OneNewTexan

We are headed out on the January 26th sailing for the NCL Epic out of San Juan, PR.  At the end of the cruise and upon the Epic's return to San Juan, we have an earlier than desired flight out of the San Juan airport.  What is the earliest time we would be allowed to disembark from the ship so we can catch a taxi to the airport?  Are there any advance arrangements we need to make on the ship to get this early disembarkation?  Thanks!

We are very disappointed to lose a port visit and also see St. Maarten swapped out for Tortola.  We specifically selected this cruise because we wanted to spend the day in the French side of St. Martin and also to visit all three of the ABC islands which we have never been to before.  Why would NCL make this change so close to the departure date which for us in January 2020?  We have already booked non-refundable airline tickets so we are stuck with this cruise, like it or not.  Looks to me like NCL is dramatically moving away from port visits to St. Maarten.  Does this have anything to do with port fees or port congestion at St. Maarten?

For this NCL Epic cruise out of San Juan next January, what would be the main theater show times for the early show and the late show?  An earlier poster said the late production shows are around 9:30pm, but what is the time for the early show?  Are these early and late show starting times the same across the entire NCL fleet?  Or do the show times vary from ship to ship?  Thanks.

What are the best times to schedule specialty dining reservations so as to avoid missing the shows in the main theater?  We are booked for the Epic next January out of San Juan.  Last time we took NCL we missed half of the production shows because our reserved dinner reservations conflicted with the show times.  

Two weeks ago we returned from a 7-night trip on the CDF Horizon out of St. Maarten. The cruise was much better than we expected. The biggest surprise was the outstanding quality of the production shows in the main theatre. Unlike most cruise lines that fill many of the evening entertainment slots with comedians, jugglers, piano players, etc., CDF schedules an elaborate production show with singers and dancers every night of the cruise. The dancers were from Brazil and were absolutely outstanding. Although the ship is about 25 years old and does show its age, it was well maintained and clean throughout. The food at dinner in the main dining rooms was very good. The buffets at lunch and breakfast are more limited and geared to the French passengers as expected. The basic fare includes basic cocktails and wine so we saved a lot of money from not purchasing drinks throughout the cruise. The ports we stopped at were great and with only one sea day, the cruise seemed much longer due to the five enroute port visits. I highly recommend CDF and we look forward toward our next cruise on this line. Note for US Citizens ---- you need a Venezuelan Visa in order to take this cruise as it stops at the island of Margarita which is part of Venezuela. Be warned, no visa and you won't be allowed to board the ship. We were two of only four Americans we encountered on this trip ---- likely due to the Visa restriction. All crew members speak English so no problem for English-only speaking passengers.

We have booked the CDF Horizon out of St. Maarten for January 2016. We are looking for advice about whether we can book cruise line shore excursions in advance or should wait until onboard to book. Our travel agent mentioned that the excursions listed on the CDF website may not represent what is actually available when the cruise sails. Don't know if that is true or not. Any advice on this issue? We don't speak or read French so navigating the French-only CDF website is quite difficult for us. As all US Citizens must obtain a Venezuelan Visa before boarding the ship (or you will be denied boarding) and which is a pain in the neck to obtain, we are likely to be the only or a couple of the few Americans on the ship.

We will be taking the CDF Horizon in January of 2016 for the 7-night cruise out of St. Maarten. We were wondering if it was necessary to obtain a Visa for the short 7 hour port visit to Margarita Island in Venezuela? Any advice regarding US Citizens exiting and reboarding the ship in Venezuela for this short port visit would be most helpful. Thanks.

We will be taking the CDF Horizon in January of 2016 for the 7-night cruise out of St. Maarten. We were wondering if it was necessary to obtain a Visa for the short 7 hour port visit to Margarita Island in Venezuela? Any advice regarding US Citizens exiting and reboarding the ship in Venezuela for this short port visit would be most helpful. Thanks.

After taking the MSC Spendida a few years ago in the Mediterranean out of Genoa, we swore that we would never set foot on an MSC ship again. The food was awful, the shows short and poor, unfriendly crew, and the prices high. Attracted by the bargain prices for a 7-night cruise and the promise that the Divina was modified to cater to American tastes and expectations, we decided to give MSC a try again. We embarked on the Divina on August 30th in Miami and just returned last week. Well --- the Divina is unlike any other MSC ship. There is a full production show every night, the food is of good quality and tailored to American tastes, the pricing is in US Dollars and reasonable, and the crews are friendly with smiles. My wife says it was her best cruise ever and the production shows far exceed any of the other shows we have seen on our previous 16 cruises. We enjoyed dining in the Galaxy Specialty Restaurant which she raves about. I am now an MSC Divina fan and have booked another trip on the Divina for late 2015 in the Caribbean and Central America. I'll never take MSC in Europe due to the poor food quality that seems to cater to foreign tastes, but highly recommend the Divina in the Caribbean. Give it a try and the discounted prices are great for the balance of the winter 2014/15 season.

After taking the MSC Spendida a few years ago in the Mediterranean out of Genoa, we swore that we would never set foot on an MSC ship again. The food was awful, the shows short and poor, unfriendly crew, and the prices high. Attracted by the bargain prices for a 7-night cruise and the promise that the Divina was modified to cater to American tastes and expectations, we decided to give MSC a try again. We embarked on the Divina on August 30th in Miami and just returned last week. Well --- the Divina is unlike any other MSC ship. There is a full production show every night, the food is of good quality and tailored to American tastes, the pricing is in US Dollars and reasonable, and the crews are friendly with smiles. My wife says it was her best cruise ever and the production shows far exceed any of the other shows we have seen on our previous 16 cruises. We enjoyed dining in the Galaxy Specialty Restaurant which she raves about. I am now an MSC Divina fan and have booked another trip on the Divina for late 2015 in the Caribbean and Central America. I'll never take MSC in Europe due to the poor food quality that seems to cater to foreign tastes, but highly recommend the Divina in the Caribbean. Give it a try and the discounted prices are great for the balance of the winter 2014/15 season.