notes21

I don't know any details about the chemo patient's type of cancer, etc., but for many dealing with metastatic cancer (like I am), they may be on chemo treatment of some kind for the rest of their life. I will never get to see 18 months off treatment to plan a trip then as treatment will only be stopping when my time here is done.   My oncologist plans things out with me in advance  to make  sure that I leave for trips with the highest counts possible, and I often get back just a daybefore the next treatment.  My oncologist wants me to go on these trips and "live life fully".   I have chemo every two weeks; so, there isn't a ton of time in-between.   We both know what is waiting around the corner when things worsen & that some day travel will not be possible for me.. It is not automatically irresponsible to plan a trip returning close to the next treatment date.   Now going without enough of your medications could be a different story....I try to always travel with 30 days worth, but in this situation even that much could possibly not be enough, and there is always the issue of some meds being controlled, etc. 

We were booked on the May 9th Spirit cruise,. and we received our refunds back to our cards right around 2 weeks after the cancellation.

I was able to still find Asia cruises on NCL's site, but the spreadsheet definitely shows the Spirit  in Greece on 5/10.  The day after we were supposed to be boarding in Tokyo.  I  sure hope if this is accurate that they will allow refunds, changes, future cruise, etc.  We did a Venice, Croatia, Montenegro, & Greece cruise last summer and have no interest in repeating it.  Plus I'm supposed to be in Fiji for 5 days before going to Tokyo.   I definitely understand that they have the right to make this large of a change, and I would have been happy to go on a revised Asia itinerary.

According to Bloomberg - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-04/china-will-soon-find-out-if-mass-quarantine-worked-virus-update  The Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong will be closing.  The airport measures start 2/8, but not sure from the article if the same is the date for the cruise terminal.

I am watching all of this closely as we are scheduled in May to do the 15 night cruise from Tokyo(Yokohama) to Hong Kong.    I read American has pulled out of Hong Kong for flights at least into March.  They are who we are flying back.  I am on chemo which makes me have to be more careful due to compromised immunity.  This is a "living list" trip for me, and I hope they make some changes to the ports so that the cruise can still do at least some of it.  I know that a May trip is not their priority right now as they are having to take care of immediate cruises, but I've been surprised at how little information has been posted by NCL on their website, etc. compared to how they post for events like hurricanes etc. 

Supposed to sail on the Spirit in May from Japan to Hong Kong Just got this email today about some of the changes.   

My parents and I did this cruise mid to late May 2018.  It was unseasonably warm everywhere we went, but I still didn't see many adults in the pools as there was still a chill in the air.  Some kids were though.   This is a wonderful cruise, and I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!

Thanks for the input!  It sounds like we should only count on 1.  Hoping we will maybe be lucky and get a 2nd. 

Kim -  I love to read your reviews, but rarely post.  So sorry to hear about your fall, and hope your surgery and recovery go smoothly and well!

Years ago, I started collecting jewelry, specifically pendants,  from my trips rather than t-shirts that could not fit in a year, etc.   This is often an inexpensive silver charm that reminds of the location but some nicer pieces have been purchased as well.  I follow the rule of if I love it and have the money for it then it is fine, but I do research ahead of time and learn what stones or jewelry pieces are unique to an area and some general price ranges.   Generally, I find better prices in places other than the ship, but on our Alaska cruise, they had some beautiful jade/silver pieces,  that I liked much better than the land stores and were better in price.   When I talk about land stores, I'm meaning local stores not the big chains such as Diamonds International's.   Was it worth it for me to buy it from them, absolutely!   I don't ever buy jewelry in my day to day life; so, it is something I enjoy doing on trips and having as a souvenir.  

Tanzanite is listed as one of the 10 most rare gemstones on almost every list I've seen due to it being from only one location.   The others will sometimes change, but unless it is a pink star diamond , the standard gems of diamond, ruby, sapphire, etc. that were mentioned in some previous posts don't make the list.   So, while buying it on the ship may be more expensive, etc., the claims about the stones being rare are not incorrect. 

Very excited about a 15 day Asia cruise in May. I know I'm super early to be thinking about this, but .....how many stuff the bag laundry specials are there on a 15 day cruise?   I was surprised to see on my 9 day Venice/ Greek Isles earlier this summer that our steward actually put a slip for it on the bed on 2 consecutive days. Since I'll be flying so far, I"m debating tacking on something else to the cruise and just trying to figure out how feasible that might be.   Thanks in advance for any help!

Thanks Floridiana!

For anyone who has cruised China & Japan with NCL, do they tend to do a cultural show on board?  On our Baltic cruise, they has Russian dancers one night.  I really would like to do an excursion to Chinese acrobats, but with the other excursions we want to do it doesn't seem possible.  My mom is adamant that we do cruise ship tours especially in countries where we don't speak the language as we had 2 excursions have difficulty getting back on time on a previous cruise . Any info would be greatly appreciated?  Also is port or starboard preferred for  Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing (Tianjin), Kyoto(Osaka), and Tokyo (Yokohama)?  ( I know it can vary based on where they have to dock, but just curious if anyone has tended to see that one side is better for sail-ins than the other?)   Thanks in advance for your help!

Doing an Asia cruise in May from Tokyo to Hong Kong now after originally being on the reverse cruise later in May. We are now booked in a starboard room instead of port bc I messed up my cabin numbers when on the phone.  Has anyone done this cruise before & recommend one over the other?  I know how you dock can vary at each port based on a lot of factors  but just looking for advice as to whether I should call back & try to switch due to a sailin or anything.  Thanks in advance!

Thanks OP!  You just helped us save $1600 on our Asia cruise in May.  With our trip so far out I"m not checking the site very often so I really appreciate your post. 

Just booked on the NCL Spirit for May 2020 that starts with an overnight in Hong Kong.  Having never done an overnight at the start of the trip, I have a couple of questions.  Do they wait & do the muster drill on the day that they are actually leaving or is it done before you can leave the ship that first day?  Does NCL offer any excursions for that first day?   There is also an overnight at the end of the trip at the Tokyo port (Yokohama). Would they have excursions both days or only the full day?  Could you get an earlier flight than normally disembarkation since you can come & go like a hotel?   

Thanks in advance for any help!  I know in theory it would be best to call NCL, but with these being fairly new itineraries and all of the Cuba issues at the moment, I thought checking with people who may have had something similar in the past might be the quickest for easy information.  I will of course double check anything closer to time.  Thanks again!

Sites are now saying that cruise ship travel will be banned. These say that already booked trips before 6/5 will be allowed to happen, but I can't imagine the ships would sail in the future at whatever capacity they are currently at so imagine itinerary changes are likely (other than maybe the closer dates) .....  Stinks for my December cruise there! 

***Sorry that some of this was already posted.  I think the two links weren't yet though.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/04/politics/us-cuba-travel-restrictions/index.html

https://www.apnews.com/67c721daee8143d4a2e6ee8c401bf215

They are common in Australia as well for breakfast.  I was introduced to it there initially and then UK.  I'm very picky about sausage & bacon and usually places in Europe or on cruises don't cook them in a way that I can eat; so, it it nice to have another option that has some protein.

Thanks for starting this thread.  My 12/16 cruise didn't have it available when I looked on Thursday, but it was there today; so, I grabbed it.  I know FTTF is not for everyone, but having a lot of meds and things , it is really helpful for us. 

Depending on location insure my trip will often provide some cruise plans that include pre-existing conditions until the day of final payment.  We've used that several times as well.

We did the Baltics last year on Breakaway, and used all NCL excursions.  My mom prefers to do it that way, and so, we always pick the shore excursion credit as a promo.   I did a short review that you can find here - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2544587-breakaway-begins-the-baltics-review/     Really enjoyed this cruise & hope you will as well. 

Thank you!

Thanks so much for your response.  That definitely alleviates my worries!

We are booked on an Asia cruise in May 2020 that had the itinerary changed. We can't switch to the options they gave that were the same, but just realized that if we added the 8 day before then we could still get the ports that had been removed from our original booking.   Debating on whether to rebook as the full 24 days (losing about 1300 in prepaid gratuities and on board credit) or just add the 8 days before as a separate booking making it a back to back.   Do you have to collect your luggage and go through the whole process of boarding again in a B2B?   or do they keep the luggage on the ship?   Would we be able to do an excursion?  The port is Singapore; so, we might never get back there and would like to see something if possible, but the excursions that I see as examples either say not available for beginning/ending in that port or end at the airport.   Any advice from someone who has done something like this before would be really appreciated.  Thanks so much!

Going on the Star on 5/24, and had originally taken the 3 meal dining as one of our free at sea along with 3rd person free.  The itinerary is very port heavy (no sea days on a 9 day cruise), and mom is adamant that we use NCL excursions.  I realized that since it was a distinctive voyage, we'd come out better financially to switch the dining to another shore excursion credit so that would be $100 off each port.  With the timing of many of the ports being later at night, figuring out when to do specialty dining is a bit more difficult anyway, but I really want to do Cagney's one night.   If I bought one 3 meal package, could all 3 of us use it for that one night of dining? or do we each have to have a package?   I should probably  already know this, but since I couldn't remember, I figured I would ask.  

I'm on the 5/24/19 sailing as well.  Hoping someone will be able to post some dailies to get some ideas.