MomDawn

3 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I've run into the 4hr rule many times, it's not just Delta or NOLA. And it's really a pain when you travel solo because you can't just leave your luggage if you want to get food or use the restroom.

 

At my little regional airport it's whenever someone is at the reservation counter!  Learned my lesson when I dutifully arrived 3 hours prior to my early morning international flight and there was nobody there. They don't start checkin until about 1.5hrs prior to departure, regardless of your final destination. On the other hand, they only have 5-6 gates so never any worry about finding your gate!

Good to know!  Thanks

I used to fly to a little airport frequently.  It was wonderful -- you could show up 30 minutes before your flight, no problem.

I did NCLAir from Detroit to NOLA in 2/23.  Went the day before and stayed at the SpringHill Suites Warehouse Arts District.  When I got the flight notice for direct Delta flights, I was able to log in and select seats for me and my companion.  Bags were free as I have a Delta AmEx.  Only issue was we were at the NOLA too early to check our bags and had to wait in an area with limited seating and no food/bev and this was after we did the excursion to the airport (which was excellent, BTW).

Supposedly it's a Delta policy (at NOLA? -- never ran into it before) that you can't check a bag until 4 or 5 hours prior to flight.  Our flight was at 6:45pm, the excursion dropped us off around noon.

My $.02, TL:DR

NCL is giving us discount airfare.  We know it can be up to 2/3 stops.  They guarantee nothing except that they will book your flights for the price they gave you.  You will probably have to pay extra for bags on every flight. You may not be able to pick a seat.  If you don't have insurance you may lose every penny you paid for the entire vacation AND have added costs.  NCL will reimburse you nothing.  So you have to decide if it's worth saving $x to risk these things.

I personally carry trip insurance and not through NCL (doesn't that only cover the cruise?).

I am more willing to take a risk because I am in Detroit, which is a hub for Delta only, and I have perks with Delta.  I figure I'm 80% likely to get a Delta flight.

I will always deviate at least 1 day before.

You must mean non-refundable(NR) OBC, because I think refundable OBC can be appliednti to anything.

If I remember correctly, I was told I could use my NR OBC for bingo in February 2023.  (I can't confirm, because my OBC was already used up on an excursion.)   I was definitely able to use it for excursions booked on the ship (not before), purchases in gift shop, and extra taxes on drinks (US ports).  This is on cruises from 12/2021-2/20/23.

I'm doing this cruise on 9/22.  Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Thanks for sharing!

Ship - Joy

Deck - 11

Stateroom # - 11956

Stateroom Category – BB

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes.  I did feel a lot of vibration, though.  The morning we docked at Harvest Caye, it felt like someone shook me awake.  That's the only time it was a problem.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – No obstructions

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - No

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Some vibration as mentioned above.

Any other comments? -  Couch was near the balcony, bed near the bathroom.

There's a Starbucks a couple of blocks from the pier in the Renaissance mall & resort area.  

I did the West Beach Hopper tour on March 23, 2019.  It went 7.5 hours, and I've seen people post 9.5 hours.  Our ship was in until 11pm, so I had no worries.   It was fabulous -- the highlight of our trip, as someone else posted.  I will do it again, if I ever get the chance.

I booked online, and got an email confirmation.   We met the guide at the end of the pier.  He had a sign and a list of names.   There were 11 of us.  It was relaxed and fun.  Payment was collected at the end, and we stopped in town, near the pier, for a few minutes so they could run a credit card.

I'd bet they adjust for tighter time frames.  At the beach stops, they gave us a time to be back.  If anyone had protested, I'm sure they would have shortened the stops.  Our last stop was at Porto Mari.  It was 2 hours for lunch and 1/2 hour of swimming.  The restaurant there was very slow getting food out.  

In truth, though, I wouldn't book a 6 hour excursion in an 8 hour port unless it was with the ship.  Flights from Curacao to the US are expensive!  🙂

We were on the 3/17-3/27 HAL Koningsdam Wayfarer with the last of 6 stops in Aruba.  We didn't pre-plan an excursion as I thought we might be tired of the sun.  We were.  We walked toward Surfside Beach, a public beach that was to the right of the pier toward the airport.  We stopped where there was nice shade before Linear Park, not far from some Porta-johns.  It was a 30 minute walk, one way.  It was not a particularly nice beach, but it was free.  We enjoyed watching local kids playing, planes coming in and out, and people going by on jetskis and paddleboards.

If I went again, I would hop in a van to Eagle Beach, though.  Friends went for $25pp, round trip, with set pick-up times back to the ship.  There were lots of local transport vendors, and they seemed very professional.  No one we knew had any problems, and everyone said it was the most beautiful beach of the trip.

Thank you for your postings!  This trip is on my bucket list, and I just read through it on a 40F, rainy day in Michigan.  I very much enjoyed sharing your travels (and the comments of others) for the past 2 hours.  

Dawn