br111

Definitely better to book ahead - and I don't think I've ever seen it for anything other than $9.99 (and I check pretty routinely ahead of a sailing). It seems to be a pretty permanent sale.

Looks like she is scheduled for two weeks in dry dock, with some new carpeting and upholstery on tap in addition to technical work...

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/03/navigator-of-the-seas-to-enter-drydock-in-asia/#:~:text=Sailing on the West Coast,service on April 12%2C 2024.

We too are on the April 12 sailing! We booked just a few weeks ago, only realizing after the fact that it was the first one back after a drydock! Hoping for the best! (Upside, maybe some new carpeting or something??)

If you'd like to track Navigator's progress back from Singapore (I know I will be), use this link. Unlike a lot of ship tracking sites, this one seems to have access to the satellite AIS data which is obviously key to tracking the trans-Atlantic/Pacific positions:

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Navigator-Of-The-Seas-704?tab=itinerary#itinerary

Also, was wondering where you saw 200 cabins available. When we booked there were only a few left and as of today (at least for balconies) only guarantees are available, so I bet it's pretty close to being sold out. Just something to give you comfort, maybe, if it disappears from the site again!

Thanks so much!

I'm generally an Uber guy, but after a disastrous experience disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale last year (app was so overloaded that it wouldn't even get to the "assigning a driver" screen) I now like knowing there's a taxi backup. I see several threads here about options from San Pedro to LAX, but didn't see exactly how prevalent taxis are in the port. Is there generally a pretty good supply waiting? On the Navigator so coming back on a Friday. Thanks!

An interesting list here of who AQV owes money to, including several travel agencies which definitely explains why they were delisted earlier this year. Others include the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and the bus company I assume they contracted with for their tours.

13 hours ago, LDVinNC said:

Yes.  I took a New England coastal cruise on the American Eagle last fall.  It was a lovely trip.  The accommodations were top-notch, and so were the food and entertainment.

 

A different experience from AQV (we took about 6 trips on the AQ) but I liked ACL so much that I booked another trip while onboard the Eagle.

 

Pearl Seas is another line that I liked.

Can I pop in and ask an ACL food question? We've seen great reviews of them, but wondering about the amount of choice... A few menus I've seen online list just one appetizer, one soup/salad and then only three entrees. I realize smaller ships won't have extensive menus but it seemed a bit limited.

I wonder what will happen the AQV river ships which certainly seem to be in good shape. The press release says they'll try to sell the business...

"In connection with the agreement, Hornblower's overnight cruising business American Queen Voyages ("AQV") will be sold or, if a sale cannot be achieved, its operations will be wound down. Hornblower is taking this action because of the underperformance of AQV, which has not rebounded from the pandemic."

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hornblower-group-to-be-acquired-and-receive-significant-new-equity-investment-302067034.html

This is really too bad. I was ready to book with them earlier this month until I saw the news about the travel agency suspensions etc. At least as of Feb. 10, they said they actually couldn't take any payments because they were "updating" the payment system and said there would be an update by today. So at least the weren't taking people's money as the end was approaching.

Although they were definitely less than forthcoming about the reason for cancelling the February cruises when they attributed the issue to delays coming out of layup.

Thanks! At the moment, they apparently can't take anyone's money until Feb. 20 anyway!

On 2/14/2024 at 12:15 PM, eroller said:

I’ve heard rumors that a bankruptcy announcement was going to happen last week.  That past.  Now I’m hearing this week but who knows.  
 

In any case things are not good.  

As someone who was about to book(!!) an April departure wondering where you're hearing these rumors and how reliable you think they might be. Was told a few days ago that they couldn't process payments because their system is "down" and they would have an update on Feb. 20, which is obviously pretty odd!

Their VP of Marketing has told the Natchez paper that the February cancellations were related to delays with layup work and that they'll be back sailing in March. Also that the issues with the commissions payments is due to the accounting department being behind...

https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2024/02/12/spokesperson-american-queen-cruises-should-resume-in-march/

14 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

On Oasis they had a big sign printed that MTD without reservation has to line up AFTER 7pm

Hmmmm - that's a little concerning! I guess much for this from the RCCL website:

"guests who opt for My Time Dining can eat in the Main Dining Room anytime they like during dinner hours, according to availability."

Hi - Sailing on Anthem in a week and just now realizing the possible impending disaster of My Time Dining! We've sailed RCCL for decades and have done MTD for as long as they've offered it, showing up around 6pm or so and generally getting seated without a reservation and without a problem. But it seems things have changed! I see reports that even though MTD doesn't officially start until 6:45pm, it might be possible to still show up around 5:45pm-6:15pm to maybe snag one of the unclaimed early seating tables. Have people found that to be doable? Any other tips or experiences? Most of the reservations available aren't until 8pm or later. Thanks!!

And I can confirm from the Apex a few weeks ago that cappuccino was included with the classic package, as well as their version of a mocha Frappuccino. Also a hot chocolate with a shot of Jim Beam (because, hey, you're on vacation!) 

Thanks for such a quick reply! All good information to have! Apparently there are only 41 passengers on our sailing, so maybe that will give us an extra cm. or two.

Hi @notamermaid- First, thank you for all of your posts on these boards! You do such a service! We actually are leaving the U.S. tonight for a Vienna - Nuremberg cruise - and wondering what you think our odds are of getting through Pfelling when we get there around Tuesday next week. Or if you see any other issues based on your note above.

We're on the Uniworld River Princess, which I believe is a 110 meter ship, so I hope that will help us. I've been monitoring this site: https://www.gkd.bayern.de/en/rivers/waterlevel/passau/pfelling-10078000/month-values, (Not sure if there is a better one).

As we keep an eye on it over the next few days, what is the minimum value, do you think, that would be safe? Because of Covid, this is our third try at doing this trip, so hoping it goes as planned!

And I would definitely keep an eye on your on-board account as you go (easy to do either on the Navigator app or on your TV). I had a few issues last month where a charge hit my account that should have been covered under the package. Easy to resolve at Guest Services.

Was just on Eurodam a few weeks ago with an ATT iPhone. Not sure if you have an iPhone or not, but I can confirm texting over the ship's WiFI works great if you're texting with another iPhone since Apple uses the internet (rather than cell service) to send texts between iPhones. Not sure it would have worked if I had tried texting a non-iPhone.

One thing you might want to keep in mind is that I believe if you FLY into the US (aka from Vancouver) you must produce a negative Covid test result. Where as if you DRIVE into the US from Vancouver you do not, which could save some stress and hassle on your return. (Would have to double-check those requirements haven't changed, of course.)

You would obviously need to clear immigration and customs regardless of flying or driving.

We got in to both with no problem on Eurodam last week. But then we were turned away later from Panama (for land tours, no problem for the canal) and Costa Rica so go figure. 
 

Best of luck!

Sorry to hear of the delay!! Best of luck!!
 

To answer the previous question about crew transfers, they sent a tender of crew over to the Amsterdam around 8am while we were still on board this morning. Not sure how many. They actually made an announcement asking all crew transferring to proceed to the tender platform. 

That was it for the info we got. Hope all goes well on your sailing! Apologies for breaking the ship!

A small update from the “Ask the Captain” presentation just now - he said they’re pretty confident the problem is with a few “boards” (as in computer or circuit boards, I assume?) that will be replaced tomorrow. He didn’t mention anything about any delays to the next sailing, although nobody asked that specifically. 

Planned arrival is at at 4:30am tomorrow, which I bet is earlier than usual to allow them some extra time to work. 
 

We’ve been making 11 knots for the past day or so. 
 

Someone did ask what happens if the other azipod goes down and we were glad to hear the the ship does have towing gear on board and that an assistance ship would be here within a few hours to tow. 
 

He also said he wouldn’t get into the specific numbers of COVID cases on board unless they got high enough to require additional actions by passengers. Not sure what those would be.
 

Nothing else new from on board, we’re crawling at 8 knots (but that seems to be a function of us not wanting to get to Fort Lauderdale early, as opposed to the azipod issue since we were chugging along at 16 knots earlier on just one pod). 

And LocoLoco1, haven’t met anyone staying on for the next leg. There are so few on board not sure how many there would be. These days, maybe doing a B2B with nearly identical itineraries is the best way to actually visit all the scheduled ports if you’re lucky!