KarlChilders

No way would I pay the entrance fee to Disney for less than 2 days there....you simply will NOT have enough time. This is best done on a land vacation! Plan one...Disney is wonderful...but you need major time!

and research....we have done a week at Disney numerous times. The unofficial guide to Disney is an invaluable resource which my wife studies and plans. Can't imagine being one of those folks who just show up and wander around Disney. Most probably don't return out of frustration.

Stupid question...but would be allowed to take a sandwich off the boat?

 

If I have to walk to a restaurant to eat, I'd rather just walk a little more and go on board for a free bite to eat and head back to the beach.

I have seen it speculated here, though not from anything official, that you will only be allowed to disembark once on Harvest Caye....I hope that was just anti-NCL speculation, and not the actual facts. I guess we won't know for sure until ships actually start porting there.

2) Extra hotel card to keep the power on

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so will just any random hotel key work for this?

Even on land, if the cops show up at your house and ask if they can look around, and you say yes...they can and can use anything they find against you. Which is why you should really never consent to a search.

This is very illegal and is a textbook case of "Illegal search and seizure." Have you ever heard of needing a warrant? I was in the Navy for 20+ years, and even under Maritime Law when at sea, you still need a few things to do what they did.... Probable cause and a warrant. You just can't show up with white gloves on and go thru someone's personal possessions like they did. (

From a legal standpoint, you could not be more wrong. What they did was a consent search. Had they told him they were searching with or without his permission you might have had a point, but if the "searchee" consents to the search you can search as much as you want with no need for probable cause. Since they suspended the search as soon as he withdrew his consent, it is perfectly legal. Annoying and creepy, but legal.

I was wondering what the hell people were doing in the lifeboat, but after reading I see they were crew members doing a drill. Hope they are all ok!

no but this site has been freezing up on me all day...using Firefox as a browser

...The poisonous chemicals, including arsenic, cannot be filtered out....

That is absolutely false. I am in the environmental business, and we regularly produce completely pure (analyte free) water from contaminated sources. Might be expensive, but it most certainly can be filtered out. Arsenic is not even that difficult. Just FYI.

I will be ingesting most of my H2O in it's solid form, surrounded by amounts of ethanol for sterilization :)

We are well outside of our cancellation (130 days or so) and received two notifications, one was a forward of NCL's email to our Travel agent firm, and the other from our agent herself.

We are looking at this excursion on our NCL cruise in December and it is listed as 6 hours. Can anyone tell me if there are periodic shuttles back to the ship earlier? Or are you there for the full time regardless.

They almost certainly pay for the dock by the hour and wouldn't want any extra charges there. Also shore staff are there for a specific time. In the past we have arrived in port a couple of hours early due to a following sea and then had to wait till customs and immigration were ready!!

That's what I figured. No advantage from an operations/cost standpoint to be in port longer.

I was looking at our upcoming western Caribbean itinerary and notice that the distances from port to port are rather short (Roatan-Belize about 120 miles, same for Costa Maya to Cozumel) So with the speeds the ships are capable of they could make it in considerably less time than they schedule. So my question is, do they just cruise very slowly, or take an indirect route (unlikely as it would waste fuel) or do they just get to open sea and stop for a while, then continue? Just curious.

Does the UBP include speciality coffees?

From NCL Bold added by me

The Ultimate Beverage Package does not include room service, package sales, ship specific promotions or beer buckets, designated Super Premium brands (subject to change), bottled wine, mini bar purchases, bottled water, fresh squeezed juices, select Lavazza coffee beverages, energy drinks, vending machines, wine stations or spirits, cocktails, draft or bottled beer and glasses of wine over $15 USD. One (1) beverage per person per transaction. Package can be used in all restaurants, lounges, bars and Great Stirrup Cay. Any items over $15 USD will receive an $15 USD discount and the guest will be charged the difference to their account. Ultimate Beverage Package is not available on the Pride of America.

 

Because some of travellers on forum wrote earlier that they have been charged extra for gratuities, do you know what is the current policy ? Does NCL charge or not charge extra gratuities for drink package included in promo offers ?

 

I wanted to be sure about the entire cost of the cruise before:-)

I can tell you we booked last week and were charged 99.54 (79*7*.18) each as the gratuity on the cost of the free drinks. I have read somewhere that UK residents are not charged this but I can't verify that. I figure I would easily drink 14 dollars a day including tip, so it's a good value for me.

I know we always used to tell a friend of ours a time half an hour earlier than anyone else to make sure he was at least close to being on time! :D

I've got a brother like that, if we want to eat Christmas dinner at 4, we tell him 2 and then we might eat at 4:15 :)

As far as trying to cut it close and taking advantage of every minute you have to "explore".... just do a google search for "2016 Norwegian Breakaway Mom Left Behind in Nassau" and this will probably dispel all notions you might have of trying to maximise your time on shore. :D

Right! as stated in the OP I planned to have a cushion, just thought the 2 hour that applied to embarkation day seemed a bit excessive for all ports.

Years ago, we missed a flight in Denver due to circumstances (rental car damaged on the way to airport, lots of paperwork). That was minor $ compared to being left in a port of call, I presume.

The time in the itinerary is the actual departure time.

 

As Sauer Kraut said, all aboard time is usually 30 minutes earlier.

Thanks, that was helpful as well.

There will be signs as you disembark telling you when to get back on board. WEAR A WATCH!! Don't rely on your cell phone, in some cases ship time will be different. The all aboard time will also be listed in your Freestyle Daily along with the port agent's phone number in case you won't make it back on time so you can notify the agent.

 

USUALLY the return time for a port stop is half an hour before sailing, be sure you know what that time is before leaving the ship.

Thank you....that was a helpful answer!

It takes time to get thousands of people (potentially) back onto the ship. Imagine if everyone showed up at 4:55 and said "What's the problem, I'm here before 5....."

 

Return to the ship by the time that you are told to return to the ship (all aboard). Don't expect it to wait for you because you want to "explore".

I understand all that, I guess what I'm asking, is the time listed on the itinerary the "return/all aboard time" or the actual departure time.

If the departure time for a port of call is listed as 5pm, is that the time one must be back aboard (obviously with a cushion)? I saw elsewhere where it said you should be back on board 2 hours before departure. Having to be back aboard by 3 seems to limit time for exploring the port. I did a search and found lots of discussion of ships time vs local time but not an answer to this question.

Can I borrow your Netflix password? ;-)

(anybody out there?)

Anybody have experience with the Anniversary package? Worth it? I see that it includes dinner at Le Bistro, which is now ala carte, so I wondered what is included. Also the sparkling wine bottle, is it decent? This will be our first cruise, so forgive the newbie.

Also wondering about an excursion in Cozumel, the 12 meter yacht race looks to be right up our alley, anybody know if this usually sells out?

TIA for answers.