njhorseman
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Posts posted by njhorseman
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24 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:
Doesn't that shuttle in the background run from the entrance to the castle? Seems I was able to get on a shuttle at the castle down to the grounds entrance before?
I couldn't say if that's the case but I have no reason to doubt that you took it in the past. It doesn't change my mind about it not being a good choice for mobility impaired people, even more so given San Juan's heat and humidity.
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51 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:
I am traveling with two mobility impaired seniors who would love to see the forts and maybe another place or two in San Juan. Since the free hop on/off trolley isn't running, what options are there?
Taxis and Uber are readily available in San Juan, but I'm not sure the forts are a wise choice of attraction to take anyone who is mobility impaired. Even if they could be magically transported there from the ship how would they be able to walk once there? Take a look at this:
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1 hour ago, LadyBerard said:
When we are in Bermuda, we always enjoy spending at least a couple hours on Calico Jacks Pirate Ship, having a few drinks, and I enjoyed going down the slide and spending time in the water. I read on Tripadvisor that they are permanently closed. Very sad.
1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:TripAdvisor (sorry Cruise Critic) is wrong. Calico Jacks is open. They do close in the off season but I can tell from the port cam they are open now.
Their Instagram page confirms they are open for the 2024 season.
https://www.instagram.com/calicojacksbermuda/?hl=en
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1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:
They have a lot more pull over port operations than some here would lead you to believe...but I suppose that's because they're experts.
Yes, some of us might actually have some significant professional experience in the travel and cruise businesses.
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38 minutes ago, catsarealiens said:
Are the employees in the Seattle terminal (Pier 66) employees of NCL or the port of Seattle? I am specifically referring to the employees at the check in desk.
I received my post cruise survey and wish to give a thumbs up to a few of the land based employees for the smooth embark last week but if they are port employees it would no really make much difference.Although I have no specific knowledge of the situation in Seattle, typically they are employees of a shoreside port services company such as Intercruises.
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5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:
Have you asked on the NCL board?
3 hours ago, princeton123211 said:Like Bruce said, check the NCL boards. But even if they did discontinue them this is VERY easy to do on your own with a little planning ahead (getting advanced tickets to USS Arizona Memorial) and just using Uber to get around. Could cost less than what NCL offers(ed) on a bus.
The OP posted the question here and on the NCL board
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2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:
Is the free San Juan Trolley operating now?
it hasn't run for several years.
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5 hours ago, Host Jacquelyn said:
Family of 5 looking to do crystal & fantasy caves. Is there a cab / transportation we can pick up to and from the port? Any idea of price?
In addition to what @Charles4515 has said, if you're going to go to the caves it's imperative that you reserve a time slot. During the cruise season the caves will have large numbers of visitors arriving via cruise line excursions and there is a limit on how many people can descend into the caves at any one time. You don't want to make a long and expensive trip to the caves only to find that you won't be able to see them.
With the new taxi fares the trip may be just a touch more expensive than Charles has estimated. Per the Bermuda Tourism Authority for a 5 to 7 passenger taxi the new fare is $11.55 for the first mile and $4.25 for each additional mile. The trip from the Dockyard is approximately 20 to 21 miles, which would result in a fare of about $92-$95, but just as in the US a tip for the driver is customary, so figure a total cost each way of about $105 to $110 dollars. If you are making the trip on a Sunday or legal holiday, there will be a 50% (not a typo...50% !!!) fare surcharge for a 5-7 passenger taxi.
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29 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:
When I took an Uber from Newark Penn it was less expensive than a taxi but Uber fares might have gone up. The taxi fare was a flat rate about $50 so it could be looked up. I took taxis before Uber existed so I don’t know the current taxi rate. Uber was a lot less, $25 but rates could have changed
Uber fares have definitely gone up. The quote I gave in my reply was based on what the Uber app quoted just before I posted, and it was in the same ballpark I've seen at other times.
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24 minutes ago, ridgeview lab lover said:
Does anyone know what the cost of a cab is from Newark train station to Cape Liberty?
I recommend Uber over a taxi because the taxis in that area of NJ tend to be pretty ratty.
Figure about $35-$40 for an Uber. A taxi would likely be about the same price.
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1 hour ago, loving2cruise said:
Is there shopping at the cruise port in Halifax at Pier 22? TIA
I'm confused by your question because if the title of your thread. Halifax isn't on the Bay of Fundy, Saint John is.
But if you're just interested in shopping at Pier 22 in Halifax, yes there are lots of small shopping outlets in Cruise Pavilion 22:
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3 hours ago, lb0103 said:
We will be returning from Bermuda and want to know how will immigration will go.
They use facial recognition technology, not Global Entry:
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10 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:
Not sure why you're so fixated on specifically NY embarkation ports. I never claimed to be an expert in them nor was I trying to say that my solo trip out of one means that it's the standard/norm/whatever for every trip every time.
My point was simply that if there's a problem at any embarkation port where consistently the line at guest services once folks get on board is an hour deep more often than not - NCL should be looking into the reasons why. There will be things they can control or account for or compensate for (more chairs, cups of water, clearer instructions on where to go, estimated wait times, etc), and there will be things they can't (heat, rain, capacity of the building). But they don't have to just accept it as what it is and continue to sail out of there.
I'm fixated on NY because it's a prime example of a major NCL embarkation port where it would be essentially impossible to move to another port that could serve its huge cruising market and where the operational Hydra makes it extraordinarily difficult...indeed next to impossible for NCL or any cruise line to do very much about improving conditions.
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58 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:
Like I said, my one trip out of NY we got out of the Uber and walked onto the ship in under 30 mins. My folks who were not in Haven had a similar experience, so it's not because we skipped any lines that regular folks would have to be on. As we were walking on the ship we looked over to the terminal and I even took a photo of my folks as they were walking on. They came completely separately from us, went to the normal security lines, etc etc.
As for there not being any other options - that's nonsense. You've literally named two other nearby ports with Brooklyn and Cape Liberty. Can NCL move in there overnight - of course not. But looking at cruises scheduled now, there are plenty of days where nothing is scheduled - meaning NCL can claim that spot if they wanted. Especially if they were doing one way trips where you didn't need an opening on the front and back end.
Having done dozens of cruises from Manhattan on at least 6 different cruise lines, yes some were not problematic but some were total nightmares at embarkation, disembarkation, or both. To put it bluntly, your lone cruise is meaningless as a measure of the experience of cruising from the port. On another day your experience could have been completely different.
NCL runs relatively few one way trips beginning or ending in NY. I recall one or two in the past being scheduled to depart Brooklyn, but the overwhelming percentage of NCL cruise passengers are on roundtrip voyages. Moving a few cruises doesn't address the core issues that affect probably 95% of NCL's NY passengers.
Did you forget what I documented for you about NCL having to deal with the same service providers regardless of whether they sail from Manhattan, Brooklyn or Cape Liberty? Moving a few cruises is going to do nothing to address the problems caused by having to deal with that Hydra...and I need to add the Coast Guard and USCBP, which can delay any embarkation and disembarkation.
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8 hours ago, julig22 said:
NCL stopped cruising from San Diego several years ago, moved most departures to San Pedro, rumor at that time the decision was made due to various issues with the port.
@njhorseman who says they have to sail from NYC at all? From the complaints I've seen regarding the lack of upcoming cruises, maybe they've already made that decision.
The complaints about lack of cruises from NY are about the reduction of the number of sailings and lack of variety in itineraries, not that there aren't cruises from NY. We used to have two NCL ships based in NY most of the time. That is no longer true.
The situation here can't be compared to San Diego and San Pedro. The substantial port facilities in San Pedro were already in place. There's no comparable port here that could replace NY. Plus, by moving the San Diego cruises to San Pedro they were moving closer to the center of the cruising population. Moving from NY would be moving operations further from the center of population.
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1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:
That's all well and good for NY, but I don't remember seeing a ton of complaints about that port. So even though that's where I live I wasn't suggesting they change that one if that's what you assumed. Only sailed out of here once and there were no hiccups.
The point though is that they can do it. Not overnight, but with planning and research there are other options. Simply telling a city you're working on a 5 year plan to never come back will either make them cheer or potentially change some things around.
Either way a win because if a location doesn't want you there you'll never get good service from the sub contacted teams who have to "help" you.
If you haven’t seen complaints about NY you haven’t been paying attention. If I were the type of poster who wanted to air my gripes I could have started a dozen threads myself. Yes, since you're from NY I assumed you had cruised from here fairly often. The fact that you haven’t probably explains why you haven’t seen complaints...you simply haven’t looked very hard for them.
Threatening NY with a 5 year plan to move elsewhere ignores the reality that there is nowhere else on the east coast that could serve the huge NY area market, where so many millions are just a short drive, train ride, or bus trip away. While it might work elsewhere I doubt it could work here.
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48 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:
Right, but doesn't NCL get to pick and choose which ports they use? If they consistently have issues with poor customer experience at a particular port for whatever reason (not talking the one off due to mother nature or weirdo things), isn't it in their best interest to stop using that port to avoid the complaints they know will come from guests?
In the lab world, we can pick which reference lab we want to use for tests we don't perform ourselves in-house. It's actually a requirement of the primary lab to annually review and evaluate the performance of the reference lab we use to ensure they're meeting our requirements for client satisfaction, accuracy, timeliness, etc.
Cruise industry isn't as regulated on some things as the lab world, but I would imagine it's got to be some sort of KPI/metric somewhere in some bean counter's quarterly power point. No? Am I over thinking this?
How would you suggest that NCL replace the Manhattan Cruise Terminal as a homeport ? Cape Liberty has only one berth and is controlled by Royal Caribbean. Brooklyn has only one berth and is controlled by Carnival Corp. for its Cunard and Princess subsidiaries, with now MSC leasing berthing rights.
Oh...even if adequate docking space were available at either Cape Liberty or Brooklyn, it's going to be pretty much the same cast of characters running them. All three are under the general auspices of the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
Brooklyn and Manhattan are both managed by NYCEDC (New York City Economic Development Corporation), which has contracted day-to day management of both to Ports America, which subcontracts out the check in services at the pier...last I saw to a company called Intercruises that pretty much has a monopoly on those services in this area. Parking facility operations are subcontracted out to other operators. Stevedoring labor is provided by the local longshoreman's union, the ILA...no choice there.
The above should also tell you why it's next to impossible for NCL to have any control over what happens at the port...no alternatives are available and you have at least five organizations involved in port operations: PA of NY & NJ, Ports America, Intercruises, a parking operator and the ILA.
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2 hours ago, Moz said:
Hope there s such a venue and possible charge for taxi or uber if shuttle not available, Very unfamiliar with that area and a hotel that is reasonably priced. Preferably a shuttle from LAX to hotel and then to the port of Long Beach, We cannot fly into Long Beach. Thank you
As already noted, hotels in the LAX area have shuttles from the airport to the hotel, but no hotel has a shuttle to Long Beach.
Take an Uber from any hotel in the LAX area to Long Beach. Likely price is in the $50 to $60 range.
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3 hours ago, reefgeek83 said:
We will be flying into LAX and then cruising out of the Long Beach terminal. Looking at options for transportation from LAX to the cruise terminal. Are there any hotels near LAX that offer shuttle service? Ran a price for Uber and it was $150 one way, a little pricey considering we need round trip. Thanks for your help.
In addition to what others have said, it appears to me that the $150 price quote is for an Uber Black. An UberX or Uber Comfort from LAX to the Long Beach Cruise terminal will be in the $50-$60 range.
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2 hours ago, papafred said:
Can you prepay to park at Pier 88 in Manhattan? If so, what is the link. thanks
I answered your question on a different thread.
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1 hour ago, papafred said:
How do you reserve a parking spot on or adjacent to pier 88?
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1 hour ago, papafred said:
Is Propark also the parking lot for Carnival on Pier 88?
They're the parking operator for the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. It doesn't matter what cruise line you're on.
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21 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:
I'm not sure what union represents the unlicensed crew on the Staten Island ferry, but the licensed officers are represented by MEBA, one of two maritime officer unions. I would be surprised if the unlicense crew are not represented by the SIU (Seafarers International Union, as these two unions typically require the company to contract with both unions), but you can be an employee of a company (or city) and a member of a different union than other government employees (like government employees union and teachers union). But, this is far afield from the OP's question.
The point is that being represented by a maritime union doesn't mean you're not a government employee.
I also checked job openings on the Washington State Ferry. Again they are state employees but may be represented by various unions.
You are correct...we have gone far afield from the original question, but that often happens .
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26 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:
And, none of the ship's crews on the Staten Island ferry are government employees. They are members of the maritime unions. And, yes, the Staten Island ferry is free, so that can be an outlier. How many government run entities have been privatized in the last couple of decades?
There's a job opening on nyc.gov as a marine oiler for the Staten Island ferry.
The job description clearly states that the person will be an employee of the City of New York.
Seattle cruise terminal (or any terminal for that matter)
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
Correct . NCL and Oceania sail from Pier 66, while @Ferry_Watcher works at Pier 91, where the other cruise lines homeport.