mjcatlvr

WOW! Thank you so very much for everyones thoughtful and detailed advice. Amazing

Hello all! My Husband, myself and my elderly father will be headed home out of YVR the first week of August. The NCL schedule puts us arriving at the Vancouver cruise terminal at 6am. I read some advice offered on the "Ports" boards but our situation is that the train won't work for my father, we will need to get a cab and I understand that this takes a bit more time. What is a realistic time frame for us to get off of the ship, find a taxi, drive to the airport, go through Canadian customs then I think U.S. customs? Trying to arrange a return flight that we won't be stressed about getting to but also, I don't want to be hanging at the airport for half a day. I see a flight that LEAVES at 12:30, would this be a "nail biter" to get to?

We were in a FF cabin on Prima and the balcony was unusable! Way too windy while at sea (to the point that the crew had to come to tie all of the balcony furniture down) then blazing, non stop sun in ports (if you are either side of the ship at least you get a 50% chance of some shade while in port). Also, at the front, the movement is much more pronounced! We don't get sea sick but if you were sensitive, you wouldn't like it at all!

Write out a nice card detailing that it's your FIL'S first cruise and that he is an Engineer etc... Right after boarding take it to the Atrium desk addressed to the ships Captain. You might be surprised with an invitation like we were years ago with a very "behind the scenes" tour!

We have done several "Port Heavy" cruises in the Haven. To us, it is still worth it. For example, when we did Europe in 2019 we made tracks every day putting on about 15 miles of walking each day, we returned each day to a cocktail in the Haven bar then we passed out in our cabin, ready for the next day of exploring! Benefits were that we were the first folks off the ship in ports and if we did want to see some entertainment that night, (and could keep our eyes open) we were escorted up front. The escorting on and off the ship and to the theaters was worth it for sure! We LOVE NCL Havens and will keep booking !

The "Swap Out" has never worked for us but on our last cruise we could hear two couples on the balcony during Sail Away next to us toasting and they were thrilled when we passed our bottle to them.

Bird, you are always so helpful, thank you. I would like to add that on our recent Prima cruise the laundry bags were a thin (but sturdy) nylon fabric and not the dreaded paper bags. You can bet that I rolled and stuffed six days worth of clothes for two adults with no problem (no award given for my squashing talent though). much easier to over stuff and no tears! Also, off topic except that we are talking about Prima. Don't miss out on the race cars. We are older and I am larger so I wasn't sure if I could even get in the damn thing but it was worth every penny and just a hoot! So happy that we went for it. Next time though, we will go separately as there is a great photo spot and the opportunity to somehow "speed up" a race car. Fun stuff!

Not sure how much fun your kids will have in the Haven Prima pool though. Shoulder to shoulder adults with cocktails in hand most hours of the day and evening was what we experienced. The only time that we were able to enjoy the pool was when we were in port, most folks on excursions. Something to note also is that when the ship is in port, they fill that Haven pool to the top, so it is really a cool Infinity pool. While cruising, the water is about a foot lower, so not Infinity (spillage maybe?). Also, take lots of sunscreen as there is very little shade to be had on the Haven outdoor decks.

I believe that it's only the first one. The Haven robes have a much trimmer fit than the looks of the other two.There is a very lightweight plush lining in the Haven robes, not Terry. I would keep looking for when they come back in stock, I have met many folks who have purchased the Haven robes and love them at home. Good Luck!

You can pick at them for an hour or so, then give up because you are at risk of tearing into the piece of clothing attached. Actually, thank goodness for the little stubborn NCL laundry tags. At about the fourth month in with Covid swirling around (pre-vaccines), I put on an outfit that I hadn't worn for a bit. It drove me crazy while pacing around in my home, the itching and scratching like crazy from the waistband. What the heck was going on? I was so pleased to find that little tag, I was able to have a flash back of great memories of our late 2019 cruise. I really needed that pick me up at that time. After enjoying those memories, I soaked the tag in Shout for a few minutes and off it came 😊.

THIS! I agree with your wife. Way too much food there that it's actually a turn off for me. We have always loved the "salad bar" at Moderna but the two times that we went and only wanted that, we felt that we were pressured by waitstaff to partake in the meats. Many Red cards and NO's later, they finally left us alone after serving us each a slice of the grilled pineapple, YUM!

Things have really changed in the past 20 years that we have been sailing. In the early days, we had to actually put on a life jacket (smelled like mildew always) then had to stand in the 90 degree blazing sun, all lined up on deck, in front of our assigned lifeboat.....we really knew what to do in case of an emergency! On our NCL cruise last year, we watched a safety video at home then just swiped our card at our assigned Muster Station. I'm sure that this was due to covid though since it makes no sense to have thousands of people standing around together for 30 minutes plus! I suspect that this might change back at some point since going through the motions might more prepare most folks.

Our youngest was 20 on our last cruise together. We signed nothing. He was always able to get a beer with us at meals and at bars. He was never "carded" or even asked for his NCL card. My husband just whipped out his card like he did at all of the meals and we all enjoyed the "drink package" that we never paid for him. Truth be told though, on a vacay with your folks, there wasn't any crazy partying going on for sure, but he was able to enjoy with us.

If you have the Upgraded drink package then order a bottle or two (you might both like a different type) with dinner then take them back to the cabin. When we are sailing with just the standard drink package, all of the bars will let us walk away with two glasses of wine each. We carry them (carefully) back to the cabin and store them in the fridge for late at night when we like to relax on our balcony and enjoy a couple! Last cruise I remembered to pack a bit of Saran Wrap to top them in the fridge as to not make a mess in rough seas 😊 Also, on a couple of past cruises (prior to us having any drink package) just after boarding in the Atrium there was a table set up where they were selling wine bottle packages that they delivered to our cabin, that was handy!

No problem at all! Our NCL stock is in my husbands name but each time we get the credit it shows as $50 credit for him and $50 for me (for a 7 day cruise) without any directions from us.