crayola1932

13 hours ago, Seattle Sea Gal said:

I am on the Norwegian Bliss March 10-17. On the itinerary it says we port in Puerto Vallarta on March 13 at 7 AM. I am trying to decide if it’s 7 AM ship time and is ship time in PST? and what time it will be in Puerto Vallarta at 7am ship time considering the state of Jalisco does not observe daylight savings time and is in the CST time zone?  

I took the Mexican Riviera cruise on Bliss this past January.  When we got to Puerto Vallarta, they didn't change the ship time, even though it was different from Port time.  They announced this a number of times.  Even if people missed the announcement, it wouldn't have mattered, because they just would have gotten back to the ship earlier than they needed to.

So, in your situation, my prediction is that it will be 7 AM ship time.  But you never know.  

I know that some of the ships have very hard mattresses, but others not so bad.  Does anyone know how the mattresses are on the Norwegian Sun?

Also, I have read that you can request a mattress topper before your cruise.  Where do you do this?

This will be our first cruise since just before COVID.  We are so happy to be coming back.  

On 8/20/2021 at 7:48 AM, kimandtim said:

ISince weather was beautiful, rather than wait for what we could see was a giant mess, we headed up the hill and caught the city bus into town. 

Is that the same city bus that goes out to Totem Bight?  Could you have gone in the opposite direction from downtown and seen Totem Bight or other interesting stuff?  

9 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

That is for new applicants. A Global Entry renewal might or might not need an interview. For Global Entry they will take renewal applications a year or less before the expiration date. If you have an expiring GE go ahead and do your renewal application if you are a year or less out. I did my renewal application last week and my renewal was approved the next day without needing an interview. 


 

 

My DH and I submitted renewal applications for Global Entry this past February.  His was approved in one day, and I am still waiting for mine.  The only rationale I can see is that he is over age 75 and I am under 75.  I read on their web site that they are extending Global Entry expiration dates.  I am not likely to go in an airplane for a long time anyway. 

On 3/30/2020 at 9:06 PM, ksmcdonald said:

Would the ship you were on be the Joy, 16 day cruise out of Los Angeles?  My father came home very sick from that cruise and was immediately hospitalized with double pneumonia.  I think he got off ship on agency 2nd. Emergency Room said the same thing, he didn’t meet the criteria for corona testing, although finding out now Ohio didn’t even have test for corona then. He texted negative for flu.  He spent 6 days in the hospital. I remember him saying he had no smell nor could he taste his food. He is 82 years old and lost 20 lbs. on a 16 day cruise. He did say 3-4 people were life flighted off, although he didn’t know what was wrong with them.  I’m sure he had corona.  Fever, terrible cough. 

Was your father on the 16 day Joy Panama Canal Cruise (Jan-Feb)?  I got a terrible cold on that cruise, and a lot of people were sick with something respiratory.  Extra sanitation measures went into effect.  Near the end of the cruise, there was an announcement in Mandarin for the Chinese passengers on the ship.  

I was also on the Joy Panama cruise, and the IT manager advised us to go to some of the large public rooms because they were closer to the routers.  The speed was impossible in our cabin, but fine in the atrium and the buffet.  

I want to thank Cheryl Molesky for her video of the careful disembarkation (Post #1973 on this thread).  Hard to tell but it seemed as if the disembarkation was very quiet, carefully organized, and of course it was dark out. 

I was rendered speechless, when a short time later I was reading the Westerdam Corona virus thread on the HAL forum and saw a photograph of Westerdam passengers gaily touring Phnom Penh after their disembarkation (Post #1114)  What a contrast.  

We had problems yesterday (we use Chrome).  DH is the main traveler; I am the secondary.   They got my Latitudes status very wrong (said I was a new guest).  We had to call.  They fixed it, but then all other information about me was gone.  DH re-entered everything.  Then he had to go back to something to fix it, and all my information disappeared again.  We finally got it done.  

My DH was in Barcelona Oct 16 through Oct 21.  The tourist areas were fine.  On Friday there was a general strike, so he couldn't ride the subway or visit most of the museums.  But everything opened up again on Saturday.  His hotel was near a police station, so he heard loud demonstrations there.  But there was no threat to tourists at all.

When we go to dinner at peak times, we tell the hostess that we are very willing to share.  They are usually grateful because the MDR is so crowded.

However, I have noticed that in recent years, nobody else shows up to share with us, and we end up eating by ourselves.  I can't believe that "no sharing" is a policy,  but clearly there are fewer and fewer people who are asking for it, so it's not working so well anymore.

9 minutes ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

We have cruised to Alaska 3 times and on two occasions went on helicopter tours. The last time it was a "Pilots Choice" tour where we made two landings and was the best of the two. Now I am having a hard time finding a similar tour.

 

I was able to sign up for the Pilots' Choice when I was on the Jewel in May of this year.  However, the flight was cancelled because of weather.  I wonder if a combination of weather and low signups caused them to abandon the option.  

On 6/2/2019 at 6:50 PM, elwood_98034 said:

We did the inaugural Jewel trip to Alaska some years ago. It was a nice trip, but the only memory that really sticks with me is that the exact same people staked out all of the window tables in the cafe very early in the morning every day and then never left during the entire course of the day

I took the Norwegian Jewel Alaska cruise a few weeks ago.  NCL is now posting signs on all the buffet tables, asking people to avoid hanging out in the buffet, so that other people can find tables.  They also open up  La Cucina across the hall for buffet overflow. I could always find a table, even during the lunch rush, especially towards the aft end.  

Although having a balcony is wonderful, I think there are plenty of public spaces for glacier viewing.  I never go to the bow,, because it's so crowded.  Even though we had a balcony, I preferred to use the Promenade deck for Glacier viewing.  That way I could run back and forth between port and starboard, depending on what's on view.  And it's never crowded.

I love the Norwegian Jewel.  It's a wonderful ship, and not too crowded. 

On 5/30/2019 at 5:46 AM, JAFA13 said:

I was on the NCL Jewel cruise that was diverted to Haines.hWe were told on the ship that a barge spilled fuel in the area we were to dock and the captain decided to divert to Haines. I heard other passengers saying this wasn’t true and that there was some kind of dispute with the captain and port officials. 

I was also on the cruise that went to Haines instead of Skagway.  We were up when the ship changed direction and went back to Haines.  My husband later had a chance to talk to the Captain.  It is true that there was no spill, but there was a fuel barge next to our dock that was still off-loading jet fuel when we were due to dock.  Neither the pilot nor the Captain thought it would be safe to go into the dock.  The pilot told the Captain that he was unwilling to bring the ship in under the circumstances.  The Captain immediately got on the phone and got the berth in Haines.  He also checked it out with the NCL head office.  Some  passengers still got their tours, but other people were out of luck.  We had a lot of first-time Alaska cruisers on board and they were understandably disappointed to miss their tours.  This was our 4th Alaska cruise, however, so we were happy to see Haines instead.  It was a small simple town, beautifully situated.  The people there were very welcoming.  

4 hours ago, rxlowry said:

 

So what would make you rethink NCL and explore another line?

You pose an interesting question and I don't know the answer.  I have certainly gotten mad at NCL, especially when they cancel cruises; yet I still prefer to cruise with them.  I think it's because I took 15 cruises to reach Platinum status before I ever tried another cruise line, and NCL began to feel like home.  When we tried RCCL, I really didn't like it; it seemed snooty, and I felt that servers were always chasing after me for an end-of-cruise tip.  Perhaps if I had started with RCCL and taken 15 cruises with them, I would have wanted to stick with them.  

I don't like what I read about Carnival and MSC, and most of the other cruise lines are too expensive.  We might try Princess some time.  I just like NCL in spite of the flaws, and unless other factors intervene (e.g. cancellations), I just want to go back to them.  

3 hours ago, Loreni said:

 

 

there is a second covers promenade deck beneath the Waterfront.  Is this good for walking or is it used for smoking?

The lower deck is good for walking although it doesn't go all the way around the ship and most of the view is partially obstructed by lifeboats.  I don't think you can smoke out there.  I have thought that perhaps this deck is not designed for passenger use, but there's no problem with your using it unless the crew are working out there on a lifeboat or whatever.  It's usually deserted, if you want a quiet walk.

Also, you can get a little further forward than you can on the Waterfront, which has sometimes been useful for watching things. 

On 10/16/2018 at 2:54 PM, AlanF65 said:

 

 

there is a Sort By over on the right, its there in chrome, I just checked

 

 

 I use Chrome.  I have used the "Sort by" feature but it doesn't seem to work.  All I want is to have the threads that were updated most recently sort to the top.   I've picked that option using the "Sort by" feature, but it still doesn't work.  I'm ready to give up the forum for a while until this is fixed.

Can I get prune juice in the buffet, or do I need to eat in the main dining room at breakfast? We will be on the Pearl.

Thanks!

The buffet has nice soft stewed prunes (which come with a lot of liquid you can drink). No separate prune juice.

Zitsky, despite emphatic responses to the contrary, NCL will collect and hold your passport during the South America Cruise. I did this cruise last year, so I speak from personal knowledge and experience. It is nothing to be worried about.

Yes, they take it. And don't worry. They return it to you the day before disembarkation, and that process is VERY organized and orderly. I was anxious about it before my South American cruise, but I saw that it really wasn't something to be anxious about.

So, who all out there likes to put these on their cabin TV in the AM? Just wondeirng...

Dave

It's very useful on port days because we get info about shuttles into town.

I'm pretty sure we had Abe Hughes on Brilliance (Baltic, May 2018)--is that possible? Anyway, we really liked him.

I

but wow did we miss NCL food

 

I know a lot of people complain on here so I wanted to say we really missed NCL

we had a great time but found us always comparing the 2 lines

just some thoughts

We too really missed the NCL food during our RCCL cruise. We felt that NCL food has much more variety and imagination.

That said: RCCL is much better at handling port visits especially if you want to visit the port independently rather than with an excursion. RCCL always made sure there was a shuttle to town at every stop on our Baltic cruise, and they were very good about informing passengers about these shuttles ahead of time. You will find NCL very lacking in this area.

Also, I think NCL has suffered more staff cutbacks (especially in the dining rooms), and you will miss the attention from your waiters in the main dining room. As veteran NCL cruisers, we felt excessively hovered over in the RCCL MDR (and the in the buffet). I realize most people wouldn't complain about that.

I can't speak to your other concerns (kids, shows, etc.)

Does anyone know if there is a deck which allows for walking exercise? We will be on the Breakaway TA in October and enjoy walking. We hope there is a designated area for this. Thank you.

On Deck 7, below the Waterfront, there are outer decks under the lifeboats. They don't go all around, but you can walk up and down them. They are usually empty--no problem with crowds. Sometimes there are crew out there working and you want to stay out of their way. There are almost no views to speak of, because of the life boats, but you get fresh air, a few peek-a-boo views, nice views fore and aft (where there are no lifeboats), and absolutely no crowding!!

Since this past Monday, we have been able to access the site without too many problems (except having to log in again while going to different pages). We have been able to access Cruise Planner and we have been able to print our luggage tags. We are new to RCCL which I think may be part of the reason we have had less trouble. We were forced to create the new style login when we first booked our cruise, and we have no RCCL cruise history. We haven't tried to actually book shore excursions yet--perhaps that's where it will all fall down.

Perhaps there is hope for everyone?

PS We are using Internet Explorer on a desktop PC (I'm a Chrome user, but can't convert the DH.)

RI just requested topper for our April cruise from Special Needs yesterday. Also request no feather pillows in cabin due to allergies. .

I am allergic to feather pillows too. I am new to RCCL. Do the cabins normally have down pillows? Do I have to make a special request for synthetic pillows?

Back in 2011, I found a message in a bottle from a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise. The writing had faded and become invisible, but I was able to make out the impressions left by the pen (the message was sent on May 31, 2003). Unfortunately, the note was not signed with a name, but only with an email address that is no longer working.

Try sending to the same address but use gmail.com or comcast.net instead of aol.com I know a lot of people who switched to gmail or comcast from their legacy email providers like aol or earthlink but kept the front part of the email address the same. (Comcast.net is common in our area, but there may be others like that.)

is the hotel in a safe area ? are there any restaurants within walking distance / is it safe to walk to them ?

thank you in advance x

The neighborhood is safe. There are lots of people around. There's an interesting historic neighborhood immediately to the right as you walk out of the hotel and around towards the back.

There is a big Italian restaurant right next door (to the left as you walk out of the hotel). The food is great, and the prices are modest; unfortunately that means the restaurant is crowded and the kitchen falls behind: we had to wait a long time for our food. The hotel has a restaurant--OK, but not great. Also, the bar has sandwiches. Other than that there are mostly pizza fast food joints on the main street. Friends of ours got a recommendation for a really nice restaurant that they raved about, but either they took a taxi there, or we just didn't walk far enough to find it. This is a neighborhood of ordinary Chileans on their way to and from work or shopping. It is not ritzy and there aren't a lot of tourists.