KBYUCougar

Ship - Encore

Deck - 9

Stateroom # - 9766 & 9768

Stateroom Category – BF

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – quiet most of the day until it was clean up time in the kitchen. Heard more noise in 9768 than 9766. Didn't hear any music. No noise from elevators/stairs. 

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - yes, to each other.

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – when you look down, you are looking into the glass portion of Food Republic. People could look up onto the balcony from below, but couldn't see in the cabin. I went down stairs to see what they could see. 

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Oversized! It went out about two feet further out than the balconies not over Food Republic, even though they were the same cabin class. 

Was wind a problem? - no

Any specific problems with this cabin? -

Any other comments? - 9766, the bed is closer to the balcony. 9768, the bed is closer to the bathroom. We were surprised that we had different stewards for our cabins even though they connected. Didn't really hear each other with the connecting doors closed. 

Has anyone had this happen before? My account has showed for the last month I owe $50. I was stupid enough to not look into it before I paid $50. However, this charge still shows up online. When I have tried to call and chat with NCL, they say they can't figure out why I have that charge but say my account is even after I paid $50. They don't know what the money was applied to. What are some possible reasons for being charged $50?

I've been hung up on 3 times by NCL including the PCC supervisor telling my PCC to hang up on me. I've tried to talk to the resolution desk, but the agents on the phone keep hanging up before I can speak with them. Apparently my account says I talked with them, but I've never spoken with the resolution desk. I keep getting hung up on after waiting hours on the phone. No one will give me a straight answer.  

The statement in my email doesn't give any idea what this is for and even said my invoice says -$50. $50 is a tank of gas right now. I feel like NCL has stolen $50 from me without explanation. I'm so frustrated right now and it's souring what should have been a fun vacation in a few weeks😭

People have mentioned seeing flight plans before they receive an email. How did you do that? Yes, I know plans could change from whatever is posted before the email. Luckily, we fly in the day before. My parents learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago. I'm just curious how you see the tentative flight plans people have mentioned.

On JOTS we would get 2-3 pet person. It was nice to get some at the bar the night before and stick them in our fridge. The next morning we didn't have to wait in line before/after getting off the ship.

Forgive me for posting on an old post. Is the folio number your room number? Is the room number printed on the card at all? It's been about 10 years since I was last on carnival and I don't remember. TIA

On 5/2/2022 at 3:11 PM, HOBE SOUND CRUISER said:

Something even better.....an APP called SKYVIEW LITE.

Install it and point your device at the sky and it shows

and identifies the planets, stars, constallations, etc.

I have 3 apps already on my phone that I use all the time personally. But one phone and one ipad are not enough for 90 teenage girls to look at at the same time 😅. They are not allowed to have phones at camp so I can't ask them to download it either. 

10 minutes ago, Sassy19305 said:

I googled Stargzgazing Flashlight and it came up as a Red Flashlight for Stargazing. You can get them from Amazon and maybe even Walmart (it shows on the Walmart.ca site).

I saw that too, but that's not what they used. It was a bright white flashlight. The red ones are to read skymaps without hurting your night vision. I'm struggling to know what key words I need to use in the search. Thanks for looking though. 

A few years ago, I was on a Jewel OTS Med Cruise. One night, there was a stargazing lecture where they turned all the lights off on the ship to point out various stars, planets, etc. The cruise director had this awesome flashlight that could beam several meters high so that it was easy to knows what we were looking at when he described something. Does anyone know what kind of flashlight that was? I would love to purchase one for my youth camp for our stargazing adventures. TIA!

On 4/25/2022 at 11:41 AM, kochleffel said:

I was reading Apple's description of the Air Tag and was concerned that only iPhones were listed as compatible -- I have an Android phone. But that's only for one feature; the essential feature works with Find My on any Apple device, and I have an iPad mini.

 

I do have a question, though. The Air Tag is reported as starting to beep if it is separated from you for too long (like a dog with separation anxiety?). How long is that, and how far? I'd prefer that it not start to beep in the baggage room, for example.

Nobody at work has complained about my wallet or keys beeping in my locker. 

Yes you can connect them to your iPad mini. 

I haven't had mine do that as far as I'm aware. 

On 4/25/2022 at 8:19 AM, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks for this feedback.  

 

For your checked luggage: are you putting the AirTag inside, or do you have it secured outside your bag and, if so, with what "accessory."  Thanks for any info.

Sorry for the late reply. I have a key ring it fits in. I attach that inside the suitcase so it doesn't look like it's tagged. 

On 4/23/2022 at 7:57 AM, phillygwm said:

I've taken to putting an Airtag in each bag I travel with, including my carry-on.  I've never had a bag lost but I'd think it would be easier (though not a sure thing; it relies on Bluetooth) to find something misplaced.

Did you see the news story about the guy traveling on Aer Lingus who lost a bag on a layover in Frankfurt? He had an airtag in his luggage and tracked it for days trying to tell the airline where his bag was located. The airline finally found his bag but he is mute on the details of the recovery pending a criminal investigation.

I have airtags on my wallet, keys, airpods and my check-in luggage. The airtags ping off of the Find My network, not just the owners phone, allowing it to have a better range than tile. 

After Christmas I was able to see right away that my bag was not on the plane with me when I had a last minute flight change. I knew there was an issue before the airline did. I was able to see it move around the airport and see it travel to meet up with me at home. Best money spent so I can track things down. I'm planning to get a few more before an upcoming cruise.

18 minutes ago, rimmit said:

He has TSA pre check, so we’ll see if that helps. 

Does TSA pre-check have a separate ID card they give you? I know Global Access does which is how I got my TSA pre-check.

51 minutes ago, rimmit said:

Needless to say, I am now taking pics of all my documents before traveling.

I keep a secured copy of my DL, Passport and other documents in the app LastPass. Its encrypted and has dual authentication. That way if I loose my phone, you can't access it from the photos app and steal my personal information.

I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase the soda drink package and I have a few questions:

How much does each cup of pop cost?

If I order a drink at dinner, is the refill free, or do I pay for the second cup?

I know a 20% gratuity is added on. I average 2-3 cups of Sprite or ginger ale a day to help with sea sickness (in addition to every med and sea band option available). I usually get the non-alcoholic package on RCL since it includes mocktails and bottled water. I usually order enough to make that package worth it. I'm just not sure if this one is worth it to me.

TA

I want to make sure I understand how this works correctly.

• Download the regular NCL app
• Pay $9.95 pp to activate that feature on the app once on board
• Messaging and calls work with airplane mode and wifi both on

This last point is where I need clarification. If my wifi always has to be on, will apps open in the background of my phone use up regular wifi minutes while trying to always be available for a family member to message me using the NCL app. How does that part work?

On 9/1/2021 at 9:32 AM, Wildcatllamas said:

I have attached a list of the drinks that you will find on most NCL ships. The non-alcohol ones are listed at the end with an NA following the name.

NCL_Beverage_List.pdf 953.88 kB · 61 downloads

Thanks for the list of NA drinks. I saved it for future use on my cruise

On 3/12/2022 at 6:11 AM, Surfguyxxx said:

I also don't drink and have gotten some basic non alcoholic drinks previously but this list is cool.  Thanks for the info.

You're welcome! I haven't been on here in a while and randomly logged in today. My friend is heading on a RCL cruise next month and I forward those old photos to her after I saw your note. Thanks for reminding me of them 😅

The train was super easy from Rome to the port. We got there early and had a nice breakfast on the water at a small Cafe. The walk wasn't too bad. There are various ride options that can take you from the train station in Civitavecchia closer to the actual terminal of you are limited in walking and address a much cheaper option than a ride from Rome itself. 

5 minutes ago, charmed1959 said:

For those in Canada and Nevada that are doing home isolation, what are the logistics? How do they get from the the airport to their home?  If they are being transported on public transit from the plane to their homes, are they tested first?  Or only if they show symptoms?

We will probably find out after they are transported home due to security risks. They will probably want the people to feel safe and not have any problems from wine crazy person who discovers the plan. 

Testing will most likely happen at a secure location prior to going home.

At one point, someone posted the daily menu options. One of the questions asked was: what time do you want your did delivered? I'm all about service normally, but having passengers select what time they want their food is asking for disaster. When everyone on a certain hallway wants food at a different time they probably miss rooms that way.

I work at a hospital. Our food service people can't always get the orders right. It's a littler not better now that meals are delivered to the unit all at the same time versus based on when people ordered. Our patients so get what they want (most of the time) and we know if someone's food was missed sooner than before. 

Passengers can still order what they want, meals will just be delivered at standard times instead. It will take less people to deliver food and will be quicker that way too.

On 2/25/2020 at 8:10 PM, david_sobe said:

My camera broke tonight which sucks because of the lost photos.  The digital camera was 10 years old but I had photos of several things around the ship and meals.  SO my review may be without any photos.  We were in Puerto Rico next to the "I LOVE PUERTO RICO" sign and everyone was in line taking photos. I had my camera out with the lens out.  A couple asked me to take their photo.  When he handed me their phone, I dropped my camera on the lens and it broke.  SO I am more upset about the lost photos than the old camera.  

 

I'm confused, did the SD card also break? Or can you use an SD card adapter (Best Buy, Amazon, etc.) and get the photos off that way? It's very rare that you would lose all your pictures if the camera broke. The SD card which holds all the picture files would have to be broken to truly lose all your pictures. I have hope you can get them of the SD card. Unless by lost photos you meant photos you couldn't take after the accident. For which I'm very sorry.

27 minutes ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

 

One test takes that long. Doesn't mean a lab can do hundreds of tests all in the same four hour period. This is a specialized test requiring a trained lab person, expensive lab equipment, and virus specific testing supplies.

 

Same test as Westerdam passengers. There's only one test for the virus and the test kits are in short supply everywhere.

 

2 hours ago, hal2008 said:

Looking for some clarifications form people who the details about testing.

 

1. How can some countries do hundreds of tests pretty quickly burt Japan has been doing only handful per day and takking 2-3 days for the results?

 

2. Are these tests done on DP pax same as those beong done on Westerdam pax in combodia?

 

3. CDC web site seems to indicate that rRT-PCR test should take 4 hours. so why so many places are talking about 2-3 days?

 

(will also enquire in HAL forum)

First of, sorry these posts are quoted out of order.

Lab tech here. Yes the test takes about 4 hour. However, each batch can only handle so many tests (usually 6-24 tests at a time). Most labs will only run PCR testing if every lane (or sample spot) is full to save money. It is both time and cost effective to run tests this way. If only 24 tests can be run at a time you can see where the back up can occur. These tests are very labor intensive. It is easy to invalidate the test of you move too quickly. Having a PCR analyzer that has more lanes isn't always possible. The bigger the analyzer, the more costly the analyzer. 

What is also adding extra time is if an indeterminate test comes back (not strongly positive or negative), they have to repeat the testing. To ensure accuracy, it is possible (though not confirmed), the Japanese may be running every test twice to increase their confidence with the result. 

I'm not sure if this is the case out not, but some labs can't sacrifice an entire instrument to only run this test exclusively. They may need it to work perform flu testing, genetic testing, etc. 

To validate a machine, it can take days to validate. The shortest timeframe I could get an analyzer and testing validated was 24 hours. It was days before Christmas, I worked at a small hospital next to several resorts and our urine drug today analyzer died. That was one of the most stressful things I've ever done getting the new analyzer up and validated. 

The extra labs given approval to run this PCR test in the states was to help process more results faster, and closer to home to help decrease turn around time.

Ship - Jewel OTS

Deck - 3

Stateroom # - 3084

Stateroom Category – OV GTY

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Surprisingly YES!!! (See comments)

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – N/A

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - N/A

Was wind a problem? - N/A

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Nope

 

Any other comments? - This cabin is right off of the main aft elevators and one level below the activities in the Centrum. Walking to our cabin when the cabins first opened up had us very worried it would be really loud in our room when we would be trying to fall asleep at night. The music was extremely loud in the hallway, but the second the door closed, nothing. Complete silence. We were shocked. Very rarely (maybe 3 times total) we heard a kid run down the hallway. If I remember correctly, the internet computers and a storage room are directly above the room, but we never heard anything from above. 

Loved being close to the stairs so we could walk to the MDR at night, or walk down to get off the ship and not have to wait for elevators. It took maybe a minute to walk from security to our room at the end of the port day. Quick walk up to the centrum bar or Latitudes to get a early/late drink or snack. It was also nice to walk down the 3rd floor hallway to avoid the crowds going to the Coral theater. Only had to use the elevator when going to the WJ or pool decks.

Ample storage for two young women. We took packing cubes to help with organization. Items on the walls were held up with magnetic hooks. 

Here are some screenshots I took from a past post. They were able to make most of these on Jewel OTS earlier this month which has a smaller bar menu than the big ships. 

I was on the Jewel OTS a few weeks ago. I loved having lots of port days, I just wish our only sea day wasn't the first full day. It would have been nice to have a down day later in the week. 

My mom and I both have food allergies. She can't have wheat, corn or soy. After every cruise on RC she mentions how wonderful it feels to actually EAT food while on vacation. 

I'm allergic to fish and shellfish. No problems yet on this cruise. I'm currently on Jewel OTS. I love salad, but can't have Cesar salad dressing d/t anchovies in the dressing. Every night I've got a different green salad and salad dressing. The staff has been great warning me what has hidden allergens in it. I do wish they would have the food symbols on the food name plates in the WJ and on the menu in the MDR.