mlbcruiser

We & our dd, her husband, & their 3 kids are supposed to finalize a cruise that is 3 1/2 months away by Monday. However, I read on a social media rollcall that most of the excursions are already sold out. Additionally, the cost of many of these runs very close to $200 a person! Yikes! There was one particular excursion that dd’s family was very excited about doing. Unfortunately, I think that excursion is sold out already through the ship as well as through other channels. I checked online to see if it would be bookable independently. Unfortunately, on the various vendors’ availability calendars, most, if not, all are sold out as well. I’m now wondering if we should finalize this cruise. Being able to book several months ago was not an option due to restrictions on vacation time and so on. It’s unfortunate for those who can’t jump online the second excursion booking opens up and choose what they are going to do in the ports. Some years back RCI are used to hold a few slots open for pax unaware of early booking. I doubt this is the same anymore. (?) My dh and I just got off of a Celebrity ship two and a half weeks ago. Same thing occurred on that ship. It seems to be extra common now. Especially since so many of the ships are carrying 3,000 - 5,000 passengers with some about to debut carrying over 5,000! If anyone knows of any ways to get around this, please chime in! Feel free to vent about this issue as well, lol!

On the deck plans for the Encore, there are a lot of spaces or openings in the deck layout where you can’t tell what is located there. I’m particularly curious as to the area directly behind the aft staircase? Have wondered about spaces that show no title on deck 12 as well. Any help appreciated.

Those ships are about twice as much, which adds up for a family of five.

Thanks so much for the replies. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about there multi-day, land tours, but good to hear you had a good experience, Julig22. kitcat343, i’m not sure if you are referring to a land excursion in port, or an actual multi day tour pre-or post cruise. It’s the multi day tour information I was referring to. Additionally, we did our only other Alaskan cruise six or seven years ago and booked it around this time of year. The cruise was in late May. I tried to find a rental car so that we could do some traveling on land after our cruise. I had read they get taken up fast and that is what I ran into. We had just booked to late. Couldn’t find one, so we ended up on the land tour with Princess and enjoyed it very much. Thanks again.

Would like some input from those of you who have taken a pre-or post cruise Alaskan land tour with NCL? I noticed some posts by people who are signed up for some on a particular rollcall, and although their cruise is getting close, cannot find out much at all about the tour. Even those who booked directly with NCL cannot seem to get any information. This includes train, hotels they will stay in, and other things. We once did such a tour with Princess and it was wonderful. We did have all of these details well in advance of our cruise. thank you for any information.

If you have sailed on NCL’s Jewel within the last few years and took kids along, how did your kids like it? Our DD is thinking of booking this ship in Alaska for her family. Her children will be newly eight, almost 10, and almost 17 at the time of sailing. They were all on a Disney cruise about two years ago and Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas about a year ago. I’m just trying to make sure there are things the kids will enjoy doing on this ship, because if they are happy, the parents will be happy. if you have cruised with your children on the Jewel, did it iseem like NCL’s facilities and activities for kids in these age group were very good? Were there good hosts & fun things scheduled for these age groups? I would really appreciate getting some good first-hand reports - asap!

Thanks. I’m sure it’s beautiful.

Yes I have. I definitely will before deciding to book the cruise. I am certain that anything that is the slightest bit complicated or isn’t super easy, DH will veto! Even getting him to wear rain pants will be next to impossible. Maybe he will just have to use a cane and get drenched or stay on the ship when I venture off. Sound mean, don’t I? I guess the amount of trouble a person is willing to go to is often connected to how badly they want to do something. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks so much for the information, JSR. (I was a bit late in reading your reply it as we were gone for almost 3 weeks on a cruise and visiting my brother. I pretty much stayed off of the net most of that time.) Great suggestion about trying to cover parts of the scooter, but I fear it would be quite a feat as there electrical parts in the steering column, dash, and floor of the scooter. I thought of bringing a very large garbage bag, and if it starts to rain heavily, folding up the scooter and putting the garbage bag over the top, then trying to get to cover. DH isn’t the type that likes to prepare for any situation. I am the opposite. You’re always unexpected things that arise when traveling and so much boils down to attitude when things aren’t going just right. Glad you enjoyed your trip in the rain didn’t really hinder you or your enjoyment. once again, thank you for all of the information you have gone to the trouble to put on here to help the rest of us.

Thank you, JSR, for creating this very informative thread. We are thinking of doing a cruise to Norway in a few months. Although my husband can walk pretty well, and generally a fairly good distance, he had a stroke over seven years ago that compromised his right leg and arm. He can walk on his own, often for some distance, and he can even climb a flight of stairs. Very uneven terrain, and hills cause problems, however. And physically, some days are better than others. A couple of years ago I got him a folding travel scooter that weighs about 50 pounds. It is the size of a medium rolling suitcase when it is folded up. Although he probably will not always take it off the ship, there will be times when it could be very handy, I am sure. However, I am worried about the amount of rain and how likely it would be to get caught in a downpour. That definitely would not be very good for the scooter and could really damage it. I know weather changes constantly and no one can predict exactly what it will be. Do you think it’s quite likely that the rain will often be heavy or does it more often tend to be light drizzle, often just damp and misty, or are heavy rains and downpours, quite common on most days from what you have experienced? I’d appreciate hearing anything you have to say regarding the weather and rain, and whether or not you felt it impacted your experience negatively. Thanks again for the good information you are providing for so many!

Great and very entertaining and informative review. Thanks so much! Things I was wondering about I now have information on, and in some cases you provided answers I wasn’t able to get any other way.

Well, my husband won’t be using a wheelchair, but will likely be staying on the boat. Yes, it doesn’t go to a dock there where passengers can disembark. Pretty sure it is not going to be the same catamaran because surely they wouldn’t give some people lunch and not others. Frankly, I doubt about goes to pigeon Island. I think it will make a stop where people can swim if they want or snorkel for a little while and that the boat will stay at sea in that location. Glad you enjoyed your excursion with no motion, sickness!

I believe there is an explanation on the Celebrity app and/or website. I don’t know the exact location but know that I saw it. I have always interpreted it as casual, but on the “nicer” or slightly more dressy than regular casual side. Like something you might wear to a very nice or upscale restaurant at home that does not require formal wear or glitzy dresses like you might wear on New Year’s Eve. Celebrity even mentioned jeans being ok, but only dressier ones. They had s particular comment on the acceptable type along the line of not jeans that look over worn, faded out, stained or full of holes. Even the intentionally ripped ones - even if expensive and trendy - may be out of line. They also said cocktail dresses and jackets for men were appropriate. Yet remember, those are NOT REQUIRED! Hope this helps.

reedprincess, thsnks so much for that info and the website! It’s not me I am converned about but I don’t think it will be much of a problem based on your reply.

We have been to St. Lucia before a couple of times but it’s been many years. I know there were two cruise ship docs in Castries. One is La Carenage (I THINK) which os pretty much right by downtown. The other one is a bit north of there. Not sure yet which port our ship will dock at. Looking for information on how long the piers are at both of these port docks, and how long the walks are for most large ship passengers to reach areas with tour pick ups, etc. Also wondering where catamaran and other boats dock to pick up their tour passengers? Usually a long or short walk from the ships? If these areas require a long walk, is there any on pier transportation to the land edge of the piers? Thank so much for any information!

Good question. It seems that different cruise lines sort of intermix eastern and southern Caribbean itineraries. For instance, we will soon be doing a cruise with Celebrity that I have generally seen referred to as an eastern Caribbean cruise for years and by most cruise lines doing that or very sililar itineraries. When it gets to the point of visiting destinations from the Panama Canal, or maybe Costa Rica, on down, like Cartagena, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Trinidad or Tobago, those itineraries are usually referred to as southern itineraries. So don’t worry about the designation. Just pay attention to the ports and see if they are places you are interested in. Or when you are doing a search, search itineraries under both categories .

Great to know! Thanks for posting everyone! Looking forward to dining there.

Thanks for the info & for replying Treasure Hunter. Should have read over the prior posts again and I would have noticed you had mentioned above that it took about an hour and a half. We once went to a specialty restaurant on a Celebrity ship with 5 others we met onboard years ago. The dinner literally took 3 hours! As a result we all missed the main show that evening!

I noticed next to our Eden reservation on the app it tells the reservation time and in parentheses it says four hours. Does it honestly take four hours to dine there? 😳

Ahhh, clever! I’ve read some live from threads on various cruises, but didn’t know we could even get in to another bunch of information for a cruise we aren’t booked on from our app. Learn something new every day!

Thanks for answering my question, RICruisers. We’ll certainly check it out!

Thanks for the information! OrcaGirl, where did you find the listing for the chic nights?

Wondering which lights are evening chic nights on an Edge 10 night itinerary. There are two days at sea on the front end of the cruise snd 2 at the end. Also, I assume those nights offer food that is a bit more special than other nights? (Lobster?) Thanks for any info!

Thanks treasure Hunter. Sounds yummy!

Thanks so much for this info! Very helpful. I also don’t think I would want my dinner interrupted by characters or performers coming to our table. (Except Minnie Mouse at Disney during a kid’s Minnie shaped waffle breakfast! Did that years ago when our kids were little.) Certainly not at a nice evening dinner. With regard to the Eden lounge upstairs, can anyone answer if, in order to have a cocktail in the bar you must have a reservation for dinner to access it? Now the trick is to try and get a reservation. I’ve seen posts about 5 and 9 pm mostly being the only reservations available in about every restaurant, the cruise is several weeks away. Seems that is so when I have checked a couple of the main complimentary ones. How long do you think one should allow for dinner if there are only two people in the party? It probably says on the app, but I prefer hearing from people who have really eaten there. We won’t be doing the special wine pairings and drink very little so that shouldn’t affect it. (Just asking due to show times on board. Have heard the main ones are always at 7 and 9. Customer service said they didn’t know.) Any other input welcome. Thanks again!