(Semi?) - Live From the Sun | Panama Canal | MIA to SEA 04/21 - 05/11

[mking8288]

Good morning and I'm sorry reading about your unpleasant and unplanned adventure, at least your ship is safely docked.  Our friends that came off the Sun's TA last Tuesday were surprised to learn of this. Imagine losing power in the Atlantic and nearest port facility 1,500 or 2,500 nm away. 

 

Think positive, keep that sense of humor and patience, go with the flow, and add sugar to the lemonade.  To sail and sustain, for our (in) convenience - a week on a cruise is better than being at work or bored at home - if NCL read in-between my posts, they'll have me walking the plank 😁😆😬🙈😹.  Those that know me on CC do pick up the subtle things in between the lines. 

 

Hope everything turns out the best for you and everyone onboard.  I should've sleep in this morning instead of ...  Lines onboard here are pretty bad 🙄

 

Regards & best wishes

[smillerholmes]

Announcement from the Cruise Director: Local tour operators have generously provided 400 tickets for a tour of Cartagena from 10:30-13:30 today.

 

Nice! Lots of cruisers showing up in the Atrium for those first come first serve tickets.

[smillerholmes]

6 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Good morning and I'm sorry reading about your unpleasant and unplanned adventure, at least your ship is safely docked.  Our friends that came off the Sun's TA last Tuesday were surprised to learn of this. Imagine losing power in the Atlantic and nearest port facility 1,500 or 2,500 nm away. 

Totally agree about being safely docked vs. floating/stranded in the middle of the ocean.

 

6 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Think positive, keep that sense of humor and patience, go with the flow, and add sugar to the lemonade.  To sail and sustain, for our (in) convenience - a week on a cruise is better than being at work or bored at home - if NCL read in-between my posts, they'll have me walking the plank 😁😆😬🙈😹.  Those that know me on CC do pick up the subtle things in between the lines. 

 

Hope everything turns out the best for you and everyone onboard.  I should've sleep in this morning instead of ...  Lines onboard here are pretty bad 🙄

 

Regards & best wishes

That's me keeping it positive.  I really was looking forward to doing less and this cruise has not disappointed. 😁

 

Since we are docked the Casino has been closed so I figure they are saving me some mega bucks for my next cruise.  Thanks for the well wishes and enjoy your cruise as well!

 

 

 

[mking8288]

This is what our seasoned CC & NCL Sapphire friends think - verbatim, FWIW

 

Sun is currently in Cartagena, so she would have missed her window of entering the Canal Zone. It had to be daily @7am providing she can schedule a position. As such she should exit the Canal Zone on the Pacific side around 5pm. Likely she will cancel ports on the Pacific coast to get to Long Beach on time. Sun is likely aiming for an early afternoon departure to make the schedule for the transit. 

[smillerholmes]

8 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

This is what our seasoned CC & NCL Sapphire friends think - verbatim, FWIW

 

Sun is currently in Cartagena, so she would have missed her window of entering the Canal Zone. It had to be daily @7am providing she can schedule a position. As such she should exit the Canal Zone on the Pacific side around 5pm. Likely she will cancel ports on the Pacific coast to get to Long Beach on time. Sun is likely aiming for an early afternoon departure to make the schedule for the transit. 

That definitely makes sense because as much as I like to roll with the punches I do expect to go through the Canal and experience it during the day. 🤞

 I am going to keep on being positive because today is not a work day which is always a plus in my book!

 

Thanks again for the insightful info!

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

This is what our seasoned CC & NCL Sapphire friends think - verbatim, FWIW. Sun is currently in Cartagena, so she would have missed her window of entering the Canal Zone. It had to be daily @7am providing she can schedule a position. As such she should exit the Canal Zone on the Pacific side around 5pm. Likely she will cancel ports on the Pacific coast to get to Long Beach on time. Sun is likely aiming for an early afternoon departure to make the schedule for the transit. 

 

Having transited the Canal four times, I'd say that's a pretty good explanation. NCL will have paid extra to reserve a daylight transit for the Sun, I'm pretty sure on a specific day.  Hopefully, NCL will still be able to take the Sun through on a different day.  Ships typically leave Cartagena early in the afternoon in order to get to the Atlantic entrance to the Canal by around 5:30am the next morning, in line for the daylight transit, which will typically start around 6-6:30am. 

 

@smillerholmes -- I love your attitude.  Keep staying positive!  Thanks for letting us know what's going on; I hope everything is working again soon!!

[cruiseny4life]

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this! On the bright side, I expect you'll receive a sizeable FCC...oh wait, you're cruising NCL. Possibly not. I'm hopeful for you to get a free cruise out of this experience. Since mechanical, travel insurance should kick in? Maybe, so? 

 

Please keep thinking positive thoughts. Hopefully the engineers are able to resolve the issue and you'll continue on your lovely cruise, with a few alterations to the itinerary. I'm thinking of you here in NY!

[smillerholmes]

Buffet only for lunch again.  Whomp whomp! A few oddities around the ship include:  lighting in the sauna and spa still not working. Several display screens around the ship have the blue screen of death showing. Cruise Next cannot access their program for booking cruises??? (Not sure what they use, but I can get to ncl.com. I cannot get to the app - weird!) Spa unable to book future services. You can walk up and get services from any of the available technicians, but if the person you want is not on duty they can't access scheduling.  

[smillerholmes]

It's almost 15:00 which is today's all aboard. Heading to the atrium area to see what I can find out. Day 5 of the Freestyle Daily was just delivered. It's full of lies. All they did was alter the front page with Day 2 of Cartagena info. The back page with all the restaurant information still shows I could have had breakfast and lunch at Seven Seas.

 

I am just a bit tired of the buffet and of course it's crowded because that's where EVERYONE has to eat!

[smillerholmes]

For the first time in two days the doors to the Four Seasons MDR are open. 🤞 I won't have to eat in the buffet again.

[smillerholmes]

The ship has been cleared by local officials. A modified itinerary is being delivered to our staterooms.

[www3traveler]

8 minutes ago, smillerholmes said:

The ship has been cleared by local officials. A modified itinerary is being delivered to our staterooms.

That is good news.

I will pray that the rest of your journey goes smoothly.

[smillerholmes]

3 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

That is good news.

I will pray that the rest of your journey goes smoothly.

Prayer is appreciated. 

[smillerholmes]

Costa Rica is out. Colon, Panama is in. The ShoreEx desk is mobbed. 

[smillerholmes]

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-ship-suffers-technical-difficulties-and-delays/99848

 

[smillerholmes]

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-ship-suffers-technical-difficulties-and-delays/99848

 

[smillerholmes]

Departure time is 17:00, but we are still here....

[smillerholmes]

22 hours ago, smillerholmes said:

I will try as soon as things normalize.

 

[smillerholmes]

[www3traveler]

11 minutes ago, smillerholmes said:

 

Thank You

[Essiesmom]

You are off.  Looks like you will get another look at Divina tomorrow.  EM

[smillerholmes]

The ship has been cleared and guests are heading out for the day in Colon.  All aboard is 18:00!

[smillerholmes]

Kinda got sidetracked yesterday once we were actually moving. 18:00 I went to another art history feature, this time on Thomas Kincade. Interesting and well done. I am pretty impressed at the awesomeness of the Gallery team so far. Passed by the Four Seasons and took a peek at the menu posted outside and figured tonight was going to be Specialty Dining.  19:30 Hey the Casino is open! Stopped by for a few minutes while I put some serious thought into what I had a taste for...

 

I cannot lie, the double cut pork chop in Cagneys was calling my name.

21:15 Headed up to Cagneys and even though they only had a few empty tables and I had no reservation I was seated promptly. Yay!

 

P.S. I asked if I could get my 7 layer chocolate cake to go - no problem. It was wrapped up with the quickness and I dropped the plate off in my cabin on the way back down to the Casino. Ended the night on the positive side of the ledger and sleep came quickly.

[www3traveler]

9 minutes ago, smillerholmes said:

Kinda got sidetracked yesterday once we were actually moving. 18:00 I went to another art history feature, this time on Thomas Kincade. Interesting and well done. I am pretty impressed at the awesomeness of the Gallery team so far. Passed by the Four Seasons and took a peek at the menu posted outside and figured tonight was going to be Specialty Dining.  19:30 Hey the Casino is open! Stopped by for a few minutes while I put some serious thought into what I had a taste for...

 

I cannot lie, the double cut pork chop in Cagneys was calling my name.

21:15 Headed up to Cagneys and even though they only had a few empty tables and I had no reservation I was seated promptly. Yay!

 

P.S. I asked if I could get my 7 layer chocolate cake to go - no problem. It was wrapped up with the quickness and I dropped the plate off in my cabin on the way back down to the Casino. Ended the night on the positive side of the ledger and sleep came quickly.

Sounds like your adventure is getting better and better.

You have one of the nicest GM's in the system.  Brain Walters one of the good guys.  He has been with Norwegian a very very long time.

[smillerholmes]

5 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Sounds like your adventure is getting better and better.

You have one of the nicest GM's in the system.  Brain Walters one of the good guys.  He has been with Norwegian a very very long time.

Yes, I chatted with him briefly at the Meet & Greet. 

Getting ready to put that "At Your Service" card to use because I am wondering if they are doing anything special for the coronation. Curious minds want to know!