Sailing on Vista 8/20 - few questions

[Stevesgirl00]

Hi

 

First time poster. This is my second cruise. I sailed with NCL years ago. We are headed to Miami from NY next week for the a Vista Cruise leaving on 8/20.

 

There are 23 (ages 4-75) of us sailing as we are celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary and my daughters Sweet 16. It was her idea for the cruise it's all she wanted was for her whole family to be together...on a boat...with no where to go...lol Kids!

 

Please excuse me as I don't know all the abbreviations

 

Anyway, just a few questions - We have 6 Ocean Suites.

My luggage tag says priority and has the FTTF logo on it my boarding pass only has a priority marking.

 

Am I correct in assuming that this gets us on the boat faster and that is it? No guarantee of the room being ready?

 

Does an automatic gratuity get added per person/room/day? Can I have that removed and tip on my own?

 

I myself have 5 children - I was not getting all of them the soda pkge. yay or nay? Same with alcohol pkge. My husband and I happen to be registered in separate rooms to accommodate all the kids so really only he or I could purchase one since we both are the only adults registered to our rooms.

 

Because we are such a large group do we have any negotiation power for the excursions? For the most part we all want to do the same ones. Blue Hole in Ocho Rios, a stinray snorkel thing in Cozumel and the Turtle Farm in Grand Caymen. If a no with the negotiations should we pre-book?

 

Is there any other tip that can be offered with such a large group? We are hoping to have at least 1 dinner to celebrate the birthday and the anniversary at the steak house. I undertstand we may need to be split into multiple tables - out of the 23 people 14 are kids.

[mississauga]

Sorry, just saw this. You may have found your answers elsewhere already but just in case, here are my answers /tips to your questions in red.

 

Congratulations to your in laws and daughter. Have a great cruise!

 

 

Hi

 

First time poster. This is my second cruise. I sailed with NCL years ago. We are headed to Miami from NY next week for the a Vista Cruise leaving on 8/20.

 

There are 23 (ages 4-75) of us sailing as we are celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary and my daughters Sweet 16. It was her idea for the cruise it's all she wanted was for her whole family to be together...on a boat...with no where to go...lol Kids!

 

Please excuse me as I don't know all the abbreviations

 

Anyway, just a few questions - We have 6 Ocean Suites.

My luggage tag says priority and has the FTTF logo on it my boarding pass only has a priority marking.

 

Am I correct in assuming that this gets us on the boat faster and that is it? No guarantee of the room being ready? That is my understanding. You board after the wedding parties, Diamond, Platinum and that's it. If your luggage tags say FTTF, your luggage should have priority getting to your suite early.

 

Does an automatic gratuity get added per person/room/day? Can I have that removed and tip on my own? the total automatic gratuity usually gets added to each person's folio about the second last day of the cruise. Please don't remove the tips. The tips are shared and you may not come face to face with some crew that have shared in making your cruise a fun one. You can go to GS to remove them but usually is done only if you have a good reason such as poor service to do so.

 

I myself have 5 children - I was not getting all of them the soda pkge. yay or nay? Same with alcohol pkge. My husband and I happen to be registered in separate rooms to accommodate all the kids so really only he or I could purchase one since we both are the only adults registered to our rooms. Did you know that you are allowed to bring on 12 cans of soda per person? That might be less cost than buying the soda pkg?

 

Because we are such a large group do we have any negotiation power for the excursions? For the most part we all want to do the same ones. Blue Hole in Ocho Rios, a stinray snorkel thing in Cozumel and the Turtle Farm in Grand Caymen. If a no with the negotiations should we pre-book? I believe the prices are per person and no group rates available. If you wait until you are on board, the spaces you need for your large group may not be available for all. Spaces are limited on most excursions

 

Is there any other tip that can be offered with such a large group? We are hoping to have at least 1 dinner to celebrate the birthday and the anniversary at the steak house. I undertstand we may need to be split into multiple tables - out of the 23 people 14 are kids

Again, since you have such a large group, to ensure you are able to get reservations for such a large group you should pre book if it is not too late already

.

[Stevesgirl00]

Sorry, just saw this. You may have found your answers elsewhere already but just in case, here are my answers /tips to your questions in red.

 

Congratulations to your in laws and daughter. Have a great cruise!

 

 

Thank you for the answer - I did get answers from Firemanbobswife and I promise not to mess with tips having them prepaid!

[kc58ab]

I did the turtle farm Excursion last year in Grand Cayman and loved it. I just wanted to let you know there's a couple of different ones that look really similar we went for one that was apparently like $10 cheaper and there is a section there that you can only go into with the other package. Just wanted to throw that out to you in case you didn't catch it when looking like me.

[firemanbobswife]

I did the turtle farm Excursion last year in Grand Cayman and loved it. I just wanted to let you know there's a couple of different ones that look really similar we went for one that was apparently like $10 cheaper and there is a section there that you can only go into with the other package. Just wanted to throw that out to you in case you didn't catch it when looking like me.

 

Went to the Turtle Farm when the boys were little. I love turtles and we were all looking so forward to it. Had a great time holding them, etc. All was well up until the end when they told us they raise them for FOOD! Yes almost all the turtles with the exception of a few that would be released would be butchered for meat. My boys looked at me, I looked at them, and we all came close to breaking out in tears. Our eyes watered up and I had to get the hell out of there. It's called a farm for a reason. You couldn't pay me to go back. The worst excursion for us of all time!

[kc58ab]

Went to the Turtle Farm when the boys were little. I love turtles and we were all looking so forward to it. Had a great time holding them, etc. All was well up until the end when they told us they raise them for FOOD! Yes almost all the turtles with the exception of a few that would be released would be butchered for meat. My boys looked at me, I looked at them, and we all came close to breaking out in tears. Our eyes watered up and I had to get the hell out of there. It's called a farm for a reason. You couldn't pay me to go back. The worst excursion for us of all time!

:( That would be awful for little ones to hear and have to explain. I assume it is the same place as you went. They however did not mention anything about them being raised for meat thankfully.

[firemanbobswife]

:( That would be awful for little ones to hear and have to explain. I assume it is the same place as you went. They however did not mention anything about them being raised for meat thankfully.

 

Yes. It's the only turtle farm there. It was at the end where you go to the "education center" or whatever you call it. Honestly the last few minutes there are a blur. I'm not easily rattled, but that did me in. I'm not a vegetarian by any means, but I also don't go and play with cows, chickens, and pigs that are going to be eaten. I think it's a horrible place and won't spend a dime there ever again. Feel free to Google it. I bet if more people knew what it was really about, they wouldn't go either.

[kc58ab]

When we went in March they said it wasn't in season for the area that you could go look at eggs inside a building. I wonder if that's the part that you heard that statement. If so I would avoid that part as I wouldn't want to hear that either. I know some people eat turtle but here that is not common so I wouldn't have expected that.

[firemanbobswife]

When we went in March they said it wasn't in season for the area that you could go look at eggs inside a building. I wonder if that's the part that you heard that statement. If so I would avoid that part as I wouldn't want to hear that either. I know some people eat turtle but here that is not common so I wouldn't have expected that.

 

Turtle meat is a commodity there on the island and they consider it no different than eating chicken. That's why it's a "farm". There were some pictures on a wall with them releasing turtles into the sea. Every year they release a few (as in like 3 or 4) to help the population around the island. When I asked what they do with the rest is when she told me they are butchered. I wouldn't think it would be advertised or mentioned freely as many people wouldn't go. But feel free to Google it. You'll see.

Here's an article https://www.google.com/amp/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/2017/05/wildlife-watch-cayman-turtle-farm-welfare-controversy

[kc58ab]

At the beginning they did talk about them being released into the wild.

Yes I agree it wouldn't be wise advertisement to draw attention to that as some people would be bothered by it. Personally I wouldn't love to hear that either, but my father was also a third generation dairy farmer so I grew up around cattle. We had beef cattle as well and we would bottle feed the calves knowing what was coming later. It isn't pleasant, but it is also part of life I suppose.

Still good information though for people to be aware in case they discuss that sometimes if they don't want to have to explain to their little kids.

[firemanbobswife]

I understand what you're saying. It is good for people to know the truth so at least they can be prepared or avoid it if they don't agree.

[kc58ab]

I understand what you're saying. It is good for people to know the truth so at least they can be prepared or avoid it if they don't agree.

 

Agreed. After reading the article I would have given it more thought as well being the alleged mistreatment of the turtles.

With any for-profit business the goal is to make money. That limits some options, but that doesn't excuse inhumane conditions for any animal.

Thanks for sharing the article.

[firemanbobswife]

Agreed. After reading the article I would have given it more thought as well being the alleged mistreatment of the turtles.

With any for-profit business the goal is to make money. That limits some options, but that doesn't excuse inhumane conditions for any animal.

Thanks for sharing the article.

 

You're very welcome. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

[Jdfireman]

fire wife ty again

[firemanbobswife]

fire wife ty again

 

You're welcome :)