coastcat

11 hours ago, Robinsoncruiseso said:

Walk to Edgewater

Thanks! 

A search of this forum revealed that:

1. Pier 91 has a designated pick-up area for rideshare drivers, making it relatively easy to find your Uber or Lyft when disembarking.
2. Pier 66 doesn't
3. Someone mentioned that a rideshare driver said he avoided accepting Pier 66 pickups because of the traffic

Can anyone share experiences in getting an Uber or Lyft after hopping off a cruise at Pier 66? Would it be easier to find my driver (and easier on the driver) if I walk over to the Edgewater or Marriott and request the pickup there? I'm planning to walk off the ship without porter assistance since I'll just have a manageable roller bag and live in the area, which means that in theory I'll be leaving the Bliss at 7:00-7:30 am.

4 hours ago, John In MD said:

I'll have to check with the airline.  Unfortunately, we couldn't fly with Southwest, we were flying with Alaskan, so the options are limited out of BWI. 

NCL is offering $300 per ticket for flight changes. Alaska Airlines charges $125 per ticket (plus the difference in fare, of course). 

1 minute ago, Petoonya said:

It's just not me I guess. I couldn't spend money on stuff for just me. Have to include dh. Thanks for the suggestion though! 🙂

That's why I travel solo. No way I could drag my DH into a spa! (or onto a cruise ship, for that matter)

Using the OBC on an excursion sounds like a good plan, then.

I'm on the Bliss in a couple weeks and decided to splurge on the weekly Thermal Spa pass so I could luxuriate in the tiled loungers, therapy pool, salt room, sauna, etc. Your OBC would cover most of the cost, if that sounds appealing?

13 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

It is different for Haven cruisers.

The Haven is a future dream! For this first (solo) cruise, I'm a Studio inhabitant. Odd. Well, life is full of mystery and I'll just add this to the list...

I wonder if it's different for first-time NCL cruisers? My first cruise is a few weeks away and NCL mailed me the color-coded luggage tags (but not other documents).

I'm a Seattle-area resident headed out on a NCL solo cruise next month. The plan is for my husband to drop me off and pick me up at Pier 66. I couldn't find any good info on the logistics for private passengers. Is there a clearly-marked place where non-commercial drop-offs/pick-ups are done? The Pier 66 website recommends using the cruise parking garage for this, but the website for the garage only has info on long-term parking rates for cruise passengers. So, what's the best way to do this?

1 hour ago, HarrietGF said:

You should find Bliss's complimentary offerings to be good.  I didn't feel I missed anything by not using the specialty dining aboard Bliss.

 

Would it make more sense to switch my freebie to one of the other options? I was torn between specialty dining and excursion credit; comments comparing the quality of steak preparation at Cagney's compared to the MDR swayed my decision because I love a good steak...

Next month I'll be taking my first cruise (hurray!) as a solo traveler on the Norwegian Bliss. After some debate and a whole lot of reading through this forum, I decided to go with a Studio stateroom. For the most part, various threads here have answered my questions but I still have a couple:

1. I selected the dining package as my freebie. Is it better to make reservations now at one or two of the specialty restaurants, or wait until I'm onboard? Although my default assumption is that I'd be dining alone, it's possible that I might want to dine with a group. Should I make my specialty dining reservations now with the solo assumption and make any needed changes on the spot? Should I wait anyway until I can see the daily menus and plan accordingly?
2. In looking at photos and watching some YouTube video reviews of Studio rooms, it seems that the designers took advantage of the vertical space. That's great, but I am under 5' tall. Frequently I've run into difficulties in hotel rooms because I can't reach spare blankets/pillows, towels, in-room safes, and other things "conveniently" stored for customer use. Are there any vertically-challenged Studio veterans who can comment on potential issues? Shower heads are another bane of my petite existence...   I do have a plastic folding stepstool but would rather not pack it on vacation.