kchoya

We sailed on the Pearl on Feb 14-18. We booked an Ocean Villa for our day at Grand Stirrup Cay. The day before sailing, I noticed a refund to my credit card from NCL. The amount was for $300+, an amount I recognized as being around what the Villa cost. Going back through my emails I saw an email I had missed.

Three days before sailing, NCL emailed: "We regret to inform you that due to extended beach enhancements on Great Stirrup Cay the Ocean View Villas will not be open for our call on February 17th." As a gesture of goodwill (?), they did book us in to a Premier Cabana free of charge.

When we were arriving at our cabana, we ran in to several other couples confused as to why they were being put in a cabana after booking an Ocean Villa. I told them to check their emails.

In fact, when we were on GSC, you could see (and hear) heavy construction equipment moving sand and doing work on the beach in front of the Ocean Villas. No idea how long this will/did last. 

We're sailing on the Pearl out of Miami next Friday. We stop in Nassau and GSC. We don't have any excursions planned for Nassau. We're thinking of just walking around a little bit near the port and then spending most of the day on the ship. Are there any restaurants close to the pier that anyone would recommend?

On 12/26/2019 at 10:26 AM, callmebetty said:

April 14th 2020 is the date (5 day Sun, 10 day Dawn). On the rare occasions we have actually made it to GSC, I have never seen a second ship there. Looks like the Sun is there at 7-6 and we are 8-5...not that an hour on each end will do much for either ship. Trying to stay optimistic, but considering cancelling our villa because I can only imagine the disaster of tendering both ships in a timely fashion. Might be a port our party will skip.

I just booked a villa for when our cruise on the Pearl stops there in February. I don't know if any other ships are scheduled to be there that same day, but my understanding is that passengers with a villa reserved have priority tenders. Anyone know how that priority system works?

I used poor wording in my original post. My question was prompted by a thread I was reading in this forum (which I cannot find right now, of course), where a poster indicated they called NCL to book a villa, and the representative had access to a map of the villas and was able to assign a specific villa based on input from the cruiser (wanted to be close to certain amenities, for example).

Hopefully that clarifies things. 

I was going to book an Ocean Villa for our cruise on the Pearl in February. Is there an online map of the Silver Cove to help choose the "best" location? Also, does anyone have any experience or tips on which numbered Ocean Villas would be better for view of the ocean, proximity to amenities, that sort of thing? 

I'm sure we'll be happy in whichever villa we end up in, but I figured if we can try to choose a "better" location, no harm in trying. 

2 hours ago, YVRBassElectric said:

We have sailed in the SE suite, it came with private dining for breakfast & lunch and butler/concierge service - same as Haven suites, just no access to private courtyard.

 

If Sixthman has booked the entire ship maybe they aren't offering full suite service? When are you sailing?

Sailing February 14, 2020 out of Miami. 

26 minutes ago, roger001 said:

The SF suites have had both in the past.  However, there is a date when that changes...maybe...   And those changes even mentioned whether the SFs were on deck 10 or below.   Somewhere on the NCL web site that is mentioned.   

Thanks, I'll look for that. I have seen a date of October 10, 2020 mentioned, and we sail before that.

30 minutes ago, JesseB said:

I think only rooms that are part of the haven come with a butler 

I don't know if it's considered part of The Haven or not, but we previously sailed in an Owners Suite on Deck 10 and it included butter and concierge service.

We're looking at different cabins for next February. One of the options were considering is a "Penthouse Romance Suite" (category SF) at the rear of the ship. I'm unable to discern if this suite comes with butler and/or concierge access. Does anyone have recent experience or personal knowledge?

Also, this will be a music charter (Sixthman) if that makes any difference, though in the past, our experience has been that it should not make a difference. 

Who did you use for rental car?

 

I cant find info on "one way" rentals, some places allow it, some don't. We are having same issue, very late flight 8pm on the Sunday we return, was thinking a car rental would be perfect solution. To clarify: "one way" rental I mean, rent from an office in downtown and return at the airport.

We did this earlier this month. We used Avis. Very convenient location you can walk to from cruise terminal.

I am wondering this too. I purchased the unlimited plan online for my cruise leaving today. I am hoping to get a credit for the lower price or at the very least get the premium plan. I will find out later today!

 

 

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How did this resolve itself?

Anyone else know the answer to this question generally speaking - i.e. if you purchased a "old" plan like "Internet - Unlimited", how does that translate to the newer plans that were subsequently introduced (but prior to the cruise). Do you get the streaming plan?

I read today that the National Weather Service has issued a River Flood Warning for Orleans Parish, stating from March 13 through March 21, the river is expected to rise near flood stage "making navigation and docking difficult." Anyone familiar with past flooding levels in NOLA know if this will impact the cruise ships? We're on the NCL Pearl sailing out on the 7th and coming back on the 11th, so I'm hoping we will be fine.

I read today that the National Weather Service has issued a River Flood Warning for Orleans Parish, stating from March 13 through March 21, the river is expected to rise near flood stage "making navigation and docking difficult." Anyone familiar with past flooding levels in NOLA know if this will impact the cruise ships? We're on the Pearl sailing out on the 7th and coming back on the 11th, so I assume we will be fine.

I'm curious, I previously purchased an "Internet - unlimited" plan for my March 7 sailing on the Pearl. I wonder how this corresponds to the new packages, including whether I will be allowed streaming.

Willa Jean’s takes reservations - we used the Open Table app. We actually had 5 people but it would only let us make reservations for 4 but we told them we had 5 when we got there. Not sure about times when times when it is less busy but I would assume week days would be less busy than weekends. Not sure about Cochon Butcher - haven’t been there.

 

 

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Shoot, I just checked and it must be a new development as it appears they no longer take reservations.

"Online reservations are not available as Willa Jean welcomes all guests on a first-come, first-served basis. Please join us daily from 7am-9pm"

Some restaurants we like include Drago’s (but only for the charbroiled oysters), located in the Hilton, Willa Jean’s is great for breakfast (make a reservation if you want to get in), Superior Seafood - (take an Uber), Dominica in the Roosevelt Hotel (we love the pizzas)....just to name a few.

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We definitely want to try Willa Jean's, but I didn't think they take reservations. Am I missing something?

We're also looking at Cochon Butcher. Are either of those places less busy at any time during the week? We're looking at lunch or dinner Monday-Wednesday, and brunch/lunch before heading to the airport on Sunday.

Reviving this thread instead of starting a new one...

We sail on the Pearl out of NOLA on March 7. How strict is NCL and/or the New Orleans Port on the assigned arrival time? Do they make you wait if you arrive early? I don't know that we will be there outside of our assigned arrival time, but I wanted to check in case our morning activities finish up early and we want to head to the Port a little early.

Post deleted - found answer eleswhere.

They are one liter bottles, about 3 times bigger than regular ones.

Oh, that's a little better. The bottles we ordered are 1/2 liter.

It's still a massive money grab by NCL.

Six bottles for $14? Is that the standard NCL price?

We just ordered a 24-pack for $10 for our Pearl cruise next month. Maybe it’s because it’s a Sixthman Cruise?

Stardust holds about a thousand people

 

 

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Thanks!

Reviving an old thread...

We're on a Sixthman cruise next month and several of the shows are in the Stardust Theater. Anyone have an idea how many people the theater can accommodate?

We are in a similar situation for next month. Our flight leaves at 4pm. I ended up booking a minivan to pickup near the port, that way we have somewhere to put our luggage plus have transportation to the airport. It was under $100 for a 9am pickup and 3pm drop-off at the airport.

Searching the forum, I haven't seen any recent discussions on this issue.

We're sailing out of New Orleans on the Pearl next month. We arrive back in port on Sunday morning, and our flight out of MSY is at 4:08pm. We'd like to drop our luggage off somewhere so we can go grab some brunch/lunch and walk around before going to the airport.

Any places to store luggage during the day, or even have it transported to the airport for us?

Searching the forum, I haven't seen any recent discussions on this issue.

We're sailing out of New Orleans next month. We arrive back in port on Sunday morning, and our flight out of MSY is at 4:08pm. We'd like to drop our luggage off somewhere so we can go grab some brunch/lunch and walk around before going to the airport.

Any places to store luggage during the day, or even have it transported to the airport for us?