goldencruiser

What are your experiences with taking an Uber from IAH hotels to Port of Galveston? We have 4 adults with only 4 carryon bags.  Is there another service you would recommend?

Thanks for your reply. We do have TSA precheck and won’t be checking any bags. 

What would be the safest/earliest flight time out of SFO. Getting off the ship on a Sunday, October 30. Would a 10:30 flight be doable?

most convenient, economical  

What is the best way for one person to travel from Port Canaveral to MCO?

My family has sailed on the Paradise and Valor, so I can comment on the differences of those two ships. The Paradise just went through a major dry dock last year, and looked great when we sailed it last March. Since you are looking to enjoy the empty ship on port days, I would recommend the Valor as it is a newer and bigger ship with more features. The Valor also has a Red Frog Pub which is a nice area. If you are a fan of movies, the Valor has the seaside theater where they show movies at night. Attached is a picture of the Valor from last month in Cozumel. New Years cruises are always a ton of fun!

When is Captain Kate leaving the Equinox?  We are cruising August 10th and hope she will still be our Captain.

Can anyone please tell me what the turn around time is on the laundry for Elite?

Thank you!

From when I was on the Valor last, there is no smoking in Winstons bar. I don't remember if they sold cigars there though, but I would lean towards saying they do not. I am fairly sure the only inside place to smoke is the casino.

Thanks for your review!

Curious about the "playing a game" thing you mentioned above for people to get priority boarding. Never have heard of this before. What kinds of things did they look for?

They asked for 4 items, but they seemed to change each cruise from what we heard. People basically had to have the item in hand, because within ten seconds of asking for each item someone brought it up. The items if I remember correctly were a Norwegian Cruise credit card, winter gloves, bathing suit, and tweezers.

The priority boarding really wouldn’t have been all that beneficial as they boarded maybe 10 minutes before us.

We were on a three day cruise onboard the Norwegian Sky from January 5 - 8 2018, and overall had a great time. We flew in the night before and stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites South in Miami which was a good hotel to stay at pre cruise, and had a shuttle to the port and airport. While the shuttle to the airport was free, the shuttle to the port cost $15 per person and needed to be reserved the day before. To get to the port, we took an uber around 10:30, and our ride showed up within a few minutes. The ride was good with little traffic to the Port of Miami, and the cost was around $12, so for the two of us it worked out cheaper than a cab or the hotel shuttle.

When we arrived at the port, we were met by a porter, but we did not need their services since we planned to just carry our two carry on bags onboard the ship ourselves. Before we entered the terminal there was a passport and document check which took a little while, and then was security. One thing unique about Norwegian compared to other cruise lines we have been on is that Norwegian has you fill out the health questionnaire at the port, instead of before getting there. Also, with carnival for example, you enter your credit card information online during the pre cruise check in, but with norwegian that was taken care of at the check in desk. The person who checked us in was friendly, and quickly got us processed. To get through check in from the time we entered the terminal was probably only around 10 minutes. We next were guided up stairs where we did have to wait for around 20 minutes for the ship to be ready, and our group, 4, to be called. During our wait, they had water set up in the terminal, and they played a game where one of the workers stood up in the middle of the terminal and screamed asking for different objects, and the winner would get priority boarding. Once our group was called we made our way onboard, and after a short line to scan our cards we were finally onboard! One unique thing about Norwegian compared to other cruise lines was that in Captain Cook’s bar they were allowing people to leave their carry on bags there until 1:30, when the cabins were ready. We then made our way up to deck 11, and got lunch from the great outdoor where there was no line, compared to the long line inside in the garden cafe. We would have eaten outside, but because it was quite chilly that day in Miami we dined in longboards bar, which was nice and quiet during lunch that day.

We were thinking that it would be challenging to get drinks from the bars due to everyone having a drink package, but we were pleasantly surprised how most of the bars we encountered had prompt, and friendly service. We especially found the outrigger bar to have friendly bartenders, and the lounge was often empty in our experience.

Around 1:30 we were able to go their room, and for this cruise we had an ocean view cabin on deck 8 forward, and while there was some debris on the carpet, the room was otherwise clean. A surprising thing that we encountered compared to our other cruises on other lines was that we never actually met our cabin steward. While the room did get clean during the day, it typically was not clean until after we had lunch some days. The bathroom did look dated, and the toilet did smell some the entire time, and also the sink had some cracks on the bottom of the basin. The shower had a fabric curtain instead of a door which isn’t the greatest in our view, but it got the job done.

We had dinner that night in crossings and the hostesses, and our waitress that night were very attentive to our requests. We got to the dining room around 6:00 and it was still very quiet at that time, so we were seated at a table on the back window. After dinner we walked around some and eventually made our way to the theatre for the welcome aboard show at 9:30. Another difference we saw with Norwegian compared to other lines we have been on was there was only one show each night instead of two. I don’t know if that was just because of the shorter cruises, or that is how things are like across the fleet. The welcome aboard show consisted of the cruise director and senior officers introducing themselves, a latin group playing a few songs, a comedian doing a short set, and then finished with the production cast performing a song.

One comment about the cast was that when we saw them around the ship, they seemed to always be rude to the guests, and even at one point when we were walking on the promenade deck they passed us in a rude manner, and even though the deck was wide open monopolized the entire span of it while walking, blocking us and a few other guests walking around. The rest of the crew we encountered we found to be friendly though.

We were supposed to be at Great Stirrup Cay the second day of the cruise, but due to high winds they were unable to safely conduct the tender operation. We were fortunate enough that the captain was able to get us into our next port, Nassau, early thanks to a dock being available. We were not supposed to dock until the next day at 8, but got in the previous day at around 4 pm. It was good that we got in early because it probably would have been rough that night at sea with how strong the winds were that night.

That night at dinner the waiter spilled an entire glass of wine on me, and the assistant Maitre’d, Denis, came over to our table and handled the situation well, dry cleaning the clothes that was all soaked from the glass of wine, and sent a bottle of champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries to the room.

The show that night was showdown, and while a little different than other shows we have seen the past, it was enjoyable.

The next day we were still in Nassau and after having breakfast in the dining room, which each day always seemed to be uncoordinated for that meal especially, we made our way ashore. In Nassau, we walked around for a bit and then came across a business called Jetline Simulation Bahamas, where they have a full 737 cockpit simulator that you can fly along with their instructor assisting you along the way. That was a great experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered what it is like to fly a plane, as that is about as close as you can get to flying an actual plane. I would recommend making a reservation beforehand, as they were able to sneak us into their busy schedule that day, but otherwise have a fairly full schedule.

After our time in Nassau we made our way back to the ship and got lunch from the Great Outdoors (buffet outside in the back of the ship) and had a nice lunch with a great view of Atlantis and Paradise Island.

Docked next to us was the Norwegian Epic, which was chartered that cruise by Holy Ship!, a music charter cruise and it looked like they were having quite the party! We could loudly hear the bass from their music on our ship, to the degree that talking outside on our ship was a little challenging due to their loud music! We saw multiple people on the epic smoking on their balconies, and people also had numerous hammocks strung up on balconies. We also saw a drug sniffing dog board the ship shortly before it sailed, so we assumed the dog sailed with the ship.

For dinner that night we were again in crossings, and seated in the same waitresses section from the first night, Agnis, who was a wonderful waitress, very attentive, and promptly took care of any requests we had. All of our food we had we felt was served warm, had good plating, and most importantly tasted delicious! Compared to food on Carnival, and even Celebrity, the food we had in the dining room and buffet was top notch.

The next day the cruise was over, and after a troubled breakfast in the dining room due to extremely slow service, we made our way off the ship around 8:50 and were in the rental car bus by 9:00. Debarking the ship was quite easy, with the only line to scan off the ship. There was only two people in front of us at customs, and that process went smoothly.

We would not hesitate to cruise again on the Norwegian Sky, and thought all the public areas were in great shape. The cabins and corridors could use some work, but the great lounges and overall excellent crew made up for those areas.

If anyone has any additional questions, please ask and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks for reading and hopefully this information was somewhat helpful.

We used to always go the the MDR for breakfast, but last cruise on the conquest we would go up to lido early, around 7:15, and found it to be a relaxing expierence since it was still very quiet, especially on the sea days. We would sit upstairs to where the BBQ is later in the day, and we would be the only people up there for around twenty minutes! If you plan on eating later than say 8:00 though, I agree that the MDR is a better option, just make sure to check what time the MDR opens, as it can differ a little bit day to day.

Does anyone know if there is a children's menu available for the concierge embarkation day lunch in the dining room.

No problem as long as a passenger who is officially booked in the cabin is the one who requests the extra key to that cabin.

(In other words, if I am not booked in Bob's cabin and request a key to it, they won't give me one, but Bob can request an extra key to give to me.)

Another factor to consider is how the tips to the stateroom attendants will be allocated (unless both cabins have the same stateroom attendant).

I would assume that both rooms will have the same attendant since the rooms are one apart from each other near the end of the hallway. I don't think that tips will be a problem, as both rooms have two people in them on paper, so one attendant wouldn't be shorted, as they will be getting all the tips that they were supposed to get. We are organized and clean people, and try to be easy for them, as we know how each attendant has many rooms to clean.

Thank you all for your replies. We will go to guest services once on board.

We have two cabins on an upcoming sailing and we were wondering if we would be able to to have keys for both rooms. We have two rooms booked with two in each room. We will actually be having 3 in one room and 1 person in the second room. It was cheaper to book it this way.

Thanks all for your replies, hopefully things run smoothly for us when the time comes.

Goldencruiser

Hello all,

We are doing a back to back cruise on the valor, and was wondering what we should do between the two cruises when fewer people are onboard. We were thinking that we could try to be the first to the red frog pub for the free pint of beer, or to go to the pool while it is quiet. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Goldencruiser

I did see the review on Celebrity's website, but I was hoping for other opinions. I think their trip might have been better had the weather cooperated. From what I understand, the Ft. Lauderdale land and Sea excursion will drop you off at FLL and not MIA.

Also, if anyone has any other ideas on how two 80 year old women can spend the day other than sitting at MIA for 5 hours! The idea of the everglades did not appeal to them as it was too "active" for them.

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Has anyone ever done this post-cruise excursion on Celebrity? Looking for ideas on how two 80 year old women can spend the morning after their cruise from Port Everglades. Their flight is out of MIA at 3:15pm.

Has anyone ever done this post-cruise excursion on Celebrity? Looking for ideas on how two 80 year old women can spend the morning after their cruise from Port Everglades. Their flight is out of MIA at 3:15pm.

I would like some advice for my mom (82 years old) and her friend (80 years old) to get from Port Everglades on April 3rd. Their flight is not until 3pm at MIA. I would like help on how to get them to MIA . Do the shared transport companies need an advance reservation? If so, how do we know what time they will get off the ship?

Thanks.

We were on the sailing that ended on Easter day (4/5/15) and we only had 200 children onboard.

Do both people in same cabin need to upgrade to Premium or can just one upgrade and the other keep the classic package?

Thanks

My parents have decided to stay close to LGA. We are looking at the Marriott. They have breakfast and they can get dinner after they arrive. I will look into getting them a reservation with one of the car services you recommended.

Thank you

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