old nutter

Once you log on, go to "my account", then click on the "my account" directly above the update profile. there is where you should see "coupons and credits" with ID #, amount and valid time period to be used.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know you could get that page because it just looks like a header for the other pages below!

I clicked there and both certs are in there. Thanks.

We have been able to apply Cruise Next certificates to previously booked cruises. I have logged into "My NCL" account, selected the cruise from there and gone to make payment. (You will first need to verify in My NCL that your certificate(s) does/do exist in your account, first!) Easily done and new Invoice will be emailed as usual.

 

BTW: Currently allowing (through 10/15/17) double Cruise Next deposits!!!

We bought two Cruise Next certificates a couple of weeks ago on the Epic but have not got the actual certificate yet nor the relevant number. We were told we would get them by email when we got back but nothing yet. Where does My NCL show them please so we can check they are there?

It really depends where you stay overnight in the area. Most of the issues have been in the city centre and the airport is well out of that. The route from the airport to the port does not go across the central area so if travelling between them you are unlikely to see anything.

Our daughter and some of our friends find Motioneze works. No need to prescribe because it is applied behind the ears, not taken. One of the benefits, apart from not causing drowsiness is that you only need to use it at the first sign of feeling motion sickness.

You will have to put the wine in your checked baggage to transport it to Europe. I assume you realise that the baggage will spend upwards of at least eight hours in what will probably be an unpressurised compartment. I did it once about 15 years ago and whether it was the pressure or the gentle handling of our cases in the baggage system, the bottle shattered. I was taking small slivers of glass out of my jumper for several years and I don't think the smell ever went completely. I suppose I should be grateful it was white wine!

I would have assumed that a little research would help you to find a perfectly suitable bottle of wine on the ship and virtually anywhere landside, after all the grapes you are used to probably started their genetic life somewhere in Europe. Just a tip if shopping for wine in Europe - go into the supermarket and look for the bin with hardly any bottles in it - that will be the one that the locals choose most ;)

Its worth noting that this is not related to power strips specifically, but things like exploding smartphones. While most chargers are smart enough now not to overcharge (and the devices themselves have limiters), there are still a lot of older ones out there...

I am afraid you are conflating two very different issues. The lithium ion battery fires in things like phones, tablets and cameras etc are due to faults in chargers and/or batteries that cause them to explode and catch fire where they are. These fires can be very severe indeed and can be extremely dangerous especially if nobody is around at the time.

The power strip issue is much different. Strips with surge protection are a very real danger to the ship's electrical systems because they can fail and create short circuits that can overheat the wiring itself elsewhere in the ship's systems. The "I got away with using one on board, so go ahead" attitude is something that fills me with horror. OK, it didn't cause a problem that time, but I don't want anyone with that irresponsible attitude endangering me and my family when I am aboard, so please don't take one with you.

Yes, no problem. Taxis will be coming and going all afternoon bringing people who are out exploring the city back to the ship or bringing new passengers who are about to embark.

Thanks

Slightly different question. We will not be leaving the ship in Barcelona port until about 3pm (don't ask why unless you have a few hours spare - cruiseco fouled up big time on our return flights and we could only get a late flight home). Most cruise passengers will have disembarked and gone off by then so wondering if we will still be able get a taxi for the airport. Would we need to pre-book to be sure?

In Puntarenas - If you like birds like we do, go on the ship's trip to the Scarlet Macaw Sanctuary at El Manantial. They take in tame macaws that people have discarded and allow them to breed so that their youngsters can then go out into the wild when they want to. The adult birds wander around your feet and because it is in an open rainforest you might see other animals as well. We saw a sloth up in the trees and also some howler monkeys were easy to hear.

The ship's excursion to the waterfalls from Flam to the Tvinde waterfalls took us to Gudvangen where there is a Viking Museum and some of the most glorious sights out to the fjord and back up the river that feeds the Naeroyfjord. Some of the smaller cruise ships can get right to Gudvangen along the fjord, but is is a bit small to accommodate the masses that would get off one of the mainstream ships. It rained , of course, while we were there, but that didn't actually cause us too much trouble and as you can see here, it made for some moody atmosphere. You will note that this is the river looking away from the Fjord

Our final stop was in what we were told is the wettest city in Europe, Bergen. It rained, of course, and the Floyen mountain viewpoint went in and out of sight at various times. We had bought our tickets for the funicular at home, so we went past the first queue and headed into the station and up.; It was pretty chilly and the views varied as the clouds moved round and about. Obviously, we had to walk along the Bryggen and the most interesting shot other than the usual one was this building at the bottom of the street leading up to the funicular station. This picture was taken during the only break in the cloud we had all day. Note the inevitable little "M" at the bottom right hand corner - they get everywhere now, don't they?

Ellie, always layers. We have traveled to the north several times, including long days our at sea whale watching in a variety of small boats of Iceland as well as having been to Norway twice before. What the Norwegians say about not having bad weather just good clothing is absolutely spot on. Anywhere you are that can go from freezing cold to beach warm in one day is layer weather. Probably better to start thinking from the outside to inside when you pick the layers. Start with a reasonably lightweight waterproof, preferably with an integral hat. An umbrella is of little use because the wind will have alternative ways of changing it's shape. This clothing will work with warm rain on it's own right through to snowy cold in conjunction with other layers. The inner layers can start with a fleece nearest to the waterproof, a body warmer for under the fleece and a cotton tee shirt nearest your body for comfort and absorbing your moisture. The real issue is to gauge the amount and degree of exercise you will be taking, because a lot of high intensity exercise will make you hot and once you stop you can go cold very quickly if you are not careful. Hope that helps and encourages you to try the place out. Norway in particular is difficult to explain to anyone who has not seen it. I have been to the Rockies and seen the really high mountains there, but to see 2 and 3 mile high vertical cliffs a few yards from your ship is so impressive.

To give some scale to the Geiranger trip, this was how it was about two-thirds of the way up to the Dalsniba Viewpoint

This was the view from the ship looking up to a cloudy Dalsniba summit.

And this one shows the view down from the top of the mountain. It is from around four miles high and if you look down to the little blue pond in the middle of the picture with a little blob at the near end of it - that blob is the Jade anchored in the fjord!

That sums up the the layers idea, mid to high teens C at the water (about 55F) and around minus 5 or 6C (20F) at the top. Light jumper on the ship and at least one fleece and body warmer plus waterproof at the viewpoint because of added wind chill. And because the trip went up the Eagle Road to that viewpoint afterwards in the pouring rain we needed the full waterproof as well.

The midnight sun has been mentioned by others and we had a twilight that seemed to go on for at least three or four hours. This picture was taken at around 11:30pm while we were still in the fjords.

The next stop was Flam. We had been on the train before so opted for a trip to some of the countryside and waterfalls. Flam has some pretty views away from the town.

The trip out of Flam was very picturesque albeit we ended up going through some narrow steep roads and very long tunnels (one was 11 Km and the other 7Km!). The main sight we went to see was the waterfall at Tvinde. It is possible to get right to the bottom of the falls and look up the full 150 metres plus.

Although it rained for quite a lot of that day, the scenery was amazing. Traveling between mile plus high shear cliffs on either side was awe inspiring to say the least. But then, that is Norway. The locals were insistent that Norway doesn't have bad weather, it just has good clothing and we certainly tested that theory out on his trip.

Alesund was very beautiful and views were stunning. This is a view across the estuary out into the North Sea.

The next stop was the early morning short docking at Hellsylt where we dropped some passengers off to go to Geiranger over the mountains while we headed there along the Storfjorden Fjord round to Geiranger. This was the absolute highlight of the trip for us. Past the Seven Sisters and then docking for the day in Geiranger.

We took the ship's trip up Dalsniba where we looked out and down the four miles to our ship and then stopped part-way down to take the shot above and then down the docks and along to drive up Eagle Road to a viewpoint about half way between Geiranger and Seven Sisters and were able to look right down that huge set of falls -

More to come tomorow showing Flam.

I have finally sorted my photos out from our Norwegian Fjords trip on the Jade in June. It was pretty cold for the whole week and it rained most days. Hence getting good photos was a real challeng. It meant having to wait ages for breaks in the cloud or searching back and forth when under way in the Fjords. I have concentrated these photos on the port stops rather than the Jade herself as she has been we;ll covered recently.

First stop was Hamburg. Quite pretty for a city and the run in and out along the River Elbe is very scenic. This is the view from the dock towards the city.

We then had a sea day before a day a the beautiful Alesund. The city had been destroyed in a fire in 1904 and it has been completely re-built in a very consistent style. This view was taken from the Aksla Viewpoint.

I am having a few computing issues so I will continue later with the stops in Hellsylt and Geigranger

The food and service in Cagneys is superb. Apart from the food, the most impressive feature from the recent re-furb is the artificial wood-burning fires in the walls. They are so realistic, we had to look at them several times before we convinced ourselves they were not real. The fire burns in the wood and even sends sparking embers up every so often.:)

One more request please....when you get to Norway, tell us how the internet is on board. This is our first NCL cruise and the package rates seem to be pretty high. Guess the new "Freestyle Choice Plans" are not available on Jade.

We probably won't have much time to watch movies, but which ones are showing on your cruise?

Thanks.

From what happened to us, it should be OK most of this week, but the net will be dead during the day next weekend while they are at Flam and Geiranger because the mountains are in the way of the view to the satellite. Once they get back out into the North Sea for the last two days it will be fine.

We were on the mid-June Norway from Southampton cruise and there were some issues on the day we did Hellesylt/Geiranger. I think it was the first call there after the road between Hellesylt and Geiranger had opened afer winter for the land excusions between the two places to get through the high passes.

We were only supposed to dock for half an hour in Hellesylt to let the people who were doing the land trip over the mountains. However, someone made the mistake of letting passengers off to look around the village and some really helpful ones didn't keep to the tight schedule and we ended up wasting about 45 minutes extra while they were rounded up. That delay rippled through to over an hour delay to completing mooring to the floating dock at Geiranger. The problem then was that there was only one set of coaches for the excursions up to the top of Dalsniba mountain for both morning and afternoon groups and so there was plenty of chaos around the dock around lunchtime. The second lot of trips were a bit late getting back and the departure was a bit of a rush in the end.

We went up to the top of Dalsniba and the view from four miles up on the new viewpoint was absolutely astounding. We were very lucky in that the clouds parted a bit while were were there and looking down at the tiny ship put the shear size of the whole place into real perspective. On the way back we carried on past the ship and went up the zig-zag Eagle Road to the high viewpoint about half way between the port and the Seven Sisters falls.

The oddest part of the day was that the TV channel happened to be running a Nat Geo documentary about a crack that has appeared in one of the sides of the fjord that means that sometime in the not too distant future the mountain will slip and create an 80 metre tsunami both ways. It was a bit like being up in an aircraft watching an episode of Air Crash Investigation!! Despite the issues, that day was quite the most impressive element of the whole cruise - not to be missed.

There are two possible areas the ship docks in Bergen. One is pretty well in the town area which was where we moored and the other is about a mile away in the docks. If you end up in the docks there is shuttle bus to the centre. The town is a very pretty, bustling area and is great for wandering through. Main attraction is the Funicular up the Floyen mountain to a huge viewpoint that looks over the whole city. There are usually long queues to buy tickets but if you buy them on-line at: https://floibanen.skiperformance.com/shop/en/store then you can just walk to the right of the queue and go right up to the station gates. The return price is about 9UKP ($12 or so). You can pay by credit card.

Very little difference at all, apart from 14012 being on the opposite side to the sun deck on Deck15 out of the Haven so you have the option to see off either side of the ship if there is something interesting on one side or the other, you turn left into it rather than turning right into 14512 and 14512 is about 10 yds closer to the hot tub.

No, that changed a coupe weeks ago. You now have to pay the gratuities in the Haven.

Not everywhere! In Europe we have strong consumer rights and if you say something is free it has to be just that - free. Some of the changes for different world locations are not always advantageous, like the tighter controls on cancellations we have, but this one is certainly better here. The grats are free for all who are eligible for the various booking perks, not just Haven.

The M3 motorway that goes between the M25 London Orbital and Southampton will be completely closed in both directions at the Northern end Junctions 2-3 all this weekend from tonight. If you are planning to drive from the M25 (Including both Heathrow and Gatwick) to meet the Jade you will need to add at least 30 minutes to allow for the long diversion. The same issue will affect any passengers on Jade looking to do a return London trip by road.

There are essentially two aspects to the OPs question - technical and tariff.

Technical is relatively easy to answer. If you can see land from where you are, you are virtually guaranteed mobile phone coverage. On a Western European cruise circuit you will be fine in all ports and probably OK for all except the sea days when you will probably be out of sight and so out of coverage. On Eastern European cruises, you will almost always be in sight of land up and down the Adriatic and round the Greek Islands.

As for the tariff question, there are a number of options and charges that will depend on the operator you chose. These will almost certainly be different for phone data, wi-fi data, telephone calls and texts. Whichever you chose you will not only need to know the tariff you are on, but you will also need to be comfortable with the technical options on your phone.

The most "cost dangerous" option on the phone is the choice of phone data. Users have little control over when the phone data is being used if you enable it. Apps can decide to call "home" for updates and news services can wake up and consume your data in the background. Many tariff charges for phone data are horrendous and unless you have some protection on upper limits, the charges can climb very rapidly without you even knowing until the bill arrives. Best to disable phone data and phone roaming data options when you are abroad unless you are absolutely sure of your tariff charges. The other thing to be careful of is attaching images to texts - these can normally only be received via phone data and are often not contained within packages, so use something like Whatsapp for this when you are inside a free wi-fi or ship data package. In Europe texts are normally free to receive and only a nominal amount to send.

Many people get a Europe SIM card at their first port of call and those charges are often quite low. Be careful though and read the small print to see if the pre-paid charges are all that you can be held to. Sometimes you will be asked to give financial information in order to register the SIM and this can lead to ongoing charges if you go over the pre-paid limit. Be aware that you will have a different phone number when you have that SIM in the phone and it is quite likely that friends back home using that number will be charged for overseas mobile charges if they ring you! Also you can only use one of these SIMs if your phone is "unlocked".

The key to using your phone overseas is to only do it if you are either so rich it doesn't matter, or you fully understand both technical and tariff options of what you are using. You could, of course take a break from the thing and enjoy the break - that's free of both cost and worry.

Oh, I forgot to add - set the choice of network on your phone to manual so that you can be sure which local network you are connecting to.

The platinum benefit is one meal at either Cagneys or Le Bistro (with wine) plus one meal at either Moderno or La Cucina. That is per room, not per member.

Not quite as you put it Keith - the Platinum meal benefit is two times a "meal for two people", per room which means that when we are three Platinums next month we will have to pay for our (Platinum) Daughter because she will be with us in our room and will not get the meal benefits.

Thanks, friend.

Looking forward to seeing your wonderful city again on our Jade trip in June.

There will be a port shuttle to take you out of the docks but it will only drop you off outside the Hurtigruten terminal building. It is about half-a-mile walk from there to the city centre and apparently the route has been marked out with white arrows and dots. The fish market is about 5 minutes further on from there. I understand there are city centre shuttles for disabled passengers that go direct to the city centre.

The Ho Ho bus apparently only operates when there is a cruise ship docked, so although your dock is not on the normal route for the bus, they may make a special stop near the terminal. Maybe ShipsInBergen can let us all know?