kaprin02

The diversion has delayed our arrival into St. Maarten. We are now scheduled to arrive there at 6pm tomorrow - originally was 9am. The ship is supposed to embark something like 3000 people (passengers/crew) in St Maarten, so we are scheduled to depart there at 2am. They have not said how that will affect our arrival to the following port (St. John’s, Antigua).

The Seaside has been diverted toward Nassau for a guest needing urgent medical evacuation. A US Coast Guard helicopter met the ship and performed the evacuation. There is no information yet on how this will affect the remainder of the itinerary. We are supposed to be on our way to port at Philipsburg, St Maarten on Thursday (sea day today and tomorrow).

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread...I found the Patou Excursions website, and found the group tour/rates. I think we want to do something like this (our cruise line, MSC, seems to offer a shorter, more expensive, version of this). Can you tell me how many people you had for your private tour with them, and what the cost was? And can you tell me the approximate length/timing of your tour? Thanks!

This is it exactly. This is why OP's trip is not covered - they simply did not have trip cancellation coverage. The Essentials coverage very clearly says nothing about trip cancellation (or interruption).

And if you're only using this on land anyway (since it doesn't work on a cruise ship, as Bird noted), you can usually get a local esim for data coverage on your phone for much cheaper than that. I use a low cost cell carrier, that doesn't really have much international coverage, and doesn't have a daily international plan. When I travel internationally, I get a local esim for data (some sims will include calls/texts too, but that's usually not necessary for me). Last time I was in Europe, I paid $20 for like 15 Gigs of data, good for 2 weeks. I can get a Caribbean regional one that cost $15 with I think 1Gig of data, that would cover me for 3 ports on my upcoming cruise. I'll probably just skip that though, because I don't really need to be super connected this trip, and I've got my free wifi minutes on the ship, and can usually find some free wifi in ports for a few extra minutes. This just seems like an expensive way to get data coverage internationally, with the added hassle of another piece of tech to haul around, keep safe, and keep charged.

Yes - they got the $50 Non-refundable OBC, as well as something like $60 in port fees refunded.

This. Cruisemapper combines both port schedules for Puerto Plata, but still calls it Amber Cove, which confuses lots of people. People are much better served looking at the actual port websites, rather than cruisemapper for Puerto Plata.

My mom and sister are on Escape, which missed GSC yesterday, and they were also refunded port fees.

Escape also cancelled her call at GSC today. Captain stated they would have been able to get everyone to the island, but that they wouldn’t have been able to get everyone back to the ship, due to the wind picking up around noon today.

FYI, this week's Escape sailing has officially switched from Puerto Plata, DR on the 9th to Nassau on the 8th, as was suspected. My mom and sister are onboard now.

Not saying you're wrong, but this specifically refers to specialty dining packages for purchase. The FAS terms and conditions don't list these restrictions (only the "one main course at Cagney's and Le Bistro" one that's been there for a long time). It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. I'm on the Dawn soon, and have a FAS meal, a purchase specialty dining upgrade package, and Latitudes Platinum dinners, so I'll see if anything is different between them!

This is a fairly well known "glitch" or loophole. It's been like that since at least the post-covid restart. Works only for text based iMessages, not pictures.

I watch the video during online check-in only. Any reminders by email I ignore, because I've already watched the video. Never been an issue.

I was on Escape in April, and now that you mention it, I think our cabin door did open outwards. I just checked to see if I had any pictures that showed it, but couldn't find anything. My mom is getting on Escape this weekend - I'll ask her to let me know once she's onboard.

Interesting. There doesn't seem to be the same restriction written in the FAS Terms & Conditions. I wonder if these restrictions only apply to additional purchased specialty dining meals, not the "included" FAS meals. I'll be on board Dawn at the end of January, with an "included" FAS meal, the 2-meal specialty dining upgrade, and 2 Platinum dinners, so I guess I'll see what the difference is! Thanks for the heads up, Bird!

I've gotten mimosas at breakfast in the MDR, OSheehans/Local, and at the buffet bar. Included in the regular drink package. Can't answer your question for sure about chocolate martinis. I haven't been on Prima, but I know they were available for a small extra charge ($1-2), on the Escape in April.

There is no charge for the "continental breakfast" offerings from room service - however, this is limited, and only "cold" options available (fruit, cereals, pastries, yogurt), along with coffee/tea and milk/juice. If you want something hot (like eggs), you will be charged the ~$10 room service charge. I don't have a picture of any room service menus, but they are floating around here, and other places on the internet, which could give you an idea of what all is included in the "continental" offerings.

I didn't say I had any...and don't know if anyone else did. Lol. I never paid for anything - even stuff that was over the $15 limit. 🤷‍♀️ I absolutely get your point - I ordered stuff that was over $15, and would have paid for it without complaint (because yes, it would have only added up to a few dollars), but was just never charged. My only point was that the quoted $13 price was incorrect, at least as of when I was on the Escape 4/16.

Unfortunately, that list is already outdated, at least on some ships. Was on Escape 4/16, and Bailey's was definitely $16.

Amber Cove is NOT a private island. It is simply a different pier at Puerto Plata (yes, it was built by Carnival Corp, but it is not exclusive to them - they just get priority). We were told Taino Bay is being dredged to better accommodate the larger ships (after what happened with the Escape). We were scheduled for Taino Bay on the 4/16 sailing of the Escape, but it was changed to Amber Cove. Our NCL excursion was switched for us, and most independent tour operators can do either pier, so if you have an independent excursion, just make sure they're aware of the change. They should be able to switch.

I was on the Escape 4/16 sailing, and the menu in all three MDRs was the same each day. When I had looked at the MDR descriptions prior to our cruise, they were the same as what your screenshot shows.