Turtles06

Thanks, I appreciate your chiming in! We won't be snorkeling on this trip. As for a relaxing beach day, I'd been reading up on Sapphire as well, but it sounds like the water can sometimes be rough. Comments? Unfortunately, we don't dock till 12pm, so we won't be getting to any beach early. (In port till 8pm.)

See comments 84 and 85 in this thread:

Helpful info in this recent thread:

I’ve read on here that only one person may upgrade, not both, and indeed in my account the other day for a cruise later this month, I had the option to upgrade only one of us. Today, it will not let me do that. It’s insane. I will call NCL if need be. Their internet prices are already ridiculous.

Seriously! And if you can’t tell the difference when you use them, what does it matter! 😂

Thanks so much for your quick and helpful reply! We're docking in St. Thomas later this month. Port web sites show only two other (and fairly small) ships that day. Seems odd for the winter, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are correct! Thanks again!

Appreciate your posting this information. Did you have any problems getting a cab from the beach back to your ship (or tender)? Were there plenty of them waiting at the beach? Thanks!

You should ask on your Roll Call:

There are some interesting things to do in Norfolk (e.g., see the Battleship Wisconsin, take a small boat tour around the harbor to see the Naval Base), but frankly, I think the relaxing two sea days to Bermuda -- which is how NCL always used to do it -- are preferable. Just mho. In any event, I wish NCL would just make up its mind and either eliminate Norfolk from this itinerary, or call at this port when it's on the itinerary. On the Joy's Nov. 12 sailing, which included Norfolk, the port was still on our schedule the morning of embarkation. Sitting in the Manhattan Cruise Terminal waiting to board, we overheard some crew saying the ship wasn't going to Norfolk. That turned out to be true, but guests had not received notice from NCL. (I was able to scramble to cancel the private tour we'd booked, but might not have been within the time window for a refund had we not heard the scuttlebutt in the cruise terminal that Norfolk was out.)

On one cruise we were on, we were getting regional sports commercials from somewhere in the Caribbean, but otherwise, as you’ve said, not the funny commercials nor the halftime show.

I'll pile on -- it's been some years since we toured with Overlord, but they were fantastic.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! No, the ship doesn't stop before going into the Canal to allow people to get off. On a partial transit (from the Atlantic), the ship will go through the Gatun Locks then stop in Gatun Lake to allow folks to disembark in order to take ship-sponsored excursions. Guests can opt instead to remain on the ship, which will turn around and go back through the Gatun Locks, then dock in Colón, where those who took excursions will re-board the ship. Plenty of info over in the Panama Canal forum about the options on a partial transit (including an excursion on a ferry that will take you through more of the Canal). https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ I highly recommend reading David McCullough's "The Path Between the Seas" before your cruise. You will appreciate the Canal even more.

Just show up when you need to. Most reports here are that no one at the cruise terminals is paying any attention to what time you were assigned for arrival when you did your check-in. (And "customs" has nothing to do with your boarding the ship.)

OP: since your questions are specific to Princess, may I suggest you post them in the Princess forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/119-princess-cruises/

I'm not sure that's true, since it's been reported here on CC that one of the larger ships (I forget which) has docked at Taino Bay since the grounding. So perhaps the decision is dependent on the tides, weather/wind forecast, etc.

You crack me up. 😂😂😂

Exactly! 😊

Yes, it would appear that NCL has at times been avoiding Taino Bay because of that incident

My point regarding NCL’s flawed communication in this instance was that NCL’s description of the Premium package erroneously suggests that a VPN could only be used to access email and nothing else. No need to have written the statement that way, it was a misuse of a parenthetical by an untalented writer. It should more accurately say that the package gives you unlimited access to the internet, including through a VPN if you use one.

If you are someone who gets seasick, you can get seasick on any ship, depending on the conditions.

There is no "best" deck or place to view the Canal. During a transit, you'll want to see the Canal (especially passage through the locks) from different perspectives on the ship --- high, low, fore, aft, midship.

That depends on which ship the OP is on. Jewel-class and older will go through the Gatun locks, but the newer, larger NCL ships will go through the Agua Clara locks on the Atlantic side, and exit via the Cocoli locks on the Pacific side. @curlstravel The Panama Canal forum, here on CC, is really the best place for info about the Canal and taking a Canal cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ And definitely read "The Path Between the Seas," you'll appreciate the Canal even more.

Certainly not!! 😊🛳😊

It absolutely is! We loved it so much when we saw it soon after the re-start on the Breakaway (our first time seeing it) that we went back the second night. (It was very simple to do that then, since the ship was only at 38% occupancy.) The Breakaway Theatre is beautiful. We've since seen the American touring company of SIX, as well as the production in London, which was beyond fabulous.

Same thing happened to us, that is exactly the new procedure they are following now. No longer OBC worth a % of the drop, but 100% of the drop as an FCC. I was told the FCC would not be issued until the end of the cruise on which the price had dropped, AND not only has to be applied to a cruise within 12 months after issued, but that new cruise has to SAIL within those 12 months.