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Are the subsidiaries priced the same as the mainline airline? I don't normally fly on their routes, so I don't know.

That is very hard to say. From my own person experience....

I have flown from Saskatoon to Taipei. Air Canada -> Air Canada -> Japain Air (one of ANA lower cost options). Pricing is based on the total trip and how various fare buckets lineup not on the individual segments.

I have been on flights connecting from KLM to transavia.com to get from Canada to Faro Portugal.

United had something similar for a while, I believe it was called TED or something similar. I have been on that but always as a connection with an Air Canada or United flight.

The fare is based on how many empty seats are left on the aircraft and how the computer system builds the connections.

I lived in Saskatoon for some time. We were always on those CRJ regional jets to make connections elsewhere. The CRJ are far worse that anything Rogue has to offer. The fares were not less because of the cramp conditions but on demand and how close the specific flight was to being full.

Last week I priced out a trip to Paris. Under $1,000 on either Air Canada or Alaska/Delta/Air France. I priced it out before Christmas and it was closer to $2,000. If I do it next week, who knows where it will be.

As a side note, rumour on the street is WestJet want to squeeze and extra row or two into there aircraft and it adjusting pitch to make it happen. Moving a little bit closer to Rogue.

So do I, and I prefer mainline AC to US carriers. I've always been a huge AC supporter, but this is just killing it.....it's hard to support one part of a company when they do something like Rouge in the other part :(

It is the direction several of the other airlines are heading in. They operate subsidiaries on the leisure routes where they can't generate the revenue in the business class cabin to help pay for the flight. Instead they increase the density in economy.

Lufthansa has its Germanwings and Eurowings subsidiary

Swiss has its Edilwisse subsidiary

ANA has Air Japan and Vanilla subsidiary

Qantas has their Jet Star subsidiary

Air France/KLM has transavia.com

We have dealt with the VAT tax on the two cruises we did through the Greek Islands. On our last cruise on the Jade in May we did a 14 day sailing and only had the VAT tax in effect for the second week (Greek Isles week). The VAT doesn't apply to food or drink purchased on the ship in restaurants and bars but does apply to purchases in the gift shops and photo galleries. I think it also applies to spa services as well but I'm not 100% certain on that as we didn't do the spa on our last cruise through Greece but did on our first one and I believe there was a VAT tax. I think the VAT was 12% on our most recent trip. If you make purchases over a certain dollar amount the ship gives you a form that you can fill out to have the VAT refunded. You send it in. This was used by people who were buying pricier jewellery items for the most part. The ship provides you with a great hand out explaining it all. We were encouraged to buy our week one photos before we went to VAT to save us the money and we made most of our gift shop (Liquor) purchases in the VAT free week.

It has been a while since I have been on the EPIC Western Med cruise. At the time, the duty free had VAT applied but then NCL applied a discount to the price equal to the VAT.

I have no idea if that is that is still the practice or if it applies to all ships.

Nope. Air Canada isn't offering any choice, and it's not offering any lower fares. Fares on Rouge are no lower than on mainstream AC, and passengers don't have a choice -- if AC wants to Rouge a route, you're flying Rouge whether you want to or not. And if they Rouge a route after you've bought a ticket, they won't even tell you that they've switched you from AC mainline to Rouge and only if you happen to find out and are willing to wait on hold for an hour or more are you able to switch your flight (and that only happened because the media kicked up a fuss).

 

No lower prices to consumers, just worse accommodation and worse service.

For the flights to Europe, all the regular business routes (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, Geneva, Zurich) are still mainline Air Canada.

Most of the European Rogue routes that Air Canada has were operated with aircraft in old cabin configurations or they pulled out decades ago. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Amsterdam, the UK (outside of Heathrow) are destinations that Air Canada can't make work with an aircraft that has a high-end business class. Last time I was able to fly a scheduled carrier non-stop Toronto to Lisbon with CP Air 20 years ago. Manchester was 15 years ago on Air Canada.

Personally I think the "Rogue" branding is a good strategy. The flights have a different level of comfort and are marketed under different branding. As a comparison I have done US Airways on the 767 and it is worse than Rogue and worse that their new aircraft but still sold under the exact same name. Even the United and Delta older 747 cabins I would put on par with Rogue. Hardware swaps on US caries occur on a regular basis.

In December i did a Vancouver to Las Vegas flight in Rogue in the A319.

Went down in Premium Rogue. Basically it is the same setup as business class on a European short range Airline. The middle seat is blocked. Hot meal service is the same as Business Class on regular Air Canada. More than willing to do it again. It sounds like they plan to put the regular domestic business class seats back into these aircraft.

Came back in regular economy in Rogue. They use thinner seats and it is a bit tighter from a leg room perspective. Pitch is used to measure leg room at 29-30 inch it is cramp. I would say it is very comparable to Air Transat.

----

The cabin crew was excellent. It is a younger crowd that typical on Air Canada. I was told they hired Disney training department to train staff on how to provide good customer service. It shows. They should do the same for the regular Air Canada staff.

If money was no object my preference would be:

- Air Canada International Business Class

- Air Canada Domestic Business Class which is equal to Rogue Premium

- Air Canada Premium Economy or Air Transat Club

- Air Canada Economy Plus or WestJet Premium

- Air Canada Regular Economy

- WestJet Economy

- Air Canada Rogue or Air Transat Economy

A lot of those Rogue flight to Europe are destinations that are new leisure travel destination for Air Canada. Virtually all of the tradition business destinations still have the regular Air Canada service.

We dock at 7:00 AM, by the way. By self disembarking, we will be the first off the ship.

I think your ok.

If I chose to walk to the airport, you you help with the luggage?? And yes, IF I was staying at a hotel, I would have looked into a shuttle...thanks.:rolleyes:

Not certain I would try walking. US roadways around airports are sometimes designed with the assumption that one would every walk to the airport.

No idea where you are. But if it is a block or two away from the Millbrae BART station and you luggage is manageable , then BART might be an option.

Sorry I can't help with an estimate of taxi costs. Last few times I have been in San Francisco I have either had a rental car or have been close to a BART station.

Despite the BART cars looking like they were inspired by a 1970/80 sci-fi show the system is actually very convenient.

There are 16 flights leaving Vancouver the morning we fly home that leave between 6AM and 11AM. That is just flights with United Airline! I think I counted over 30 flights total for that time period. That's a Monday so I don't how that compares to a Tuesday or Saturday or any other day. That's a LOT of flights!

Not certain which airline your on. The following link is the recommendations for Air Canada.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/airport/checkin.html

The airline recommends 120 minutes with a cut-off of 60 minutes.

A taxi is $35ish.

 

As for Toronto, you will need to collect your luggage and recheck

here is a guide for the YYZ airport, http://www.torontopearson.com/Connecting_international.aspx# but you'll need to have your luggage with you to go through US pre-clearance before boarding your US bound flight.

Minor update. About a year ago the pre-clearance procedures changed in Toronto. When you get off the plane in Toronto follow the signs for US Connections (American flag). The bags are automatically transferred, and you clear US Customs in Toronto. It is very quick since they have separate lines for connecting passengers. You arrive at a domestic gate in Syracuse.

You Vancouver to Toronto flight is a domestic flight. Air Canada recommended checkin time for a domestic flight is 90 min. So 10:00 AM. The cut-off where they close check in is 45 minutes (so 10:45 AM). It is around 30 minutes to get to the airport.

Thank you for the feedback. I talked with DH and we're now thinking that we'll fly in the day before (which works well as our cruise leaves on a Sunday) to avoid any stress / issues of flight delays. And so, we'll book the flight ourselves...either through Expedia using some points or through the air line directly. Will keep my eye open when flights are released as I'm guessing they are typically the cheapest then???

You may want to look at booking the flight down and back as one way flights. That will let you book Air Canada one way and WestJet the other. You may find that gives you better schedule or pricing sometimes.

Not certain if your flying out of Toronto or a different airport. But American Airlines also has non-stops between Toronto and Miami.

Delta also codeshares on WestJet. I have found some weird pricing between the two where from time to time the codeshare can be a fair bit cheaper that the operating airline.

The Safeway card is a great saving's and it also worked for me at a Von's market in Oakhurst Cal. They may be owned by the same group. Good sandwiches at the Safeway Deli.

I have found the Canadian Safeway cards also work in the safeway stores in the US. Assume it works the same way brining a US Card into a Canadian Safeway.

Last time I used it down in California was before Sobey's purchase the Canadian Safeway stores.

NCL needs reposition the ships for the Alaska runs through the Panama canal at the beginning and end of the season.

The studio cabins are on the larger ships that don't make through the Panama canal. They are working are making the Panama passage wider, but not certain when that work will be completed and if NCL will be interested in brining the bigger ships over.

Cuba is a very popular tourist destination form Canada. From some of the smallest Canadian cities there are direct air service into Cuba for most of the winter months. So there is no question it is popular.

There is has been a lot of press in Canada that about how it is going to get very crowded in Cuba quite quickly when the flood gate opens up with US Nationals being allowed in. Local press is also projecting a hotel construction boom and the need to start building new cruise ship docks.

Good article on the subject:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-cuba-deal-means-end-golden-era-canadian-225313837.html

It would make a nice replacement for Nassau.

With the opening up of Cuba to American tourism will be start to see cruise lines such as NCL begin visiting the Island?

Opening up the largest Island in the region to Americans will be interesting....

A Starbucks partnership makes perfect sense as a lot of cruisers cannot stand the sludge cruise lines of all kinds hand out for coffee in their regular buffets, restaurants and especially room service. It's a partnership which would enhance guest satisfaction (unless a Dunkin Donuts fan and in that case, ships sludge should be just about fine... :p).. and it would also make sense!

I like the Lavazza Brand Coffee. it is good stuff.

When made in massive size vats that hold vast quantitates of coffee for multiple hours it does not matters whos beans you start with, the product is not good.

Yes. Quite a few restaurants along waterfront and downtown area although I only hit a burger joint and liquor store when I was there in May. San Pedro has a free trolley service to take tourists around but you should confirm its schedule on your day of visit as the free trolley only runs on selected days.

 

http://www.sanpedro.com/SPCOM/sanpedrotrolley.htm

A few blocks away is a nice Belgium restaurant that makes some nice Belgium waffles for breakfast.

I have done Rome-Rome twice now once on the EPIC and once on the Jade. The port is quite good, especially with the EPIC as the line up are short and the crew can turn the cabins around more quickly.

Getting to the port is a bit more involved given it is quite a distance out of Rome. If you check on the roll call and stay with a few other cruses at the same hotel in home you can book a shared shuttle.

Taking the train is bit more involved but cheaper.

Replacing BMG and Second City is a positive move. Some people like BMG and that is cool. For me, I find BMG is the type of show you want to see once in your life so that you feel reassured your not missing anything by avoiding it in the future. Seeing for free is a good way of taking part in the BMG Experience.

I am disappointed to see the Jazz club disappear. When they had a decent Jazz group in there that was one of the highlights of the cruise. However it sounds like the EPIC is going to have an interesting venue to take its place.

What would also be nice is if the EPIC had a lecture series on each of the ports. Good be delivered by a staff member instead of a history expert. That was one of the nice things about the cruse director that use to be on the Jade.

What would be good is to keep the circus but perhaps change the story behind the performance.

Worth noting, though, that those articles date from 2008 and (early) 2011. And while of course I don't doubt what's been said by fbgd and Brighton Line, the former's experience was also some years ago.

 

I don't know whether things have changed in the US, but if it was ever like that in the places where I have recent experience, it certainly isn't like that now. The sort of error that you describe isn't consistent with different scales giving readings that are the same as each other to within a few ounces at most when weighing something in the 50-70 lb range.

 

And each of the scales in Durban actually had a formal test certificate.

I don't dispute your experience at Durban.

I would expect the scales to be quite accurate when they are first built and installed and if they are regularly maintained, recalibrated and not abused. I don't think that is the case across the board at every airport. If you ask the checkin agent when was the last time they tarred the scale and they give you a weird look as if it is clear they have no idea what your talking about that is a pretty good indication.

Do you have any inside knowledge about this, or is this just guessing?

 

I ask because in the last four or so weeks, I have twice tested scales at Heathrow and London City (yesterday), by weighing bags on one check-in scale and then on another one. In the case of all the bags that I did this with, the two sets of scales read exactly the same, within their precision of 0.1 kg (= 3.5 oz).

 

A few months ago, I also tested scales at Durban with the same result.

 

Where have you found scales where 3 lb is the error margin?

Those scales use load cells. I would not trust an load cell (that is not being regularly calibrated) for more than a couple percent (something like 2-3%) the A-D converter in the devices is going to also add some additional inaccuracy. I would be surprised if the airport staff tare the scale on a regular basis to readjust the zero offset. I think you lucky if there are good for 5% of full scale. Full scale is what 100 or 200 lbs. That gives an error margin of something like 5-10lb.

Some public press is also consistent with that assumption:

http://www.independenttraveler.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/20/how-accurate-are-airport-luggage-scales/

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2008-10-26/news/0810250217_1_scales-american-airlines-bag

The Epic cabins are unlike anything else NCL has. Just remember the bathroom situation isn't representative of NCL in general, and is my best guess as to why the Epic has been relegated to European waters soon (the Europeans evidently don't mind the toilet / shower in the room with translucent glass doors on them).

It is a great ship. The washroom layout is a pretty minor issue. Excellent move to put such a nice ship year round in Europe where the ports are truly interesting.

The one thing they need to do is get rid of Blue Man Group. Once you have experience the show once not certain why you would want to do it again. I also don't think it goes over well with a European audience. They should get another Jazz group back in the Jazz club.

One tip for sailing the Epic. is the main pool deck gets pretty crowded. There is a much more quit sun deck one floor above the buffet area. Only one of the elevators will take you up their, most people don't know about it and its the simply nicer up there. The other elevator goes to a private area reserved for some of the suites.

NCL has a reputation for being much more casual and relaxed than other cruise lines. Makes for a nice vacation that way.

Thanks. As I have been to Barcelona I can comment on that one. I assume that it will be like the other cruise line, that NCL will drop us in front of the World Trade Centre, very close to the end of the Ramblas near the water. That is a good starting point. HoHo has it pros and cons. I do like the Barri Gothic area (east of the Ramblas) very much. That is the old city centre with its small streets where the HoHo can not reach. So make sure you reserve some time for that as well!

Unless it has changed there is a shuttle bus operated by the port that takes you from where the ship docks to the Rambias. I think is a few Euro and stops at each birth that has a ship.

I'm flying from DFW to Rome (FCO) via United next week. Then home on November 12th via Lufthansa. I know the checked luggage weight is 50 lbs. My question is probably going to get a lot of slack or no brainer type answers but I'm asking anyway. Airline says they charge $200 for going over the weight limit. However, I am bout 3 lbs over. Do they give any leeway at all on international flights or flights in general? Or will I really be charged $200 for 3 lbs. I've weeded out everything I feel like I can do without for three weeks.

 

Please don't be rude or condescending....I'm honestly just curious. I have been told by some that have flown internationally that they were always over by 10+ lbs and were never charged because international flights are given a bit a leeway.

The scales they use in the airport are not that accurate. I would think 3lbs is within the error margin.

That said, I have been in that situation and am not away of how strict they would be with check luggage.

Thank you!

You can also have room service deliver a pot (for free).

In the past when it gets busy they would split the line up for passport control between connecting and local passengers. Not certain if they do that anymore now that they have the automatic kiosk scanning passports.