dmwnc1959

On 3/16/2024 at 3:19 PM, kajasmin said:

It seems like there is whale watching...and whale watching. Anything else I'm missing..?

Wanted to pass along a really good video that I found for Icy Strait Point. Wasn’t at all excited about going there until I saw this video. Hope you like it as much as I did, definitely have to earmark this one for future use. 
 

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Vasco da Gama's step sister, Zaandam, should be going westbound through tomorrow...on her way to pick us up in San Diego. 

 
The beautiful ZAANDAM (2000) that’s picking you up in San Diego is a sister to VOLENDAM (1999) of which I cruised the latter to Alaska back in 2003. Loved, loved, loved the Volendam! 
 

The ex-STATENDAM (1993) that we saw transit the canal today was the lead ship of four - the others were Maasdam (1993), Ryndam (1994), and Veedam (1996) - all which left the fleet by mid-2020. The pandemic hit the cruise industry hard and a lot of the older, smaller ships were either scrapped or sold off. 
 

Your SOLAR ECLIPSE cruise sounds amazing! Have fun!!! 🌞

On 3/9/2024 at 9:44 AM, Poly1979 said:

I don't cruise for the food, drink, entertainment, pools or activities.

 

I cruise strictly for the destinations. The ship is just transportation.

For the most part, and for the past couple of decades, it’s been ship-specific cruises even as far back as Celebrity Mercury, Celebrity Millennium, Royal Princess, Allure of the Seas, Ruby Princess, etc., etc. The next one is more destination-specific, and even more specific to the Old Locks of the Panama Canal. But the ship definitely matters. To me at least. 
 

The reason I don’t cruise specifically for the destination is what happens if I get there and it’s pouring down rain all week. I at least want to be on a very comfortable ship that has a lot of interior amenities and creature comforts to choose from.
 

I’ve been very fortunate to have served in the US Navy and got to see a LOT of places for free - from Europe to the South America, Asia and Africa and a lot of places in between.

Now I travel for the sea and what’s beneath my feet. 
 

😁

22 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

I would be shocked if we stopped in Nicaragua! They have cancelled most if not all planned stops there in the past few years.

I’d be perfectly fine with another sea day. 😎

54 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@dmwnc1959 PR release from NCL, the Aqua will be 10% bigger

https://www.nclhltd.com/news-media/press-releases/detail/573/norwegian-cruise-line-opens-for-sale-the-all-new-norwegian#:~:text=Spanning 1%2C056 feet long%2C 156%2C300,any new contemporary cruise ship.

 
So from 981’ to 1056’ and 

143,535 GT to 156,300 GT. 

Very nice! 
 

😁

4 minutes ago, hallux said:

Oddly enough - my cancelled excursion was in a port that was very possible to be cancelled, Acapulco, but we ported there...

I’m very much looking forward to Cabo San Lucas and Acapulco. No ship crowds, and these are two of the ‘Love Boat’ ports I’ve been dreaming about for more than 4 decades. 
 

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Tuesday 3/19 Vasco da Gama (née Statendam) celebrates the first day of spring with an eastbound transit.  Finishing a 181 day world cruise r/t Lisbon.

Very nice. I do miss these little gems as part of the HAL fleet. Wish I had taken the opportunity back in the day for a Bermuda cruise that docked right in town. 

4 minutes ago, mammajamma2013 said:

NCL left a notice on our bed the evening before. They picked up laundry that following morning and we had it back that same evening. It was after week one of a two week cruise.

It would be nice if they offered it twice on extended cruises. 

15 minutes ago, shof515 said:

 

i also noticed quirky accounting with shore excursions and port changes. it never makes sense. i got lucky one cruise when i noticed they never backed the 50 dollars. i ended up with extra 50 dollar credit

There are three ports where I have already planned on staying on the ship. These seem most likely to be the ones cancelled for some reason, so since I am remaining on the ship, there are no shore excursions in jeopardy. 

All of the rest save the Panama Canal are in US ports, so fingers-crossed that weather and seas cooperate. 
 

5 minutes ago, mammajamma2013 said:

We used the NCL bag full for $29 and were able to fit two pair of jeans plus t-shirts, socks and underwear without tearing the bag and with room to spare. This was in February/March 2023.

 

NCL is very casual at dinner, no sports coat needed. A nice button shirt or polo shirt is enough. The suggestions you're getting about are great!

Then I’ll definitely skip the sports coat!
 

Also plan on taking full advantage of the $29 Bundled Laundry Bag deal. It’ll be interesting to see you what date exactly that pops up on the itinerary. Do they announce this a couple of days ahead of time?

12 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

But surely you will have to plan for some sort of laundry during a long cruise - bringing 32 separate shirts is not practical??

 

even if you have them,  I wouldn't own 32 shirts to start with.

I got bored during the pandemic (was basically housebound except for my job at the VA hospital) and bought a few new shirts each month, ended up with 60 completely different shirts. I’ll probably only take maybe 20 (or so).
 

As mentioned in Post #1 I’ve found a laundromat in San Pedro (Day 16) where I’ll do a bulk laundry visit. Already have the route mapped from the World Cruise Terminal. It’ll be a piece of cake. 👍🏻

49 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

If you plan to wash clothes in your bathroom, make sure you bring hook magnets that you can hang wet shirts on hangers from the ceiling in your bathroom, or in the corner of your room. If you will have a balcony, maybe bring a few clothespins to help secure either a clothes hanger, or even pairs of socks on the back of deck chairs on your sunny balcony.

I have a set bought for the last cruise. Plan on taking them with me! And I’m in a Solo Inside, but I’ll make it work with hanging the drying items. 😉
 

17 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

If you focus in so that you can see the V!va, it looks like that ship takes up almost the entire length of that shipyard's dry dock facilities.  There may be an extra 50 feet or so of additional space behind the V!va's stern.  Reports have indicated that the Aqua (@4u@ ?) will be longer than the first two ships in the Pr1ma class.  It looks like it's going to be a tight fit for the Aqua.

Odd that this type of information hasn’t  already been released regarding statistics on the ship’s length. 🤔

35 minutes ago, hallux said:

Just be aware - if the excursion is cancelled on embarkation day or after the credit goes on your account in a very odd way, I got bitten by this.  They initially refund the FULL PRICE of the excursion, if you booked pre-cruise and got the discount at the time of payment they will subsequently charge your account that $50.

 

How did I get 'bit'?  I thought I had a bunch of credit to use, not realizing it would be a second transaction to 'claw back' the excursion credit, so I paid for internet for the trip to use it.  The next day is a $50 charge from shorex...

Just, YIKES. 😳

3 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

If you navigate to Google Maps and enlarge this view today, you actually can read "Norwegian Prima" on the bow of the ship.

Indeed!!! 

9 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

I wash some things in the shower too as well as the sink and roll them in towels.  They dry very fast after some time in the towel.  I don't really wash anything large or heavy by hand though.

I actually saw someone doing that on a YouTube cruise video watched last night, another idea that never occurred to me in the past.

2 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

My son has gone through surgery for this and wished he hadn't.  But then he developed an extremely difficult infection that required a second surgery and months and months of high powered antibiotics with the possibility of losing his arm.  He is ok now, but doesn't have full functionality partly due to the amount of muscle they had to take out to try to fight the infection.

 

So far we are too cheap to use porters!!!  

That sounds exactly what I was trying to avoid, and what my doctors warned against. I’ve since been doing exercises with arm bands and standing wall push-ups to strengthen that shoulder. 
 

As for porters, in the past, I rarely have ever used them. This time will be different. Don’t want to show up at the ship with an injured arm. 

15 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The emailed receipt will show a break down of the shore ex prices and any discounts applied (like a latitudes discount). Check your email for the receipt. 

I guess I wasn’t expecting an email receipt, but it’s definitely nice to have. The shore excursion verification also shows up in my booking. Smiles all around! 😁

5 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Also, you might want to think about taking some clothes that you won't mind leaving behind.  More room in your suitcase for the new clothes you have purchased.  You might google thrift shops in some of the ports where you can donate clothes you dat want to wear any longer.

You’ve been reading my mind. We also have a huge thrift (consignment) store in town that I’ve staked out already. Lots of inexpensive options I can take and donate down the line. 
 

As for the hot and humid 🥵 canal, I’ve been painstakingly thinking (overthinking) that part, hence some of the items in Post #3. It’s this transitioning from that to this 🥶 that’s made me start this post. It’s just mind-boggling to me packing for such extremes on the same cruise! 
 

😁

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

If you can find a couple of tours that you can take on the same day, say one in the morning and one in the afternoon, not overlapping in time, you can get $50 back on each of them.

Ooooh! The possibilities just exploded in my brain. 🤣 Planning this is gong to be freaking amazing! 

52 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

 

It already has. You bought a $79 excursion.

 

Just got the email confirmation and you were exactly right! 

😁

9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

And accept the cost of ship’s laundry as an acceptable part of your cruise “fare”.   Why are people willing to pay extra for alternative restaurants on NCL (because included dining is rather disappointing) but seem to feel paying for having laundry done is unacceptable?  $29 a bag for stuff washed and folded is not that excessive.

 
You’re right, it’s not.
 

But with as many clothes as I’m probably taking, the exorbitant cost of a per-item laundry ticket, and as few items that will likely fit into that little paper bag, I’ve researched the next best alternative and quite literally can do all my laundry at a fraction of the cost. And I don’t even mind NOT spending a couple of hundred dollars letting NCL price gouge me. 
 

😁

7 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

If you buy an excursion on-line, the credit will be applied immediately.  If you buy while on the ship, the credit is not applied until after you take the excursion.    

I already have a laundry list of around 11 shore excursions I’ve been eyeballing, plan on trying to buy as many of them as possible before-hand. 

4 minutes ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

My reason for trying to take smaller luggage is how hard it is for me to manage even a 24" case.  Mine was very packed full but still under 50 lbs. As well I had a fairly small but full carry-on--maybe the 15" size. I'm a small 78 year old woman and maneuvering big cases around airports and hotels gets harder every year..  My husband has his own issues, and I don't expect him to help except in extreme circumstances.  

 

Enjoy your trip--it sounds fantastic.  Yes, expect very hot weather in the canal and cool to cold in Alaska, especially in April.  Try not to overpack!!!  It''s hard, especially shoes, and I have small feet!  My carry-on has a separate shoe compartment and I wear my walking shoes and a light jacket.

I have a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder that the doctors don’t want to do surgery on. Despite multiple MRIs that verify that it’s completely torn - and something that completely baffles them - I pretty much have complete functionality of that arm. I don’t dare overuse it, or do a lot of twisting and turning with heavy objects. Plan on making full use of carts and porters everywhere I go.