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That makes sense. Our free offer was kids sail free. I forgot about that. (We only had one offer with an inside cabin). So, by virtue of bringing the kids, everything else is expensive! Darn kids! LOL.

Ahhhh yes only one offer with inside cabin, that explains it. We usually go inside cabin also but wanted to be fancy this time and got a balcony (joke... it's a far cry from Haven lol). I think they also give us a measly $100 on board credit. You may get some of that also.

The Copper and Lumber Inn at Nelson’s Dockyard on St. John’s Antigua is where the excursions go for their lobster lunch. I have not eaten there though so I can’t say whether it’s good or not.

Thanks for the suggestion! Will look into this one ;)

There is no lobster on Norwegian Cruise Lines. None.

Yes, as mentioned, we are aware of this.

We are looking for suggestions at port.

I've only ever cruised with RCL but next month is our first with NCL. I can't attest to the food quality yet, but will post a review post-cruise. We are picky picky eaters AND vegetarians and enjoyed the food on Royal... so it will be interesting to compare. What I can tell you that it's not necessary to pay $242 for soda and $1728 for boozy bevvies... NCL seemingly always has promos where you get these included (you just pay the gratuities charge of 18%). When we booked we got free soda / alcoholic drinks included as well as 3 dinners at the specialty restaurants. I think the current promo is even better where you also get free wifi and credit towards excursions. Hope that helps :)

Hi

 

I'm getting a little confused on what the airline is obligated to do for you when they cancel your flight.

 

I heard that Air Canada and United rebooked their passengers on alternate flights with no additional charge - then why is West Jet not offering the same? They are only offering a refund.

 

Has anyone gotten something more from West Jet than just a refund? Thanks for sharing

Technically they are supposed to get you on another flight, but often will try and only use partners within their alliance. Westjet may not have had any partner airlines with available flights. Air Canada tried to get us on United flight, but the flight schedule did not line up with our trip and so we took the refund and rebooked ourselves on another airline.

Have travelled from Canada with a child not my own and the child required a passport and a notarized consent letter from the parents. Also don't forget to ask the child's parents for the child's health card and the parent's benefits card for insurance purposes.

Hello everyone,

I know that there is no lobster on the Dawn at all, or that's my understanding anyways. Not an issue for us as we are vegetarian, but my mum who will also be on the cruise absolutely loves lobster. Loves. So. Does anyone have any recommendations for lunch spots / beach grills etc. at any of our ports that have a good lobster lunch? Googled but only thing I'm finding is boat excursions w lobster lunch included. Looking more for a seaside restaurant etc. serving fresh lobster. Would like to treat her on one of the following port days: St Lucia, Martinique, St Kitts, Antigua, St Thomas. Thanks very much.

Some great suggestions! Can’t wait to try them! Thanks!

We are on a b2b Nov 26th and Dec 3rd out of San Juan. They changed the port to St Thomas for the 1st week, the 2nd they are still planning on St Croix.

They are now switching back to St Thomas for the Dec 3rd sailing also. Online itinerary and excursions have been updated.

Pina colada should be made with fresh pineapple juice and actual cream of coconut (one brand is Coco Lopez). If I were to order a Pina Colada (highly unlikely), I would also specify Mount Gay Black Barrel rum or Appleton signature rum (I prefer that to "white" rum. Regular Bacardi is just too blah.

Want a somewhat sweet creamy blended drink? Try a Gold Cadillac (Galliano, white creme de cacao and heavy cream).

 

 

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I like fruity drinks, but only when real fruit or real fruit juice is used. The flavoured syrup mixers (think strawberry daiquiri mixer)... just too sickly sweet. Thank you for your suggestions. I will try some of them.

And thanks to everyone! ;) some good ideas!

When you're on the ship, pick a spirit like tequila and have the bartender line up three quarter to half oz mini shots of different qualities for you to try in a blind taste test. At the low quality end, Jose Cuervo Gold; in the middle, something like Patron Silver; and at the top end, El Tesoro Reposado (no need to go even higher to the more aged Anejo). Even if you don't like the general taste of tequila, you should be able to find one significantly smoother and more complex in its ultimate taste than the other two (it will be the El Tesoro and it's list price will be more expensive).

This is true of all spirits. Try Bombay Sapphire gin next to regular Bombay- significant difference. And, while some folks will say good booze is wasted in a mixed drink, IMO that's just not true.

Booze is definitely one arena where "you get what you pay for."

 

 

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Interesting. Thanks.

I am also curious, if you were to order a pina colada, for example, is it a true pina colada with real fresh fruit blended with coconut... or do they use the artificial flavoured syrup mixer?

When it comes to booze, "good cheap" is unrealistic.

 

A cruise ship "margarita" made with Jose Cuervo, triple sec and citrus mixer is swill, at best. Even if your package charges extra, get a real Margarita (the classic made famous at Tommy's in SF): El Tesoro reposado tequila, fresh lime juice and agave syrup (yes, there's no Cointreau or any other orange type liquor in a real Margarita). And never put it in a blender!

 

Go to liquor.com and look up the recipes for the following three drinks, which I guarantee most folks will find unusual yet delicious:

 

>Aviation (Bombay Sapphire gin, Maraschino cherry liquer, fresh lemon juice and Creme de Violette).

 

>Sidecar (Hennessy VSOP cognac, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice)

 

>Sazerac (Templeton Rye, simple syrup, Absinthe wash, Peychaud bitters).

 

Once you've done these, we can move on to other things like Pisco Sours.

 

But, whatever you do, DO NOT DRINK CHEAP BOOZE.

 

 

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Thanks for the tips. I’m curious though, what is the reason you suggest avoiding the “cheap” liquor that NCL includes within the confines of the beverage package? ... Is this due to health-related concerns? Or?

Looking for drink suggestions beyond my usual pina colada ;). Lol. What are your favourite cocktails / martinis / frozen drinks available / included with the ultimate beverage package? Tastiest and / or best value. Thank you!

The welcome show is at 9pm. Kind of sucks but with a late departure there aren’t a lot of options.

 

The welcome party should start around 5pm with a poolside bbq.

 

There are two muster drills. An early one around 4:30pm and a later one around 8:30pm. You only need to go to one or the other. I would suggest the early one if your want to go to the show.

 

Times may very slightly for each sailing but those are the general San Juan late departure timeframes.

Great info! Thanks very much

Good question! I think the Dawn just recently arrived in San Juan from the USA repositioning. Would be interested in knowing the answer to this also after the next departure.

Any recent cruisers out of San Juan with a 9 pm departure. What time was the "Welcome Aboard Show" ? Is it before the Dawn actually departs? Is there a "sail away" party on pool deck? Or elsewhere? Just trying to make some mental plans & notes. Thanks!!!!

That’s very encouraging! Thanks very much for the report.

We're on the 11/26 sailing. Here's what we got from Expedia:

 

Dear Valued Guest' date='At Norwegian Cruise Line, their number one concern is always the safety of their guests and crew followed by providing the best vacation experience possible. As you are aware, they have been working with their partners in the destinations affected by Hurricane Irma, providing assistance to ensure that these spectacular destinations are up and running and ready to welcome guests as quickly as possible.Their teams have fully assessed St. Thomas’ readiness to accept cruise ships and they are very pleased to begin calling to St. Thomas on select itineraries on their mid-size vessels. Charlotte Amalie’s port area is ready to welcome visitors, as the area’s shops, bars and restaurants are open for business. The majority of tours and excursions are operating normally, including visits to popular Magen’s Bay beach. Norwegian Dawn will be one of the ships to call in St. Thomas instead of St. Croix. Please see below for the ship’s revised itinerary:Sun San Juan, Puerto Rico 9:00pm-Mon At SeaTue Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00am-5:00pmWed Fort-de-France, Martinique 8:00am-5:00pmThu Basseterre, St. Kitts 8:00am-5:00pmFri St. John’s, Antigua 8:00am-5:00pmSat St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 8:00am-5:00pmSun San Juan, Puerto Rico -6:00amIf you booked shore excursions through Norwegian Cruise Line for St. Croix, these will be cancelled and refunded. Once onboard, tours for St. Thomas will be available. We appreciate your understanding and hope that your cruise aboard Norwegian Dawn is an enjoyable and memorable one.Sincerely,Expedia Cruise Customer SupportAARP - Powered by Expedia[/quote']

 

Thank you very much :)

Here’s how Cruise Critic works: If ports are damaged by a hurricane and dropped from an itinerary, it’s bad because folks are decimated by the change. If a previously-dropped Port is put back on an itinerary, it’s bad because folks don’t want to go to a damaged destination.

 

 

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I do not think that this is accurate and disagree.

We had no problem with a changed itinerary initially. We welcomed the change. We wouldn’t voluntarily visit a hurricane destroyed island, and we trusted that NCL placed importance on the value of the customer experience and would not bring us to these places. The initial itinerary change followed this through and I respected that. For them to revert back now does not have the customer’s best interest in mind. The back and forth doesn’t send a good message in regards to our ability to trust what NCL says, and I think it is important to differentiate that just because a cruise port area is open (port and duty free zone), does not mean that the rest of the island has recovered enough or is set up to receive visitors. It is irresponsible.

Main complaint--this is late notice. We sail in 9 days and had already changed plans for St Croix. I don't have unlimited time to change things back and forth.

 

I know they can change whenever they want, but having paid thousands of dollars for this vacation, I am allowed to be annoyed by this change.

 

I feel bad for the people on the 12th sailing who only have two days notice.

Exactly! It’s the changing back and forth... it’s impossible to plan a vacation. Plus I don’t find it professional. They need to get organized.

So I just re-read my email. It doesn't look like you will change....for now.

 

It specifically says 11/12, 11/19, 11/26 and 12/10 will make the switch.

Are you able to copy and paste the email from NCL for us? Thank you

Unbelievable! We are on the Dawn out of San Juan Dec 3rd and willing to bet they'll be switching ours back, too. I hope they don't switch back to St Maarten as well...

It seems all Canadian flights have cancelled all flights to and from San Juan until April. We are on AOS ending in SJ on Feb 17, 2018 and had our Air Canada flight to Montreal cancelled . We found an American Airlines flight through Charlotte. I’m a little concerned about AA cancelling as well.....any thoughts

 

 

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AA and Delta have already resumed flights to San Juan for a couple of weeks already :)

We are booked on this half day snorkel with Spencer Ambrose Tours for December. Spencer emailed back promptly and we received a confirmation email as well. We initially tried booking with Herod because we've been on his tours before, but no email back from Herod, no reply on his Facebook, and no Tripadvisor reviews on Herod Tours since April, so perhaps Herod is no longer in business. I've been to both Sugar Beach / Jalousie and Anse Chastenet beaches and they are both very beautiful.

Has anyone heard any more about air Canada flights to and from PR for later?

 

I went to check the other day for a price drop and it appears that our late Feb early early March flights are all sold out. Then I took a larger look and it appears that all direct flights from Toronto to San Juan and back are sold out from January to April. I asked my TA to confirm with AC - They claim they only cancelled up to mid December and that our flights are still active. But it seems suspicious to me that all direct flights are gone for 4 months straight.

 

They said the reason for cancelling up to mid December was that the San Juan airport decided that they can't handle the amount of flights and need to cut back.

 

Final payment is next week... unsure as to whether I should proceed with payment and trust AC on our flights for feb/March or book somethings else!

 

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I think they are playing it by ear... “officially” currently planning on resuming flights as of Dec 16... but, that doesn’t mean much considering they had previously announced it was “officially” resuming Nov 1st... So the date they give doesn’t mean much.

Westjet is not resuming until mid Jan and I have heard rhumours that Air Canada will follow suit, but nothing confirmed.

If it’s anything like this last batch of cancellations, where Air Canada waited until the last minute to inform customers that their flights were canceled, then I would not expect to hear from AC for a while, and they will likely continue to confirm your flight is ok in the meantime.

Delta, American Airlines, and others are now flying to San Juan again. For us, the times and connections out of Toronto were lousy so we are now leaving from Buffalo as the flight times were better and faster. Maybe check out options with the other airlines before making your final payment if you don’t feel confident about Air Canada, although Feb is still a ways away. Good luck!