lynnquenby

Generally deposits are non refundable, but if you have booked direct with NCL then you should be able to change to a new cruise .  Whenever I have done this as long as the cruise costs the same or more then there should be no admin fees. 

This is only my experience so if you want the official answer is speak to NCL! 

Hope this helps. 

Once you leave town there is very little traffic. Within town you would not want to drive around...but rather walk. The cart rental folks give you a decent map and will even mark out some of the better routes.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank......from what I could see roads looked simple enough outside of town......was just traffic levels!

Think this might be our Bonaire day!!

Hi.....we are in Bonaire for the first time in March and thinking of doing this.

Can anyone tell me what the traffic is like?? Is it busy or relatively quiet?

Hubby worried it will be busy and being from UK (so expecting we will be driving on the wrong side of the road!!) He's a little apprehensive......plus he's worried about getting lost!!

Any help/advice greatly appreciated!!

Hello Lynn, I too am booked on the April 3rd-13th 2019 Breakaway cruise.I received an email today from my TA, and our cruise is listed as a cancelled cruise. The Escape is moving to New York to replace the Breakaway. I called tonight, but my TA called NCL to rebook, but NCL was closing for the night. Was told to call back between and 9 am and 6pm Eastern time.

I will let you know what happens tomorrow

Brian

Thanks Brian and shof515......

We have had our letter now too and really not happy about the options. I will be calling today .....and cancelling.....aa to do 7 nights on the itinerary proposed in escape is really not appealing to us at all!! Neither is the option to move it to a massively overpriced cruise from another port....noting we have to decide BEFORE NOLA go on sale :mad:

Being in UK we've got reduced hours and can only call between 10-4!! My PCC didn't even know anything about it when I spoke to her yesterday!!

This was a special cruise for us with family so sad we won't be able to make it... especially seeing as it fitted perfectly for us with school holidays and length of cruise (it's sometimes a long way from UK for a 7 night cruise! )

This is the second thing of late NCL Have done to 'annoy me' might be time to start looking at other lines.......

Confused as to where our sailing is??!! We were on BA April 3rd 2019 and our cruise is no longer on sale...yet not referenced above!?

Messaged my PCC to find out what is going on as no 10 nighters I can see going from NYC in April 2019 at all!

Sounds like our Jade itinerary on March 23rd, is that the one you are on?

Were on this cruise....so watching and waiting as in UK we tend to get our comms a couple of days after the US.

send me an email to cruisecritic@escomb.org.uk and can tell you of our experience

Thanks 😃 email sent!!

Yes booking through the UK that's the problem-I now have a US Ncl PCC recommended by American friends and on our last cruise we saved over £1000 due to price drops

I think I need to look into getting a US NCL PCC - at least then gives options! Would be interested to hear your experience in how it works for you?

There is a small area of shops for the cruise ships. About half were open the day we got there. The area around Cherry Bay is industrial but there was a grocery store used by the locals in a 15? minute walk. There were taxis waiting.

It took like 12 of us to Charlotte amalie in about 15 minutes. I walked thru an alley of shops to the main street where it started to rain. Went to the next alley to the Side Street Pub and had lunch at a table with a big umbrella (Free WiFi). Rain stopped and I ended up at the Belgian Chocolate Factory. Out on the bay side street, there was a taxi stand. Most taxi were going to the other cruise ships. I had to wait 5 minutes or so for someone willing to go to Cherry Bay. Think it cost $7 to get back.

Thanks for sharing. ......good info to have as getting mixed reports but think we're docking the same place!

We docked at Crown Bay. This is a dock used by private mega yachts. It must be that none were using it so we did. Only one small cruise ship could dock there.

Thanks for sharing - Was there much at this dock? How long did it take you to g et into Charlotte amalie? Assuming cabs were available?

Used this app on our Breakaway cruise last year. It didn't work more often than it did.

Same here when we were on Epic in thr med last summer......Most of thr time we resorted to old school methods as messages just never sent !!

40 until we board........27 until we fly out to US!! Can't wait......really needing some caribbean sunshine!!

Norwegian Spirit docks at CT1. You will see the Alamo building from the ship - under 4 minutes away by shuttle.

 

It should all be stress-free! Have a nice breakfast then shuttle over to the building around 9am to get the car and off you go!

Fab news SteerageJoe! ! Thanks so much for all of your helpful information !!

Lynn

If you are using Enterprise-National-Alamo and your ship is at terminal B1 you can easily walk to drop/pick your vehicle (while the others mind the luggage at the terminal). It is only a 0.5 mile stroll passing by the Cove restaurants!

 

See a map here - look for the building just west of the Exploration Tower near terminal 1.

 

Otherwise, I would avoid the early rush and enjoy a nice breakfast. Then load everyone on the rental car shuttle - time it from the cruise ship to arrive via shuttle at the rental car building between 9am and 9:30am - between the morning pickup rush and early drop-offs! By 10:30am they get busy again.

 

Hopefully you can stay on the ship until close to 9am?

 

If you go alone to the rental car building you give 3 strangers a chance to jump in front of you at the rental car counter! So take your friends and one of you (a lady perhaps?) should be able to get off the shuttle first to arrive in front of the line at the counter before the rest of the shuttle passengers!

Thanks again - very helpful!

We are using alamo but can't work out which terminal as docs just say 'Terminal 1' so probably won't set of walking........just in case it's further than we thought!

I'll get the other days going early next week. The process isn't real quick with having to do one page at a time due to size.

Thanks.....really helpful! !

If there are 2 or more ships in port on your return day things will be hectic getting to rental cars and back. Have you checked the schedules for that day at the Port?

 

Assuming you want to get to the airport as fast as possible:

 

Unless the rental car rate is one heck of a deal, I prefer booking a private shuttle for the return to Orlando Airport. Should cost around $120 plus 20% tip - zero hassles = priceless!

 

But, with rental rates for larger cars under $60 on many dates, I would probably load everyone & bags into the rental car shuttle, get the car and drive to Orlando. Unless someone in your party needs assistance moving about, things will not happen faster if only one person go back and forth.

Think there are 3 in.... (but will double check!)

I thinkwepaid c $50 for car and its cheapest way for all 4 of us. We do have all day as flight home not until 7pm so whilst in no rush don't want to be spending hours at cruise terminal trying to get out!!

Thanks For advice....

With 4 people and bags, I'd probably opt to drop bags and people first, and then drop the rental car. There may be limited space on the rental car shuttle. Opposite on return, in fact, I might opt for taking a taxi to the rental car place to get a jump on the line.

Thanks clarea. ........

Anyone else?

Hi all......After some advice!!

We are 4 adults and we will be renting a car to get us from Orlando to port canaveral and then the same again at the end of the cruise but from port back to Orlando airport.

What I'm trying to work out is pre cruise do we

A) drop bags at port then go return car and shuttle back (probably 2 of us to return car)

B) drop car first and all of us take shuttle to port (I'm assuming that they will be happy to.do this?!)

Post cruise is the same dilemma but about collecting!!

Can anyone who has done this share their experiences of which rhey think is the best way!!

Thanks in advance!!

The Spirit has one UK socket near the desk. You will like it very much.

Thanks for the confirmation!! That helps!!

Have you tried a Brazilian Blowout or Keratin treatment? They are not cheap but it does last a while. I don't have crazy curly hair but it is wavy (and not in a good way!) and I always get a Brazilian blowout at the beginning of the summer and it keeps my hair frizz free and silky smooth.

You get g et at home kits too.....I never go on holiday now without doing a keratin treatment...definitely helps control frizz / waves and makes drying easier!!

Just back and we tendered at St. Thomas and it wasn't pretty. Used Spirit tender boats, not life boats, but the boarding was ugly. Rocky waters and they weren't stabilized. Many people had a hard time if they weren't prepared to wait with the wave and time the "jump" onto and off the tender. There were a lot of deckhands there helping. But it was difficult for the older people.

 

As for a wheelchair, there's no ramp. They'd have to be able to stand up and make the steps up to the tender and cross over with help. They then folded her wheelchair and put it onboard.

Thanks for the update. .....Our friend will have disembarked by then but good to know what situation is with St Thomas! !

For the tenders? It was basically a flat ramp. I only saw one lady go from ship to tender who used a wheelchair.

 

She got to edge of ship and her son and crew helped her walk across the ramp then back into wheelchair. Not sure what they do if you can't stand or walk.

That's perfect.....my friend can walk flat but will struggle with steps :( thank you so much for answering !

For GSC they used the island tenders - mostly Little Norway I and II. At times they used a third - forgot the name - maybe along the lines of ...GSC..

 

Grand Cayman they used the larger tenders operated by the island. Interestingly enough, MSC Divinia was there as well and they were using their own life boats while the other ships - DCL, Carnival, NCL all used the island tenders. The line for MSC to get back on the ship was probably a 1/2 mile long.

Thanks so much.......hoping this will help my friend.....1 more question.....we're there many steps??

Dexddd -wad watching the videos you linked as we sail 20th Feb this year. .....and was surprised 2nd link was our cruise video from 2013!!!!

Thanks for the review Kabbpres! We sail B2b 20 feb!

Just interested in tender situation for great stirrup cay & Grand Cayman? We have a friend travelling who uses a wheelchair and trying to find out if they are able to make it safely ashore. Is Spirit using lifeboats or larger tender boats?