lantzalot

Are we watching something different?

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's painful to watch because it's so slow.

Well you see people passing her. So she’s not going as fast as she could. They go to 30mph. People made the laps in about 30 seconds. 1000ft Laps. If my math is right that’s 22 mph overall. It’s all hairpin turns pretty much. But you know, you don’t have to do it if it doesn’t look fun. :)

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For real?!?! We won't even be able to book Beatlemania when we get on the ship?? Ugh. My MIL is hoping to see all of them, and I was going to book them for her. :(

 

Are the shows in the theater also crowded?

We saw them in the theater and got there about 1/2 hour early when they opened the doors and it was no problem. I don't think it filled up. But get drinks before you go in. The waitstaff in the theater trying to get drinks for everyone are WAYYYYY overworked and might not get to you.

so you sign up at the BBQ venue? is there a desk or something?

They have the room cleared out basically and route you through the room to 3 or 4 desks for signing up for go karts and laser tag, and then on to another spot to get show reservations.

Later in the day, and definitely during the cruise, you can make go kart/laser tag reservations on the touch screens in the halls, but not on the app. On the first day though, I think there's a lag between when you're embarking and when the system has you loaded in so it didn't register who you were to be able to do the touch screen reservations.

We didn't have to wait in line very long at all at the Q though... so I'd just do that and get it over with and then go get drinks and enjoy.

After watching a video of the karts, I'd agree. They look slower than golf carts, lol. It was so slow it was almost uncomfortable to watch. What is the point of that?

They're much faster than golf carts. It didn't seem slow at all... but they do slow it down for the first lap and sometimes have what's essentially a caution lap where they slow everyone down (if there's been a crash or someone needs help), and then when it's over they slow you down too. So maybe that's what you saw? Otherwise, it was fast for the space and the quick turns.

On our trip you definitely had to make reservations, but they could work you in if your reservation got cancelled. . My kids had a lot of fun and weren't holding people up... well, maybe on the first time my younger one did some, but he got passed easily from what I could see... also they give you only 2 times of getting stuck and then you're pulled from the track. So they do try to keep nuisances off the track. The next time he went, he came in 3rd, so he figured it out fast! :) ANd he's not quite 9 yet. So I don't think it's non kid friendly.

Luckily we didn't have that soot problem. I read about that on another thread as well.

And Laser Tag was FUN!

I don't know the answer but pay careful attention when you book a train from Vancouver to Seattle. Some "trains" are really buses in that they book the buses and the trains through the same site and you can end up on one if you don't pay attention to what you're booking.

I think you are saying the same things as eachother. A round trip cruise starting and ending in the same place is the same as a closed loop cruise. But I don't see how it's any different than taking 2 one way cruises. They could be 2 months apart or 2 hours apart. I don't think it matters. I've looked at this Jones Act now and I see that the only issue is starting in the US and getting off at another US port. So even if you took one cruise to Canada, and then the next day took a cruise from Canada that ended in Boston, I think you'd be fine. Because you didn't take one cruise from one point to another. You took two distinct trips. I'm no lawyer, but I can't imagine they can police you taking multiple cruises.

Can someone chime in and tell us if that is legal?

 

 

If it is then you can bet that people do it every time those routes are sailed.

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't it be legal?

Since those 11 day cruises are a different port every day, you won't have much, if any, down time to just relax and read a book by the pool or anything. And after my wedding, we needed some REST.... we did a week on the beach, and then did a few weeks of other stuff with more activities and that was great for our needs. So I might consider going somewhere for at least a few days and staying somewhere nice and relaxing with great food and room service and relaxing without having the feeling of needing to rush from that one place. Then get on the cruise, and have a great time there. Weddings are stressful enough. Don't let this stress you out. YOu'll have fun either way.

The walls, ceilings and doors of your cabin are magnetic. I bring magnetic hooks for a number of things.... PJ's, hats, wristlet, hoodie, etc.

 

If you leave your balcony door open to hear the sound of the ocean, your AC won't work.

But make sure to get pretty strong ones so they don't just slide down the wall when you put anything on it! :)

We also brought some over the door hooks to put on the back of the bathroom door (facing into the room) and hung our jackets there.

We were able to book a reservation for embarkation day ahead of time. And when we got to the restaurant that evening, it was only half full. So a reservation wasn't needed.

I had weird things when trying to book reservations where some things were available only on the website and some were available only on the NCL iPhone app. So you might try different methods to see if something else pops up. I'm not sure NCL's IT department is the best.... :/ We had a lot of "glitches".

It's $8 per person per day if you book before getting on the boat.

I didn't see that option before our cruise (Bliss). Mykids would have loved that option. I saw a sign for a package when we were there the first day, but it said to to up to the Casino for details and we didn't bother to look into it. We decided to just be mean and not let them go except one day. :)

If you did make reservations: write them down. NCL does not have a system that I know of that allows you to see all your reservations in one place: dining/shows/excursions are all tracked seperately.

 

We could see all of our reservations on the NCL app and on the TV in the room. We couldn't see reservations for the Race Track or Laser Tag in the Bliss. But the shows and dining and excursions booked through the cruise were all there.

If you ask for breakfast in the room, they will ring the bell and wake you up. And when you open the door they will bring it in.

You can choose the delivery time so that they don't disturb your sleep early morning

In our case, they showed up early 2 times though and did wake us up and so they came in to a dark room (my kids were still asleep) and I was bleary eyed in my PJs. It wasn't a huge deal.. .we needed to get up in 10-15 minutes anyway. But still. Good morning. :)

One tip - make sure you have a plan for where to put the breakfast tray. And also, call the room service people when you're done to have them bring the tray/plates away. Don't leave them in the hallway like people do in regular hotels. And the stewards don't really have room on their carts to deal with dishes when they're making up your room in the morning.

We sailed the Bliss on 8/25 and you could get bottles of beer... they didn't seem too stingy about the 2 drinks thing if you weren't being an idiot about it.. and we did pay the 20% gratuity fee. Are you sure you didn't pay gratuities when you booked?

Hey, I'm interested in info about the new closed in casino area on The Bliss that allows smoking. Is it well ventilated? Is it very smokey in there? Thanks for any comments on this subject.

I never went in there. But just walking near it was awful. So my guess would be that inside the room was really gross.

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First Morning? We wanted to book for dinner.

 

 

 

I tried to book earlier than 60 days, but could not until 60 days prior. Apparently, unless you are in a suite, its 60 days.

 

 

 

We have a group of 6 and for four nights that I booked, two nights I was able to book for 6, not at the times I wanted, but the times weren't terrible. The other two nights, I had to book for four, so we will change as soon as we board.

He meant make your bookings the first morning the bookings open up. Not book a breakfast.

Also you might call and ask about changing tour reservations now. Talking to a live person can magically open things up.

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They bring a pot with cups & the fixings. The card asks the number of people & I always order coffee for 4 because the small pot isn't big enough. We both like a mug size "cup" to start our day! ;p

We brought travel mugs with us too so we could fill up and keep it warm and have more than a small cup at a time.

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Thank you both. Yes, I saw about overbooking reservation numbers, but I didn't know if I'd have to pay a penalty or surcharge. Thank you for clarifying.

oops I quoted your wrong post.. but you asked about kids menus. The free kids menu is stuff like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, PB&J. and is free no matter what restaurant you're in.

My experience was that we planned to pay a la carte for our kids and we had the SDP for the adults. But the servers made it work to fudge their food into our meals when they could. If they ordered an entree, we paid the extra, but if they ordered an appetizer, they just made it count as one of the adults'. It might not happen that way every time, and I'd go in expecting to pay if you order from the specialty menu, but if they offer... go for it. Leave a little extra tip and/or write a nice note about them to the boss without spilling the beans in case they'd get in trouble. :)

We were just on the Bliss and they still had straws for milkshakes at Coco's. But we survived the remainder of the cruise straw free. Even with frozen cocktails.

I imagine it also depends on which ports actually have the capacity for cruise ships. They can’t build cruise ship docks everywhere. So the itineraries are reused for a long time

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sure, for a $10k cruise i'd buy trip cancellation insurance as well!

 

but my cruises are $50/day. (see my sig for 11day for $400!)

i can afford to eat that loss if i couldnt go.

 

for $21 for $500k evac only insurance (with $750 trip delay) for my upcoming 20day cruise, i think it's worth that small amount of $ for the .05% chance that i'd need to be airlifted.

Our credit card carries the cancellation insurance already - at $3k per person who booked the trip on the card. So for our family of 4, that would cover up to a $12K cruise, which was a lot more than we spent.

What I want to know is how you're cruising for 11 days for $400!!!!

Most people just "book a vacation". They don't spend hours doing research about what's included, what's extra etc....

 

 

 

 

 

As "a researcher" I am aware of all the "terms and conditions". I'm retired; I have a lot of extra time.

 

 

 

 

 

If I were working, had a couple of kids and "in other words" very busy, I would just read the descriptions and think I was getting "free meals and free drinks" and assume free to mean just that: Free!

 

 

 

 

 

I doubt I'd even bother with "sail away rates" since you don't get anything "for free". And I'm sure I wouldn't sit around doing cost comparisons. I'd look at the bottom line, inclusive of the service fees and decide if the trip's worth it.

But that’s not NCLs problem or some sort of trick if you can’t or won’t read your invoice before you commit your credit card. You don’t even need to dig deep or read fine print. Before you “book your vacation” there’s an itemized bill on the screen for you to accept. If you can’t be bothered to look at a simple list of charges then you’re going to fall prey to actual scams everywhere.

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This doesn't give you any refunds on your trip if your trip is cancelled. Read the specifics to see what it covers. And I think "travel delay" is for after the trip has started. So for your return flight for instance. Not for you missing the boat on embarkation day. But again, the only way to know this for sure is to read the fine print yourself. This is not standard "trip insurance". This is for things that happen DURING the trip. Check what your credit card covers for trip insurance. Check what your medical insurance covers while you're away, out of the country, etc. Particularly for getting airlifted somewhere for treatment, or brought back to the US. I felt that the $100 for our family of 4 was worth it for some of the added specific coverages if only because it meant I didn't have to call my health insurance to figure out some of these things. :) We didn't use it, no one was sick, but the small price gave me a little peace of mind. I suspect there are other ways/places to get similar coverage. But... some of us are lazy.

 

I do wonder about why the captain did not turn back once the skies cleared after we sailed away from the glacier a little bit, surely he could have made up the time.

I don't think the skies cleared after we sailed away. I think the fog was socked in deeper in the inlet and was lighter the farther you got out towards more open space/water. So it may have felt like things were "changing" but really we were just driving away from it.

The problem is when "use" becomes "abuse". If everyone expects to get what they aren't supposed to get (even when the staff allows it), the end result will be NCL making things worse/more restrictive.

 

Plus, if more and more people read on CC that "...the staff doesn't mind...", more and more people will likely try to push the boundary with something else.

Well as I said we fully expected to pay for the things we ordered for the kids. But the staff suggested the way they billed things. The same happened in the specialty restaurants with food for them. They went out of their way to make things work out within our packages so we'd get charged the least. I had zero expectation to do that and planned to pay their a la carte menu prices for whatever they ate. But was pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness.