Daytonasailor

On 3/28/2022 at 5:42 PM, tupperstamper said:

Our cruise is on April 9th on the Pride of America. We are using NCL air. Our flight gets in at 3:50 P.M. Our cruise leaves at 7:00 P.M. I know that's cutting it close but NCL made the reservations. With cutting it that close, I worry about giving our luggage to a porter at the pier. Can we just carry it on ourselves and have it go through the xray machine there?

Just remember, when you take your normally checked bags thru the scanner and x-ray, everything over 3 oz is trashed. Running late , checked bags was closed and had to hand carry luggage thru TSA. Been there, done that.

18 hours ago, Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin said:

I can see restaurants available to book, so I tried to book Cagney's twice and La Cucina.  It would not let me book in a single attempt.  It let me book Cagney's once, then I went back in to book La Cucina, so I was able to get those in two separate attempts.  Have not been able to get Cagney's for 2nd time at all.

 

Anyone else have those issues?

We are sailing on 5/21 out of Miami. I tried to book dinners but I couldn't get the reservations to work. I called (800) 327-7030 and the rep fixed us right up in less than a minute. This phone number is listed on my dining confirmation. Says "Feel free to contact us for dining alternatives or check onboard."

On 3/17/2022 at 12:59 PM, chengkp75 said:

Actually, its not, since you are never more than 3 miles from land while transiting the river.  Even though you have traveled 95 miles from the cruise terminal to "head of passes", and then another 20 miles to SW Pass, you still have to go another 3 miles from the end of the jetty at SW pass before you leave state waters, but it is all within 3 miles of shore.

I'll go to sea with you any day.

11 hours ago, NCLGirl2013 said:

My husband and I have done multiple NCL cruises and have no complaints. We always have a fabulous time! Recently we have thought about branching out and trying a new cruise line just out of curiosity of differences. Specifically we have been looking at Royal Caribbean. When I price check, they seem to be pretty similar but what is a breaking point for us is the alcohol package. We always get the free beverage package on NCL and we use it to the full 😅 I usually have a couple Irish Coffees before my husband even wakes up for the day then we probably have 5/6 by the pool for hours then a cocktail or 2 before dinner. Then depending on how we feel, we go out after dinner too. So let's say 10 drinks per person per day. On NCL, we never have any problems and it's all included. On RCL or any other line we would be stuck by their package (TA says that is about $75/pp per day so that's pushing an extra $1,050 😳) or paying per drink which at let's say an average of $10/per drink and we drink probably 10 drinks a day..... that's even more. 

 

So my question is, any other couples that like to drink regularly and are well acquainted with the NCL beverage package, how do other cruise lines compare for your bar bill at the end of the cruise? 

Our first cruise on the Monarch of the Seas (RCI) was a 3 day weekender. Our bar bill was $600. That was a shocker, but we were not thinking of the price of each drink as we were having a good time. I switched to NCL as I thought, great, free drinks. Then I compared cheap cruise (RCI) and NCL with drink package. What a minute, the NCL price is close to the RCI when you add the drink package. So I think it's roughly the same price.  One cruise we took on RCI and did not get the drink package. We ordered by the drink. Each time I ordered a drink I thought, I wonder how much I owe on my bar bill. That is not the way to go IMO. Now I just look at the trip and the ship to make a decision on which line to use.

2 minutes ago, Daytonasailor said:

I posted this before and didn't hear anything different. Cruised out of Miami in February and while going out to dinner in the Brickell section I noticed tents set up downtown. Sign stated Covid testing here. Already had my test so I didn't check on it. Can't say if you are charged or not but it might be worth looking at if in downtown Miami.

Humm, i'm cruising again in May and now i'm curious as to the testing in Miami. I googled "free covid test in Miami" and came up with lots of places. Some indicated results in 24 hours so I don't know if that would work for anyone.

I posted this before and didn't hear anything different. Cruised out of Miami in February and while going out to dinner in the Brickell section I noticed tents set up downtown. Sign stated Covid testing here. Already had my test so I didn't check on it. Can't say if you are charged or not but it might be worth looking at if in downtown Miami.

On 3/4/2022 at 3:23 PM, DeanD said:

Some states mandate physicians to report unsafe drivers and many of the rest have a mechanism to do so including Florida.  In FL anyone can report an unsafe driver and thus result in their license being suspended.  They also have more strict renewal laws for those 80 or above but they're still far too lax IMO.    It's not about protecting the other passengers as much as it is the cruise line.  Requiring additional documentation for those of a given age is reasonable due the statistically increased risk but they could do it for everyone if they wanted.  Unless they do so for everyone, any such requirement will, by definition, be arbitrary to some degree.

I'm a retired Police Officer and years ago we had a form which would require a person to report to the DMV for retesting on their drivers license. The purpose of this was to check on older persons who the Officer thought had a problem with driving. Cause could be serious accidents, running off the road, etc. I can't think of one time that this form was used for it's intended purpose. This form was eliminated after finding out that many younger drivers were issued the form for retesting. The Officers were using the form as there was no charge for COC, (Contempt of Cop).

13 hours ago, wacruiselover said:

I'm going to add this neat device to my list of things to pack. I only hope that @Middleager and other fun folks are on my cruise so they can enjoy the bubbles with me!

Thank you, thank you, some body turn offa the bubble machine......aaahhh, brings back fond memories of old Lawrence Welk.

On 2/28/2022 at 4:11 PM, oteixeira said:

Two weeks back on the Pearl we were getting paper straws in all drinks....I guess it is a very recent change?  (I was on Feb 16-21st)

Yup, off the Getaway on Feb 16. Had straws. They were green and were stiff. Much better than the old paper ones which collapsed after a few minutes.

On 2/24/2022 at 9:56 PM, MaryLS said:

Does anyone know where the smoking areas are on the Getaway?

As of Feb 11, it's pool deck port side. Fully glassed in. Looks like a fish bowl. Not that big though. I think the sign on door said max occupancy is 20. If you are on port side deck, you can still smell the smoke when you on that side of the ship.

On 2/10/2022 at 7:50 PM, RBrowny said:

Interesting, I just don't want them to give me a receipt for it as it's technically two drinks. If I was getting drinks for my partner, we'd need two cards then, if the first drink is a double, right?

Not really on our trip. Got off GA last week and my double Bailey's on the rocks was one drink. I'd hand the barman my card and my DW's card for her drink too. They would only take one card for both drinks. I don't know if it has anything to do with the current lesser amount of people on board or not. They were being very nice to us.

On 2/11/2022 at 9:19 PM, wil e coyote said:

Just returned from 2/6 sailing of the Getaway. From talking to several staff, we had about 1,400 passengers on board, and 1,700 crew. Full passenger capacity is about 4,000 customers.

Yup, got off GA on 2/16. Capacity 4000, actual on board 1200 plus a few. Best service I've ever had on board. Empty elevators and no chair hogs.

On 2/6/2022 at 4:51 PM, AK Dreaming said:

This may seem like a dumb question, but do we get the test 2 days before we embark or does it mean get the results 2 days before we leave?  If I embark on Saturday and book my test for Thursday, it is possible I would not get my results back in time?  Also, my CVS is charging $139 for a travel test.  Is the what everyone is paying or is there a better place.  I am in Florida.

Walking around downtown Miami (Brickell) there were lots of small tents on the street set up for free covid testing. This was last week, 2/16.

On 2/13/2022 at 7:27 PM, Beer Belly said:

Is Syd's strictly Rock'n Roll ? Same band every night, or different ?. Is the Pour House used for anything else....Howl at the Moon ?. Best time to arrive for better seating ?. Thanks

Got off the BA on 2/16. Still FM Rumours.

On 2/16/2022 at 8:08 AM, Hutcha said:

Royal also lets you bring water on. Also, they only charge you a corkage fee if you take your wine to a restaurant.

Be careful of the Carnival  bottled water. A few years ago onboard ship, the captain (Cpt Kate) was giving a briefing on the ship and questions were asked. Of course the question of what was done with the black water (toilet). She said they bottle it and sell it to Carnival.

On 1/26/2022 at 7:01 AM, Keata said:

can any recent cruisers let me know if the above is still correct?  Thanks in advance. 

Cruised from 2/11 to 2/16 on the Getaway. My T/A gave me $100 and NCL gave me $75 OBC. I checked on my account and there was a credit for $175 on my account. I went to the casino and put my room card in a slot machine. A small menu appears on the bottom of the screen. In the upper left of this screen there is a small green icon which looks like a $ bill. Click on that and follow the prompts. What you are doing is charging the amount of $ you want charged on your account. They charge you 3% for this transaction. I entered $100 in the amount I wanted. I then hit cash out on the slot machine and a coupon came out for $100. I don't know why I didn't get $97. Then I took the coupon to the cashier and she gave me $100 in cash. Worked well with no problems. Years ago, I would be in the ship store buying T shirts and coffee mugs trying to use up all my OBC. This method seems to work better.

On 2/9/2022 at 8:44 AM, rkennedy553 said:

please keep us in the loop if possible on how strict or not thanks

Got off the Getaway on 2/16. Masking was a little lax. Requirement was that you could only unmask if eating, drinking or 6 feet away from others. What a lot of us did was to order a drink and just keep it in your hand. Walking around the ship at 10 in the morning with a Bailey's in my hand was unusual, but it worked. They did enforce the masking when going to the buffet line which was fine. Of course when seated, the mask came off. The cruise itself was unusual as the ship holds close to 4000 and when I questioned a ship officer, he said there was a little over 1200 on board. No chair hogs for sure. You could tell the difference from previous cruises. In the theater, as soon as the lights went out, a lot of the masks went off too. All in all, I did not encounter any problems with the masking, but I'm glad to see after March 1st, there is no longer a requirement for them.

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Of course. 

I couldn't blame anyone for dumping the mask at this point. 

I sail the day after tomorrow. 2/11/22.  Anxious to see what happens.

On 1/26/2022 at 7:01 AM, Keata said:

can any recent cruisers let me know if the above is still correct?  Thanks in advance. 

I'm sailing on Feb 11th out of Miami. If no one answers you by then, I'll let you know when I get back. I plan on doing the same thing with my NCL non-refundable OBC.

Just now, Daytonasailor said:

We sail on the 9th of Feb. I tried to sign in prior to the 21 day rule. No go. On the 21st day I checked in and all went well. They said they would send me an email when my e-doc's would be ready. The next day (22Jan) I went back online and it showed my e-doc's were ready. No email. Funny thing is that I received luggage tags along with my confirmation of sailing. I've always printed them myself. Don't know why that happened. Lot's of changes going on, but we are still optimistic and ready to sail.

My mistake, we go to Miami on the 9th, we sail on the 11th.

We sail on the 9th of Feb. I tried to sign in prior to the 21 day rule. No go. On the 21st day I checked in and all went well. They said they would send me an email when my e-doc's would be ready. The next day (22Jan) I went back online and it showed my e-doc's were ready. No email. Funny thing is that I received luggage tags along with my confirmation of sailing. I've always printed them myself. Don't know why that happened. Lot's of changes going on, but we are still optimistic and ready to sail.

15 hours ago, usahawk1 said:

Hello, I just completed my online check in, however I cannot find where to print my luggage tags. Is this something I have to wait for? Thanks for any help.

Just got a letter yesterday with 6 luggage tags enclosed. I'm not sailing till 2/11/22. Letter stated that e-docs can be downloaded 21 days prior to sailing and upon completion of online check in  I always  went to online check in and downloaded my luggage tags on all past sailings. I even bought those clear plastic luggage holders. Humm, could this be an indication that something good will happen? Hope so.

12 hours ago, brandybit said:

I'm hoping by our sail date they change that rule of cruises after Feb 1 needing to have a negative test within 48 hr, and instead test at the pier at NCL's expense like they are doing for cruises up to Jan 31.  We will be at Disney for the two days prior to sail and will not be able to get to a testing site.  

We are in the same boat, no pun intended. We are in Miami on Feb 9 for a Getaway cruise on Feb 11. NCL says must be tested 48 hours prior. If we board ship at 11 am, that means test must be conducted on Feb 9 prior to 11 am. We have a FCC from over a year ago and its in the thousands like many others so I'd hate to have a snafu at the dock after getting all shots and boosters required.  Someone said CVS will test. I'll have to check it out and hope results will be back within the time frame indicated.

It's been over two years since on board, but I think this is the way it went. I received a $100 credit from NCL. It was non-refundable. I went to the casino cage and asked them to put a charge of $100 on my card. They said it would cost 3%. No problem, I got $97 placed on the card. I went to a slot, pulled the handle and lost a dollar. Then I cashed out, took the ticket back to the cage and they gave me $96 cash.

12 hours ago, Cigar King said:

If you have OBC, your gratuities are deducted from it.  If you look at your bill you will see the daily amount is taken, although sometimes two or three days in a row.

 

You can get the OBC as cash in the casino, but, there is a charge.  I forget the percentage, 5% perhaps.

I cashed out $100 OBC last Jan, 2020. They gave me $97 cash. 3% charge. Small charge for "free" money. Put it right back in the slots.