How much longer?

We just got back over a week ago from the Dawn out of San Juan, we went to St Thomas, St Kitts, Antigua, Martinique, St Lucia and Barbados, most were not impacted by the hurricanes and those that were we had a great time on, with the islands putting efforts into making sure tourists were coming back. I don't recall there being issues, but we did not do cruise sponsored excursions on the ship. Perhaps that is what is making the difference?

I liked the coziness of the wine bar and try not to miss having a mojito at the mojito bar on deck 13 in the same place as Moderno. The margaritas and guacamole at Los Lobos were also good, that is located aft of the buffet. The best show was absolutely Elements, don't miss it. Gatsby's was popular, but you get the smoke from the casino and cigar bar if you sit to close to either.

Really nice review. Now I want to go to Bermuda, and Boston is only an hour away!

We were just there a couple of weeks ago. UPB can be used there and there is a BBQ place. We had a large cabana for 4, which we enjoyed, but we could have gotten away with a small one. You book it as an excursion.

The cabana comes with water (normally you have to pay for this)

Fresh fruit

Chips and three kinds of salsa, ask and they will refill

$50 to spend on a provided menu, we had the shrimp cocktail and charcuturie tray which was tons of food.

It also came with four floats (normally a fee for these)

The large cabanas are slightly closer to the ship, but not a lot.

Other things to rent were jet skis, snorkel gear, including the new full face snorkel or regular ones, paddle boards and there was also parasailing and a snorkel excursion to a small island next door.

trying to pick a cabin and I cannot tell from the photos or the plans what the white space means on the outside of a cabin. sometimes the cabin seems to go to the edge of a deck and sometimes there is white space beyond the deck, but when I look at the photos, railings go to the edge every time?

Lonogboard was not serving food, but one of the main dining rooms was open.

Do the US bills have to be pristine? We got money from the bank and some bills are not "perfect" with an ink smudge on the top edge.

I am debating whether to drag along my snorkel gear. I won't bother if the hurricanes have messed things up in the water and the pretty fishies aren't around.

Hi Rose,

We are going in two weeks, can't wait! How was the island? Did you see if anyone was touring with Blexie? Also, we are thinking of bringing toiletries and school supplies, do you know if people did that?

I see a few posts that NCL said all eastern will be switched to western until the end of Nov. I have only seen that this is for the Escape. Has anyone heard about other ships? It makes sense, but I have not see this in writing.

I sail in Oct from Mia to Havana overnight then GSC. Not sure what will happen with that. A Cuba cruise is twice the price of a normal Caribbean cruise, so I would be very disappointed to just change to a western.

I also sail in Jan out of San Juan. Originally going to St Maarten, Antigua, Martinique, Barbedos, St Kitts and St Thomas with three sea days at the end, so there is flexibility for changes. I would LOVE to see the changes include Bonnaire, possibly Aruba.

Hi we arrive in Tampa on a Wednesday in January, schedule says 8am. If we do walk off, is that enough time to make it for an 11:10am flight?

We did a Panama Canal cruise in Feb this year and they were on it. One of our favorites to sit and listed to after dinner.

Samiam:

You said you have booked both sizes at different times. What is the difference in location? Is the service the same for both sizes? We are 4 people, two adult couples. We like shade but want access to the water.

I am not sure what you are trying to get, but I was able to book an aft balcony on a two week Panama canal cruise (same one as kjquilts!) using points for an upgrade. I booked just over a year out. Companies change their rules all the time, so maybe the deal is not as good now as it used to be?

Following, have been to NOLA and have sailed the Dawn and will be again in the distant future, so would like to hear how both are doing.

Hi,

As others have said, the SA trips tend to be slightly older due to the length, since most from the US don't get that much vacation time. That being said, there are a few options for you:

1. Look at reviews from last July/August. Since Europeans take longer vacations, that may be when they would be traveling and the reviews might indicate what those cruise demographics might be.

2. Consider a European line instead of a mass marketed US line for the same reasons as above.

3. Read the reviews of each of the ships that go to SA. Like the previous person said, the ships don't change over the entertainment specifically for SA, so make sure you like what is offered in other ports. Some smaller ships do not have the entertainment or dining options of the larger ones. Same goes for older ships vs newer ships.

I think these will give you a good idea of which ship/line you might like. I wish I could help more, but I have not yet done this trip. It is on my bucket list. So please post once you decided and share your review!

I can't imagine a scenario where they're going to take a bunch of grumpy / upset / disappointed people back early, and then have them stay on the ship for > 24 hours. They've scheduled us to arrive in Seattle at 8am on Friday. Telling people you can't leave the boat till tomorrow would be the kind of epic stupidity that only NCL could pull off. I believe they truly would have a mutiny on their hands at that point.

Wow, you haven't even stepped on the ship and have decided you will be grumpy, upset and disappointed on the last day. You plan on having a bad time on vacation over this? I agree the compensation seems inappropriate, however, it is still your vacation and I think you should try to make the best of it. You know, when life gives you lemons....

Even though it is not your first choice, since you paid for it, why not stay on board and enjoy the time and one final dinner? Do you live downtown? If not, take time to explore and enjoy the waterfront vantage point. We were just there and recommend the Chihuly gardens below the space needle, if you haven't seen it before. If you go home, you will have to do laundry, make dinner etc and that is sure to make you even more grumpy! (post cruise is always a sad time).

Just an FYI to everyone, here is our upcoming cruise schedule confirmed so far:

 

August 20, 2016: 8 Night Norwegian ESCAPE, Recap sailing

October 27, 2016: 10 Night Royal Princess Halloween Cruise

December 31, 2016: 7 Night Carnival Conquest New Years Eve

 

I know that we will be scheduled for a Norwegian sailing in February or March, and I also want to go on the Norwegian Sky somewhere in there too , for a three/four day booze cruz.

 

Any suggestions? Who is sailing in February/March? You know that I have to get to Golden Level in the Casino by March 31st.

Feb 5 LA to Miami, 14 day cruise on the Jewel through the Panama Canal. Lots of sea days to reach Golden!

We did the Baltics on the Star two summers ago, and loved it. It was all so different from where we had been before, and I love to travel and experience new places. Having a nice upsell to an aft balcony didn't hurt the experience either :)

We flew into Copenhagen three days early and enjoyed that city beforehand and was glad we did, it was one of our favorite cities on this trip besides Tallinn. Loved Tallinn Estonia, as with all medieval walled cities that I have been to.

Woke up early and enjoyed the archipelago from our balcony while sailing into Stockholm. Time in Stockholm and Helsinki were too short to fully take them in, but we were glad we saw them.

Don't recommend the long trip to and from Berlin, but we had never been there so had to do it for the "been there, done that" factor. Who knew a few months later I would be working in Germany for a year and could have visited any time.

I have mixed feelings on St Petersburg, only because we did one of those two days try to see everything tour with a very recommended company and our guide was just ok. We saw a lot, liked a lot of what we saw, but tour guide was so robotic and we felt a bit "herded" from place to place. It was a beautiful city of canals and colorful buildings. The short time in the Hermitage was still spectacular and the summer palace grounds were amazing. The one thing the guide did do, which I appreciated, was took us to see the church she worshiped at, which was much more intimate and simple than the others, but still quite beautiful.

I think if we could do it again, I would be happy to do so. We did the "have to see" sights, and next time we could focus on getting to know the cities a bit better.

I may get flamed here. I am a type 1 diabetic who enjoys a frilly drink from time to time while cruising. I just take insulin to cover it. And I read the drink menu and talk to the bartender to try and get one that is not quite as sugar filled as others. For example, if a pina colada is made with fresh pineapple, then less syrup or juice is needed. Same with a fresh mango daiquiri. A small mimosa made with oj and champagne... etc. Flavored rums and vodkas tend to be sugar sweetened, so I stick with drinks that use regular rum or vodka and are flavored another way. If I have a drink like this, I may skip dessert.

Deb

Thanks, I think I will call my TA and switch. I like wine with dinner, DH likes beer. We both like specialty drinks on deck or at shows, so not having to think about them would be good.

Thanks. I am still debating between the meal or drink plan. The bottled wine option is a good choice if I stay with the meal plan.

Thanks, once I took that into consideration the options seem to be equal for us. I think I may switch to allow myself an additional froo froo drink or two :)

Hi all,

A few questions for those who have cruised on NCL recently. I asked them on my specific cruise thread, but I think the audience will be wider here to get them all answered. We are cruising the Panama Canal on the Jewel next Feb:

We chose the dining package as our freebie, as it seemed like a better deal than the drink package. I estimated if we were to purchase the 6 meals it would cost us appx $440 based on average a la carte menu prices I found on line for the Escape. Paying the 18% service fee of appx $35 for the two of us, even if we have an extra app such as a soup or salad, we save close to $375. If we had gone with the drink promotion, which would cost us appx $350 in service fees, and we drank wine with dinner every night and one or two drinks a day, which is typical for us, we would save only $70. Has anyone else done the math? Am I missing something?

Do they still offer the multi bottle wine discount? I think we had a couple of levels of wine to choose from, based on the offer. We typically went with the mid level choice of wines and got 4 or 5 bottles for a one week cruise. For this two day cruise do they offer larger plans?

Do they have coffee cards? I can't remember which cruise line does this.

Do they have a spa pass to use the whirlpools and sauna and such? Is the spa area the same as on the Dawn or Pearl?

The last NCL cruise we were on was a couple of years ago to the Baltics, and that was before the ultimate packages were offered.

Thanks in advance for any answers!

me (female). My husband usually asks me what ship we are on and where are we going after we get off the plane and are heading to the port.:cool: