hoopics

Thanks to both for the pictures. Quick question about the bowling -- how hard is it to get a lane, and is there a surcharge to play?

I can't say where the lifejackets are stowed, but I can say that it would be an extremely rare instance where you did not have enough time to get to your muster station or lifeboat. Even the Concordia, had the muster signal been made at the proper time, everyone would have made it to their muster stations. And the Concordia is the most extreme case of a ship flooding and sinking that there could be. Virtually any other circumstance, the last thing you want to do is leave the ship.

Except it wasn't -- and that's the problem with emergencies. Things that are supposed to never happen sometimes happen. Badly. So I think OP's question is entirely fair. Life vests aren't provided in passenger cabins? That's some serious corporate hubris right there. Is that true on all NCL ships?

We're sailing on the Pearl in June, and some of the port times are very short -- notably Ketchikan (6 AM to 1:30 PM) and Victoria (6 PM - 11:59 PM). I typically book shore excursions directly rather than through the cruise line (lower price, smaller groups, and higher quality). The downside is that it inevitably takes longer to exit the ship if you aren't in an excursion booked through the cruise line. The length of that delay seems to vary greatly by vessel and port.

1. Can anyone speak specifically to how bad the lines are to exit the Pearl in Ketchikan and Victoria when the ship first arrives, and how much cushion you'd want between arrival time and a private excursion? There's a trip in Ketchikan at 8 AM that interests me, but does it mean getting in line at 6 AM to be sure I make it?

2. Separately, can anyone recommend a good gold panning excursion in either Juneau or Skagway that isn't totally touristy? I recognize this is a bit of a contradiction, but I'd like something where I can scoop up and pan my own dirt rather than being handed a salted bag in a building by some guy in costume.

3. Anyone have good kid friendly activities in Victoria that require physical activity? We'd love to find a zipline, but our 5 year old seems to be under all the applicable weight and age limits. She's disappointed by this. Anything similarly adrenaline-lite focused that is kid appropriate?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Past reports in this forum suggests Skype is not blocked on Pearl and that internet is fast enough to support Skype voice calls. Before you leave home, download the free Skype app onto your iPhone. If you are only going to be calling people in the United States, you can sign up for one month of unlimited calls to U.S. mobile and landline phones for $2.99 (you'll then need to cancel after your cruise). So long as you are OK with recent reports that the CIA is monitoring all Skype calls and saving text logs of your conversations, it's the cheapest, easiest way to call back into the U.S. from locations where you are dependent on wifi.

Any know if the Jade is at Drydock today? She was scheduled to begin the refurb on 3/10/17 but I haven't heard anything. I have the DOS scheduled for the 4/9/17 cruise and hope it comes out of drydock on schedule.

Norwegian Jade is currently in Tampa: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:368774/imo:9304057/mmsi:308416000/vessel:NORWEGIAN%20JADE

And the current bridge camera view shows her docked in a river that is most definitely not Freeport or some other Dry Dock: http://www.kroooz-cams.com/ncl_hawaii/jade.php

We're booked on the 6/25 sailing, and I can't wait. Just found the linked article with pictures from drydock / after. Looks fabulous.