TenForward

On 4/15/2024 at 9:18 PM, Mlake09 said:

Thanks for this!  We'll be there this Sunday.  We arrive at 9AM so I'm thinking it's unlikely we can catch that one and will have to depart at 11:15. 

Our ship departs at 4:00 so can we even take the 3:00 return?   Anyone know if NCL sticks to same schedule all the time or do they adjust for their ships schedule while in port?

7 hours ago, gizfish said:

Dead men sing no songs.

😢

On 4/12/2024 at 2:22 PM, supermamawannabe said:

We are pretty new to cruising, did one 14 years ago when my kids were 3 and 9 months on Royal Caribbean (not a great experience). We did a Disney cruise about 9 years ago as a whole family for my dad's retirement, and that was nice. This time it's just us 4, celebrating my daughter's high school graduation and our 20th wedding anniversary. Kids wanted to do a Caribbean cruise, so we booked this NCL. I'm not only having a little buyer's remorse, I need help deciding if we should do excursions and need other advice.

1. Excursions: does anyone have first-hand recommendations for Puerto Plata, St. Thomas and Tortola? 
2. Dinners/formal attire: I did not realize NCL was a "freestyle" cruise line and didn't do formal nights. I'm a bit disappointed as I love getting dressed up. If we wear suits/cocktail dresses to dinner, will we be totally out of place?
3. Planning: I'm such a planner, and I find NCL's website and app to be completely non-user friendly. The UX is awful and I can't find much info. Do we really not have to plan anything in advance besides excursions? 

Any other tips/recommendations for this ship so we have the best time?

Thanks in advance for any help!

You should definitely check out the Ports of Call forum - lots of helpful info there on what do on each island.  I'm sailing this Friday on the Getaway to most of those same islands -  I've been to all before except St. Maarten.  In Tortola we are booked for Jost Van Dyke Escape (which we've done before but weather sent us to an alternate beach).  In St. Maarten we'll be hitting Little Bay Beach near the Belair Hotel and then the Sky Explorer & Flying Dutchman.   @Mitsugirly Did a great review of Taino Bay with all the pools, shops & lazy river and that's our plan for that day as well.   

Will report back in a little over 10 days on how things went. 

Enjoy your cruise!

(why don't my @'s create a link like I see on others)

1 minute ago, dbrown84 said:

but it's still allowed on the Getaway.  It was the Joy that smoking at Spice was removed

Ok, thanks. I wasn't sure... I thought I read somewhere that this was going to be fleetwide...eventually anyway.

Thanks for posting your review.  I'll be on the Getaway in 18 days... I was on her for NYE 2022 and interested in seeing what's changed.  My husband's go-to daytime drink is the Painkiller (I like it too).

On 3/8/2024 at 10:01 AM, cruiseny4life said:

So...umm...yea...back to the topic? Without the judgment? 

 

Can you smoke in Spice H2O or not? What has been the experience of those that have cruised in, say, the last three to four weeks? 

Sounds like you can't but I'll be able to confirm for certain in 18 days --  on the Getaway at least 🙂 

To me, it would make the most sense to have smoking in Spice H2O as it's the back of the ship and, particularly while the ship is moving, the smoke would stream off the back over the ocean.

2 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Same here for the Southeast US.  Very strange...all the birds got really quiet.  I *think* we even heard a few crickets!  (mid-afternoon...)

I was visiting family who lived in the "path of totality" during the 2017 eclipse and remember that too -- very dark, no birds & definitely crickets!  Sudden switch back to birds and no crickets once the moon moved off. 

15 hours ago, philv said:

From pier 4 we went out to the street in front, turned left and walked to a square with a large fountain where the walking path starts outside the city wall and takes you along the bay all the way out to the entrance of the harbor below El Morro. You pass the historic San Juan Gate which is 3/4 mile from point. It’s a fairly level walk and path ends at stairs that climb up to El Morro. The stairs aren’t bad and from the fort it’s downhill through old San Juan back to port so I liked that direction. Didn’t come across umbrella street.

Thank you!  That is the La Princessa walk so I'm glad to hear if we continue on we can enter El Morro from there.  We've been there several times but not via the walkway.  Umbrella Street - if it's still there was - was down around the Old Gate.  We'll be checking that out on our way back. 

On 2/17/2024 at 4:39 PM, medicalma'am said:

Mind sharing the walking tour?

We may change it up a bit but this takes us along the la Princessa walkway, through the original Old Gate, up to El Morro, down to the Bascilica, toward umbrella street (if it's still there) and to a few shops we want to hit.   I understand from someone in another thread you can in fact enter El Morrow directly from the waterfront walkway if you were to continue vs. going through the Old Gate. 

(hope my reply isn't too late, didn't see you had asked this question).

Thank you for posting! We'll be there in a few weeks and I've plotted out a similar walk.  It wasn't clear if there was access to el Morro from the waterfront walk "Princessa" .... sounds like you were able to do that?  We were thinking of going through the Old Gate and walk to the fort that way, enjoying the cobblestone streets there and back again to the ship.  Did you notice if Umbrella Street is still there?

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

What drink is that?

Looks like a Painkiller.... Counting down the days (34!) until I can get mine!

9 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

I'm not sure where you get your info but I just posted right before you that I just paid $289 for 10 days on Getaway! 

My sailing is in 34 days. 

On your same cruise and I paid $289 as well.  Sounds like we got in before a price increase.  Nice!

4 hours ago, UKstages said:

and, indeed, in january of that year, when i returned home, i came down with a really debilitating case of the "flu."

 

it was almost assuredly covid.

 

that's right... i was patient zero!

I will say there was a strange bug going around in January that year that both my husband and I got as well as several friends.  It was kind of flu like, yet different. But it wasn't Covid. 

We got Covid day 1 of the shut-down.   That original strain was not mild...  I remember us both breathing like fish out of water -- lips puckered up into an "O"... very strange. 

6 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Four years ago today, I received the following letter about my March 15, 2020 sailing on the Bliss:

 

Can I just take this moment to reflect on how grateful I am that I have since been able to go on 16 cruises? I am happy to be back to debating about our First World problems like no room service breakfast or evening turndown service. I am grateful to be struggling to pick between three separate cruises on three separate lines for a week in May!

I remember that letter... We had 2 cruises cancelled -- one in April 2020 (finally took in July 2022) and the 2nd from February 2021 which we finally took in October 2022.  

Now looking forward to yet another in just 37 days! 😄

How long will you be there?  El Yunque National Rain forest is less than an hour away.   Dorado (northern coast)  is also not far - perhaps the hotels offer a day pass to enjoy the beach?   DH and I spent many years vacationing on the west coast (Rincon) but unless you're there for at least an overnight it would be too far.  One of our favorite things to do was rent a car and drive through the mountain towns... stopping for food along the way.  Roads can be narrow and steep - not for the faint-of-heart.  Watch for goats & horses!

12 hours ago, aggie182 said:

At this point I don’t know back from front or up from down on this ship!  It’s an adventure. 

Fish on hallway carpets always swim toward the front!   

Very easy at MCT in NY.  (Side note: we've never had dogs sniff our trunk - maybe that's done on random days).  The first time we parked there I literally said "so small" -- it was not what I was expecting.  We parked and rolled/carried our luggage to the elevator (about 200 feet away) before seeing the porter and giving to him.  The next time we parked there we knew better and dropped our luggage with a porter up there in the lot before driving into a spot -- again, maybe 200 feet away... unless you're lucky and get a closer spot.

Will be doing the same for our cruise in April. 

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

 It allows you to access the NCL app, including the NCL-provided messenger that costs $9.95/per day.

I remember this being a one-time fee per person, not per day. Am I remembering wrong?  

28 minutes ago, forgotmyCCname said:

We did the same thing as DrUrsula

There are several restaurants right where you land . I can't remember the name but it has big 

signs touting their breakfast.

we ate, grabbed our snorkel gear and headed off to the far end of the beach. No one else from  the ship was snorkeling!

we swam with sea turtles and beautiful fish for hours. The water was absolutely clear and the turtles amazing!!

We snorkeled until the boat was leaving.

We are divers and snorkelers and this is in the top 3 of all our trips over 30 years , beauty wise.

 

 

I'm so happy to hear this! My husband dives and the rest of us snorkel -- at least a little. Really looking forward to it!

7 minutes ago, Shidah said:

If it was The Rebel Yell going to JVD, that is worth getting up any time for! Our favorite excursion that we do every time and would not miss it!  Definitely worth the early rise!

It is.  My husband and I actually did this same excursion 8 years ago but the weather was such they wouldn't stop at JVD and took us to an alternate beach (and far inferior in my view).  Looking forward to making it this time. 

5 minutes ago, DrUrsula said:

I honestly cant remember! I know they offered a huge range of coffees. It was either Soggy Dollar or to the left of Soggy Dollar.

You cant miss it. We split a gigantic burrito. Really good snorkeling if you travel off to the right ( facing the ocean) 

We also encountered the delightful sea turtles. Such grace and beauty. 

Hendo's Hideaway maybe?  That's where we're planning to spend our day. Looks lovely and is a little quieter than Soggy Dollar I've heard.  We're bringing our snorkel gear.  Thank you!

1 hour ago, DrUrsula said:

Its not typical but we did do it recently for Jost Van Dyke on the 5 hour, abbreviated Tortola stop. We skipped breakfast; had a Starbucks - which Is open at 6- and ate breakfast at the beach.

We did our research and read about the amazing breakfast on Jost and opted to eat there. It was a good choice.

Where's the amazing breakfast on Jost? Heading there in April...we have the early morning "Escape to Jost Van Dyke" excursion. 

.

SkyView Explorer and Flying Dutchman? We're going to try that on our April trip. 

5 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

 

We are, and have always been, sundeck people. We will spend all day outside, if the weather allows.

 

I'm excited! 57 days until Vibe for me!

DH and I are the same and for that alone I think you will really enjoy having your vibe passes and the peace and quiet is a major benefit.  Our first time in Vibe (Escape) we were often the only 2 for hours at a time. 

I'm not one to do shots at the bar but the fabulous staff got everyone to do a Cheeseburger shot at "shot o'clock" (4:00) and by golly it tasted exactly like a cheeseburger! Lol! 

See you in 57 days! 

On 2/15/2024 at 7:49 AM, mitsugirly said:

HERE's my review with tons of pictures if you are interested. (We ended up doing the waterfalls that day and then came back and stayed at the port the rest of the day). The port review part starts at post 108.

I've been following your reviews for years and really appreciate your thorough reports and pictures.  I read through this one on Taino Bay a couple of months ago and it was so very helpful in planning our trip (April on the Getaway!).  Just wanted to take a moment to thank you for always taking time to provide such helpful information.  

Anyone have info on Belair Beach Resort?  Family of 4 adults considering a day pass there. It looks like a nice quiet resort on a beautiful beach.