Firstin87

Hi,

I posted this question last week, but got no reply as it went far down the forum list quickly. We've done a bit of ship research, and I'm hoping that my more descriptive thread title helps get any information.

We're looking to book a Panama Canal cruise in early 2020 - 15 days from Florida to California similar to one that sails in Jan. 2019 that we had to postpone. NCL is only listing 5 cruises for Jan.-Feb. 2020, on the Gem and the Joy. However, the Sun and Star are not listed as being in use during this time. After doing some ship research, we found that both ships dock in Florida in mid-August 2019 and have nothing planned thereafter. I thought the Sun was just in drydock, so can't imagine it would be out of service again just over a year later.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on with these ships after next August? Or when NCL will post additional Panama Canal cruises for early 2020? I saw on another thread that there are problems with Nicaragua and I'm wondering if NCL is adjusting their itinerary to skip that port and perhaps that is the delay.

Thanks for any info or ideas.

Thanks for posting this thread. We are also using Blexie and have Raul as our guide, and we'd also like to bring something for him and his family. How old is his daughter? Any thoughts on what would be best to bring his wife? We've got some baseball items for him, so that's done.

Thank you for posting your itinerary. I'm just starting to research what we want to see on our Blexie tour with Raul as our guide.

We sailed from NOLA on the Pearl last March and did not have any issues. Embarkation is always hectic - there's only so much that can be done when so many people are in one place at the same time - but we thought the Port of NOLA did a good job. No problem knowing where to go once in the terminal.

I do wish that NCL did a better job of moving the line along to get to security. Seems it would go faster if there was a separate line for people who did not have their luggage with them (we gave ours to the porter outside the terminal). We were in a suite, so had priority embarkation, which went smoothly.

Disembarkation was fine. As you disembark there are people telling you where to go. Typical chaos with finding your luggage in the color-coded sections. Plenty of cabs outside.

If you are staying pre- or post-cruise at a hotel, the Hilton Riverside is at the pier. Easiest place to stay and nice rooms.

We will be sailing from Miami in Oct. and hope it is as smooth a process as we experienced in NOLA.

Enjoy your trip!

We had a 2019 Panama Canal cruise (15 day from Florida to Los Angeles) that we had to cancel and want to rebook for early 2020. NCL is currently only showing 5 cruises for that time period - on the Gem and Joy. The 2019 cruises were listed in spring of 2017 - we booked in May - and we're wondering when they will list additional sailings for the Canal in early 2020. Currently, four "small" ships - Jade, Pearl, Sky, and Sun - are showing as being "available", so we're hoping some of them will be sailing a similar itinerary in 2020 that we had booked for 2019. Does anyone have any idea when additional sailings might be added? Any idea what's going on with those four ships during that time?

Tried calling NCL and they have no information. Figured I'd post here as people often have some inside scoop.

Thank you!

Cyndy

Rederob, thank you for the photos. Looks like a lot to browse and see.

Victory2020, thank you for the pricing information.

All the info is very helpful and we appreciate your help.

Thank you, mgsdu, for the information. Helps to get some idea of how much cash to exchange. We'll also exchange USD for Euros before we leave to save a bit on the fees when exchanging to CUC.

I'm disappointed that there may not be anything to bring back for the kids but t-shirts. I was hoping for something more unique from Cuba, but... we'll see...

Hi,

We are going to Cuba in October and are wondering how much cash to bring for shopping in Havana. We will, of course, buy some rum and a box of cigars to give as gifts when we get home, but I'm wondering what other items people have brought back and what they cost (in either Cuban currency or US dollars).

We know baseball is big in Cuba and hope to find old (1940's - 50's) baseball cards there. Did anyone see anything like that, by chance?

Thanks in advance,

Cyndy

I also thank you MUSIK07 for the helpful information on the Hampton Inn. We will be staying on a Sunday night, pre-cruise, in Oct. After a long flight, we want to eat dinner someplace casual. Are there casual restaurants near the Hampton Inn Bricknell?

Thanks to everyone for your help. We'll be docking on a Friday morning, which hopefully has less traffic than a Monday. Having priority disembarkation and only carry on luggage that we'll keep with us should be big time savers.

Warmwind - from what I've been told on this thread, your 1:35 flight should be no problem at all. I'm glad this thread could be helpful to you, too.

thanks for the help. I booked the 11:10 a.m. flight home. Really looking forward to visiting Cuba.

Thank you for replying so fast! We'll have priority disembarkation, so we'll get off the ship early and quick. I assume the Port of Miami is well organized with disembarkation, so that will help, too.

I love your name, 4Cats4Me, by the way! I've only got one cat and I love her dearly.

Thanks!

Hi,

I know this type of question gets asked frequently and I did a search, but don't see anything for my flight time.

Our Cuba cruise on NCL docks at 7:00 on a Friday morning in Miami. I'd like to book an 11:00 a.m. flight. Since the airport is half an hour from the port, that seems like it wouldn't be a problem, but I know better than to assume anything and thought I should check with experienced Miami cruisers.

thank you!

Firstin87

Hi Stitchcreek,

We are staying at the Hilton Riverside for a few days pre-cruise in Feb. I just called the hotel and found that for $2 per bag, we can store our luggage there when we disembark. I would guess that many hotels near the port provide this service, so you might want to check with your pre-cruise hotel, as well.

Have a great trip!

Firstin87

Good idea to look into. I hadn't thought of that. We are going to NOLA the end of February for 3 days pre-cruise (NCL to Cozumel and Costa Maya). I'm going to call the hotel we're staying at and ask them if they'll hold our luggage for us the day we disembark.

Hmmm... going to a random person's voicemail doesn't sound legit. Even if you're calling during off hours, you should get a businesses voicemail. Added to your not getting a response to your use of their Contact Us form makes me wonder if they are even still in business.

Think I'll pass on using them and come up with another solution. Looking like renting a car on our own for a few hours might be the way to go.

We are in NOLA in March on NCL. Dock at 8:00, flight leaves at 3:30, and we don't want to spend the day at the airport. We're spending 3 days in NOLA pre-cruise, so will have seen the French Quarter and ridden the St. Charles Ave. streetcar. We're hoping to do some kind of private tour or short tour that morning without dealing with our luggage. Has anyone used the advance check in link above more recently than last August? I wonder how secure your luggage is. Also, when you get to the airport and they ask if anyone has had access to your luggage other than you, we'd have to say "yes" and deal with having our luggage searched and maybe delayed.

Also, although unrelated to this thread, if anyone knows of a private tour for 2 people, please let me know.

Great narrative. You sound like someone we'd love to bump into on the ship. Laughing so hard about you not remembering the Welcome Aboard Show. Can see how that would happen.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. Dealing with misdated photos must be a real headache and its nice of you to go to so much work to help the rest of us.

We're planning a Panama Canal cruise on the Sun in the future.

Looking forward to hearing more details and especially seeing the Dailies. We are going to Cuba on the Sun in Oct. and are happy to have this possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the country. I've heard nothing bur positive things about visiting Cuba.

Thank you. I feel better about booking during Halloween week. Hope you enjoyed your cruise. I assume you went on NCL's Sky. We're going on the Sun.

thank you. that's just what I wanted to know. Glad we'll be comfortable going next year. Hope you enjoyed your trip!

Thank you so much. We booked our Cuba trip for Oct. 29 to Nov. 2, 2018. Since you were just there, can you tell me what the weather was like? We're from California and I'm always curious about how humid it is on the "Atlantic side".

Hope you aren't having a hard time recovering from the trip. Returning to real life is such a letdown after a cruise!

Thank you so much for your help. Having a better sense of time makes planning a lot easier.

Thank you, JohninDC. As I'm learning more about the port area, maybe renting a car for our disembarkation day (Fri.) and doing some sightseeing before a later flight would be a good idea. We are flying home to California and most flights are later in the day.

I reread my original post and realize I forgot to include our disembarkation time of 7:00 a.m.

Thanks again!

Hi,

We are fine tuning a trip to Cuba on NCL out of Orlando in Oct. or Nov. of 2018. Not being very familiar with the area, I'm wondering what time those of you who have disembarked at the Orlando port would recommend as our earliest flight time from Orlando International Airport. How fast is the disembarkation process and going through Customs? I think the drive to the airport is an hour, is that correct?

Thanks for your help!

Cyndy

Firstin87