HuliHuli

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Not true.

 

NCL only restricted smoking recently when the masking rules were implemented

 

Now that masking rules have been removed as of 3/1/22, smoking will return to the casinos

Do you have a statement from NCL verifying that or are you just guessing?

I hope they don't.  if we have to go overboard pretending to protect people from certain "health hazards" then why not secondary smoke?

Here is what is posted on the CDC website:

"While CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion under CDC’s Mask Order to not require that persons wear a mask under certain circumstances on cruise ships participating in CDC's COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, individual cruise lines may require travelers (passengers and crew) to wear masks on board the ship."

I read that as a poorly worded, discretionary recommendation and not a mandate.  If NCL wants to exercise its discretion to make masks optional, that appears to be within their prerogative.

2 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I don’t mind the idea of PCCs, it’s just that they NEVER have any good deals to offer me. The best they have come up with was $150 off, with limited time (one week) to decide. Big box travel agents still end up beating that with their combo of cashback and extra onboard perks. If PCC is gonna call, they GOTTA start making mad deals, period. None of this “same price as the website” shtie 

So the way to eliminate the cold call PCC is to book a cruise with them,  within 30 days transfer the booking to your big box agency for the perks, and then wait.  Next time you call the PCC they will berate you for transferring a booking (as is your right), and refuse to help you with another booking.  BUT, as NCL employees when you ask them if they are refusing to help you (on a recorded line or by email) they will instantly cave and offer their assistance, but will not cold call you.  True story...

22 hours ago, julie3fan said:

I just got the following email from NCL.  I was organizing M&Gs for the Jan 9 & Jan 16 Bliss sailings.  I'm a bit disappointed but not at all surprised.

 

 

Please be advice that Cruise Critic Meet and Greet will be cancelled until further notice.

 

the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are our first priority. Given the current health environment, and as a precaution, for the foreseeable future we will forgo large social group gatherings. This means we will no longer host events such as the Captain’s VIP parties or Latitudes functions, but our entertainment venues remain open. Please be sure to keep physical distance whenever possible. We are very sorry for the inconvenience but we appreciate your understanding.

What do you bet they don't cancel "large social group gatherings" like Bingo and Deal or No Deal?

12 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That seems to be the final (for now) version.  The May 31 version came and went over the past day or so, but it was likely just bad IT that allowed preliminary versions to leak through to the public.  That said, it may have given us a glimpse of what's to come over the next several weeks.

Here is the link this morning: https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/book-with-confidence

Of the FAQ's at that page is this one containing the terms you posted:

Which sailings qualify under Norwegian’s Peace of Mind policy?

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Hello!! I do love a good friendly debate (and hulihuli chicken from the food truck in Kihei)!

Ergo the source of the callsign - Nanakuli.

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I think you are in the ballpark for #1 and have no clue about #3, but I think you might be underestimating #2.

Thanks @BermudaBound2014 for contributing to the debate.  I would first respond that it was not my responsibility (nor yours) to validate the assertions posted by others.  But I like to 'test' assertions made to gauge their truth.  As to point #1, my response comes from JHU data, which has been the most authoritative data throughout the pandemic.  I did not attempt to assess the voracity of point #3.  That leaves point #2, where you provided some reasonable data upon which to draw conclusions.  So analyzing your report citations:

1. University Business states “Many [colleges and universities] have reported significant compliance, with more than 90% of populations receiving doses."  That leaves <10% unvaccinated.
2. The Intelligent.com report states “At schools that mandate the COVID-19 vaccine, 55% of unvaccinated students lie about being vaccinated.”  That results in 5.5% of the student population who are unvaccinated and lied about being vaccinated.
3. Intelligent.com goes on to say “46% of students who lied did so by creating or purchasing a fake vaccination card.”  So the net result is ≈2.5% of the student population who lied about being vaccinated using fake vaccination cards.
4. Now, we also must take into account the survey Margin of Error (MoE), i.e., the degree of error in results received from random sampling surveys and thus the confidence level the researchers should have in the data obtained from their survey.  Intelligent.com states they surveyed 1,250 unvaccinated students.  Note that University Business states “The sample size is small, so it is difficult to gauge how prevalent the practice might be in higher education.”  We also know that the whole of the respondents admit to having previously lied.  Based on the survey numbers, the margin of error for this report is estimated at ≈2.76%.
5. I also note the Forbes survey states “6% of Americans personally know someone who is unvaccinated and has a fake vaccine card.”  That percentage falls outside the Intelligent.com study range taking into account the margin of error.  Different study, different question, different population and unknown MoE doesn’t provide much basis to correlate the two results.

My evaluation of your data suggests a very small percentage (±2.5%) of college students may actually be using fake vaccine cards.  We can debate if that meets an individual’s definition of “a fair amount” but I conclude that the ratio of cards in use to people using fake card is minimal based on the selected survey data.

Cheers and Happy New Year.

On 12/26/2021 at 9:06 PM, BirdTravels said:

Most of your fellow passengers would prefer you not try dragging a suitcase into Covid testing (which is not designed for suitcases), not up the gangway where all the macho guys struggle, not in the elevators full of embarking passengers, and not through the dining rooms. Just check it with the porters. 

It matters not a whit what other passengers choose to do regarding luggage @BirdTravels!  There was plenty of space in the COVID testing area for baggage on my recent cruise.  I didn't see any "macho guys struggling" up the gangway; didn't encounter any elevators "full of embarking passengers" with bags [nor do I care]; and wheeled my bag right up to the table for lunch.  If you don't like it, fine, but don't speak for the rest of us.

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

You can easily Google the first two points.  As for the third, I'm not privy to NCL's proprietary data but they'd be delusional to think that not a single passenger has not presented a fake card.  

Indeed there is significant data available publicly that disputes your statements:

1. As to ICU's, they have been below 80% capacity for more than a year now with only about 20% of the capacity attributable to COVID-19 cases.  Thus your assertion that "people [are] filling up ICUs" due to COVID related issues is demonstrably false.
2. As to "fake vax cards" what little data that does exist on their prevalence suggests that they account for a fraction of one percent of the total number of vaccinated people in the U.S.  I would not consider that "a fair number of people."
3. And as to you last point, as you say you are "not privy to NCL's proprietary data."   Thus in fact your statement is purely speculative, despite the double negative "to think that not a single passenger has not presented a fake card."

Thus my conclusion that your original post is malarkey.

On 12/24/2021 at 1:14 AM, phillygwm said:

as long as there are people filling up ICUs.

Please provide the hard data supporting this statement.

On 12/24/2021 at 1:14 AM, phillygwm said:

There are a fair number of people who have fake vax cards.

Please provide the hard data supporting this statement.

On 12/24/2021 at 1:14 AM, phillygwm said:

I suspect they've privately baked in a certain number of people doing that into their estimates.

Please provide the hard data supporting this statement.

2 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

What I don't understand is why they care if we want to stream our own content on their televisions.

Maybe, just maybe, the cruise lines don't what every passenger rewiring the cabin and having to go in and correct their mistakes or damage to the system.

14 hours ago, pbenjamin said:

Reminds me of a time on a travel forum where I asked if I would be able to wear jeans in a certain Paris restaurant given our plans to not carry dressier clothes with us.  Rather than an answer to my question I got lectures about what I should wear and pack.  Just as annoying.

If you don't like other's candid, forthright responses, don't ask for them.

22 hours ago, jtwind said:

We're going to Tahiti in January (hopefully).  The price of the early January cruise just jumped up by quite a bit.  Is that normal for the price to do that as the time comes near?  I would have expected it to drop.  Does that price jump mean that the cruise is almost full?  I hope not.

Cruise pricing is a dynamic market.  It means that if the price you saw previously was acceptable, you should have booked it then.

15 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Not sure what that has to do with the price of tea in China but I answered the EXACT question asked.
 

聪明的屁股

We stayed in a Silver Cove villa on our last GSC visit and it was great.  NCL was still figuring out how to staff the new bar there so beverage service was a bit slow, but I'm sure that has been solved.

9 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

If I was worried about medical costs, I would just buy NCL's essentials which is really cheap.  I was really referring to trip cancellation costs.

Understood and points to the fact that everyone's situation is unique.  For me, I want to insure against the potential for a medical issue.

16 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I've never purchased travel insurance for a cruise.  I've saved more than enough $$$ to completely pay for an entire cruise if needed.

OK, but have you saved enough to cover a medical emergency in St. Maarten as NCL escorts you off the ship minutes before sailing?  It happened to an unlucky passenger last week on the Gem.

Yes, insurance is a personal choice (and I support that choice), but ship happens.

On 12/3/2021 at 3:38 PM, seaman11 said:

How is the old girl these days? Im looking forward to being inside her next week. 

We’ll @seaman11we just docked at pier 88 and are waiting to disembark.  She’ll be all yours in a few hours.  Smooth seas sailor.

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

on a bright side if it might be: 1)the original itinerary is mostly intact with no missing ports and 2) you now have a full regular day in san juan instead of the 4pm to midnight. I think a full day is better then the evening calls

Agree in part: We lost two ports before we boarded, but the balance has been preserved.  And a full day in San Juan is better.

On 11/28/2021 at 10:25 PM, Sailing12Away said:

@mking8288 - I just read about that a little while ago, along with NYPD finding a dismembered body on the LIE near Queens. Only in NY...

 

They've got 2 sea days lined up, so hopefully there's no ship issues and they can make up the time at sea. Fingers crossed that my buddy is at least on board and several drinks in by this point.

So @Sailing12Awayas a couple of subsequent posts have indicated, we got a string of excuses from the captain as to why we did not sale on time. The first of those was traffic was heavy on the Hudson river – that’s bull crap. Anyone could see the traffic was light on the river.  So when that could no longer be put out as a possible reason the captain shifted to a “minor technical problem.”  I would think minor technical problems could typically be fixed at sea. Then they shifted to a “minor mechanical problem” which was the last reason we were offered. Me thinks a Rat got caught in the gears. 🥴 We did finally sail-away at 1 AM.

This of course has resulted in another change to our itinerary where we just pulled in to San Juan this morning around 5:30 AM.  We have port calls the next four days in Antigua, Philipsburg SM, Tortola BVI, and Saint Thomas before a to day return sailing.

Cheers!

On 11/29/2021 at 8:57 PM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

@HuliHuli Just an update on Puerto Plata / Amber Cove - I sail on the Encore on 12/12 and as of today NCL still are saying we are docking at Puerto Plata (Amber Cove).  I will report back post cruise as to what actually transpires :)

Well, DR was scrubbed on my current cruise and unless the Taino Bay port is magically opened, it will likely be scrubbed for you as well.

9 hours ago, oteixeira said:

22

Sorry my 🐀 friend ... I'm at

43 minutes ago, HowardK said:

You "consumed 4 dark in stormy's in the prior hour and..."

it's somehow NCL's fault that you gave them more money?

44 minutes ago, HowardK said:

When I return in twenty twenty whatever year I am just getting the regular one just so people can reach me.

How many Dark and Stormy drinks have you had today?

51 minutes ago, AwesomO said:

He clearly meant use and it was just a typo 🙄

And we all know that; just having a little fun with the typo. 🤨