vicpylon

15 hours ago, rjm11 said:

thank you for these! We are supposed to board this Saturday- hoping for our negative tests Thursday!

No kidding. We had a couple of home tests lying around and took those the night before to see if we were doomed or not.  Given the cost and preparations for the trip, that was  a stressful 15 minutes.

On 5/22/2022 at 5:13 PM, Two Wheels Only said:

Unoccupied lounger time limit - 30 minutes.

 

Long pants for dinner as per dress code - only Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.

 

 

On 5/22/2022 at 8:01 PM, drumming cruisers said:

Thanks, 

So how was the cruise? Embarkation? 

The new Wards cove? And the new gondola in Icy Strait Point? ETC

I hear there was a lot of norovirus and covid. Did you notice any quarantines? 

We are supposed to cruise  in a couple of weeks on Biss

 

See wordy post below. The gondolas are either  4 minute trip or a 7 minute trip. They move you between t-shirt and souvenir shops. Fun, but not too impressive.

Been on an NCL Alaska cruise a few years ago, so that is my baseline. Both cruises were in Haven rooms.

Some quick thoughts:

1. Ship was at 50% occupancy, so no crowding issues.

2. Everything felt slightly....lesser...than the previous cruise. Food was good, but not as good. Service was good, but not as good. Not by much, but enough it was noticeable.

3.  Majority of  crew was Filipino. I thought it was odd given the crew is usually more internationally diverse.  I asked about it and apparently the Chinese and Indian staff cannot easily get in or out of their countries, so they are not available.  Got the impression that the ship was short staffed.

4. You could not touch a buffet. Someone had to serve you. Made for some lines in the buffet. Even had to wait a bit in the Haven to get some cereal. Not a big deal, but I missed the grab and go aspect of the buffet.

5. The Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Victoria itinerary was not great. I did not really notice the tight on-shore times when I booked the cruise. I thought it was all day, but it was usually under 6 hours. Barely enough time to go ashore, get somewhere and do something. Endicott Arm was nice to see, but Glacier Bay is far better.

The Ports:

Sitka: Fine, took a nature cruise, saw some otters and whales. Very pleasant

Junea: Helicopter trip rained out, went to Mendenhall Glacier instead and saw Nugget Falls. This one particularly enraged me. They told us about 1 minute before the tour started it was cancelled, so all the other excursions were filled up. I am deeply annoyed because weather is not a surprise anymore. You know when the rain is coming, just pull it up on an app. They just pushed it to the last minute hoping to get lucky and save the excursion. Makes sense for the tour operator, but screws anyone who might want to know earlier that the weather on the glacier is bad. Got off the boat and hooked up with some local outfit that had a bus running out to the glacier. Basically saved the port visit.

Icy Strait Point: Barely a clear spot in the forest. A few shops, ski lift and a building to organize tours. Basically it will be something in five years, but right now it is just a launching spot for tours. I took the Jeep tour. Avoid this excursion. Worst I have ever taken. You get to drive a 4x4 Jeep in the backwoods. At least that is the story on the  NCL site. Instead you get to drive a Jeep for 2.5 hours on a dirt road I could get a Honda Civic down in two-wheel drive mode because their insurance does not cover the 4x4 mode on the Jeeps(I asked.) No wildlife, scenery was generic and the big finale is a beach the locals go to party on the weekends. Awful.

Ward Cove/Ketchikan: Ward Cove is a post-apocalyptic Hellscape with a brand new building to organize tours and sell t-shirts. It looks like a toxic waste dump mutants crawl out of to eat coeds. The online pictures show only the new building, but it is surrounded by ruined factories and industrial areas. Maybe in 10 years it will be something, but again, lower your expectations. Ketchikan is fine. Saw the Lumberjack show which was fun. Otherwise not a notable stop.

Victoria: You get to Victoria so late you have only 45 minutes of daylight. Butchart Gardens turned into a haunted house with dim lighting after we got there. Also, cafe and gift shop closed for lack of staff.

Ship itself was great overall and the Haven is great as always, but likely an unnecessary expense given the 50% occupancy rate. The ship felt very...uncrowded. We were delayed on embarkation day due to a Norovirus outbreak that required deep cleaning of the ship. We did not have first hand experience with Covid, but a couple we met had a fun experience. Grandfather tested positive, rooming with grandson, both go into quarantine for entire cruise...starting the first day. I felt pity. They were part of a party of 18 and NCL only tested part of the party. Specifically, the grandson's mother, but oddly not her husband. It was really weird. Felt more performative than effective.

One final note, NCL has banned parts of the crew from leaving the ship for the duration of their contracts due to Covid. Not even for day trips. I know the work on the ships is hard but now it is even worse. I have nothing but respect for the crew. Best I could do was up my tip at the end and try not to be a jerk to anyone.

Packing some patience and understanding for a slightly reduced experience might be good idea.

If anyone has a specific question, I will try to answer it.

Just got off the NCL Bliss on a 7-day to Alaska. Thought someone might like to see what the Freestyle Daily looked like for the cruise. It is in the PDF below. Sorry for the bad photography, but had to grab it quickly before leaving the ship.

1625653526_NCL_Bliss_Freestyle_Daily_May_2022-compressed.pdf

Doing some research for an upcoming trip on NCL and noticed the term "dedicated isolation accommodations should the need arise" mentioned as an option if you test positive for Covid. What does that mean? Do they move the infected to a "plague deck" to more easily isolate them?  I am not keen to move to another cabin as it would be a downgrade to what we booked. Or is it meant to provide a  (voluntary) option to move the infected person out of a shared cabin to protect the uninfected in the cabin to a solo room?

Anyone have first hand experience with this?

I have  a Haven cabin for a May cruise on the Pearl. Tried to get something for the promo, but no luck. I am past my final payment date.

My attempt, as expected, failed. That said, it sounded like if there was a cabin above my class available I could have it for an up-charge.

Oh well. Still got a good deal on a great room.

Therein lies the rub. I have no way of determining the current price of my cabin. It is sold out. 😞

Thank you. I had not been paying attention that closely. Still, it was not running when I bought my cabin about 7 months ago, so I will still try and see if I get anything.

I assume that purchases of cruise cabins dropped off precipitously after the Yokohama incident. Even though I am fully paid for my May cruise, I am going to call and politely ask for a discount tomorrow. Not expecting much, but some onboard credit might be nice. I will post if I get lucky.

This is purely a hypothetical question that popped into my head after I received (and declined) the opportunity to bid on a larger suite on an upcoming cruise. NCL still has an incentive to make room in "cheaper" staterooms to sell more popular inventory over the more expensive and less popular "luxury" suites. Assuming no one pays for the upgrade from, for example, a standard suite into the Haven, does NCL ever upgrade for free? Or have free upgrades become extinct in the age of Upgrade Advantage? Just curious.

Vic

Just got an upgrade offer for a 4200 Square Foot Three Bedroom Villa from NCL

There are only two of us.

Clearly I am not interested, but if you bid the minimum ($2500) and won it would be a significant discount. Hopefully someone with more bodies can take advantage.

Looks like Haven perks on a diet.

We had a forward facing  Haven owner's suite for the Alaska cruise. It was amazing to have a private, forward facing balcony for glacier bay.

NCL just instituted the system below where you can spend a nominal amount of money to get some extra perks on the ship. "Priority Access" looks like a way to trickle some of the Haven experience down to more people. Might even be a "gateway drug" to get more people to pay for the Haven upgrade. Has anyone tried this system yet? Apparently a test was run over the summer.  Nothing really sparked my interest except the priority tendering. Everything else I could live without.

Vic

Priority Access Includes:

• Priority Security, Check-In and Boarding Priority check-in at the pier
• Express boarding Tender Priority (off the ship) where applicable
• Priority tendering from ship to shore
• Standard Room Service Breakfast Menu Guests can order Breakfast Room Service only, every day of the cruise at no cost
• Priority Debarkation at the end of the cruise
• $50 per person Spa Credit To be used on services on Port days only
• Canapés on day 2 of the cruise

The Cost of Priority Access 

• 1 to 5 Days $99 per cabin
• 6 to 9 Days $179 per cabin
• 10 to 15 Days $249 per cabin
• 16+ Days $299 per cabin

Though I am not striving to get the next level I am at Gold and had a question. I always stay in the Haven and I notice many of the Latitude benefits seem to overlap. What is the main thing about Platinum that really makes it worth it (excluding the free cruise)? I am not seeing much beyond what I get in the Haven.

Vic

The Haven's utility is inversely proportional to your tolerance for people. Did a Caribbean cruise on a sold-out ship and the Haven saved us from the zoo that is the pool deck and many of the restaurants.  Took an Alaska cruise with cold weather (no pool usage)  and a less-crowded ship and the Haven did not seem as useful. Your mileage will vary.

I just booked a cruise with air, which I have never done before. I understand they wait until 75 days before the cruise to setup the flights. That said, I may want to upgrade or alter the schedule. Is this feasible ( with fees, of course)? Probably an obvious question, but would like some first-hand knowledge.

Vic

Baltic Cruise Review

No. It got lost in the shuffle.

250 minutes purchased. 200 used. Total useful Internet time: approximately 20 minutes. The rest  of the time was watching spinning wheels and logging in or out. Sea days were basically hopeless unless you connected at 3:00 AM. I know because I tried. 

Your mileage may vary.

Vic

Review is submitted and pending approval. I will let you know when it goes up.

Sorry, we went off the ship at every port.  We do not have kids, so did not really notice how many there were on the ship.

Vic

Sorry, not a Vibe person so I have no information. Though I believe I saw the Vibe door open at some point during the week.

I just completed the 9 day Baltic Cruise (Copenhagen, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden) on the NCL Getaway. I decided to convert all the "Freestyle Daily" for the entire cruise to a PDF for your research enjoyment. 

It was a fun trip and a review is forthcoming.

Vicpylon

NCL_Getwaway_Freestyle_Dailly_Baltic_6-2019.pdf