buckeyefrank

Thanks Blue_Water. At this point, we may end up renting a car to do a beach day or more likely find a vendor and do a tour from the pier. Do you have any suggestions for a reputable company?

Hi, I've booked Escape 17th September. Got mid ship balcony room on deck 13(13804). Called today to ask about other options as would like port side. Got offered:

Category BA - Deck 15 Portside (midship)

Balcony Cabin

Additional £72

 

Mini Suite with Balcony - Guarantee cabin (You wont know where your cabin is on the ship)

Additional £112

 

Category MA - Deck 15 Portside

Mini Suite with Balcony

Additional £428

 

All comments appreciated.

I have not been on NCL but do have a trip scheduled on May 7. I personally wouldn't do the mini-suite guarantee. We were put into a mini-suite when we booked a balcony guarantee. The only difference is a slightly larger bathroom. While nice, the bigger bathroom is not a huge difference to me.

I'm honestly not trying to be critical but I do not understand for the life of me why someone would only be looking at a port side / starboard side room. From my experience, it is completely up to the captain as to how the ship docks at a particular port. I can understand if you want to be near family or friends, but in general it doesn't make sense to me. Inquiring minds want to know :)

Thanks for the info. From the more recent trips, it seems as though the trees have grown to a sufficient height to block some / all of the views. I guess we'll try to figure something else out. I'm not sure I feel comfortable hiking in a foreign country on a cruise.

Thanks

Not in the port area, but we had dinner at Brano's Italian Grill the night before our cruise last summer and it was fantastic. Recommended it to some friends vacationing there a few month's ago and they loved it also.

We departed last year from PC on Carnival but I assume the setup with NCL is the same. You will drive to a designated area where you can unload your bags and relatives right in front of the terminal. You can then proceed to park in the parking garage. I believe there is a garage for each terminal and they are just across the access road.

It is pretty simple. I don't know about traffic because our ship arrived late around 1pm due to a passenger injury. It was a chaotic mess that day to get in. I'm sure that's not the norm.

I am very curious about your comments and how you define "little trouble"?

 

I think Mike's comments were very much how the situation would play out in the case of an emergency. It is not foreign governments who would be making things difficult for an American citizen. It is the US government that has all the barriers in place for anyone entering the United States without proper and acceptable identification.

 

Frankly I wish it would become mandatory for anyone and entering the country to have a passport. I cannot understand why the government of my own country continues to let Americans on cruise ships to enter our country without a passport. And that is not a knock against Americans whatsoever. Let's just have some consistency here. Under no circumstances can I enter the Us without being fully vetted as someone who frequently crosses the border and have a card to show that or I have a passport. The exact same rules should apply to anyone and everyone entering my country.

 

 

To the OP, as someone mentioned make a report to the police. I had my wallet stolen years ago a week before I was going on y, the police report I was given was very helpful for expediting all sorts of steps I needed when getting new ID issued, financial concerns and even at the airport, especially on my return.

 

 

I wish you luck and hope you are still able to take your cruise.

 

 

Rochelle

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

The US Government is required to allow US citizens into the USA with or without proper documentation. It is illegal for them to not allow a US citizen into the country. The situation I"m sure occurs every single day with people misplacing or losing their passport / passport card, etc. There is an inconvenience factor it's not like you won't get back into the country.

We received over $800 off of our carnival cruise last year for being an Ohio resident.

There might be nothing wrong with seeing the Miami skyline at night. But for those of us that love to leave in the daylight, it obviously sucks. That's where I'm at.

It depends on when you're cruise is. For the 5/7 departure, the sun doesn't set until 7:55 pm so it still be very bright at that point and should be that way for the rest of the summer.

ok. Don't flame me here, but I don't understand why people use cash when they have a credit card. Can someone help me out here?

There are a lot of people who don't have a credit card and / or only have a debit card. I would not use a debit card specifically because of the holds that are placed on checking accounts. With that being said, we use cash primarily and put a credit card down on the final day to cover any last minute purchases. I'm sure a lot of people are like us in that we have credit cards but don't have a balance and dont like to use them.

With the Verizon plan....

 

When you buy the $40 package

 

And

 

You use it at sea

 

You ARE NOT ever connecting to the ships tower

 

So NO extra ship charges

 

The plan is the best. I used it at sea. In port. No issue at all

 

Total charge from Verizon. $40

 

Ncl. $0

 

Listen up folks.....the Verizon plan eliminates the need to use the ships tower!!!!

You do not need to connect thru it nor do you need to buy the ships internet plan

 

I used it in January with no problem

 

My kids are off to Europe at spring break and they are putting the $40 plan on their phones as they were on the January cruise and saw how great it worked

 

 

Important.....use text message only...I.e. GREEN

 

Not BLUE. Or you will burn the data

 

Go to voice only and just turn data on to check email if you must check in A non wi fi area

This is mostly correct. I used to work at VZW. The billing portion of your post is correct; however, you DO connect through the cell tower on the ship. This is important because if you look at your phone it will say Cellular at Sea after leaving port.

Verizon has contracted reduced rates with Cellular At Sea for their customers. Cellular At Sea will bill Verizon for the activity and Verizon will not pass on that cost to you. Verizon will only charge you the $40. A cell signal from shore is not strong enough to reach the middle of the Caribbean.

Really you have done 10 cruises...this is inconvenient for you???? Whooowww:D

Why is it so hard for you to believe that this could be inconvenient to someone??? We are traveling with 10 in our group in May including young children. We have dinner reservations at 5:30 currently and yes, a 6pm muster would be highly inconvenient for our group. Is it a deal breaker, no. But the kids in our group get fussy if they don't eat right around 5.

Give me a break. I will never understand why other people's schedules, or what other people wear or what other people do, have any bearing on one's vacation enjoyment.

I am on a cruise in April from Jacksonville and will stay night before around the airport, I am undecided about parking at the pier as I envision along line of cars trying to get into the port so does anyone have an idea of what taxi charges from airport to the port? It seems like taxi might be less of a hassle and maybe not too much more than parking at port. This is my first time out of Jacksonville if anyone can offer their experience. Thanks!

Parking in Jax is extremely easy. It is an open lot (not covered) but has security throughout the week. We parked there twice and had no issues at all. Very quick to get in and very quick to get out.

If I had to guess, I would say it has something to do with flight times. Where they were flying people in from there may have been a lot of missed connections, delayed flights, etc. so a lot of people were missing the ship. If using air through NCL, that meant flying a lot of people to the next port to catch the ship. Also if they had insurance through NCL, they may have been getting heat from the insurance carrier over it.

 

I would agree with a lot of posters, it is going to be chaos for the first few sailings. It will throw off muster drill, dining, checking kids into the kid's club, the sailaway party, the casino, etc. And yes, Florida and Miami stand to profit handsomely from the extra tax on drinks. Also, depending on when dinner starts, they may even have to collect tax on for fee dining.

I'm going to guess there are a lot of international travelers booking on the Escape and a lot of those flights are overnight. This is kind of frustrating to me because we have dinner reservations at 5:30. I'm hoping the muster is performed at 5, not 6 and the late arrivals go to a separate one.

I just downloaded the eDocs for our May trip.

Under Cruise Itinerary it states a 4PM departure, however, under Boarding Process it states: Boarding begins 12PM & Departure is listed as 7PM.

My boarding docs for May say 7pm departure as well.

I think many people think Nassau is unsafe based upon the travel advisories and critical crime warnings from the U.S. state department and government of Canada over concern in the rise of armed robberies and sexual assaults against tourists in the pier area as well as paradise island and cable beach. The advisories also warn of this occurring even during daylight hours. So I think Nassau has earned a reputation worthy of being cautious.

We have been to Nassau about 6 times and we are going again in May. If you stay within the tourist areas like the main drag or resorts, it is fairly safe. Once you leave the main area, you are fair game.

We have had several incidents in Nassau. Pushy people are literally everywhere around the pier and Senior Frog's. Most listen to a "no thank you" but not all. We were walking towards the Queens Staircase and a homeless man, who was completely strung out, was stalking us. We quickly retreated. I personally think Junkanoo beach is completely disgusting also and had broken glass in the sand and quite a few local undesirables as well. To top it all off, the last time we were there, we were eating breakfast and saw 2 dead bodies (a mom and her daughter) floating down the harbor. Needless to say, Nassau is not our favorite stop.

My family and I will be in Tortolla in May. We are looking to hike Sage Mountain if it's dry enough. We are debating between using a taxi or renting a car. My concern with a taxi is that we get stranded, but I'm a little afraid of driving in Tortola with the cliffs.

Does anyone have an idea of how much a taxi would cost from the cruise terminal to Sage mountain? Also I heard there is a gift shop / restaurant that could call a taxi. Is that still the case?

Thanks

I am not a CPA. I would agree with you up to the last part. Where are restaurant meals not subject to sales tax? My experience is limited to Southern states and paying for meals. I seem to recall even paying sales tax in Florida and at Disney. I did not pay tax when using the Dining Plan at Disney, but I am pretty sure I saw tax on the receipt when paying on trips we did not have the dining plan.

 

Is it possible that Disney is paying the tax and has priced it into their promo when giving away the Dining Plan? I know if purchased or upgraded, tax is included in the purchase price.

You are absolutely correct and I was wrong. I was typing too fast and not thinking. Restaurants or eating in an establishment will incur a sales tax. Carryout food does not. Not sure how the cruise lines get around the sales tax on their specialty restaurants unless all food on a ship is considered take out.

The dolphins used for excursions in Curacao are free to come and go as they please at anytime. They are not locked up at any time. The trainers said one of them will take off for a week or so and then return.

I will try to clear some of this confusion up as I"m a CPA. I am not in FL but most states are pretty similar.

When a ship is in port, all sales transactions including free drinks are required to be charged sales tax. The sales tax is passed on to the consumer MOST of the time. There are times a business can decide to pay the sales tax out of their profits on behalf of the consumer. Celebrity has decided to eat the cost of the tax while in port so the customer does not see a charge. However, Celebrity is being charged and is paying the sales tax.

Sales tax is based on the gross, standard price of the transaction before discounts. So a free drink is still charged tax at the $11 or whatever the standard price is and is required to be remitted to FL.

The only difference is dining plans. Generally speaking dinners eaten in a restaurant are exempt from sales tax, which is why dining packages are not charged tax for any cruise lines.

MDQ is on the Escape in May at this point? I hope they can work it out because we want to book a cruise in May but will not until they can get the question of when and where MDQ will be.

You're the one telling everybody that MDQ is moving ships and you didn't know it was still on the Escape in May??? smh

You figure things out by looking at any factual information someone can provide, emails, conversations with NCL, personal experience. But these types of "I heard" statements, with no explaination as to the source, are nothing but pure speculation. It does nothing to clarify the situation. All it does is add further confusion.

 

I heard NCL will be cancelling all entertainment in an effort to save money. Is that helpful to you?

I'm on your side Punkincc

This is exactly the type of statement that makes members question whether or not they'll keep logging on. Half of this site is dedicated to reviews, pictures, questions etc. and the other half is for speculation. I mean how else are we going to figure things out? We need somewhere to discuss it.

 

Not saying that's worth any credit, but your comment is certainly not warranted.

I totally disagree. The poster is presenting themselves as being 'in the know' about this situation. The same thing was posted several times on the other thread about the same topic. People want to hear facts. IF (big if) the information is accurate, the poster should have no problem stating where the information was received.

NCL has bought the MDQ contract for three years. They would be losing a lot of money if they did not use the show. Apparently they are moving the show to another ship. (They need understudies and more crew cabins )That takes some time. The show has been cast (at least for the leads) The actors are on hold. NCL may not begin the show again until May so those of you who want to see the show in March and April, you may be disappointed.

How did you get a hold of this information?

This explanation doesn't make a lot of sense. If the show was moving ships, NCL would be cancelling all of the shows on the Escape, not just through the end of April. We are on the May 7 sailing and the shows are still on at this point.

We are booked in May and booked into a guarantee balcony. We just got our cabin assignment and were put into a mini-suite for no charge.

Thanks for the replies. Actually we are flying into Miami the night before our cruise, and traveling with a party of 4, staying in a hotel close to the port, then need transportation from hotel to port, and then returning from the port to the airport, just want a smooth transport, wasnt sure if I needed to do this ahead of time. How do you get in contact with an Uber? I think we would need a van with 4 people and luggage

Uber is very simple. Download the Uber app onto your phone, enter your credit card number and a promo code. Your first ride will be discounted by $15. The app walks you through selecting a vehicle. With 4 people and luggage you would probably want to request an Uber XL by sliding the car over at the bottom. Will be a little more expensive but is generally an SUV.