ciabelle

41 minutes ago, Mbcruiser704 said:

Do all of the cruise lines dock outside of town requiring a shuttle in?

Most larger ships do. Smaller vessels moor and use tenders into town. No cruise ships dock in town, the marina can't handle them. 

It is an NCL excursion. 

I understand there's a free shuttle from the Old Sitka Cruise Pier to downtown. We'll be there on Monday on the NCL Bliss from 10:30-6pm. We booked the Fortress of the Bears excursion for 2:30pm. 

Anyone happen to know if the excursions generally pick up at the pier or in downtown? Our working plan is to explore the city on our own in the morning,  then go on the excursion which will probably wrap up about an hour before the all aboard time, thus ending our time ashore. I'm hoping we don't have to cut our independent exploration short to take the shuttle back to the ship, only to get on a tour bus that will again go through the city center on its way to the Fortress. 

Obviously, the tickets will tell us the meeting point, but hoping someone with recent experience can give us a head's up so I can better budget our time in port. 

On 4/12/2024 at 9:14 PM, Middleager said:

If you were NCL, will you book the lowest cost airfare, or will you try to pay higher fare out of the goodness of their heart so passengers will get more benefits?

Ok, I've heard enough answers like yours saying it'll be the absolute most no frills fare possible, and others saying that the fare included a checked bag. So I'm honestly no closer to a definitive answer than before I asked. 

I do think it makes sense for NCL to book a regular coach ticket over the barebones flight. Flight delays happen often enough that people report missing the ship completely or having to catch up with it in another port of call. It would be salt in the wound if one not only didn't get to the ship on time, but then lost the entire value of the ticket NCL purchased for them, and had to pay the full fare to get to the next port or fly home early. 

So, no, they're not going to put you in any premium cabin, let alone first or business class without possible prior arrangements and a much heftier fee, but I will trust the others who've said a checked bag was included. 

Does NCL book the absolute cheapest fare AKA basic economy, or do they book regular coach/main cabin? 

We're sailing out of Barcelona in November, so it's long before NCL will book our flights, but checking with Delta, the one-way fare difference between basic economy and main cabin is $100, while a checked bag is free in main cabin, but $150 in basic. Plus you can make changes or cancel without penalty with main, and choose your own seats to boot..  So going with basic economy seems penny wise and pound foolish. I'd rather pay NCL a couple hundred dollars up front than have to pay even more on the back-end. 

I was on the Epic last week, and was carefully rationing the 150 minutes of wifi included in the Free At Sea package. To have upgraded to unlimited wifi pre-cruise or once onboard for the week would have cost $110. However, I happened to notice early on Day 4 that they were offering the unlimited upgrade for $50, with over have the cruise left, this was a no-brainer for me. 

Does anyone know if this discount is consistently offered and, if so, what day they drop the price? Rather than rationing my online time to about 20 minutes per day, I could have used about 45 minutes a day before this offer became known. Or even more if offered by the 2nd or 3rd day.

If I'm reading the terms on the website correctly (pertinent areas in bold) All your winnings get downloaded onto your cruise card, which you must cash out by the last night, but there is a 3% fee to do so? So if I end up with $1000 in slot credits on the machine at the end of the cruise, I'll lose $30?

Am I missing something? The slots are tight enough without an added rake!
 

• Cash is accepted at all tables and slot machines on cruises departing from North America and Europe. On Australia cruises, all cash transactions are in AUD dollars only. 
• Players will set up a Player Bank account in order to upload and download credits. Winnings must be cashed out from your Player Bank account at the Casino Cashier’s Desk by the last night of your cruise. You may also access these funds for continued gaming action at another slot machine.
• Table players can exchange cash for chips directly at the table or at the Casino Cashier’s Desk.
• There is no charge at the slot machines to access funds, but any transactions done at a table game or the Casino Cashier’s Desk will incur a nominal service fee of 3% each transaction. You can charge up to $5,000 USD per day on your Sail & Sign card to play iin the casino, or $7,500 USD per day for Invite-only cruises (Premier / Ultra / Premier Plus / Getaway / Tournaments) or $10,000 USD per day for Elite cruises. Please consult the casino staff once on board for further details.
   

The Whatsinport website indicated that one can take a local bus to Mendenhall Glacier Park. It appears to travel Mendenhall Loop but leaves you about 1.5 miles away from the visitor center along Glacier Spur Rd. Is that site's info outdated or just wrong? The same website said direct shuttles were $20 r/t, now there isn't one at more than twice that price? 

We're visiting the end of April, and just a bit taken aback at how pricy excursions and other activities are in Juneau relative to what we've already booked in Sitka and Ketchikan. 

20 hours ago, tlord423 said:

Hello, what ended up being the answer to this? im sailing on the lirica soon with a wifi package but it would be nice to use the ethernet to my laptop then use my laptop as a hotspot... did the ethernet ports work for you?

I never tested them out, sorry, as I had the WiFi package. 

Sorry if this has already been answered before, I did do a quick search but found nothing. 

Are you charged a percentage on any slot credits purchased via your room key at a slot machine, or if you similarly charge chips to your account? I'm planning on  playing craps for several hours every night, but would prefer not to carry a large amount of cash while travelling. However I've heard that some lines may charge 3-5% over the amount transferred.

Perhaps this was done to deter people from effectively getting free cash advances by buying slot credits and immediately cashing out. Yet if the cruise line expects to earn more from casino play than they'll lose in merchant fees when they charge your card that the end of the sailing, perhaps it remains worthwhile for them to eat that cost. 

I understand the argument from both sides, just not sure what HAL's policy is on this. 

Even more of a longshot, (I assume the answer is probably no) but could you credit chips or slot credits back to your onboard account? Thereby reducing, eliminating, or even getting a credit on your final shipboard charges were you doing particularly well in the casino? I'd similarly prefer to not travel with large amounts of cash after the cruise either. But I am not inclined to pay an additional fee to buy chips, nor intentionally zero out my bankroll to avoid doing so. 

I convinced my DH (who'd otherwise prefer to stay home while I go off and explore) to join me on a Panama Canal cruise next year with a stop in Cartagena. As soon as I mentioned that we had a port of call in Columbia, his eyes lit up and said "Coffee!" 

I know the port is in the tropical lowlands rather than in the Andes, but he'd really love to experience the full process from picking the berries, to seeing the whole process (grading, drying, roasting, all the way to cupping and tasting) CCL offers an excursion with a cupping experience along with other sightseeing and shopping stops, "Coffee Baptism With a Touch of Gold" but that isn't really what he's after. I've found other similar 3rd party excursions that were perhaps a bit more coffee centric, but nothing that would fully scratch his itch. 

I don't know if such an experience is even feasible on an 8-hour port of call, but would appreciate any suggestions/recommendations whether guided or independent exploration by other coffee fiends. 

Will be there from 6:30am - 2:30pm in February. Booked a speedboat excursion for 7:45. Figure that will automatically assign us to one of the first tenders. Should be an excellent time of year for whale watching, and will leave us as much time as possible after the excursion to explore the marina afterwards. 

Sailing on the Koningsdam soon on a casino match offer. Drinks for 2 while playing is part of the package. Do we need to wait for a server to come around while playing to receive these drinks like in Vegas, or do we just go to the casino bar. Is there a certain amount that must be played prior to getting a drink? I intend to spend the evening hours at the craps table most nights, but wondering if it's practical to play a couple spins on a penny slot machine, get a glass of wine, and then take it to the MDR for dinner -- Or if that's far more trouble than it's worth vs. just buying it in the MDR? 

Onto craps, when buying or laying numbers, do you pay a vig up front -- win or lose, or is it only paid on your winnings? 

I signed up a few weeks ago for Carnival's Casino offers, included my Leap card (3rd out of 4 or 5 tiers depending on the casino within the Mohegan Sun network) Immediately got offered a discounted, but not free cruise with $50 in free play. Figured they considered it pretty meh as far as my status goes and forgot about it. 

Until this week.  Got an offer for a "free" oceanview plus $100 in free play and drinks in the casino. Booked the Panorama to Mexico in February with a cruise buddy I met on my last (non CCL) cruise. Though we upgraded to a balcony for an additional $160 each. That was two days ago. Today I get an offer for a "free" balcony +$100 free play, and managed to convince my DH to join me on a 15-day Panama Canal cruise in October 24 on the Miracle. 

I figured I needed to book fast before they realized I'd already booked a free cruise. Apparently it's pretty common though reading this thread. I just don't gamble all that much anymore (just got bored with it) So I expect the offers will dry up quick after the cruises. I didn't realize you could get DOU anywhere on the ship as an offer though. The Cheers package will cost more than my out-of-pocket for the cruises. So trying to decide if I should just get it, or just play penny slots to grab drinks in the casino and leave. Being a non-smoker is likely to keep me from spending a whole lot of time in there anyway.

Is there a certain dollar amount you need to play to get a comped drink? CCL's T&C's are quite vague on the topic.

Ilani Casino Leap matched to Gold, took less than 24 hours. Casino isn't listed on the status match page, but is part of the Mohegan Sun network.

Same as others, I only received upgrade offers on my first cruise. Each successive offer was worse than the one prior. Especially as a solo cruiser, since the upgrades are priced based on double occupancy whereas there's low to no single supplement when booking. 

If you're still interested, wait until you're on board and at sea, then ask at guest services if any upgrades are available. They may be more flexible in offering discounted upgrades if there are unsold cabins in higher categories - no guarantees though.

It may help to carefully inspect your assigned cabin for anything that's not perfect before unpacking. (Wobbly closet door, leaky showerhead, etc.) bring it up to your room steward first. They'll probably work to fix it right away if possible. If they can't, that's something you can bring up at guest services.  But by all means, be polite, calm, and friendly with the agent. Their willingness to help may depend on your demeanor. 

I was flat out told I was not eligible for the discount as a home health care aide last year. I found that to be frustrating given that I have far less control over the risk of exposure to COVID or other diseases working inside clients' homes versus a clinical setting where sanitation and visitor access is much more strictly controlled. 

Given that the 3-day cruise fare was low enough that the discount would have been less than $50 anyway, I didn't fight it, but still felt snubbed by my first interaction with MSC customer service (which apparently seems par for the course.) 

On 11/22/2022 at 1:28 PM, Stockjock said:

So has anyone actual come out ahead gambling on these ships?  I work for a big Wall Street firm, so you'd think I'd be a gambler, but I don't like casino odds in general, and I think that cruise ship casino odds are even worse than Las Vegas.

*All* casinos have a house advantage, and yes cruise ship casinos have worse odds than Vegas for the most part. I doubt anyone here is realistically expecting to consistently make more than they spend within the realm of the casino itself -- The house always wins. 

However, the rewards program offers can and do make it worthwhile for people who enjoy cruising and gambling to do both in many cases. If you lose $2000 in the casino but save $3000 off your cruise fare, you still ultimately come out ahead in the end.  

If you don't enjoy gambling and/or cruising then this wouldn't be a recommended activity.

On 10/17/2022 at 6:19 AM, Sharon in AZ said:

For those wondering, @ciabelle is on the Nieuw Statendam and the picture is of the NCL ship the Joy, or as the Captain called it, a monstrosity, with our ship behind it at dock in Saint John yesterday. I don’t know where the stone is but it’s somewhere along the bay. 
 

Sorry for the delay in following up.  Didn't have the WiFi package and when in port I had other things on my mind than posting on CC. LOL... I just liked the shot and had to share. 

The port is Saint John, NB. The Nieuw Statendam is framed by the sculpture which was along the walkway between downtown and the reversing falls bridge. The Norwegian Joy is the ship to the left. 

19 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Per person, but you can share!  It is not per stateroom as that would imply that both occupants can use it simultaneously, which is not true.

 

@ciabelle when onboard, there is a messaging facility on the Navigator app that is free to use.

A bit of confusion on the semantics.  Per person: each guest could use their own device at the same time; Per stateroom: Only one device per cabin could be used at a time. From what you and Bruce said, it appears the latter is the case.  

Happy to hear that messaging is including in the app. Probably won't get the wifi package at all then. Work and the internet at large can live without me for a couple weeks. 

On 2/15/2022 at 5:57 PM, CruiserBruce said:

The plan can be activated on any device but only one device can be actively connected at a time

Clarification: Is this per guest or per stateroom? I'm considering getting the package primarily to facilitate communication with my cabin mate given that we'll probably be off doing different things onboard. That'd be pretty much useless though if only one of you can be logged in at a time. 

First time traveler to Nassau. I've heard US Customs doesn't typically ask one to declare goods or do any searches of cruisers returning to Florida ports, you just scan your passport and go one your way..  Can anyone confirm that this is the case in most instances? 

If asked to declare, how much booze can one bring in duty free? The CBP website is rather vague on that point:

"Generally, one liter of alcohol per person may be entered into United States duty-free by travelers who are 21 years or older. Although travelers coming from the U.S. Virgin Islands or other Caribbean countries are entitled to more." (Emphasis added) 

How much more? 2 liters? 5 liters? As much as you can carry? 

On a related note, Any recommendations on rums which are 1) better than average  2) a decent value, and 3) not sold in the US? Even if I could save a couple bucks on Bacardi Silver in Nassau, it isn't going to be worth the added hassle, and any savings would be more than eliminated by having to check my carry-on due to TSA restrictions. 

1 hour ago, lovemycruisetoo said:

I know that all Canadians were canceled because they couldn’t get COVID insurance or something like that. Our cruise is still showing as going. 

My cruise on the 30th still appears to be live, but MSC just canceled/refunded all my add-ons. (Wifi/specialty dining, etc.) Wish we had more info about what's going on. 

Not sure if it's universal, but was my experience which is a bit unnerving. Using the web contact form,https://www.msccruisesusa.com/forms/contact-us, for a general inquiry, there's a space to include your booking number. When I submitted my request, it errored out with an "invalid booking number" message. I noticed it wasn't a required field, so omitted it (and added it to the inquiry itself) and submitted form with no issues. 

I have my e-tickets already so I'm not terribly concerned, but being told my booking number is invalid is unnerving.