dolfan1980

On 3/19/2022 at 1:06 AM, BoundForSea said:

We’re looking forward to our Alaska sailing early May. My question is this. Will they skip the scheduled short Canadian port stop on the last night to comply with the old legal requirement (this relief based on the temporary Bill passed by Congress last year still in effect) or will they make the stop and have to make us comply with the rigorous testing requirements set recently by the Canadians? This includes pre cruise test, port embarkation test, and another test on board prior to arrival in Canada. We’re finally coming out the other side of this so I’m personally really hoping they just decide to skip Canada and use the exemption and we just do the 48hr pre cruise test. 

 

If anyone has any word or info please share…

You're behind the times.  The US has stricter entry requirements than Canada as of April 1.

$19 at Walmart I've used for my last few trips to the US.

Joe Fortes, Black and Blue, Elisa, Tableau, Miku, lots of great spots depending what you like to eat.

Everyone has a different tolerance for things and difference experiences.  I have taken more flights in the past three weeks than many people have in their lifetime.  I have lost a bag, had a long layover, had a delayed covid test result and got stuck in Newark to de-ice twice and delayed several hours all in the past three weeks.  ***** happens when traveling and everyone handles it differently.  I would be the person tweeting about how I'm going with the flow and some of my closest friends and family would be acting like their lives were at risk or over.  

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it makes zero sense to me why anyone would leave their country without a passport.  I don't care at all if you're on a closed loop cruise or not, the minute you hit international waters or international ports, it's just plain dumb to not have a passport.

I'm not sure why people without actual experience have provided this input.  I sailed the Joy in December, so no Encore/Epic experience, but I can tell you that I had no trouble at all using VPN from work and participated in numerous MS Teams meetings.  The quality of video was generally good, with the odd need to turn off cameras to keep the feed going, but I participated in probably 1-2 hours of calls per day on my 7 day sailing without many more issues than I normally have at home.  I did not find any difference at sea or in port.

I will add an extra caution to my note above that I have no sailed Epic/Encore, which may or may not have an older system than Joy which is a very new ship.  I have sailed other ships in the past where the wifi has been terrible (NCL Sky, RCCL Mariner, Oasis, but those cruises were 5+ years ago with the exception of Sky in 2019).

Good luck, perhaps someone with recent Encore/Epic experience can weigh in.

1 hour ago, deliver42 said:

It was caused by strong winds. Nothing could be done. 

This wouldn't hold up in the marine academy.  You make decisions based on weather, tides, etc before you decide to go somewhere or not.  

1 minute ago, lx200gps said:

OK. I'll bite. Why would the possibility of facing a $6500 fine at the end of a cruise because you had tested positive NOT an issue?

Agreed, this is also a question I'd like answered.  With an April cruise booked ending in Vancouver, I'm sure NCL will not keep me on board if I have a positive test, and as it stands, I understand it's a 5k fine to enter the country with a positive test.

Great to hear.  When I sailed in December the MDR was shaking and shaking beyond what I would call normal.  Seems they hopefully found a fix.  My guess is they were running with a generator down and didn't tell people.

13 hours ago, Fouremco said:

There has been nothing indicating that such a significant change is about to take place. Moreover, with the sad situation in Ukraine demanding the government's full attention, I doubt that a decision of this magnitude would be made in the near future. If the current regulations governing pre-entry testing are unacceptable for your brother and his family, I suspect that they'll be taking advantage of the FCC offer from Princess. 

I wouldn't say that the Ukraine situation takes all the government's attention.  Sure it's a key issue, but the government has a Cabinet of about 40 people and a professional public service of ~300,000.  I suspect the reality is that they want to get through March break most likely and see if any new waves become imminent and then further lessening of restrictions is likely.  I wouldn't be surprised to hear both Canada and US dropping requirements soon, at least for their own citizens.

My apologies if this question has been answered 50 times already, hard to sift through 48 pages of posts.  I have upgraded two previous NCL cruises and most recent in December I was able to upgrade from a Balcony to a Club Balcony with a $20 minimum bid (all dollar references Canadian).  

We are sailing again in about a month and I see that the smallest minimum bid I'm allowed is $130 pp. Does this slide a lot in the weeks before sailing in the experience of those who have one this a lot?  I'm happy with the room I have, but if I can score a cheap upgrade I'm happy to wait as well.   

I can't see the splash academy causing too much disruptive noise unless you really like to sleep in late or nap during the day and even then it might only be the odd kid running down the hall.  For that kind of cruise I can't imagine there would be very many kids at all anyways.

10 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Wondering the same thing. If you have a stop in Victoria and disembarking in Vancouver, would the ship do the 72 hour test and that would cover both? Or would it be two separate tests? I'm planning on a coastal that ends on Vancouver with a stop in Victoria...seems like a lot of testing for 5 days, LOL

Looks like I'm planning to be on the same sailing, was about to book tonight and had one hiccup with work to resolve before we book.  I do wonder how NCL will handle this.  When I cruised in December they offered tests to everyone who needed one on board, but it was really just Canadians who needed them and likely just a hundred people, not everyone on the sailing, potentially twice.

6 hours ago, lots-of-km2 said:

It'll work only if your work VPN simulates a Canadian IP address.  Otherwise, you'll need to use an app or browser extension. 

It worked perfect, thank you for the tip.

25 minutes ago, lots-of-km2 said:

Yes, there is,  @dolfan1980.   You need to "trick" NCL into thinking that you're in Canada with a Canadian IP (Internet Protocol) address.   Currently,  NCL knows that you're visiting its website from a US IP address. There is no button or option on NCL.com to switch currencies, so the only way you can get the different currencies is to pretend you're surfing from the country whose currency you want to see quoted on NCL.com. 

 

The way you trick NCL into thinking that you're surfing the web from Canada is by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network).  This is perfectly legal and not risky, in case you are wondering.  There are a number of free and trustworthy VPN services that have app extensions for the Google Chrome browser, if that's the browser you're using.   Just go to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/vpn and find a free service. 

I have a work VPN, perhaps that will work, thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions/offers?

Is there a way to search cruises on the NCL site in Canadian Dollars while in the US?  I'm vacationing at my parents and I can't seem to search in Canadian Dollars.  I can on third party sites, but trying on the NCL site.  Cannot find a button to change it for the life of me.

Any help appreciated!  

I doubt anyone is getting a refund given the company is in insolvency/bankruptcy and your unsecured claim is very very likely to never be paid a penny.   Insurance is really likely your only option if you have it.

Funny enough, they've made the renewal for many people more difficult than the benefit the card provides lately.  Each time I've tried to use my card lately I've been demanded to produce my passport anyways (except for airport priority security which only seems to exist in YVR/YOW at the times I fly).    

1 hour ago, waiting2retire said:

My feelings exactly!!

Well as Canadians we don't have an "original paper copy" anyways.  Best you can do is print from what you download.

58 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

Thanks for the info. We have cancel 3 cruises already in the past two years and really looking forward to our Alaska cruise. My only concern is disembark. Is this Government going to make us take a PCR test?  With 3,000 + people getting off the ship, I don’t think so.  Wait and see I guess. 

I think that's the issue really.  Most americans and europeans will have the option to disembark and leave the country as a transiting person and avoid testing perhaps, but I have no idea how much of the traffic is typically Canadian and if that would be enough to cancel the season again if testing requirements persist.

On 2/1/2022 at 5:44 PM, Fouremco said:

You need an actual, physical copy. 

I sailed NCL recently and used the vaccination record off my phone no problem.  Really only Americans had vaccine cards, some Canadians had printed their qr code sheets.

Does anyone have insight as to at what point cruise lines would need to know if there will be a summer Alaska cruise season out of Vancouver to either commit or pull the plug on the hiring/training of landside staff and for provisioning contracts, etc?  If testing upon arrival is a requirement (still a 50/50 possibility IMO for April at least), I can't see them starting up.  The reason I say this is 50/50 is that I still cannot go across the border for an hour to get a package at the UPS store without a PCR test and there doesn't even seem to be any chatter yet about easing this.  When it eased for land travel last year to the US, there was at least chatter about it for a few months before it finally happened.

I compare what I want in a cruise across lines (balcony, lowest price, cost if I add drinks or not plus internet).  They're never exact apples and oranges, but I have sailed NCL/RCCL/Carnival so I have a half decent idea as to what to compare.  For NCL, sail away fares aren't too cheap these days is what I'm seeing.

On 1/21/2022 at 1:43 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

In BC, our Public Health advises that Omicron has peaked. Although we have Omicron in the community, other than wearing masks, we have minimal Public Health restrictions, compared to the original COVID.

 

Current Public Health Orders only limit the max number at a table in restaurants to 6 and mandate the wearing of masks indoors. In a restaurant, the mask can be removed once seated. They started easing some restrictions on gyms, yoga studios and fitness facilities last week.

 

If flying from UK/Europe to see Alaska, I certainly wouldn't switch to a Seattle R/T, as I wouldn't want to spend 2-days cruising the Pacific Ocean to/from Alaska.

 

 

I agree with your assessment of BC, but border related public health decisions are made by the federal government.  Here in Ontario, we still cannot go into a restaurant and all gyms, recreational facilities, etc are still fully closed.  It took the feds a really really long time to remove quarantine from those arriving from abroad and now they're still randomly selecting a large number to quarantine upon arrival until they receive a negative test.  To say that PCR testing requirement for people coming off a cruise (or flying/driving in) will be done by April I think is optimistic.  

13 hours ago, blueslily said:

 

Was the sailing on Joy 5 days or 7 days? 

7 Days Dec 4th before all this mess happened with Omicron.

17 minutes ago, RaftingJeremy said:

I’m not sure where you were seeing deep discounts cuz I was not.  I have 4 cruises booked in 2022 and none of them were at that much of a discount.  

I sailed the NCL Joy for a week in a balcony for $500 US as a single in December.  I see Jewel of the Seas on RCCL for $400 for a balcony in Feb/March, Carnival selling off everything for the next month or two, MSC even cheaper than normal, etc.  

I agree that everything several months out is not cheap, but there are deals to be had on everyone except NCL (e.g. look at a summer Baltic cruise on the Voyager of the Seas, I've never seen cheaper).