sjbdtz

I'm with you! I never understand why people are so desperate to end their vacation.

 

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Because you assume it's the end of their vacation, not the beginning of the next phase. We like to be among the first off the ship, because we don't want to waste 1/2 day in a customs lineup, or waiting for luggage in a baggage hall. Off the ship, out the door...waiting taxis, and on the next part of the adventure.

Stephen

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Rashida is on the Escape now. She been back for a while

 

 

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Is Rashida the former assistant to Sean or Prem? (Can't remember which).

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Cruise Critic has moderators, and they enforce the rules. I don't think you are one. Why clog up a thread with a self-appointed moderator-type post that has nothing to do with the question the OP asked?

Curious, but isn't that exactly what you just did? And what I might be considered to be doing, presently?

:evilsmile:

Stephen

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Alas. The Sun is my favorite. I cruised in 9076 the corner aft PH with large balcony twice. A total of 25 nights of heaven. Il Adagio. Ah. Memories.

 

 

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We had a great 14 days in 9076 last year. Glad to hear the headline is not the whole story.

Stephen

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Mine does, up to $300 / year. One of a long list of paramedicals, including Audiologist, Social Worker, Massage Therapy, Dietician, and more.

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Why would anyone think their insurance would reimburse for acupuncture while on a cruise? I would have asked the insurance company first and then done the treatments not the other way around.

Why not? I've had an RMT session at a luxury spa - insurance covered it, because the massage was therapeutic, even though the setting was luxe.

Stephen

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J.C. Said Hi .

:) Thanks!

In July 2016 I started a thread titled: "Is there still any Value in a NCL Cruise?"

 

That thread can be found here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2376227

 

I wonder if any of the cheerleaders from that thread are still on NCL bandwagon.

 

We like many other Platinum Plus Suite cruisers have abandoned NCL for MSC and other cruise lines.

 

In my eyes NCL has removed all additional "value" they had in their Suites. Now they are just plain price gouging with the inflated Suite pricing and now additional "gratuities"

 

Do they think the butlers won't suffer from this added cost? I've seen too many "upsells" stiff butlers to think otherwise.

 

Goodbye NCL

Yup. Still here, still booking. CAS keeps me hooked. Plus relationships with many crew & management. Willing to pay a premium for an enjoyable vacation - where I feel like family - not like a customer.

Stephen

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I did the status match and ended up not enjoying MSC at all. The Italian style just isn't for me. For what it's worth I would not do another MSC even if it was free.

Interesting. I did the Status Match for Daniel & myself, so have it in our back-pockets...but some of our closest friends called their one MSC cruise the worst they'd ever had. Trying to keep an open-mind, but would appreciate hearing what you didn't like about it.

Thanks,

Stephen

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Please tell him Stephen says hi. We chatted quite a bit on whichever ship '57' is (it had a boardwalk, so either Escape or one of the Aways). :)

Waiting patiently with baited breath. :confused:

Going fishing?

Or, did you mean bated breath?

:P

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Current situation...

 

 

 

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Chick, or chicken?

Stephen

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A-ha, so now I have to try Anthem and Escape.

 

Now, I will address your "Chubbies". They are very stylish and fashionable. You look great in them, or is it they look good on you.:confused: I even checked out their website and they are what I would wear.

 

However, here in Canada we do not have them. The Chubbie I thought of is defined on the website Urban Dictionary.:eek: Yesterday I chuckled to myself every time it was mentioned.

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled reading/review. Have an amazing day Rick!!

Today's Chubby dedicated to all my Royal Pineapple Heads!

 

 

 

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I'm with you, A & L - I didn't have to consult the Urban Dictionary.

But Rick's choice of pose for photos doesn't help alleviate the confusion.

Stephen

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Good for you for taking this more seriously than just about everyone else, but at the same time, you're probably taking this too seriously. Since you've read the guidelines, you know that it's completely up to you to characterize the nature of your activities: if you say it was meaningful for you, it was meaningful.

 

If you have a tour guide and a driver all day, take a selfie with them and you're done. That is your record of a meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba (technically, you must also make sure that they are not government officials or high-ranking Communist Party members). If you only do a half-day tour, you can repeat the process with a taxi driver, a cigar vendor, a bartender, a random Cuban on the street that you ask for directions, etc. until you have enough interactions to add up to a full-time schedule.

Thanks. Exactly what I was looking for. Much appreciated. (Thanks also to other poster Corley, I forgot to double-quote).

Stephen

I wanted to add my review on the Cuba sailing on the Sky. We got off on Friday and I have to say it was an amazing trip. This was not our first time on the Sky so we knew what to expect. The Sky is an older ship. She doesn't have a ton of things like the newer, bigger ships but we like how simple life is on the Sky. One thing we noticed was that Gentleman Jack is no longer included in the free drinks list but my husband survived.

 

We arrived Monday at 11:30 and went through security, check in and boarded in less than an hour. The rooms were ready at 1:30 (which is the normal time). We had lunch at Crossing, the main dining room aft on 5.

 

We spent the afternoon drinking cocktails with new friends. We had dinner in the MDR and the food and service was excellent.

 

Tuesday:

We were told to go to the outrigger lounge at 7am for tickets to disembark on Tuesday. They told us we would be getting off around 9-10 if not on a ship excursion. Since we had a private tour meeting at 10a one of went got tickets for all 8 of us at 7. We planned to meet up for breakfast at 8. At 8:20 they called the first group off. *on a side note we arranged a group off our roll call through locally sourced havana tours.

 

We finished eating quickly and by 9 we were off the ship, through customs, exchanged money and were ready to wander around till our tour started at 10. The tour we had was amazing. I can't recommend Locally Sourced Havana Tours enough. We walked around old havana till lunch, got time to shop at a govt store for cigars and rum. Lunch at a Paladar was included in the price. The paladar was on a roof top with amazing views. Two mojitos were included and the food was incredible. It was served family style: chicken, fish, sweet potatoes, veggies and desert. After lunch we took a ride in vintage car stopping for pictures a couple times and ended with drinks at the Hotel National de Cuba. We had the freshest pina colada there. We got to wander around a see the bunkers and cannons. After that they put us in a taxi back to the port.

That sounds like fun. I'm booked in October, and am really confused about shore excursions / private tours, and how either one complies with the people-to-people requirement which forbids tourism.

Did any of your tours include 'meaningful contact with the Cuban people'? I'm Canadian, so it shouldn't apply to me - but my spouse isn't - and I don't want to be signing affidavits unless we can comply with them.

Anything you (or anybody) can offer to help me understand this better, would be very appreciated. I'm soaking up everything I can, about this trip.

Thanks,

Stephen

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One one of the balconies, an older gentleman was wearing nothing but a Borat style, bright green, over the shoulder speedo-type contraption. We was gyrating his hips and doing his best to call attention to himself.

 

Fortunately, we had our phones on us and snapped a few pics for posterity...and so that we didn't sound crazy when trying to explain what we had seen!

 

Edited: I just zoomed into the photo and noticed that the balcony divider is open between their balcony and the balcony next door and that there is another woman with what looks to be a video camera! [emoji50]

 

Wouldn't it only have been for posterity....if he had turned around??? :evilsmile::o:')

IMO yes, your husband is traveling out of a US port. From what I have read due to that fact you have to have a visa with a signed affidavit. Which you can now do online at NCL. I think I posted a link in this thread to a trip advisor post with a link to lonely planet that has an article regarding foreign nationals traveling through a US port to Cuba. If it isn't in this thread I will post it.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

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Thanks!

Stephen

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I'm usually pretty self-sufficient with research, but this thread has me wanting confirmation:

- the people-to-people requirement is only for US citizens correct?

What about dual nationals? My husband is a Canadian citizen and will be travelling with a Canadian passport. does he require a people-to-people form, or not?

We've both bought visas through NCL and expect to collect them at the pier in Miami - anything else we need to do, in advance?

Thanks,

Stephen

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The Escape does not do Panama Canal cruises. So that thought might be out :(

Bliss is scheduled to do the Canal (I'm booked on one of them).

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Just booked this, anybody else along for the ride?

Stephen & Daniel

The butler is there to address your needs; not your wants, wishes, or desires. Outside of the Haven, you must rely on self-help. Once inside the Haven, you can ask a butler.

 

If you feel you need M&Ms with your movie, then call the butler. If you want to see two drunk midgets knife fight, then don't call the butler - just book the Cozumel excursion.

Outside the Haven, the Concierge is your guide & enabler.

Stephen

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Hi Paul,

I sailed with John previously, and he was really good. It was in 2011, and his first sailing as concierge.

Hope you have a great time, and hi to P!

S & D.

Basically it will be entirely run in Chinese so they will probably do the initial short cruises and the run to China probably via the Suez for Chinese guests with their Chinese staff. Shanghai Tianjin based cruises are mostly Chinese guests but sounds like these will be completely off the NCL website and maybe only bookable for expats in China.

 

Probably makes sense as most would be shocked to book on NCL and end up on ship catered to to and filled with Chinese guests.

 

 

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It's odd, I've heard this a couple of times - but I know that Adrian is the concierge on it (he's in Germany now), and Sean is the Hotel Director - unless they are both there just to train some new talent.

Stephen

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The deck plans for cabins are out: http://bliss.ncl.com/the_Ship#deck-plans

Understanding what's above/below you might take another 6 - 8 months.

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I don't understand the negativity toward the Entertainment announcement. I'm not sure I could come up with a better, more universally appealing production than Jersey Boys.

Wicked

Spamalot

Into the Woods

Jersey Boys is okay, but nothing I'd be excited about.

The thing I don't understand with the negativity, is that there's nothing that says "That's it, That's all".... there may be additional entertainment announcements forthcoming.

Stephen

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