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beached<3mermaid

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Posts posted by beached<3mermaid

    Pharmacy Purchases

    in Cozumel

    Posted

    On our first ever cruise in 2016, I purchased the generic form of Latisse (Bimatoprost) from a port pharmacy in Costa Maya, and it was authentic and worked just fine. Back then it was $40 I think. On our cruise this past Feb, the price was higher in most pharmacies, about $52 - $55 on average.

    Dawn February Cruisers - Embarkation and Disembarkation

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    I was on the 2/18-25 cruise and was totally disgusted the way NCL handled the disembarkation. The delay was because of security clearance for the non US citizens which was somewhat out of their control (been on Carnival similar situation but crew members checked cabins and lines for the missing passengers) but what they could have handled better was the lines and informing the people waiting. I was on line at 8 and at immigration at 10:30. It was ridiculous and unacceptable that elderly passengers and families with small children and their luggage were left standing in line while crew members who were not visible at all during the 2 1/2 hour wait decided to alleviate the problem create another exit which held up the walk off passengers even more so. I know this to be fact because another couple traveling in my group had a late flight so placed their bags outside their cabins the night before had a leisurely breakfast and walked right off the ship at 9:50 while I was still on line with my luggage. Yes I had an 11:30 am flight! Finally approached checkout and lo and behold all the crew and Hotel Manager waving us off. Are they kidding??? I told the Hotel Manager how badly the situation was handled and he agreed.

    Agreed.... it was a awful and wasn't handled well at all.

     

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    Dawn February Cruisers - Embarkation and Disembarkation

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    it was well noted that the Jan cruises had issues. How were things for those that have cruised in February?

    Just got off the Dawn (Feb 18-25). No issue with boarding... relatively quick and smooth. However, disembarkation was a nightmare. Passengers with carry -off luggage should have been able to begin disembarkation at 8 am, but apparently there was an issue with locating some non-US citizens for security clearance or something to that nature, so it delayed EVERYONE else. Then, when they finally allowed passengers to begin the walk -off process, the lines extended from ship end to end and then some....and was similar all the way through customs. Took an additional 3+ hours before we finally made it to the parking garage across from the terminal.

     

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    Just off the Dawn, 2/18-2/25.

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    What a great ship and staff. Seven day Western Caribbean out of Tampa, and had an awesome cruise. Ship is in good refurbished condition, crew staff was so accommodating and friendly, and iternary was pleasurable. Captain was on time or early when he could be, outside of last minute passengers who got back to the ship late (very rude on their part) in two ports. Restaurants were clean and food was more than acceptable, even portions were a bit more than other lines. Specialty restaurants fill up fast, so make reservations as soon as you can. Forward outside decks were the easiest to get deck chairs, and the forward hot tub on 13 is the least crowded. Entertainment is very good, and only bad thing from my end were the hours of the library, like two hours per day. However, Tampa is not the best port to sail from. Embarkation was acceptable and easy for tiered passengers, however disembarkation was a night mare. Cruise staff was held up due to non-American passengers who could not be found to clear customs on the morning we returned to port. This held up everyone for over an hour while Immigration officers were searching for them, unfortunatelyI would have thought NCL would have a better plan for this. Plus the escalators being out of service in the Tampa port was not helping. Sorry, I am rattling on, but overall had a very outstanding Cruise on the Dawn. We stayed in a mini suite on deck 11, and stateroom was more than accommodating for two:cool::cool: people.

    Hubby and I were with you on this cruise, and we agree with your review overall. Especially agree with your comment about disembarkation. It was ridiculous. We weren't exactly sure what was causing the delay, so thank you for the info. What should have been easy, stress-free disembarkation for carry -off luggage passengers beginning at 8 am....added another 3+ hours before finally getting off the ship to head home. Luckily we didn't have a flight to catch, or it could've been missed! NCL really dropped the ball on how things were handled.

     

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    Tequila!

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Until Mexico, I had only tried the standards...Patron, Jose', etc.... definitely not a fan. When we first visited Costa Maya in 2016, I sampled El Compadre....and it was so smooth I didn't need a lemon chaser...I was shocked that I liked it so much!!

     

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    Tequila!

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    There used to be a limited of 2 per person (over 21) but with the change in customs you can bring multiple bottles from the Caribbean for personal use. I’m not sure what the limit is but on our cruise this past December we brought 6 bottles back and did not need to claim them.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Thank you! On our previous 2 cruises, we've only brought back 2 bottles, total, each time... because we believed that was the total allowed. We were unsure of the taxable allowances. But this time we wanted to determine what we could return with, regardless of duty free. The 100% Agave in Mexico is ridiculously smooth. I was NOT a tequila drinker until experiencing it on our very first cruise in 2016. Now I'm hooked! 😉

     

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    # of days till your next Norwegian cruise?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    23 days until we board the Epic for first "mega ship" experience. Second cruise with Norwegian.

    This will be our second cruise with NCL as well, and only our third cruise overall. We initially considered booking the Epic, as we've never cruised on a "mega ship" either, but were hesitant, primarily due to assumed crowding, longer wait lines, etc. You'll have to post your experience so others, including myself, can decide on possible future sailings! ☺

     

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    Dawn: what are your favorite things?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Was on the Dawn repo from San Juan to Tampa last week. I felt Los Lobos was not worth the money. Service was bad. Food was just okay.

     

    As for the service and food in the free dining rooms, it was a lot better in Aqua than the Venetian. One example of the food was my friend ordered lasagna in the Venetian and had to send it back because it was so cold, the cheese on top was hard. The one they brought her to replace it was not really any better. Another friend ordered lasagna in Aqua a few nights later and it was so hot the cheese was melting down the sides.

     

    One highlight of the cruise was Leo at Topsiders Bar. He was always so happy. He was entertaining and made good drinks.

     

    We were on deck 8 and our cabin was next to the aft elevators. We were afraid we would get a lot of noise from the Bliss Lounge, but didn't hear anything except for our last night and it wasn't bad.

     

    Of course a cruise is what you make it. After over 20 NCL cruises, we still had a good time and are looking forward to our next cruise. We were sailing with friends and also made new friends.

     

    Vicki

    Our cabin will be on deck 8 near the aft elevators also, so we were wondering about noise from the Bliss Lounge as well. Thanks for the info! Hopefully it won't be an issue.

     

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    Notice on upgrades

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Just curious as to what the shortest notice is a person has gotten on getting an upgrade? We leave in 8 days and haven't heard anything yet. Is it safe to assume we didn't get the upgrade we bid on?

    I've heard of people finding out as late as 2 days prior to embarkation, both ways - being awarded the upgrade and denial. Not hearing anything yet so late in the game is frustrating for sure. Our cruise leaves Feb 18 and we haven't heard anything yet either.

     

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    What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    When y’all are saying you bid, for example, $1000pp for an upgrade from balcony to Haven, does that mean an additional $1000pp added on to what you’ve already paid for the balcony?

    I believe so, yes. You would pay the amount you had bid pp (x the first 2 people in the stateroom) which is an additional amount that would be charged to your credit card. If the bid is rejected, nothing heppens and you just keep the original room you booked.

     

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