Expat Cruise

Yes towels are offered and available but you must return them or pay. Really very fair.

I would spend a extra night in the city, to many things could go wrong and if you miss flight last minute cost of changes will be much higher.

You can call Princess and request the booking be put into your account on the website. Very easy to do and they are happy to help.

Google Mario Salcedo he has been living on RCCL for over 20 years over 7000 days. He spends about 10 days a year not on ships.

This is not even remotely close to being fact.

If only facts were posted here this site and the internet has a whole would be much smaller. Some people just don't know what the truth is. But all good read and take the good and leave the bad.

Not as a cruise stop. have started and ending many cruises in Miami and spent time in the city. No issues finding things to do. A google search will give you a full day of things in Miami.

My choice would be five days, four is really a short trip.

A small amount of cash is all that is needed. All the US ports will have ATM machines if you want to pick up extra. For your one stop in Canada, they are happy to take USD as the value i much better. One of the things I do on most cruises is the coins I pick up in ports, some countries have larger 10 (Hong Kong) to 500 (Japan) I leave as a added tip for the cabin steward, with some small paper money thrown in. better than a packet full of coins and small paper money I will not use.

I have a had a few dinners with the Captain, Staff Cabin, Hotel Director , and senior staff. But one of the better times was on RCCL Mariner of the Seas, is was nothing planned we (Wife & I & a friend) were having lunch in Windjammer and it was very busy that day. The Captain came in and picked up some food and was walking around looking for a table. Kind of funny the Master of the Ship and no table. When he walked by my friend ask if he wanted to join us, he did and sat for about 30 minutes it was the best time with a officer on any cruise ship.

While not a hosted dinner it was better in my opinion. I would love to be able to do it again.

Just get your passport renewed from your home country. You are lucky you are in the United States with Green Card because in many other countries if your passport is not valid your resident card also is not valid.

Disputing a charge is accusing the merchant of a criminal act and asserting that you will help law enforcement agencies (in this case the FBI) in a criminal investigation. It is NOT to be taken lightly. Read the fine print of your cr dit card agreement.

I'm sorry but you are wrong. Disputing a credit card charge does not involve law enforcement, it can but only in certain cases, does not even need to include a criminal act. What the user agreement says if it is found to be a criminal act you will help law enforcement. Again most disputes never go past the credit card company and the merchant. You can dispute a charge because you don't like the quality of service, the product is not as represent, the company cancels service, company goes bankrupt or a thousand other reasons. It is done every day it is just part of business.

Jamaica is the port in the Caribbean that I believe has the most nude beaches among them: Couples Tower Isle, Booby Cay, Sandals Royal Caribbean(resort with beach) Hedonism II, (resort with Beach). Other ports include: Orient Beach, St Martin, Pointe Tarare, Guadeloupe, Hawksbill Beach, Antigua, Grand Saline Beach, St Barth. I'm sure you can find many more.

that should be a last resort option to do. opening a dispute with your credit card can cause big BIG BIGGER problems between you and Norwegian in the future. is it best to wait it out and keep bugging norwegian everyday for a credit.

Yes you would think that but, the merchant user agreements are very clear. Every merchant agrees to the terms if they want to take credit cards. If the merchant came after a credit card holder for opening a claim it would cause major problems for them. Like banned from processing credit card payments, this only happens in very rare cases. No merchant wants to be investigated for harassment of a card holder. I know cases when merchants employees have overstep and they (owner) refund in full, not because a refund should be paid on the merits but to stay clear of violation of the merchant agreement.

They understand it is just business, it will take the issue away from you dealing with a refund and your credit card service will represent and handle it for you.

It really comes down to many factors, time of year, where they cross and type of ship is it a ocean liner, or a cruise?

Ocean liners are designed to transportpassengers from one destination to another, trans Atlanticcrossings etc. Built strong enough to withstand all kinds of weatherso they are built making use of lots of steel in their hull. Bows arenarrow and tapered long so the ship cut through the water. They havecrews who know how to handle open ocean weather and do so goingthrough it not around it. Only a few true ocean liners in cruiseservice today Cunard is the most well know with the largest newerships.

Cruise ships are built primarily forluxury vacations on water bodies. As long as the weather they movewell through the ocean, many times changing the ports or trips socomfort is maintain. I have heard cruise ships being called floatingbathtubs as they are wide top heavy and promote beauty, luxury, andcomfort. Which is great for a Caribbean cruise or summer trip toAlaska . They cannot handle heavy seas like a ocean liner.

On a cruise liner liner RCCL or Carnival it can be ruff in heavy seas, but they are big ships so always safe and the captains do everything to keep the roll and the sea away. If you 100% must have a smooth bathtub like cruise don't do a open ocean crossing.

No set time for the night. In general on a sea night and many times second night of cruise or last night of cruise. Will never understand from a marketing point of view last night as limits the number of photo sales. Which is a large profit center for the lines. Dark suit with tie is fine. I have seen sports jackets with ties also.

I believe drugs are much more common on cruise ships than we (the public) may think. I think the Cruise Industry try to keep these kinds of things quite. Like crime on cruise ships, they want people to think cruise travel is 100% safe which it is not. So many ask why do you cruise then? Because the risks are low and I accept those risks. But I don't like the industry covering up what is happening on these ships. Very little regulation and reporting becasue of the home countries for cruise ships.

My wife also has been charged and she pays no fee (Philippines Passport) but it still took several trips and time to fix. Cruise lines really seem to not care as much about customer service as in the past. When several hundred people on a ship it seems the personal relationships were better. Now with several thousand it is move the cattle through the system.

Hi G.M.T,

 

Not that the $6 was an issue but I travelled on a British passport while my husband is Australian and we were both charged the visa cost.

 

Diane

 

 

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I recently cruised on Pride of America in Hawaii 03/11-03/17. The itinerary was changed from 7 days to 6 days on 02/22. I was told on 02/25 that I would be getting a refund. It's now after the cruise (3 weeks later) and I have yet to receive a refund.

 

Prior to the cruise, I called Norwegian support multiple times and was told I would get a follow up call but never did.

On the cruise, I was told they could not help me on the ship and would have to call the support line.

Today, I called into Norwegian support line and spoke to 4 different representatives to follow up on the refund.

The last representative told me she couldn't help me and wanted to redirect me back to the queue.

When I asked to speak to her manager, she told me she has no manager and reports to the president and CEO.

 

I'm beyond frustrated and disappointed with the customer service from Norwegian.

I submitted a case online based on the information from this reference. After submitting a case, I got a confirmation email saying I should wait up to 15 business days before hearing back. That's another 3 weeks!

 

I simply want my refund with an explanation of how the amount was calculated. Is there anyone who knows who I can contact to get this resolved?

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

Contact your credit card provider and open a dispute. Why would anyone wait for a cruise line to refund on their time table? If you told the cruise line you would pay three months after the cruise they would not allow it. So why should you wait? You should not wait credit card dispute, with some cards money back in your account within a day.

Vietnam is becoming more open, many countries are visa waved with them. The United States is not but soon I believe it will be. When we cruise to Vietnam I need a visa being a US Passport, my wife is visa waved on a Philippine Passport. But really very little extra time or effort, if on cruise the ship takes care of it if we fly I do a online Visa.

I would switch one of the other people into the room at least on paper. At check in if they question the missing person tell him he is militarily and orders changed not allowing him to travel. NCL will be understanding as charging you more or causing problems could become a PR nightmare.

But more important he is military and rules must be looked at different for those who risk all for their country and freedom. It goes without needing to be said. But will say anyways he is thanked for his service.

I spend a lot of time in Hong Kong 4 to 6 trips a year. Taxis in Hong Kong are cheap and easy to use. But as others have said English is limited with some drivers. If you are staying at hotel get a business card it will have address in English and Chinese. Also every hotel is happy to write addresses in Chinese for you. Most taxis are Toyota Products, like Toyota Crowns. Hard to put more than four people in them but taxis are cheap. Also the MRT (subway) is very good easy to use and faster many times. Even the buses seem to be clean and on time.

I keep money in my front pocket, wallet in back pocket with button, but I have also had the tailor put a inside zipper in some of my pants back pocket. So really hard for someone to go through two layers of security. Besides I am protected on all my credit cards and if on tour I don't carry all cards, and lots of money. So far have lost nothing. Came close in Thailand when a team tried to pick pocket me on a Baht Bus, didn't work, and after his/her hand didn't work either

Just because they put it in the contract does not mean it will happen. As I already said I got a cruise refunded in full less than 30 days out before and one that was about 2 weeks out. Both contracts said I would not get a 100% refund I did. So you read the contract and believe it I have lived the real World truth.

If you park your car in a parking lot or buy a ski lift ticket both contracts have disclaimer saying the parking lot/ resort is not responsible. But yet millions has been paid out in claims saying they are.

Some may think that guest treat staff (crew) of the Cruise Ships poorly and it does happen sometimes. It is also true that the treatment overall by guest is much better than they would have in their home countries. I live in the Philippines, which percent wise is one of the largest providers of cruise staff. I can tell you from first hand knowledge, the treatment even by the worse passengers is better than the average treatment here.

For every person working on a ship now many more that would take their jobs, without question. Many of my fellow Americans are trying to have American standards in place which is just not the case and will never happen. Very few crew members will not renew a contract once finished because these are great jobs even with passengers who are less than nice.

If more Americans spent time outside of the United States and outside of tourist areas and saw how many real people live and work it would change the way people think. We (US/ Western Citizens) take as normal and require are luxuries in other parts of the world.

Just today I saw a sign in 7/11 here looking for staff. It said wanted, single female 18 to 23, College Degree, Attractive, Unmarried. To apply for a job that will pay equal to about US$6.50 a day for a 10 plus work hours. If they break or damage anything the worker pays for it. If I go into a restaurant order food and send it back, the waitstaff is charged for it.

Most low level workers here are hired on three month contracts, so they can work with no benefits. So while you may think workers have it hard dealing with rude or demanding passengers, I say it is much better than working at home.

......

 

Mom still wants to go on the cruise. We will know a bit more in the next couple days when the full diagnosis is available. We're supposed to fly to LA in 9 days.

Princess Cruises has been a nightmare through all of this. This is the second problem we've had (the first being an itinerary change that they should have known about and informed well before the 75 day cancellation window... but they waited until day 57. PRINCESS CRUISES NEVER AGAIN!

When they changed the itinerary 57 days out you had the option to not accept the change and dispute the credit card payment with your credit card service. Princess and all cruise lines wants you to believe they have complete control but they really do not. I have had cruises refunded within the 45 days of cruising because the cruise line broke the contract.