mjkacmom

I think it’s expensive for what you get, $100 for beach and pool access (paid $15 for this pass 15+ years ago). Plus it’s walking distance, minus it’s a harbor beach, same beach as Junkanoo for free (but no pool). 

2 hours ago, mafig said:

I believe you pay a corkage fee for the wine, even if you drink it in your cabin.  You pay upon boarding.

But if you take the free at sea alcohol package you can bring on unlimited bottles with no corkage fee and drink them anywhere.

10 minutes ago, RosieRoo said:

This is such a weird policy. You can get all the free drinks you want, but not bottled water. 

It doesn’t include water or specialty coffees, or fresh juices. You can pay extra for the next level package. I do appreciate being able to bring on all of the wine I want, and I’m fine with the ship’s water.

I’d say stick to after noon to be safe. We live in NJ about 20 minutes from the MCT if no traffic. We’ve been home by 8 am, but one Sunday disembarkment was a mess with the port short staffed, and we didn’t get off of the ship until 10:45 (after lining up before 7 am). 

6 hours ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

Exactly. It is one thing to blame the late eight for missing the ship, it is quite another to exonerate NCL's actions with regard to the 80-year-old stroke victim.  After all, what is the purpose of the cruise line requesting that passengers provide emergency contact information that includes the name, relationship, and telephone number of a person to be contacted in case of emergency if the cruise line isn't going to bother to actually make that phone call? And that doesn't even address the issue of whether the stroke victim would have been better served by remaining on the ship until she could be debarked at a larger mainland facility rather than what São Tomé could provide. And the ship's doctor didn't even make that determination. According to an article linked earlier in this thread, it was the ship's nurse who made the decision.

 

I have no problem at all with NCL leaving the late eight behind, but in my opinion, they really dropped the ball with regard to the stroke patient. 

The health center is owned and run by a 3rd party, they are in charge of determining if medical care is better provided on board or off. It’s a for profit business, I’m sure they’d have loved to collect money from the patient if it were safe to do so. 

Only those who book haven suites have access to the haven proper (on some ships there are suites that have access who aren’t adjacent to the haven, but can use the facilities and have a butler and concierge). Stays doesn’t give access. Haven guests do not have access to the the spa or vibe, that us still extra.

Those are not cruise ship employees, I’ve had good and bad experiences at the MCT.

18 hours ago, El Cano said:

We bought a Cruise to Labadee for 4 nights. My older brother, wife and two daughters bought the same package because we told them how awesome our experience in our three previous cruises with Royal were. Now, because of the political situation in Haiti, Royal decided to send us instead to Nassau, Bahamas. Without asking us if we were ok with that. We wanted to go to Labadee because we had such a great time at Coco Cay and thought that this was going to be similar. When we called to try to change it, because we don't want to go to Bahamas, now they say that if we do that, we will lose 75% of our money. Not even the regular $100 they charge to change a cruise. The situation in Bahamas is also a little hot with crimes against the tourists and we chose some other type of cruise. We don't want to go there. All we wanted to do was to relax in a beach and spend the day. It is funny that they decided to change our cruise to their convenience just after we finish paying the whole amount. The least they could do was to give us a choice without losing our money. It is not our fault that Haiti is going through that situation, and we know that Royal Caribbean cannot control that, but the least we should have a chance to reschedule or just pick another cruise like one of the many Royal have that go to Coco Cay. That was the kind of tourism we had in mind.  Not going to Bahamas again.

New to cruising? They can change or eliminate ports for any reason, not allow cancellations (with the amount of times cruise lines change ports they’d be out of business, sometimes there is something on the ship needing repairs, sometimes weather, some time political unrest, sometimes tides…). How many times do passengers board warm weather cruises and end up in Canada?

15 hours ago, PATRLR said:

So are you saying that you also wouldn't want the ships departure delayed?  May I ask why?  I'm not trying to be argumentative here with you or the other two posters.  I'm genuinely curious as to why anyone cares when the ship pulls away from the pier.  For me, I'd guess that on most of our recent cruises the only reason I'd even known we left was when I felt the ship moving and in the case of Miami, that would usually be well after the breakwaters.  NOTE:  If delayed departure would mean delayed arrival at next port, I am 100% in agreement.  But no one has said that would be the case here.

If they delay a ship, and it gets to the port on time, a lot of money was spent on fuel.

22 minutes ago, CruisingMomandKid said:

Yes, this is what I want but I thought Red Caps and checking bags are one and the same? How do I get a Red Cap to help me get the luggage off the train? I've used Amtrak multiple times but never with more than a carry on.

You let them know before boarding that you will need help getting on and off the train, they don’t actually check luggage but will put it somewhere.

Phil Murphy is not a happy governor.

If there is it will be expensive, and there won’t be a shuttle.

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

NCL paid their expenses to get to where they eventually boarded the ship, so they didn't totally stick to policy.  That was a gesture that I would not have expected had I missed the ship.  

Paid for them to go from stop #2 (NCL couldn’t dock) to stop,#3. The passengers paid to get to #2.

15 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Reading what you posted might lead some to believe that these guests are being fully reimbursed, but that is not the case. 

 

They missed the ship in Sao Tome. They then traveled to Gambia, but that port stop was cancelled due to the tides. Then they had to travel to Senegal where they finally boarded the ship.

 

NCL is only reimbursing them for the travel from Gambia to Senegal (due to the stop in Gambia being cancelled). They are not being reimbursed for anything else that they spent.

I’m sure their travel insurance will cover those costs.

Guest service will give extra key cards.

34 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

OK, I'm still a teenager at heart.  I laughed at this.

I guess I am too, it was obvious a mistake but I didn’t edit.😂

On 4/1/2024 at 1:22 PM, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

I  have read that in multiple posts over the years.

 

Are there steep cliffs or long trails in order to get to see the birds? I could understand if it was a rocky or mountainous region.

 

The most dangerous thing about bird watching in New Jersey is when the seagulls try and take your lunch while you are distracted.

You really do need to eat your sandwiches under towels, all of my kids have learned the hard way.

My 5 have been in all age groups on cruises. They loved the little kids clubs, loved the teen clubs (mostly to meet others), every single one of them hated the tween clubs and refused after the first time. I think it’s just an awkward age with vastly different maturity levels.

21 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

They returned when the gangway was still down and the captain refused to let them board, but anyhoo.

The ship was anchored, it was a tender port, the tender gangway was already away.

8 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Without a doubt they are.  Miami is like an entirely different country and not part of the United States.  What tourists see is not real Miami.  We have the largest percentage of uninsured motorists.  Every day on the news is another hit and run.  People run over people and never stop.  Its every day.  I went over to introduce myself to new neighbors (how I was brought up) and they looked at me like I had 2 heads and looked like I had suspicious motives.  Many years ago people would say New Yorkers were rude.   When I went to NYC I found the people very friendly and even very flirtatious.  Miami is in a class of its own.

I live close to nyc, I follow a nyc tourist page on Facebook, almost all report back on how kind and helpful locals are, which I agree with.

18 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

You are certainly getting past cruises mixed up. 10 years ago on NCL there would have been a “dress up or not” night or “Norwegian night out” which was only ever a suggestion that many people ignored. The actual dress code was always exactly the same and I have never seen a suggestion that people eat in the buffet due to dress on NCL.

 

The lack of those sort of restrictions is the reason we selected NCL for our first cruise over 20 years ago,

Our first cruise was NCL in 2016, at the time I had no idea there were two cruise ports less than 20 miles from my home, had zero interest because I thought you had to dress for dinner and eat with strangers. Someone told me about NCL and I was sold.

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

The ship was anchored off shore. All of the tender boats were already secured, as well as the dock the tenders used to get passengers on the ship. The only way to get the passengers on the ship was the dick used by the harbor pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs due to the difficulty and risk of getting on and off ships in that manner.

1 hour ago, dmwnc1959 said:

So, based on this, you know all of the details of exactly what happened while they were out on their shore excursion, you know exactly why it was late, and you know exactly why they couldn’t make it back to the ship. How nice of you to make blanket condemnation of people that do non-cruise line sponsored shore excursions. 

It really doesn’t matter, the ship is very clear that they won’t wait.

10 hours ago, giustot said:

My opinion on this.

 

The passengers who missed the ship were completely in the wrong. But they realized they were late and communicated with the authorities.

 

The ship's captain knowingly chose to leave behind sick, elderly and pregnant passengers on a small island off the coast of Africa.

 

There is a difference between what's legally right and what's morally right. The captain should be ashamed of himself.

An island where they chose to take an independent excursion? They weren’t in any danger that I’ve read about. Apparently some felt so safe that they didn’t even bother to bring a credit card, which is crazy.

28 minutes ago, Pyxie said:

 

All cruises charge tax on drinks until international waters. There is a reason Carnival doesn't offer Cheers day 1 from these ports while other cruise lines do, but I don't think it's necessarily taxes. (Not saying it isn't either.)

On NCL we pay taxes in NY on drinks, but not in Florida. Not all us ports charge taxes.