islesdave

23 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

I usually lose, lose, lose and fairly quickly at the slot machines at sea. 

 

has anyone here had a winning evening?  tell us all about it, please. 

 

 

We've been to Vegas a few times and I've never played a blackjack or craps table but I'm leaning towards playing the PASS line at craps table instead of slots on our next cruise.  it's more social and hopefully slows the financial losses. 

Slot machines at sea are programmed much tighter than their Vegas or other land-based casino counterparts.  They have no gaming administration to answer to.  Most lower minimum bet blackjack tables are continuous shuffle, if you want to play with a shoe, usually they start at the $50 tables. 

Craps has the lowest house edge of any game.  I play all over - was on a Med cruise a few years ago, and up came these 2 guys from Spain who had never played before.  We got them to roll.  They rolled for 30-45 minutes before crapping out.  Everyone made $$$ that night.  Like a previous poster said, if all you're going to play is the pass line, back it up with odds.  The pass line pays even, the odds pay the true odds of the point.

They will usually show the NFL games on the large screen in the Atrium.  Best seats are along the rail in O'Sheehan's.  

The solo gatherings all depend upon the people on board and the solos host from NCL. I had a great one on the Epic in Europe. The one's I've had in the Caribbean have been kinda meh.

If you're stopping in Costa Maya, you can rent them from $35/half hour at Nacional Beach Club. Many resorts also have them available for rent, instead of doing an excursion.

1. Yes

2. Think a larger version of GSC. It's a pool/beach day, with some shopping opportunities

3. If you find a TA that has group space for your sailing, and possibly gratuities can be part of a group amenity. I'm a member of such an association and for my next cruise, my DSC and my UBP gratuities are a group amenity. Very rarely do they add it to the Free at Sea. If you PM me, I'll be glad to check to see if such a possibility exists for your sailing, since I can't mention names here.

4. Depends upon your traveling party. The gratuities for the UBP for a 7 day cruise are about $130 PP. If you're not a drinker and can keep your bar tab under, then the UBP is probably not right for you.

5. NCL has a whole host of new ships coming down the pipe in the next 10 years plus just announced a series of dry docks for existing ships. That $ has to come from somewhere.

6. Totally opinion driven, depends upon what you like. Roatan, Cozumel, Tortola all up there.

7. NCL does offer shuttle bus from port to both MIA and FLL after the cruise. If you're coming into FLL the morning of departure, I wouldn't wait for a bus to fill up before leaving. You're 45 minutes from the port of Miami without traffic. Too many potential issues. IMO best way of getting to the port is Uber/Lyft. They're very cheap in Florida.

8. Upgrade advantage I believe starts around 120 days before when your final payments are due.

Hello everyone, I am new to Norwegian. So sorry but I am unfamiliar with the abbreviations so I will spell everything out. The questions I have are as follows:

 

1. Is it normal for final payment to be required 4 months prior to the cruise?

 

2. What are your thoughts on the new Harvest Caye private island?

 

3. How often are free gratuities offered?

 

4. What are the best offers to take as freebies?

 

5. I always thought Norwegian was must less than Royal or Carnival but that doesn't seem to be the case. Have their prices gone up lately?

 

6. What are the best ports to visit?

 

7. Does Norwegian offer shuttles from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami port? If so, do you know the price?

 

8. I booked an aft balcony and would love to bid on a suite. When can I if my cruise is at the end of April, 2019?

 

Thanks for your time in responding to my questions.:)

FYI- A mini suite isn't really a suite with the perks. It's a slightly upgraded balcony cabin with larger bathroom.

I've never seen immigration officials looking at papers in the Caribbean ports, they look at a manifest of passengers' info when clearing the ship. IMO, you'll be OK. Passports are generally only looked at upon check in and when returning to the US during debarkation by US CBP (assuming cruise is closed-loop leaving from US port, returning to US port). Most people leave their actual passports in the safe once the cabins are available. Some port security will check photo ID upon return, some won't. They're hired security, not immigration people.

I leave the passport in the safe and bring my driver's license off the ship. If there's an issue and you need your passport for whatever reason, you can contact the port agent via telephone and they can have someone get it for you.

My wife holds a Colombian passport; I am a US citizen. We live in Texas. This trip is our honeymoon and is going to be our first cruise. I been asking around and I have been told she does not need a visa for Cayman Islands. She has a work permit for the US (not a green card yet).

 

Can anybody tell me how closely the immigration officials will look at our papers? Are they very strict? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Just a guess, but probably not. I was on the Oasis which has a Starbucks on board and the only form of payment was ship card. I'd imagine that the Bliss' situation is similar. I'll be sailing the Bliss in January.

I need someone going on the NCL Bliss to please find out for me. If I can use the Starbucks gift cards that I have already, while on the cruise at the ships Starbucks ?

Thumbs up to them. Reputable company. They offer some nice multi-port packages.

Everyone sells cruises for the same price, whether it be direct from NCL, large online TA's or local, home-based or store-based TA's. As someone who knows a couple of very good home-based TAs with clients all over the country, they are worth their weight in gold. They do allow clients to bid on upgrades and agree that any TA that keeps clients' $ isn't going to be in business long. Travel guides and magazines say the average family vacation takes about 60 hours to plan.

Advantages

- Access to group space/incentives/extra perks. For example: I'm sailing in a studio cabin on the Bliss 1-19-19. My TA has group space on the ship and moved my FIT into the group space. My DSC and gratuities for the drink package are taken care of as being part of the group space (almost $200).

- Knowledge/Expertise.

- Clout with tour operators/cruise lines. If something was to go wrong with your vacation, there are people at NCL who the TAs have access to that the general public does not. They're more likely to handle issues promptly. I have seen the TA's message board, and posts with issues spread like wildfire. NCL is more likely to listen to a complaint coming from an agent who's a member of a community of 5000+ agents than an individual.

- Assistance with flights/hotels/other pre/post cruise plans.

Disadvantages:

- The TA must make changes on your behalf with NCL (or other cruise line/tour operator)

If you're interested, you can PM me and I'll forward you their contact info.

Some of the mega ships have studio rooms (Epic, -Away class ships, Bliss, PoA). Some times they waive the single supplement on other ships as it gets closer to sailing, sometimes weeks, other times days prior to.

Where were you looking to cruise from/to?

looking for a good deal on solo cruiser for aug or Nov thanks

 

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If you're looking at domestic air, don't book through the cruise line as they just inflate the prices. The only time it can pay is if you're looking at tight time lines for arrival at the ship. If you booked the air with them, they will assist you with getting to the ship. I have used their hotel program in Europe.

A simple Google Maps search https://www.google.com/maps/search/Hotels/@33.754443,-118.2961402,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!2m7!3m6!1sHotels!2sCruise+Terminal,+100+Swinford+St,+Wilmington,+CA+90744!3s0x80dd363f51acf7d1:0x66cc60632c103253!4m2!1d-118.2766292!2d33.7472528

will show the hotels near the port. LAX is extremely busy. Allow yourself time to get from plane to baggage claim to final destination for the day.

Can anyone recommend a company that rents wave runners or mini boats in St Thomas?

I second calling the access desk. They handle all special medical needs arrangements prior to boarding. If you booked with a TA, they should be able to note your booking. Either way call the access desk.

I think it should follow you either way. If it was a group amenity, make sure the group code is on the upgraded room. Havens always qualify for all the free at sea perks, without having to pick.

There is cell service through the ship's satellites, the same way the devices will connect to the internet. If you do this, I hope you have unlimited data on your cell phone account. Speeds will be nowhere near what you're used to on land. There's nothing stopping you from doing something like that other than performance.

I hope they don't cancel you. Did you book direct or through a TA? If you booked through a TA, they should have reminded you about your upcoming payment due date. If they do grant you an extension, it will only be a day or 2, maybe 3.

As someone who does travel consulting on the side - it could be that the agency in question has group space on the sailing in question, sometimes the group rates are below regular.

Which pier does NCL use in Cozumel?

I've been to Cozumel 3 times on NCL, every time they go to Punta Langosta.

I've never seen any hotel with a shuttle to the beach specifically, usually a shuttle would go to/from the airport or cruise terminal. Stay on Ocean Drive, you can walk to the beach from there, many of those hotels have shuttles from the airport and/or cruise terminal.

Will be traveling with 3 small kids. Looking for a moderately priced hotel in Miami for the night before the cruise. Doesn't need to be ocean front but would like at least a shuttle to the beach. Trying to keep the cost around $200 since we're not the ones paying. Thanks!

Any electronic game on a ship, whether it be slots, video poker (I've never seen video craps) are extremely tight. Remember, unlike a Vegas casino, there's no gaming commission they have to report to. You get better odds at the actual tables, since it's harder to manipulate those. Slots/Electronic games are very tight

Hi, I’ve done a lot of searches and can’t find any info. I assume the odds are not very good, but wondering if any gamblers had insights on NCL’s Video Poker (specifically the bar top games), Craps, and 3 Card Poker Odds.

I'd stay away from under that Atrium - there's tons of traffic there all times of the day. If those are your only choices, I'd say under guest services since that's not as likely to be noisy late night.

Life boat capacity is the ultimate decider of inventory - if there's no more life boat space, then the cabin has to sail empty.

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

 

Here is the deal.... I finally got a hold of someone who could give me some answers. Yes, there were still several rooms left but they said that they had so many family bookings (where there were 3 or 4 people in a room) that they did not have the life boats to accommodate all the people. Understandable due to the time of year. So they are going to be sailing with empty rooms.

 

While I wish we were able to get on the cruise, it is nice to finally have an answer. I completely understand their reasoning.

 

Thanks again everyone!

I bought this for my cruise next week: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AW2QT8I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They usually don't release flight itineraries until you're 30 days from departure, also, generally you're arriving on the day the cruise leaves and flying out the same day.