blueskadoo

Hello All- checking out a cruise for July 2023 on Apex, and the Retreat came up as "no longer available". When I've seen it sold out in the past, it will actually say "sold out" I thought. Am I wrong? Its very likely! Thanks all.

We've never done an Oasis class. In fact, the only Royal ship I've ever been on is Mariner, and it was in a Grand Suite, about 7 years ago. Kiddo has only been on Carnival Sunshine when she was much younger, but as a 12 year old, she's too cool for just about everything lately so I'm not sure what would appeal to her. I would hate for Jewel to be stuffy, because if there's a fun atmosphere, she's more likely to let her guard down and enjoy herself. It will be over thanksgiving, so I have to assume there'll be kids galore.

Hello everyone. I'm on a time crunch and have what I think is a pretty tough decision in front of me. We can choose a regular balcony room on Wonder with ports that are fine, but nothing exciting for a 7 night cruise. OR we can do Jewel in an Owner's Suite for an 8 night. Now, in my mind, you're having a big trade off going from one of the newest, to one of the oldest. But then...it's a suite. So...I'm so torn. Making things extra tough is that my hubs is 100% all about the ship, I really love the ports for Jewel (ABC islands) and our kiddo is just happy to travel (she's got the best idea of us all, lol). So...what would you do, experienced RC cruisers? Something I couldn't determine, does Jewel have the free water/sodas/juice during the day? Or only during the few hours of the night? That might sway hubs if we go Jewel! lol

If it would allow me to use a VPN with 100% reliability such that I could work from the ship without burning vacation days, that would be life-changing, and I'd be willing to pay 50/day for the privilege. I could even go higher if I had to, but I'd feel like it was totally worth it at that price point.

Hi all. My husband unfortunately has come down with covid which means we won't be going on our cruise scheduled for Saturday. He was feeling crappy on Tuesday, so he took a home test, which came back positive. We had scheduled tests with Quest, but haven't gone yet. Now that we know he's positive (and still feels awful) do we still need to get an "official" test so we can get a FCC with Carnival? He'd prefer to not have to get out if he didn't have to but I thought I read on the website that he does need it. Of course, this is the one cruise I didn't manage to book with my PVP, so I guess I call the 800 number? I'm assuming she can't help me with it. Thank you everyone.

Hi all- Today we received our first "MoveUp" email with celebrity. We are currently booked in a Sky Suite on Reflection (our first in suite class), and have a chance to bid to go to the upper suites. My question is....how do people decide if it's worth the difference? Is there a rule of thumb for what's a "good deal"? The email offered starting bids of 1200/person for a celebrity suite, up to 9000/person for a reflection suite. And from cruising NCL, I know there's no guarantees that any bids get accepted. I just don't know where to start with even evaluating! Experience with any of the suites on Reflection would be greatly appreciated!

He filled it with air at Bucees and was going to try to press on, but in 15 minutes it came back on and was driving funny (14 psi will do that!), so he had to stop, which thankfully took him off where a tire shop was right off the exit. Apparently somewhere on his detour around I-95’s standstill traffic he picked up a screw that went in head first, making a bigger hole than what usually happens when you get a nail. Prayer and some presidents got his tire patched and back on the road… in about 30 minutes. Which is darn impressive and every minute counted!

He's solo and I, his loving wife, had to try to help from the house. Talk about nerve wracking! 🤪

We are going to be shopping for a new car, and I think I'm now going to add to our list of needs a "full size spare". Spare do-nut tires are just crap so I'm glad they repaired his tire with a patch, which let him drive the speed limit. It likely would have taken just as long to install the stupid do-nut. Calling/finding an uber that could have taken him the 100 miles willingly would have been a huge feat that also would have taken a lot of time. He just really happened to find the right people that had compassion to help him and that's why he made it. This was crazy, and I'm so relieved it worked out, but now we'll set a drop dead leaving time of 9:00 when we're going to drive to port because for a 3 hour drive, the time and expense of going a day early isn't very feasible. Hopefully this was a sign from the universe he was supposed to get on this cruise. As an FYI, if anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation and finds this thread- call NCL (800 number) and let them know you're on the way. They can't hold the ship for you, but given how close he was to the printed final check-in time, they at least made a flag on his reservation that he was still coming. They told him they lock the doors to the terminal at 5 so if you're close, don't stop keep going- you can pee when you're on the ship. If you're crushed for time, don't drop your bags with the porter- go to the check in counter first, and they will help you from there.

HE MADE IT! He is safely on board and in his cabin thanking his lucky stars that he is on board. He said it is off to get a cold drink and some chicken wings now. What a sweat!

So he's en route, and God wiling he will make it. The only real question is...will there be porters, and should he try to use them with his luggage?

When the light went on, he happened to exit right at a tire shop (someone upstairs was looking out for him) and he pulled in there. He's got the tire repaired, and he's getting going now. It's going to be a photo finish if he makes it or not, but chalk it up to "lessons learned". He also hit a huge traffic jam in Jacksonville, which ate most of his buffer. I've started finding him a hotel for the night in PC. Not sure what the outcome will be but goodbye to my fingernails.

Final boarding is at 4pm. He's doing that now, but it says to only drive 55-60...so what if he's 15 minutes late? Won't that be too bad so sad? That's my worry!

Hi all. My SO is headed out on a cruise today from Port Canaveral, but had the tire light come on and is currently sitting an hour and a half away trying to get it repaired. Is there anything I can do to help him other than pray and find alternate cruises leaving tomorrow on other lines? Any use in calling NCL? If he were to be able to drive on to Miami and depart tomorrow, would that do any good and save us from losing everything? This is karma for not booking the travel protection, I suppose.

Given Bermuda's testing requirements, does anyone think they'll end up dropping Bermuda from the TAs?

I'm starting to think part of the confusion is the mobile site vs the desktop site when you go to the sailsafe page. The one on mobile is pretty easy to understand, reflective of what cruisebear said, and the desktop site has the old two day chart at the bottom of the page. I wish I knew how to share screen grabs on here...but I think it comes back to the fact that all the different dates makes it all so confusing!

There’s conflicting information on the NCL website. One spot says 3 days for PCR, 2 days for antigen, then scroll down and it says 2 days for “earliest” testing. It’s just not very clear.

Sorry for the elementary question, but I've tried to search, and the results keep bringing me to discussions about the merits of testing/not testing and I can't seem to find up to date information based off the August 1st updated guidance. Departing this Saturday on a cruise, and not sure when I'm supposed to test. I have an appointment to go to a in person quest lab test (NAAT) which prompted me to schedule for Wednesday. Reviewing the Sail Safe page just now, there's a chart at the bottom of the page that says "earliest test" and lists Thursday. So...my question is which one is correct? Am I good to test Wednesday? I don't want to go to the trouble if I needed to push the appointment back...but its always a sweat to make sure the results come back in time, so if I have the extra day, I want to use it. Thanks in advance.

Hello all- quick question- if they sent me the invoice with a booking number. Do I need to pay the taxes so my reservation doesn't get cancelled? Or put down a deposit? This is our first free blue chip club offer. Calling them is such a long ordeal that if I can avoid it, I want to! Thank you!

Hello all- trying to avoid the really long hold times for what may be a well known fact. If I book one of the comp cruises and then cannot go or must cancel, is there a penalty they will assess?

I was told by the YC Concierge that you can't hook up a DVD player to the Divina TVs. I would love to know if that's false and we'll pack ours too!

Just curious how full the ship felt during your cruise? Did you feel like there was space to spread out? Any concerns about crowding and covid during your cruise? Thanks

We were on last month and the TVs were down then too. They said it was some ongoing issue they had been trying to repair. It got better toward the end of the cruise, but we upgraded to streaming and watched our services on our laptop by that point. The internet was strong enough to download movies then. Upon reflection, when the tv worked better, the internet was much slower. Hoping to be back on her next month…hopefully they get it sorted soon.

Hello all- We're scheduled to go on the Mardi Gras soon, and I see the sailing has been pulled from the website, meaning it is sold out, and it will be quite full I'm sure. So anyone who has been on there recently, what's it like? I've read reviews, and I appreciate them all, but I'm mostly thinking about that dumb virus that makes us all so anxious. We are both fully vaxxed and boosted, but know it's still a roll of the dice. We've been sailing MSC a lot lately, and their ships are still sailing well below capacity, so I don't quite remember what it's like being on a busy ship. I'd prefer not to catch covid, but also understand there's risk everywhere we go. We are trying to decide if the risk is worth the reward, but its so hard to get an accurate snapshot of how many people have it after getting off ships, but that's my biggest question here. Are lots and lots of people testing positive after returning home? I hope I'm allowed to ask that here (sorry if not)- please no debate, but experiences appreciated.

I got this email too. I responded, and they replied back the next day with a "Guest Booking Offer". What am I supposed to do next? Call them? Its my first time getting a Blue Chip offer, and I just don't know how it works!