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That would be great, thanks! Look forward to following along on your journey. Safe travels and enjoy your cruise.

I would also be interested in this. I am booked on the Jade Feb. 2024 for a 2 wk cruise as she sails from Tampa.

I concur with the other posts here. We did a partial transit on the Pearl several years ago, round trip out of Miami. So got to experience the original locks, turned around in Gatun Lake and went back. We did a full ocean to ocean transit on the Bliss this past Feb. - Miami to LA. New bigger locks. Both are amazing, and both operate quite differently as far as how they open and close and how they secure the ship as you move along. Both times the ships began the appoach to the canal @ 5:30 to 6:00 am. Both times the Captain did open the front bow area of the ship to allow guest to go out there. Both times there was a specialist/historian person on board that did a very informative and interesting narrative throughout the day over the ship speaker intercoms. It's the best shore excursion! Stay on the ship! The history, the views, everything is amazing. And, yes, it takes approximately 12 hours to make the full transit. But it also took about that long to do the partial transit as well by the time you exit back to the Atlantic near Colon. There is no doubt we will do this trip again a few years down the road. This is a fantastic journey. Wander about the ship all day, take it all in and Enjoy!

WOW!!! Thanks for sharing this. Looking forward to seeing more from their videos.

Totally agree, it is pretty much a waste of good space. Even when it was a Margaritaville diner, it was not well used. Unless NCL makes this a complimentary venue probably won't change. Not many folks are going to pay for lunch in the upper decks area, the Garden Cafe is right there as well. I like the idea of turning that space into a much improved mini golf area! I liked the one that was on the Getaway, but the one on the Bliss is lame. IMHO. That said, you are on a fab cruise, lots of choices, find a different place to play or eat. Enjoy.

Good info, thanks. I too, have been looking at a cruise on the Jade out of Tampa in 2024.

We stayed at the Crown Plaza last Dec the night before our MR cruise on the Bliss. Great location and nice hotel, price was reasonable. Shuttle for a fee. I had reserved a large king room with port/harbour views. It was huge! About 5:30 in the morning we could see the Bliss backing up the San Pedro channel to the terminal, pretty awesome. Enjoy your cruise.

We did two differnet cruises this past winter on the Bliss, had angled balconies on both, one angled to the front, the other to the back. I wouldn't think these balconies on the Getaway are any different. Someone else will likely respond to your question that has had one on the Getaway. Anyway, based on our experience, the back angled balconey was less windy and more enjoyable while at sea. Sometimes the front angled balconey was super windy while at sea and not as easy to be out there. Might depend on time of year, where you are sailing to, weather, personal preferences......

We were on the southbound Jewel sailing July 4th. I usually pre-purchase one of the bottled water packages thru NCL, your cabin steward will deliver it to your stateroom on the day you sail if you wish. We went to the "Velvet" show in the theater, not at all impressed. Did really enjoy other entertainment in the bars/lounges though, our favs were "Glitz Duo" and Melvin on the guitar, outstanding! They were in the Magnums lounge, Bliss lounge and Atrium areas for the most part. Le Bistro was very good, didn't go to Teppanyaki. Cagney's was pretty good as was La Cucina. We also enjoyed the MD as well as the buffet. Don't know about upgrade bids, didn't do that. OP answered the Seward question. Ship docks in Vancouver at 7:00am, you can begin disembark process as soon as the ship is cleared by customs and port authority. The ship guest capacity for our cruise was approx. 1030 guests according to crew members. So, 40%ish. Was great! Alaska from the cruise ship vantage is beautiful, very unique! The evening sailaway from Seward is gorgeous. At least if was for us. We had clear skies, soft seas and a superb sunset. The massive glaciers are incredible. The Inside Passage is stunning. Enjoy your crusie!

We have also done this tour in the past, for the same reasons. It's a decent tour and good way to use up the time. Agree with other replies that you will make it to the airport in plenty of time. Especially if you are already checked in for your flight and checked any luggage in advance of arriving at the airport. Enjoy your cruise!

To all following this thread.... I just re-read the "travel requirements by country" within the Sail Safe pages on NCL website. It looks like only those ships doing the Europe itineraries and guests disembarking in those countries, will be affected by this new change. NCL lists the names of those ships impacted. They updated this info today. I encourage everyone to revisit these pages on the NCL website.

Thanks. I will definitely be checking into this. If the US does not relax their stance on the the airline won't let you board in Vancouver.

We too are on the Jewel southbound first week of July. I seriously doubt we can get decent internet wifi to do the emed proctored tests done on the ship as we travel thru the inside passage. Hope the airport in Vancouver has testing options available. Going to be checking into that big time. Geeze.

Following.

Does anyone know if NCL has this option available at the Seward Alaska terminal? Just in case a backup plan is needed.

Yes, my screen also stayed on with the timer although it was not an ongoing session like yours. So folks need to be flexible to a couple of different scenarios. It all works.

You get results in 15 minutes. A proctor will call your cell phone right at 15 min, you need to be available to answer the call. Just do what they tell you to do to read the results on our card. The proctor will then send the results to you via email so you can print.

As others have stated, the tests are easy to use, proctored via the Navica app that you will have to download. Only waited a few minutes for the proctor once we called the number provided via the Navica app. I too, ordered through Optum, the Abbott BinaxNow kits. Used them for a pre travel test at home and then packed a few in my luggage to take with us on our Panama Canal cruise in Feb. No issues at all with the airline or NCL. Enjoy your cruise!.

On our last two cruises, Dec & Feb, this Covid testing registration process was part of the check-in process. NCL was still requiring testing at the pier prior to boarding at the time. We sail July 4th, so have a couple of weeks before we can check-in. Thanks much.

Glad you asked this. I was just about to.

I was hoping this would be available on board. Do you know if they give the passengers that need to do a covid test a specific time on the last day to get tested? Thank you. And thanks for the wonderful details of your journey! We sail on the Jewel southbound trip July 4th, very excited.

Thanks so much for sharing your journey! A quick question.... once you go through checkin and board the ship in Seward, can you leave for a while to explore around Seward, come and go as you wish till that evening? Thanks!

I did not save those. Sorry.

We too, are on this cruise and have wondered the same thing.

Thank you so much for sharing this journey with everyone! We will be on the Jewel July 4th for the southbound Seward to Vancouver trip, so will be following along as you post. Wishing for softer seas for you all! Stay safe and have a wonderful trip! Hope you dad is doing ok. Cheers. 🥂