took our money anyway. We felt like we had been kidnapped (ok, only slightly)

 

When we got to our ground transportation. All of us had to used the restroom, but were told there were no restroom facilities anywhere near and that we would have to wait an hour until we arrived at the ruins.

 

I insisted and the lady did stop at a gas station.

 

When we arrived at the ruins we were told that we had fifteen minutes to tour and then we would have to depart in order to make it back to the pier on time.

 

The tour's offices were not near the pier, and we did not have time to express our anger there.

 

The next day we docked at Roatan. DD and I went to meet with the tour operator and explained our situation and that we wanted to cancel. The lady that we were talking to called her mother (the owner of the tour service). She was mortified at what had happened the day before. She explained that shore excursioner uses local venders. She emailed the company for us and explained what had happened the day before.

 

She also gave us her personal guarantee that her company would deliver as promised. We had a driver for the day for a personal tour. It was a fabulous experience. The owner called the driver several times that day to check on us. At the end of the day we spoke to her and gave her assurances that we did indeed enjoy our tour, and that the driver took extra care.

 

Long story short I did not follow up with them, because the day we arrived in Miami, my mother passed away. As soon as I was back home I had to pack again and go to Indiana to make funeral arrangements.

 

We are going back to Belize this year, I really wanted to just stay on the ship, but DD and her BFF want to try cavetubing and they have made arrangements with another company. I will NOT be using shoreexcurionser again.

I will return to Belize again. If it was not for the trip on shore negotiated with "Belize Eco-Excusion Adventures" - (I paid cash - so no cc reciept) I think that was the name of the private island group --

If I had not had such a fabulous experience with them, I would never wished to return to Belize.

There is never any guarantee that a ship will dock or anchor by the time listed on the itinerary info. For booking any excursion that isn't through the ship' date=' this is important to remember for an excursion in the morning. If an operator is taking bookings from various sources (different ships and also non-cruise ship parties), why would they hold up leaving for the tour or adventure for two people who didn't show up on time? Not fair for the others on the same tour if everyone else is there on time.[/quote']

 

Hi, Cruisin' chick,

Yes. I understand. I showed up by 9:30AM (this was technically within the reservation time given me by the operator- so should not have been a problem)

As an aside, I did wonder about the ship's time and port time, so checked with the time. Belie was on central time (US) - which was the same as on the ship.

 

So... as I indicated above, just live and learn.

I won't book again with this online group. But I will check Cruise Critic more often for port suggestions! :) I had neglected to do so this last trip -- which only goes to show you that experience is no guarantee for good luck. :)

Usually you just post it in the section where it happened, like you did in the Belize section. That way anyone searching that section will see it. :) There has never been a certain "warnings" section on the boards that I have ever been aware of.

Thanks. that's really all I needed. :)

thanks for helping.

Strangely enough...

Come to think of it, is there any place to post general warnings on Cruise critic? Just wondering. Maybe not?

That WAS the main reason I posted here.

So, is there a place to post general warnings? If not, it's fine. that was the point of the post. LOL

I've been to Isla and loved the island, but I've not been out to Caulker.

The closest comparison to Isla I've seen are parts of the far side of Roatan, Honduras. They are sleepy and relaxed, spanish speaking. Still, Roatan is quite a bit larger and has more traffic in town.

Still, if you speak fluent spanish.... could be fun to explore.

Good luck. hopefully someone familar with Caulker will help you out. Wish I could.

Our cruise confirmation says, "Dock" at Belize City. I thought it was only tenders. Have you been there recently? Is there a pier? Can't find any information online.

 

I had planned to spend the day on the ship, but if we don't have to tender, that changes things.

 

Thank you!

 

Beth

It had been sometime since I had been to Belize, and like you my cruise itinerary noted "Dock" in Belize City. However, as noted above, Tenders are only used to go ashore. It is a 20 minute ride by boat

Thank you all, for all the kind words and well meaning advice.

Question answered. And that was the point of the post.

Now back to life and work.

I don't know what happened, or what time you showed up. Can only ask if perhaps you showed up late? The terms and conditions with this company state:

 

"If the client fails to show up at the designated meeting point and time, no refund will be granted". If you were late, the company certainly had the right to cancel.

 

If you feel they were wrong, dispute the charge with your credit card company.

Yep. I have challenged the charge.

I wasn't late, by the way. I got there at 9:30AM. Used a phone to call the operator - who didn't answer. It was a mess.

But what the hey... who cares...

the lesson learned for me was not to use an online company again.

FYI:

In general I don't reserve shore excursions online (what was I thinking??) but I thought after reading a few good reviews about this particular online reservation system (shoreexcursioneer (dot) com) that my experience would have been at least Ok... Wrong.

I travel frequently, so should have known better. Still, it was a last minute reservation, had a small deposit, and I received confirmation of my shore excursion for Belize. So, I thought... ok. I'll try this. The fine print in their document indicates that they would give a refund if the ship is delayed or misses port. However, they have no refund policy if someone else takes your reservation. In my situation, the excursion was apparently delivered to a different group or couple - and the operator (Belize Jungle Trek) took off while claiming I never showed up. My guess, he took others because he negotiated a better deal.

So, after being stood up, I contacted the Shore Excursioneer folks and was told they would investigate. Apparently, they spoke with the operator who stated I was late, that the tenders started delivery from the ships at 8 AM. This is false. The JADE arrived at 9 AM. My reservation was for 9:15 to 9:30AM (which, admittedly, was cutting it short). If you check the itinerary for the JADE, the scheduled arrival for JADE was at 9 AM (not 8 AM). Several days later (after emailing shore excursioneer), I finally spoke directly with the operator, and he stated that he never received notice of my reservation. (I have no idea which story is true...)

So... either the operator was lying.... Shore Excursioneer was lying... or there was miscommunication and incompetence in reservation communication.

Either way, it's not good. It was a mess.

NOTE: The ship was slightly late and the tenders were late. (the tenders did not begin transfer till after 9 AM). This of course puts arrival in port on a tight schedule since the ship was someway out in the bay. But I don't consider this an excuse to leave or take another couple on the tour.

*** so, NOTE ***

1) You DO NOT GET A REFUND if the ship is late or the tenders are late. (regardless of their policy)

2) you cannot trust this particular Tour operator to keep your reservation ( of course, he might not have ever received the reservation).

3) Shore Excursioneer will not honor refund policies.

So...at the very least, this reservation was an incompetent mess.

The Good news:

Luckily, the deposit was small (about $10/ per person) but this can add up for a larger group.

AND -I was able to negotiate a nice private island snorkel all inclusive while onshore (which I should have planned to do to begin with).

In any case, I just want to let others know that this group (Shore Excursioneer) is not reliable as a reservation source and to use caution when using their system. It's far better to go ashore and negotiate excursions directly with the tour operators directly.

FYI

Sorry this happened to you.

We have used them a couple of times and been happy with the service. No complaints.

I'm glad you have. Maybe it was just bad luck for me, but I won't use them again. Just chalking it up to experience.

Thanks for the link.

 

Super confusing. This review says absolutely nothing about this company you are so unhappy with, and you rate excursions highly.

You seem rather concerned over my posting this thread. I posted my overall experience and wanted a question answered. Are you a Shoreexcursioneer defender or lurker?

The more you post the more I think you have a personal thing at stake on this

I need some good advice. I am trying to decide between the tour called

Sun Kissed Goff's Caye Beach Snorkeling with Belize Cruise Excursions

 

OR

 

Coral Gardens and Shark/Ray Alley Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Exploration by Coral Breeze Tours

 

I really want to go to Coral Gardens but don't care to go to Shark/Ray Alley at all. (I wish someone offered only Coral Gardens however no one that I could find does).I want to have the best snorkeling possible at Belize as this may be the one and only time we will be there.

 

The tour to Goffs Caye sounds good but I have read here on CC that some people are not impressed with the coral around the island and the at times it can get very crowded as well. Any advice here would help greatly. We are leaving in 7 days so I have to make up my mind quickly.

Thanks in advance

I've been to Goff's Caye, and it is very small. It has a lovely coral reef, and the boat ride out to it is rather long. If you plan to snorkel, its nice. If you want relaxing white sand, it's crowded and very small.

Coral Gardens is nice. But it is also very crowded. I've not been to Coral Breeze but heard only good things about it.

If you have more time, there are other private island tours on-shore, but depends how short your time onshore is.

FYI:

In general I don't reserve shore excursions online (what was I thinking??) but I thought after reading a few good reviews about this particular online reservation system (shoreexcursioneer (dot) com) that my experience would have been at least Ok... Wrong.

I travel frequently, so should have known better. Still, it was a last minute reservation, had a small deposit, and I received confirmation of my shore excursion for Belize. So, I thought... ok. I'll try this. The fine print in their document indicates that they would give a refund if the ship is delayed or misses port. However, they have no refund policy if someone else takes your reservation. In my situation, the excursion was apparently delivered to a different group or couple - and the operator (Belize Jungle Trek) took off while claiming I never showed up. My guess, he took others because he negotiated a better deal.

So, after being stood up, I contacted the Shore Excursioneer folks and was told they would investigate. Apparently, they spoke with the operator who stated I was late, that the tenders started delivery from the ships at 8 AM. This is false. The JADE arrived at 9 AM. My reservation was for 9:15 to 9:30AM (which, admittedly, was cutting it short). If you check the itinerary for the JADE, the scheduled arrival for JADE was at 9 AM (not 8 AM). Several days later (after emailing shore excursioneer), I finally spoke directly with the operator, and he stated that he never received notice of my reservation. (I have no idea which story is true...)

So... either the operator was lying.... Shore Excursioneer was lying... or there was miscommunication and incompetence in reservation communication.

Either way, it's not good. It was a mess.

NOTE: The ship was slightly late and the tenders were late. (the tenders did not begin transfer till after 9 AM). This of course puts arrival in port on a tight schedule since the ship was someway out in the bay. But I don't consider this an excuse to leave or take another couple on the tour.

*** so, NOTE ***

1) You DO NOT GET A REFUND if the ship is late or the tenders are late. (regardless of their policy)

2) you cannot trust this particular Tour operator to keep your reservation ( of course, he might not have ever received the reservation).

3) Shore Excursioneer will not honor refund policies.

So...at the very least, this reservation was an incompetent mess.

The Good news:

Luckily, the deposit was small (about $10/ per person) but this can add up for a larger group.

AND -I was able to negotiate a nice private island snorkel all inclusive while onshore (which I should have planned to do to begin with).

In any case, I just want to let others know that this group (Shore Excursioneer) is not reliable as a reservation source and to use caution when using their system. It's far better to go ashore and negotiate excursions directly with the tour operators directly.

FYI

Huh?

I posted it under this name - fyi.

Weird, I saw it posted up there. Under member reviews. (for NCL Jade)

It posted today

I had a bad experience with them, so thanks for the suggestions. Live and learn. I've been online on Cruise Critic before (between 2008- 2010), and found this site useful when traveling abroad, but forgot my old log in name which was under a old email so just started up a new name.

I used the third party because it seemed convenient, and I decided to travel last minute. I should have known better.

Now I do ...

You can read my review on NCL Jade cruise member review, if you wish. I just posted it. This excursion was a problem - and thought others might wish to know that refunds are NOT given, despite their posted policy.

FYI