v3cruiser

We hit OSheehans. 

it is! and yes they pick up right from ward cove, looks like ncl is sold out already. we booked it through the excursion company directly and saved $150. we may cancel and just hang out it town. we may just want to see ketchikan proper instead of being on a boat. Idont really like the stage seating on the crab boat. 

1 hour ago, smarterman64 said:

don't forget that the bus also lets off i think at berth 4, so there is some time needd to walk to the meeting point. 

thanks, the meeting point is at berth 3. Still working logistics out. we may not do it or just pay the additonal 150 to do through ncl. 

Thanks! Ive read Ketchikan is about 20min drive from Ward Cove. We dock at 1pm in Ward Cove and the excursion we bought meets at 215pm. 

Simple question, is it possible to get off ship that is docked in ward cove and make it to ketchikan in a timely manner? I booked an excursion outside of ncl to save about $200 but I dont know if timing will be an issue. We will have a little over an one hour to get from ship to meeting point for excursion. I also dont know if NCL will let everyone off ship after docking or those who have ncl excursions will be allowed to depart first. Thanks!

1 minute ago, v3cruiser said:

We are doing southbound on Jewel in June. Airfare was challenging. Bought about a month after it posted. Alaska air to anchorage and united back home.  Had to stay a night in vancouver after cruise to get a decent flight home. We liked the longer port times. We are staying three nights in seward prior to cruise. booked our lodge over a year out. Only big mistake i have made is we are flying into anchorage late, approx 8pm but have to get up pretty early next day to get on train to seward. If I had to do it again id stay two nights in anchorage or try to get a flight that got into anchorage a little earlier. I could have but it was much pricier. We sailed on Jewel in early 2023 and it was great. 

We are doing southbound on Jewel in June. Airfare was challenging. Bought about a month after it posted. Alaska air to anchorage and united back home.  Had to stay a night in vancouver after cruise to get a decent flight home. We liked the longer port times. We are staying three nights in seward prior to cruise. booked our lodge over a year out. Only big mistake i have made is we are flying into anchorage late, approx 8pm but have to get up pretty early next day to get on train to seward. if I had to do it again id stay two nights in seward or try to get a flight that got into anchorage a little earlier. We sailed on Jewel in early 2023 and it was great. 

On 1/18/2024 at 3:42 PM, KKB said:

Boarded Prima last Fr in Galveston.

New Syd’s crew as well; they got in late so no show 1st night as usual.

2nd night people were lining up 1hr 45 min b4!

Last night only 1 Rumours show (vocalist who does Stevie skipped 2nd show with strained voice; she sounded amazing for Rumours!)

People in line more than 2 hrs prior!!!

 

They have done a great job—as a young new cast, no surprise getting  small kinks worked out. Each show their chemistry & harmonies better & tighter. The crowd has loved them❤️
 

Now, it does seem even with long lines, most finding seats; only those coming after doors open (usually 45 min prior) may have to stand (and many did each night!)

 
Met some other super fun Syd groupies from Houston on this cruise—even another Syd’s Prom Queen!😉

 

When we were on the Getaway we got to Syds no later than one hour before show started. It was worth the wait but man that is a small venue for the amount of people who want to see the show. 

The Asian complimentary restaurants have never disappointed for sure! Love the green tea ice cream. The Ginza on the star and Chin Chin on Jewel were excellent with the same menu items. Noodles on Getaway was also good and has a different menu. 

Not many were eating there while I was on the getaway last month. Good to hear its complimentary now. The menu looks good!

19 hours ago, Deuga said:

NCL had a few cruises with stops in Israel set for Fall 2024 . As we know, those cruises have all been revised to exclude Israel.  I'm curious, suppose the Israel-Hamas war ends by February and peace breaks out.  Would NCL reset those 2024 cruises that were originally going to Israel back to the original itinerary, or are they likely to leave the revised itineraries, which now exclude Israel, as is?

They sure did. Cant find them on the website anymore so i came here. Cant predict what NCL will do but IMHO doubt they will reverse back to original itinerary.  At least they didn't wait till last minute to change and have given cruisers the opportunity to keep cruise or change. 

It does seem like NCL is creating a more noticable trend of port cancellations and itinerary changes. Had 4 port cancellations between 2 most recent cruises. 

It's funny this thread came up because I was beginning to chuckle a bit at ncls new south America itineraries to Antarctica wondering if NCL has any intention of going there or just trying to make money off of eager cruisers. The waters between Antarctica and cape horn are not the smoothest yet I've experienced 4 port cancellations because of sea conditions that pale in comparison to the drake passage. 

Just got off the getaway. they offer times in those restaurants at 530 and 830 if i remember correctly. We did make reservations for tropicana for later in the cruise after the first night on the ship there was a line a mile long of those who made reservations on the first night who wanted to dine in tropicana including a long line of solo cruisers. We liked the live music in tropicana and would eat there if we didnt have specialty dining booked and were sailing not in port. The reservation option for complimentary dining did surprise us as ncl touts freestyle dining BUT yes you can make a reservation in the three complimentary dining venues. IF you show up around 7 you usually can get seated. 

5 hours ago, Fissues said:

Lord knows what the captain was thinking when he left New York. He’s an idiot.

Cant imagine the mayhem if he did not leave new york and people lining up to get off the ship demanding their money back. Doubt the decision was his. 

Just got off the Getaway. Despite canceled stop in Bermuda, it was a great all around cruise from embarkation to debarkation. Food, music, and shows were outstanding. Staff were excellent. Ship in great condition for not seeing a drydock in so long.  Very impressed with what they put together on that ship! 

Seems like the weather in Dec can be quite hairy. Just got off getaway and Bermuda was canceled. It will be interesting to see if the getaway makes it this Mon Tues to Bermuda considering forecast is even worse. I think the gem is supposed to dock in Bermuda this week too. 

Reps do screw up. I have a few stories myself but I wasnt surprised things turned out the way they went. 

I'm sure it gets the first time NCL cruisers excited. Heck, it still gets me excited from time to time. 

Are there limits to quantity of  appetizers one can order with purchased dining package vs  2 meals awarded to platinum and above? 

We have a cruise on the NCL Epic nov 2025 that starts in israel and ends in rome. We are going to hold. not too many itineraries that stop in italy, greece, turkey.  Hope peace is reached soon. 

Im keeping an eye out for airfare for our alaskan cruise next year and prices have stayed the same if not gone up a bit even though when I look at available seats no seats have been sold. 

How many days out have you bought your airfare? Any airlines offer price protection? Is there a sweet spot to buy?

Thanks!

Just did an Iceland Greenland cruise earlier in the year. If you are able to do and or tender in the ports of call it should be amazing. There were a lot of missed stops this past year particularly around Greenland. For the most part the excursions are as much if not more than an Alaskan cruise and there are fewer to choose from as well. Iceland is amazing, glad Iwe were able to go there three days early and explore on our own before getting on ship. Iceland has SO much to see.

The weather up around Iceland Greenland while at sea is pretty cold and at least from my experience there wasn't much time hanging around outside as it was cold,windy, rainy foggy all at once or a combination. So you may be inside the ship a lot more  than you are used to and from my experience on the star, its just not made for all the passengers to be inside all the time.

We are doing Alaska next year and really looking forward to it. Doing a one way from Alaska to vancouver and flying into Alaska four days early to see glaciers and explore. 

Both itineraries are a must see with expenses being about the same including car rentals, airfare costs, just  more risk of canceled ports and colder weather with Greenland/Iceland cruise. I'm thinking the Alaska weather will be a bit more tame.

Love carnival but NCL has the itineraries and overall package (drinks, air, excurson. credit) we are looking for now. The NCL drink package is a no brainer. Would love to get on a carnival ship again though. My parents were on the Celebration and really liked all the shows, food, and ship in general.  Love how carnival has so many food options during the day-guys burgers, blue iguana, BBQ,seafood shack, fried chicken and even there own beer. Really miss those on NCL but last three cruises on ncl were on their smaller ships, star and jewel. I think ncl going wrong direction with all these go cart tracks taking up all that space on top of their newer ships. 

19 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

I'll be on Norwegian Bliss in a couple of weeks and for some weird reason if you look up that cruise at the moment the itinerary also says Tender for Juneau. I will ask once aboard to find out why it's changed on all future NCL itineraries. There hasn't been any communication from NCL to say that it has changed to a tender port for my cruise so my fellow guests on the roll call and facebook are all continuing with the assumption that we will be docked.

It doesn't make any sense that Juneau would suddenly become a tender port as they are already restricting the number of ships allowed to visit so it's not like they're running out of dock space. 

I called NCL today and they confirmed the time as well as we would still be docking. I've just got off a ncl cruise earlier in year where tender ports went from 1 to 4. They said it was just a miscommunication and the website was slow to update. Lol. so it's going to take me awhile to build that trust back up in what NCL is telling me. 

thanks for pic! we have to get from the ship to basically where the sheraton hotel(in yellow)is to get to our tour.