Brian V

We did this in Sept of 21 (pre gondola) - the bus ride up the mountain was a blast, saw lots of deer on the way. Our guide (Jimmy?) was a hoot, gave a really good talk on the history and culture of the Tlingit people on the 45 minute ride up. "45 minutes up, 45 seconds down!" he told us - he wasn't lying 🙂 When they dropped the barriers and launched us...it was like freefall for the first 5 seconds or so😲 Highly recommend 👍

Compared to fighting a fire onboard😮, dealing with flooding below decks, a man overboard situation...herding their charges to the lifeboats is the easiest thing they would need do in an emergency. The in person muster drill does as much for the crew as the safety demo does for the flight attendants on an airplane - and that is nothing. Stay onboard when the ship is in port - you will see there are always drills and training going on for the crew. They do it every single sailing of their contract. The muster drill is intended for the passengers, and the passengers only. As @RocketMan275 notes (emphasis mine) I am personally glad to see NCL come to their senses and return to the e-muster👍

Or fly into Edmonton, 4200 km (2550 miles or so) round trip, all paved 🤪

We went up on the Encore in Sept of 21 - the weather was fantastic for us and yes, the waterslide was running. Not a lot of takers (no kids on that trip) but it was open 🙂

We are looking at that as well, we will be there in September - guessing the exhibit will be there right through the cruising season? Love that place, lots of stuff from local artists - picked up a print on aluminum last time, that was a challenge to pack for the flight home 🙂

Already used 2 CN's for the deposit, payment page shows 2x 50% off... That did the trick @LloydJr, thanks so much 😃 Will send a note to my PCC so she might be able to help someone else 😈 Tempted to see if the second coupon would go through..."free" cruise sounds like fun 😎

This one has me scratching my head...we got the 50% off coupons (there are 2 showing in my account) but when I try to apply one, it tells me another form of payment is needed. I am assuming we can only use 1...or do we get 100% discount🤪 Can I not apply these coupons before final payment? Would be nice to know exactly how much I need to pay as our final payment is not due until May 14th, and the coupons expire April 15th - would just as soon not give NCL all my money any sooner than I have too 😉 My PCC has been less than helpful, something about "the coupons are in US$" (and we are Canadian) but...isn't 50% the same like...everywhere? If push comes to shove I will make final payment a month early but sheesh - what 12 year old set up the NCL payment system?😞

When you download offline maps, you are downloading a map of an area...not directions to a specific place. Download the area you want and when you get to your destination, just leave your mobile data off...google maps will use your stored map (along with always available GPS signal) for any navigation you want - no data required. We were in the Caribbean in January, I downloaded the islands we were visiting and used them with no problem. A detailed map of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao only used 87 mb of storage. Search "offline maps" from your settings page, pretty easy to set up 🙂 Not sure how any of this works for apple products...

From past experience, you get to choose 4 dishes for each dining credit. For the DW and I, 4 dishes worked out to a nice lunch for 2 of us...twice 🙂

Not only the noise from the toilet, the sink is at the corner of the bed...you are always tripping over each other in the morning. Have not been on the Escape but...like @BenDover said - there is a reason they never built another Epic class ship. The curvy walls just waste space in the cabins, and the overall layout is just kinda weird. The split elevator lobbies, the "no, you cant get to deck 5 from here" issues, the "you have to go through the casino to get anywhere"...took me 4 days to get my bearings🤪 That said, I would go on the Epic again in a heartbeat if it was the right itinerary 😎

On our last cruise, we sailed out of San Juan PR, 7 nights south Caribbean. We had a red eye, left at 0:30 - got to San Juan at 2:30 in the afternoon and the missus discovers that she forgot her (prescription) sunglasses 😬 Fortunately CVS had a pair that fit over her regular glasses or it would have been a week of "Watch out for that step", "Mind the curb", etc. Makes her look like one of the 90 year olds at the casino but....what you gonna do 🙂

We were on Encore last September: Ocean Blue - my meal was good, my wife's was disappointing - her scallops were under, like nearly sashimi under. Very surprising...they got sent back Onda we both loved, would go back in a heartbeat. Not going to say the best I've had - you want Bolognaise go to Bologna 🍝 Can't compare it to la Cucina as we have never dined there. La Bistro - This is our absolute favorite every time we have cruised regardless of ship 😍 Best fillet I have ever had, the onion soup is to die for, the escargot swimming in garlic butter...yum! The wife usually gets the Sole, perfect and flaky, moist, delicious! Great desserts. We have not tried Cagney's - We have no problem getting really good steak in Alberta 🙂 We also tried Food Republic (good food, lots of fun but don't waste a specialty meal on it, just pay for it if you want to go) and Q BBQ (was OK but have had much better BBQ). Your mileage may vary...

Looking at the demographic on most cruises...I would guess most of us can relate🏒💪 I would say "RIP Hazel" but you just know she is up there getting S*&T done! 🤬

Did you use your BMO card to settle your on board account when you purchased your CN certificates? If so...pretty sure they got you on the T&C's If you used your TD card on the cruise you purchased your CN's...you might have a case 🙂 Good Luck!

We connected through Pearson Jan 7th on our way to San Juan - no real issues other than lines at US CBP preclearance. Made it through in under an hour gate to gate👍 We did not check any bags so cannot comment on that aspect...

Ship - Epic Deck - 10 Stateroom # - 10156 Stateroom Category – BA Starboard or Port Side - Port Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Pretty quiet, HVAC seemed a bit louder than other ships we've been on but white noise so...no real issue. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No Balcony View - Unobstructed, no issues. Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Felt deeper than on our previous cruises, not as wide though? Was wind a problem? - No If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A Any specific problems with this cabin? - None Any other comments? - Mid location, just a little closer to the forward elevators than the aft. Seating area beside balcony, bed closer to bathroom. Tons of storage space. Minimal foot traffic in passageway, staterooms above, below, and across. The curved walls look good but end up wasting a lot of space - squared off walls would have made for a roomier cabin in the same footprint. The bathroom layout is...interesting. It actually works ok in that one can be in the shower while the other is in the wc. What doesn't work is the sink at the corner of the bed, makes a real choke point - this would likely be better with the bed next to the balcony. I cannot see this working at all with 3 or 4 in this cabin, even with the separating curtain closed privacy is going to be a concern. I can see why there is only one in this class. Would we book this again? Yeah, for the 2 of us it was just fine if a bit snug. Side note: As my wife pointed out, this was the same cabin number as our first cruise on the Encore 😎 Much closer to midship than 10156 on the Encore though.

Don't recall what the latest time was but it appeared no one was checking times anyway so... Sail away is 19:00 so they want you onboard no later than 17:00 (5:00 pm), make sure you allow enough time to get to the port from town. Have fun in San Juan, we sure did 🙂

We were on the same cruise 🙂 We picked 11:30 - 12:00 for our time, got to the port just before 12 (maybe 5 minutes in line to get into the port itself?), onboard with muster drill done and pina colada in hand well before 1:00. 🍹 Arrange to leave your bags at your hotel or in Old San Juan, as others have pointed out you will just waste so much time in lines - not to mention an extra $60 on taxis getting to the port and back! Check in and boarding should be a piece of cake later in the afternoon 🙂

As much as they say "Vaccination required", not a single person asked for our proof of vaccination - not in Calgary, not in Toronto (connection was great until US CBP, what a $*&# show), not in San Juan, not on the ship, not in Houston...nowhere, Still wise to carry it I would think. Lots of signs still up every where we went but no enforcement of anything, just a handful of people masking by choice. It's as if the last 3 years was all a bad dream... Of course, with 4700 people on the Epic, I managed to catch a cold (yes, tested and verified NOT to be "The one which shall remain nameless") on the last day...aaaauuuurgh!

So now they are trying to book flights back to NY??? That sounds like Epic bad planning! I'll show myself out...

Thanks for all the info everyone 🙂 We are on AC so T1 in and out...not too worried that way. If our outbound is a little late it's no biggie, we are overnighting in San Juan anyways. Flight do seem to leave YYC pretty much on time. Tough to get south from YYC, everything goes through YYZ (or YUL) for the eastern US. Alternative was to pay as much for airfare as we paid for the cruise and have a 14 hour (if I recall) connection through Houston 😞 If things did go really bad we could overnight in YYZ and still fly YYZ-SJU the next day, flight arrives at 14:10 and we don't need to be aboard until 17:00 - I would never plan it that way but as a plan b...

Hey all, just looking for some recent experience - how bad is connecting Canada to US through Pearson these days? I know it was a S($& show 🤡for a while but am not hearing anything lately, does that mean things are back to "normal"? We are heading to San Juan the first week in January, YYC - YYZ - SJU with about 2:25 layover if all on time. We will be carry on only. Does this sound doable or should we be looking at alternatives? Any and all input welcomed 🙂

We did a night in Trieste before our Greece cruise, took the FlixBus from the airport in Venice to Trieste...it was great - comfortable, quick, cheap 🙂 Highly recommend!

Only if you have a pedi first...bright red or salmon nail polish should do 🤪

Ship - Gem Deck - 10 Stateroom # - 10558 Stateroom Category – BA Starboard or Port Side - Port Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes, other than neighbors kids the were slamming the cabin door (balcony door open I assume?) Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Good view, no obstructions. Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal Was wind a problem? - No If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A Any specific problems with this cabin? - None Any other comments? - Almost exactly in between fwd and mid elevators, might be an issue for those with mobility problems.