VideoTech

Go read the other thread posted by the poster on post 129... If you purchased a 2 bdrm 2 bath and think you are getting that, you are in for a bad surprise!

 

Don't wait and see take action now! I believe it is a single cabin with one bath now... I don't even believe the bedroom is separated from the rest of the living space!

No, we booked an Owner's suite, category SC: One bedroom, separated from the rest of the cabin, and a larger living area. Larger bathroom with two sinks and a separate shower and tub. This is what the floor plan for the category shows, and that agrees with the Owner's suite we had on the Pearl.

We normally stay in Penthouses, and these typically do not have the separate bedroom - the cabin is one large room with the bed in the same room as the living furniture.

We have been assured by NCL that what we have is an Owner's suite, and if the floor plan as shown is correct, then we believe the issue is that the NCL website is not correct.

However, the only way to know for sure is to find someone who has stayed in this cabin since the ship was refurbished. Maybe I'll post a question to that effect.

Which brings up another question, sort of off to one side: Why do people still use TA's? You can book a cruise online with appropriate discounts, and not have to pay a TA's commission. Just curious....

Unfortunately, this problem continues to this day (12/22/13).

We have booked POA for next March. We would have preferred a Penthouse with large balcony, but none were left, so we went for an Owner's Suite, SC cabin 11000. When we received our confirmation, the cabin was listed as a "Penthouse with Large balcony" and the square footage shown was considerably less than the Owners Suite, although the class of cabin was correctly shown as SC, and the money we paid was considerably more than the price for a Penthouse.

If you look on the NCL website, deck plans for POA, there are no Owner's suites listed on Deck 11. Just Penthouses. However, the Penthouses are not SC category, and if you look for an SC category, you'll find it listed as an Owner's suite.

My DW got on the phone with NCL today, and encountered the same kind of confusion as has been mentioned above. The rep put her on hold for a long time "to check," and when she came back, she said because the ship had been refurbished, many of the deck plans and cabin descriptions were no longer accurate. She assured us we were in an Owner's suite...I guess now we'll have to wait and see, since we've just made the final payment on the cruise.

You'd think that - in this computer driven day and age - NCL would realize how important it is to have their website kept up to date. This is more true when you realize that it's now been 4 months since the refurbishment...plenty of time to rebuild the website.

The other responders may have missed the fact that you said you are staying at the Doubletree Airport hotel. This is, as the name implies, near the airport, and not at all near downtown or the Quarter. It's about a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport to downtown in good traffic.

My suggestion would be to change to a downtown hotel, since it sounds as if you'll only have one short evening in New Orleans before your first cruise departs. If you check the Home ports forum, you can find plenty of suggestions for hotels in New Orleans that have cruise packages which include parking.

If you stay in a hotel in the warehouse district, near the port & convention center, this could solve your problem of what to do with your bags between the NCL and Carnival cruises. You could take them back to the hotel you stayed in, and check them with the bell captain for a few hours. There are plenty of restaurants in that area that serve breakfast or lunch if you wanted to eat before embarking on Carnival.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the review, MikeandAmy. We're on the Jewel in 7 days. Since the Pearl is our all time favorite NCL ship, we're glad to hear the ship is comparable - as it should be, since I believe it's the same build class.

Glad to hear your concierge was a good one; we'll look forward to that.

We've been in and out of New Orleans several times, and have never had any problems with either end of the cruise. Hopefully your disembarkation issues were a one time thing...did you have Elvina escort you off?

Sorry to hear about the dining room food, but we've never felt it was anything other than pretty run-of-the mill on any NCL ship. The specialty restaurants usually are very good, as you say.

My DW will be very upset if the Spa is not up to par; she loves getting massages on our cruises!

Tnanks again for the review!

Here's a website with bus info. If you're going to Seven Mile Beach, Bus Route 1 (Yellow) and Bus Route 2 (Lime Green) will take you north of George Town. From what I've read, you can tell the driver where you're going on the route, and they'll drop you off at the location.

 

http://www.grandcayman4u.com/transport/buses.htm

FYI for all, this website is no longer active.

Here's a replacement that also lists the bus routes: http://wikitravel.org/en/Grand_Cayman

I was wondering that too since we use our Harrah's card at Ak Chin near Phoenix, at Sandia in Albuquerque and at the Indian one near San Diego, the same card at all of them.

I actually thought I remembered having to get a different card at Ak Chin or Rincon, even though it was still tied to my Harrah's TR account...but maybe I was mistaken?

Living in Canada anything we win in the Casino is tax free. We gamble quite a bit at an Indian reservation and anything over $1200 ( think) has a 30% withholding tax. We can claim it back the next year though.

 

If you win a large amount on the ship, is there a withholding tax? I was curious about the rules at sea and if they are the same as land rules.

 

Thanks everyone.

Most ships owned by U.S. based companies follow U.S. IRS rules, which require a W2G be issued for single wins of $1200 and above. However, the W2G is merely an informational document, used by the IRS when reconciling U.S. citizen's income taxes. There is no actual withholding of money done with a W2G on board a ship.

Since you are presumably a Canadian citizen, you're probably free to ignore the W2G even if they insist on giving it to you. It may be once they see you have proof of Canadian citizenship, and no U.S. social security number, they will simply not issue one.

I'd double check with your accountant, if you have one, about Canadian tax laws pertaining to jackpots won outside of Canada. If you're still concerned, stop at the ship's casino office and ask about their policy with regard to non-U.S. citizens.

Can't answer directly about the POA, as haven't been on it. However, on all our previous NCL suite cruises, you could order anything you wanted from the various specialty restaurants for service in your cabin, including breakfast items from Cagneys.

Your meal will be served at whatever time you ask, although the butlers do have an "off duty" period, but it never seems like that's a problem.

As you've seen, there's a mass of different opinions and ideas about tipping. Personally, since we tip at the end of the cruise, my habit is to wait and see how many times we avail ourselves of the in-room dining service. Then start with the guideline of what you'd expect to tip in a nice restaurant, and factor in the time of delivery and composition of the order.

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6. Your favorite restaurant and why?

Cagney's steakhouse for the stake :D

Doesn't that hurt? :eek:

My understanding is that each ship's casino is basically a separate business operation. This probably has more to do with the way the ships are registered in different countries than anything else. I've been to some land-based casinos where you needed a new card in each casino, even though they were under the same brand (such as with some of the Indian casinos that Harrah's/Ceasar's operate).

Granted, in this day and age of computerized systems, it doesn't make much sense that the casinos on the ships aren't linked together, with one card for all and your points from previous cruises automatically available on each ship.

There's only space for one ship to tie up at the dock in Roatan, so if there's more than one in port, the later arriving ship would have to tender.

Don't worry about tendering, anywhere. They've got it down, and it's usually a smooth process that doesn't take that much longer than waiting in the lines you'll wait in to disembark to a pier.

It is generally much cheaper to book the excursions yourself, as opposed to through the ship. The only advantage you have in booking through the ship is that the ship will wait for you if for some reason your excursion is late returning to the ship. If you book your own, you're on your own, and if you miss the ship, it's up to you to catch up with it at the next port.

Having said that, almost all the excursions you could book on your own are operated by the same reputable operators who provide the ship excursions. They know the routine with the ships, and their business depends on keeping those ships, and the passengers, happy. It would be very unlikely that they would risk making you late for the ship, and chances are you would have some of the ship's excursion passengers with you anyway.

As suggested, go through the ports of call boards. You can often book the same excursions through the tour operator's websites.

You didn't mention what cruise itinerary you're doing, but let me give you one example where I definitely would book the ship's excursion over going on my own: Mayan ruins at Cozumel. This is because the ruins are actually on the mainland, not on Cozumel island. The trip requires a ferry ride back to the mainland, and a bus ride to the ruins. It's a long trip, and the combination of ferry & bus time means you *could* miss your ship if anything went wrong. So this is one where I'd opt for the ship's excursion and the peace of mind.

You can definitely do almost anything you want on your own from the cruise ship. No need to go through the shore excursions if you're comfortable with getting your own transportation and making sure you're back at the ship prior to sailing.

In Roatan, there are plenty of beaches you can go to. Tabyana beach is wonderful, with a beautiful reef you can swim to and snorkel right off the beach.

Check out the ports of call boards, as suggested.

We are looking at the 2015 Alaskan cruises and are trying to decide between the Pearl and the Sun. Any opinions as to which ship would be better for Alaska? If it matters, we will be booking a penthouse suite, probably forward facing as they are less expensive than the aft suites.

Pearl - Glacier Bay - and a forward facing suite. You've got it nailed. The Pearl has always been one of our favorite ships. Somehow it seems they're just a notch above the rest of the fleet on that ship.

For Alaska you cannot beat a forward facing balcony suite. First of all, the balconies are huge. Second, when you're out there, you feel like you're on your own private ship. Third, and most important: the views are fantastic, and that's what the Alaska cruise is all about.

Yes, you'll find the forward balcony is a little windy and can be chilly. Dress appropriately, and you'll love it.

The Spirit and the Jade do not have the same kind of forward balconies. Jade is the type I prefer...the forward balconies on this class of ship are huge.

By contrast, the forward balconies on the Spirit are very narrow. Although I haven't been on the Spirit (will be in two weeks though), every picture I've seen shows a narrow but long balcony, with one lounge chair facing sideways to the direction of the ship. I'm guessing you might squeeze two lounge chairs in face to face, but probably wouldn't have any room for anything else.

The penthouses are all very close in size and style. The real space comes when you move up to an Owner's suite.

How hard you push depends on how you value the space against the money. If you plan to spend a lot of time in your suite, or have many people in, it could be worth it. Personally, I'd stay with what I had, and spend the money elsewhere, but it's very subjective.

What you tip is up to you. Seems to run anywhere from $5 per person per day to $10 or more. A lot depends on what you ask of them, and how well you feel they did.

Also remember that the concierge is not included in the DSC "tip pool." If you feel they do a lot for you, you should tip them as well.

Finally, on all our suite cruises, we almost always tip the cabin steward. Yes, I know that person is included in the DSC, but we've often found it's the cabin steward who goes above and beyond the call of duty.

What ship are you cruising on?

You can also request "late check out" from the hotel. How much extra time they'll give you depends on how busy they are, and perhaps on your status with that hotel chain. Sometimes an extra hour, sometimes more.

If you have to be out of your rooms, you could just check your luggage with the bell captain, do what you'd like, and then return to pick up your luggage and get over to the port. But granted, that adds some extra time you've got to allow for.

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The best place to view the arrival is up on Deck 18 forward. Originally, this used to be the an exclusive area for Courtyard (pre-Haven days) passengers. However, for whatever reason, it is now a public space.....

What??? Sheesh, that private sun-deck was one of the best things about taking a Haven/Courtyard suite on the Epic. Far better than the crowded Haven pool deck, much more sunny at all times, and so on.

Check here to see if anyone has started a roll call for your cruise yet. If not, start one yourself. This is the best way to connect with others on your cruise.

I will be going on the NCL Sun in March 2014.Can the Platinum members use the conceige lounge? Where is it on the Sun?....

There isn't really a "concierge lounge" on most of the NCL ships. In most cases, the concierge sets up his/her office in the Star bar or equivalent space during the day, and that bar is not even open for service in the morning. When the bar does open in the afternoon, it's still completely public.

This is different than the system we found on RCCL, where the concierge does indeed have a restricted entry lounge, where snacks and drinks are served.

The closest thing that I'm aware of to that is the Haven on some ships, such as the Epic, where the concierge desk is in the Haven, and there's also a bar and restaurant in there, just for suite and VIP cruisers.

Incorrect. Slots and video poker can be monitored and interrogated remotely, but CAN NOT have the payback percentage changed remotely. The machines would be too vulnerable to cheats. Changing the payback percentage requires physically replacing the RNG chip in the machine.

Sorry, but i have to disagree. I've watched casino slot techs change the paytables on a modern video poker machine, of the type that's commonly found in most casinos. It is done through menu selections on the screen with the machine opened up and in maintenance mode.

Even on an older electro-mechanical reel machine (and I own one) the payback percentage change is not made by replacing the RNG chip. The RNG chip is, as it's name implies, simply a random number generator. It has absolutely nothing to do with the payback percentage of the machine. The payback percentage of the machine is set by another chip, and yes, on these older style machines you must physically open the machine and replace the chip. I've done it on mine.

So in most casinos, which still have a mix of older electro-mechanical and newer computerized machines, they are still visiting the machines to make game and payback changes. However, the trend is also now to central server systems, and these newest of machines (including all the linked progressive and multi-state progressive) machines, and on these machines, the possibility exists for remotely changing the payback percentage of the game. BUT - again - there's no need for any casino to do this on an hour by hour or day by day basis.

The payout percentages on all the slot machines on my ship - and the 27 other ships I have managed on quite a few different cruise lines - never change.

There is no need to change them.

 

Thank you BruceMuzz, for confirming what I've been trying to get people to understand.

I thought so when looking at the airport hotels.....and like the tip about the Hampton downtown.....will check it out.....we arrive MSY at about 9 pm so wonder if it is better to stay out at the airport rather than go close to the cruise port for the one night stay....

Even with a 9pm arrival, I'd still go into downtown New Orleans over staying out at the airport.

Check out the many hotels in the Warehouse district/Convention Center district. These are all convenient to the cruise port, although a little less convenient to the FQ. Some are even within walking distance of the cruise port, if your luggage load allows that.

When you come back, for the full experience, try one of the many small hotels in the FQ. A little more money, but worth it for the convenience and the flavor. Just don't stay on anything on Bourbon street, unless you don't want to sleep!

A generic compromise is the Hilton, which is at the foot of Canal street, and about equi-distant between the cruise port and the FQ.