prov2727

I booked a guarantee balcony on the Joy for a Panama Canal cruise and got an angled balcony. Spoiled me for life!

I'm a lanyard and stick it inside my clothes cruise card carrier. Too many of my clothes don't have pockets. If I'm going ashore, I can add my passport card and some tip money so I don't have to carry around a bag/purse.

#1 Because Norwegian took steps to make it financially easier for some one to cruise solo: first by building studio cabins but then recognizing that some solos wanted a view or a balcony and added a discount for solo use of those rooms. As YakCruiser said. NCL WANTS us solos. #2 If you are an introvert solo, "Feel Free" means you don't have to pick a dinner time and sit at a table with 5 strangers. You can sit alone in the dining room and its OK.

I did the Panama Canal onboard the Joy in January of 2023. I did a shore excursion that went from the Pacific through the old locks to Gatun Lake. Then the next day we took the Joy through the new locks all the way from Pacific to Atlantic. It was one of my favorite cruises. In fact, I booked a cruise January of 2026 on the Bliss going through the other direction. So if I do a shore excursion from the Atlantic through the old locks to Gatun Lake, I can say I've been all the way through 3 times in 2 cruises! In the picture, my excursion is in the old locks and the cargo ship is in the new locks. For the Joy's journey through the locks, I stayed in my balcony cabin and had the View from the Bridge on my TV turned up. I went between the two to watch everything. Being under 5 ft., I knew I wouldn't see anything from the bow anyway, LOL. I'm not on a balcony next time (at least not at this point; we'll see if prices go down), so maybe I'll end up venturing out to the bow. As an introvert solo cruiser, I'm a fan of Norwegian but Princess' itinerary is very similar. The cruise from Cabo, Puerta Vallarta and Acapulco is amazing if you are a fan of marine life. I saw whales breaching from my balcony and sea turtles eating in the port where we were berthed. I missed the dolphins, but there was a pod of them that went by as well.

I got an email with the case number. Waited 10 (I think?) days and didn't get anything. Emailed them referencing the case number as instructed to do and just got a reply of a new case number. Waited the ten or what ever days and then called NCL and they said that there's nothing they could do and to email again even though I would get get the generic email with a new case number. Ended up mailing them the certificate and all 3 emails certified mail and got an immediate response with the credit. Hopefully just emails will do the trick for you.

Awesome! That makes me happy since I had just finally acquired the full 100 stocks and then was worried that I would never be able to use them.

Has anyone tried OBC with a solo room (not the solo suites but the new designation of solo inside, solo Oceanview, solo balcony). I'm curious if "Singles paying 200% are entitled to full onboard credit value" will be changed to allow for solo category bookings or if we will only get a portion of the shareholder credit (or nothing!).

Maybe they're trying to look like a flowerhorn:

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions This is a good place to check which shore excursions may be available. Nice has 6 and Kusadasi has 11.

I watched a YouTube video recently where they said they would never sail NCL again because they were nickel and diming them. I believe it was their first ever cruise. NCL charged them a daily service charge. How dare they!! AND charged them the full price on excursions before applying the $50 discount as onboard credit. Shocking! 🤣

If you are switching rooms, they will provide priority luggage tags with your old room number and new room number. You attach them to your luggage and leave the luggage in your room. The steward will move them to your new room.

Just was in this scenario. NCL linked the cruise. They will ask you to confirm and then send instructions to your cabin on how to go through immigration but then you can immediately return to the ship. When I rolled over to gold status they sent a congratulatory note and some treats to my cabin. I did get a note about 50% off laundry but I didn't note if that was due to gold status or just a special they were running.

So, if the price of your cruise drops and you rebook, instead of $500, you only get the $250 you purchased the certificate for?

Thank you!

I am looking for a recommendation of a shuttle from Sanford to Port Canaveral. I booked a hotel in Orlando with a free shuttle from the airport. I am putting everything together today and realize the free shuttle is from Sanford not MCO. It's a $75+ Uber from MCO. Okay, so how do I mitigate the result of my not doing adequate research? Well, I had planned to take the GoPort from MCO. But that would be an additional $75+ Uber back to MCO. So I should take the free airport shuttle to Sanford and then a shuttle to the cruise port from there. GoPort will only shuttle from Sanford if you booked with a hotel. Thus, I am looking for a recommendation on a shuttle from Sanford to Port Canaveral. I found an old recommendation for Cocoa Beach Shuttle but I don't know if they are still a good company.

Thank you! I was pretty sure that was the case but you have settled my mind. Get back to relaxing and enjoying your cruise!

Did you find that you needed to have any visas, etc? My understanding is not from reading what NCL sent but they don't flat out say (they don't want to be liable if you do), and sometimes you doubt your understanding of legal jargon.

Agree, but they are leaving it open for them to put us back in the March 2020 world. I expected this when I went on my cruise in January 2023. I was really hoping that since the WHO had declared that the global health emergency was over in May that the contract would revert to what was used in January 2020 but Covid is the new leprosy or something like that. Except leprosy and ebola aren't on this contract!

Guest understands that Carrier’s COVID-19 Policies and Procedures may or will include (but are not be limited to): . . . . (2) pre-embarkation and/or periodic testing and temperature checks of each Guest followed by a period of isolation until test results are available;

Just checked in for a cruise and this is what I had to sign. It doesn't say that these things are the current practice but that they can change that at any time. You can see this was updated in February of 2023.

What's changed is that they didn't throw you off the ship for a respiratory illness pre-2020. Now they can. What's changed is that they did not force you to test for flu, RSV, norovirus, whatever. Post 2020, you have to agree to be tested if the cruise ship staff so chooses. What's changed is that if you were sick pre-2020, everyone in your party could still go about their cruise. Now, they can be confined with you. What's changed is that if you were sick and continued to go about your cruise and went on a shore excursion, they didn't refuse to let you re-board and leave you stranded in a port. What's changed is that the rules and consequences are different post-2020.

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/NCL_Guest_Ticket Contract_US_EN_02_2023.pdf (c) COVID-19 Policies and Procedures. Guest understands that Carrier’s COVID-19 Policies and Procedures may or will include (but are not be limited to): (1) providing an accurate, truthful and complete health questionnaire for each Guest in a form and containing any and all health or travel-related questions as required by Carrier in its sole discretion based on advice received from relevant government or health authorities or medical experts prior to boarding; (2) pre-embarkation and/or periodic testing and temperature checks of each Guest followed by a period of isolation until test results are available; (3) modified capacity rules for activities (including but not limited to restaurants, gyms, and entertainment events onboard and for shore excursions) which may limit or eliminate the ability of Guest to participate in particular activities; (4) mandatory use by each Guest (except for children under the age of 2 years) of face coverings in most locations outside of the Guest’s cabin while onboard, during embarkation, disembarkation and shore excursions; (5) mandatory social distancing and/or cohorting of Guests at any/all times while on board and during embarkation, disembarkation, and shore excursions; (6) additional restrictions during shore excursions depending on local conditions, including but not limited to denial of disembarkation at destinations unless participating in only Carrier-approved shore excursions; (7) mandatory hand-sanitizing by Guest upon entry or exit of any public areas; (8) confinement of Guests to cabins, quarantine or emergency disembarkation of Guest if, in Carrier’s sole discretion, such steps are necessary to prevent or slow the spread of COVID-19; (9) the required completion by Guest in a timely manner of any written authorizations or consent forms required for Carrier to carry out its COVID-19 Policies and Procedures (including but not limited to medical information, medical privacy, or personal data privacy consent forms), and; (10) other policies and procedures deemed by Carrier in its sole discretion to be necessary to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19. (d) Mandatory Compliance with COVID-19 Policies and Procedures. Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein or in Carrier’s refund policy, any noncompliance by Guest or members of Guest’s travelling party with Carrier’s COVID-19 Policies and Procedures, local port/country regulations, or this Contract shall be grounds for refusal to board, refusal to re-board after going ashore, quarantine onboard the Vessel, disembarkation, reporting to governmental or health authorities, or other steps deemed necessary in Carrier’s sole discretion under the circumstances to protect the health and wellbeing of others. Under these circumstances, Guest shall not be entitled to a refund or compensation of any kind. Guest will be responsible for all related costs and fines, including without limitation travel expenses and for proper travel documentation for any port, or for departure from or arrival to the U.S. Under no circumstances shall Carrier be liable for any damages or expenses whatsoever incurred by any Guest as a result of such denial of boarding, refusal to re-board, quarantine, disembarkation, or other steps taken by Carrier. (e) Guest Testing Positive for COVID-19 Pre-Cruise. Guest agrees that if at any time within 14 days prior to embarkation, Guest tests positive for COVID-19, exhibits signs or symptoms of COVID-19, has had close contact with a person confirmed or suspected as having COVID-19, or Carrier otherwise determines in its sole discretion that Guest is unfit to board because of any communicable illness, Carrier will deny boarding to such Guest. Under no circumstances shall Carrier have any other liability for any compensation or other damages whatsoever, including but not limited to compensation for lodging or travel. (f) Guest Testing Positive for COVID-19 During Cruise. Guest understands and agrees that if, after boarding, and even if Guest has fully complied with all COVID-19 Policies and Procedures, Guest tests positive for COVID-19 or exhibits signs or symptoms of COVID-19, Carrier may disembark, refuse reboarding after a shore excursion, or quarantine Guest as well as members of Guest’s travelling party, or take other steps which Carrier determines, in its sole discretion, are necessary under the circumstances to protect the health and well-being of others. Each such Guest is responsible for all other related costs and fines, including without limitation travel expense. Under no circumstances shall Carrier be liable to any such Guest for any costs, damages or expenses whatsoever incurred by any Passenger. 5. Carrier's Rules and Regulations: (a) Guest's Agreement: The Guest agrees to abide by the rules of the Carrier, including, but not limited to, the rules and regulations particularly set forth herein and in particular Carrier’s COVID-19 Policies and 2/2023 Procedures set forth in Section 4 and on Carrier’s website at https://www.ncl.com/safe and to follow the lawful instructions of the vessel's officers and crew, at all times. The Guest accepts that failure to do so constitutes a material breach of this Contract which may subject the Guest, as well as any accompanying Guest(s), to involuntary disembarkation without liability whatsoever to the Carrier for any refund or any other related loss or expense to the Guest, and any accompanying Guest(s)

THANK YOU!!!