nicoleinwi

2 hours ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

You choose an arrival time at check-in, not boarding time.  You can choose an arrival time of 10AM, but that doesn’t mean you will board at 10.  FTTF boards after weddings, suites, diamonds, and platinums.
 

With FTTF, you cannot check-in 16 days out; that is got Platinum and higher guests.  You do get priority guest services line, which can be helpful if you don’t like to wait in line.

Thank you!  If I cancel out FTTF would I still be able to select 10am or is that reserved for folks that have the higher status and FTTF?  Yeah, I realize I won't get on at that time.  But we are early risers, so I don't want to just sit around a hotel waiting to go to the ship.  I'd rather just get on the ship and start vacay the soonest I could.  But if it'd only be a half hour sooner, it's not worth $140. 

We have cruised many times but will be on our first Carnival cruise in a couple months.  I understand you go online 14 days before and select your boarding time.  

We are cruising on the Magic in Feb out of Miami. Since our first Carnival cruise, we don't have any status to allow us early boarding and we are just in a balcony room so no suite for priority boarding.  What is the earliest boarding time for general guests?  

We have FTTF booked, but I am thinking of canceling.  We already have our dining reserved, we don't have any tender ports and are signed up on the Carnival transfer to the airport, so it looked like the only benefit is embarkation day benefits.  What would be a boarding time for FTTF?  Also, I read with FTTF you get to checking and select boarding 16 days in advance.  In the cruise planner it is showing the checkin date of 14 days before though.  So maybe it's not 16 days ahead?

Thanks! 

Landing in FLL at noon Thursday (February). Cruising Carnival out of Port of Miami Saturday. 
Friday we want to go to Everglades National Park. Thursday we want dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (Bayside Market).
 

Option 1: Get car at FLL and staying near Bayside (so we could just walk over). Hotel parking is around $40/night. We’d like to return the car Friday night to save another day of parking and not having to mess with it Saturday. However most rental car agencies by Bayside close around 5pm and we don’t want to be rushed at Everglades to get back. So drop car at MIA Friday night and Uber to hotel, then Uber to port Saturday. 

Option 2: Get car at FLL. Stay at hotel near MIA. Drive to Bayside and pay the parking fee there Thursday evening. Drop car at MIA Friday night and take a free shuttle to hotel, then Uber to port Sat. Parking at hotel is about $20/night. 
 

Any recommendation on which option seems like less hassle? Or another recommendation? Costwise I think about $100 cheaper total to stay at MIA, but looking for convenience. 

Bummer! Avid amateur photographer here and my go-to for reviews on various cameras I have; DSLR, underwater and reg point & shoot.

I also recommend the TG6. I have this and had previous Olympus underwater cameras. 
 

You do not need an underwater housing to snorkel, it goes 50’ so even if you dive down you likely aren’t hitting 50’. There’s a wrist strap and just put it around your wrist, you should be fine.  It’s small enough you can easily hold it while snorkeling around when you aren’t taking photos.  I only use my housing when I’m scuba diving to exceed 50’. 

 

Another option is go to your local dive (scuba) shop. I live in WI and we have 2 in town, so even if you’re in a non tropical climate there should be one within an hour or so. The dive shops around here will rent out a deeper (like 12’) indoor pool one weekend a month and you can go there on your own to refresh your skills. We have done that when we haven’t dived in a long time. The dive shop staff would likely have someone you could pay for a private lesson.

On 5/7/2022 at 4:34 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

Take a trip to Hawaii and buy it from Maui Divers or Na Hoku.  

I 2nd Na Hoku.  I get the fact you want a souvenir actually from vacation.  But I'd check out their websites and see what they offer before cruising.  Then if you don't find anything in Alaska, you could come home and order from them. 

Decline here as well. We might each have one alcoholic drink a day, sometimes 2. Cheaper to just pay for them vs tips they charge you for on the free drink package. I remember years ago maybe 2016 we had a Western Med cruise and got the drink package straight up free, no paying tips. Took it then. 

NCL is still also insisting the train will go to Canada.  I have spoken to 2 different agents who said they've heard from passengers what we are reading online but "you can't believe everything  you read online" and they have no word of cancellation. 

We originally booked the train just to the Summit with some other activities so doesn't effect us.  But our inlaws are also going and on the train into Canada.  They want to take the gamble and wait and see what happens.  Oh well, their choice.  

16 hours ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

We only have OBC and not FCC. I think they only allow you to “prepay” using FCC’s but not OBC. Obviously you can pay using a credit card, but I don’t want to do that since I have OBC. 

Yes, I think you're right.  I'm sorry I just assume all OBC is from FCC now!

Sailing on the Encore end of May.  DH & I are seasoned cruisers with NCL (but first cruise since COVID).  But we are going with his parents who have never cruised before so I want to make sure everything goes smoothly.  When it's just us 2 I'm not as concerned but when I'm responsible for other people I want to be prepared.  

Soda Package - Dad will want that but not mom.  When I went to try to book it, it won't let me add it.  Do you know if this is something you now have to book onboard?  I thought when we cruised previously we could book ahead.  

Dailies - Do you still get those in your room or do they expect you to use your app?

Tea - Mom drinks hot tea.  I'm assuming that is included with regular cruise fare, she doesn't need to buy a package to get it?

Online Check - Is this where we select our boarding time?  I'm hoping we could get in by 11.  Do we need to be on this on day 21 to get the time or do we have some time to wait?  Also with online checkin, is this where we take our photo and upload now and also watch the safety video?

Muster Drill - Does it happen or not as I'm thinking we watch the online video?

Thanks in advance!

6 hours ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

Does NCL allow you to book excursions before the cruise using OBC?  We have some OBC that we would like to use for excursions, but haven't booked anything yet through NCL since I thought we had to wait until we were onboard.

They sure do!  Because of the FCC bonus with OBC and the discount to rebook within so many months of cancelling, we ended up with over $1,000 in FCC.  We don't cruise until May and we have used it all up.  Pre-paid gratuities then some to shore excursions.  You just call up the shore ex number and book it and let them know the latitude # of the person the FCC is under.  

We have had two previous Olympus Tough cameras.  Our most recent one died last summer and now it's time to replace.  It was an older series the than the TG line.  Curious if you looked at any other brands or just went back to Olympus?  Looking at the Coolpix W300 as well but it's hard to find an actual review comparing both, all are canned spec reviews which I could do myself.  

Does the cruise line have excursions out yet (if you want to do cruise ones)?  We are going in May on NCL and had lots of OBC to use up so I didn't look private.  Some of ours weren't out there until January.  

We usually know what we want and we book as soon as they are available as we don't want to risk them selling out. 

I scrapbook all our vacations so I like to go around the ship and take photos of alot of areas when they aren't crowded with people.  

Usually do MDR for lunch as well as so nice to just sit and be served food vs fighting the buffet. 

I saw this thread and a star I responded.  I didn't recall what it was and I see someone revived a 2 year old thread.  All good relevant info.  

My initial plan was to bring my Salomon goretex hiking boots.  But last weekend I ordered the same style boots but in a shoe version.  Figured I don't want to deal with the bulk of packing the boots (and don't want to wear them on embarkation day or on the plane).  Plus for regular wear where I don't need the ankle support for hiking it appears the shoe style is a ton more comfortable.  

We're cruising end of May so it will still be chilly.  DH will likely have a camera backpack (for a DSLR camera) and I will take one for our other stuff.  I don't worry about first aid or medicine stuff.  We'll pack our rain jackets it the backpack.  2 of our excursions are out on boats so probably winter hats and gloves. Hopefully we won't need the winter gear or rain jackets but better to be prepared.  For our regular clothes we'll likely have on a t-shirt, a pull over fleece than a jacket (possibly a lighter winter coat).  So during the day, as temps start to warm up, the coats may go into the backpack.  We have Eddie Bauer puffer style that could stuff into the chest pocket and go down to the size a little smaller than a football. 

When you are looking for a backpack a rain fly for the backpack will be nice.  Eddie Bauer and Osprey have some styles with the rainfly included.  If you get an Osprey pack and it doesn't have the rainfly you could but ones from Osprey.  Also on Amazon you could buy universal ones, but not sure how that quality would be.  

LOL you might get people into a clothes debate on your question on what to wear.  Some get upset at the dress code recommendation and why should anyone care what others are wearing, and some think you need to follow NCL's guidelines perfectly.  

We are on the Encore in June and traveling with my in-laws who have never cruised.  We were just discussing attire and I directed them to this link with info from NCL on what is appropriate: 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/what-clothes-should-i-pack

For DH & I we basically follow NCL's guidelines for the main dining room (MDR).  But for shoes DH doesn't always wear actual dress shoes.  If he isn't doing a tux and just khakis and a collar shirt he will sometimes wear all black Vans shoes.  Your boys may already have Vans like that.  We've never been given dirty looks.   

If we don't eat in the MDR we don't change for the night.  But that'd be eating in the buffet or The Local (like a casual restaurant) never ate in a speciality restaurant.  We're pretty basic dressed people.  We hate jeans and never wear, DH doesn't even own any.  Our normal pants are casual pants from Prana or Kuhl so they could somewhat look like dress pants.  We also don't wear screen printed style shirts.  

We have this trip booked for May.  Any recommendations on where to sit?  My initial thought would be on the upper deck.  But if they are pulling up a pot with sea life, would the main level be better?

2 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

Since when do you need reservations for the MDRs

You don’t have to have them, still can just show up.  I guess I was thinking with Covid what if they’re limiting seating capacity? I figured if we had a reservation we’d be fine to get seated, where walk up might have a long wait.  

1 hour ago, Travelbug321 said:

We're booked May 29, 2022 on the Encore, and everything opened today for reservations, except for the thermal spa suite, which I was told would be available to book 90 days out. 

We're a week before you.  Are the MDR's (Taste and Savor) open for you to book?  I can book speciality now but still can't on those. 

We’re on the Encore out of Seattle late May. Prior to Jan 22nd dining said come back on Jan 22nd to cook. Well it’s been almost a week and still can’t book dining. Now it’s changed to say “Check back later or book onboard”. 
 

Just my speculation but I’m wondering if they’re waiting until closer to see if they need to limit capacity in the various venues. It’d seem easier on their end to hold off on allowing people to reserve, versus having to cancel some reservations. 

Does anyone remember where to look online for your balance of FCC? I thought we used ours up but wanted to verify.

We’re big Disney fans and do a week at Disney World each year. It’s been mentioned about limited time, 4-6 hours. We can have a great day in a park in 6 hours. And we do a ton of rides. OP said likely wouldn’t do a lot of rides. OP never posed this as “is it a good value”. Everyone just says too expensive. That’s relative to each person. 
 

I agree thinking Kennedy Space might be a better value. But I also think if OP wants to see a Disney park they could have a decent time. Especially if they just want Disney atmosphere not intending to ride the top rides.  But yes you need to book a restaurant in advance, you can’t get into anyplace decent without a reservation made. Plus each park has the top ride as paid ride if they didn’t want to waste time standing in line.

I wouldn’t do Springs. We’ve stayed at a Disney hotel without park tickets once for a night pre-cruise and did Springs.  All that did was make us sad we didn’t have tickets for the park. 
 

Depending on their interests, Animal Kingdom could be a great option. Go on the safari, do the two animal walking trails, see the Lion King live action show, see the bird show, see Kite Tails show, wander around Pandora. Lines aren’t too long usually for Navi River Journey in Pandora and that’s a pretty tame ride. Have a nice meal at Tusker House or Yak and Yeti. 

1 hour ago, penlanspice said:

We're all sailing together and still outside of final payment, we were due to cruise in 2020 but it was cancelled due to covid so we took the fcc and rebooked this. 

She doesn't intend on getting vaccinated so obviously can't cruise, just wanted to know if anyone had cancelled as they weren't vaccinated. I know its going to be a situation as they used fcc to book this back 18 months ago.

I'm sure there's a ton of people in this predicament.  Back in 2020 taking the FCC to get the bonus where we all thought COVID would be here and gone before we knew about it and now there's the vax requirement.  I thought there was a policy with NCL that if there was a vax requirement that was implemented AFTER you booked your cruise and even if you were using FCC you could request to get your money back vs being tied up in FCC.  Please report back what you find out.