cb2367

I'm sailing out of San Juan March 2025. I've taken a look at some of the hotel prices and they seem to be priced a bit high. I started looking at Air BNB places, but I honestly don't know where to stay.

I currently have NCL airfare and transportation on my reservation (first time having this). I'd want to come in the day before the cruise and leave the day after so that I have time to see San Juan (one night needed on each side of the cruise).

Based on this, it looks like I missed out on the opportunity to upgrade. Best I can do now is upgrade to an inside although I don't know that it would be much of an upgrade. I guess I'll have to see if anything changes between now and final payment date.

I'm sailing on Viva next March. With the new solo cabins being extended beyond just the studios, a couple of months ago I called NCL to ask about a change to a balcony. It seems I was too late in deciding on that, as no more solo balcony cabins were available.

Today I called about switching to a solo ocean view. The representative said they were not seeing any, but did not specifically state they were sold out (I don't know if NCL has a way to see when the last available cabin in a particular category was sold).

They then said, I can always change to an ocean view (obviously that would be a single supplement charge whereas the solo ocean view would not have this). They also said people cancel all the time I can always keep checking online.

How would I check this? I'm thinking the only option is to keep calling NCL and seeing what the status is. There's nothing wrong with a studio, but I'd just like to try out a different cabin especially now that the solo cabin expansion has become an option.

Even with the current availability to go ocean view, it seems like NCL wants to remind me that it will cost me more than what my current total cost is if I were to go ahead with an upgrade.

On several of my last cruises I've stayed in a studio cabin. I recently learned about the new solo cabin options that NCL was offering (ocean view, balcony, etc). I'm currently 400 days out from sailing and figured there's plenty of time to look at cabin options, so I called NCL to see what was available.

At 400 days out, no more solo balcony available on Viva. It's still too early to book anything else but apparently not for cabins. Any chances of a balcony becoming available or should I just stay where I am? Obviously any cabin upgrade I make is going to add on to my total cost.

On my past cruises, there have been solo travelers in balcony cabins (I guess maybe they're paying double occupancy or the other person cancelled shortly before cruising day)?

I suppose that sold out could just mean the inventory hasn't been released yet. I thought maybe something else was going on at that time which was why no rooms were available.

My cruise is actually next March (23-30). I decided to take a quick look at the hotel situation in San Juan (at least as far as Hilton properties) and all but hotels were sold out, so I was wondering if there was something going on in San Juan around that time. 

I like to arrive a day before the cruise to avoid any travel delays and to have time to check out the area. Hotel stay would be just one night and preferably under $200 with a shuttle to the port. 

Is there a board for departures out of San Juan? Looking for some information on places to stay near cruise port 

On 1/14/2024 at 5:45 PM, zackarykeef said:

Not sure what itinerary you’re on, but we just returned today from the 7-day RT San Juan on the Viva…no sea days.

 

We always get Vibe, and it was still worth it. Most excursions are early, and we’re typically back to the ship around 1-2pm. We don’t need to be in port until the last minute, so we like some more time on the ship to relax. Vibe is clutch then, when the other areas start getting crowded and crazy with everyone coming back on board.

 

Also…no sea day itineraries are exhausting. We picked 2 days to not get off and to just stay on board and enjoy Vibe. By day 4 of get up early and go go go…it’s tiring.

 

I don’t think you would regret it!

Getting caught up on replies. I'm doing San Juan on Viva but it won't be until next March. 

I'll be taking a cruise soon and vibe just opened up for booking (too early for everything else(. I've never booked vibe before because I usually forget to check in the app and reserve everything before it's too late. The cruise will be in a warm climate.

I'm thinning vibe could be worthwhile if I don't find an excursion I want to do in a port or if I come back early

15 hours ago, cajun-crazy said:

@cb2367The crew store was right next door to the luggage storage. Neither was a true store that you walk in and look around. Basically you stood just inside the doorway and asked for what you wanted. There was a door/opening between the two.

We had an 11:00 pm flight. By using Port Valet, our larger bags were already sent to airport. We chose to consolidate down from 3 backpacks to 2 and stored the remaining one for 5.00. They attach a tag and give you the stub.

Note: they close at 3:00. She makes sure you know this. And if you forget to be there at 3:00, she will call you and demand that you return then! She must leave and can not wait for you. Most people will already be on their way to the airport and will have retrieved their luggage by 3:00 and they won’t have the issue I had.

 

I'm probably one of the few who travels out the day after arrival back in port. Fortunately, I've never encountered any delays yet. Assuming no delays in getting off the ship, I was just looking to drop off my bags. I'll still be in the port area so I should be able to return before 3. 

I called NCL about this and this was their response:

The system sends out the emails automatically so as to make sure nobody misses it as it's very important to watch. If you've already viewed it, then you can disregard the subsequent messages.

I got bombarded by the safety emails when I went on Prima. I've only received maybe 3 emails for my upcoming cruise.

I already watched the video when I did the check-in and I'll have to watch it again in the cabin so the TV will work. Seems like there could be a way to register completion of viewing the video so that it's not necessary to keep sending out multiple messages.

I came across the Goldbelt Tram website and noticed that the price was $50. In the NCL app, it's showing $0.00. Not sure if this is correct. What's the line like for the tram?

Excellent pictures of Juneau, bird. The shuttle line looks a bit daunting. Hopefully it's not too far of a walk to town. Currently nothing on my plan for that port.

@BirdTravels Thank you for posting this live report. I'm closely following it so I know what to expect for this weekend when I get onboard.

Can anyone use the TJ's luggage service? That would work perfectly for when I get back from the cruise to store my luggage before I head to the hotel. Is the crew shop only open to crew (just wondering in case any last minute things are needed).

Other than that, great report so far.

I'm wondering what's the best way to show a review/slideshow of a cruise like to family members or others?

For instance, after my Prima cruise I tried to put together a blog of sorts using Wix. I wanted to show things like the ship, Port of Miami terminal, food ordered at the MDR/Specialty/Indulge, as well as show the ports of call 

I tried to make a page for each day like Day 1 - Departure; Day 2 - Sea Day, etc. Haven't published the Wix blog from prima but I wanted to see what else there was for my upcoming Alaska cruise.

8 hours ago, justhappy said:

After dinner we went to see The Beatles 

in the main theater. They kept it real because Ringo could not sing. I’m wondering if the guy sang off on purpose to truly play the part😂

The show was well attended and good if you’re a Beatles fan.

I was 10 in 1967 so a little young to be a screaming teen fan but I had two older sisters who were, and they played those 45s nonstop. We had a cat named George, can you guess who was their favorite 😉

Is the Beetles show new on Encore? The only show I could reserve was choir of man. White I don't mind seeing it again, it would be great if there was a different show. I'll be onboard next week.

I've got a cruise in mind and it's most likely going to have to be in 2025. I know I've seen posts on here about never book early in order to get the best price 

I booked my current cruise back in February (sailing second week of September). I did call before final payment to check on price drop; there wasn't much of one, but I'm thinking price might have dropped more since I last checked.

I've never had the opportunity to do the vibe, and would like to check it out. I know that sells out quickly depending on the cruise destination.

I've never had the opportunity to do the behind the scenes tour (currently at gold level, so I don't get the free tour). There was an opportunity to book this for my current cruise, but I might have missed out on it. I'm hoping there's still a chance once onboard.

There's a shore excursion that I really want to do for the next cruise. Don't know how soon after booking I can start planning all of this. I guess it's a trade off between getting the lowest price possible and still being able to reserve everything you're looking to do?

Called NCL and for some unexplainable reason, I had to reset my password even though I was already logged into my account. I'll check back over the next couple of days and see if it disappears again.

The thing is though, without a reservation, the app is limited in functionality. I wouldn't be able to use the app to schedule on board events either before boarding or while on board.

My reservation has been in the NCL app since booking and conveniently disappeared yesterday. I manually added the reservation then checked again today and once again it's gone. 

Less than two weeks before sailing my reservation is all the sudden missing in the app. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?

Excursions are booked through NCL. I was hoping that I wouldn't be spending a lot of time at each port waiting for shuttles and possibly end up missing an excursion. It sounds like for the most part, this won't be an issue.

I'm seeing a lot reports about long lines for shuttles in the ports. In skagway, I've got two excursions booked; one is at around noon and the other is around 4.

Trying to figure out if there's going to be time to do both excursions and what the overall experience is going to be like at each port visit. I know there's the usual rush to disembark right after the announcement is made that gangway is open. 

I've been on several cruises and mostly book studio cabins, although I am interested in knowing how others here have booked inside or balcony at less than double cost.

There's a studio lounge on the ships with the studio cabins. After the first night, the group of solo travellers will meet up there with the solo coordinator. They will hang out for a bit and then the coordinator will arrange for the group to go to dinner.

I would recommend booking with NCL and checking out a studio cabin/meeting up with other solo travellers.

I was recently viewing the Port of Seattle website and one of the links they had was what to do based on length of time in the city.

The underground tour was one of the things listed if spending a day in the city. It appears this tour has time slots rather than a set operating schedule. Just looking to see if anyone else has done the tour?