Return to cruising: a (hopefully) drama-free zone

[milolii]

Yes a must have and if  you forget or don’t bring them, you can buy them on board.  At a cost of course. 

[Honolulu Blue]

On 5/25/2021 at 9:49 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

I scheduled myself on one of NCL Gem's sailings in September a few weeks ago.  I'm expecting a wild and wacky adventure from first flight to last.  Part of the adventure is that this will be my first time sailing with NCL, so there's a new ship and a new culture to deal with.  Another part is that it's the middle of hurricane season, which may stir things up (literally and figuratively).  Yet another part is exploring the ports to the extent that they'll allow us to.

 

UPDATE:  My NCL Gem sailing for November went POOF.  So my current scheduled next cruise is in March (a music-themed charter, my first of those).  I might find another cruise between now and then, or maybe I won't.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Honolulu Blue

[Epic_Bear]

Cannot wait to return to cruising, but am doing a week in Vermont and self drive tour Iceland this summer before hopping back on these trips:

December 27th-Jan 5th: Getaway/Caribbean 

May 20th-27th, 2022: Pearl/Bermuda

August 20th-27th, 2022: Hawaii

 

So looking forward to a drink on my balcony and watching the ocean go by.

[mking8288]

Pack your best digital camera along, with spare/standalone battery pack for boost/recharging (your iPhone XR, 11+ or 12+, Samsung Galaxies or Pixel 4XL or 5's, etc.) and/or digital camcorders (yeah, oh "school") and USB/memory cards to preserve those scenic memories.  A (good) binocular is a must.  

 

For anyone planning to stay pre- and post- in/around Seattle, prepare for those surge in car rental prices (if you can book one at all) but otherwise, Uber/Lyft or taxi & car services are the way to go - skip it for pier/airport transportation if shuttle services are offered/available from your hotel or lodging.  Dress & pack in layers, mix & match clothing ... 

 

Last but not least, pack "patience" and kindness - now, let's speculate who is going to be the CD and ACD onboard to welcome ya onboard ... and whether there is going to be a M&G with all the returning Latitude "elites".   

Edited June 1, 2021 by mking8288

[AdoraBelle]

After much agonizing over the last two weeks or so, I finally canceled this sailing at the last minute (er, the last minute before I would incur a financial penalty). 

Things are changing so fast (the politics at the state and federal level, different cruise lines' stated policies, lots of allegiance-shifting among all of them depending on which way the wind is blowing that day) that it was causing me more stress than enjoyment to have it booked. I thought I knew what I was getting when I first booked, but that was even a different ship when this thread started. 🙂

 

I'm really hoping that in another month (or ideally sooner) things will be clearer, instead of the muddy mess they are. (I know most of the mess is happening with FL, and not currently NCL, or at least not NCL out of Seattle.) I would love to just be able to rebook the same cruise at that time. I miss cruising so much.

 

I didn't cancel out of fear of the virus (I'm vaccinated and pretty good at personal risk assessment), just the stress of not knowing which politician, government entity, or cruise line is going make some unexpected change after I'm already financially locked in. I waited until the last minute hoping there would be some clarity in FL vs CDC and so on, but it seems to still be dragging out. I also want to see what happens when there are more positive tests on upcoming cruises--I think Celebrity Mill. has proven that we're going to get positive tests no matter what, and I want to see how the cruise lines and different ports of call react. (No, I don't care about the media coverage and it is not an influence here. I actually don't even care that much about being confined to my room if I end up 'exposed'; I love my solitude. Although I guess Alaska is one cruise where you DON'T want to be quarantined in an inside, as I would be, even with a virtual porthole.)

 

I kept my flight in place for now--if nothing else I might do a land-based west coast thing. I've never seen that part of the country. 

 

For info's sake since I've never canceled a cruise before: It was a very fast phone call, NCL rep was absolutely pleasant, didn't ask why or try to talk me out of it (honestly I'm sure they're sick of hearing 'covid blah blah'), and I was told 7-10 business days on refund. (For some reason I thought it was like six weeks.) Right now my account only shows a weird cruisenext balance of $63 (this is probably an artifact from the move from Bliss to Encore ... when they finally got my booking straightened out after the ship change, I somehow had -$63 pending). I don't see my $500 worth of certs returned yet, but I'm not going to worry about it for a few days. 

 

In short, cancelling was painless. (Every time I've dealt with an NCL rep on the phone for this, from my first nervous booking, to straightening out my incorrect $700 balance, to cancelling, they have been absolutely lovely and pleasant.)

 

Hoping to revive this thread in the coming weeks if things look more stable, with a post saying "So anyway I'm rebooked now ..."

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by AdoraBelle

[milolii]

Hopefully you  will get to cruise soon.  Lots of things to see out West, if you don’t   make the cruise.