mertziek

We sail on Marina in March 2025.  When are culinary classes available to book?  I don’t see anything available thus far.  TYIA

8 hours ago, DSCBDA said:

Thanks both for your feedback--- I called the NCL CS line tonight and requested in advance that the primary king be split and mattress toppers be added to all the beds.  Also, requested to see if they have an additional twin to add to the secondary BR.  We'll see how it works out!  This is the actual suite we will be in. Perhaps if they agree it might work placing two beds on the side wall instead.  I'm solo in the room so no worries in having to crawl over someone.

 

 

I could be mistaken but it was my understanding that the king beds in the Haven can’t be split into 2 twins.

1 hour ago, Menocchio said:

What I've been hearing is more along the lines of "stay off the road until it's clear". Which frankly is just good sense. One person I saw even asked those going north from the dock to cancel their excursions, but noted those going south were still welcome and appreciated. 

They will eventually figure out what will be safe.  Staying off the roads is indeed good sense until they’ve fully evaluated what further risk, if any, there might be.  Ketchikan is a lovely community and I hope people can still safely visit. 

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Incorrect

 

Tourism is what sustains the community. A natural disaster affects the community, but the community still needs to thrive. Gotta pay the bills. If you actually came from a tourism-based economy, you would have an appreciation for that and not the mass media “poor people need to be left alone for the rest of the season”. 

Your opinion only - tourism being just one of the factors those in charge need to consider.  Once they assess with their geologists where/if there is additional risk, the community can best decide what is in its best interest.  I never advocated “poor people need to be left alone for the rest of the season.”  If there is risk of additional landslides - and there are credible reports that is the case, they will have to decide how best to protect everyone and minimize liability if further events occur, including protecting tourists wanting to visit.  Once they’ve done their risk assessment, they will also be better able to decide on if any further restrictions are needed.

And just for your information, I live in an area that depends heavily on tourism for most of the year so I actually come from a tourism-based economy and know of which I speak.  Yes, tourism dollars are very important to local economy and survival BUT protecting people and minimizing further risks takes priority for community leaders.
Have a nice day…..

27 minutes ago, Shellbelle28 said:

Quite a few of the replies to that post by citizens of Ketchikan are not in favor of keeping the cruise ships coming! 

I’ve read their comments and I feel those opposed to cruise ships coming in right now are valid.  It’s hard to cope with a state of emergency when several big cruise ships drop thousands of passengers off.  It sounds like they are still assessing further risk in the area which further complicates the situation.  Plus Ketchikan is not a booming metropolis so their infrastructure will be limited in their ability to respond.  Ketchikan should do what’s best for Ketchikan.  No easy decisions about how to handle it.

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I live in Hawaii most of the year. Natural disasters happen all the time (like the heavy hurricane rains and winds this week), a large percentage of people make their living on tourism. Keeping tourism going is almost always in the best interest of the overall community. May be a pain in the butt to those dealing with a natural disaster. No tourist, no money to buy groceries, no money to pay the rent, no money to pay the utility bills.

Of course natural disasters happen all the time.  Plus you have to agree many natural disasters impact communities in untold ways - tourism is the least of their concerns right now as they assess for risk of further landslides and impact on their infrastructure.  Again, if they determine the cruise ships will create more problems, they will try to divert them regardless of how many tourism dollars are lost.  Latest I read and reported above by another poster said they are asking the cruise ships to not come.  Still early and I’m sure they are assessing several factors to determine how best to proceed.

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

What affect would you expect on cruise ships? The slide was on the hillside behind the town, not on the dock (like Skagway). 

If there is a declared state of emergency and significant power outages, it could affect the excursion routes despite being outside of town.  Sounds like they are concerned about further slides, too.  A cruise ship with 5,000 passengers might not be in Ketchikan’s best interest right now.

21 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Don’t vent!!

 

We were on the Spirit’s first post dry-dock cruise from Rome to Dubai in Feb 2020. We were meant to embark and leave from Rome on Feb 11, but a few days before that, on Feb 5, one day before we left Bermuda, we got an email from NCL that due to 3 yes three weeks labor strikes by the French at Marseille (meaning NCL lost 3 weeks out of the 6 weeks dry dock) the Spirit wasn’t finished and they needed to delay our departure to Feb 14. And they’re refunding us 25% of the cruise (3 ports had to be dropped) plus 25% FCD. 
 

As we already booked to fly out to Milan on Feb 6, stay in a Milan hotel for 2 nights before going to Civitavecchia by train to stay in hotel overnight before cruise, I was able to change the Civitavecchia hotel (which turned out to be a dump anyway) from the 10th to 13th Feb without penalty. And we had fun researching what to do in Italy for the 3 days … decided on going to Florence from Milan for the 3 nights - found a lovely hotel there on the river. I had booked first class tickets on Trenitalia from Milan to Rome/Civitavecchia, I was able to change and tweak tickets to from Milan to Florence and then to Rome/Civitaveechia. 
 

In the end we had a good time in Florence. Can’t help it that it was the French’s fault, not NCL, and we appreciated the 25% refund and the 25% FCD. 

You should be fine as NCL will compensate if the dry-dock doesn’t finish in time and ports are dropped on the TA to Miami. 
 

Ship (and the French) happens. 
 

 

 

 

We were on that Spirit cruise, too, (in fact the final cruise to be normal for 2 years just before Covid struck) and did not get into our DOS cabin until day 14 of the shortened 19 day cruise.  Plus there were work crews with open panels and long electrical cords down hallways all over the ship and several days where they were drilling and hammering for hours above our “upgraded balcony” cabin - it was not an upgrade as they tried to tell us on checkin and the balcony we were put in was definitely the smallest they had on the ship! - making it pretty miserable.  But we survived despite being in one of the last 2 cabins to be finished.  We were able to get extra hotel days in Rome pre-cruise with only 5 days notice of the delay in embarkation and did a lot more Italy touring so we still had a great cruise but were disappointed to miss several ports.  We decided it would not wreck our cruise and went with the flow.  NCL compensated us more than most others due to being booked and paying for the best cabin and being the last ones to get in our suite.  There were many times during the cruise I just wish they would have been more open and transparent about what was going on but in typical NCL fashion they chose to deflect.  Since then we definitely do not book cruises for a particular port since anything can happen to affect the ports you get to.  And if a port gets canceled due to weather conditions, we likewise take it in stride.  And, if possible, we also try to avoid booking cruises right before and after dry dock.

Well as regards to a previous post saying there are two sides to the story (by the way from a very pro-NCL person on these boards who I’ve yet to see say anything negative about NCL) either they had ac or they didn’t, they had hot water or they didn’t for several days.  I believe the OP saying he had no ac and hot water for several days.  No two sides about it.  Either you believe the OP or you call him a liar.  OP also sounds like he did try to deal with the proper NCL staff to get resolution.  But given how full ships are right now, the ability to get OP into other accommodations may have been limited.
 

As to expecting compensation I say the OP is indeed owed a lot more than offered.  No hot water for several days with two children in your cabin makes it tough to get washed on a daily basis.  They gave us $300 for a wet carpet in our living room floor.  They give passengers 10-20% FCC’s for itinerary changes in cruises.  To OP- keep track of dates, names of contacts, and dates work was attempted.  Compose a factual letter to Katty Byrd and the CEO outlining your experiences and ask them if in all honesty they feel they lived up to their contract.  If they respond saying they fulfilled their contract then I’d be done with NCL.  Could the same thing happen with another cruiseline?  Yes but it happened on an NCL ship so that’s all that should matter to you.  I’m not sure what fair compensation would be but having run my own business plus semi-involved in my spouse’s business, NCL’s question to OP should be what can we do to make this right?  That’s how a reputable business would handle it.  Unfortunately NCL has been remiss in customer service since Covid.

53 minutes ago, julig22 said:

There's a place to request your onboard folio

Norwegian Cruise Line | Contact Guest Experience (ncl.com)

Thank you!  I’ve sent in my request.

I’ve already checked and it’s not there.

I know there is a way to request a copy of all charges from a recent cruise.  We disembarked Sunday without a final copy of our bill - my bad - but I want a copy of charges for our records.  Can someone tell me how to request a copy of our recent final cruise expenses from NCL?  TIA

8 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

As long as none of the adults weighs over 250lbs you should be fine.

We are good.

7 hours ago, 7Contraveler said:

We just did the mendenhall glacier helicopter tour last month while on the bliss, we had 6 adults on ours not including the pilot so 7 adults.. its all based on weight of the passengers.  They will have you guys sit in a specific configuration for weight and balance of the helicopter. It was amazing and hope you guys have fun. 

Thank you.  I think we will be good with 4 adults and 2 skinny kids.

We are booked through NCL for one of their “Dogsled & Glacier Adventure by Helicopter” tours.  We are a family of 6 - 4 adults, 2 children.  Does anyone know how many people can go in the helicopter as we would like to be together?  TIA

2 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Then I guess it was the next cruise segment, the one from Dubai to Capetown, that missed so many of its planned ports.  By the time the Spirit got to Capetown, all bets were off.  Some folks were trapped on the ship for days before the authorities at Capetown let them disembark to fly home.

Yes, I believe that next cruise or the one after it was stuck trying to find a port to disembark while the world was shutting down.  We felt very lucky to have stayed one jump ahead of Covid.  Several of our ports closed a day or two after we left.  We were a bit nervous about getting home but had a few days leeway to travel before everything was closed down.  Again, we were very lucky!

4 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Here's a link to the roll call for the Spirit cruise that was delayed.  Post #2956 includes the letter NCL sent describing the delays.  The cruise was scheduled for 11 February, but did not begin boarding until Valentine's Day.

 

 

We were on this cruise.  Initially we lost a day from the original cruise itinerary and then a week before the cruise we lost 3 more days causing us to scramble and book extra precruise days in Rome.  Then we got to the port and on checkin found out our DOS was not ready and were told we were “upgraded” to a better cabin before we boarded.  NOT!!!  We were in one of the smallest balconies for 2+ weeks and only spent 4 days in our DOS.  Had we known all of that before boarding we might have canceled the cruise but in retrospect, other than the unexpected room downgrade plus other unfinished parts of the Spirit, we had a great cruise.  After that cruise I became aware of the true meaning of “travel is an adventure” and learned to go with the flow expecting the unexpected at any time.  In the age the ease of last minute internet bookings, it’s much easier to go with the flow and formulate a Plan B very quickly.

By the way - we made all of our ports just scooting ahead of Covid port closures and getting home from Dubai without any delays.  

On 3/11/2024 at 2:47 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

How do you know your missing bag even made it off the ship?  You put it in the corridor the night before and assumed it would naturally find its way to the exit hall.  Perhaps it fell by the wayside aboard ship or some nefarious sole snatched it and took it back to their cabin to examine.  

Then there is the possibility the bag fell off the ship into the water as they were unloading bags.  We saw that happen at a port where 5-7 bags went in the water.  The crew did not seem too upset about it and we did not see them fish the bags out while we were watching.

35 minutes ago, jwindham said:

I just stayed in the W in Santiago and would never recommend it. First the bathrooms are all open to the room with absolutely no privacy at all. I was lucky that I was alone but the comments from others on this cruise (Silversea) that were put up here had a lot of issues, like a father and daughter duo. Also they have no air in the lobby as they have an open terrace restaurant at one end and it was in the 90s when we were there. Miserable place to be. Julia

Thank you.

1 hour ago, asnaleah said:

Friends of ours stayed for a few days post cruise at the W in Santiago. They enjoyed it.

Thank you.

11 hours ago, Carnevale said:

….We didn’t see much of San Antonio but what we did see made us glad we had elected to stay in Santiago.

Thank you for the hotel suggestion. 
It sounds like San Antonio might be like why we stay in Rome and not Civitavecchia when we leave from there.  More happening in Rome.

We have a cruise out of San Antonio, Chile next March but fly into Santiago.  We want to go a couple of days early to do some local touring before embarking on our cruise and it looks like tours from Santiago are easier/better to book and then arrange a transfer on cruise embarkation day to the Cruiseport rather than staying in San Antonio.  Any suggestions on 5* hotels in Santiago?  Or do you suggest staying in San Antonio?  We are looking for a good hotel location for local site seeing as well as day touring out of Santiago or San Antonio.  Thank you in advance.

Since we are particular about the cabin we book and usually see those cabins booked early, we like to book as soon as we find a cruise we want to do.  We’ve booked 2 years ahead several times.  My husband always says he hopes we are still alive then.  😳😳😳

On 12/31/2023 at 2:33 PM, BirdTravels said:

First, no one is going to book a room because of a hot tub on the balcony and cancel if there is not one there. It is just an extra feature of the room. 
 

The ships had a hot tub design, which they have used a similar design before on smaller ships. But it got caught up in some health inspection finding. They have a temporary workaround, should you want to use it. People are being given a generous compensation for nothing a feature of the room. 

Ummm….BirdTravels you are wrong.  Yes, we did book a Viva suite with a hot tub because of the hot tub although we preferred another much less expensive Owners’ Suite set up.  Had we known in advance that there were issues with the hot tubs impacting ability to use it whenever we wanted without having to get our room steward involved, we would have changed our suite to another much less expensive suite by $1,000’s with a better interior room layout.  The paltry OBC given was significantly less than the extra we paid for the hot tub suite.  Also we sailed Prima before the problem occurred and were able to control our hot tub temperature plus use it without a thought given to get staff involved.  The Viva hot tubs were different - as far as we were able to determine - with no ability to control the temps and keep the heat on even when not being used.  That being said - we made a point of not letting it ruin our cruise but it left a sour taste because we felt duped by NCL.  

I’ve looked online and searched here but didn’t find an answer.  Can you explain the difference between the OS and OE designated tours?  Are there restrictions who can book them?  TIA