newcruiser1956

4 hours ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

I never thought about the gratuities! I certainly would not have wanted that back but fairly certain it was included in the refund. 

Since you were on the ship,  could you share with us how they decided the order of who was going up in the helicopters after the obviously injured ones?  

I was on the Sky and was able to skype with my vets office,  I was in Italy,  He was in NC.   I thought the internet was very good

They do hand it back to you when they stamp it,  I only did one port so guess they will look for their stamp when you come through the others

24 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Personally, I would not think twice about sailing on the Sky.  There are no repairs to the engines or machinery systems, and the only repairs will be to windows and cosmetic repairs to the hotel side (and a new anchor and chain).  How do they know it wasn't an oil leak that caused the low oil?  Because there wasn't a large area of oil residue in the bilges around the engines.  Each engine sump tank holds about 3 cubic meters of oil (about 800 gallons) and the difference between the normal operating level and the low level alarm would be 200-300 gallons, which would make quite the mess.

I loved my trip on the Sky and would go again in a heartbeat. 

That is new,  I went last year and did not have to have it.

I am going in 2 months on Carnival and have not been told I must have it.

4 minutes ago, gatour said:

No disagreement, spoken as someone who started programming on a TRS80 and an Apple 2  🙂

Oh the good old days of Dos  :)    I started on a 4 K color computer.  We had to save to a cassette player LOL

1 hour ago, dawnprincess said:

I am curious how long the process is disembarking in Havana. Trying to figure out time needed before meeting our guide. So is there a bag inspection, I guess they check your Visa, etc. is money changing place close by. Are lines long to exchange money into CUCs?  Thanks in advance for your help. Sailing on NCL Sun at end of April. 

It depends on if you are one of the first ones off the ship or not.  I was one of the first and it took 10-15 minutes before I was out the door.

You go through immigration, give them your Visa, show your passport,   then the money exchange is right down from there.   Again for exchanging the money depends on how fast you are off the ship...

Most of the guides have a set time of meeting.  9 or 10 am depending on your ship.

Alana

2 minutes ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Grace,  there are no inside cabins,  all have balconies on this ship. 

 

48 minutes ago, Cruise it or lose it said:

Maybe there is comfort in being with others.

Maybe because everyone is on the upper floors (like 7) and the rooms lower are having lots of water damage from the waves hitting the balcony doors.  The picture of all the furniture sliding was on the 7th floor.

I was on the ship in January.  Others have posted that some of the lower rooms have water damage.

7 hours ago, dawnbt said:

Wow that's amazing! I looked at Shoretrips, Shore Excursion Group, and NCL and the best deal I could find was $70 per person for a three hour walking tour. Thank you all!

They really are worth it,  They will take you where ever you want.  You will also be driven in a beautiful old car that will be in great condition. I was in a 1956 chevy.  The guide really know their stuff :)

32 minutes ago, Hanoj said:

Agree. I'm having second thoughts about our Med cruise on Viking Star in 2 months. 

You do know they are not in the med, right?  :)

3 minutes ago, Hanoj said:

I get that. My concern has more to do with whether this incident was impacted by an error in judgment, which is conjecture at this point.

I was on the Sky in Jan.    The Captain kept us in port for an extra and skipped another because he felt the weather was going to be bad enough to make it unsafe for us to dock.  I sincerely doubt this was bad judgement.  He did not act reckless with us 3 months ago.

3 hours ago, Presto2 said:

I can not imagine that they are in muster stations knee deep in water ……… they are 7 decks up I imagine. Doesn't help people with family on there though. Some people are idiots posting rubbish (i.e. on Twitter) --- shame on them.

They are not at muster stations, they have moved inside and up... I suspect that is from the broken door letting water in when the waves crash over the sides.  Some waves are 40+ feet high.  I do not think they are posting rubbish,  they are just posting their current reality.

5 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

Yikes!  That's the ship we are booked on for our Trade Routes of the Middle Ages in the fall of 2020.  I was happy because it was one of the newer ships.  Guess that doesn't mean much!

It is a beautiful ship,  you will enjoy it

Viking knows how to do it right :)

Just FYI, this just made the new,  it concerns the Sky.    Sorry put on wrong board,  belongs to Viking Sky (I don't know how to delete it here) 

http://crew-center.com/cruise-ship-trouble-all-passengers-and-crew-onboard-be-evacuated?fbclid=IwAR27rkW7Mis5XsLEvXgoOM6uWImGWyqPDvhM6DPYa3Et44EyU8sbLBdDtPs

Just now, dawnbt said:

You're a huge blessing!  Thank you!  I was concerned because I'm traveling with my 15 year old daughter and want to make sure we're doing everything on the up and up.  I sent Blexie and email.  What did you do at night?  Are cabs right near the port?  How much are they?  Did you bring us currency to exchange?  I read you get better exchange rate if you use Euros and that some places take Visa.

Do not count on any place taking Visa....  Bring cash.  You do get a better exchange rate using Euro's than USD but by the time you pay your own bank to exchange your money to Euors'  you might as well wait and do it in Cuba.

The prices of the cabs are not expensive,  tell them where you want to go and ask how much before you get in.  There are many clubs etc to go to.  If you are traveling with your daughter she would probably have more fun back on the ship.  

You will get off the ship on the 3rd floor of the ship just FYI,  so be ready on 4 to go down if you want to get out the door early.  You can download an app that has the streets of cuba onto your phone and not need internet to use it.  Lots of things very close to the port to see if you get off early.  Public bathrooms are the only difficult thing to find,  it is not like the US.  If you are out early, also head to the right when you come of of the door of the port, (do not cross the street)   you will walk along the water,  pretty cool area, follow it around and you will see the museum.    When you are coming into the port area,  look up the hill to your left of the ship,  You will see the fort on the hill,  really cool.  

If your daughter is a vegetarian,  they do have a decent veggie burger,  you just need to ask for it 

Alana

Just tell him which ship you are coming in on and the date,  He has lots of guides,  they all speak English.  They will meet you across the street from the port.  You come off the ship, go through immigration,  exchange your cash and out the building.  Walk across the street and all the tour guys are standing in the court yard holding up signs with your names.    If you have time,  once you go into the courtyard, go to the big church to the left and look at the cool art work in the garden area.  There is a plaque there to Princess Diana also on the wall there.

Oy NCL is being a pain.. No I did not do any of that... I did not go on any NCL excursions. I toured with Blexie and went back out for the evening by getting a cab.   Blexie actually has a thing you can download for your proof of where you went.  Although he will take you where ever you want to go. I had a list :)  I have a new list this time.    The tour with Blexie is 10 am to 4 pm    Immigration does take your visa, they stamp your passport and they don't care if you come back and forth.  They do not ask you if you have excursions or not,  they do not care.  They just want you to spend money on their very poor island :)    Everyone in Cuba was very very friendly.  I walked around for several hours alone (I am a 60+ female) and never felt unsafe.  Don't over think it :)

On NCL they have a link to go through to get your Visa,  it cost $75.  Just mark in support of the Cuban people.  It will be fine :)

Alana

Here is his website   https://havanatours.wixsite.com/blexie

You can roam around

and yes you are allowed to get off again.  If you are going in on NCL you are there over night aren't you?  (I was on Sky and we were there over night.)  Went out all day,  came back in to eat etc... and then went back out to a show that evening.  You just have to go through immigration each time,  only takes a few minutes usually.  Truly not a big deal

Make sure to carry a few kleenex,  some bathrooms do not have TP.

It is an amazing place to see.  :)

I never saw anyone smoking when I was in Havana, except at the restaurant  where we had lunch and it was well ventilated.  

On 3/8/2019 at 4:12 PM, K&RCurt said:

Thanks for your review.

 

We are in the Process of trying to book a tour through Blexie.  We exchanged emails once, got his typical itinerary and pricing information and he requested a reply to confirm we wanted to book.  I sent back a confirmation and never heard back.  A week later I sent another confirmation, fearing internet issues may have delayed or prevented the first one arriving and another week has passed without reply.

 

I was wondering how long it took you to receive a reply for your booking?

I was Blexie last year and am returning to Havana in May and touring again with them.  You may message him on his facebook page or shoot him another email.  It does sometimes take him a few days to get back with you.   He has lots of guides,  their English is excellent and they really do know the history of their country.  Much better than most Americans know of our own. (smile)   

7 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

The cabins on the sky were very comfortable and we spent a lot of time in ours.  I was not into the entertainment on the ship.  They have a ton of great movies available on the TV,  so after a day of excursions it was food, hot tub and movies in bed  or room service.  We only did the included excursions,  (we arrived in Rome a few days early so did all the pay stuff then)  the free ones were fine.  You saw a lot, they explained a lot and we had time for shopping while there.  In Valencia they gave us about 4 hours to stay and shop and had shuttles running back and forth to the ship every 30 minutes.  You don't have to spend lots of  money for paid excursions if you don't want to.    Viking is a class act, wish I could afford to go on them again.

 

I enjoyed the segaway tour of Portland,  the guides showed and explained a lot, and found the tickets 1/2 price on Groupon.   They also have a top notch science museaum

On 3/9/2019 at 3:36 PM, Bob NC said:

We have been told by many bartenders/servers, if you leave an extra tip on the SS card, (on the receipt), it all goes to the employee named on the receipt.  If you tip cash they are supposed to put it in the pool for splitting.

 

I had thought it was the other way around.

I had one of the bar servers tell me they receive no pay, it is tips only.  I have no clue if that is true or not,  He has been working on the ships for 10 years.  I tipped him an extra $1. cash each time he brought me a drink.  He took good care of me :)

12 hours ago, Debbborra said:

I wonder how things would have gone if instead they had asked, "Would you like to say grace with us?" 

Some of us are not religious, I would have found it very offensive if someone tried pushing it on me.

If they had asked in the way your question is,  we would have said no thank you and finished eating or moved.  It would have made me very uncomfortable.  Not everyone is a believer. 

14 minutes ago, DebInAntigua said:

 

Sorry, but the fact that we share a dining table does not mean you have the right to impose your religion on me in any way. 

 

You are polite,  I probably would have said something or just continued eating. I  am one of those non-believers and you do not have the right to impose your religion on me either.  You can pray all you want, I won't bother you, but I am sure am not going to join you.