mking8288

Norwegian Escape ran aground or into the soft sandbar, damaging her bottom, etc. last year with a pilot boat escorting her out of Taino, as I recall. Has anyone seen the (final ?) incident report but it is still going to be an asterisk on ship captain's career history ... and subsequently disrupted sailings, etc. etc. Amber Cove isn't far away, 20 minutes car/taxi ride but realized, it's not a cheap Uber/taxi ride ... still not as bad as overpriced ship tours booked if you can DIY. Rates are posted & regulated by authorities.

Thanks for the heads up ... With all the reported changes lately, out of words and expressions. NCL already streamlined the options to 1-1-1 (P voucher) and 1-1-1-1 (SD/FAS package coupon) and petite side dishes - shouldn't be too difficult to finish the dessert. Coffee/tea (French press) is still complimentary, I hope ... we're comp'd with 2 nice Cappuccino last time at no charge (and, that was above & beyond) If we can't finish it, ocean fishery will get treated to the leftover ... "sail and sustain" /s

Welcome home from the wild North Atlantic ride with those strengthen sea legs. Yeah, sometimes port security (has absolutely nothing to do with NCL as it is facility operations) will direct & allow car services to also dropoff and pickup on the lower level ... sometimes, it's confusing for Uber/Lyft & car service drivers as they are sometimes turn away. We used porter services once off the ship & downstairs in the luggage hall, and the porters do know by then - their buddies aren't going to give their fellow workers a hard time, unless security protocols in place dictate otherwise ... and CBP only deal with securing the zones inside the fenced / gated area, not out on 12th Avenue. The other difference, I think, is yesterday was Sunday - a weekend for disembarkation and traffic in town & for that area is light ... no street fairs nearby, no half-marathon, or other major events in the neighborhood/town ... everybody got along fine. Gem is a mid-size ship and even at capacity, isn't letting more than 2,300 or 2,400 passengers - unlike the mega Escape, Joy or Getaway. We rather go across 12th Avenue with the porter minding our heavier bags on the cart, and hail a taxi or wait for car service or Lyft (prefer over Uber) to come around, mostly quicker than waiting for them to get into the secured terminal pickup/dropoff zone, especially with that left turn traffic light on 12th Avenue (not all pro drivers know to use W. 55th approach).

OP ... from your signature, if you are on the Joy disembarking (Miami to LAX @ San Pedro) on a Sunday ... be advised that Hertz' LE location in town is closed on Sunday (Sat 9 am - 12 noon) plus there's a one-way car rental dropoff of $75 for LAX. There is also apparently, ongoing freeway traffic issues near LAX - allow extra time for everything, check LAX's official website for any related advisories. A day room nearby is a good idea as almost all of them run free airport shuttles. With a long afternoon, even if you have airline/club access ... probably not a good idea even if you can get in. Checkout the West Coast departure forum here for ideas/tips and/or post there for localized help - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/ Happy, healthy & safe travel and enjoy your cruise.

Good evening and welcome home ... wind picked up here in NYC earlier but nothing like the onboard. CM has the ship outside AIS, thus not showing up on Marinetraffic, soon ... already passed Ocean City & Atlantic City hugging a lot closer along the coastline. Wish the weather was better than forecasted and not as rough, conditions eased up slightly looking at different indicators but nowhere ideal ... cruisers without sea legs & those prone to motion sickness probably going to plenty of horror stories to tell. Glad to hear you're able to dance in the rain & wind, indoors & to make the best out of it all ... perhaps, NCL knew the odds & GEM had extra, last minute sales incentives for folks to book it this month. Anyway, this chart should help tell & share with folks ... apparently, NCL ships all experiencing serious satellite WiFi internet issues lately. Should be a little smoother to get some sleep after midnight. Cheers and safe journey getting home.

Hmmm, I am taking the Fifth. Know nothing about the eel 😆 On the basis of your feedback about the Prima, and more recent ones from others - we postponed her until further notice, 3 balconies released.

@coyboy1971 and @Mlake09 Good Sunday afternoon to all onboard. Have another look at webcam & cruisemapper, sailing much closer to shorelines than usual, passed Virginia Beach on a northerly heading into MD, chartered a "better" course to bring everyone safely home. Hang in there, up ahead and by dinnertime, things should gradually ease up slowly - forecasting still 12' to 15' waves, swell continued to be high & sea state remain rough against near gale force headwind. Better than overnight hours & earlier this morning, apparently - helps by sailing & hugging closer the coastal water. As for those invited to the VIP Reception, I've noticed that on our last few cruises ... sometimes it's like 6:30 in the evening on a sea day - smacked in the middle of folk's prime dinner time slots and/or getting ready to rush for the 7 p.m. show. It's not as if the GM doesn't have the broad overview of peak time, show times and yet, it's as if they schedule the cocktail hours on purpose to result in fewer attendees ... nothing evil 🙄 😳 😠 Forest tomorrow in NY: sunny & breezy, low 30's overnight & high of 45 and dry, no snow on the ground. And, you'll need to adjust to the floor or grounds not moving or shaking, and holding those handrails while out-and-about no longer a safety necessity. Cheers.

Apparently, most balcony and even oceanview upgrades on the Jan 20th Getaway 12 nighters were done weeks ago, some awarded in the (low) fair/borderline poor range from OV & IS. Some are looking for last minute onboard upgrade - unlikely & slim chance since it's sold out except for maybe 10 to 15 Insides. NCL managed to kickoff its new scheme, "live bidding" for a single Haven Penthouse CY, went from $1,000 to $1,600 to over (in excess of) $2,600+ p/p times 2, with 80 bidders reported, gradually many dropped out of the lead - no idea who got the winning bid and the amount. That's just crazy on top of whatever the winner paid to secure their original cabin, even if it was a bargain Sailaway Oceanview. Saw 3 balconies and 1 oceanview opened up briefly at high prices (several days ago), before disappearing again within a day - no idea if those went to live bidding - and how much the winners paid (offered at about $3,400 for 2 with all the FAS included as new booking) Frankie & Harry laughing and toasting themselves with those ACH deposits, pumping up the numbers for Q4 to butter up Q1 outlook. Folks, like it or not, the new eBay model is here. (and, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a fixed amount stepping up as the highest bid, i.e. $2,650 to $2,700 and not $2,655 in $5 increment)

The changeover is rolling out today, starting with 2 NCL ships in the fleet - expect to read about it, urrrr, maybe later this evening and tomorrow. Not expected to complete the changeover until end of March and NCL isn't publishing detailed schedule on CC, knowing that they are NOT going to be complimented by most outside of Haven & suites. Sailing soon & our Getaway housekeeping schedule isn't affected yet, but will switch at the beginning of February after 1 more short cruise. Rest assured that there will be plenty of watchful eyes & ears everywhere.

Is it "safe" enough for our late afternoon port visit in about 8 days (Jan 23) after NCL cut short our total port time by an hour in the "spirit" of Sail & Sustain, LOL 😠 🙄 👴 Getting too old to read about these nonsense. With all the stuff happening, we pulled our 3 balconies booked on the Prima in April with a wait-n-see, undecided about a last minute T/A on the Sun. DW going to make the call after our 12 nighters and possibly give MSC a trial run (and, match our Sapphire status.) Regards.

Just checking up on Gem's live shipcam - seeing large waves ,probably 18' to 21' on average, may higher at times and white caps, pretty large sea swells. As noted above, cruisemapper have the GEM tracking almost on a southeast heading, pointing toward Charleston/Jacksonville to basically sail around the big Atlantic storm, before turning north at some point tomorrow as the system pull further east away from land & coastal. That's good, smart & safe navigation up on the bridge - expect things to be worsen somewhat in the next 16 to 24 hours (sorry, reading the predictive charts on Windy App.) Our last time on the Gem was Dec. 2019 just before the Covid shutdown and satellite WiFi wasn't too bad, slow as expected but usable - actually comparatively better to the "performance" onboard these days with some of the newest & bigger NCL ships in the fleet ... if only they bring on Starlink, a win-win for all. Uploading the forecast track ... Monday morning's arrival, sunny & breezy, morning temp about 35 degree with a high of 45, not bad for mid January. It's possible that you are beginning (already ??) to feel gale and/or strong gale force cross wind, coming diagonally across the bow & starboard side. Ship's navigational channel (11) gives very useful real-time info as it happen, unlike the newer mega ships. BTW, do you know about & get a chance to visit the ship's Bridge Viewing Room - it's usually open, dust to dawn, on sea days, to visit, Deck 11 Fwd Port side, unless they choose to close it for operational & safety reasons - it's real cool, we always stop in there to see the Mermaid, Robbie. Just curious as to the fleet-wide MDR Lunch Menu, which hasn't been exactly exciting for us in 2022 - not sure if they changed out & substituted things again at the beginning of 2023. If you manage to take a screenshot & upload (post-cruise is fine) ... it will be much appreciated b/c we will be eating off that a few times soon on upcoming sea days, just trying to figure out our options and/or split among O'Sheehan's & maybe with paid SD that's open, TIA.

@OttawaJohn and also to @wally4ever Thank you for the review & comments, we're on the Joy twice in 2022 and surely can identify with many of the comments & feedback. WiFi was bad and documented in our Semi-Live report with benchmarked #'s - thankfully, our upgraded basic limited didn't really cost us & DW was happy she can go to her iPad most of the time ... once I'm disconnected, the priciest among all the mass lines while the slowest. Fell in love with the Fwd Observation Lounge & also in the Haven O.L. - same view out front, really - save a bundle, LOL. Cruise pier/terminal check-in and boarding issues, not unique to San Pedro and New York, NCL tossed the bucks to shore-based, outsourced contractors but they still wear the NCL-branded ID tags and can't entirely evade their obligations & making ongoing efforts to address some of the issues ... well, up to a certain point, labor & CBP staffing issues on land among matters they can't directly engage it. "The soap and shampoo were really bad. We heard others complaining about it as well. Just seemed very low quality " these points raised, by itself, aren't deal breakers but suggest trending that's been commented upon here on CC lately with regards to NCL (and, other lines also put measures in place to trim costs) The bottle dispened body wash, shampoo & hand wash isn't anything new - even Haven are switching over to wall dispensing (haha, well to the new Sail & Sustain) ... same as when we checked into our Marriott studio & suite these days, except they aren't using Johnson & Johnson, yet. Others have also "reported" - to each her/his own as some are indifferent - of similar feedback and lead one to suspect, lower quality products are being substituted, as we didn't noticed any difference last September onboard the Joy. Things do happened, often quickly & without notice, hoping that most will not feel & smell the difference ... a few of us do pay attention to details. Will just pack more items ourselves to bring along, 2 or 3 travel sized bottle products of our own choice isn't difficult as we aren't flying (sailing next weekend) ... perhaps, TSA will move faster to get rid of those silly 3-1-1 rules, as other countries are done with it, using newer & better technologies to mitigate "threats". Our balcony on Deck 15 Mid/Aft near the elevator was quiet, didn't feel vibrations when ship ran at full speed but we heard others on the lower decks, AFT balconies with noise issues - not much we can do with the design ... avoid booking those cabins next time. Thanks for sharing & the time writing to post here. Much obliged and Cheers.

On our upcoming 12 nights, it stated in MyNCL account that Dining packages can be purchased and added onboard on Day 1 and 2 only. YMMV. Go to the Restaurant Reservation Desk and ask nicely about it, perhaps call the Restaurant Manager & identify yourself as being with Cruise critic, and see if s)he can help in making an exception. Newly raised prices at some of the price fixed SD revenue are pretty ... Good luck & do share with us if you are successful. Happy cruising with the remaining 8 days ahead. Cheers

Not an NCL / at sea internet legend by any means, NCL crew members stationed strategically, especially near the elevators & stairs by the gangways on embarkation day ... making best efforts to direct all boarding passengers to take the elevators up to the buffet, going as far back as year 2000 when we started cruising on the Norwegian Sea. We knew better then, just politely smile and thank them for the suggestions, and we just disappear from their sights & proceed to the MDR - on the Sea, Dawn, Crown, Jewel, POA and Gem days ... very easy with a straight path on Deck 7. Free storage for carry-on bags was usually offered & available then, port side, unlike these days while staterooms were being readied. Back then, the Haven concept wasn't even conceived, let alone came to NCL. With the Dawn, it was also easy to announced that one is heading to the Blue Lagoon - continue & round the corner ahead, is the stairs down to the MDR for a quiet sit-down embarkation lunch with full table service. Know it all newbies on CC ... LOL

@EllieinNJ Hi, again ... since last September's M&G onboard the Joy. Think POSITIVE - wasn't that an excellent cruise to New England & Canada, we lucked out & just missed the storm that roared across days later, affecting the subsequent sailing. We are going to bring the Getaway safely home & disembark as you get ready to embark ... Happy & Healthy belated New Year 2023. Regards & Best Wishes.

Oh, we missed the old classics like Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals on stage at the Stardust Theater, old days when Jean Ann Ryan Productions ran them - then, to cut costs ... NCL Productions came around & took over, and wasn't too popular initially but "Fountains" was fun & entertaining then with the CD on stage in a leading role ... and some of the crew talent shows weren't bad. Maybe, Frankie & Harry Company is going to re-train among the more talented crew members to become the next wave of onboard entertainers ... keeping in line with Sail & Sustain by digitizing those stage sets with 3D virtual ones. /s Just not going to walk into a semi packed theater to watch a movie while some folks are heard coughing & sneezing, etc. etc. Could do that safely from the privacy & relative safety of one's suite and stateroom, studios to balconies, it really doesn't matter - and Room Service specials at 50% off ... a winner ?? Gotta have a sense of humor these days.

It's easier for some than others. I have a dual monitor setup with my desktop PC - one in usual landscape mode, widescreen format and the other swing 90 degree (sideway) or portrait mode (as if you are looking at a full letter size page, word processing mode) - you then do a PrintScreen command (PC & Chromebook) - paste into a graphics app, edit, trim & save as a graphics file (most commonly, as *.JPG format) Once that's ready, it's easy to "insert" into email and sent or submit, no attachements and/or you can still include the SH statement and request form together as well. Done & wait for the acknowledgement. Let's just hope that NCLH isn't going to temporary suspend this valuable giveaway benefits, despite its "enhanced" restrictive use onboard.

Beautiful and stunning pictures & photography !! Thank you for sharing. Freestyle Dailies are tremendously helpful, giving us heads up in what to expect and adjusting plans.

If you enjoy surfing, watch it up high on Spinnaker Lounge, Deck 13 Fwd ... We're in an OV, Deck 4 Fwd a week after Sandy in 2012 on the Gem, blasted our way thru a NorEaster - 30 to 40 ft. waves & strong gale diagonal across the bow for 15 hours leaving NY, unforgettable giant submarine porthole view of raging sea. Tomorrow, not looking pretty heading in but ... trust the bridge & ship captain. Should be able to plot & cut a path thru, probably quite rocky for a few hours and stay indoors, outside decks closed for safety 🛟 Recently, it was reported that another cruiseline's ship captain (think it was Carnival) ordered stewards to lock down & secured all the balcony doors while sailing thru the Golf of Mexico ahead of forecast ... that's pretty rare.

OP - rest assured, you can easily walk across 12th Avenue at W. 48th Street (it's a wide avenue, traffic-signal controlled with a pedestrian safety island in the middle for folks that are slower to get across) to access Pier 88 and Pier 90 via street level, choice of giant elevator and/or escalators when ship(s) is there, as it is a secured area & mainly locked when cruise ship isn't expected. Here are some pix of what it looked like, done for our upcoming roll call's purposes - post #187 has the street views that you are looking for.

Over at Carnival, one of the ships embarking an hour earlier (today) than scheduled, probably due to revised/updated weather forecast.

If you are on a 2 device package, you are only limited to using any 2 devices at the same time - you can register as MANY devices as you carry & wish. i.e. On an upgraded 1 device plan, it's usually my primary Android, my backup iPhone and another Android dual-sim, plus either the laptop or Chromebook, and iPad mini. You will see the newest device signing in with a pop-up alert that another device is connected, and continuing with disconnect the other device in order to go "live" ... (thus, signing your account out of the other device that "was" logged in)

Bermuda's public fast ferry runs year-round, it is on their WINTER schedule and services are limited, and especially on weekends & island holidays, always check ahead. NCL's fast ferry to St. George's ("Spirit of ") that docked across from NCL ship whenever it's there, run on its own special schedule that align with ship's sailing time. The last ferry for the day usually returns at 5 pm (or 1 pm if the ship sail at 3 p.m. with all abroad by 2:30 p.m.) "Current" schedule always posted on the deck & when in doubt, ask the ferry crew. Our friends were there in Bermuda last month for a scheduled 5 days cruise out of NY and took advantage of the free NCL ferry, show your Guest Key Card to board. Just be advised that some shops are closed for the winter season while others are open with winter schedule in place. Check & sync your watch and smartphone's clock, the Pier Runner's Club membership is free but very expensive if the ship sail without you & disembark your belongings and luggage on the pier with the port agent.

Pull out more photos from DW's SS Galaxy - just to illustrate ... and, that's the Grilled Fisherman's Platter - a la carte priced now at $45 + 20%, of course, few pay "full" price & dine with the package, except, some do ... We are going to use these to compare, later this month onboard - stay tuned for it.

@evanskl4 One thing I forget to "Evan" & you should know this - please check, review & confirm your newest NCL confirmation with the Amenities, seeing that both of you are Latitudes members already - if you upgraded to the SP, you are getting at least triple points (2 points with the current promo and 1 extra point for the suite, that's per night) For the November cruise, I'm not 100% certain but since it is more than 6 months out, should be another extra point as in "quad points per night" or 4 points times X number of nights (i.e. 4 x 7 = 28 points, nice one) Other friends of ours that we met thru CC several years ago just recently booked something similar, they got the triple points promo & used 2 CruiseNext certs (holiday/new year specials, since expired) that they didn't know were extended for a year - able to use 3 deposits to book an AFT balcony for a very nice price ... they are currently on Royal's AOS somewhere but it was still good & they are excited. Check & decode those Latitude codes. Enjoy that extra space & perhaps we'll hear from you after your return from Bermuda ... Ron was the GM both in May & Sept - has a great team under him, no matter what category you are booked, they try to please - within confines of what they can do. With the extra money spent and saved over Haven, you can do a lot to pamper that cruise week to enjoy the extra space. It's about the same size as the Marriott suites that we often stay in and everyone is going to have her/his personal space ... even with one housekeeping service daily ahead. Regards & best wishes ahead for happy cruising ... until our next Semi-Live, somewhere ... soon.