asmit4

Does MSC offer any shuttles from Rotterdam cruise port to Amsterdam airport? I've looked all over the place and can't find any information on this. 

If I have the drink package and I order a drink onboard- am I charged gratuity on the price of that drink that is listed? Or is that all covered in the cost of the package? 

5 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

 

Somehow, I trust Royal Caribbean and Carnival to know more about relative costs between emuster and inpersonmuster.  After all, those cruise lines success or failure is dependent upon how well they manage costs.  

 

The Points Guy has a proven track record of analyzing relative costs between alternatives too.

 

Thanks for fighting the good fight. Rest assured there are MANY of us that are in 100% agreement with you but we simply don't want to deal with the muster police that feel their views are superior to everyone else's so most remain quiet. 

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Just two data points:

a) folks report missing muster drills and going to make-up sessions

b) our resident former NCL engineer has reported that it takes more time for the crew to conduct the behind the scenes drills than it takes to show us idiots how to put on a life vest (so, they may be dragging out the process on purpose, and catching a few stragglers at the same time)

 

How do you know that it is because they are waiting for stragglers?

I haven't sailed on NCL before but on other lines they have checked everyone in and flat out told us 'sorry for the delay in getting started, we are waiting on 16 more people' etc etc. If there are legit behind the scenes reason I can understand that. I just cannot tolerate guests that fail to do as they are told and drag it out for the rest of us. (do they not do this check in process at NCL? I would think they would have to- otherwise how do they know who showed up and who has to show up for a make up?)

Why else do I show up at the appropriate time and they don't start the discussion until 30 minutes or more later? Do they do this on purpose to piss people off? I've always found it was because they were waiting for stragglers. Do you have any info on why they waste our time aside from losers that don't follow the rules and show up? 

Ok, I'll bite. ---I have no problem with the old muster drills. HOWEVER, something needs to be done about morons that don't show up. FINE everyone that is more than 10 minutes late. Get your butts to muster so I can get back to DRINKING! 🤪I get really tired waiting 30 minutes or more for azzholes that think the rules don't apply to them. 

OP- I know many are laughing at you but I have all you have on your list pretty much and more! We all like to travel differently. Kuddos to you for being so 'over the top'! Many of us out there are just like you are!

I also have what you have on your list plus a hanging shoe organizer,  a shower curtain and cord to separate our room up for changing purposes, collapsible water bottles, water proof phone pouches, water shoes for all, a travel flat/curling iron in 1, magnets for the room/shower cord, a shower caddy for more space to store shampoo etc., lanyards for our sign/sail cards, cruise luggage tags, battery operated touch lights. Plus---like EVERY med for EVERY kind of ailment known to mankind 🤣

People can laugh all they want. We like to have our cabin this way and are pleased to 'move in'. 

It's the 2/25 cruise--but someone said when a cruise is 'full' they don't pull it from the website it just comes up as 'sold out' but mine is pulled. 

Question- when a cruise is not showing up online anymore--does that mean it's FULL? --because my cruise for the end of February does not show up on NCL at all. It's like POOF. GONE. 

I know I'm beating this topic to a pulp- but I'm asking anyway. We are going out of Port Canaveral on Escape. The ship is sold out. We don't want to pay for priority and are not Haven. We want to be on the ship 'early' but don't want a 2 hour wait in the terminal either. What time would you pick? I'm thinking 10:00? ---that should ensure not much time standing around in the terminal before the typical ship embarkation which is like 11:30 if things go ok right? 

As of this week it looks like Escape will be back to Taino Bay. --it docked there this week as did NCL Encore. Whatever issues there were for NCL looks to be resolved. We are on Escape at the end of February and I'm glad this 'will she won't she' drama is over.

Anyone know anything about restaurants/food available at Taino Bay? Looks like we *might* dock there next month and haven't done a lot of research because I didn't think we'd go there. 

19 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Lots of generalizations.

 

We called at Taino Bay on the Encore after the Escape incident. So, it is not totally off limits.

How long after? ---I'm guessing here but I think an insurance decision was made. That is the only reason I can think of why other MUCH larger ships are docking at Taino and NCL large ships are not. 

The cost is per delivery to the room. Order 2 pizzas, 1 chicken finger and 1 burger...and the cost will be 9.95 total. .....choose to order only 1 chicken finger? ---still only 1 delivery and the cost will also be 9.95. 

Moral of the story- get everyone in your cabin to order at the same time for 1 delivery fee. 

9 hours ago, eileeshb said:

I can see more people asking guest services to refund their service charges explain it’s because they’re giving less service for a higher cost and then just tip the steward, etc individually as it’s the one way to get the message through to NCL HQ. 
thankfully my next cruise has a service charge rate 2 steps behind the new rate as I booked it before the 2022 rate increase. 

In one way or another we will pay for it anyway. If NCL decides to bring back 2 a day service they will just up the cost of the cruise by a few bucks or whatever to make up for it. In the end- we are the ones that end up paying. 

9 hours ago, jcollin said:

So how about this one?  When I look for our March cruise I see below:  Does that mean we get in b/c the Carnival Freedom arrives after or do we fight it out with Celebrity or do not get in at all?

🧍🧍🧍🧍

 

 

Carnival Freedom

 

a 1030 d 1830

 

2980

 

 

 

Celebrity Constellation

 

a 0700 d 1500

 

1950

 

 

 

Norwegian Escape

 

a 0900 d 1600

 

4248

Best guess? Carnival gets their spot no matter what. Celebrity and NCL have to duke it out for the 2nd spot. Constellation could fit in Taino no problem- it's a much smaller ship than Escape- but I don't know if any other brands use Taino. I'm off to research it. 

12 hours ago, lfdemt said:

I think they might be getting cruises mixed up.  The Escape is scheduled to port in Nassau on Sunday instead of Puerta Plata on Monday but they are on the Taino Bay schedule for Monday as well as the Nassau port schedule for Sunday.  Maybe that is where the confusion is 

Yes, sorry--I was referring to the Escape- both are Jan 8th cruises so I got them mixed up. Sad that you guys are stuck with 3 sea days. Nassau isn't great but it's at least something. 

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

It's on NCL's website.

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruises/12-day-caribbean-round-trip-new-york-barbados-and-puerto-rico-GETAWAY12NYCSJUBASSLUBGIANUSTTNYC?sailMonths=4294934052&ships=4294959434&numberOfGuests=4294953449&sortBy=featured&autoPopulate=f&from=resultpage&itineraryCode=GETAWAY12NYCSJUBASSLUBGIANUSTTNYC

 

Why would you believe a third party website when @Laszlo, a passenger on the cruise, has posted the revised itinerary provided to him by NCL?

Because NCL routinely BS's their customers when it comes to port stops by not sharing pertinent information when they need to cancel or adjust a port. I don't trust NCL when it comes to this particular issue-even when it is posted. 

9 hours ago, Laszlo said:

NCL just today finally, officially has our new itinerary for the 1-8-2023 cruise.... DR has been dropped and we have three sea days home

Hmmm....NCL posted that officially? Because several sites have the 1/8 ship going to Nassau - and not 3 days at sea. 

11 hours ago, phillygwm said:

But does it matter?  How many people actually read the T&Cs for anything?  Might as well just keep a copy on the website for people to ignore.

I'm going to read the T&Cs very carefully and then cancel if I don't like what it has to says NO one EVER. 🤣

So here is a question for everyone--let's say they are in huge massive trouble. Let's say they go under---what happens with all the ships? The ships are their collateral and it's not like there are many buyers looking to buy the Prima or the Bliss. It's not like when someone goes bankrupt and the banks could take their house and resell it to a huge number of buyers. The only collateral they have to 'give up' are the ships themselves. Hardly a market for them. My guess is that the creditors are going to lose their butts but NCL will pull through just fine somehow. I feel like these cruise lines are too big/too unique to fail. 

3 hours ago, pjtjmn said:

How frustrating!  I’m on the same itinerary on Escape due to arrive in PP on 1/30.  Amber Cove has two carnival ships due that day, and I don’t see it at Nassau either. Anyone have any recommendations where else I can look?    Hoping that we’ll go somewhere and not just a sea day.  Even if we choose to stay on the ship, at least it would be less crowded if they had some stop. 
 

Check San Juan- it seems when the DR isn't happening they shoot for Nassau OR San Juan as a possible substitute. Some ships end up with an extra sea day though. 

2242 is the number you should use b/c basically NCL includes the 'extras' in every package (or most) these days- so if you see it less than that then rebook. 

I hear the Epic is going to be the first to go this route starting Jan. 8th. I look forward to seeing how they manage a few things. 

1. Towels- will you be able to call for more if you happen to need them? How long will it take for them to arrive? 

2. Beds- we are a family of 3- so will need 1 bed made up (flipped) for my son. I don't mind doing it ourselves but is that how it will be done? With guests doing it? We honestly prefer for it to remain a bed the entire time- can we make a note of that somewhere? 

3. Will room service plates simply remain in the cabin for 24 hours? Do we call someone to have them picked up? 

4. Do we get to pick AM or PM for servicing the room? How is that determined? 

Can you use a travel agent with these? (CN)...if not that negates a bit of the savings as our TA routinely offers substantial discounts.