Semi-Live Getaway: Feb 26 - Mar 10, 2023 NY - So. Caribbean ... 12 nights

[Turtles06]

 " 2 hours ago, @PistolPete13said: 

You know, Celebrity is one of the lines I’d definitely consider trying but the fact that they don’t sail out of NYC squashes that thought."

 

16 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Celebrity does Bermuda cruises from Cape Liberty in Bayonne on the Summit..one of their older ships, similar in size to NCL's Jewel class ships.

 

The Summit is indeed an older ship, but she was basically gutted and beautifully updated from the inside out in 2019 (unlike anything NCL has done to the Jewel class ships).  We loved our NE/Canada cruise on her in September 2019 from Cape Liberty.   (She no longer does that run from NJ.)

 

 @PistolPete13 no reason for you to remember, but from your perch on Staten Island, you got a photo of us on our balcony on the Summit as we sailed away, just as we approached the Verrazzano.  🙂 

 

 

 

 

[LoungerOnBalcony55]

1 hour ago, Rubybadu said:

Sat and watched them threatening people the other day. I’ve just stopped going downstairs and spend the evenings at spice.

Details on the nature of these threats, please? 

[Jordan61]

4 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

The next stop was at that famous beach (the name escapes me now) where planes come in to land basically on top of your head.  The captain had perfect timing and got the boat right under a landing jet.  I’m a frequent air show enthusiast and they never fly planes directly over the crowds so this was a first for me.

 

This made me smile. Son and his girlfriend are taking a cruise in June and this is the one thing they are looking forward to most! She's a private pilot and he's taking lessons to become one.

[EllieinNJ]

On a Princess cruise last November during a bus tour we were dropped off at the beach for 45 minutes and not one plane came by overhead.

[Rubybadu]

so today has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen on a cruise ship 

 

st kitts all aboard is 1330

 

they have closed all the restaurants bar the buffet and osheans for lunch. There is a queue to get into the buffet and then a queue to get in line to look for food.

 

absolute piss poor planning by ncl    

[Rubybadu]

2 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

On a Princess cruise last November during a bus tour we were dropped off at the beach for 45 minutes and not one plane came by overhead.

Main Planes don’t start arriving until around 2pm 

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, Rubybadu said:

so today has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen on a cruise ship 

 

st kitts all aboard is 1330

 

they have closed all the restaurants bar the buffet and osheans for lunch. There is a queue to get into the buffet and then a queue to get in line to look for food.

 

absolute piss poor planning by ncl    

 

What a shame.  St. Kitts is a beautiful island.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Turtles06

[GSfromCT]

1 hour ago, Rubybadu said:

so today has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen on a cruise ship 

 

st kitts all aboard is 1330

 

they have closed all the restaurants bar the buffet and osheans for lunch. There is a queue to get into the buffet and then a queue to get in line to look for food.

 

absolute piss poor planning by ncl    

Did the situation match the Daily?

[Red-Sol]

1 hour ago, Rubybadu said:

so today has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen on a cruise ship 

 

st kitts all aboard is 1330

 

they have closed all the restaurants bar the buffet and osheans for lunch. There is a queue to get into the buffet and then a queue to get in line to look for food.

 

absolute piss poor planning by ncl    

 

I must be mistaken because I thought I heard that St. Kitts was not happening at all on your cruise but was replaced with St. Maarten?!?!

Edited March 3, 2023 by Red-Sol

[Sugar Magnolia]

18 minutes ago, Red-Sol said:

 

I must be mistaken because I thought I heard that St. Kitts was not happening at all on your cruise but was replaced with St. Maarten?!?!

 

According to the revised itinerary that @cruiseny4life posted (smuggled) back on Sunday, St Lucia was canceled for today Friday, St Kitts was rescheduled from Thursday to today, and St Maarten was added for yesterday Thursday.

 

[pcrum]

18 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 " 2 hours ago, @PistolPete13said: 

You know, Celebrity is one of the lines I’d definitely consider trying but the fact that they don’t sail out of NYC squashes that thought."

 

 

The Summit is indeed an older ship, but she was basically gutted and beautifully updated from the inside out in 2019 (unlike anything NCL has done to the Jewel class ships).  We loved our NE/Canada cruise on her in September 2019 from Cape Liberty.   (She no longer does that run from NJ.)

 

 @PistolPete13 no reason for you to remember, but from your perch on Staten Island, you got a photo of us on our balcony on the Summit as we sailed away, just as we approached the Verrazzano.  🙂 

 

 

 

 

Another plug for the Celebrity Summit.  We sailed this ship from Miami last December and loved it.  Wonderful crew and service. 

[timcahill98]

And another plug - I sailed on Celebrity Summit back on the October 31st run in the Caribbean.  I really enjoyed it and had no complaints about the ship or the crew. Highly recommended!

[mking8288]

On 2/26/2023 at 1:04 PM, bluesea777 said:

Looks like 5 ships were scheduled for St. Lucia on Friday March 3rd: 3 mega and 2 small ones. Getaway and the 2 small ships are "anchorage" and the other 2 mega are "docked": Epic and Mein Schiff 2.

cruise-schedule-saint-lucia-2022-2023-updated-10-nov-20221.pdf (slaspa.com)

 

Wondering if NCL (and maybe other cruise ships arrivals this month are impacted by St. Lucia's new digital entry/arrival form for all travelers - just picked this up in Travel & Leisure magazine - 

and, looked up St. Lucia's official government portal ... which, seemed to now require all travelers - including vaccinated visitors - to submit the form AND - ready, PCR test results within 5 days of arrival (hmmm  ...) 

https://www.stlucia.org/fr/covid-19/international-arrivals/

 

I don't see a problem with submitting the digital form and answering health questions - but, getting timely PCR test results, that can be a challenge for some travelers, including those coming in on a cruise ship.  Perhaps, there is a waiver and exceptions being made - the government portal isn't showing any updated info for ships or "Arrival By Sea" 

https://www.stlucia.org/fr/covid-19/international-arrivals/

 

Will cross-post this information on its own here on the NCL board  ... 

Anyone else onboard the Getaway currently can do a little facts-checking, although I"m doubtful they will say anything and probably bounce the matter to Miami for answers.  

 

[mking8288]

St. Lucia's new ?? requirements appeared to be for travelers arriving by air only.  Getting a 404 error on their marine-protocols, that's confusing at best and not helpful. 

 

Elsewhere on the official government website - We are pleased to advise that with effect from Wednesday February 01, 2023, all COVID entry related requirements will be removed. This includes the Health Screening form which will no longer be a requirement.  

 

Okay, not posting anything else at this point about St. Lucia  - just fake news & rumors ??  

[PistolPete13]

Arriving in Bridgetown this morning. Sorry for no update yesterday. Was a busy excursion day and I was exhausted in the evening!

[PistolPete13]

Some free WiFi on the dock waiting for my excursion 

[PistolPete13]

On 3/2/2023 at 9:08 PM, tokidoki said:

I am that butter person! Thx again for thinking of me and my butter situations! 

 

[PistolPete13]

A bit chaotic now with 2 other ships in port. Never heard of those cruise companies. 
 

Arvia and something else 

 

 

[PistolPete13]

19 hours ago, Rubybadu said:

so today has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen on a cruise ship 

 

st kitts all aboard is 1330

 

they have closed all the restaurants bar the buffet and osheans for lunch. There is a queue to get into the buffet and then a queue to get in line to look for food.

 

absolute piss poor planning by ncl    

no wonder the buffet was absolutely chaos. I ended up at O’Sheehans. 
 

At least for Barbados today (7am arrival) breakfast service started a bit earlier. I didn’t eat anything until 2pm yesterday. 

[bedfordmom]

Is anyone having trouble getting their room cleaned before 5 pm? That is the most frustrating part of the once a day cleaning. Yesterday was staff muster do they were super late. 

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, PistolPete13 said:

A bit chaotic now with 2 other ships in port. Never heard of those cruise companies. 
 

Arvia and something else 

 

 

Seabourn Ovation is docked in Bridgetown today.

[AwesomO]

1 hour ago, bedfordmom said:

Is anyone having trouble getting their room cleaned before 5 pm? That is the most frustrating part of the once a day cleaning. Yesterday was staff muster do they were super late. 

I'm not on this sailing, but was on last week, and our room was always cleaned in a timely manner. I was surprised how quickly, some days. I'm sure if you have a good steward, they try to make a general note of when people vacate their rooms for the day, and their return habits, and plan cleaning accordingly. 

[Arzeena]

12 hours ago, timcahill98 said:

And another plug - I sailed on Celebrity Summit back on the October 31st run in the Caribbean.  I really enjoyed it and had no complaints about the ship or the crew. Highly recommended!

And another one!
Love the updated Summit. We are doing a 7 day Bermuda cruise in June from NJ.

[Mlake09]

5 hours ago, AwesomO said:

I'm not on this sailing, but was on last week, and our room was always cleaned in a timely manner. I was surprised how quickly, some days. I'm sure if you have a good steward, they try to make a general note of when people vacate their rooms for the day, and their return habits, and plan cleaning accordingly. 

I was also on last week, but one difference is last week Getaway was still doing twice a day cleanings, and this week is the first sailing that has swapped over to once a day cleaning. All of the room stewards are now responsible for more rooms, and service will take place all day up till dinner time.

[mking8288]

1 minute ago, Mlake09 said:

All of the room stewards are now responsible for more rooms, and service will take place all day up till dinner time.

This !!! 

 

All of their job titles now changed from room steward to "room attendant" from what we understood last month, junior attendant sort of promoted but the ones with the seniority, not.  How and whether this is going to result in higher turnover among the crew, we won't know for a while until after those current 8 months contract are up for renewal.