lbrandon

Does NCL allow you to book transfers from the airport to the cruise port on a different day than your flight? We will be flying into LAX 2 days before our cruise and staying at a hotel near the airport. We are wondering if we could go back to the airport and take the NCL bus to the port on the day of the cruise.

There is so much to do in Portland you absolutely don't need to book anything through the cruise line. I went there a couple years ago on my own and had no problem finding great tours and things to do. Here are a few of my recommendations.

Lucky Catch Lobster tours

https://www.luckycatch.com/lobstering-schedule/

Summerfeet Cycling Bicycle Tours

https://summerfeet.net/where-to-bike-in-portland/

Portland Fire Truck Tours

https://portlandfiretours.com/

Or you can hop the ferry over to Peak's Island for the day.

https://www.cascobaylines.com/schedules/peaks-island-schedule/

Just got in NCL Encore cabin 8736. the balcony is huge and we only paid for a standard Club Balcony room.

15 hours ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

Can I ask what did the doctors note say? Is it just a confirmation he tested positive?

Very short letter only a few lines long.

To Whom It May Concern,

XXXX was seen in my office on XX/XX/XXXX via tele visit. He tested positive for Covid on XX/XX/XXXX. Took Paxlovid for treatment. Recovered well from Covid. It is my medical opinion that XXXX may travel without at restrictions.

Signed by doctor. 

They posted it in his MyChart account online so he could print it out for travel.

We're cruising this weekend with a group of 14 couples. Most got their flight info between 20 and 30 days prior to sailing. 

My husband had covid two weeks ago and has a doctor's note and copy of positive PCR test result to bring for our 6/12 cruise. He is now testing negative on the rapid antigen test and will still do the pre-cruise test but we are bringing it as a backup just in case. Doctor sent the note right away when he requested it. It seemed like they were used to these requests now for travel.

I found this pic of 8736/8136 balcony on Breakaway. It looks to be a similar cabin with angled balcony on Encore but on Breakaway these are M6 Club Balcony Suites with Large Balcony where Encore sells it as a regular MC Club Balcony Suite. I'm thinking I got a pretty good deal and it's probably the 101 sq ft high end of the range for this category. The cabin next door with the large balcony sells for $1000 more per person.

I am booked in Club Balcony Suite 8736 on Encore. From the deck plan it appears to be one of the larger angled balconies but priced the same as the regular Club Balcony Suites. Has anyone stayed in this cabin before and possibly have a photo of the balcony? I'm trying to get an idea of how much bigger than the standard balconies it might be.

Thanks. I'm familiar with the brands on the beverage package list. I was hoping someone had spotted some additional brands behind the bar. The Knob Creek we had on our last cruise wasn't on the menu but they had it at a couple bars on the ship.

Are there any other bourbons not on the beverage package list that can be found on NCL ships and are included in the regular drink package? Last time we sailed on Dawn they had Knob Creek that was priced below the $15 limit for the premium beverage package. We are cruising on Sky next month. I see Jim Beam on the liquor list but was hoping for either Makers Mark or Knob Creek. Would prefer not to upgrade to the premium plus package.

I had no clue who this Headliner was other than reading on our roll call about this Rock Band who was hired as the Headliner and they would have hundreds of people coming on board. Initially months ago the scare was that it would be a charter or half charter, but didn't even come close. Speaking with some of their supporters, they had around 300 people on board.

 

Bottom line.... BEST headliner ever!!!!!

You totally lucked out to have them play for your cruise. They are one of the best local bands in the Chicago area and we see them at several events during the year. They sounded awesome on Harmony.

I use a lanyard. It's easy access and doesn't require me to carry a bag or purse. My purse usually stays in the safe in my room once I board the ship. The lanyard also keeps it handy for ordering drinks all day. I really don't care what it looks like with whatever outfit I'm wearing. I'll take it off for photos though.

We have brought our own hole punch in the past. We punch the card on one end. Never had a problem with the card not working. Just make sure you punch the hole far enough away from the magnetic strip so it can still be easily swiped.

We're also on the 2/24 Harmony sailing.

A while back someone posted compasses from the same sailing last July.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2531534

No, I was prorating the drink & voom portions. If I cancel the drink/voom combo and repurchase just the drink portion, I will save $140 for the 2 of us. I'm just mad at myself because I could have paid $70 less than the current price if I would have booked it correctly during the BOGO sale. I didn't know if the concierge would be helpful in getting OBC for the difference once on board. Right now the drink package is at $48 compared to $43. I'm thinking it's best to cut my losses and cancel/repurchase at this time since the cruise is just over two weeks away.

I'm on the same sailing and purchased the drink package when it was $43 back in November. It hasn't been that low since then. It has been fluctuating between $45 and $48 depending on the sale of the day. Keep checking every day as they might drop it back to $45 one more time in the next couple of weeks. If you book it at $48 you can cancel and re-book if it goes down to $45.

I'm on the Harmony in two weeks. Who are the best bartenders? We'll look for them!

Are there any photo packages offered onboard between the single photo for $20 and the 20 photo package for $200? We usually pick out 5-10 photos we like and I'm just trying to figure out if I'll end up paying the single photo price for them or if there is a smaller package we could buy on the ship.

We used luggage direct on another rccl cruise recently and held back one bag so we could put the liquor

I'm trying to avoid doing that as we have a late flight and will be sending the day sightseeing in Ft Lauderdale. I'd rather not have to lug around a suitcase all day or make a stop at the airport in the morning to check it. If that's the case it's just better not to bring any liquor back.

We are planning to do the luggage valet program on our harmony cruise in Feb. If we purchase liquor in ports will RC deliver it to our stateroom prior to the time we need to put our luggage outside our room on the last night? I want to make sure I'll be able to pack the liquor the night before disembarkation since we won't see our luggage again until we land at our home airport.

We are sailing on Harmony in February and have selected My Time Dining. Do we absolutely have to make reservations to get a table or can we just show up when we would like to eat? We like to wing it on vacation and not have to deal with a specific schedule. We usually eat later, around 7:30 or 8pm. We've only sailed NCL before and they just give you a pager if tables aren't available right away when we arrive at the dining room. Does RC do something similar?

No grats on VOOM packages. The price for drink packages vary - there's sale this weekend but it may or may apply to your sailing (might be too far out).

So what happens when they do the combo beverage/internet package? Is the gratuity calculated based on the full package price or only the beverage portion? Does the consumer inadvertently pay more with the combo because gratuity is paid on the full price?

We will be cruising on Royal Caribbean for the first time in Feb. We have only cruised NCL in the past. We always buy the beverage package but also like to give certain bartenders an extra tip from time to time if we get exceptional service. Does RC have you sign for every drink when you have the beverage package so you can add an extra tip for the bartender? Or do we need to bring cash for tips?

I don't want to get into a debate over whether tipping is necessary. We like to do it because we feel we get better service and get to know the bartenders better that way. Just looking for info on how things work on RC with the beverage package.

Drink packages for our sailing on Harmony in Feb went on sale at the beginning of October. Deluxe package is buy one get one half off and there is a deluxe beverage package/internet combo for 25% off.

When other cruise lines raise prices on onboard amenities does Royal Caribbean usually follow with similar increases? This week NCL announced that as of 9/29 they are increasing the price of the beverage package by $10 per day to $89 a day. I'm just wondering if I should expect Royal Caribbean to follow with a similar increase and prepay my beverage package now. RC's package is so much cheaper so I could see them raising their price to be more in line with the competition.

http://www.bernardstours.com/

We used Bernard's Tours a few years ago. Full day tour of the island with several stops and time at both Orient and Maho beaches. They were excellent and provided drinks for the van and got us back in plenty of time.