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5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You will need to be the very first to arrive at the port. Be first in line at security. Be first through checkin with a very low Boarding Group. You’ll need to figure out the terminal and be first when your boarding Groupons called. Then walk fast to the sales point (don’t assume that it is at guest services per web site). There will be a lot of priority boarders before you, so quick general boarding will improve your chances of getting a pass. Plus they will sell more passes with the larger vibe on the Encore. 

I am mostly wondering if I can buy with OBC or if it’s some weird purgatory of after you check in but before you start using OBC!

Sailing in December 2020. I have never bothered with vibe before- but how do you purchase? At guest services? With OBC? I tend to buy small amounts of obc Every week in the months prior to my cruise so I feel like I am not spending on the cruise, and I want to factor that in if it is an obc purchase.

This was posed in another forum so since you just returned I will ask you.

Were you charged additional tax on drinks while in port since you had the UBP?

I know in Seattle I was. And on other cruises, in NY. It’s literally pennies though.

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Thank you mr steward.

It’s not over yet! I have some videos to post.

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So here it was, 11pm, and I am eating bad pizza, drinking iced tea, and staring at a cheesecake, while packing my stuff up. It certainly didn’t go in how it was when I arrived. I am an atheist, but I prayed that my bag didn’t explode at the airport. I thought about sleeping out on the balcony, but the bed was so comfy.

For the first time, I turned off the light BEFORE falling asleep.

Woke up in the morning to a really beautiful day. And room Service. I had delicious breakfast in bed and then migrated to the balcony for coffee.

I realized that I had to go to guest services to get my money back for my cancelled excursion. It was a nice surprise to have some crispy $100 bills in my pocket.

The best thing about the vip Service I was receiving was PRIORITY WALK OFF DISEMBARKATION.

All of the other cruises I have been on, were a little bit undone by disembarkation. This was simple and easy and great. I sat at the terminal for a little while watching the excitement of all of the people getting ready to go on their cruise.

When I was ready, I walked down the street a bit and got myself an uber to the airport.

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Sadly, cruise ship pizza.i wish I had thought to be a baller though! That’s great!

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First off, my phone was dying. The battery backup I brought was dead.

The bike had been shifting hard the whole time; I chalked it up to it being a cheaper bike than the one I owned, ridden hard as a rental. It still rode nicely otherwise. But suddenly, I couldn’t pedal anymore.

I pulled to the side and found that the chain had slipped off of the smallest gear and wedged itself between the gear and the frame of the bike.

Maybe it was my thick manicured nails, or the dark, or impatience but I couldn’t get the chain out. I am fairly handy with bikes but I just couldn’t do it. I called the bike shop on my almost dead phone and told them what was up.

“Can I call you back in like 5 minutes?”he said super casually. These guys were so nice when I met them, but I was getting annoyed. I passive aggressively told him not to bother, I would just walk the bike back SEVERAL MILES and talk to him then. He was like, “cool, ok.”

I love walking and it was a beautiful night for it, but it was soured by a.) having to push a bike and b.) the whole reason I got the bike was so I could see more of the city, not less of it because I had to walk the bike back 90 minutes and then get on the ship early. My plans to find good food were ruined too.

The silver lining was it was beautiful out and the residential area was quiet and serene.

(Victoria likes dogs.)

As I walked closer to the bike rental place, one of the guys came out and met me. I wasn’t mean but my disappointment was pretty evident. He looked at the gears and blamed it on me cross shifting. Actually, it only looked that way because at one point after I broke down I cycled through the gears to count them. I know not to cross shift because my last bike was sensitive to it, but my current bike I could do it if I wanted. There are plenty of people who would rent his bikes that don’t know that’s something not to do, and they gave no warning. I said none of this, and accepted the $10 refund they gave me even if I think I deserved more. After all, one of the guys tied my shoe when I rented the bikes. They were super nice.

I walked back to the ship feeling a little dejected. I didn’t get to find great food in victoria, I was getting on the ship early, and at this hour I wasn’t going to find good food, therefore I was never going to have a great meal on the ship again. My choices were to skip eating or have cruise ship pizza delivery. Cruise ship pizza delivery is only good if 3 criteria are met:

1- it’s after 2am

2- you are drunk

3- you eat it on the floor.

None of these were true at the moment.

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As I was leaving this event, a young girl came up to me and offered me a rose. I began to tell her I couldn’t take it back on the ship with me (let alone carry it on my bike) but she wanted me t have it so I shut up and took it.

I rode around a little more, over a fun bridge as it got dark.

I headed back. Parliament was lit up in the distance.

The city was beautiful.

It was then I ran into trouble.

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Next I rode to centennial square where there was some weird hippy thing going on. People were spinning light sticks and those big light up body batons, there were neon bricks and some strange instrument that made electronic music if you just touched a bar. It was such a nice thing to be a part of on what felt like an early summer night.

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I did buy myself something at a small store that sells local art; a sterling silver plated maple leaf.

Here’s a picture of me wearing it this weekend. I look gross because I have been climbing around in underground tunnels and fighting the rain.

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In Chinatown is a small strip called Fan Tan Alley. It’s a quaint alley full of shops that was once a place for gambling, opium, and prostitution.

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...past the beautiful Parliament House

...up to Chinatown...

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...past the beautiful and famous (infamous?) empress hotel...

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It was still golden hour while I pedaled up through the main part of town...

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I also enjoyed these guys,running loose near the petting zoo. You can hear them before you see them.

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My favorite part of the park was the moss lady. She’s behind the bandshell.

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There are a lot of areas you must walk your bike in the park.

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It was golden hour in the park.

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And suddenly we were nearing Victoria.

I’ll be honest, I considered staying on the ship, staying on my balcony.

I’m glad I didn’t, Victoria is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

Oh Canada!

I picked up my bike at Victoria bike rentals, which is right at the pier. Victoria is a very bike friendly city.

I rode around the coast a little and then to beacon hill park. I have never been to buchart gardens, (which is not in Victoria, it’s about 40 minutes away.) but beacon hill park is so beautiful I don’t see how it’s neccesary.

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So I totally forgot to mention the cruise critic wrap this day. Basically all of the officers wanted our feedback. They were very cool and open to it, but it was mostly positive. It really makes you feel special when everyone knows your name. How the crew does that is beyond me but that was my main feedback. I also feel that as a vegetarian, NCL has plenty of great options without having to make special arrangements. I did say that their Asian vegetarian offerings are weak and that’s really an easy place to make veg friendly.

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Oh man that crepe looks delish. I wonder if I missed them on the Dawn??

It didn’t seem like they were always there (although I rarely paid attention in the buffet.) my guess is they are there at prime dinner time, 6-7 maybe?

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We interrupt this post to give you the MDR menus this day.

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Day 7: Victoria

Woke up to the most beautiful day we have had so far on the cruise.

Had breakfast in the buffet for the first time. Watched whales and dolphins next to the ship. It was really cool.

Spent a good amount of time barefoot on the pool deck drinking umbrella drinks. I joined in the hottub with some nice people for awhile. This day, even pre-port, was turning out to be my favorite just for the beautiful weather.

I went back to the room to dry off, and decided to sit on my balcony in pajama shorts.

This vastly improved my day, and I decided I was not going to leave my balcony until it was time to get off in Victoria. So I ordered room service and ate lunch on the balcony.

It’s a good thing throwing things off your balcony is frowned upon. Because I detest ketchup, even when it’s cute.

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And here is our last set of dailies:

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Sure, I’ll have some dessert.

Upon walking around I realized they had a crepe station I hadn’t seen before. So, I got some crepes.

Hey, it’s vacation.

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