Traveller20074

I think I heard from a ship's doctor, or something like that, that almost nobody gets seasick on the cruise ships. They are so stable and big that it's not a problem. I and my husband never get seasick on a cruise. We both got sick on a whale-watch trip outside the Golden Gate in San Francisco on a little boat (my husband green-face sick, you could say), but the big cruise ships never bother us. That being said, you could be an exception and get seasick, but you almost certainly won't. I have never spoken to anybody on a cruise ship who got seasick on the cruise.

my husband and I must be the exception to the "almost nobody"

we were "out" for the count for about two hours going out of our Alaska cruise 2 years ago.

I got seasick on the Celebrity Summit. I got seasick on the Bahamas Celebration. Lucky me :rolleyes: :D

 

<<<snipped>>>>>

 

 

Every time you get back on board, you will go through a similar process (your ID and "Cruise Card" will be checked and bags will be scanned). A big item cruise ships are looking for is alcohol.

 

every time we (3 adults and 3 kids) get back on the ship, we need them to show their state issued Birth Certificates?!!??? :eek:

:confused:

The weekly spa pass is $199.

 

 

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:eek: :eek: :eek:

it was only $119.00 a couple of years ago.

At that price they had BETTER offer a day pass :mad:

well, one of our group is traveling without them. Either one. Passport OR card. Can't be helped. I have one, and so does one other person. the other? Refuses to get one. Oh well, their choice. Or, do any of the children have passports. nothing I can do to talk them into it. I THINK the only place we'd have a problem (being it's an Alaska Closed Loop cruise from Seattle) would be in Victoria if they needed to fly home for some reason.

actually, unless I read it wrong, the only thing the side listed was what you need. I guess I was not understanding WHEN it was needed. It makes sense at the beginning though, but also at the end as we do go through customs and immigration at Seattle.

I remember showing my passport to get off the ship....just not at the beginning. Must have been so excited to get on, I wasn't paying attention lol

===snipped. ------

 

You can also request additional spare room keys that only function to open the staterooms if, as example, you have multiple staterooms for your party for which you need access.

 

so, we DO have two cabins. I can have a card for their cabin and they can get one for mine? that would be great, as I would be maybe watching a couple of kids in THEIR cabin, and the boy will be in my cabin, and it would be great for mom and dad to have access to ours.

I will ask when we get there :)

so....the 2 1/2 year old will have a card lol

me thinks mom might be holding onto that one :D

it might be a while getting off and on the ship. 3 children with cards to swipe...hmmm

Since you're going to be on NCL, have a look at this:

 

http://www.ncl.com/about/required-travel-documentation

yes I had seen that. :)

THANK YOU so much for the GREAT pictures!! Especially, the inside cabin, which we'll have. :)

Okay. My review is a little out of order. I just took the time to take the pictures off of my cellphone so I could upload them on here to show all of you.

 

Here are picture of a basic interior room on the NCL Pearl. I have to admit, out of all the interior rooms I have been in NCL seems to be the worst at designing them. I much prefer the interior rooms on Carnival. But, it wasn't bad by any means, it worked, it just isn't my preference. And what is with the teeny tiny TV? :p I did however like the shower, no curtain!

 

 

 

So, I just can't remember. Other than the e-docs, and ticket...is the Passport required for embarkation? And, for those without a passport, the certified Birth Certificate? Or, is that shown at the end when going through customs and immigration?

Yes, that happens to me. Even after a train ride, or a very very long car ride.

It's called "land sickness" from what I've heard...

do kids get them too? Or, just the adults?

If you leave Seattle on Saturday, with Sunday being a sea day you won't see land again until Monday morning

??? we saw the shoreline all the way up.

The Strait of Juan De Fuca, etc.

this will be my 4th on the same itinerary out of Seattle.

All 3 prior cruises were at the end of May-ish/1st week of June.

the 1st two times were smooth as glass...well, that's not exactly right, there's always a little "bumping"

This last time? the Pearl was swaying a bit. Husband and I both got a little sick, but not bad. he went to bed and I walked around.

hope it's smooth as glass the whole trip :p

that's one of the most important things I could have on the cruise, in my opinion. I would be totally lost without it.

They do but you can always just reinforce them with packing tape. Works great!

yup

I am a little paranoid. We take our employees on company trips every year and last year we had two that were denied boarding. One was out of New York and one out of New Orleans. We have been doing company trips for about 15 years and it had only happened once before and that was right after Katrina. Our employees wife had sent her passport for renewal to New Orleans and Katrina hit before she got it back. She had been an army baby born in Germany. We went to the port with ever piece of documentation she had and they wouldn't let her on. I had not really worried about it again but then after last year I pay a little more attention.

what? on a closed loop cruise (out of Seattle, and coming back to SEattle)a passport isn't needed *shrug* I must not be getting what you're saying.

why would they deny boarding to someone without a passport if they have other documentation???

Leaving next Saturday on the Jewel to Alaska roundtrip out of Seattle. Bringing my nephew and 3 friends as a high school graduation trip. All 4 of them will be 18. Just realized that two of the guys have passport cards, not full passports. Didn't think that would be a problem but called NCL just now and they said a passport card nor the certified copy of the birth certificate with state issued ID would do. Has to be actual passport. I know we traveled to New England which did a stop in Canada in October and to Mexico in November with friends who had the cards and some who had birth certificates and photo ID and it was not a problem. Anyone have any recent experience with this?

Only a problem if you have to fly back for any reason.

must be finally gone. the ship cam isn't at pier 66.

I'm new to NCL and doing a B2B on Jewel, Nov 8 and Nov 15. I've been somewhat disappointed by other cruise line spa services (Royal and Princess) and was wondering if I should expect more of the same from NCL, or if by chance they take it up a notch? The disappointment was mainly I felt for the price it should have been a really top notch massage, and it wasn't (on other lines).

 

Does NCL operate its own spa or is it a third party?Should I book ahead of time on the website, or are there better deals to be had on the first day on board?Does anyone have a recent spa menu they can post (with prices)? I checked on NCL's website but there are no prices listed, unless I missed it somewhere.I know another option would be to get a massage in the ports on the beach by locals, it is sometimes a much better value. But it also takes away a lot of time from excursions.

the Pearl has the South Pacific spa. I had my hair cut in their beauty shop. it was EXXXXXXPENSIVE, but I received the best hair cut I'd ever had. He was an artist, it was unreal how good he cut it. I wish I had gotten his name, and told NCL how much I appreciated what he did, but I didn't :( I have found any information about the SPA to be very secretive.

I googled and the ncl ask and answer section popped up...this is what they answered...

Top 10 Contributor

Answer: Prices of products/services is not allowed in this forum(NCL WEBSITE). You check the pricing of the massages once on board the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

4 days ago

by BanC - Arizona

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Number One Contributor

Answer: The ship will offer different kinds of packages for the spa. The packages vary ship to ship and by the ship's itinerary. Since the package details are not advertised on the website, the only way you can find out about the packages and cost is onboard the ship.

5 days ago

Sure hope someone answers you, I want to know too.

what would have been "stuffy" on Celebrity? :confused:

The room stewards were friendly. The waiters were friendly. The crew in the restaurant was friendly.

*shrug*

Okay, as my signature indicates, hubby and I went on a cruise in 2012 with Celebrity. Overall, I was underwhelmed. I am not sure what it was exactly, but perhaps the stuffiness, or rude lady (passenger, not service) at the bar turned me off, not to mention the faux class so many passengers displayed. Also, we love to immerse ourselves in a culture making the port heavy itinerary we had a mistake. But, after the less than stunning experience with Celebrity, we are considering giving another cruise line a try. What I do like about NCL is the vibrancy and what appears to be an attitude of taking everything less serious. If we decide on this, it will be islands. We have been to the Caribbean several times, so culture immersion is less important or an island itinerary (the Canaries, for example). Why do you cruise with NCL? If you have done NCL and Celebrity, what are the similarities and differences? By the way, I love to dance, and is there lots of dancing on board? Celebrity pretty much went dead about 10:00 PM most nights.

 

:D

I've done 3 cruses. My very first one was on the Bahamas Celebration in 2009 when it was new. It used to be another ship and they redid and renamed it. It's a smaller one, and I got pretty seasick. So, the other two were Celebrity and NCL. I did the Celebrity Summit last year to the Southern Caribbean. It was pretty good actually. The wait staff was incredible. I usually like the buffet, becuase eating in the restaurant takes so much time with all the courses. I want to eat and get on with it (SPA time, watching out the balcony, etc why waste time eating lol) The cruise on Celebrity I did last year was quite lively. There was a late party out by the pools that was fun. We danced quite a bit :o NCL has the White Hot Party. The 1st time we did this, it was 70's music, and was fun. The last time, they played weird music I'd never heard before, might have been rap, I coudln't tell lol For dancing, the Celebrity Summit wins in my mind. the staff on both were excellent.

The Garden Cafe buffet is the best in the world I think :D Love the stations. The buffet on the Summit I didn't like, it was one long line. Another thing is the SPA. The one on the Summit (Persian Garden) had no views outside, except in the sauna room. The South Pacific spa on the Pearl is incredible...views all over the place. The Summit did have some pretty cool enclosures where you could sit there and there were hoses with hot water.

I love the Pearl. This will be my 4th time on her :o

Oh ps. The comedian, Fred Klett, on the Summit was hysterical. VERY FUNNY show! The Pearl had David Naster, and he was good, but I liked Fred Klett better.

You might want to check this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2014261 - I asked a similar question and the responses were all over the place. For most of those that tip early, they see the advantage and continue to do it... some that did it, had a bad experience and no longer do it. And those that have never done it, see no value in it.

 

For me, I will leave an extra tip at the begining of the cruise when I share my modest expectations. Somehow, it makes me intrinsically feel better and puts me in a better place at the begining of my vacation.

I plan on doing the same. I love the looks on their faces when we tip them :)

We were on NCL Dawn in March - and our ice bucket was filled twice daily. We had plenty of hangers as well. Because we had to pay per bag on American, we tried not to take too many things with us. The clothes pins came in very handy - I used them when we dried clothing on the balcony and to keep our towels from flipping over on the lounges at the pool. I know that some people bring their own soft drinks, but I would never consider packing them in a suitcase. Wiping things down with Chlorox wipes is a great idea.

ebay has wipes with hypoclorite (bleach I think).

taking a package with me, since the original pack is so big, I'll put some in ziplics. they're hospital type. These kill noro and flu viruses. And, some other bugs.

AphroditesPhd, have you been to the Puerto Rico Ports of Call board? Much info on hotels there. Here's a link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131. I was going to suggest Villa Herencia in Old San Juan, until I read your variables. I would check the Sheraton Old San Juan, which is likely the closest hotel to the pier. Have a great cruise! :)

I stayed at the Sheraton Old San Juan...and it was AWESOME!! GREAT hotel. I took a cab to the cruise port (I was Celebrity Summit) across the bay.