kaultra

The NE/Canada cruise has been on my list for almost a decade. I should have done it in 2016 or now because I wouldn't be stuck wishing I was switching places with you.

Well being from Maine and having already enjoyed bar harbor more than once I'm wondering even what to do in Canada. I'd love to trade places!!!!

I hope the escape passengers don't feel to bad..... rumor has it the Dawn is going to CANADA. Yes that's me. I'm praying for the Bahamas as this point since I'm from Maine!

I can recommend a lovely place with an outdoor terrace overlooking the waterfront in Nassau. Giant strong drinks for not much money and good food. I found it when we went to Nassau instead of hurricane-threatened Bermuda 2 years ago!

I would love to hear about this place just in case.

Awesome! Thanks.

ive searched the thread for drink menus already. Anyone recently off the Dawn know if they have hard cider or twisted tea type drinks ?? (I'm not a beer fan). Thanks.

Thank you. The ferry to St George is free with NCL so I think it makes sense to take that then hit the beach, then find the bus to SI for drinks in the afternoon!

Trying to figure out the easiest way to fit a trip to this Swizzle Inn into our stay while on the NCL Dawn (Sun-tue). Looks like a long bus ride from the dockyard. If we take the NCL ferry over to St. George will we be able to catch the bus over to the SI then hop on the bus back to the area of the ferry? We are planning to see Tobacco Bay and St Catherine beaches probably on Monday via NCL ferry. We do not plan to go to the crystal caves and it doesn't look like there is too much else to see near the swizzle inn. We mainly want to relax and sip some swizzle!!! Any tips appreciated. Thanks

Thanks everyone. I just signed up for all newsletters and scored so many points. I'll have to sign up my other 1/2 I had not thought of that. Thanks.

Any tips about how to quickly accumulate a lot of reward points???? I would really love to purchase as many $500 cards as I'm allowed. I'm not even close to having enough points.

We booked a cruise 24 hours before departure time and were awarded a pretty nice price on a balcony cabin. Being higher up on the VIFP scale helps I'm sure.

This is encouraging. Thanks.

Thanks guys. I really do prefer the old days!

anyone have any feedback on the waitlist for a cruise 1-2 weeks away? I'm wondering if they offer a decent price if something opens up and what are the odds of getting a call. I was told I'm 2nd in line. Thanks.

Are you all big drinkers? Remember that the UBP will only be good for the first two passengers in the room, so if you're planning on lots of drinks, getting two rooms might end up actually being cheaper since you'll all have the drink package. Just something to consider.

 

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Thanks. For us we have prob two that drink and two not as much so I thought it might work.

Get a " sideway's type OK " Deck 8 .

Have your steward do the U shape bed setup with 1 in a bunk. ;p :cool:

Thank you.

I also do realize a mini-suite room is the same size as a balcony. When I try to choose a balcony category room w 4 passengers it says not available. It only lets me choose a mini suite. So the only option for 4 with a balcony looks like a mini suite on this particular cruise. two rooms is just so much more expensive.

Thanks for all the replies. Two girls are only 5' so not worried about the beds. Two don't mind inside but two are hell bent on a balcony and we all want to spend the least amount of money possible while being able to have a good time! So much to consider but I appreciate all the thoughtful insight.

Just FYI, there is no group rate. You still pay the advertised prices on the website but they offer you perks and other promos that are not available to single cabin bookings.

Thanks for the clarification.

Get 2 rooms or you will regret it!

 

 

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We are definitely weighing our options between the cost of two rooms or squeezing into one to save money! Thanks.

Thank you.

looking to cruise on the dawn with the girls and I'm wondering if any rooms have two bunks to accommodate 4. I can't see how a bed down lower between the two twins will work(with one bunk). We are looking at the OK category in particular. Also wondering if any of the mini-suite categories have two bunks. Thanks.

im wondering how many cabins would need to be booked to get a group rate through NCL directly? Thanks.

Oh we will most definitely return to Tortola as we found it very beautiful. The weather had nothing to do with not going to cooper island. The Mongoose place was charming and we probably might have enjoyed it more if we could order off the menu OR if Joe might have recommended the cyber cafe (which he did not). We were offered a buffet which included rice/beans, cole slaw and two types of fried items chicken or fish (I think). 4 things for a fixed price. We were clear that the price of lunch was not included. Aristocat's includes lunch in their price which I like.

There is no "crew" with patouche to take care of you. It's joe with no other boat hands except help from his passengers. I will also add that he did not have enough snorkel equipment to accommodate the children on our trip. He just simply said to us a a group "snorkel stuff in the bucket, plenty of sizes but I certainly do not have enough fins for all these kids" and walked off. He isn't warm and fuzzy at all. I'm pretty laid back on vacation and I really wanted to like him despite his military/gruff personality I just didn't like him. I honestly didn't even interact with him that much but by my obvervations that day he was a jerk if I'm honest. We had one guest bleeding from her time at the Baths. Bleeding in two different places. He tossed her a towel and she sat on the side of the boat trying to stop the bleeding and cleaning her leg. My boyfriend went inside and looked for a band-aid and joe said "she doesn't even need one yet". We got one anyways for her which she appreciated.

You recommend Joe all the time on this board. I appreciated your input before my trip. You might make it clear when you recommend patouche that you have never personally taken this charter trip as a guest. I'm sure you are friends with or know him personally. I appreciate the fact that you also recommend the other two top rated charters according to trip advisor. I think people here are looking for both recommendations from real people who have taken these tours as cruise ship passengers AND from people who are just familiar with the local tourism somehow.

I have been cruising for years and have travelled a lot. We have taken several excursions over the years and not one through the cruise ship. I realize the reviews on trip advisor are mostly good and my experience is "rare" but I honestly think not everyone has time to write reviews and I'm sure Joe has plenty of guests that haven great time. Im sure my experience would have been better if we only had 4 of us on the boat. My trip however was not stellar. We made the best of it and I'm certainly not saying our day was a disaster. We enjoyed Tortola. We didn't however feel like we got a good value for our $500 that day for the 4 of us.

I’m always very sorry to read of someone not having the best experience they can possibly have when visiting the beautiful islands of the BVI, especially when using one of the many excellent operators like Joe and Patouche, Aristocat Charters, and Kuralu. Non-recommendations for any of these outfits are just so rare as they are all top-notch outfits with great crews and they really take care of you.

 

Regarding some of your complaints, I do not believe that lunch is included in the price of the excursion is it? And although we would also have been disappointed with not making it to the Cooper Island Restaurant, we would have enjoyed De Loose Mongoose or the excellent fish sandwiches at Cyber Café in Trellis Bay, Beef Island, instead.

 

It does sound like inclement weather (high surf and riptides) was the problem that day, and it is common (and desired) for the captain to choose alternate, safer destinations in that situation. Trellis Bay is a safe haven in this type of weather, and that’s probably why Cooper, the Bight, or Marina Cay was not the alternate lunch and beach stop.

 

It is unfortunate that with the large number of people and the uncooperative weather you didn’t enjoy your day, but I hope you don't give up and return to Tortola and the BVI for a longer visit to really enjoy the beauty.

I sailed with patouche in march and from my experience I would not recommend this charter for a family. Firstly, the tour advertised is not necessarily what you will get if he for some reason books more than 25 guests. This happened on our trip. He will not advise you in advance however if there are more than 25 people you will not sail to coopers island but he will bring you to "beef" island which did not seem like an island to me since our taxi picked us up here. This beach is not very nice and there is no opportunity to snorkel here. The Baths was too rough that day to snorkel day and Joe said the only coral to see was whatever was stuck to the rocks. The rip tide was pretty significant that day and I wouldn't have wanted my kids in it. This boat and/or Joe was not particularly kid friendly either. It should also be noted that if you choose the Baths tour you will be doing the Baths barefoot. We needed fins to swim to the beach and Joe did not advise taking any shoes with us. There is also not a guided tour of the Baths at all as advertised. We had a party of 4 and at $500 not including lunch we felt let down. I should also mention that another party of 4 on our boat actually booked his Norman island tour and he just took them to the Baths without any mention of the change in their tour. His customer service in regards to any communication before hand was almost non existent. I emailed several times, send text messages and made phone calls. He ended up calling me back a few days in advance and honestly he did all the talking and never really answered any of my questions. All other tours were booked and that's the only reason I booked anyways even after feeling uneasy about it from the beginning. I have read good reviews and his partner oscar might be better who knows? Im sure joe had good days and bad days and I'm glad the poster above had a good trip. I certainly would never book with him again. Three other couples on the taxi ride back agreed.

This is available on the escape and it will be listed in the daily. I never did see it available online. We sailed in march. The price was $5/day and allowed only messaging on Facebook. Fb messanger, no pics. You can't see anything on regular fb although my fb news feed did refresh at odd times throughout the cruise. The social media chat allows access to Snapchat and allowed me to send a pic in that was but I could not send or receive pics through fb messanger. You can also use apps like whats app for texting as well. I expected more in terms of Facebook but for me it was an easy way to message family back home. My IMessages did not work although the Internet desk told me it should work. I did not purchase I concerige (that's not spelled right lol) for texting but I did use the free version to check my account and look at the daily schedule. Hope that helps.

I just went on a tour with patouche march 22 off NCL Escape. I would NOT recommend this charter.