fubarbloke

I just booked a 5 night Dominican Daze and a 4 night Fire and Sunset Soirées in November as a back to back. I talked to customer service to get it sorted. They were very helpful, but only up to a point. What I learned was:

- They'll work with you to keep you in the same cabin for both sailings.
- You have to disembark in Miami between the sailings, but you can leave your stuff in the cabin.
- You'll be assigned the latest disembark slot and the earliest re-embark slot.
- There might be excursions available in Miami – that's TBD.
- The $300 Future Voyage Credit that comes with your first booking cannot be applied to the second booking. It doesn't say so on the website, but according to the customer service rep those credits are only good for 2022 sailings.
- If you pre-pay a $300 bar tab, you get an extra $125 added but neither the $300 payment or the $125 spiff can be carried over to the second sailing. You'll have to pre-pay another $300, even if there's money left from the first sailing.

Effectively, I'd have to pay $600 to get $850 worth of drinks. That's nearly $100 a day; more if you figure in three port days – Puerto Plata, Miami, Key West. I'm assuming for the moment that the drink tab is good at Bimini, but need to check that.

I've run up $100 bar tabs in my life, but not for nine days in a row. Even figuring it without the spiff at $600 total/$67 per day I'm likely to lose money on the deal. The drinks package does not look attractive.

2 hours ago, B Midged said:

Well then why are you asking in the first place If you already know all the answers?  Why don’t you contact them and ask?  When you get to the dock, I’m pretty sure they won’t care what anonymous posters on cruise critic says about bringing bikes on board. 

I was happy to see this thread started, because I hoped that we'd have a friendly discussion about cruising with a bike. Instead, what we have is akin to someone asking about the wine list and getting a bunch of ignorant comments about the evils of alcohol and the perils of uncorking a bottle incorrectly.

I'm grateful for the thoughtful posts and good info this thread generated, and particularly to @WYB! and @True Trans Traveler for the photos.

Take a deep breath.

Wheeling or carrying a bicycle – even a FULL SIZED BICYCLE – on and off a ship is trivial, particularly if you're physically fit and used to handling it. As any serious cyclist will be. Storing it in a cabin, particularly a single cabin, doesn't rate a second thought.

Pre-covid, it was common to see dozens of bikes in crowed commuter trains and stations, including subways with multiple stairs to navigate, in the SF Bay Area. Everyone figured it out. One or two onboard a cruise ship won't even be noticed.

What if everyone does it? Then the rules will change accordingly. That's the way it went in the Bay Area, and the way it's always been in places like Japan and the Netherlands, where bikes are part of the culture.

If NCL allows it, there's no reason for anyone to be offended. Bicycles do not jump out and bite people.

They can sail out of the US, but they can't come back unless they stop in a non-US port first.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

And, the ships going to Alaska have to stop in Canada.

Not if you're on the Sun going from Seattle to Alaska to Russia to Japan in October 😁. Which hasn't been cancelled. Yet.

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

You're also going to have to navigate the bicycle on stairs, in elevators, in and out of security. I mean, if you're determined to do it, and NCL doesn't mind, I guess go for it.  But, it will be a pretty big hassle for you, and those who have to navigate around you and the bike while on board and during every disembarkation and embarkation at every port.

Completely ordinary when you're travelling with a bicycle. Taking a bike onboard a ship or on public transit, or navigating through a hotel is pretty painless. It's not going to cause any more distress to those around you than the stuff other people haul around. Like massive suitcases, scooters, luggage carts, shopping bags and (dare I say) children.

I did a month-long bike/train/boat tour through Europe, and brought my bike onboard a river cruise ship in Hungary. They wanted me to leave it on the deck. I said I'd be happy to sleep on deck, but the bike was going in the cabin. That ended the conversation. It was a bit cramped – river boats seem to have tighter accomodations than ocean cruise ships – but workable. Sea-going ferries – Norway to Denmark and Denmark to Iceland – were even easier. Bikes are normal. On another trip, I brought a boxed bike on a Cunard transatlantic run. No problem.

In my experience, if bikes aren't banned then bringing one onboard is no more (or less) difficult than bringing it anywhere else – hotel, hostel, train, subway, bus.

My theory – hope, really – is that as the UK eases restrictions on international travel, the UK cruises will open up to non-residents. Instead of "UK residents only", the policy could be interpreted as "only people allowed leisure travel in the UK". Right now, those are one and the same, but that could change over the next couple of months.

+1 for no kids. It's just temporary, but I'm going to enjoy it when and if I can.

On 4/12/2021 at 1:43 PM, casofilia said:

"Rose coloured glasses".   At the rate we are vaccinating now October 2022 is more likely.

Maybe so – I'm an optimist. California had a slow and rough start, too. But once the vaccination program scaled up, the number of people vaccinated daily increased rapidly. It's still confusing and chaotic here, but a lot of jabs are finally going into arms.

Watch what happens in the UK over the next two or three months. If restrictions are rolled back on the current time table (international travel starting to ramp up in May and restrictions largely gone by the end of June), it'll be a case study for countries with similar circumstances. NZ is looking at full vaccination in October, Australia maybe by the end of the year. By that time, there could be relevant data from the UK to support a reassessment of current restrictions. I wouldn't bet on anything changing before then, though.

The Sun still has Asian cruises on the schedule for the (northern) winter. I've been looking at its October trans-pac repositioning cruise, Seattle-Alaska-Russia-Japan. I don't expect that Japan will allow cruise ships, or any leisure travel, by then. But I'm hopeful that it'll go somewhere.

Tried adding a shore excursion and a dining package to my July reservation, just to see what would happen. Got this response both times:

i

My July Baltic cruise on Escape isn't available to book, but the reservation in my account is still active. I think it'll take time to re-set the whole system – do it step by step over a weekend.

I know a lot of nurses. All of them have all the work they want right now. Including a couple of retired nurses who were called back. Hospitals seem to have figured out how to manage resources as case counts go up and down.

There's also a lot more spare capacity in the system than there was a year ago, and it took some time to figure out how to manage and use it. Most of my RN friends went through a lot of shift changes and reassignments in the early days of the pandemic. It was a learning process.

A big field hospital was built near where I live and never used. That doesn't mean it was a bad idea or that it still isn't needed. It means, for example, that things here on the California central coast never got as bad as in southern California, or in Reno where a field hospital was activated and used to care for covid patients.

Kinda hard on the Manx 😁

10 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

We are under the impression September would be good for seeing bears and whales.

I have a vague recollection of seeing whales on the cruise, but it wouldn't have been particularly memorable for me since we see them on the central California coast, where I live. It is really cool to see them, even for the hundredth time. I took the train ride from Skagway, and saw a flash of brown fur that was probably a bear. You'd probably have better luck with a bear hunting shore excursion 🐻😁

I cruised Alaska in September on the Norwegian Sun. Loved it. Ports were cheaper, less crowded, friendly. Weather was generally cool, not cold. The ocean was nowhere near freezing and glaciers don't notice the difference between August and September. I'm planning another Alaska cruise even later in September. You want warm, go to Mexico in September. You want a mild arctic adventure, go to Alaska.

8 hours ago, SpainAlien said:

3. the drinks package is fine, it covers cocktails and frozen cocktails, wine and beers each up to a maximum $15 per drink.  https://www.ncl.com/fr/en/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

The link goes to a page with another link to a liquor list:

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/premium-beverage-package-2019.pdf

Is this what comes with the "free" package? Looks decent enough for daily drinking. I was afraid it would be dive bar well brand stuff.

There's a triathlon there in December that I'm thinking of doing. Tacking on a cruise, however short, either side of it might be fun. But if it's not doable, then it's not doable. Thanks for the info!

Has anyone ever booked a layover in Ensenada on Carnival? In other words, sail from LA, stay a few days in Ensenada, then return on a different ship/sailing? Is it possible?

Thanks!

Maybe the Chicken Dance?