heelfan94

I believe I am on the next Dawn sailing (Nov. 5) on the transatlantic.  We have sailed on the Dawn before and loved it.  

On 12/16/2018 at 4:30 PM, saintsfan777 said:

Change from Pepsi to Coke

I feel more strongly about this than I'm willing to admit or deal with.  

I am sorry that your vacation was interrupted by weather.  That is certainly no fun.  On our first couple of cruises I didn't read through all of the fine print and so I didn't understand how they work.  In your shoes I would see this as a tough lesson on travel insurance.  This was something I also didn't consider when we first started cruising.  It is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of your vacation and will give you great peace of mind going forward.  If I read your post correctly, it sounds like NCL would refund the 2 days based on you being there.  Like others have said you automatically cancelled when you didn't show up.  None of the cruise lines will be sympathetic in this situation as far as I can tell.  Unless you book your flight arrangements through NCL they won't care what happens between your home and the pier.  You can certainly pursue reimbursement and please let us know how it turns out.  I wish you good luck in this endeavor and better luck on your next vacation.

Edited to add:  I didn't see the OP's post about having insurance, so I apologize for that in my post.

On 12/10/2018 at 4:07 PM, ev98 said:

Thank you for the report. Looking forward to our cruise on Bliss in less than a week!

 

One caution: I would highly recommend *NOT* bringing your own toilet paper. Yes, the provided single-ply stuff is unpleasant, but anything thicker than that has the potential to clog up the plumbing and put whole blocks of cabin bathrooms out of service. A sewer backup would ruin many people's vacations and causes grief for the maintenance crew as well. 

I just sailed on the Pearl and also noticed the single-ish ply toilet paper in our cabin's bathroom.  I assumed this was a logistical issue like you mention.  But in the public restrooms they had the fancy 2 ply paper.  It seems like it would have to all be the sandpaper kind, right?  Those public restrooms get a lot of traffic.

7 hours ago, riddle said:

Just as an aside.  We were on a Panama Canal cruise last two weeks.  We took a ship's excursion (I don't always) and it was over 30 minutes past return time getting back to the ship.  The tour operator told us they had contacted the ship and of course the ship waited.  We were an entire busload of people.  My husband did not take the tour and had made several inquiries to Guest Services and the last one they told him that all tours were back.  That was obviously erroneous and  he told them so.  He was worried and upset but since it was a ship tour I had not been too concerned about it.

I'm pretty sure I was in Summer Palace when your bus came in.  We had a table at the back with a view and I knew we must be waiting on a ship excursion.  

A couple of people mentioned travel insurance.  I'm curious about whether the coverage I had from this past cruise would have covered it.  Does anyone know if it is under trip interruption or something else?

On 12/9/2018 at 10:19 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

 

Apparently just ask your cabin steward for the info and the bag and invoice if it is not already hanging in the coat closet.

 

We had to ask because there was no bag in the room.  We did the $19.95 for a full bag special, and got half off with gold Latitudes.  I thought it was money well spent.

14-Day Panama Canal Round-trip from Tampa

November 25-December 9

Norwegian Pearl

Embarkation

We stayed just outside Tampa the night before and drove in Sunday morning.  We parked just across from the terminal and got to the check in point around 10:30.  These steps were all painless. We did wait a while with a terminal full of people to board the ship.  When we did board with our carryons with the first group we went straight to Summer Palace for lunch. We checked our cabin right after and it was ready so we dropped the bags there and went up top.

Cabin

Our cabin was 9610, a balcony cabin.  We were glad to have upgraded to the balcony with such a long trip.  Our room steward was fine. He was friendly the first couple of days then very cool after that.  I have no idea if we offended him in some way. We had zero special requests and I always tidy up on my own as much as I can.  We always had clean towels, a perfectly made bed and towel animals every night. We usually have a relationship with our steward so this was different.

Internet

I bought 250 minutes which I thought was a crazy amount of internet time.  Latitudes Gold added 30 minutes so I thought I’d be online plenty. The WiFi is insanely slow and some days I couldn’t accomplish anything at all while the minutes burned. We have 2 kids and I thought 2 weeks was way too long to be out of touch.  If I did this cruise again I would buy unlimited or none at all. Live and learn, I guess.

App Communication Package

I hadn’t given the app communication much thought.  We ended up getting it at 9.95 each for two weeks and it was well worth the money.  My husband and I are rarely in the same place during the day so this was most helpful.  You can call or text, even send pictures. That’s what I did when I got the where are you message.  I’d take a shot of what I was looking at and it worked. If you were on this trip I was the one who always had a book with me.  I sat in the window seats down the hall, in the library, even before the show in Stardust.

Laundry

We sent out a very full bag around the halfway point to be washed and folded for 19.99.  We got half off with Latitudes so it was around 10 dollars. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Ports

This was a port heavy cruise.  Most ports we walked around if there was an area close by.  We did the trolley tour in Cartagena. Our favorite day was in Harvest Caye.  It was a beautiful and relaxing day.

Dining

In the interest of full disclosure I am the pickiest eater I’ve ever known.  That being said we both thought the food was very good. We had breakfast mostly in Summer Palace.  One morning we went to O’Sheehan’s and three mornings we went to the Garden Cafe. Lunch was where I ran into trouble and it wasn’t the food but variety.  We had ten port days out of fourteen so those days we had a choice of the buffet or O’Sheehan’s. I really liked the open faced turkey sandwich but not every day.  Buffets are always tricky. I like only a handful of things so I usually had pizza and salad. The chicken salad was excellent. We ate in Summer Palace every evening except one.  That night we went to indigo. It was fine. It had the exact same menu but we much preferred the atmosphere in Summer Palace.

As a side note, I called the Garden Cafe ‘Survival of the fittest’ because people acted like NCL was going to run out of food.  I hate the pushing and shoving and line jumping. A couple of mornings we went up early and very much enjoyed being able to choose food items in a calm environment.  I’m not built for wrestling for food.

Spa/Fitness

We got the thermal spa pass for my husband and he thought it was the best money we spent.  He especially enjoyed the view as we went through the Panama Canal locks. I had three spa treatments and they were very helpful.  I used the treadmill in the fitness center a few days but mostly I walked on 7. I did Latin Fitness with Yvette by the pool on three mornings and the class was great.  

Entertainment

This area is subjective so I understand not everyone will agree with this assessment.  My favorite show was the Legends concert with Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and Elvis impersonators.  We also really enjoyed the acrobatic duo. I can’t for the life of me remember their names. We thought the entertainment overall was good.  I understand why young people wouldn’t be crazy about some of it.

Staff

We thought the staff was top notch.  We especially appreciated the Summer Palace staff since we spent so much time there.  

Debarkation

We carried our luggage off and were called around 8:00 am.  The line to get off was long but all things come to an end. We finally cleared the terminal after 9:00 am.

I am sorry for everyone who had their vacation cut short.  I can't imagine the logistical nightmare of getting everyone home.  Safe travels to all. ❤️

Your card will show the charge any minute now.  Congrats!

3 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

If I owned a company that sells a cruise for $2,000 + $250 in DSC ($125 each for a couple), and I see that an increasing percentage of guests are removing the DSC, I'll just increase the cruise to $2,300 and proclaim "NO DAILY SERVICE CHARGES!!!"

 

....or I'll raise the cruise to $2,300 + DSC as NCL would/does.

 

 

Exactly.  If we cruise we are going to pay the same amount whether it's listed as DSC or under cruise fare.  

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

Some sad comments here from the non tipping crowd...IMHO...

Agreed.  I always thought people should have to do some kind of hospitality work so they know what it's like.  I was a waitress in college and it can be tough.  

44 minutes ago, ellell said:

Heelfan94,

 

Congrats on your win!

 

Do you mind sharing your bid range and how far out from sale date? I too, would like to bid on a BA.

 

Happy Cruising!

I kept notes on all of this so I'll just share that part below.  I booked the 14 day Panama Canal cruise on 10/10/18 and our sail date is 11/25/18.  I got the offer to upgrade on 10/11.  The balcony upgrade was accepted on 10/25.  I am pretty sure I could have gotten it for less, though.  I really wanted it so I bumped my bid up and got it almost immediately.  We still saved $700 over calling and upgrading directly to a sailaway balcony.  

Booked Sailaway Inside, 2 people at $1961.74 (Booked on October 10, 2018)

Bid on 2 upgrades:  

$90 Per Person (Oceanview) This was on the low end of Fair on the scale.

$250 Per Person (Balcony) This was on the upper end of Fair on the scale.

(Bid on October 13, 2018)

(Cost to upgrade directly: $200 Per Person Oceanview, $600 Per Person Balcony.  Both of these were Sailaway category and included no perks to go with them. I would have bid lower on both if it hadn’t been a 14 day cruise.

7 minutes ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

NCL.com was a bit wonky all morning.  It looks like they've been updating the website.  I'm not sure that's the reason why you were seeing some weirdness but I wouldn't doubt it.  

I bet you're right.  I'm glad it wasn't just me. 

I look at My NCL everyday and today couldn't get to My Vacation Summary for a few minutes.  When I did get there it showed the right cabin number but not the right category (it's a BA but showed OX).  We did bid on Oceanview and Balcony and won the balcony, so I thought maybe they were taking the one offer back and were reissuing an Oceanview.  It didn't make any sense to me that they would have to give money back, but what do I know?  Anyway, hours later it is back to showing the correct cabin number and correct category.  It must be a glitch of some sort.

Thank you for this info.  We have never cruised Cunard and this might be a good time to decide.

DiverJohn, I will try to remember to post before I leave Tampa on 11/25 if I have clarification on the spa beginning.  I can't promise, though.  

On 6/12/2013 at 9:07 PM, roger001 said:

We take a white noise machine/clock combination and a fan. The fan is one of those Wal Mart battery operated jobs. I initially bought it for tent camping on motorcycle trips. Works nice for a little breeze next to the cabin bed also. My iPhone has a good white noise app also that I sometimes use instead.

I like the noise machine/clock idea.  I don't wear a watch so this would solve some problems for me.

On 11/10/2018 at 10:54 AM, cdnsteelman said:

There's always some confusion about this... all Sail Away cabins are GTY (i.e. X category) but all GTY cabins are not necessarily Sail Away.

This is an important distinction and most helpful.  I figured this out but not right away.  I think the way you phrased it is perfect.

6 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

We use insuremytrip to search for coverage and our current policy is through Travel Guard.. It will offer a lot of options. Some pre-existing condition insurances need to be bought within 15 days of the purchase of the trip, but that can vary. It also varies by state. Research carefully before you purchase to make sure what you might need to be covered will be. 

 

I wish you the best!

I also use insuremytrip.  I really like being able to compare the different options and coverage.

To the OP, I sincerely wish you and yours the best in the coming months.  That is a devastating diagnosis but I know you all will fight it with everything you have. 

Today it shows a different price ($334.86) but still the same start date of 11/27.  If you click on it to reserve the $249 price comes up.

I'm following in case someone gets an answer.  I bought this for hubby as a special treat and I really don't want to tell him, then he can't go until the third day.  It's not the end of the world but I do want to know if this is correct.

28 minutes ago, Nola37 said:

I booked about 35 days out on December 1 sailing on the Bliss. Got an offer to upgrade immediately after booking. Ocean view $25, Balcony 50 and Spa Balcony $125. I’m not really a spa guy nor do I care about a window so I went for the balcony and keep my bid at $50 since I was satisfied with my inside cabin. Now I’m 22 days out and my bid was accepted. Super excited to experience a cruise with a balcony room. 

Congrats and thank you for sharing details with everyone.

23 minutes ago, Phaedrus78 said:

Well after using some of the information provided and crunching some availability numbers... I don't have high hopes for getting a bid through for Epic on 1/23.  

 

From what I can determine, right now there are 60 balcony rooms, 28 mini-suites and 30 Haven class rooms available.  Inside rooms are sold out completely.  My bids to upgrade to balcony or mini-suite are both in the Good range, but with 75 days still left before departure I'm not optimistic there will be much left to upgrade into.  

 

I suppose there could be more available... apparently there are a total of 62 BF-class balcony rooms and 60 MD-class mini-suites on the boat.  Since those are listed as GTY options, it's impossible to get a count of how many might be remaining.  

Don't forget the balcony people are bidding on higher categories, so theoretically the number of balcony cabins available will go up with those approved bids.  I think you have a good shot.