pappagene
-
Posts
394 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by pappagene
-
-
I will be taking a 110v power strip for charging Iphones & Ipads. I will also be taking a UK to US adapter and an extension cord for powering our CPAP's. Most electronics made now can convert 220v down to the voltage needed to charge them. Our CPAP's can also work on 220v. Just more power for me to use!
-
On 8/6/2019 at 10:54 AM, BirdTravels said:
Excursions for ALL ports will eventually be listed. You will get an on board credit for any port in which you take an NCL shore excursion.
If you see something you like, book it as soon as possible as they will sell out. Do Not book online. Call the shore excursion desk to pre-book without payment.
The cruise is is a one-off/infrequent voyage with ports that NCL doesn’t call at. It is taking time for NCL to arrange tours in each of your ports.
Book excursions NOW for the ports available.
All ports did eventually show up, now the job of picking what we want to do!
-
I figured that was the case, I never had this happen. I know that they notified me and said I could start booking excursions. I will keep checking with my account on NCL.
-
We will be on the January 21st sailing of the Dawn and we have taken 2 of the special offers by NCL. One will be the $50 credit per cabin for shore excursions at each island we will stop at take a ship booked excursion. I have noticed on the excursions offered that 3 out of 6 stops have no excursions listed. In that case, do we still get our credit for those islands or do they just pay for the ones that they list excursions? Not my fault that there are no excursions for those islands. Has anybody else run into this?
Thanks
Gene
-
DW & I look at the cost per night and if there is little difference we will take the balcony. It also depends on the itinerary. If sailing in Alaska, a balcony is a must. If sailing to ports we have been many times before, an ocean view does just fine for us. We did 2 sailings on different ships a couple of years ago and had balcony on both. It was well worth it to us because first sailing was around Hawaii and second was Alaska. We got good deals on both.
Ocean views are fine because you can still see out and they let some sun in.
-
Why would you want to bring your own creamer because the ships have their own non-dairy creamers and they have half-n-half for your coffee. But, it's your trip and you can bring it if you want to.
Usually dress up nights are on the 1st & last at sea days. I doubt that they would have it on a port day. not enough time returning to port until dinner.
-
As I am of the older (65+) age and being from the South, I use Yes/no ma'am and yes/no sir as a respectable answer to a yes/no question. I have younger friends who address me as Pappa Gene or Mr. Gene. Once these folks reach adulthood I let them know they can address me a Gene. When my kids were growing up, we taught them to address adults as Mr./Mrs. Sometimes it is best to ask the room steward(ess) how they wish to be addressed.
I too don't like being addressed as Mr. Surname, I will tell them to call me Mr. Gene or just Gene. When they call me by my last name I usually tell them that my dad is not there. My preference!
-
A 2 egg omelet, smoked salmon, herring, crispy bacon, toast/bagel, an assortment of fruit, sometimes 3 eggs over easy/eggs benedict and anything else I can get my hands on.
-
1
-
-
How about any current suggestions for parking in the area? We are looking at doing the same thing by renting a car for the overnight stay in HNL but would like to see if we can get parking close to the port. I have searched and come up pretty empty handed except Aloha Tower but there is conflicting info about there and overnight stays on weekends.
I have found the following locations, I probably will call & confirm some of this info. 2 locations not too far from the port, depends on the terminal.
http://www.parkingattheport.com/honolulu-cruise-port/
Gene
-
Just wondering if anyone has cruise with any actors or actresses, or musicians, personally I have not but came really close to booking the walker stalker cruise , with some of the cast of walking dead
I did my first cruise in '95 with the Wallace brothers, Don "Snake" Prudhomme and a few other racing stars. Rusty acted like an azz and hid in his cabin. His brother Kenny was having a blast meeting people and playing blackjack. I got to talk to Don about his racing career and he was a really a nice guy.
I wanted to go on the "Star Trek" cruise this year, but it was sold out before I found out about it.
Gene
-
First cruise coming up on Breakaway in early summer. When NCL lists the arrival/departure time in Tortola, is this EDT? Or is the time listed ADT? We want to book a shore excursion through an external website, but want to make sure we get back to the ship on time.
The vacation summary says we arrive in Tortola at 7 AM and leave at 2 PM, but I'm not sure whether or not this is local time or NYC time.
Thanks! :)
Normally the times listed with be ships time. Check the clock on-board and set your personal watch accordingly. Never rely on port time, we were in Costa Maya and they were 1 hour behind the ships time, though they were in the same time zone as the port we left from.
Again, go by the time the ship is operating on.
Gene
-
Didn't want to call this a review because these are so subjective. So just a couple of thought or observations.
First we were on the January 10-17 cruise out of New Orleans. There is not much anyone can do to improve this port. To small an area for to many people. Just pack your patience.
Lastly, we did not notice a lot of thing wrong with the appearance of the ship. Yes she is ready for a face lift, who can't use a touch up now and then. My advice, ENJOY YOUR CRUISE. Be half full not half empty.
Please note that the Carnival Dream (the largest in their fleet, over 4 thousand passengers) is docked at the same time as the Dawn. A lot of confusion as to where to go. If you are driving to the port, do not follow your GPS to the port, the road it wants to take you on will be closed to traffic on port days. When leaving Hwy. 90, turn right and go down Convention Center Blvd. then turn left onto Henderson St. cross over the RR tracks and turn left on Port of New Orleans Pl. to the terminal. Officers will direct you to the correct terminal. Yes, patience is a must. A lot of people in a small restricted area. I honked at a SUV that cut me off in traffic, I did not see that they had flashy blue & red lights. I let him through to help clear up the traffic jam.
I thought the ship was well maintained, but in need of it's up-coming refurbishment. One thing I found out from years of cruising is that the waiters do not want to get ice tea during our meal, sometimes we had to ask multiple times for tea and extra ice on our table. MDR meals were decent with the prime rib meal being the best. I still miss lobster night, just a sign of the times.
Gene
-
Just returned from a cruise yesterday and we had heavy seas on Friday, but nothing like this. Ours ranged in the 10 to 20 foot waves and we were on a smaller ship than the Anthem. We rode out the seas in good shape. This may have been the same storm that went up the coast. I am sure that the intensity increased after it went into the warmer Gulf Stream. Just glad that the Captain knew what to do and how to handle the situation. I have been on smaller ships in heavy seas when the pool water was sloshing out of them over 10 feet in the air. they are rough rides, but they held together and got us back home.
I saw a comment on another line that they thought these ships looked top heavy. Yes they do, but the Anthem has a draft of 28 feet with plenty of ballast to keep them upright when bad weather happens. Handled right, these large ships will float upright.
-
NCL web site says 18.
-
My TA is showing
a OK at $699
a BA at $999
a B1 at $1299
Better get you a new price list for this cruise.
-
According to the schedule, May 16th out of Vancouver will be the first sailing after refurbishment. We have booked this cruise and are looking forward to sailing on a refreshed ship. I promise not to wear her out while on-board. :)
I have to take this back, I found out that there is a sailing out of San Fransisco on the 8th heading North to Alaska ending in Vancouver. Still it will be nice to have a fresh, clean ship to board.
Gene
-
Looks like we will be on the first sailing after the referb. Sailing RT Vancouver leaving May 22.
According to the schedule, May 16th out of Vancouver will be the first sailing after refurbishment. We have booked this cruise and are looking forward to sailing on a refreshed ship. I promise not to wear her out while on-board. :)
-
This sounds super. Sounds like it is not like most ports where the terminals are all over the place. Thanks for this info. We may look for something to do for a couple of hours between cruises.
Gene
-
We will be arriving in Vancouver on May 16, 2016 on a Carnival cruise from Hawaii and will be transferring to NCL for an Alaska cruise the same day. Are the cruise terminals close to each other and can we walk from one to another? If we cannot walk, what will be the best way to get from one terminal to the other?
Thanks in advance
Gene
-
First cruise was on the SS Norway in December, 1995. DW was wanting to go on a cruise, but I was the holdout. I found a "cruise with NASCAR" trip. It took me 1 day to find out about this. I think it took one more day to book the cruise. The Norway was a beautiful ship which floated out of the past and swept me up. I still have her picture hanging in my office. I was hooked afterwards.
-
My company does a points system for retirement with full benefits. 85 is the magical number (age + service years = points). I have 94 points so I can go anytime my DW says "you can retire now", so my count down is at T-1 day and holding. Anytime now the clock will continue the count.
Pappagene
-
Like others have said, I don't want to spend my vacation worrying about every little penny, but I also don't want to spend months afterward paying off the credit bill or wishing I hadn't spent so much. Yes, I want to look back and remember how much fun I had, but at what expense...mostly it depends on your means and not spending so far above it that you will regret it later. I also prefer to take advantage of what my paid cruise fare includes for free and have more left over later to cuise more often. I book as early as possible for a rate that is competetive and then watch the rates closely. If they go down for the category we have, I call the booking agent and ask for a refund or for an upgrade.
With that said, we are not drinkers so that in itself provides a huge savings when sailing. We take along a 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke and enjoy it occasionally in our cabin or poolside. Replacements can be purchased easily on shore if necessary. Otherwise, we are content with coffee, tea, juices, and water. We bring a travel mug from home so coffee can be toted outside the buffet to drink after dinner while awaiting the show or to lectures and such. Bottled water is really not necessary as I assume all drinking water on board must be filtered anyway. We simply bring a re-fillable bottle with sport top (used for travel as well) that can be washed out in the cabin sink and re-used daily.
We also do not gamble and in 5 cruises have not spent one penny in a casino. We prefer to avoid the smoke-filled areas anyway, so really nothing lost for us. If the ship provides a free incentive Bingo card, we go and play but never purchase any more. It actually amazes me how quickly and how much people spend money on Bingo - adds up fast with very little return or hope of winning. Doesn't sound like fun to me, but to each his own, I suppose. And, as an aside, I do appreciate those people who spend frivolously on drinks and gambling because they help keep my cruise fares reasonably priced. :D
Specialty restaurants - we will try one or two if on a longer cruise and are celebrating a special occasion while on board and usually have OBC to use for it. We have done a 9, 11 and 12 day cruise and usually are fine with enjoying the included dining options even on the extended trips.
Photos, spa treatments, shore-excursions are all over-priced and to be avoided if possible unless you have OBC to use up. We did splurge once though for on-board professional photography on NCL and we were not disappointed for the price. These are much more worth the cost than those quickly taken impromptu shots by the roving photographers. Art and gems are basically geared to encourage impulse buying and therefore are adamantly avoided, if for nothing else but principle! :mad:
Shopping in the ports is far more interesting, affordable, and provides souveniers of your trip - why would I want to spend time and money shopping on the ship? The only exception to this would be on end of sailings sea days when many cuise lines run $10 sales of all sorts of items. I got a beautiful silver clutch purse for $10, a pretty $10 costume ring and a matching watch/earrings/necklace set for $30 on RCCL. Now those were bargains and have brought many compliments when worn!
Someone else mentioned Park N Cruise hotel specials. This is a great option! We sailed recently from NYC and the parking for 9 days would have been $300 at the port. Instead we booked a Fairfield Hotel near the Newark airport for about $120 (which included a great breakfast), used the free hotel shuttle to the airport and then booked a transport from the airport and back for about $60 round-trip for 2. Our car was parked for free at the hotel in a secure area and we didn't have the hassle of navigating NYC traffic or finding our own way to the port parking area. Almost a 50% savings and got a good night's sleep and breakfast in the bargain! We used a similar option at Port Canaveral as well and it worked equally well. Great deal!
We have thoroughly enjoyed each and every cruise without spending a fortune. We make the most of the food, entertainment, organized activities, fitness area, ping pong, etc. that incur no extra charges and have never once felt as though we were missing out on anything. And in the end we have full recollection of every glorious minute, memory, and dollar spent :p. Can't wait to cruise again!
This sound exactly like the way we cruise. I know the cruise lines loose money on us cause we buy very little extra items. One of these days they are going to tell us that we owe them more money cause we didn't spend enough while onboard. We don't drink, can live without cokes, don't gamble, never spent a dime on specialty restaurants and very rarely buy ship photos. Man I am a cheapskate, I love it.
Gene
-
Not because the economy is "weak" or gas prices have "skyrocketed" - most of which has been conjured up by the left-wing media - but we tend to cruise on the cheap. We search for off-season or repositioning cruises and then set our sights on a balcony stateroom with the cruise fare saved. We book the next cruise while on-board the current cruise for an OBC, use our C&A benefits for a discount, and use our RCCL stockholder benefits for an additonal OBC. When we have enough RCCL Visa card points accumulated, we cash them in for another OBC. Then, while on-board:
We don't buy the over-priced weak drinks in the smokey bars - but once in a while we'll order the drink of the day - or two - before the show.
We do not buy the art at the auctions - but do sign up and drink the free champaigne.
We don't buy a soda card - but do drink coffee, tea, and juices for free and even make our own "Cafe' Diablo" using their hot cocoa mix, coffee, and creamer.
We don't buy a wine package - but do use our C&A coupon for a free wine tasting.
We don't use any spa "treatments" but do occasionally sign up for a free lecture/sales pitch.
We don't use the laundry service - but do wash out our own quick-dry travel clothing in our cabin.
We don't use the high priced/low speed internet service on-board - but do use our own mobile web service when in port and cell phone service is available.
We seldom use specialty dining - but do order room service dinners or breakfasts and eat on our balcony where it is much quieter.
We DO try to book an excursion or two on-board so that it'll be charged to our sea pass - the one already front loaded with a bunch of OBCs.
The result? Most cruises we have a very small balance on our sea pass at the end of the cruise, and sometimes even have a credit.
Are you a tightwad cruiser too? If so, what do you do
I guess you can call us tightwads if the things above apply. We do not drink, gamble, go to the specialty restaurants, use the internet (we cruise to get away from this), only use the cell phone to contact family to let them know we are taking extra days, only use the spa to exercise for free, live without the sodas, etc. We are happy with our cruises this way. I save the money not spent to go on another cruise later.
Gene
Power adapters for Dawn
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted · Edited by pappagene
I have read elsewhere that it is not the voltage, but the amps (current) being pulled through the wires. If you pull too many amps through a small gage wire, they will heat up and burn. We run 2 CPAP's on one extension cord (12 or 14 gage), small amp draw on this one. Never had a problem when traveling over-seas.