masspector

Thanks for all of the replies. I am taking notes. We are going in and out of NYC and we have a 2pm flight home from Newark.

TY for your response. I kind of thought what you guys are saying. We will try to board as early as possible and can hopefully snag Cagney's. As far as show reservations, I think this only one show on our cruise, the other reservations would be for comedy shows. Do those also open 120 days prior? I also saw that you can book those on the kiosk screens. Is that correct?

TY for the quick reply

We have a Bermuda cruise on the Escape booked for October 29. I need some of you NCL experts to help me with a few questions. My understanding was that specialty dining reservations opened 90 days before sailing, i.e., July 29. I checked today and most reservation times are gone. We wanted to book Cagney's but only times left were 9pm or later. Too late for us. How likely is it that we can get Cagney's once onboard one day between 5pm and 7pm? Watched a YT video from a recent Encore cruise in Alaska and the person had these observations: NCL app was basically nonfunctional once he was onboard the ship. He had the premium internet package and said that the app was spotty at best. Because of this he was not able to book things like dining or entertainment reservations with the app once on the ship. We have the FAS internet. Do we have any hope of it working? is this normal? He observed that once onboard, a lot of passengers prebooked reservations were missing and had to be rebooked. While I did go ahead and make specialty dining reservations now, I took a picture of the final screen as proof of my reservation. Is this normal for NCL? Finally, he did self-disembark and he said NCL heavily controlled access to deck 7. Once he finally got there, deck 7 lobby was packed, and it took him 55 minutes just to get from deck 7 off the ship. Several people in the comments said this was normal for NCL. Is this true? What is the best strategy for disembark? We do not have a tight flight time, but also do not want to stand in line for an hour. Thanks for your input.

We had a great time. A must see. We used Specialized Tours of Sitka. The owner is the guide, and she volunteers at the shelter, so she is very knowledgeable. Price is very reasonable. She has very good communication before the trip. We took the free shuttle in town and met her there. Then she drove us to the shelter and provided a lot of background on the bears and Sitka. Highly recommend doing her tour as opposed to a ship excursion. We got lucky and got there when it was not crowded. As we were leaving several full-size busses pulled up with other tourists.

Thanks for all of the suggestions

Thanks for the reply

Thanks for the response. That is what I thought. 😒

We will have 2 and a half days in Bermuda starting Nov 1. We have the Caves and Waves excursion early morning the first day and the Bermuda triangle evening cruise at 8pm the second day. We are docking at Royal Naval Dockyards. Any ideas on must does or what to do with the rest of our time? We are not looking for too adventurous, but ok with snorkeling, sightseeing, tours. Thanks

Have a cruise this October leaving NY October 29. How will the weather be going and returning from Bermuda? More specifically, the temperature. Will we be able to use the outdoor pools and water slides on the ship or will it be too cold? Thanks

No. I was using that as an example. NCL and O both advertise "free shore excursions", but they are limited. That is why all the ads and hype are so confusing. A novice sees the NCL free at sea ad and thinks, wow everything is included, but it is not. If a line, such as you mentioned above, truly offered free excursions, then that is an added value to what you are paying for the cruise. I am just trying to compare apples to apples, not oranges. From my research so far, I think Regent is the only truly all inclusive, with the others offering varying degrees of included amenities. I am just trying to figure out which line offers the most bang for the buck. I know included extras value varies from person to person. My question was "is there a document or website with a chart that compares all included amenities for each ocean cruise line?" I posted a chart from a TA website that appears to do this nicely for river cruise lines. IE it shows "are tips included in the fare?, are shore excursions included in the fare?". Obviously, there is something to this inclusion or bundling as Celebrity, NCL, HAL, Princess, etc. all have some form of Have it All, Free at Sea, Princes plus package or fare. I know each person cares about different things, but I would think most cruisers would be interested in whether their fare included drink pkg, excursions, Wi-Fi, specialty dining, and tips. With the chart it would be easy for someone that cares about dining and not drinks to see which lines include dining in the fare you are paying, especially for more novice cruisers.

Going on a RCCL cruise on May 11. I check the cruise planner every day. We had purchased the 2-night specialty dining. Yesterday the 3-night dining was advertised for only $10 more. Of course, when I tried to book it, it said sold out. Tried several times on several different devices, no luck. Now today the 3-night package is back to the price it has been for months, and guess what? I CAN BOOK IT. I hate RCCL website.

Sorry if I was not clear. I KNOW promotions change. I was looking for a quick and dirty. Most of the mainstream lines can be left out as they do not "give" you anything extra included. Looking at RCCL, Carnival etc. I know NCL has Free at Sea. Sounds good but it is limited. Right now, I am just going to each lines website and trying to gather the information. If you notice on the chart I posted there are a lot of asterisks. I know there are limits and exceptions. The article I drew from tried to be as clear as possible with listing the details. This is from O's website. Notice shore excursions included. But here is the legal: OLife Choice free shore excursions vary by voyage and exclude Oceania Select, Oceania Exclusive, Executive Collection, Food & Wine Trails, Wellness Discovery Tours by Aquamar, Go Local and Culinary Discovery Tours. Voyages up to 9 days receive 4 free shore excursions; 10-13 days receive 6 free shore excursions; 14+ days receive 8 free shore excursions, except for a single traveler booked in a Concierge Level Solo Veranda, amenity is at the per guest rate. If shore excursion amenity is selected, all excursions must be chosen at least 14 days prior to sailing. We are going on a 10-day NCL cruise with a port every day. So based on O, I would only get 6 free excursions, and is that 6 per cabin or per person? Maybe I am asking too much. I agree one spreadsheet would have to be huge, but a website should be able to do it. Like I said I can look it all up myself, which is what I am doing, but was just trying to find a better solution. Thanks for your inpput.

Here is an example of a comparison that I found online just making an argument for a specific type of cruise. I am looking for this information, in one place, for all of the major cruise lines. Thanks

I found the chart below on a TA site for river cruises. Does anyone know of a similar chart for ocean cruise lines? Specifically, I am trying to determine what items are included in advertised fares. I have seen some comparisons on websites that luxury cruises actually end up costing less per day when you compare with all of the expenses that a cruise entails included. Specifically, I am interested in the following information (all in one place for as many ocean lines as possible) Basically looking for best bang for the buck, not necessarily the most luxury. Thanks Airfare included Pre cruise Hotel included Transfers Included Wi-Fi Included Excursions Included Tips Included Drink Package included Specialty Dining Included River Cruise Comparison Chart

We have seen all of the menus except the USA and Asia ones. We will check those out. We have decided which menus that we do not like. I hope once we board and connect to the app that we will see the correct menus on the correct nights. We have 2 specialty dining nights so obviously want to do those on the MDR nights that we do not like. Fortunately, we have the first boarding time slot so hopefully we can check each night as soon as we board and then go make our restaurant reservations on the nights that we do not want MDR. Thanks

I have seen the battery powered heating pads but I assumed the issue was that they heat and stay on a long time, not that it had a cord. We got some of the adhesive chemical haters and a hot water bottle. Will practice at home before our trip. Thanks for all of the replies

Thanks. He has had one shoulder done so we know the drill. This is the other shoulder. Instead of lidocaine we are bringing some cream that was recommended that is similar. Thanks for the first hand knowledge on the thermacare patches. That is what we got. next big trip is not until October.

I got a hot water bottle and some of the adhesive chemical heating pads. Thanks everyone

The same could be said for lighters, cigarettes, curling irons. So I guess if any of those start a fire, it is ok.

Very logical. Would you want every woman in the world mad at you and not allowing their families to cruise. LOL 😅

Thanks everyone for the input. I will call and check. Thanks

And you had no issues with that? Thanks

Thanks

My DH has a shoulder condition that he will have surgery on after our cruise in May. One of the things that helps with the pain is a shoulder heating pad that he can put on. I know it says heating pads are prohibited. Does anyone have any experience if they will make an exception if he has a doctor note? Also, I was thinking of a work around to use those chemical hand or foot warmers that you break the package and the pad heats up. Would those be allowed on board? BTW this is an Alaska cruise so I do not think the hand warmers would be too out of the ordinary for the climate. TIA