Brian V

6 hours ago, SkeeterPilot said:

One benefit was when you check in at the airport you check in for the cruise.  There were no lines and it went really quick.

I was wondering about that @SkeeterPilot, we will be on the train to Seward in September 🙂

Getting to the ship later in the day...it's not a real issue for us, we will have booked our dining already so muster station, bar, enjoy! Looking forward to some great scenery 👍

The one thing to be really aware of...as a reprice is treated as a cancelation and rebooking, you will get the extras / offers in effect at the time of the rebooking.

Our Med cruise was like that, substantial price drop just before final payment, asked for a reprice and had to choose - keep $800 in my pocket or get double extra latitude points?

We saved the $800 🙂

Not sure how it would work if you did an upgrade, ie: you booked a balcony but now a club balcony is cheaper than what you booked. Still a cancel / rebook or not? Going to talk to my PCC later this week and find out 🙂

The Epic, much like the Breakaway (+) class ships only has 2 elevator lobbies / stairwells. More elevators in each but only 2 of them. The walk is not that bad, figure out which one gets you closest to where you want to be and follow the fishes 🙂

The promenade (deck 7) is the life boat deck...you have to go through the interior of the ship to get to the other side on both ends, no way to just go around the whole ship out doors. Nothing like the Waterfront on the Breakaway (+) class ships 😞

Can't comment on the cabins, we were in a standard balcony on deck 10.

5 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

after a couple of days taking in San Juan, which is definitely worth the time.

100% agree, we loved San Juan 😍

Snorkeling in Bonaire...best port call / excursion ever in our books 👍

Comparing the "per item" pricing with the "all you can stuff in this bag for $29" deal...we saved about $100 on our last trip 🙂

Comes back nicely folded in a little wicker basket (or 2 if your a good stuffer 😉 ) - well worth it after a day of off road buggies in the mud!

1 hour ago, mamajean1113 said:

The balcony itself was a little bigger than a normal balcony room but what I really hated was the tub.

I was really hoping that the latest drydock on the Jewel class ships got rid of the bathtub in favour of the (freaking awesome!) shower in the club balcony on the Breakaway(+) class ships. Looks like that didn't happen😞

Was willing to take a chance on the potential noise (right under the pool deck / gym / spa, etc) but if it's still a tub...pass 😞

What @lobsternight said - except mid September of 2021 🙂

Liquid Sunshine in the morning in Juneau, tee shirts and shorts the rest of the cruise.😎

I topped up my tan pretty nicely on the waterfront on the Encore👍

It really is a crapshoot any time, more chance of rain later, better glaciers earlier...just hope we don't "Crap Out" this time🤪

1 hour ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

I thought that coffee from the buffet or the dining rooms tasted better.

Yikes!

The "coffee" we have had in the buffet and the dining rooms has been...brown? Yes. Hot? Yes. Drinkable? Barely (in our opinion). First stop in most ports has been a café for a decent cappuccino 😉

The thought that the in cabin coffee could be worse is somewhat frightening😱 

We have a similar situation - port schedule list on another site shows us in Juneau and Skagway at the exact same time on the same day...

Going to defer to NCL's itinerary 🙂

Not to hijack this but...Last time we were in Juneau we ended up docking at the AJ dock, Wondering if the blue bus picks up / drops off at the AJ dock as well when it is in use?

@suzzek, you will love it!

First few seconds is like a free fall😲, then a tree top blitz to the bottom 👍

The description on the southbound makes no mention of bus transfers to the airport station - it does indicate checking in before noon for a 1:00 pm departure.

7 hours ago, njkate said:

the private train leaves at 7, not sure I’d be up to that after a day of flying into anchorage 

We looked at that but 7am...the wife's response was a "hard no" (more colourful words but the same message) to that 🙂

Was prepared to book a bus transfer when I noticed the time on the chartered train, 1 in the afternoon departure was met with a much kinder response...and the $50 excursion credit didn't hurt 👍

@The Traveling Man, we are staying near the airport pre cruise and catching the hotel shuttle to the airport station for the excursion train leaving at 1:00 - am I correct in assuming all the checked bags get loaded onto a truck and driven to the pier, arriving well before the passengers?

Also, is there food and drink available on the chartered train as there is on the regular train?

As many others have pointed out, showers vary ship to ship and line to line.

Our experience has all been on NCL in (with one exception) standard balcony cabins and all the showers have had glass (plastic?) doors, no clingy curtains. For the most part, there has been adequate room for myself OR the missus - and neither of us would every be described as svelte 😉

Best we had was when we got an unexpected bump up to a club balcony, the shower was huge and had 6 jets on the wall along with the rainfall (?) head above 😎 There was actually enough room for the 2 of us if we wanted...seriously worth it for the right price 👍

Water pressure was fine and temp's stayed steady on all the ships we were on.

On 3/24/2023 at 7:29 PM, mrgabriel said:

I thought my tan had frozen off!

Damn, so THATS what happens to us in the winter 🥶

Last trip we embarked at San Juan in early January - fortunate that is wasn't -30 when we left, fairly light jacket and long pants were fine for the shuttle to the terminal.

Not sure what our cabin steward (a Pilipino) thought of our "Spring Jackets" hanging on the wall in 28 degree temps in the Caribbean...but we were warm enough when we got back to YYC 👍

We did this in Sept of 21 (pre gondola) - the bus ride up the mountain was a blast, saw lots of deer on the way.

Our guide (Jimmy?) was a hoot, gave a really good talk on the history and culture of the Tlingit people on the 45 minute ride up. 

"45 minutes up, 45 seconds down!" he told us - he wasn't lying 🙂

When they dropped the barriers and launched us...it was like freefall for the first 5 seconds or so😲

Highly recommend 👍

7 hours ago, ontheweb said:

However, I still think the new procedure does not adequately train the crew what to do in a real muster situation.

 Compared to fighting a fire onboard😮, dealing with flooding below decks, a man overboard situation...herding their charges to the lifeboats is the easiest thing they would need do in an emergency. The in person muster drill does as much for the crew as the safety demo does for the flight attendants on an airplane - and that is nothing.

Stay onboard when the ship is in port - you will see there are always drills and training going on for the crew. They do it every single sailing of their contract. The muster drill is intended for the passengers, and the passengers only. As @RocketMan275 notes (emphasis mine)

On 3/20/2023 at 3:07 PM, RocketMan275 said:

Standing in ranks, attending a safety presentation that one cannot hear nor view, does not in any fashion enhance passenger safety.  

 I am personally glad to see NCL come to their senses and return to the e-muster👍

2 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

You could drive to Skagway from Vancouver but it would require an 3600 mile round trip over a lot of gravel roads.

Or fly into Edmonton, 4200 km (2550 miles or so) round trip, all paved 🤪

We went up on the Encore in Sept of 21 - the weather was fantastic for us and yes, the waterslide was running.

Not a lot of takers (no kids on that trip) but it was open 🙂

5 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

Of note this summer is a special exhibit at the Tongass Historical Museum, called Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline that I'm really excited about.

We are looking at that as well, we will be there in September - guessing the exhibit will be there right through the cruising season?

5 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

I also go to Soho Coho to add to my "real" Alaska tee shirt collection.

Love that place, lots of stuff from local artists - picked up a print on aluminum last time, that was a challenge to pack for the flight home 🙂

23 hours ago, njkate said:

When you check the coupon box it should change your total due. The coupon itself is not enough to book you have to at least put down the $250 deposit. The two coupons in my daughters act is one for 20% off Bliss or Encore, the other is 50% off Spirt, Jewel Sun

Already used 2 CN's for the deposit, payment page shows 2x 50% off...

17 hours ago, LloydJr said:

If you've already paid your deposit, try making a payment of $1 and applying the coupon at the same time.

That did the trick @LloydJr, thanks so much 😃

Will send a note to my PCC so she might be able to help someone else 😈

Tempted to see if the second coupon would go through..."free" cruise sounds like fun 😎

This one has me scratching my head...we got the 50% off coupons (there are 2 showing in my account) but when I try to apply one, it tells me another form of payment is needed. I am assuming we can only use 1...or do we get 100% discount🤪

Can I not apply these coupons before final payment? Would be nice to know exactly how much I need to pay as our final payment is not due until May 14th, and the coupons expire April 15th - would just as soon not give NCL all my money any sooner than I have too 😉

My PCC has been less than helpful, something about "the coupons are in US$" (and we are Canadian) but...isn't 50% the same like...everywhere?

If push comes to shove I will make final payment a month early but sheesh - what 12 year old set up the NCL payment system?😞

On 3/5/2023 at 7:01 AM, CDNPolar said:

Likewise... we never know where we will end up.  We go where the wind takes us and often very unplanned.  We often need maps to get back to our starting point.

When you download offline maps, you are downloading a map of an area...not directions to a specific place.

Download the area you want and when you get to your destination, just leave your mobile data off...google maps will use your stored map (along with always available GPS signal) for any navigation you want - no data required.

We were in the Caribbean in January, I downloaded the islands we were visiting and used them with no problem. A detailed map of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao only used 87 mb of storage.

Search "offline maps" from your settings page, pretty easy to set up 🙂

Not sure how any of this works for apple products...

From past experience, you get to choose 4 dishes for each dining credit.

For the DW and I, 4 dishes worked out to a nice lunch for 2 of us...twice 🙂