VideoTech

I'm assuming the OP's question has to do with the usual speculation about how early a flight one can make when disembarking from a cruise. 

All the usual "if's" apply to this question, but also remember that there's one unusual hurdle at the San Juan airport that isn't present at U.S. mainland ports: All your checked and large carry on baggage has to go through a USDA agriculture inspection machine before you can even take it to the counter to be checked. That line can be long and slow too. 

I wouldn't treat flight selection out of San Juan any differently than I'd treat any other port & airport. I'd take a flight at noon or later, maybe 11 am at the earliest. That removes the stress of feeling like you've got to rush, rush, rush or you'll miss your flight!

23 hours ago, clcjdn said:

Right, I always knew that about different machines, but hadn't contemplated different %s based on credits wagered within the same machine.  Seems like with enough data, you could start to determine whether better to bet one or two vs max.  It couldn't be perfect science, but if you frequent the same casino often, it seems like you could get some decent sample size returns....ie this week only bet 1 vs next week bet 2, etc.....

No, you can never get enough real data to determine a machine's payback % just by observation. You would have to observe and record the outcome of every single play on the machine, 24/7, for a long, long time. Not only are there thousands of possible winning positions with just a simple 3 reel, one line old school slot machine (and those number of possible winning positions go up astronomically on the newer multi-line, multi-reel video machines), but you'd also have to observe all the outcomes first at one bet level, and then at another. With modern machines that allow so many different bet levels, you simply couldn't do it. 

The only slot machines for which you can reliably determine payback % are video poker machines. And that's why casinos penalize gambler's play on those machines (by making you play twice as much money for one casino point), saying that they are "advantage" machines. And yet VP machines are just as random as any other slot machine, and you have just the same likelihood of losing or winning on any single play as you do on any other slot machine. Knowing the payback % on a VP machine, combined with absolutely perfect play for each hand, does give you back a slight bit of the casino's edge, but it's not much, and requires long hours of play to realize.

Bottom line, for me anyway - just play for the fun of it, with money you can afford to lose. And you WILL lose it, otherwise the casino wouldn't be in business! 

On 12/9/2018 at 8:17 PM, riddle said:

One thing I always think about is bet size versus number of bonus rounds.  Many of the machines I play have an $8.80 max and a $.88 minimum.  I know I can win a jackpot either way and I know that my other wins will be larger on the larger bets.  But my question is "should one expect a significantly larger number of bonus rounds if betting a higher amount, up to the max?

The short answer is No. In fact, many machines are set to create a higher # of bonus rounds at a lower bet level, as this keeps the player interest high. 

3 hours ago, clcjdn said:

Unusual thing I heard while sharing a box suite at a concert with a marketing rep from former Isle of Capri casinos....he said that on slots they could set the payback %s to different amounts based on how many credits were wagered.  I always assumed that if it was a 90% machine, that meant 90% across all combinations of wagers from a single penny to fully loaded.  This comment makes me think that they could set Bet One to 85% and Bet Max to 95%, or some combination as long as the theoretical comes out to a percent equal to or larger than what is mandated by the government (which is not required in INTL water on these ships).  Anyone have specific information on this topic?  Thanks!

That has always been true in regulated land casinos. If a bank of machines has an advertised payback %, it's when played at Max Bet. And it's also true that if a bank of machines is advertised as paying 98% (or whatever %), not ALL of them have to pay that. As long as one or some of them do, it's legal to put the advertised payback sign over the machines.

On 7/15/2016 at 8:47 AM, mimi598 said:

Hi everyone,

This is our first time sailing on Norwegian...heading to Bermuda in 2 days. With Disney Cruise, I was able to purchase internet for the entire cabin and we were all able to use it...does anyone know how it works with Norwegian? Do we all need to purchase a plan in order to be online?

 

Also, I'm only planning to check email occasionally but I'd like to continue receiving text messages...how much date should I purchase? Does Breakaway show usage so I know how much I've used? I called Norwegian and she wasn't sure about any of this (go figure).

 

My kids like watching youtube videos (although that may not be an option on this cruise!) but if I did purchase extra mb, would youtube work? Thanks so much in advance!

Michele

 The basic package is fine for email. Log in, pick up email, reply or log off and compose replies, then log back on and send.

If you want to be able to continuously send and receive text messaging, though, you'll need to purchase the unlimited Internet package. There was a period of time where iPhone users were able to use their messaging app without purchasing internet minutes, but that loophole has generally been closed across the NCL fleet. 

When we cruise, we get the unlimited package and use Facebook messaging. It works very well. The social media package is designed for those like your kids who want to stream video. 

Whatever you do, make absolutely sure all phones have their cellular data service turned OFF. The easiest way to do this is to first put the phone in airplane mode, then turn on JUST the "Wifi" portion of the phone. If you don't do this, some of your phones may use the very expensive "Cellular at Sea" service to connect for data.

On 5/23/2017 at 5:11 PM, BirdTravels said:

Huh?

See this page

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages

This page: https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-internet-access

And this page: https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/internet-packages

You start by contacting the port officials, who will probably put you in touch with NCL's Port Agent for that port. That's the person and office listed at the bottom of the port information in each Freestyle Daily, BTW.

Hopefully, the ship's officers have been to your cabin, removed your passport from your safe, and handed it off to the port agent. If you have your passport, you're set. You buy a ticket to the next port with your credit card, and catch the ship there. 

If you don't have your passport, you contact the nearest U.S. Consulate or Embassy and start what will probably be a lengthy procedure to get some new travel documentation.

Bear in mind, that's what I'd do if I was in your scenario situation. But I've never been and hopefully never will be. Always back at the ship early. 

That's tight, but do-able. As others have said: Be in the first, walk off group with your luggage. Don't use a shared ride - get a taxi or whatever straight to the airport. Assuming the ship docks on time, assuming there's no delays with starting disembarkation, and assuming that the MIA check in counters and security aren't too bad (it's an awful airport for that, most days), you should make it.

That being said - why stress yourself like this at the end of a nice vacation? If you have a choice for a flight around noon, I'd go for that. Biggest issue is: If you miss your 10:30 flight you'll be on standby all day, hoping for some empty seats on flights that are always flying full these days.

First of all, any major, reputable tour company will not risk making you late to the ship. The ships are their bread and butter and their main source of business and if they constantly made people late, they would no longer get business from the ships.

With that said, the Soufriere catamaran tour is a long one, and can be even longer depending on what's included. We have done this tour (not from a cruise ship, but from a land resort on St. Lucia), and it was a full day. The catamaran leaves from a dock right by the cruise port, and takes about an hour and a half to sail down the island to Soufriere. At that point, it depends on what your tour includes. Ours included a trip to the mud baths, a trip to a waterfall, and a tour/lunch at a plantation. That was followed by the cruise back up the coast to Castries, with a stop for snorkeling. 

If I remember correctly, we left the dock at Castries at around 8:30 or 9, and returned to the dock at about 3:30 or 4.

Bottom line: If you're going to book privately (not through the ship), make sure you tell the tour operator what ship you're from and what the hours in port are scheduled to be. They will likely already know this, but make sure.

Just returned from at week's stay in St. Lucia at the "well known" name resort right next to Pigeon Island. I did Pigeon Island on my own one morning, and can confirm what other posters above have said. The island is beautiful, with some good hiking to very scenic views from the Fort and Signal Hill.

The hikes are of moderate difficulty and both are fairly steep, but fairly short. The hike to the Fort is mostly paved with handrails. The hike to Signal point is a rough, unimproved trail with no handrails, very steep in sections. Views at the top of both are spectacular.  

The island has a number of scenic ruins, a "Carib Cave" (did not visit this) and two restaurants and a beach. Since I was staying right next door, I had no need of the beach or restaurants. I have snorkeled at the rocky end of Pigeon Island below the fort - snorkeling was ok, not exceptional. 

Entry fee to the Park is $8 U.S. per person. There are taxis always waiting at the park gates. Best aspect is that inside the park you will be left quite alone to do as you please. You can hire the services of a park tour guide at the front gate if you wish, but the park trails are well mapped and easy to follow.

I would agree that if you are coming from the cruise dock at Castries you should allow at least 30 minutes each way...possible more later in the afternoon going back. There's absolutely no need to do this tour through the ship - it's simple and easy to do on your own.

Edited to add: There is a public beach right outside the park gates, between the park and the resort. The beach is decent, with the usual chair and umbrella rentals, and two bar/restaurants. There's the usual # of vendors but they're not too aggressive. I'd pay the park entrance fee and use the beach in the park if a beach break was your goal.

Here's what I just advised a first time cruiser asking much the same question on our roll call for an upcoming cruise:

You will actually save money and possibly have more options by booking privately and directly through the shore excursion providers. However, here's what I generally tell 1st time cruises about that:

Since it's your first cruise, book through the ship. Yes, you'll spend a little more, but you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that the ship will wait for you if your shore excursion is late. Once you've taken your first cruise, and learned how everything works, you'll be more comfortable doing your own excursions on your next cruise.

With that being said, you should also realize that if you book privately through any reputable shore excursion provider, you'll likely be in a group with people who have booked through the ship anyway. And the shore excursion provider depends almost entirely on the cruise lines for the bulk of their revenue...they cannot afford to get a bad reputation by being late back to the ship...if they do, the cruise line will stop using them as a shore excursion vendor. So in general, if you do your research and pick carefully, you really should not have any problem booking privately. 

If you chose to book privately, make sure you tell the shore excursion vendor what ship you're on, and give them the times the ship is in port. They will tell you if you can do the excursion you're interested in or not. Remember that "all aboard" time is typically 30 minutes before the ship is schedule to depart. You will check that information carefully in each port - it's posted in the cruise daily newsletter and prominently at the exit of the ship as you leave.

Finally, remember that traffic on most Caribbean islands is awful...particularly in the late afternoon at "rush" hour. Roads are narrow and twisty and there are a LOT of cars. So if you elect to jump in a cab and head to a beach (which is fine, and easy to do), just make sure and allow plenty of time for the return to the ship.

Best sources for researching your own excursions are Google, Trip Advisor and the individual ports of call pages on Cruise Critic. If you haven't looked at those pages, you should...there's tons of great information there.

Every cruise I've ever been on (including with our pre-teen and teenage grandkids), I've never seen that any of them seem to have any trouble meeting up with other teens and finding things to do. 

Your 20 year old is hardly a teen anyway. I'm sure he/she will have no trouble finding things to do and linking up with others. Your 15 year old can join the older teens club and will likely quickly make friends. 

If you haven't logged on in a while (I hadn't in months, because we had no cruises scheduled) you'll see that mostly what they've done is redesigned the home page / landing page. Once you follow a link, you get taken to pages that look more like "old" style, although there has been some redesign on some of those pages too. 

It looks to me like a "work in progress" and I suspect all the pages will eventually get the newer, cleaner home page look.

21 hours ago, bbnjcruiser said:

check out Celebrity’s offering over here:

https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/3c2d5926#/3c2d5926/19

We have sailed Celebrity's suites and felt NCL's Haven product was far better in everything except one respect: food. Celebrity's food in general, and their suite dining room in particular, are far superior to the Haven restaurant. Among other things, the menu varies every day, something NCL has needed to start doing for years.

But beyond that, we'd take the Haven experience over Celebrity.

Now if you want luxury and all inclusive, then you need to move on to NCL's other brand: Regent. 

The NaPali cruise by is beautiful, but it is just a cruise by. I agree with the others: go drive Waimea Canyon - amazing. 

If you're really wanting to see the NaPali coast from the sea, you can do a helicopter tour or find boat tours (the latter including snorkeling, as mentioned above).

Your casino cash options are:

1. Bring it with you - downside, carrying the cash. Up side - a fixed gambling limit if you're strong willed enough not to resort to any of the rest of these.

2. Cash advance on your room account. This carries a 3% service fee, unless you're at or above a certain level of CAS player club. Down side: the fee (particularly if you do it more than once). Up side: you're not carrying around a lot of cash before the cruise; the cash shows as a purchase on your ships account, so no cash advance charges from the CC company. 

As a side note to #2: You can do this right at a slot machine with a cash advance that loads the cash into the machine you're playing. The balance you don't use remains available for you to use. Just be aware that each time you do this, you still incur the 3% fee (again, unless you're above a certain CAS level).

3. ATM withdrawal. There is a fairly stiff fee ($ 5 or $6 last time we cruised) for the withdrawal from the ship's ATM company, plus any fees your bank may charge you. And yes, as mentioned if you do with with a CC instead of a Debit card, your bank will likely regard this as a cash advance against the card with the associated fees (if any). 

4. Line of Credit from the Casino: You establish this with the casino before your cruise, using the form and instructions you can find on the CAS portion of the NCL website. 

Hope that helps..

Not really necessary to bother with plastic tags for the NCL luggage tag. Don't put it on before you fly...just put it on the morning you embark. You can staple it around the handle or use shipping tape. It's only needed to get your bags to your cabin on embarkation day. If you loose the tags the porters at the pier can tag your bags based on your cruise docs. 

Phone calls: Each ship has a specific telephone number. It will be listed in your cruise docs. You can give that number, along with your cabin number, to your family as an emergency number. Calls to the number will be routed to your cabin phone, and go to voice mail on that phone if you do not answer.

9 hours ago, clcjdn said:

Agree with VideoTech.  Know the rules before you wager.  Also, when it comes to Video Poker, the guidance there is to always bet max so you catch the full benefit of the pay table, or find a cheaper machine and bet max there.

Absolutely. Always makes me sad to see someone hit the oh-so-rare Royal Flush on less than max bet. VP is definitely one game where you must ALWAYS play max bet.

There were a couple of posts above with links to older wine lists from the Escape. Our last cruise on the Escape was June 2017, so this opinion may be out of date - but I've always found the wine lists on the ship to be generally mediocre, and the by-the-glass choices even poorer. 

There was mention of the wine bar. I think it's run by one of the California wineries, and only serves their products. I don't recall which winery this was.

As a frequent traveler (1 or 2 flights a week) all over the U.S., I'd have to say that MIA has some of the longest waits for baggage delivery once you get off your plane and down to baggage claim. 

Aside from that, there's a lot of variables in your equation. At least your travel person has arranged all the transport, but beyond that there's the variables of security lines, Terminal entrance, check in time, deck & cabin location, traffic at the port (the time you'll be arriving is one of the busiest), and so on. 

I wouldn't expect that to the minute schedule offered above to work out exactly. What I would suggest is this: You're on vacation, and you're leaving on a cruise. Don't stress about to the minute arrangements....just go with the flow. "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"

I can confirm that they are back in business, as the excursion is offered for our upcoming cruise in December.

As a longtime sailor and huge fan of the 12 meter America's cup boats, it was a great experience for me when I did this on a cruise some years back. But you do not need to be a sailor or have ever sailed before. And I do not think anyone except perhaps the most sensitive person would have trouble with sea-sickness, as the sailboat "race" is done in the confined waters of the harbor, not out in the open ocean. 

My only disappointment was that there was no opportunity for any helm time for those on the "crew" with sailing experience - that would have been a great thrill. 

None the less, if you are interested at all in a very different cruise excursion experience, I'd highly recommend this excursion.

Nightengale31 makes an important point - it's always important to read the game rules for the machine you're playing. Some machines will award the Jackpot(s) on less that max bet play, some will not. 

In general, it's always better to play max bet. If your budget won't go to the max bet on one machine, find another which suits your budget. I agree that many "penny" machines now have very high max bets..a lot of this comes with machines that have a high number of pay lines. However, my experience is that many of the $8.00 max bet slots award their jackpots on a purely random basis, in which case there is no strict advantage to playing max. Again, check the game rules for each machine.

Suites on all NCL ships have the same services: Separate boarding area, escorted boarding (around the lines). Each suite has a butler. You have a concierge (more than one on the larger ships) who can help with anything from dining reservations to shore excursions. On the POA you have a separate dedicated restaurant for Breakfast and Lunch. At the end of the cruise you have escorted disembarkation.

The butler can do as much or as little as you want. He/she will bring afternoon snacks and keep your espresso supplies topped up. You can order meals in your cabin that will be setup and served by the butler. You can make special snack requests, and bar orders through the butler. If you think if it, just ask...they'll tell you if they can or cannot provide the service. In our opinion, NCL does suite life the best of the mass market cruise lines.

If you're planning on renting a car at any of the ports, book it sooner rather than later.

Frankly, we didn't book any excursions at all on our POA cruise. We simply rented a car in each port and did our own thing. Beaches, touring, dining...it's all easy to do and there plenty of options. However, I can understand that you might want some organized activities with two kids along. You can book almost any excursion directly with the excursion company - you don't have to go through the ship. Just search online. The two overnight stays make this even easier as you're not under any pressure to get back to the ship on those overnights.