flashdog_1

This happened to us, but not by choice more than ten years ago, so I am positive the details would not be pertinent today. But just for the record, when I knew that we could not make the embarkation date I contacted the cruiseline and they said it was okay to go (on our own) to the first port of call, which is what we did.  That port was not set up for checking in passengers and customs etc. was rather peeved. Plus the cruiseline imposed a $300 per person fine for the supposed Jones Act Violation which we paid. Years later someone made a class action suit against the cruiseline and everyone who had ever paid the $300 was refunded it! I advise abiding by the schedule:)

Not quite as hard to get a place in Posh (20 non-suite) as it is to get the 12 only Chef's special dinner.

Please answer a few questions about Posh. thanks

Is the seared tuna mentioned above or other meal there included in the cost, or is it a la carte? Is there a salad bar, too?

Is there any shade?

Does anyone know where do you sign up for the Chef's meal? At the table for specialty restaurants?

Carry on what you can handle. Another good way to bring on your pop, water, or juice is to bring a bungee strap and then just strap it on the top of the carry on. This way the scanners don't have to dig through your luggage to see what is in the pop carton

I'm not sure I follow. I understand about being able to see the carton of water etc., but will he be able to lift it? Does the bungee strap serve as another handle? thanks for explaining in a minute. Do you mean just for going thru the scanner?

'fraid not. In my experience, the recognition I got was being called by my first name while passing the activities director in the hall!

But I have read that other ships had offered small perks. So it must vary. Certainly not a reason to take on the responsibility~

Don't cancel your cruise - you are booking way too early. The "sweet spot" for airfares is usually around 4-6 months in advance. But it can be 9 or 10. Last week I booked airfare from Atlanta to Miami for Sept 2012 for $123 round trip! Fares had been running as high as $300, but they ran an unexpected sale. We are returning to Miami in Jan 2013, and I am already monitoring fares - right now they are anywhere from $244 to $336. I am holding out for anything under $150, but will settle for $200 if desperate.

That is such good news for me since we also fly out of ATL and haven't seen anything to MIA for less than $324 for this November. I do keep an eye out.

To the OP, Spirit flies from LGA to FLL. With prearranged cars to take you to and from the port to hotel , and port to airport, you should be able to get it all done for less than you'd think. Search the homeport board for information about cars in FLL and MIA. good luck!

Oh, but Spirit has really high baggage fares! Even carryon except your purse is charged extra.

People have different feelings about where one should post a review. For permanent reference, the review section is the place to post a "formal" review which is concise and to the point. Then the person doing research about a particular ship/itinerary can find many in one place.

The more casual review, whether it's live or written after completion of the cruise, is a great benefit for active cruise critics about to embark on the same itinerary. The inclusion of photos is most helpful! These reviews are also wonderful to read when you are only dreaming about a possible cruise.

Yes, thanks to all who write constructive reviews, containing the overall impression of the reviewer, and the pros and cons, or comparison to other ships or even other lines!

Thank you for everyone's help and advice! I ended up redeeming my 15,000 points for a $120 check, rather than hoping/praying that a $150 onboard credit would show up. I wimped out, but prefer the sure $120 than a maybe $150 :D.

The only cash/check reward that pays the full value of your points is the $250 or higher category. That's what I'm working on now.

I have a Norwegian Master Card and was wondering if I open a second card will I still receive the $150 opening bonus on the second one?

I think those first time offers are just that, for your first time having the card. Now if your spouse gets one, that's another story, and I think would qualify for the $150 opening bonus.

Had a friend who'd had a certain card with that kind of reward years ago. She canceled the card so she didn't have to pay an annual fee. Then laSt year she decided she wanted to accumulate points for that reward and they would not even let her open a new account! So read the fine print to be sure.

Sorry if I missed an answer if it was posted earlier, but with the recent bro-ha-ha over "NCL OBC" (as opposed to TA OBC") is Bank of America (BOA) credit card point redemption "NCL OBC" and not to be used as OBC for daily service charged (DSC) or is it considered BOA OBC and can be used for the DSC?

 

Thanks

I would also like to know anyone's experience with this. Thanks.

I hope that we hear/learn that other cruise lines are also implementing a higher standard for muster drills. I've been sailing NCL since 2008 maybe and they check to see that all members of your cabin are present. I was impressed at that (one roommate was very short and could not be seen between my daughter and me who are tall!)

When my kids were young and we'd go to resort towns, I'd have them practice saying the name of the resort/time share, room number along with their name so if accidentally in trouble, a police man could get them home.

It is the same for cruises. I always look behind the door and announce the letters for the muster drill. Last time my DD said, "Mom, it's right on the key card." Oh.... ha

On my one HAL cruise, our entire roll call (and it was large) for cruise critic was under 50 except me. Most were in their 30s and 40s. This myth about only old people traveling on HAL just has to be curtailed. Yes, there are very old people on board, some of whom can outdance me!

For goodness sake, even though you are on vacation, do read the instructions on the back of your cabin door & tell the instructions to those who are too busy having a good time to read it. On some cruiselines your key card will state your muster station. In some cases, there are shortcuts to the muster station from your cabin (you do not have to go to a main stairwell, but a back staircase etc) so learn it. You don't know where you'll be on a ship if and when the call to muster occurs.

Remember fire drills in school? Everyone knew the way out! Let's get wise.

As far as our not ever having been instructed on how to enter the life boats, remember that these life boats are also sometimes the tender boats you will be using to get to shore in ports that do not have a dock. Note that the crew will help you aboard. But if the crew got stuck somewhere and is not available to help you into the lifeboat should there be a real emergency, it must be every man(woman/child/elderly) for himself. I would guess that you cannot enter a lifeboats without some crew member around because the lifeboats will still be in the air!

as far as the Concordia, I'm wondering if the reason no one saw any officers is that they all boarded the same life raft from the bridge! Has any officer been interviewed to state how he got off the ship?

Mike, if you're still reading your posts, I have a question. You said:

Oh..one thing I discovered while looking at the aft of the ship from the 14th deck is that the ship doesn’t always run on both screws. We had a 40 knot tail wind on Sunday, and the ship only needed the starboard screw to maintain about 16 knots. I guess they were saving fuel by doing this, but it made a lot of sense. Later when we turned south and start battling the wind and weather I noticed that both screws were cranking away.

I don't know what you mean about the screws. Thrusters? I haven't a clue. Thanks for the review and for finding my post and answering after a year and 4 months.

yes.. ncl doesnt care how much obc you have.. but note if u dont spend it all it may go on a credit for a future cruise..they may not refund your money

I think it is use it or lose it. I have never heard of a carry over. If you don't think you'll use it all, just use $50 obc instead of all the $100, in which case you would still have 5k points left in your account. Or don't cash it in at all. Save it until you have 25k points and you can get $250 back into your checking account.

Remember to join the Captains circle club as you get freebies eventually.

Take your own lanyard as they cost around $7.00 onboard.

I thought they were free in the casino when you had them punch your card ????

Janet I just read another review of Golden, and she had photos attached. I cannot figure out where a sort of bridge looking place is, indoors, but on either side of the "hall" you can see the glacier. Here is the link. Hope you can see it. Thanks

It is early on in the slideshow. #2 Is it the walkway to Skywalkers?

http://www.cig.usa.canon.com/ph/OPA/VisitorThumbnailListEntrance.do?vsmi=216181309858661217

What ship were you sailing on? Thanks

thank you all for your kind words :). I still would like to make the pictures a little smaller so they don't scream at you,but can't seem to size them once they are posted. If anyone knows how please chime in.

But the effect is SO good when the photos are big. Thanks.

Elliots... My husband had jeans on. We really did enjoy the food and the service was great as well.

 

Yeah, I had no clue about Pier 91 until we arrived which is why I wanted to document. I really had no idea of what to expect in Victoria. Hal and Princess both arrived in Victoria close to each other so the influx of passengers coming off the ship was a bit overwhelming. But it is like this at all of the ports we traveled to. Did you have plans for Victoria?

 

Sanctuary was cold because it was a cold rainy day and the entire area was wet and miserable.. which is why we stayed out of the elements that day. (our Sunday full sail day)

Thanks for responding. We want to try the ivory salmon at Elliot's.

I've never been on a Princess ship, so was unaware the Sanctuary was not enclosed and heated!! Thanks for the heads up.

Great thorough review! Thanks for taking the trouble to insert all the links and photos.

I saw that you'd been to Elliot's in Seattle. One of our friends had recommended it so I made a reservation there, too. Did you enjoy the food immensely? DD wants to wear jeans because the dress code is casual, but I looked it up and it says ambience is elegant casual, so I'm not sure about how to dress. Any advice would be welcome.

It's funny how you look at a port on a map and you think you'll be able to hoof it just fine. But then I saw your photos of the port, for instance, of Victoria, and it looked very confusing! Wish us luck! Thanks

oh! And why was the Sanctuary cold?

This has taken me awhile to do but here it is~ I like to use my pictures as my visuals in my review so this will be long but hopefully fun!

You are too much! Besides a detailed review, those links were indispensable to me. I saw that Go Shuttle Express, clicked on it and made my own reservation. Thank you so much. Loved the pictures, too.

or I'd never have known about the Add it Up business.Thanks for the tip. I have other websites that give me cash back, maybe it's called ebates? and just this week I've earned, due to 12x the normal points, $27 on stuff I was buying anyway, like shoes from shoes.com for my hubby, and supplements from drugstore.com.

I like to spend money on a cruise and get double points and then when I have 25k points, cash it in for cash.

I'd had to die for lobster ravioli at Baccus in New Orleans, so when I saw it on the menu in the Italian specialty restaurant on NCL Dawn, I ordered it. There was, first of all, not enough sauce to cover the 3 large ravioli (besides the sauce was undoubtedly the same sauce served on top of any ravioli, spaghetti etc), and secondly, the stuffing of the ravioli was just some "crumbs" or "scrapings" suspiciously like the crab something or other I'd already had on the sailing. Thumbs down. Don't bother! This was January last year. Hopefully chefs change and with it the recipes.

I do not see an option for cash back on the redemption chart. If I have 50,000 points, I can get $500 off a cruise, or $500 OBC. Does this mean I can get $500 cash back, or is the amount different? How do I go about doing this? I miss the old certificate program!

Maybe they've removed the cash back option recently, but last fall I got a $250 check.

Yesterday I emailed both Diamond Tours and Garry Jollymore. I received an answer from Diamond Tours this morning. They designed the trip for us for just Peggy's Cove and the Titanic cemetery (which is all we want to see). Cost is $130.00 (CAN $) for the two of us. Still waiting on the other quote.

I'm wondering if doing a "long distance" tour like to Bay of Fundy or Peggy's Cove first thing in the morning, returning to the ship for lunch and then walking to the Maritime Museum.

Does anyone know if it's in walking distance? I googled the port address (got Port Authority of Halifax as 1215 Marginal Rd B3H 4P8, and Museum as 1675 Lower Water Street) but haven't found a system that includes directions in Canada.Thx