MCT and MKING8288

[skeeter195]

When one wants solid info, one should go to a reliable source.  

 

MKING8288, would be so kind to briefly detail what the process will be at the MCT on Sunday for the Joy?  We are leaving next Sunday and with all of the different changes recently I figure you would be the one to get the facts correct.  We have taken 17 cruises from MCT and 2 since October.

 

Go directly to 88?

Dedicated Haven security line?

CAS and Sapphire and above lines?

And anything else.

 

You are always a wealth of information.   

 

Thanks 

[mking8288]

Hahaha, thanks for that recognition, LOL.  I am just one among the handful +  but shall make best efforts this Sunday to help all, worst come to worst - Mrs. M will throw me out into the small living room onboard with my tablet, smartphone or laptop after she give up her unlimited WiFi & go to sleep.  

 

Good news, all 6 in our group got negative results back from NYC's RRT Lab (free, Antigen Rapid testing) and uploaded already to Bermuda to complete the application.  Just 1 authorization received thus far, 5 more to go but it's still "early."  eDocs & everything else ready to go.  

 

Not so good news, weather-wise but that's to be expected ... just hate to be watching free TV in our cabin, but at least we got 3 TVs, 1 per person 😆 😆 😆 to choose which/what PPV to watch, while watching for "free" room sevice delivery.  Got 4 very happy & excited seniors in tow and they are very excited to be out at sea again.

 

Will be looking out for the Haven, Suite, Sapphire/Platinum (VIP) and CAS lines ... the accessible lane & help desk was definitely on the left inside Pier 88, as you approach the screeners & greeters.  Stay tune for "breaking news" as some of you know and hope it can help ... I, myself, was hoping to get some update from this week's Roll Call.  But, they must be having a wonderful time & now heading back onboard to not become pier runners.  

 

These pix from March's Getaway cruise, see how checked luggage might slip under the pier while being loaded - safety nets used, for backup.

 

Porters do cross 12th Ave with luggage during disembarkation = tips !!!  Taxi stand & lines were crazy and not organized. 

 

Various key "stations" for embarkation then. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by mking8288

[skeeter195]

I knew I could count on you.  Your room is going to be awesome.  I was also hoping for some updates this week from the Joy.  Your are probably right though about having too good a time.  I hope your wind and wave forecast changes, it looks like a bumpy ride out.  

 

Thank you again

[vacation44]

19 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Will be looking out for the Haven, Suite, Sapphire/Platinum (VIP) and CAS lines ... the accessible lane & help desk was definitely on the left inside Pier 88, as you approach the screeners & greeters.  Stay tune for "breaking news" as some of you know and hope it can help ... I, myself, was hoping to get some update from this week's Roll Call.  But, they must be having a wonderful time & now heading back onboard to not become pier runners.  

 

 

Various key "stations" for embarkation then. 

 

Thank you for scooping out the embarkation process for all categories.   We will be in a Suite (non Haven) in September and will not be Platinum until after the cruise.   As stated numerous times by NCL, we should have priority boarding, but as you well know, that does not seem to be the case in New York.

 

Have an wonderful sailing and I will be following along as always!

[mking8288]

T minus 1 day for some of us, our cruise vacation is going to begin and we know that some of you will be following along, a few will be anxious, just like us, as to what lies ahead.  It's been steady rain, off & on, for much of the night ... where is our preferred private transfer via a "luxury sedan" on prepaid & reliable "Carmel" car service to MCT.  

 

Weather is looking iffy for tomorrow's sailing out of NY and if we are stopping to call on Norfolk, VA but regardless, bags are packed and ready to go, 4 out of 6 Bermuda TA's issued & ready, just 2 more to go ... all submitted yesterday around noon.  The suspense & waiting game continues ... hmmm.  What if and then - the Bermuda "provisional waiver" should kick in, 2 of us will still be permitted to embark but confined to the Joy for the ride.  Hey, that's fine and will work too - that means we are still on vacation, a modified cruise vacation. 

 

NCL "pushed" another email out this morning to everyone on the May 8th Joy cruise to Bermuda, it is attached below as a PDF - self explanatory - about the required & mandatory, additional on-board (free, no extra charge but compulsory) Antigen Rapid test.  

 

Knowing that some of you are on the CC Roll Call following us, and not all Joy cruises have a planned stop in Norfolk, VA - information about the extra onboard, free, testing requirements for anyone & everyone going ashore to see Virginia will need to take part in - it's not applicable to the rest.  Feel free to cut-n-paste or link to folks on your roll call to share.  NCL is certain to email and message those booked directly, if applicable.  

 

If there is something else important, feel free to leave a comment and/or wait till we go "semi" tomorrow and onboard - BTW, tomorrow's Haven & Suites categories are basically all (bids upgraded) sold out at this point, some club (minis) balconies still unsold and tons, tons of balconies in the inventory, for certain sections of a given decks - entire blocks of balconies to choose from now - approximately 200 of them for a sub.total.  That's crazy & speak to probably overall occupancy vs. capped capacity (if any) and max. lifeboat capacity, if really, really sold out - NOT.  The most crowded decks onboard this week on the Joy - Haven ... me think, gotta use those accumulated & soon to expire FCC.  

 

Alaska on fire sale, last minute and even Canada/New England, already "reduced" again on NCL before final payment - haha, "Haven" can wait - a spacious "cabin" on a lower deck will be just fine for us.  Be happy, be kind, be nice and stay healthy - our early retirement tagline is "Everyday is Sunday".  

 

BTW, Norwegian Joy left Dockyard yesterday afternoon a little earlier than planned, maybe to get a jump ahead of the approaching weather systems - arrival around 4 am tomorrow into NYC, per Marinetraffic data.  From her live "joycam" - sea conditions look okay, 5' to 8' waves currently.

 

https://www.ncl.com/shipcams/joycam/fullsize.jpg

 

NCL's ferry - Spirit of St. George was (is) running this week, crossing the Joy's bow ... on shipcam (free to/from SG on the east end of Bermuda)

 

  

NCL - Bermuda Embarkation Info PDF May 7 2022.pdf

Edited May 7, 2022 by mking8288

[JandC_Cruising]

48 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Knowing that some of you are on the CC Roll Call following us, and not all Joy cruises have a planned stop in Norfolk, VA - information about the extra onboard, free, testing requirements for anyone & everyone going ashore to see Virginia will need to take part in - it's not applicable to the rest. 

@mking8288 Thank you for all the valuable info! 

We are on the June 12th sailing with our adult children/SO's and cannot wait!

We are very anxious to see how/if the Virginia process changes.  We have no plan of getting off the ship there.  However, there  seems to be much conflicting information on process.  The letter you attached seems to indicate that ALL Guests will be retested:

 

Where Bermuda is not the first port of call, or if the ship takes longer than four days to arrive in Bermuda, all guests, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to take an additional antigen or PCR test onboard no more than two days prior to disembarking in Bermuda. This test will be paid for and administered by our onboard medical team.. 

 

I'm sure you will let us all know what actually occurs on your sailing!  We are all hoping to not have to test again if we stay on the ship. 

 

Have a wonderful time (rain or shine)!   Looking forward to your reports through the week!

Best , Jon & Carolyn

[dexddd]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

T minus 1 day for some of us, our cruise vacation is going to begin and we know that some of you will be following along, a few will be anxious, just like us, as to what lies ahead.  It's been steady rain, off & on, for much of the night ... where is our preferred private transfer via a "luxury sedan" on prepaid & reliable "Carmel" car service to MCT.  

 

Weather is looking iffy for tomorrow's sailing out of NY and if we are stopping to call on Norfolk, VA but regardless, bags are packed and ready to go, 4 out of 6 Bermuda TA's issued & ready, just 2 more to go ... all submitted yesterday around noon.  The suspense & waiting game continues ... hmmm.  What if and then - the Bermuda "provisional waiver" should kick in, 2 of us will still be permitted to embark but confined to the Joy for the ride.  Hey, that's fine and will work too - that means we are still on vacation, a modified cruise vacation. 

 

NCL "pushed" another email out this morning to everyone on the May 8th Joy cruise to Bermuda, it is attached below as a PDF - self explanatory - about the required & mandatory, additional on-board (free, no extra charge but compulsory) Antigen Rapid test.  

 

Knowing that some of you are on the CC Roll Call following us, and not all Joy cruises have a planned stop in Norfolk, VA - information about the extra onboard, free, testing requirements for anyone & everyone going ashore to see Virginia will need to take part in - it's not applicable to the rest.  Feel free to cut-n-paste or link to folks on your roll call to share.  NCL is certain to email and message those booked directly, if applicable.  

 

If there is something else important, feel free to leave a comment and/or wait till we go "semi" tomorrow and onboard - BTW, tomorrow's Haven & Suites categories are basically all (bids upgraded) sold out at this point, some club (minis) balconies still unsold and tons, tons of balconies in the inventory, for certain sections of a given decks - entire blocks of balconies to choose from now - approximately 200 of them for a sub.total.  That's crazy & speak to probably overall occupancy vs. capped capacity (if any) and max. lifeboat capacity, if really, really sold out - NOT.  The most crowded decks onboard this week on the Joy - Haven ... me think, gotta use those accumulated & soon to expire FCC.  

 

Alaska on fire sale, last minute and even Canada/New England, already "reduced" again on NCL before final payment - haha, "Haven" can wait - a spacious "cabin" on a lower deck will be just fine for us.  Be happy, be kind, be nice and stay healthy - our early retirement tagline is "Everyday is Sunday".  

 

BTW, Norwegian Joy left Dockyard yesterday afternoon a little earlier than planned, maybe to get a jump ahead of the approaching weather systems - arrival around 4 am tomorrow into NYC, per Marinetraffic data.  From her live "joycam" - sea conditions look okay, 5' to 8' waves currently.

 

https://www.ncl.com/shipcams/joycam/fullsize.jpg

 

NCL's ferry - Spirit of St. George was (is) running this week, crossing the Joy's bow ... on shipcam (free to/from SG on the east end of Bermuda)

 

  

NCL - Bermuda Embarkation Info PDF May 7 2022.pdf 89.28 kB · 9 downloads

Have a great trip.  Safe sailing.

[worktocruise610]

@mking8288 what is the provisional waiver? And why would you have to stay onboard?

[mking8288]

Progress report on our Bermuda TA, the last 2 were issued this morning.  We are all set - Green TA #'s (7 digits) printed in PDF format and save to smart/i/Phones for use & upon request for check-in.  

 

@dexddd - Thanks, you are still on track for Prima's T/A ... we might still be on (another) ship then.  Anything you've like me to take a good look onboard the Joy, outside of Haven ...

 

 

@worktocruise610 - This provisional waiver is relatively new, between Bermuda's health authorities and the cruiselines, specifically, just setup recently with NCL to allow those that've submitted their initial TA application and vaccination proof, and also negative test results to board or embark on the ship, as scheduled ... that is, until such time that the TA #'s are issued while en route.  It's not clear exactly who is doing what, a waiting game for more processing time, ship's guest services requesting a batch processing for this "group", or after arrival.  With this Green TA # - those passengers would not be permitted to disembark in Bermuda, and, thus, must and can only stay on the ship.

 

As of this morning, 4 out of 6 in our group has been approved with 2 still pending - thus, if not resolved - we will proceed to check-in tomorrow and this provisional waiver would kick in or be applied, and we will be able to step foot onboard & sail with the rest ... while the matters get fixed or resolved, then, be allowed to enter Bermuda upon arrival there, or held onboard.   Up until recently, passengers have been denied boarding on ships destined for Bermuda without this TA, and there was no PW arranged. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by mking8288

[worktocruise610]

@mking8288 thanks didn’t read that part. Still having problems with one of mine, really don’t want to wait online tomorrow to get help from Bermuda reps. Have called once, sent multiple emails, on hold again. Keeping fingers crossed. This cruise can’t come fast enough!

[mking8288]

@worktocruise610 - Oh, I see ... mine was among the last 2 received this morning.  I was a little worried but didn't panic.  Do you have the Bermuda Gov' email link used to submit test results - click on the link and check, it is possible that it's been approved already but they didn't inform or notify you.

 

If it's been processed & approved, just initial it in the box, hand sign below in the big box, "continue" and that's your TA #.  This trick might work, might not - doesn't hurt to give it a try - quick & easy vs. spending 2 hours on-hold to get thru to Bermuda on that toll-free #. 

 

I cross-posted this "discovery" on the other thread about the new Bermuda TA/provisional waiver, just in case.  Gonna to be at Tuesday's M&G ??  - then, hopefully we can have all laugh about this mess & grab a drink (alcohol-free ones for me)

Edited May 7, 2022 by mking8288

[JGmf]

On 5/6/2022 at 2:39 PM, vacation44 said:

As stated numerous times by NCL, we should have priority boarding, but as you well know, that does not seem to be the case in New York.

 

Amen.  As I posted on another thread, our Joy April 26 embarkation process out of Pier 88 was a free-for-all.  Haven area? Yes.  Everyone else, however, was lumped together on a single queue with a mad rush.  Hopefully for yours and other cruises out of Pier 88 they have improved the process. 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[worktocruise610]

@mking8288 I finally got it done! Thanks so much for all your help and yes, I’ll be there Tuesday, can’t wait to laugh about it, and meet everyone, of course 😁

[dexddd]

20 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Progress report on our Bermuda TA, the last 2 were issued this morning.  We are all set - Green TA #'s (7 digits) printed in PDF format and save to smart/i/Phones for use & upon request for check-in.  

 

@dexddd - Thanks, you are still on track for Prima's T/A ... we might still be on (another) ship then.  Anything you've like me to take a good look onboard the Joy, outside of Haven ...

 

 

@worktocruise610 - This provisional waiver is relatively new, between Bermuda's health authorities and the cruiselines, specifically, just setup recently with NCL to allow those that've submitted their initial TA application and vaccination proof, and also negative test results to board or embark on the ship, as scheduled ... that is, until such time that the TA #'s are issued while en route.  It's not clear exactly who is doing what, a waiting game for more processing time, ship's guest services requesting a batch processing for this "group", or after arrival.  With this Green TA # - those passengers would not be permitted to disembark in Bermuda, and, thus, must and can only stay on the ship.

 

As of this morning, 4 out of 6 in our group has been approved with 2 still pending - thus, if not resolved - we will proceed to check-in tomorrow and this provisional waiver would kick in or be applied, and we will be able to step foot onboard & sail with the rest ... while the matters get fixed or resolved, then, be allowed to enter Bermuda upon arrival there, or held onboard.   Up until recently, passengers have been denied boarding on ships destined for Bermuda without this TA, and there was no PW arranged. 

We really hope the TA goes, the first sailing cancelled after final and next sailing waiting to hear.

You do a great job of reporting so I'm sure you'll cover it all. Enjoy!