Birdnutty

1 hour ago, pookel said:

My restless leg syndrome is killing me rn &  I'd appreciate if anyone has any idea what could be affecting it , - travel? Stress? Alcohol? 

Mine is completely random. Could be all of the above.   But if you can get your hands on some Theraworx when you get back near port, that stuff is awesome!  Homeopathic, can't overdose, topical.  Squirt it on,, rub it in and it somehow magically goes away!  YMMV, but it's worth a try.   Many of the larger chains like Walgreens do have a non-name brand, sometimes.

Did you use the ferry?  Is the NCL ferry running?  Can you take a pic of the schedule, if so, please?

So glad you're posting!  We'll be getting on when you get off.  With all the last minute changes NCL is making, it'll be interesting to see how your cruise goes.  

I'm particularly interested to hear how your Bermuda day goes.  Please tell us if the NCL ferry is running.  Our whole Bermuda schedule is based on ferry times and this one could make a difference.

Looking forward to your next entry.

Wishing you smooth seas and no missed ports.  😁

I GOT IT!!!  After all this time....  I think there was a problem with the email system, because three times I sent the email and they said they didn't get the necessary documents.  Sent it via a different email, and it worked.  Don't know what the problem was, but I feel bad that an already overworked staff is trying to sort through disasters like mine.  Anyway, I'm doing the happy dance.... we cruise in a week.  

19 minutes ago, AwesomO said:

The one time we sailed on the Gem, we also had bed bugs. It's too bad you didn't find out until the last day. They moved us to a new room and washed all of our clothes and I believe even cleaned the suitcases, iirc.

 

At first NCL tried to claim it was mosquitos (we were out in the middle of the ocean and hadn't made it to any ports yet). but after I received more bites, they required me to go to the infirmary, though the doctor on call had nothing to say about it besides trying to give me hydrocortisone cream and charge me (NCL insisted I go, so I wasn't paying for that) but once my husband finally found the actual bug itself, they were very, very good at handling the situation. Bed bugs can happen anywhere, but to me, what matters is how the place handles it. Not going to hold it against a place for having the bugs, but will hold it against them if they dont try to right the situation. We also, unfortunately, had a similar experience in one hotel and they were less keen to accept personal responsibility. 

OMG!  Bed bugs!  We've been on 50 cruises, never had a problem. And I understand that bedbugs can be like roaches.  If anywhere has them, everywhere can have them.  What do you check for before you unpack?  Do you have to take the whole bed apart?

Thank you for doing this review.  As you said, these ports are vastly under-reported.  We went on this same tour, and I'm glad to have my memory so excellently refreshed.  We are nature enthusiasts, and were highly disappointed to see to hear not even one bird on the aerial tram, although the scenery was beautiful.   We did see one toucan on the rainforest walk waaaaaaayy far away and some feasting on berries right outside the lunch pavilion. It was beautiful, however, and we enjoyed everything.  The canal ride was very cool.  We saw sloths, herons, monkeys

and the coolest tiny little bats hanging from the supports of a bridge!

Here are some of my pics: in no particular order.  Sorry they're all smooshed together - I don't know how to separate them.  

And this one, from the bus - a novelty...  Yes, that is a toilet sitting atop a shed roof.

Thanks for the Daily!  I enjoy reading some of the offerings that I can possibly look forward to, weather permitting.  And for you, it doesn't look like it's permitting lot. So disappointed for you.  Hope the weather clears a bit so you can enjoy the last of it.

Looking forward to the next report.

Thanks!  Have you ever been there?  Are we allowed to just go and walk around, go to the beach without an excursion, etc?  There is so little info out there to go on!!!!

I tried the Dominican Republic Port of Call Board, but either nobody knows or there isn't enough activity to get the question answered.  Our itinerary on the Gem is scheduled to stop at Catalina Island, Dominican Republic.   But there's no docks there, and very sparse info on the whole situation.  It looks like we could dock at La Romana, but none of the cruise Mapper/Timetable/dig, etc sites show anything at all about our ship being there.

Has anyone been to the actual Catalina Island, and where did you dock when you did?  we're not happy with ship's excursions and want to find something else, but we don't know from where!  Please help. 

So happy you are doing this.  Too bad you didn't label your review as being LIVE, as many more folks would be following.  But maybe that's a good thing, meaning less dumb questions.  Hmmm

Sorry that your weather is less than ideal.  It's fun to be a little rocky, but crazy rocky can be nowhere near as much fun.  Hope it doesn't affect your stomach or your trip in any way.  If anything, it might send some people to stay in their cabins instead of being out and about, reducing the "crowd" factor.

Three questions:  On the days at sea, have there been any mention of Latin dance classes or Zumba in the Daily?  Lots of people, especially me, really love that.

Secondly, are there many people masking up at all?

And how was your day in Bermuda?  What did you end up doing?

21 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

and I got that number from the NCL holdings website, https://www.nclhltd.com/contact

Me too.  That's the number I called, and I fully agree - they take the shareholder option and dump it right into customer service.  it's the luck of the draw as to whether the rep knows about this stuff or is totally clueless.  I got one clueless one, and one who knew a little but couldn't help me.

I heard a nasty rumor that the paper dailies are being discontinued.  Are you still getting them on this sailing?

Does NCL charge you right away if you make dining reservations pre-sailing? We have an SDP, and Latitudes dinners.  We are traveling with another couple and want to make reservations for the 4 of us.  They only have the SDP.  Do you get charged right away, is there a priority (latitudes vs sdp) that they use, and how can we tell them which one we want to use? 

4 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

I submitted a request last Friday and called yesterday to check on it since I hadn't heard or seen anything.  I was told that cases are taking two weeks right now to process.  

What number did you call?  Or write to?  No matter which way I turn, I get the royal run-around.

Please keep posting about your experiences on board. I, among many others, will be on board in a  few weeks and am interested in how things are going. 
Have they initiated the once a day turn down service on the Gem yet?  
As an aside, I’m sure it was very disappointing to have most of your Bermuda stay truncated. It sucks, but I guess from a safety point of view, it’s better to be out at sea.  Hopefully, seasickness aside, it’s still better than a day at home or work. 

Well. it's been a few days without any response other than a new case number.  So I'm going to take the suggestion that I print out all my attempts and the dates involved, and see if it does me any good at Guest Services.  I'm done - spent too much time at this.  Maybe I'll be lucky and the Benefit Fairy will visit me somewhere along the line.  I will post if she does.

4 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

If I reached embarkation date, and still nothing, I would pack a copy of my email submission, the automated case number NCL response, the request form and my brokerage statement.  I would present it at guest services and ask for the $100 OBC.  You never know what might work. 😎

Good idea! I’ll prepare all the documentation now, just in case.  

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

If you took the time to read the post I quoted, you would see that the poster thought that you had to wait until you were under 14 days to submit the form. My response was that if they did that, NCL was not obligated to provide the OBC. 

 

Understood.  That's why I started 35 days prior to sailing.

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I submitted my most recent successful request on Dec 5, and it took about ten days to process (showed up on reservation, never received any other type of notification).  I think that forum reports around that time indicated similar "delays" (i.e. not the historical one day turn around).  That suggests to me that they had a backlog that may have grown as people took time off for the holidays.  I'm not going to hold my breath, but I think this will eventually pass.  Not good for folks approaching that 15 day deadline.

I thought that NCL was similar to other cruise lines that don't want you to submit more than two weeks away, to prove you still have the stock (or at least had it close enough to sailing).  I thought I was pushing the envelope by starting to submit over a month in advance, allowing for the holidays.  If I'd known there might be a backlog or staffing issues, I would have started much earlier.  Live n learn

If I don't hear of something relatively soon, I will still try the USPS route, although by then I'll be outside the submission window.  And if it doesn't happen, well, that's life.  But there's always hope.  I'll still have a fabulous time, but on my own nickel, not theirs.  🙂

I started submitting on Dec 20.  Have 4 different case numbers, tried calling the "shareholder" phone number, which just re-routes me to sales (no matter which set of prompts I use).  Emailed, but just received another case number.  Even resorted to the chat feature on NCL.com, they couldn't help either.  I'm almost to the 14 day window for sailing.

I'm going to re-submit with a new proof of ownership, since month-end has passed.  Wish me luck!

9 hours ago, JesseB said:

Yeah I always put them on when Im leaving for the port and use the plastic holder things from Amazon...I wouldn't trust them to make it if you put them on before the flight....

Love those plastic holder things!  Use them all the time.   Here's an example of the TYPE of thing I'm referring to.  I put them on once we get off the plane, before going to the pier.  Especially wonderful if you cruise a lot.

 https://www.amazon.com/Cruise-Luggage-tags-Holders-Steel/dp/B07PKKVQMQ/ref=asc_df_B07PKKVQMQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366338196181&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13696084321548639703&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003347&hvtargid=pla-815224809008&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=76464293935&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366338196181&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13696084321548639703&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003347&hvtargid=pla-815224809008

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Question:  how long does the OBC shareholder credit last?

I had the OBC SH credit applied to my March 2022 cruise.

I've not applied for the credit on my future cruise but I do find a $100 credit on each of the three including one is 2025.

Perhaps that OBC is not from the Shareholders?  NCL had a $100 bonus OBC just for booking for awhile last year.  Maybe you booked your cruises within that window.  There should be a code next to the credit listed.  That should give some clue as to where it came from.  

Thanks for the replies.  Interestingly enough, SeaShark, the number you gave me for Corporate is the same one I called for the Shareholder Dept.  Seems like all calls seem to go into the same pot, no matter what.

I resubmitted - we'll see what happens this time.  

8 minutes ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

NCL has a long way to go when it comes to pickleball.

But every journey begins with a single step.  We have to start somewhere.

I am still having a terrible time - the exact opposite experience from another poster.  I emailed Shareholder Benefit on 12/20 with all the pertinent info on their form, signed.  Received a case number within a few hours, with a promise of "contact" within 24 hours.    Nothing more

So, Dec 30, thinking it maybe got lost in email hell, submitted the same form again, received a different case number and again, the same promise.

Nothing

4 days later, allowing for the holiday and all, I called the shareholder benefit dept.  Circled around in hell for awhile (press1, press 5, press 6, ) and ended up talking to a real person - in the sales dept!  Explained my situation, and he gave me a phone number to call.  It was the same number I started with.  SO, figuring I hit all those prompts in the wrong order, I called again and tried a different tack.  Ended up in the sales dept again, with a rep who confirmed the number I was supposed to be calling, and said that maybe if the dept is closed, they re-route the call to the general #.  ??  

So I sent an email to the same email address, who confirmed its receipt and said that they'd contact me within 24 hours.  Taking bets as to whether or not that happened.

Still nothing.  Been checking my account, as suggested by someone else, and there has been no activity.  We cruise in 20 days.

What should I do next?  Is there a higher level I can approach?

Well, I answered my own question.  Turns out that Crowne Plaza Panama ( both of them) offer luggage storage both before check in and after check out.  So for anyone else that wants to spend some some in Panama City with only one night stay, that's a good hotel to consider.  Rates were good, too.