bigrednole

You are correct that it is not a one-size-fits-all. But when it does happen, you list the advice that you didn't really need a passport, and you get stuck in a foreign country having to wait for your government, don't complain about the costs and waiting. Just accept that you cheaped out to someone else's advice, let it be a life lesson, and move on.

We will be on the same cruise since there is only 1 8-night cruise that month.

Needed? No. Recommended? Yes. If something crazy happens and must fly home from a foreign country, you will have to go through the embassy to get a temporary pass to return to the US. That adds time. Odds of this happening is low, but you probably don't want to be in it if at all possible.

Just booked a cruise to the ABCs. We have 14-hours in Aruba and trying to figure out what to do. On our other 2 cruises, port stops were only 8 hours or less. With 14, there is a lot more that can be done. We are a year out. The next day is 14-hours in Bonaire which will definitely include snorkeling at Klein Bonaire. Curacao may be a car rental day to drive to a few beaches. I am just trying to get some ideas while I research. Renting a gold cart to go around or a car is definitely possibilities. Sunset catamaran cruise is an option. Just lots more to do than a get off at 9AM and get back on by 3-4PM.

I just booked it this morning. ABCs here we come. Now, I have to decide when I will let the wife know.

Actually it is. Our last cruise was Western. We pretty much were limited on the ports. Roatan, the main port we wanted to see, the captain didn't port while all others did. Belize we were pretty much stuck on NCL's island which was nice, but what we wanted to see we couldn't because of the time on the ferry. Costa Maya got cut back to only 4 hours. Cozumel had a wind shift and the main reefs to snorkel were shutdown. So, it was a big let down. We are planning our cruise for next Summer. Got a decent casino rate and trying to decide. The other factor was driving to Port Canaveral is easy at about 8-9 hours. Personally, I was initially leaning to the ABCs, but wanted to ask. I will be booking the ABC cruise this week. Driving to Miami is a bit too far at 12 hours. I would have to take 6-days off work for it. Driving down would be a little pain, but back would be worse. I would have to work the next day. Driving 12-hours, getting home about 8-9PM would make for a bad day. There are usually direct, non-stop flights into FLL or MIA from us. The hope is we have enough cc points to cover flights, but that shouldn't be an issue.

I have several offers out there, but none like the $25 offers when we can't cruise. The best I could find when we can cruise again is for next Summer. It amounts to about $2600 for 3 people and $600 OBC. Since we can only go over the Summer, we are limited. For 8-nights and free drinks in the casino, that is about as good as we will find.

I like your thinking 🙂

I just received a few good casino offers. We cannot cruise until Summer 2023. The two cruises we are looking at are Mardi Gras 7-nights Western Caribbean or Celebration 8-night ABCs. We went Western Caribbean on NCL in April, but pretty much missed everything port wise. Roatan we didn't port, Belize was private, Costa Maya got cutoff by about 4 hours in port, and Cozumel had weather that blocked us from going to the good reefs and El Cielo. With that said, that is why we want to do Western again at some point. But, the Southern on Celebration gives 14-hours in Aruba, 14-hours in Bonaire, and I think it was 8 or 10 hours in Curacao. Price wise, the 8-nt is a little cheaper (~$100) but we have to fly in. But that could be the case with Port Canaveral as well. Which would you choose?

We took our first cruise on Magic over Thanksgiving 2021. Our second was on NCL Breakaway over spring break. I still think I might have a different opinion if our ports stops weren't screwed over. Even that, we had much more fun on the Magic. People were just more fun and party type atmosphere. My wife asked about next Summer and I said I would only look at Carnival. We can't decide whether to do Western again to do everything NCL messed up on or do Southern to try the ABCs.

I have to give credit to Discover Roatan. We did just receive our refund. We new the 4% penalty for any refund, so that was no issue. I do however give them a minus on it taking 7 weeks. When we do get to go to Roatan again, we will be using another service. But for those that have booked with them, I can assure you a refund will eventually come.

Mirrorless or a Bridge camera are probably the best options. Bridge because it is all in one, but could sacrifice on image quality. Mirrorless if you are willing to invest in the lenses needed for an Alaskan cruise. Used work just as good as new and you can save a ton. You just need to determine which features you need. I chose m43 for price, features, and weight. Software solved the noise problems with the smaller sensor which makes the savings that much better.

Cruising is a right, not a privilege. I am glad for the vax rules. If your not vaxxed no cruising. A teacher asked my daughter about going on a cruise now that his child finished preschool and starts Kindergarten next year. She told him what many on our first 2 cruises said: without the kids club open or kids activities, they will be at your hip the entire time. Since Disney is out of the price range by 3x, he is getting more info. The simple fact that many can't vacation on cruises because restrictions, means only those vaxxed should be allowed to go.

We have been on 2 cruises now: one on Magic and one on NCL Breakaway. The balcony is decent, but not something we really used. We are more of the types that sleep and shower in the room then out doing "stuff". As for a balcony, we can just go to a deck and experience it anyway. For those that have cruised in an Interior cabin and balcony in the past is there anything that you missed with a balcony?

My experience was different than many people. From advice I read here and from someone local that cruises NCL, getting to the port early (9AM) is key. We waited about 2 hours, but that was sitting. Others waited about the same, but standing in lines. I am so glad I read getting to the part after 11AM is a nightmare and those that did were in for long waits standing. Get there early, check-in is efficient, and just relax while sitting instead of standing.

I know some people have had a good experience with them, but read their cancelation rules carefully before booking. We did not port and now it is going to be a long drawn out process to get our refund. We will seen in about 6-weeks if we get it back or I have to fight them with my credit card company. This is not rocket science people. The policy is full refund if your ship doesn't port. Ours didn't the refund should be automatic without jumping through hoops and waiting. I will update later on how the process flows.

NOLA is a little bit different than other ports like Port Everglades, Port of Miami, Port Canaveral. There is a lot to do in NOLA very close to the cruise ports. We get in about 6PM the night before. We could rush to get on as early as possible or we could plan something around 1PM to enjoy more of NOLA. However, we have to be out of our room by 10AM and have to check to see if the hotel will hold luggage. If not, then no exploring in the morning and just plan for earliest arrival. What do others do?

Hotels have been extremely expensive. Finally found this at a swallowable price with free cancellation. I figure we will be at the hotel by 7pm with a 5:45 flight arrival. I will continue to look for deals until the beginning of April. That gives us some time on Bourbon Street. Was hoping to get in earlier, but can't complain.