mjkacmom

5 hours ago, Tin can said:

 

I know there are some current warnings about Nassau but I think historically it may have suffered a bit from 'chinese whispers' about what lies beyond the port gates.

 

We were in the diamond lounge discussing our plans on our last cruise and mentioned we were going to spend the day at Junkanoo beach and it rapidly turned into a full longe discussion of 'crazy Brit and you can't take your wife and son out there!'.

 

We had a great time, yes I did have to be firm, very firm a couple of times with people but we had a great day.

 

Perhaps our experience being English is different than if we were from the USA and the local touts and people up to no good target you folks more. Either way I have never felt unsafe or hassled in Nassau

 

 

I don’t think it’s being English, as you know the US is huge with a large variety of places to live. I feel safe in Nassau, I live very close to NYC, have been to many US cities, can easily ignore vendors or homeless (I think the term is unhoused now?).Heck even in the boardwalks on the Jersey shore folks are yelling at you. 

32 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

All depends on where you’re cruising from. MCT I hear does but I avoid Caribbean cruises as much as possible.

I live about 10 miles from the MCT so it’s where we like to cruise from (also 20 miles from Cape Liberty). I’ve lived here my entire life and it wasn’t until I was pushing 40 that I learned about these ports!

8 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Have yet to see one of these boarding numbers when starting a cruise. Only time I saw one was when we went to port early in NYC and needed to reach zero before everyone could go back on.

I was always given a number at the MCT, maybe they don’t give them out anymore?

You can show up at 9:30 and get an low boarding number and you should be on the ship before 12, or you can get there at 11 and wait in line and get on the ship later. I’ve never heard of getting a boarding time vs. a check in time. We like to go to a MDR for lunch, they open at noon.

2 hours ago, Frogger22 said:

Our connecting club balconies on bliss and encore were similar to what’s been explained. Make sure you keep both doors open if you want access to both rooms. My kid was “stuck” on one side when one door got closed but his key card didn’t open the other room from the outside.  You can get cards programmed for both rooms at guest services but we hadn’t done that yet. 

I’ve never heard of that with the keys, we always get connecting cabins and just get extras at guest services (since we always had to put one of us in each cabin on paper).

Definitely get insurance. Even if the flight was booked with NCL’s B1G1 free I think they wash their hand of it after the flight is booked.

I realize you do have a connecting cabin, but keep in mind connecting and adjoining are different (we are a family of 7 and have booked connecting rooms countless times). They no longer open up the balconies.

Ask these questions on the east coast departures board. There are hotels near LaGuardia but I don’t know anything about them, you can take a taxi or ride share to the cruise terminal. I think you want to be checked in 2 hours before sailing.

You will get a check in time, not a boarding time, you will be given aboard g number at the terminal.

I think it will be hard to get a reservation for that large of a party this late. Paying that much, especially for kids, wouldn’t thrill me, a local hibachi 5 minutes away charges 1/2 price for 12 and under, $13. We have 5 kids so went often when they were little.

I’m sure folks have, but keep in mind the intrepid has a no bag policy.

45 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Do you mean RSV?  There is no vaccine anywhere including Canada for Rhinoviruses.

I think there is some confusion on this thread regarding RSV vs Rhinovirus (the common cold).

17 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Exactly.  I'm not saying people shouldn't get it.  I'm just encouraging people to first determine what they have and therefore what they need.

17 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Exactly.  I'm not saying people shouldn't get it.  I'm just encouraging people to first determine what they have and therefore what they need.

I agree, although I think more people don’t realize their insurance doesn’t work outside the US than those who double insure. I didn’t purchase insurance for our first cruise 25 years ago. Not only wasn’t I aware that there would be zero refunds if I cancelled months from sailing, I didn’t realize my decent health insurance wouldn’t cover me outside the US. Fortunately we had no issues. 

2 hours ago, Pyxie said:

 

I know this is technically the policy, but has this ever actually happened to anyone? If you tell them the person is arriving later and then board the ship, are they actually going to find you and make you pay more or kick you off? I'm not saying its not possible, but I've never heard of it happening to anyone.

I think that’s the worst that could happen, but I definitely think the fare will change without that person sailing.

Been in 4 ncl cruises with celiacs. Make a note on your reservation, go to a MDR after boarding for a nice lunch and the dietary manager will show up at your table to go over options. My daughter chose her dinner for that evening, and breakfast the next morning, and did this nightly. She preferred to wing lunch in the buffet with her new friends. We usually ate breakfasts a family in the buffet, just called the manager when leaving the cabin, my daughters food was brought to our table (she ordered a lot, pancakes, muffins, eggs Benedict, toast, waffles - anything she wanted). For dinner she could choose a gf item, or have something specialty made. Sometimes they’d bring her gf cheesy bread from moderno or flourless chocolate cake from a specialty restaurant. We never made dining reservations in mdr’s for our family of 7, it was easier going to the larger MDR, and we’d just call ahead and let them know we were on our way. It seemed like our table was always waiting, and we usually had the same staff each night. Fantastic service.

You do realize if you have to cancel your cruise for any reason after final payment, without insurance you will be left with no refund? And that isn’t the main reason you get insurance. Our medical insurance doesn’t cover us outside the US, so if we need any medical assistance, we are 100% oop. Broken leg, appendicitis, broken wrist, high fever dislocated knee (these are just off of the top of my head of reasons my young healthy children needed hospital care over the last several years here in the US, one can be young and healthy and still end up in the hospital). Get the insurance.

To me it sounds like you are communicating with a company fraudulently pretending to be carnival.

29 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Just to understand, NCL adds a mandatory gratuity to their drink package?  It cannot be removed or modified?  That isn't really a gratuity.  It sounds more like those notorious mandatory resort fees.   

The actual package is free, the gratuity is 20% of the actual cost of the package (around $21 a day). If you choose not to have the package, you won’t be charged the gratuities, but you will need to pay for every drink, plus 20% gratuity on each drink. No, can’t be removed.

You can ask the steward for ice, or use those crack and shake ice packs that don’t need to be frozen.

9 minutes ago, Dougdouggin said:

Not sure why they think age 13, especially for a girl who is alone, is appropriate to meet and hang out with 17 year olds let alone 15 and 16. There should be separate groups for middle school and high school for sure. 

I’ve had all of my kids in the teen club, they do naturally divide into different groups. It really is more of a meet up area, especially for older kids, than a place they spend a lot of time. My daughters who were 14 and 16 on their last cruise hung out with different groups, in spite of being bff’s, who shared a room and everything else at home, danced 10 hours a week and ran HS track together. 14 year olds are in HS.

8 hours ago, tardy said:

What was the name of beach  the  " beach express excursion"  took you too?

there is another excursion "Beach Break" that I booked . was wondering if  will be same beach.

 

I believe it’s this one, it’s just a local beach that’s free to go to. https://www.nassauparadiseisland.com/experiences/beaches/saunders-beach

On our last cruise our 5 were between the ages of 14 and 20, no Wi-Fi package and they were fine. My 14, 14 and 16 year olds went to the teen club just to meet others to hang out with when on the ship, the 19 and 20 year olds went to young adult meet ups (NCL had them) to meet some new people. They would hang out from late morning until dinner, have dinner, shows, karaoke with us, we’d go to the cabin and they’d meet up with friends. Of course ports were with us.

It’s an easy walk, chair rentals and umbrellas. Not nearly as nice as cabbage or cable, there is food, beverages and restrooms though.

I had no idea there were excursions there, never been but looked at taking the $1.25 bus there, it’s just a local public beach.

The gratuities for the drink package are about $21 per day, cocktails/wine run about $14 a drink. If you drink more than $21 a day of alcohol, mocktails, soda it’s worth it. If not, you can easily remove it.