FLcruisergrl

On 4/1/2024 at 4:47 AM, Ms411 said:

One issue blue_water hasn't included on his list is how easy it is to enter and exit the water at some of the beaches.

 

Lindqvist/Smith Bay and Lindbergh have steeper shorelines and some people have difficulty getting out of the water. Not an issue at Magens and Coki. 

 

Can others comment on ease of entry?

I found Sapphire to be extremely rocky, and I’m not tender footed. It was also extremely rough when we were there. Love Magen’s and Secret Harbour. 

Not officially.

Just now, CruisingTheWaves said:

No, I meant their shared charter. If I can't find one with less people on it that I think makes sense then I'll have to pay the big bucks to go private.

Their max is 12 people and they have a 6 hr for around $200. 

2 hours ago, CruisingTheWaves said:

Do you know how many people they allow on their boat for the half day sail @ $145pp? I like smaller groups, and thinking about just booking a private one for just my husband and I. I am fine with it if it is a smaller group but when it gets to be 10+ people I prefer to book private.

Extremely unlikely that you’ll find a private charter with a reputable company for that price. Stormy Pirates is great. Their cheapest is $540 for 4 hrs.

There’s only 1 all inclusive resort on St Thomas, period. And it’s not like Sandals or Beaches or anything like that. Go to Magens or Secret Harbour.

Very excited! The port is approx 30 minutes from my house, so that’ll be convenient!

November 2025. Finally, we get something besides crappy, old Carnival ships!

On 2/3/2024 at 1:14 PM, Wishing on a star said:

Nick and Jessica...  Back to your original question about timing, and how much time on White Bay.

I finally got a good reply from Shore Excursions Group.

For our sailing...  (Princess - at Tortola until 4:00 pm)  they offer two options.

Princess only offers ONE,  7:30 am...  (ouch!!!  Painkillers for breakfast, anyone?)

This third party offers TWO options...  One early, and one at 9:15.  (another even later is available to those who could do that)

While the description mentions 4 hours. (as does Princess)

Their reply is that the duration is actually over 5 hours...  leaving quite a bit of time on the beach.

 

They did not seem to want to specify whether they departed by boat from the Cruise docks at Road Town, or if they did transfer over to West End, and then board the boat over to JVD.

 

In the end...  If I can get a later departure time, and what seems to be a lot more time on JVD... I am in!

 

I hate to copy the actual personal reply that I got from them, here publicly on CC.

Check out my signature, below for info.

Hope this helps!

Hey, Painkillers for breakfast are totally acceptable-they have OJ! I washed down my breakfast burrito from Soggy Dollar with 1…2…ok 2 Painkillers and a Mango Madness! 😜

Taxi back would definitely be a challenge. When we were there, we were the only people at the beach.

It depends upon the ship options and available room types. I’ve never been on the Getaway, but probably that one in a Haven aft, due to the open air courtyard and the large balcony.

On 1/7/2024 at 2:26 PM, CruzinMel said:

Dining, or, Things We Ate:

 

Norwegian does an amazing job for folks with celiac/gluten issues.  My card was already flagged because I did the Guest Special Needs form pre-cruise, but I was asked at every meal and the dining manager left me a message on embarkation day.  It's not their fault I got spoiled by Siva in the Haven last time and couldn't be bothered to reach out to him.  I visited the specialty restaurants and Manhattan room the night before we were to eat there, and I pre-ordered my meals.  (Siva did all that for me last year. . . sigh.)  I think I glutened myself once in the buffet, but that was my fault for eating breakfast sausage - everything I ate was great and I didn't have any issues. (I had no muesli this trip - sigh.  I love muesli.  Siva made me GF muesli last year, because the buffet muesli isn't GF. . . probably if I had eaten breakfast in Taste/Savor, I could have gotten it, but I was too lazy.)

 

We tend to have breakfast/lunch in the buffet unless I insist, and I wasn't in the mood to insist.  If we were on a longer cruise, I'd have gotten bored by the buffet eventually, but everything I had was tasty.

 

• The cream of cauliflower soup is an amazing, rich, velvety thing, and it's gluten free - I asked.  🙂
• The breakfast omelet line:  ugh.  That said, those are some good omelets!
• DH ate a hamburger patty at almost every meal.  The fries were always hot and tasty.  Norwegian always has an offering of Indian food at varying temperature levels, along with Chinese, sandwich makings, cheeses and fruits.  The breakfast potatoes are delish.
• There is prime rib in the buffet on embarkation night.  Coffee in the buffet is VERY STRONG and very hot.
• There is a dedicated gluten free toaster on one side, toward the back (I never remember port and starboard, but if you ask the crew they'll tell you.)  They have GF bread, english muffins and bagels.
• For the love of all that's holy, people, USE THE TONGS.  I saw one man nearly burn off his fingerprints by putting his toast in the toaster with his hands.  He thought it was funny.  It made me glad they keep the GF toaster behind the counter.

Dinners are usually in the specialty restaurants, unless we are in the Haven because that's the best specialty of all.  I like the MDRs fine, though - I've never had a bad meal on a cruise ship.  We never go to Teppanyaki - we can have that at home any time we like, and we don't like the noise at the chef's tables anyway.  So I can't tell you anything about Teppanyaki!  Same with Le Bistro - we've just never had stellar experiences there, probably because DH just orders steak everywhere he goes, and I'd already decided where we'd eat based on things we loved and things we'd never done.  They do amazing lamb, though, and I love their scallops in cauliflower veloute.

• Moderno - we love Moderno.  We think Moderno does a better job than Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian steakhouse chain near where we live.  The salad bar was huge and varied, the meat was flavorful and not overly salted, and Lord knows there was plenty of it.  I particularly was grateful for the gaucho who told me that the sausage is not GF, because I was about to chow down, and that made me quit eating sausage in the buffet, which made my stomach happier.  Similarly, our server made sure I knew which items on the buffet were not GF, so I could be safe.  We skipped dessert and had extra pineapple.
• Bayamo - we had never eaten at Bayamo before, so I booked that for NYE and I didn't pre-order because I already knew I wanted sea bass and the preparation didn't involve a sauce.  Sadly, it was our least favorite meal.  For apps, we had shrimp cocktail and delicious scallops on pork belly (I forgot to ask if the sauce was GF, so I stepped out in faith on that one and nothing happened.)  We skipped the salad/soup course.  My sea bass was the most perfect, delicious, tasty piece of fish I've had in my entire life.  I think DH had a filet?  The sides were unremarkable, except that the carrots were waved in the direction of the stove but spent no time on it.  We skipped dessert and had some cheese in the buffet, and that's all we will say about Bayamo.
• La Cucina - I pre-ordered this one, and had pasta e fagioli soup, and fettucine (or, GF spaghetti) alfredo con funghi (mushrooms) and my favorite simple dessert of all time, pannacotta.  DH had a filet and cheesecake.  I used to joke that La Cucina is Olive Garden at sea, but I'm wrong - it's delicious and was one of our favorite meals.  DH regretted not ordering a pizza.  Tip - last year, I asked if I could have the cheese bread from Moderno rather than the standard GF toast we get every time for meals.  I forgot to do that this year, but it's a good idea.
• Cagney's - we skipped it this time, because we were going to eat at the Manhattan Room and DH would order a Cagney's steak there, and also because I was determined to use our dining credit at. . .
• Food Republic - holy cow.  If you use your specialty dining credit there, each diner can order 4 items.  We only managed 7 between us, and were so stuffed that we couldn't finish all of those, either.  Plentiful, tasty, delicious food, and not crowded either.  There's sushi, but we aren't sushi lovers, so we stuck with meat on sticks (beef, chicken) and lamb lollipops (DH didn't like, I loved), then shrimp pad thai (gently spiced), a salad with ramen and steak (DH devoured), chicken in lettuce cups, and . . . I forgot the 7th, because it was something I couldn't eat.  Oops.  (OH - shrimp firecracker rolls - fried and wrapped in egg roll skins, so not for me.)  We skipped dessert because we were too full!  Each entree ranges from $15 to $21, so if we hadn't had the dining package it would have been a splurge.
• Manhattan Room - better than Bayamo, but probably because we had such good service.  Rather than pre-order, I stuck to the items marked GF on the menu, so I had a salad and pork loin on top of sweet potato mash with 3 asparagus spears.  It was ok - I make a mean pork loin myself, so I should have done something else.  There's no sense in eating things on vacation that you can do just as well at home - why go on vacation, otherwise?  DH had a ribeye from Cagney's with (of all things) fries, so steak frites?  The only MDR GF dessert was sorbet, which was good but not exciting.  I enjoyed dinner with music - that is a very nice touch.
• O'Sheehan's - we had O'Sheehan's twice, actually - once while watching football at the bar, we ordered apps, and then ate there the last night because I was camped out in the Atrium.  DH had a burger with fries (duh) and I had the Cuban pork bowl (their GF offering), and then the most marvelous dining manager ever, Siva Kamatchi, remembered us from last year and sent us a flourless chocolate cake to share for dessert.  (He is managing there - I didn't get a chance to ask why, but he is just as amazing as ever.)

Thanks to Norwegian, I gained 5 pounds, and DH gained 7.  I regret nothing.

Siva is an angel! He took such good care of us last year (my daughter has celiac), including visiting us at our specialty restaurants when we weren’t eating in the Haven. He has spoiled us for all others!

It’s likely not a ferry. I know Rebel Yell does Escape to Jost Van Dyke.

3 hours ago, www3traveler said:

There is not a "Haven" as you know it from the Breakaway ships.  May be called Garden Villa (forward Deck 14--one entrance is across the hall from Cagney's on Deck 13 up a staircase.

The Garden Villa is a room, not a public area.

On 12/22/2023 at 11:57 AM, TenForward said:

 

Can you tell me what you mean by "whatever bar you purchase from"?  Do you mean purchase the lounges for rent or more like purchase lunch and/or drinks so you can use the chairs?   We'd like to go to Hendo's while there but since it's an inn with overnight guests, not sure how it works for their lounges.  We definitely want to have lunch there!  We're going in mid April.  Thanks in advance.

 

Meaning you can use the loungers at Hendo’s if you purchase food or drink from them. There are different loungers for The Hideout guests a little further down. You’re fine to use the orange ones.

Tampa was a cluster when we embarked there. Love Port Canaveral.

If you can find a boat trip to take you to the Indians for snorkeling, do it! You will love it. Then stop by the Willy T for lunch and jumping off the deck.

Sunfari does tours of both, but I’d start with St Thomas.

3 hours ago, elliotlake12 said:

Are beach lounges included with that excursion? Return transportation to the ship?

You are free to use the beach lounges at whatever bar you purchase from (Soggy, Hendo’s, Gertrude’s). It’s a great excursion.

On 5/22/2023 at 12:39 AM, insearchofsun said:

Hi all,

 

My partner and I had a challenging and difficult experience on the Encore. Let me start by saying, we love cruising - just became platinum on ncl.  Alaska was an absolute bucket item list for my partner! On vacation, we tend to be very go with the flow and rarely find anything to complain about. We spent the first half of our 27 year relationship being too poor to travel, so we appreciate and have gratitude for the ability to go on a cruise.
 

For the last 3 years, we have miraculously avoided Covid to come down with it on the first full day of our cruise.  It was Monday night - we were both pretty shocked, up until then we had felt good, having spent a great weekend in Seattle.  We had brought an at home test and tested in the cabin. My partner was positive instantly, mine was negative.  The next morning, I called medical and was first told to call back as they were in a meeting. The timing may be off, we were both feverish and sick, but I called back hours later and was told they couldn’t see us as they had a critical case.  Totally understood, no problem, asked them to call us back when they were available.  The nurse then started asking questions, I explained our situation and our understanding of the need to quarantine, and wanted to get seen to potentially get Paxlovid.  She cut me off and said,   “Mam, things are back to normal” you don’t need to tell us if you have Covid”  she then stated we would need “full diagnostic evaluations and quoted us at 6,000 dollars each.  She stated many of these tests were  maritime law and that we couldn’t just get a Covid test.  We were both feverish and frightened.  Despite being middle aged adults, being sick with what has felt like a terrible flu in the middle of the ocean is scary! We had purchased the NCL insurance, but worried that our medical expenses might not be covered and on top of the losses for our trip, we would also be out 12,000.00  I have seen what medical debt can do! Looking back, it seems that NCL did not want any documented Covid cases on the cruise and this was effective in keeping us away.  Of course, with a clearer head now, I wish we had gone to medical.  We tried our best to be responsible and only left the cabin to get food ( masked in N95) to bring back to our room or ordered room service.  We never got off the ship and tried hard to follow CDC guidelines.  We asked our room steward not to clean our room to avoid making him sick.  He told us he would tell someone in guest services.  I tried to call someone in guest services but only was transferred to medical. 
 

I am writing this wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with medical. I am very doubtful of getting any compensation, but will try and share our story with NCl if anyone thinks that would help.  It is probably cathartic writing this and perhaps, it will help someone else.  For the record, we are vaccinated and boosted and glad for it!  

Why would you expect any sort of compensation? If you came down with it on the first full day, you clearly brought it on the ship with you. Not NCLs fault in any way.

10 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

$100 pp to move the date

 

Yes you need to cancel all your excursions nd buy for the new date.

Ugh, I figured.

I think I know the answer, but I’ll ask anyway…we are before final payment and have to change our cruise date. I know I have to pay a change fee. But I also go some great deals on packages and an excursion on Black Friday. Do I lose those and have to rebook them at the new, non-awesome prices for the new dates? 😢

If you’re docking at Havensight, I highly recommend Smoking Rooster or Tap & Still.

We were on the Escape in December. No lunch buffet of any sort in the Haven, but they did have the pool “snack menu”. The ceasar wrap was really good.

Get a JS and try to get one on deck 11. There are only a few and they are tucked away next to the solarium. Nice size balconies!

It depends on the ship and on your tastes. Everyone waves about Le Bistro, but of my 2 attempts, both were major fails. People don’t like La Cucina, but on the Sun, it was our best meal. It also has the best filet! On the Escape, it was just okay. We love Ocean Blue also. Cagney’s is usually solid for us. Moderno is ok. I like Los Lobos,  but my hubby doesn’t. 🤷🏼‍♀️