Summerstravel

27 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

got my fingers crossed for you! 

Good Luck keep us posted!

2 hours ago, SimplyAlbert said:

 

This was the first cruise we've ever taken where they had us change our watches/clocks.  We've always left port on ship time and stayed on ship time throughout the cruise.  They put a card on your bed at night with the Freestyle Daily with instructions to either turn your clocks back or forward an hour.

Oh wow thank you for sharing with us. I plan on doing a private tour at one of the ports and want to make sure I don't miss the ship. 

Thank you for sharing. I have a question about the time zones. Does the ship stay on ship time or use local time zones in ports? I am concerned about port times and returning to the ship on time. Any information would be really helpful. 

I also read on another site that the Breakaway was out of crown royal on the whole ship. 

3 hours ago, ElizaSTN said:

Again, we are on the Escape right now and I wanted to share our experience with the Premium Plus beverage package for anyone considering buying the package AT THIS TIME.  We upgraded unreservedly - we drink wine and scotch, love a good latte, prefer sparkling water (me at least) and often need some sports drinks after a night out. And despite what I’m going to say next, we’d probably still do it and it probably still paid for itself.

 

HOWEVER.  The ship clearly has a wine supply issue at this time.  The PP+ comes with a bottle of wine per person at dinner each night…specialty restaurants have almost none of the PP+ options available, at least of white wine.  At both La Cucina and Bayamo, there was 1 option each - a terribly oakey Chardonnay and the East West NCL brand (both among the cheapest bottles on the list, coincidently.)  I was given the hard sell to buy a la carte bottles, which was extremely annoying.  Also - despite my husband and I both having the package and both being entitled to a bottle, they wouldn’t give us the second bottle at La Cucina because we hadn’t finished the first (we ordering Moët with dessert.  No go.)  At both restaurants, options by the glass were also lacking.  And the wine stewards in both restaurants were…unhelpful.  The experience was unpleasant.

 

I know that the package specifies that the offered options can change without notice, but having a single, sub-par bottle of white available doesn’t really cut it IMO. 
 

I will say that options in the Haven restaurant were much much better.  But not everyone who is considering the package may be staying the in Haven.  We are dining at Le Bistro tomorrow night and will report back on how that goes.

 

I have no doubt that this is a temporary situation due to supply chain issues outside NCL’s control.  But I wanted to share this experience for anyone considering this package in the near future.  As I said, we are still glad we got it, and have gotten value out of it.  But the bottle situation has been a big disappointment and frustration. 

 

I would speak with the concierge in the Haven they can make things happen. Especially if they have better options in the Haven.  

Thanks everyone I ordered some luggage tags and also purchased a couple luggage ID straps with my last name for my checked luggage. 

Now I need a good backpack for my laptop and medicine. lol  

What is the best way to cover the tag for the luggage tags we print at home? I am sure some of you have great ideas. Thank You!  

I just read on another site the Breakaway is out of Crown Royal on the ship. This has something to do with the Canadian Truckers blocking the borders. Hope they have it back in stock by April. yikes 

I am sailing in April on the Breakaway and would love to see the room service and daily menu's for main dining rooms . Thank you 

25 minutes ago, ravenjls said:

We are on the Joy starting 3/5.  NCL has partnered with with Inspire to do the at home visual testing.  It was SOO easy to sign up and pick your time 2 days before cruise.  They will send a reminder.  They have a 3 test kit option for $80.  My test kits were sent out the very next day after ordering and I have a UPS email saying it will be delivered on Tuesday.  Since NCL has partnered with them, you actually check off your actual cruise and give them your reservation # along with how many are traveling.  

Oh wow this sounds great thank you. 

3 hours ago, Starflyr3 said:

Just scheduled with inspire. It’s seems more streamlined than emed, and we’ll be in the city of embarkation >48 hour prior, so it will be nice to not have to search around for a testing site.

 

we will do the rapid antigen… it is good at determining if someone is contagious or not at the time of the test.  PCR can return positive for *months* after infection because it relies on virus fragments, not the live, whole virus

Could you please share details why you went with inspire over emed? I am trying to decided. thank you 

4 hours ago, roger001 said:

I sure wish NCL would change the test to 3 days before instead of two.  One day shouldn't make a big difference in validity of the test....and would make it soooo much more convenient.  At the moment the 2 day requirement is stopping me from booking again.  

I know it would be nice as I will be traveling on the 2 day mark. 

2 hours ago, karmamule said:

Depending on your travelers' preferences, don't underestimate the potential value of non-alcoholic drinks covered by Premium Plus too.

 

There are 4 of us traveling on our May cruise on NCL Joy, and while 2 of us will get good benefit from Premium Plus on the alcohol side, 3 of the 4 of us will be having a couple lattes or other Starbucks drinks each day and that's a good chunk of change right there. A couple of us are also fresh-squeezed juice snobs so there's some more savings. Finally, the two youngest like their energy drinks and that's also something covered by Premium Plus but not Premium.

Speaking of sports drink do we not what is available on the ship? I love my Gatorade zero but I know NCL is limited in its sugar free drinks. 

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

https://www.emed.com/ make sure the test kit has the telehealth service 

Great thank you so much! 

I think for my cruise in April I will probably go with one of the online proctored tests.  Does anyone have the link for them to purchase? I will be traveling in a couple days early for the cruise so this will work best for me. 

6 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I can recommend that!  The USS Tang Experience (which is an extra cost) is well worth the money and will provide you with some thought provoking, sobering moments.  

I will look into that sounds very interesting. Thank you! 

11 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

We cruised from NOLA in December.  We enjoyed eating at Gordon Biersch and Grand Isle.  Both are very close to Harrah's and you can  find out more about them if you look at Harrah's website under dining.   We also had a good meal at the SteakHouse inside the casino. 

 

There are two shopping malls that are close.  On Canal street a block or so from the casino there is shopping mall.  There is also the Riverwalk Outlet mall with a lot of venues including a Cafe du Monde.  The Riverwalk mall runs from the Hilton to the cruise terminal.  All very close.  You can also ride on the streetcar system to get to several other areas.  It's fun and easy to ride.

Thanks for sharing I plan on visiting Cafe du Monde.  I also plan on exploring the Riverwalk mall area and I am also thinking of visiting the WW2 museum.  So many fun things to do I can't wait. 

11 hours ago, complawyer said:

summerstravel: harrah's is the hotel, and the casino is just across the street. there are loads of restaurants inthe casino, caveat: the last time we were there  we had our 13 year old grandson, and were told no one under18 could enter the casino which meant we couldnt bring  him in to eat (which i thought was completely ridiculous.

there is also a very nice sushi bar a few blocks away.

 

harrah's had a great concierge and he gave us tips as to where to go and eat. we stayed for 3 days prior to the sailing and overnight after the cruise, it also isnt very far from the airport, but you do need to grab a cab. there are also many restaurants at the riverside. 

This sounds great thank you. You would think they would let minors at least come in to eat the restaurants.  I will be spending 2 nights before cruise and 1 night after. 

32 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

We have stayed at Harrah's beautiful hotel pre and post cruise numerous times.  If you have any status with Caesar's casinos, you might get a good deal (or comped!).   We love this location and always walk with our rolling luggage to the cruise terminal.  (And we have been retired for a few years)

Can you recommend places to eat close by Harrah's? Also is there a drug store close by you can walk to? I will staying there a few nights in April before and after my cruise. 

Wow that would make me very upset. Please keep us posted. 

2 hours ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

Just wanted to give a shout out because I have been reading so much negative stuff about NCL and cruising these last few weeks. We boarded in New Orlenas today and it has been nothing short of FANTASTIC! COVID testing took us 17 minutes start to getting our results. 9:22 AM To text at 9:39AM. The staff has been SO attentive and wonderful. I have zero complaints about anything for this entire day. 

Thank you sharing I don't cruise the breakaway till April but it is great to read good news from passengers. Please enjoy your cruise and keep sharing. 

1 hour ago, kuku77254 said:

So, no one can give the definitive answer on this but curious what the thoughts are... if you have FCC issued from the early covid cancellations that was to expire 12/31/21 (now pushed to 1/31/22) to be used by 12/31/22 and you booked a cruise traveling before 5/22 but now want to cancel under POM, does the new FCC still expire 1/31/22? Unless they extend the FCC expirations or the use by date, it doesn't really help that much for anyone that has a limited schedule in which they can book during a year. That's a lot of dates, I hope the question was clear.

I've been wondering the exact same thing. 

I have to wait hours for a Delta airline agent to answer but NCL agents have always answered in a timely manner. 

2 hours ago, GreenValleyDogWalker said:

Hi - My birthday is also on January 7th !  - I wanted to be onboard on the big day - but that would have meant that we would have to fly into New Orleans on January 1st (to board on the sail date of January 2nd)  Not a good idea, I thought at the time

So changed to a sail date of January 16th - Now all I want is for NCL to CANCEL - so that I can get FCC's !! 🤣

Wow lol that is so crazy same birthday. I am schedule for the April 10th cruise on the Breakaway. I hope NCL offers something it is such a shame this is happening. They may cancel I would say anything can happen at the moment.  

1 hour ago, flying fingers said:

I'm scheduled to sail on the 9th.  Can live without shows but if casino and restaurants closed I will not be happy. I wish they would just let us move our bookings to a later date or offer FCC. 

I feel the exact same way. I almost scheduled this cruise because it was so close to my birthday on the 7th but I scheduled for April 2022. This is terrible I am so sorry this is happening. I hope NCL steps up.