FarreyFamCruzin

No. The reason we were charged $40 was not because we got into a van. We squeezed 4 people into a Nissan Versa. 😂I took a photo of the car and license plate with the intent of trying to figure out how to turn the driver in. Later I realized my time and energy is worth more than the $15 he took from me. In the grand scheme of things it’s a small price to pay and thought I’d share with this community so that the same thing doesn’t happen to others as they visit the island.

One tip for anyone taking a taxi in Cozumel, before you get into a cab ask the driver what the cost will be. If it sounds unreasonable, ask to see the rate card. If they "don't have one" or refuse to show it to you, don't get in their cab - they are going to try to overcharge you. We made this mistake last week as we got in a cab at the Punta Lagosta port without asking the cost (but knowing the cost should be approximately $20) to get to Mr. Sanchos for our family of 4. We were shocked when we handed him $25 as we got out that he told us the rates had recently changed and it was $40. When I asked for a rate card, he said the rate was so new that he didn't have a card yet. We knew we were being messed over but to get on with our day we forked over the extra $15 and told him that we knew he was overcharging so there would be no additional tip. On the return to the ship, we asked the taxi captain at Mr Sanchos what it should cost for us to get back to Punta Lagosta and were told $22. That driver was upset that the taxi captain shared the correct rate with us based upon a call to his friend to inform him in Spanish not to go to Sancho's - they are telling people the right rates and that he can't believe he's going back to the port for $20. I'm surprised he assumed that just be because we are Americans that people in the car don't speak Spanish 😀

We did a vow renewal on the Getaway on the May 1 cruise. This included the Perspectives photographer and a studio session for our party - so I can’t comment on the sitting fee. in terms of the prices per print, we were surprised to learn that the Perspectives studio is not the same as the ships photographers that are positioned throughout the ship and when exiting the ship at each port and photos taken in the studio can’t be printed as part of other photo packages. The perspective is most interested in selling you a collection of 8 - 12 canvas prints or metal prints that range from $1000 to $2500. They will also sell you the digital images and you give a copyright transfer letter that will allow you to print on your own off the ship. To get a copy of all of the images (over 250 images) we were offered a package for $2000. This was much more than we had budgeted for pictures on the cruise so we asked for a lower cost package. In the end, we ended up purchasing a package of 24 digital images for $1200. It was a bit of a high pressure sales pitch; I’m confident that if I would have wanted to waste some of my precious vacation time to haggle we could have gotten a better deal, but after spending nearly 2 hours down-selecting the images, we were ready to get back to the fun.

I was doing a mock booking for the May 1 sailing of the Getaway to see how full my cruise would be. I noticed on the informational page for the cruise, that the website is showing Casteries, St Lucia as a tender port. I checked my confirmation documents, and it clearly says that it’s a dock location. Which one should I trust? Is it normal to tender into St Lucia? The only reason I am asking, is that I have a private tour booked, and may need to let them know we may need a later start if it’s a tender port. https://www.ncl.com/cruises/10-day-caribbean-round-trip-orlando-dominican-republic-and-antigua-GETAWAY10PCVAMBSTTANUSLUPHISJUNPIPCV?sailMonths=4294934048&ships=4294959434&numberOfGuests=4294953449&sortBy=featured&autoPopulate=f&from=resultpage&itineraryCode=GETAWAY10PCVAMBSTTANUSLUPHISJUNPIPCV

My wife and I are cruising with family on the Getaway in a few weeks to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We are considering splurging on the Private Vow Renewal package. Has anyone done this and would you recommend it? Our only reservation is that it doesn’t appear that we have any input on the time it will happen (pending ship officer availability). Wondering how flexible NCL is on this… Any input is appreciated