johnrich
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Posts posted by johnrich
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Actually, wheelchairs do board first, same time as suites.
I have to respectfully disagree to an extent. On our last two cruises with my MIL who is in a wheelchair, they made us wait until our group number was called. Wheelchairs we corralled in an area near the entrance to the gangway and were the first to board in their respective group. On another cruise (Getaway out of Miami) we did board early right after the Suites. I’m not sure if the port workers decide or if it is entirely NCL.
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I actually bought a box of 50 lanyards with clear holders on Amazon for only $8. I gave them out at a Meet & Greet.
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I know you can get off early. Done it before but I'm hoping we can get off later as well. I don't want to inconvenience our friends by making them get up super early to get us.
Sorry. I read your message incorrectly. I guess that’s what I get when I go on CC after waking up in the middle of the night.
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When we were on the Epic in Nov, we did self-assist. They told us disembarkation would begin around 7:30 but it started at 6:45. We were off the ship, through customs and in our Uber by 7:30.
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Our room is 5439. I am trying to look at the deck plans and it seems like that might be right under the theater? Not entirely sure. But good to know that it's the best place to be for the motion sickness. That's my biggest worry about going.
I believe 5439 is actually below the Supper Club. Although schedules may vary, they tend to have an act (ours was a magician and I see that also in some recent Dailies) in there at 9:00. I believe these shows usually last an hour to 1 1/2 hrs.
2 nights they had Escape the Big Top—once at 10:30 and once at Midnight. I don’t see these being that loud.
Also 5439 is accessed through one of the interior hallways not the main hallway so you shouldn’t hear as much noise from people walking to disembark.
Have a great time on your cruise. It is a fabulous ship.
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The latest and greatest have been uploaded.
Is this benefiting anyone?
Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Yes. It is very useful!
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I upgraded on our Nov 2017 cruise on the Epic. It was only $85. At that time it was still unlimited. I have not heard about the gb limit on Epic. I thought Breakaway was the only NCL ship that used data instead of minutes.
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I know this sounds like a weird question, but does anyone know if they have a crepe station at the buffet on Pride of America? TYIA!
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Like tef43 stated above, it is easy to use Uber. We always fly into/out of FLL and last time used Uber to get to/from the Port of Miami. A friend who uses Uber gave us a code for $15 off three trips. So our trips were less than $15! It was great!
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Thank you for a wonderful review! A PC Cruise is on my bucket list but neither my wife nor I can get two weeks off of work so it looks like it will be at least 15 years from now when we retire that we’ll be able to check it off. Until then, reviews like yours allow me to live the cruise vicariously through your writing. Thanks again!
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I’m not sure, but I thought I read somewhere on CC that the Dawn was taking over some of the Gem’s itineraries. You may want to do a search of the Dawn’s sailings and see if any of them fit your sail date and port of embarkation. Otherwise, you may just want to give NCL customer service a call.
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In Grand Cayman I highly recommend visiting Cayman Spirits Co. We took their tour and then were able to taste all of their liquors (various rums, vodka, and a couple other liquors). Their 7 Fathoms Rum is awesome. Also loved their banana flavored rum which we’ve never seen back home.
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I organized the Slot Pull on our cruise on the Escape back in September. The casino manager told me that they were changing some of the WOF machines out but luckily for us, this hadn’t happened yet. We were able to use the WOF. On our November Epic Cruise we used $5 WOF machines for the slot pull. However I played the Monopoly machines on my own and liked it. I thought the next time I organize the SP, I may use Monopoly so I would recommend it!
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What? You don't carry an inclinometer with you?:p
Or a protractor and a plumb line?:)
There's probably some app on your smartphone that could measure it....:D
Lol. It just amazes me how some people live for drama. The one post I read said people were in the stairways with their life jackets on. Come on! We were on an Alaskan cruise and hit some bad weather and I never even thought to put my life jacket on. To each his own though.
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I read quite a few Tweets (and a couple posts here on CC) that said the ship was listing 7%, 8%, and one even said 10%. How would a passenger find out the degree of listing unless they were speaking to officers from the bridge. I never remember it being on the Navigational channel on other ships I’ve been on in bad weather. I would think the Bridge Crew would be in “All hands on Deck mode” and not have time to B.S. with passengers. I further doubt if they did have time that they would tell the passengers how far the ship was listing.
I’m not saying the ship isn’t listing as I’m sure it is, but making up numbers just causes more stress and anxiety for the pax on the ship who are already very stressed as well as their families back home.
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DW and I loved the Thermal Spa on the Escape. What I discovered when trying to book it (within the 90 day period) was that I had to choose either Day 1 or be sure no days were selected on the left side menu to be able to see it. Once I did that I was able to see it and add it to my cart.
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I would contact NCL. This happened to us a couple years ago and we found that a data entry person transposed the “cents” in our final payment. The amount entered was something like 23¢ less than we actually paid. A customer service rep found the error and was able to fix it and I was then able to print my eDocs.
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I have researched the same thing in the past. If you are traveling to the mainland US, as long as there are no parts of any citrus plant, the jade vine, or the Mauna Loa plant used in your lei, you should be able to bring it on the plane with you. However many of us would not know what specific kind of leaves or flowers were used on the lei. So the best advice I can give is to ask the seller if it is airline transportable.
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Thanks for that! I'm guessing it came no later than 3-4 days into the cruise. Is that a good guess?
On our cruise it was day 4.
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Okay, bit of history here from someone who was part of the original Pride of America project (though transferred to Aloha when POA sank in Germany) and was part of the program for 4 years.
What Wiki doesn't say about the POA's acquisition by NCL, is that they got it from the US government, which was on the hook for the construction loan guarantees to Hawaiian American Lines, so NCL helped out the US taxpayers by assuming the construction loan in exchange for finishing the ship overseas and being allowed to "flag in" two ships with PVSA exemptions.
Actually, the restriction on the NCL ships does not preclude carrying passengers outside of Hawaii, when travelling to/from a mainland shipyard. Which is why POA had the West Coast to Hawaii cruise last year, returning from the yard.
As to building a new cruise ship in the US, as much of a proponent of US flag shipping as I am, I know that it really isn't a feasible scenario. A poster mentioned Newport News, and while this yard has the physical capability to build a cruise ship, they do not have the experience to do so, and the biggest problem is that the yard hasn't built a commercial ship in 40 years. Building for the US Navy and building for a profit based company are two totally different things, and for the most part, shipyards in the US cannot compete in cost or experience (time) with overseas yards to produce a ship that is economically viable. Only the protections of the Jones Act and the PVSA make US built ships feasible. I work on Jones Act ships, and even with everything but the hull steel being built overseas and shipped to the US yard pre-assembled, the ships cost twice as much as a comparable ship built overseas.
As to finishing a cruise ship overseas, that becomes tricky, as the percentage of the ship and equipment that is US built is fixed, so not sure if that would work. Also, European shipyards don't build the cabin modules, they are built by subcontractors, in many cases far from an ocean, and trucked to the yard, and we don't have that infrastructure in the US (the subcontractors who are geared up to produce these modules in bulk).
NCL lost money on the three US flag ships, mainly due to poor planning for US crew, building capacity too quickly, and excessive competition from the other cruise lines. NCL didn't, and to an extent, still don't know how to deal with US labor, though it is getting better. Not only are wages and benefits much higher than international crew, but the training and documentation costs are much higher, running around $8-10k per crew member, prior to them even reporting onboard. I firmly believe that going from one US flag ship (as noted, the Star was doing Hawaiian runs at the time as well) to 3 in just over 2 years was too fast, and outstripped demand for an unknown product. Finally, when the other cruise lines saw the prices NCL was commanding for their Hawaiian cruises, they brought a 500% increase in their Hawaiian cruises over the period when NCL had 3 ships, which forced NCL to drop cabin prices to where they were losing money.
As to longer cruises with a US flag ship, NCL's current round Hawaii 7 day cruises cost about as much as a 14 day cruise from the West Coast on a foreign flag ship, despite the longer cruise using 5-6 times as much fuel as the NCL cruise. If you did a West Coast cruise on a US flag ship, no one would book it because it would be 2-3 times as expensive as a foreign flag cruise of the same itinerary, with only a stop in Vancouver or Ensenada to comply with PVSA. Even uniall's proposed itinerary includes Mexican ports, so there is no incentive to use a US flag ship.
As to "re-using" the Jade as a US flag ship, no, once a PVSA exemption is given up, it must be re-applied for, and there has to be a good reason for granting it, and in the case of the Jade and Sky, this was specifically prohibited in the initial legislation.
POA is only 15 years old, so she is just now getting to the point where she is required to drydock twice in 5 years, instead of allowing an underwater inspection in lieu of the mid-period drydocking, and the cost and extent of surveys during the shipyard periods gets greater with age, but I suspect she will be around for at least another 10 years. What happens after that? They will probably try to keep her running, much as Hawaiian American kept the Constitution and Independence running long after they should have been retired. There is just about no hope that I can see of building a ship in the US that would in any way be profitable.
As to "doing away with the Jones Act", the cruise industry could care less about the Jones Act, since that act only deals with cargo ships. As to doing away with the PVSA, CLIA has stated that none of their members (all of the major cruise lines) have any interest in even modifying the PVSA, as it would have a minimal impact on their bottom line, and may trigger more restrictions on foreign flag cruises out of the US.
As to the POA being a "cash cow", that is just not correct. Even at the elevated fares the ship charges, the ship just barely breaks even on the cabin fares, and the profit is in onboard revenue. Many have quoted Kevin Sheehan's comments at the time about getting the Hawaiian operation "more profitable" than it was, but when you compare that with losing $174 million a year, even breaking even is "more profitable".
As to "enlarging" an existing foreign flag ship, and "getting it approved", the only way you will get around the US built content rule is to have a reason that Congress will respond to, like bailing them out of the construction loan on POA. Short of that, you aren't going to get an exemption.
Thank you so much for constantly “teaching” us about cruise ships and the industry. I really enjoy your posts. They are ALWAYS interesting!
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We did the laundry deal on the Epic last month. We sent it out on Tuesday morning and it was to be returned by Thursday evening. We actually had it back Tuesday night! One of the items was a pair of white pants that had a stain on them. They got the stain out. None of our items had tags on them either.
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The Getaway is our favorite ship.
We recommend seeing Howl at the Moon. Each show is different.
We loved Million Dollar Quartet.
Have breakfast in O’Sheehans once for a change from the buffet or MDR. Lunch also!
Relax with a book on the Waterfront.
Enjoy your cruise!
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Maybe NCL will run the Pick All 5 promo again for Christmas week
There were promos about the time of Thanksgiving (Black Friday) keep checking from Christmas thru New Years
for more and January 1 for the start of the new year and Insider Offers.
Also scratch your TA try sourcing with a major website like AAA - there are dozens more out there with better
programs incentives miles points OBC. Unless your TA works with you 24/7/365 your time is better spent elsewhere.
Also make note of the Elliott.org website for problem cruise solutions - who to contact and how to do it effectively !
I am hoping that they do offer the promos again for Christmas. I have been watching.
I am an AAA member and used them for one of my cruises to Alaska. The TA was very responsive but I could get more “perks” elsewhere. I started using a major online agency but they don’t participate in the upgrade program so I finally had NCL assign me a PCC. I am going to try AAA again if they participate in Upgrade Advantage.
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If you emailed and still have copies as proof that you contacted before they changed the promo's and your PCC never responded I would call NCL and ask to speak to a supervisor. Explain what happened, nicely of course and see if they will still honor it. If that does not work check out the emails at http://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/norwegian-cruise-line-ncl/ Chris Elliott is a customer service advocate and you can read more there about what to do. You never know what NCL might say, worse they can say is no they can't.
Thank you for the info. I never heard of him before. I will definitely check with a customer service supervisor and then check on Elliott’s website. Thanks again!
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Handicap boarding?
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
We rented the wheelchairs thru Special Needs at Sea. They were placed in our stateroom so the crew members used port/ship wheelchairs to push her on the ship. This last time was just in Nov 2017.
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