Tim-n-Gina

OK, Mission accomplished.

Spoke with, and verified by email to create a "paper trail" with my hotel in Miami Beach. They would accept packages addressed to a current or arriving guest.

Went to the local UPS store on Monday 10/8.  They boxed and shipped my 45 lb suitcase for around $85, insured for $300. In the addressee line I put my name c/o of hotel name and my reservation confirmation #.  It arrived and was delivered to "front desk" on Thurs 10/11.

We checked in on Saturday and the bellman delivered the box to our room.

Considering that American would have checked that bag for $25, we effectively paid a premium of $60 for the convenience of not having to schlep a bag thru 2 airports and wait for it at baggage claim.

On the outgoing trip, It certainly was nice to pass thru the airports with just carry-on bags, and having the security of knowing our bag was already at the hotel before flying out, but $60 is a bit extravagant...

On the way home today, we checked the same bag for $25 and sailed thru both airports with no hassles.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread.

I'm bringing 2 small USB powered fans for the night tables and long USB extension wires to connect to the multi port USB charger I use to charge all our phones, gadgets and spare batteries.

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Thank you for asking this, and thanks for the answer!

The flashing eyeball is truly a distracting eyesore (pun intended...).

What waterproof cases do you use? I’ve looked at a few but they make me nervous as I don’t want my iPhone ruined :loudcry:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0175ZJJY0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I found this $15 case to be extremely watertight. I tested it with dry tissue paper in it and sunk it and weighted it down overnight in a pot of water, then I brought it down 12+ feet in Lake George several times and took video of schools of fish. It is a bit fidgety to control the touchscreen phone while under water, but do-able after some practice. It is also quite buoyant even with a heavy phone in it. Amazon has some much simpler and cheaper cases that we will use for Docs, cards and folding money.

......

Thank you all for your reply's.

Was unaware of Luggage Forward, Thank you. Their price seems similar and they will pick up luggage at our home. Slightly more convenient than bringing it to a shipper storefront and having them box it up (which would add cost).

I spoke to hotel, they are fully prepared to accept delivery of a package as long as the addressee has the same name as the reservation. The person I spoke to did not mention a charge.

I like the convenience of flying with a simple carry-on bag or backpack and I'm willing to pay a few extra dollars for that convenience as well as the peace of mind (Tracking#) that my main luggage is in our hotel before we fly out.

When DW and I last traveled with the kids, we UPS/Fedex'd our luggage to our (small family run) hotel in advance of our arrival date, It worked very well for us at the time, and then we shipped the same box back to home before we flew back.

Have others here done similar things?

Will most hotels agree to receive a package and store it for a day or two for an arriving guest?

I haven't asked out hotel yet but that is what I'd like to do on the way to Miami on the day before our upcoming cruise. For the trip home, we can either ship it back, or bring it to the airport and check it onto the flight. At that point it will not matter if our bag is lost or delayed by the airline on the way home.

Damn, I'm glad I read my passport app. I shudder to think what middle name my DW might pick for me...

We have waterproof cases for both of our phones, which we use as cameras, so they will have to go snorkeling with us. I bought additional waterproof bags for cash/cards/documents, and a fanny pac/shoulder bag that will hold all of the above. Nothing to be left on the beach but a towel, sandals, and a dry shirt or two.

I forgot to add that I plan on wearing the FannyPac in the water. I bought it because it should fare well in the water and dry reasonably quickly. I could not find a waterproof one that would fit my needs, but everything inside of it will be protected by waterproof bags.

We have waterproof cases for both of our phones, which we use as cameras, so they will have to go snorkeling with us. I bought additional waterproof bags for cash/cards/documents, and a fanny pac/shoulder bag that will hold all of the above. Nothing to be left on the beach but a towel, sandals, and a dry shirt or two.

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Hi. Our travel agent gave us a few choices of hotels and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions if they had ever stayed at any of them pre-cruise. What would be closer to the ship or are they all the same amount of distance? Is anyone else staying at these hotels? Any help would be greatly appreciate. Thanks .

The Dream South Beach

The SLS Hotel Residences Brickett

The Me Miami or

The Hyatt Regency

Thanks.

Gina /Regina

Hi I'm Gina of Tim n Gina. This is my first time posting. I'm very excited about our first cruise celebrating our 30th anniversary Looking forward to having a great time and meeting fun people. We'll be flying into Miami the day before and Tim told me that there might be a dinner get together that night We're in if anyone knows about this. Thank you. Gina/Regina

Wife and I both applied for first time passports on June 29, received passport books today, July 18.

 

 

 

That is less than 3 weeks, Nice to see a Government agency running ahead of their stated estimate of 4-6 weeks..

 

 

Still waiting for Passport cards and our original documents. Will update.

All new passport books and cards were in hand within 3 weeks of application, the original documents arrived a day later.

Wife and I both applied for first time passports on June 29, received passport books today, July 18.

That is less than 3 weeks, Nice to see a Government agency running ahead of their stated estimate of 4-6 weeks..

Still waiting for Passport cards and our original documents. Will update.

Are the HDMI ports on the cabin TVs usable?

We are sailing on Getaway in October. (BA) Balcony cabin.

I've read in a 'Cruising Technology' thread that the TV remote is usually a simplified unit that does not have buttons to change inputs, etc.. And that the TVs are sometimes mounted too close to the wall, blocking access to the HDMI ports.

So I was hoping to see if I could get any more specific answers from those cruisers experienced with NCL's equipment.

Is the TV itself 'Dumbed down'?

--If I had a way of selecting sources (universal remote), would that allow access?.

Are the HDMI ports physically accessible?

--Would angled or 'flex head' design HDMI cables help?

Speed is a relative term. You are using satellite internet. All the bits go 23000 miles up and 23000 miles down with the associated latency.

 

You are sharing a single pipe with everyone else on the ship and operations. Demands varies from minute to minute.

 

Ships use cache servers to give surfers better apparent speed by smart pre-fetching of pages. Some people think it’s great because every time they click, they hit a page already on the ship.

Excellent answer, Thank you.

Could someone please clarify if it has to be a certain type of card, or that any -same size- card will work?

I tip the steward ahead of time, he has never removed my card, most anything will work, old hotel key, etc...I keep the AC on max cold...works well...

Asked and answered, thank you!

Here's a hint for all who go on the newer ships that require a card in the slot to turn on lights - use an old card from a prior sailing! The electricity slot reader isn't keyed to your room ( at least, not yet). So you can use an old card to keep your lights on.

I've read in other threads that any -same size- card will work to turn on the lights/electric in the cabin.

Could someone please clarify if it has to be a certain type of card, or that any -same size- card will work?

As 1st time cruisers, we do not have a card from previous sailing.. I wish to have the ability to charge spare batteries while we are out of the cabin.

On the subject of fans;

I've read that household extension cords may sometimes be disallowed and confiscated. I plan on bringing 2 small 5Volt computer style fans that are powered by USB cables. I have a 6 port USB charger so I can charge all/most gadgets and spare batteries on the desk, while USB extensions can power phones and fans on bedside tables.

Benefits:

--The USB powered fans are much smaller and lighter than most small electric fans, but still put out plenty of airflow and white noise especially when close by on the bedside table.

--USB extension cords also pack smaller and weigh less than standard household current extension cords.

--A multi port USB charger takes up only 1 wall outlet and charges/powers many items.

Gina and I are used to sleeping with a fan in the room, so I have a pair of 5Volt USB powered fans that I'll power from the same 6 port USB charger that feeds our phones, tablet, spare batteries, etc.. So, one wall plug will power all USB needs including the fans. Also some 15 foot USB extensions get that power to the bed side of the room for fans and a bedside phone charger. The USB extensions are safer, pack lighter and smaller than regular wall voltage extension cords which it seems some cruise lines are starting to dis-allow.

I was just booking and I received a message “items will be held in your cart for 15 minutes. Each time you revisit your cart, time will be reset.”

Maybe try checking your cart often?

I will try revisiting my cart every few minutes, that may just be the step I've been missing.

I booked a couple of things online yesterday and got a pop-up message warning me about the 5 minute expiration. Clicking "OK" gave me another 5 minutes. Maybe it's a browser issue? I use Chrome.

The whole point of my frustration is the popup '5 minute warning', And this may well be a browser issue, but no matter which way I tried to interact with that warning popup (The X in the upper right corner, or the "Continue" button in the middle), I suffered having my page reset. Leaving me to navigate through several pages to find where I was before the popup.

I use Firefox, but I will try Chrome and Opera when I get back to NCL again.

We sail multiple times a year and book online with no problem. Probably user error.

LOL, If that is the case, I can live with it, and admit it.

So far, in this small sample, I seem to be alone.

I'll try a different browser if I get a chance soon.

So maybe you should be calling their tech services department. No one here can fix the issue or give you access to the coding.

Thanks for the reply. If I ran NCL I would be sure to have someone monitor this Forum... Not looking to re-code their page, just try to get a problem fixed.

While I agree it is a little quirky, I have not had the issues you are describing. Maybe break up your reservations and do it piecemeal? Or you can always just call and make your reservations.

After several instances of this problem 2 weeks ago, I resorted to taking written notes of what reservations we wanted, then trying to speed through booking them all, only to have the offending message appear just as I was about to submit my payment info. Another 10 minutes of my life that I will not get back... I then had to book and submit 1 reservation at a time to appease the angry website timer gods... A truly frustrating experience. Never had to work so hard to try spending my hard earned money.

I am hoping to see if others are having similar problems, or if I am just the lucky one. Could be my browser, who knows.

But a "Cart" is somewhere you should store proposed purchases, not be enslaved to a timer that disrupts your work flow. And again, the timer is not the problem. There is a real need to keep people from tying up reservations in an inactive cart. If the message had a 'Keep-Alive' function allowing an extension of the timer while the user was actively working, that would be normal. Many websites that sell time sensitive bookings have handled this same issue in various satisfactory ways.

The fact that this timer message resets the user's page is the problem.

I am furious from trying to interact with NCL's poorly written website.

We are trying to book reservations for excursions, dining, entertainment, etc..

The NCL Website is extremely frustrating to use. If you place anything in your "Cart" it times out after 5 minutes. When that timeout occurs, a pop-up message appears and no matter how you interact with that message, the page on which you were currently working re-sets and all of your work (payment info, current informational page, etc.) gets cleared, leaving you with no choice but to start all over again. It is extremely annoying to be discussing plans and options with a cruise companion while constantly under the gun of this arbitrary time wasting 5 minute clock.

I understand the need to keep the cart fresh and not tie up reservations. A message that prompts the user to refresh their cart is necessary, but it should NOT refresh or change the user's current page.

If this is merely a poorly written page, it should be an easy fix.

However, if my experience with this "Feature" of the page is out of the ordinary, I am willing to help them troubleshoot.

Tim

No - it should not be a problem. When you fill-out the application put the name of your wife as you would like it to appear on the passport. You need not have your middle name on your passport. My middle name is on my BC but not on my passport. :)

Thank you.

Sailing in October, applying for first time passports soon.

Question on middle name:

DW's middle name is on her BC. We have marriage license to document her change of last name, but none of her other documents have a middle name listed

-- Birth Certificate shows a middle name

- SS Card does not have middle name

- Marriage License does not have middle name

- Drivers License does not have middle name

Could this be a problem?

If so, how would we go about correcting the problem?