Auralee

I am currently driving back to port from this excursion. The bus used is perfect for the drive to and from the park.. beautiful new large air conditioned bus. However, it was the same bus used for the drive through!!! The pictures shown for our excursion displayed open air trolley type vehicle but this was not used. The windows on the bus were tinted and grimy and did not offer great visibility. The walking part of the zoo was rough gravel… nothing but at bathrooms and restaurant was paved making it impossible to use a wheelchair and would be difficult if not impossible with a stroller. Time provided to walk around the safari was only 1 hour. 2 ~ 3 hours would have been more suitable as there was also a boat ride to see monkeys on islands and as we wanted to spend time looking at animals 1 hour did not provide us adequate time to see them all. It would also have been nice to have time for souvenirs/ice cream ect. The guide was informative, helpful and friendly. But for a level 1 activity tour the unpaved paths and long walk in the heat was rough. The large bus for the drive through was also a big disappointment. Plus side, there were many animals to see. Many however were in small cages, there were a few that were in open air habitats such as the cats (jaguar, ocelot, puma, ect ) crocodiles, alligator , and otters which were easier to photograph without cages.

I would happily sail with MSC again. Just wish they had west coast offerings! (Had hoped they’d do Panama Canal too lol). They were very fun.

Thanks for this advice!

Our situation is much like yours. we love the medallion on princess— being able to find your party in real time was amazing (we could track our son on the ship and know where he was and we could find each other easily!) also this allows you to order your drink or w/e and when they have it ready they just bring it to you w/e you are.. trivia ended and you want to get in line for the popular comedy - go get in line! They will see you moved! this is our first time trying Norwegian. It looked reasonably comparable at the onset.. and we chose it because it still had accessible cabin available. This was important. Sadly Princess accessible cabins were booked up by time I had my vacation time approved and we wanted the canal for my 50th . We are trying to discover which cruise line is our favorite, by trying them. So far Carnival has been the worst for us. MSC was nice - changes to the drink card program with them has changed, but we loved the vibe onboard and had no issues with boat/ embarkation like I’ve experienced with Carnival. Willing to cruise them again. (Carnival I’ve cruised the most with - 3 times.. 2 of the 3 times had issues which effected the enjoyment of our trip so I feel I have given them a real chance to impress me and I’m not). - however right price and on a boat is better than not. princess - medallion is sooo amazing . I am hoping I will find things to love about Norwegian! This is the first cruise we will try a specialty restaurant so I am looking forward to that. I hope the vibe is fun - but a lot of folks on here post about lack of fun themes and such.. so I am unsure what to expect till I go and find out if Norwegian is our “Jam”.

Ohh great idea! I think also with the money we are saving by not buying the package we are going to buy us some big “yeti” tumblers as the drink glasses in buffet are minuscule!

No Princess has a milkshake/pop non-alcoholic package which you can have drinks delivered anywhere included and way way cheaper than the NCL drink package.

Ok called Norwegian and it’s confirmed - only way to get the icy Starbucks drinks is to stand in line yourself at the atrium coffee bar. We cancelled our packages and will just use hot chocolate or coffee with ice cream. And buy as we go if we want something special. — sad. Really limited beverage options for non- drinkers trying to avoid pop!

I’m more interested in the non-alcoholic/ non-pop ice drinks/ refreshers - I really don’t care for coffee even. Just want a cold drink by the pool like everyone else.

Or just hot chocolate and soft serve.. this might be our alternative!

19 days

Thank you. We are going to have to re-think this package. (We have fas~ but opted out of the alcoholic drink package as we don’t drink and 700$ each just for the gratuities wasn’t worth it!! ) Approx 300$ each for the Starbucks drink package was a bit more reasonable and sounded fun to try the drinks.. but with limited mobility the idea of standing in line each time seems unreasonable since others with a drink package can just ask any server for a drink!!

I’m new to NCL. sailing on Sun soon. With a beverage package can you order the drinks from servers by the pool? Can you get Starbucks refreshers if that is your package from same servers? How about at specialty restaurants and mdr? If we have the Starbucks package can we order those drinks in the restaurants? Package rules does say can be used in restaurants - but want to confirm it’s more than just simple coffee… we want the package for the ice/cold frappes ect. And want to drink at meals - hopfully without having to stand in line at the “coffee shop”. thanks!

We did this kinda with carnival. (We dropped most of our luggage but opted to stay for the night as if you wanted to disembark in Victoria it was EARLY. I had hoped we could disembark later in the day since the ship was in Victoria til 11pm or something but they wanted us off as soon as we docked. ) We ended up dropping our luggage at home and returned to the ship with one carryon to relax and it made a light trip back the next day. (Food in mdr and the last shows made it worth the ferry to me - and my kiddo loves riding skytrain).

Sorry! Yes! Cartagena, colon, punterenas, puerto quetzal, san Juan del sur, zihuanetejo,manzanilla, Cabo san Lucas. any advice for mobility, excursion for low mobility, would it be worth it to have scooter? Rollator? Or many seats? How far do we walk to get to transportation? thanks!!

Did you go?