Cardex

42 minutes ago, John E. Canuck said:

When we bought them at the Cruise Next counter, onboard, we didn't ask if they could be in our home (Canadian) currency.  

7 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just out of curiosity (as it does not apply to me), could the cruise next certificates have been purchased in Canadian dollars? Did you ask?

I just bought some CN last month and was told the currency will be in whatever you paid for the current cruise in which for me was CAD. He did asked me if I wanted them in to be in USD instead. The exchange rate is also set at the time of purchase. It is also not hard to change the currency later, which I have done a few times with no problem.

I did this last month in Newark. I flew in the day before and took the hotel shuttle back to the airport the next morning to catch the NCL shuttle bus. I emailed my NCL rep and I told him what I wanted to do and it was no problem. He added the transfer without me having to give a flight # or time. In the info sent to me was the time of the first shuttle pick up and where to meet - it was very easy to do.

We were there in September and there was no shuttle and it is a very long walk. 

I look forward to reading about your transatlantic voyage.

I will also be joining the Getaway in NYC on the 4th. Hope to meet you at the M&G.

6 hours ago, smokey01 said:

This is from May 2023

Virtuosa Sky Lounge in GBP May 2023.pdf 725.86 kB · 10 downloads

Thanks!

Does anyone have a current drink and/or wine menu from the Virtuosa since it has been sailing from Southampton they could share? Looking to see the prices in £'s.

Thanks

I am from Halifax and just wanted to recommend The Bicycle Thief. It is on the boardwalk on the waterfront very close to where the ship docks. It is a wonderful restaurant! https://bicyclethief.ca/

I have really enjoyed reading about your trip especially your time in Paris as I will be there in September for 5 days. Thanks.

54 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

That was great that you got fair warning.  We experienced the same in January in Gibraltar without any warning.  Came back to the ship after a long, weary walk down the Rock and through the town, all ready to relax with a cocktail . . .

I can relate to the getting back on the ship and wanting a cold drink... The first couple of Greece ports we had no notice but then word got around and people got creative 🙂

39 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

I'm buying wine off the ship as I'm in Mondeo tomorrow night and I'm not having another specialty meal wine free, they better let us pour it!

I was on the Gem last May when we had these same issues. What we ended up doing was the night before a dry port we would stock up. We would get unopened beer, shots (no need to get the mix), wine or whatever and keep it in our room fridge for the next day. The bartenders had no problem giving us anything we wanted and remember each card will get you 2 drinks. Just make a few visits to the bar and you will be all set for tomorrow.

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

The Americans that I know and travel with have NO extra charges for their international roaming, they just have a slower speed to their data and connection.  NO extra charges.

 

We have friends that we travel with all the time - about to go to Egypt with them - and they land, turn on their phone and the bill is the same when they get home.

 

For us, with Rogers at $12 per day in USA and $15 per day elsewhere, we end up with $300-$400 on our next bill for roaming.  

 

Outrageous.

 

We want our phones ON especially in an international location because we could get separated - anything can happen.  We want to have maps and search ability.  We also want to be able to receive a phone call from a family member at home if an emergency.

 

I know that you can get ESims but that does not make you accessible from home to everyone in your contact list.

 

Canada has to get with the program and find a way to reduce these charges.

We use a European Sim card in an older phone. We use this phone as a wifi hotspot which gives us the internet, maps and video calls home on our own phones. We both leave our own phones on with roaming turned off. This way we can receive calls in an emergency. Much cheaper than paying Rogers/Bell for roaming.

5 hours ago, Laszlo said:

IDK if they have resumed or not. You don't have to be platinum to go on a tour, you just need to pay for it. And the paid tour is better than the free one for Platinum 

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

I've done a few paid, I believe they were $75 and like Vibe passes if you didn't sign up on boarding day it was sold out. When I went they seemed to limit it to 40-50 people taken around it two groups

 

I was allowed to film about 75% of the tour

 

 

 

Thanks for the memories. I was on this tour and I am in your video. I was on the Platinum tour. If you paid for this you got the same tour as the free one. I think that is your hand holding the camera in my photo.

6 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

You were lucky. The signs all talk about penalties for driving without registering or a transponder.

 

This did include penalties, they just weren't very much.

14 hours ago, gnome12 said:

 What you mustn’t do is drive the Thruway without either a transponder or registration. 

We drove down the day the border opened last Fall. We had cash with us but they no longer take cash. We did drive without registering or a transponder and received a bill for around $10. A lot less than we were expecting.

We were able to get unopened beer this morning before we were in port and put them in our fridge. We are back on the ship now drinking our beer. 😁

17 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

If they push it then they will end up with less tourists to do the drinking.

We feel the same. It we had known we would have done a different itinerary and avoided Greece.

12 minutes ago, willetstravel said:

Was it explained on board?  I hadn't seen an explanation for any of it anywhere and haven't gotten anything from NCL either.  Thanks.

We asked many bar staff. All said it is Greece wanting people to drink on land. We asked why don't they add a tax like other countries and always the same answer, that they want to help the local bars and restaurants.

4 hours ago, hawkeyetlse said:

No alcohol or no bar service at all?

 

Best thing would be for someone on board an affected sailing to ask the General Manager or F&B Manager for an explanation. Sounds like a tax issue to me, but if it's not happening on other cruise lines then it's something that NCL will be working to resolve ASAP.

Some bars are open but no alcohol can be sold or served

It has been explained. It is not a tax issue. Greece wants people to drink on land not on the ship.

Currently on the Gem in Corfu. This is our 4th Greek port and can confirm that NO alcohol is allowed to be sold on the ship while docked/tendered in Greece. I have heard this is a very new law. No one is happy with this including the staff/crew. We have learned to stock up on beverages before docking 😁

Yes we did a MSC Grandiosa cruise Jan 1-8 from Barcelona. We had a great time on the ship but the ports were a big let down as we didn't want to be crowded on to a bus with lots of people. We did one tour and it was a walking tour. We will not cruise Europe again until we can do excursions on our own.

2 hours ago, CruisingCats5 said:

Following this with interest. We are sailing 1st Jan on Grandiosa, no upgrade emails as of yet but keeping fingers crossed. 

We are also on the Grandiosa Jan 1st sailing and we have also not received an upgrade email. We have also made sure all the email boxes were checked but still nothing...

10 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

The QR code thing only works for the rapid test, which is not acceptable currently for re-entry into Canada.  We had to go to Guest Services directly on our cruise a couple of months ago to book the PCR test.

This must have changed. We had the choice to book an appointment for the antigen or PCR. We booked the PCR test. 

We just got off the Anthem yesterday. We tried to make the appointment for the PCR test with guest services but he didn't seem to know what we were talking about. He did find out and left us a message. There is a QR code to scan and this takes you to a web site (it's free, no internet needed). We booked our appointments for 10am on Saturday and there were appointments available from 8am until noon. And it was not the deep nose test. Results were left on our bed at turn down on Saturday night plus emailed to us. 

15 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I got this message too and asked my agent. He told me to check back 21 days prior (tomorrow)

I had the same message too. I just message Royal on FB and they said the RoyalUp promo is by invite only. You have to receive the email. Guests are randomly selected and sent email to bid.

We have bought this one from Amazon a few times. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01FI1JW72  Used it in Europe, on a Panama Canal cruise and in the US. We have an old phone we put it in and then use it as a hotspot and it worked great. We have only used it for data so not sure about the phone/text part. I know it does not work for or in Canada.

22 hours ago, Southern latitudes said:

That’s great.   We are also boarding on Jan 1 in Barcelona.    We plan to meet our son there a day or so before that.   He is currently in Munich.  We spent some time there with him when he studied abroad two years ago.  It was March, and we thought it was really cold and it got dark very early.   We were afraid December/January would be worse, so we decided on this option.  At least we won the be wandering around in the old and  dark looking for a place to eat, then our hotel!    

He is on a CBXY fellowship this time, and cannot leave the EU.  The only time he knows he will have free time is December 24-January 8.   We were limited but are looking forward to a new experience.    We’ve sailed Disney, Princess and RC.   RC is clear favorite.  Excited to see how yacht club compares to sky class.  
 

Do you know what the testing protocol is for our sailing?   Also, do you know if we can leave the ship on our own or are we required to do an excursion?   I haven’t been able to find the answers to theses questions.  
 

Hope to meet you on board.   

The fellowship sounds like a wonderful opportunity for your son!

I agree about the cold weather in Germany. We knew we wanted warmer weather but wanted to see Frankfurt so we are only spending 2 days there. Then 5 days in Barcelona pre cruise and 1 day post cruise. Then we are going to London for 3 days.

We have sailed the Haven on NCL and I think the YC will be similar. We loved the Haven and hope to love the YC.

The only testing protocol I know right now is you must have a PCR or antigen test taken no more than 3 days before boarding. The info is confusing since in one place on their website it says just PCR and another area is says either PCR or antigen. 

Tours right now must be with MSC. Hope this changes.

I see you just signed up on the roll call. I will do the same and we can chat there.