jeffsnoy

I had 1100 to 1130 and they slipped everyone an hour a day before the cruise.

Last tender 1pm.  All aboard 1:30pm.  Ship started moving 1:50pm.  40 knot winds on the nose at least half of the way back made us slightly later into Long Beach.

I just got off the ship yesterday.  I was A-04 and boarding started around 11:30am.

Hopefully you will have normal ops.  Debarkation started around 9:45am. We made an 11:35am flight out of Long Beach but it was rushed.  I am platinum so that helped.  Debarkation was chaos because many passengers did not follow instructions.   

I just got off the ship yesterday.  I was A-04 and boarding started around 11:30am.

Hopefully you will have normal ops 7 July.  Debarkation started around 9:45am. We made an 11:35am flight out of Long Beach but it was rushed.

I had the same issue.  My test arrived 1 October with a 19 September expiration date.  With the 3 month extension I was able to use 1 out of 6.  It felt like fraud.  I contacted emed 4 times with no success.  I disputed the charge with my credit card.  My credit card company reimbursed me.  Waiting for a response from emed.

Here is the Fun Times for the sea day.  

The comedian Doug Williams is very funny.  Best I have seen on a cruise.

Embarkation went very smoothly.  No lines.  We started early and I was off the ship by 8am.  Customs uses facial recognition so no wait to get through customs.  The camera recognizes your face and you are on your way.

She mentioned last week that she would be on the Miracle through New Years then heading to Europe.  I don't remember the ship she is going to in Europe.

Went into Ensenada today.  Carnival asks you to wear a mask inside and outdoors when off the ship.  Many locals were wearing a mask outdoors.  Many businesses have temperature and hand sanitizing stations as you enter.  Some of the businesses have max occupancy limits.  I would see a small line waiting for someone to exit the business before they could enter.  

One other interesting observation is the drink plan.  I bought the soda package for the cruise.  Every time I got a soda I was charged tax from boarding until we sailed from Catalina.  It seems California is collecting taxes on each drink at the going full price rate.  Not a whole lot of money but I didn't like the principle.

I will try and post the day at sea fun times on Thursday.

That's correct.  I am on-board.

Here is the fun times for ensenada. It's definitely not like it was 2 years ago. You have to go to guest services to get a copy.  Very minimal information they're expecting you to use their app.

28 minutes ago, jeffsnoy said:

They are not delivering fun times to your room.  I think it is because of covid.  Everything is on your phone using the carnival hub app.  I miss the paper copy of the fun times.  I will see if it is at guest services.  I have anytime dining and you check-in on your phone.  You are notified when your table is ready so no lines and you walk right in.  I checked-in last night and was notified within 5 minutes that my table was ready.

They are not delivering fun times to your room.  I think it is because of covid.  Everything is on your phone using the carnival hub app.  I miss the paper copy of the fun times.  I will see if it is at guest services.  I have anytime dining and you check-in on your phone.  You are notified when your table is ready so no lines and you walk right in.  I checked-in last night and was notified within 5 minutes that my table was ready.

Arrived the morning in Ensenada.  Seals all over the place in the port.  I ate at the main dining room last night.  Prime rib and shrimp were both excellent.  Strange thing this morning , there is no bacon available in the buffet.  The sign said it will return shortly.  Comedians were great last night.  I am enjoying listening to the Polaris Trio.  They are a string trio.  Go see them if you can.  I thought boring violins.  Not boring but amazing music.  The comedian said there were 1200 aboard, I will need to verify.

I am doing the 4 day cruise out of Long Beach.  It departed 5 December and we are in Santa Catalina today.  I flew into Long Beach Airport the day of the cruise.  Normally that isn’t a good idea but I paid so little for the cruise a hotel would have cost half the cruise price.  Nice small airport compared to LAX.  I ubered it to the port for less than $30 dollars.  

Arrived about 10AM.  Line of about 50 people waiting to check-in.  They started check-in at 10am.  I went for a walk and arrived back at 1030am for my assigned time.  I was checked-in in about 5 minutes.  They started boarding around 1050am.  I was on board about 11am with a boarding group B01.  As you board they make you go straight to your muster station.  There you are shown how to put on a life jacket and your boarding pass is scanned.  You are supposed to watch a video in your room also.  Very painless muster drill.  Rooms were ready early, maybe around 1230pm.  

I do not know what capacity we are sailing at.  I will try and find out.  I have enjoyed the entertainment.  The food is just OK.  Not impressed.  I just did a cruise on the Celebrity Edge in October and there is no comparison.  Completely different products.  I will try and post again tomorrow in Ensenada.  
Catalina was nice.  Tender operation went smoothly.  I was off at 815am.  They say there may be lines if you depart between 9-11am.  Masks are worn on the tender but not in Avalon unless you are in a store.  I did a hike on the Herman Gulch Trail.  Beautiful views.  

The pictures are from my hike and some Christmas decorations on the ship.

Masks are worn in the elevators and indoor public places.  No one seems to be enforcing mask wear.  Over 95% of the passengers are complying.   
 

I have tests that are expiring 17 December 2021.  I called emed today and they said to call back after they expire and they will take care of me.  It sounded like they would send tests that expire in February 2022.  I will update this post in two weeks with the results and if there is any cost.

We were outside for about an hour.  My wife was cold and went into the hotel to get warm.

At least it wasn't raining.

I agree also.  We showed up at 7pm and got to the check in counter at 930pm.  On board at 9:45pm.

We were seated for maybe 30 minutes but met very nice people in line trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

hladygirl

We have cruised over 20 times but never on a mega ship.  We were hoping and wanting to have a great experience but it did not happen.  Maybe because it was a repositioner.  Hopefully if it does a set route each week NCL & customs will be able to adjust and make it a pleasant experience.  Debarkation went well since there was no customs to clear in Los Angeles.

The Good

-          Beautiful ship, great colors & decoration

-          Explorer lounge on deck 15 very nice

-          Loved the shows.  Jersey Boys, Six & The Liverpool Beatles.  Clinton Jackson is an entertaining comedian.  The bands around the ship were pleasant.

-          The cabin steward did a decent job. 

The Bad

-           Most of the employees did not seem that friendly and excited serving the passengers.

-          Lines in the Garden Café were long.  Tables were hard to find.  The buffet is too small for the number of passengers on the ship.  Food was comparable to most cruise lines. 

-          It was hard to get a reservation for any of the shows mid cruise.  You can stand-by and it looked like every stand-by got into each show I attended.   Don’t be reluctant to stand-by for shows.

-          I did not hear the Captain address the ship.  I am used to a once a day update from the bridge.

-          If you like lines and a crowded cruise, then this is the cruise for you.

-          We had a good location for our cabin but it was noisy.  Many slamming doors and you can hear your neighbor’s TV since it is right against your wall.

-          We were supposed to board at 7pm and didn’t get on the ship until 9:30pm.  NCL still charged us for 6 days of gratuities even though we lost the 1^st day of the cruise.  It was advertised as a 6-day cruise with boarding at 7pm.

-          Muster drill at 11pm the 1^st day.  Many passengers sleeping through the drill after waiting hours in line to board.

The Ugly

-           Embarkation was a disaster.  We signed up for a 7pm check-in.  There were at least 3000 people in line when we arrived.  The line snaked all around the cruise terminal and outside into the cold.  Some water was provided.  No food.  The ship docked at 5:30pm after sitting all day out in the harbor waiting for 3 other ships to sail.  For some reason boarding was delayed.  Very bad way to start a cruise.

-          As we boarded the ship, we were given a notice that our 1^st stop in Seattle was cancelled due to an expected excessive time to clear customs.  We got an extra day in Victoria instead.  NCL gave a $100 non-refundable credit per cabin to our account to compensate.  The cruise was poorly planned by NCL.  Vancouver-Seattle-Victoria-San Francisco-Los Angeles.  Two times to clear US customs.

-          Clearing customs in San Francisco was a disaster.  We started at 08:00am but did not get off the ship until 11:45am.  Long snaking lines through the ship.  There were still two decks to clear behind us.  We lost almost half of our port call in San Francisco.

-          I have never been on a cruise with so many unhappy passengers.  The ship is beautiful but just too big for the infrastructure.  I will avoid NCL and the mega ships in the future.

No milkshakes for the soda package on the Star yesterday. The lady said that it was discontinued.

Our family reunion group of 21 did the 7 day Mexico cruise on the Jewel. We got back two days ago.

Embarkation: We dropped out bags with the porters and did the USS Iowa tour. Half price $11 per person if you show that you are on the cruise. Great tour. Everyone loved it. Boarded at 1:30pm. No lines. On board within 20 minutes.

Pros: The tendering in Cabo was the best I have ever experienced. No tickets or waiting.

We stayed in mini-suites. The cabins were excellent with great service from our cabin attendant.

Great service everywhere. The waiters in the Garden Cafe were amazing. Finish a plate and it is gone within a minute most of the time.

The Garden Cafe was the best buffet food I have had in a while. I felt it was better than Celebrity. They have a crepe station every night. Their nutella crepes tasted like you would get on the street in Paris.

They seemed to have some grilling going most late afternoons by the pool.

All of our 11 grandchildren were in the kids club and only one didn't enjoy the experience.

Cons: We ate most nights in the Tsar dining room. We had 5:00pm reservations. No one greeted us until 5:15pm and the waiter showed up nightly at 5:30pm to take orders. Why do a 5:00pm reservation if the waiter isn't there until 5:30pm. Because of the young children we would do the 7:15pm show and never had time for desert so we ran up to the crepe station for dessert. The Tsar dining room was the only major failure by NCL. Maybe the issue was such a large group.

We felt nickel and dimed by all the upcharges.

Disembarkation: We did the walk off at 8:30am and were off the ship by 9:00am. It looked like people were coming off the ship about 7:30am.

Overall a very good cruise.

Is the soda package on the ncl just fountain soda? Or are there places where you can get cans of soda with the plan? I ask because the soda package is 7.50 per day, so I'd be worth it if you get 3+ sodas/day. You can purchase the package prior to your trip.

I just did the soda package on the Jewel. The only place that it came out of a can was the Bar in the center of the Garden Cafe. They poured from the can into a plastic glass. I asked for a can and they said it was not included in the soda plan. They won't give you the can but they pour it from the can. Everywhere else was fountain soda in a plastic glass.

I called them today and also sent them a copy of this post. They did not know NCL has an OBC that can't be used for the DSC.

We just got off the Jewel yesterday and had a surprise learning experience with OBC. Our travel agent was able to get us $200 OBC per cabin ($1200 total). We had a group of 21 and booked 6 mini-suites. We were planning on using the credit to help with our gratuities. NCL gave us non-refundable credit, which can be used anywhere but the casino and gratuities. Refundable OBC can be used on gratuities. I made a mistake and did not find this out until the next to last day of the cruise. NCL employees told us to spend the money in the ship's store or get a massage. My wife & I were able to find only $50 of stuff we wanted to buy in the store. I went to the Cruise Critic web site and found a backdoor way to get the money. Cruise Critic saved my group from buying $900 of stuff we didn't want or need. Go to the casino cashier and tell them you want to cash out your OBC. They will give you the cash and charge a 3% service charge. I was happy to pay the service charge. Every employee we asked(5) told us the charge would go to our credit card but they were wrong. It cleared the non-refundable OBC to zero balance. You can then walk upstairs and apply the cash to your account to help pay for gratuities. If you have OBC make sure you know which type. Most of the time it will be non-refundable.

Thank you for the replies. I will choose a different perk and get a soda package on my own. Rules are rules.