momoftwinteens

Can anyone tell me where you can purchase the Vibe passes on Bliss?  Thanks in advance.

If it is available, I would very highly recommend cabin 11056. I spent 2 weeks in that cabin in 2013 during the Dawn' s repositional cruise. It is slightly forward but not so forward that you feel like you are walking forever. The nice thing about the cabin is that there are cabins above and below so noise isn't an issue. If you look at the deck plans, the blank area directly opposite the cabin is fire fighting equipment so that isn't a problem, either. If that cabin is available, I would grab it.

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I have taken four cruises that were supposed to hit GSC. Two made it and two did not so we are at 50%. I have noticed that the ones that didn't make it were in the fall(November 2011 and this past one October 2017). The ones that made it were in the spring and summer. If you think about it, that makes sense. Unless you live some alternative universe, you know about hurricanes and the Caribbean. Even if there aren't any active systems going, there is a very good chance the ocean is going to be choppy from either left-overs from a storm that has just departed the area or one that is coming. Either way, I am not going to argue the point with a Captain of the ship who has a heck of a lot more experience at this than I will ever have.

Anyone just off the Breakaway?

Is this set cover charge for Margaritaville still in effect? It seems like the 'trial' period should be over.

I was on Breakaway from October 1 to October 8 and the cover charge was still there. I very rarely saw people there during the cruise and even then, only a handful. I was told that, Margaritaville is a la cart on Escape and Getaway but the cover charge is still in place on Breakaway. No clue when it is ending but it doesn't look like NCL has learned anything from this (in my opinion) failed experiment.

We are just returning from a visit to Blue Lagoon. The snorkeling there was a real disappointment, to say the least. The area for snorkeling is to the right of the main beach and, while I did see some very small fish, they were far and few between. I attempted to snorkel on the far (North) beach. It is unprotected by any reefs or coves and there is nothing between you and the ocean. However, the surf was pretty rough and I quickly found myself being dragged out into water I wasn't comfortable with. Further into shore, the snorkeling at that beach was better. It was just more dangerous, particularly since there are no life guards there.

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Yes on embarkation day on the BA Moderno has a buffet lunch open to all guests.

 

On sea days they also do a themed lunch buffet that is also open to all guests, Indian, Mexican and German.

 

It's also open for breakfast (not sure if it's sea days or all days), but as someone mentioned it's much less hectic than the Garden Cafe with only a slightly more limited selection. The Garden Cafe on the BA is an absolute zoo for breakfast. Horrible way to start your day.

I just left the Breakaway this morning and that was not the case with Moderno, at least in regards to the embarcation lunch. I know because I asked. I asked about a lunch buffet and was told "no". We ended up at O'sheehans.

I can't dispute the themed lunch because we didn't notice that in the Daily.

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May I suggest you read this for an answer?

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/stuck-in-mexico-with-a-seriously-ill-son-one-ohio-121107028462.html

anyone 10/1 get any news about your trip.....any changes in ports?

I just checked with MyNCL and there was nothing to report concerning itinerary changes. I think we are good to go. I did a quick weather forecast check for next week and it looks good for Florida and iffy for Nassau but, I also know that storms come and go quickly in the tropics. And the forecast was for thunderstorms and not a hurricane!

I took this same cruise last March and we had a balcony. We used our balcony all the time. In fact, one night, I was forced to sleep out on our balcony due to one of my travel companions and their snoring! 😵

Of course, your mileage may vary. As for the seas and weather, we had bright sun and 80 degrees both in Florida and the Bahamas.

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We sail out of San Juan on the Dawn 11/19 and I am staying optimistic!

 

First, San Juan is the capital of P.R. it is the finacial, industrial and tourism heart of the country. Over 2 million people (more than half of. P.R.'s population) lives and works in San Juan or its municipalities. The rebuilding efforts will be concentrated here to get the people back to work and providing for their familes. Tourists are necessary to P.R. especially to San Juan.

 

Secondly, I have cancel for any reason insurance so any non- refundable costs for our trip will come back to us. We had to cancel a cruise in 11/16 to treat our 20 year old son's cancer. Stuff happens; so insurance is a required and budgeted cost of traveling for our family. Will we be disappointed if we or NCL cancels our cruise? Heck yes. But our neice and her family who live near San Juan have been affected far greater than my disappointment could ever be. If the port of embarkation should somehow need to be changed by NCL, well, we'll just have to make some phone calls. It's a small percentage of our total life that will be used up. I've spent a bunch of time researching the ports of call that we already know we won't be calling on and once they announce our new ports I will start all over again.

Can you imagine the amount of time spent making phone calls and searching the iternet if you had to rebuild your house and replace all of your household possessions?

 

Third, NCL rarely cancels cruises. It is a great financial cost to them, it creates a negative image to the public and it causes a loss of income to the people who live and work at the missed ports of call. I'd guess there is a negotiating war going on amongst the open ports and the many cruise lines for dates and times. What a puzzle of strategy these hurricanes have created! Imagine 10 ships battling it out for 5 berths at a port. Would this cause a bidding war or are prices firmly set at what can be charged?

 

Fourth. being in this wait and see pattern is better than the same situation our family was in almost exactly one year ago. On September 26 our son called to tell us he had cancer. One year ago we were told he could have 6 months to one year left to live. But...because of great optimism and fantastic medical care he is alive and back to his normal college student self. So therefore I AM OPTIMISTIC and if you are sailing with us, show us your optimism too!

 

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Cindy, I applaud you. I cannot imagine the strength you have to survive a cancer diagnosis in one of your children. There, but for the Grace of God, go I!

You have the the absolute correct outlook on this whole thing. Hug your son for me.

Maria hit Puerto Rico only a couple days ago, give them time (at least a few days) to reassess the situation. Of course mainland US will help with recovery and restoration, but give them time. Soon they will have a clearer picture of the future and you will be informed whether the itinerary still stands or changes, and they may offer you options if it does change.

 

This season (Sept - Dec) has been devastating for the Caribbean, and all cruise lines (the ones that send ships to the affected islands) have been scrambling to find alternate ports but the trouble is each port can only hold certain number of ships at a time. This is why Norwegian Escape now has at least 3 different West Caribbean itineraries from now until end of year, instead of just one same.

 

You can cancel now if you wish, just to lose the 25%, but it'll be your own option, not NCL's.

 

By the way, I do not believe that mayor saying they'll be without power in all PR for "months"!

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We had a CAS comped inside cabin on our cruise on the Breakaway on October 1. We received an email to bid for an upgrade and bid $225 per person for a balcony. Our bid was accepted and we are now in a midship BB balcony on deck 9 in a perfect location.

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We are on that sailing too!!! and also had our bid accepted! Enjoy your upgrade!!!!

Thank you! You, as well. That $450 was total for 3 people, by the way. So, $150 per person was the bid for the upgrade. I was nervous because I didn't like the idea of NCL picking the location of the cabin but, it worked out well for us. Have you sailed on Breakaway before? This will be my second time but I am bringing two Norwegian newbies with me.

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We just found out that our bid for the October 1 Breakaway sailing was accepted. We started out in a comped inside as part of CAS. We offered $450 for a balcony and received confirmation today that it was accepted. We are now in a BB balcony mid ship on deck 9. I looked at the deck plans and there is nothing but cabins above and below us so, I am very happy.

Not from Canada, but am going on this ship/itinerary in two weeks and would be happy to assist if you cannot find anyone from Canada.

Likewise. I am in Vermont, pretty close to the border. Let me know if I can help.

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For the next 10 days, if the GFS forecast is correct, Jose is going to skirt past Cape Cod then loop around and back to skirt the cape for a second time. On the heels of Jose, Maria is going to follow the second coming of Jose and she will skirt cape Cod.

 

For the next 10 days draw a box from Boston to Yarmouth NS to Bermuda and then to Cape Hatteras. Jose and Maria will be inside the box. There will be some rough water out there.

Just as long as they stay inside the box. I am on Breakaway on October 1 and would appreciate a nice smooth ocean.

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On our cruise in August, for Skagway, we booked a train trip through Alaska shore excursions dot com. They have a Skagway White Pass Railroad Summit Excursion that is only 3.5 hours long. You meet at the station, show your confirmation there and pick up your tickets there. It was super easy and the trip was wonderful. We had more than enough time to make it back to the ship for lunch and even plan an afternoon gold-panning excursion. The train ride is $122 per adult and I highly recommend it.

No, the Pearl does not have a water slide.

Just home from a wonderful trip to Alaska on the Pearl. Did 4 excursions that were booked through Norwegian, the first 3 were very good. The 4th one to the Butchart Gardens was a disappointment. I knew that it was an evening tour, but thought the gardens would be very well lighted. Several of us found it very hard to see the gardens and also hard to walk around them. I'd like to hear what other people thought about seeing the gardens in the evening.

I would have to agree with you. We sailed on the Pearl on August 20 and scheduled an excursion through NCL for Victoria(it was our only excursion that we booked through the cruise line). It included a tour of Victoria and a visit to Buchart Gardens. By the time we got to the gardens, the sun was setting and it got dark pretty fast. We were able to enjoy the gardens but it definitely would have been more enjoyable if the sun had still been up. I would guess that the one thing I took away from this was, either make a day trip to Victoria pre-cruise from Seattle(if you have the time) or sail earlier in the summer when the days are longer.

We are also on this cruise. I had a brief thought of perhaps us being redirected to Bermuda but, honestly, I think we will be ok. Regardless of what may happen in the future, Breakaway is a beautiful ship that I have enjoyed in the past and, no matter where we end up, any cruise on her will beat a week in the office!

Drink package + ship... I'm on vacation. Just get me away from the storm!

 

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I'm with you, and I don't even drink. I am sailing on Breakaway in three weeks. At this point, I am not sure we will make Nassau or Great Stirrup Cay. My travel companions and I have the exact same opinion; if we have to float around in the ocean for 7 days, who cares? Breakaway is a beautiful ship with plenty to do and that would still easily beat sitting in an office at home.

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I also want to add a tip. I don't know if this applies to Holland or not, but sometimes if they call with a ' great deal on a upgraded '' cabin, it might not be that great of a deal. The cabin might be under the theater, pool, disco's or other heavily traffic area's of the ship. It is good to have a layout of the ship in front of you in case you get a call for a upgrade. Some are a bargain and some are not.

I will second this. I made a horrible mistake on my very first cruise and didn't listen to the advice of some seasoned cruisers who knew better. I booked a cabin directly under an outdoors cafe. Turns out the floors are cleaned and the chairs are stacked and cleaned every night making all sorts of racket overhead all night long. We didn't get much sleep that cruise. Since then, I have discovered a wonderful website called Cruisedeckplans.com. You are able to drop and drag the ship decks over each other so you can see what is above and below the cabin you are looking at. It has saved me many times.

When I sailed on the Pearl out of Seattle last month, the Port Authority almost didn't let me take my power strip with me onto the ship. We had been called back down to identify something in my suitcase and, in the process, they discovered my power strip. It is just a power strip, not a surge protector, but it was still going to be confiscated. After a brief discussion, they let me keep it.

The cabin stewards are instructed to unplug anything they find plugged in if the cabin is unattended.

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I can't help but wonder how much use one would get out of a Vibe pass on an Alaska cruise, especially if it's raining. And I seriously doubt the race track would be running in the rain, either. Since Alaska gets a lot of rain( it poured during our cruise in August both in Juneau and Ketchikan), it's something to keep in mind when considering the Bliss. Just saying.

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The last couple of times I've cruised to or from Seattle I've stayed near the airport due to the high cost of downtown hotels. If you can afford a downtown hotel, there's lots to see and do there. I've used Seattle Express to pick me up at my hotel and found them safe, reliable, and affordable. I only became aware of Uber and Lyft within the last year or so, and have not used them for cruise transfers so I don't know if they offer better or cheaper service than the available shuttles.

 

Roz

I will second Seattle Express. I had a wonderful experience with them. I had to change my pre-cruise hotel at the last minute. Seattle Express has a list of hotels that they go to and we went from one they served to one they didn't. When I called them, before leaving home, the owner, Matt, was completely willing to go out of the way to pick us up at our hotel and bring us to the pier. There was no difference in price and the driver was even a little early. The hotel was in Kent, to give perspective. I highly recommend them.

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Can you elaborate or be more specific, was your power strip - one of the many with circuit protection/switching and/or surge suppressor ?

 

Your electric throw blanket and power strip was in your checked luggage; and, flagged by security screening - not in your carry-on ... and called back downstairs to open your bag for a visual inspection ? Thanks.

No, it was not a surge protector. Just a power strip. As for the throw, it never occurred to me that the wires would cause a problem since it had made it through the airport just fine. I never thought to bring it in my carry-on. Lesson learned.