SunnyKitty

I started planning excursions and to my surprise Alaska is not Caribbean,  seems like local operators are not cheaper than the ship ( Princess). Do I miss anything ?

It seems a bit crazy charging 140$ for a hiking tour, say, in Icy point. Are there any options to take a taxi to a hiking trail? I don't really need a guide, I want a nice hike with views.

Same questions for other spots - what are truly "wow" excursions which worth the money or cheaper options to explore nature? Not so much into whales, more in hiking, glaciers..

5 minutes ago, sandystx said:

It is not really new.  Its the terms of the contracted agreement between the Cruise line, in this case Royal Caribbean, and the tour operator.  Meaning, the operator of the excursion (such as ziplining) has a contract with the cruise line that they will not sell the excursion independently to passengers on days the ship is in port.  

 

It is fairly common.

enjoy

I have been on 8 cruises before, mostly with NCL and honestly - first time I am seeing it.

it definitely rises my vacation cost ..

guess I will have to research on it before next cruise.

seems like I can't book direct - they leave half an hour before ship comes

shoreexcursioner just has "no royal" clause which I guess they going to honor.

 I don't think it is right to limit my on shore options ... 

Started to plan February cruise and see this note on many independent tour operators..

Same excursion usually available on the RCL website, but price is much higher.. 

Is it something new in cruising?

I have not been on RCL ships in years and never seen it with NCL

any ways to work it around?

we did snorkeling from Coki beach and we did Turtle Cove trip.

Snorkeling on Coki is nice, but Turtle Cove trip was much much cooler. More fish, huge sea urchins and turtles! We never saw turtles on Coki (been there twice ).

it depends on how the OBC from the TA is purchased/booked. There is refundable and non-refundable OBC. Refundable OBC can be used for gratuities whereas non-refundable can not be used.

well..

non refundable OBC can be retrieved through casino for small %%.

And cash can be used for anything :)

Not at all. People make up stuff here all the time. Random ass numbers they pull out of their heads when really there is very little truth in them... or its something the maitre d' told them this one time so it must be gospel. People assume that they hold back tables for onboard booking, and I believe that they do. But nobody knows the percentage... they're guessing.

well.. just another guess..

I did call for Illusionarium reservations and asked if it will be more options on ship than online.. they told me - no, they put all seats online.

Not sure if it just for this venue or for all of them,

whatever you buy on land - goes on CC

buy on ship - goes to on board account..

they used to have Dora breakfast, but I think NCL is not with Nickelodeon anymore.

They have nice water slides for small kids , you will not miss it

well.. if you like it - I would do it.

but.. NCL was always very relaxed in dress code, no formal nights..

Before they asked for shoes and polo for guys at MDR and just a little nicer for specialty restaurants.

But being on Getaway last week - they relaxed rules even more now.

It was ok to be on shorts or capris for ladies and flip flops in MDR for dinner and they asked for jeans and tshirt at LeBistro..

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/what-to-pack

and crowd was very-very casually dressed, with some exceptions.. but I havenot seen any formal gowns, cocktail dresses at most

( may be I just missed them )

T.

 

Your experience actually appears to be fairly rare. There haven't even been people joining the discussion to say that it happened to them too. If you had booked pre cruise or on the first day then you would have been able to use your credits, maybe not at the exact times that you wanted, but you would have got them.

 

That's my point. I don't believe that they can't deal with the number of SDP customers put there. What they can't deal with is it being left until late in the cruise to book them. Restaurants fill up unfortunately.

 

.

it was always at lest 15 more people waiting with us, who were not able to make reservations. So I guess this is the problem.

And we were able to use our SDP, just no reservations and we had to wait and watch half-empy-fully-booked restaurants.

and I do not think what lunch time of day 3 is "late in the cruise".

I hope I'm not hijacking here, but I almost always book the restaurants I want on the web. I did that with our next cruise (the Jewel in April). But, I just tried that with the Gem out of New York at the end of May. Only Cagney's and Le Bistro were available. I booked the 1st night for Cagneys successfully but the other restaurants were not available (Teppanyaki, Moderno etc.)

 

So I called the friendly agents at NCL. After holding for exactly 52 minutes, I reached Rachel, who let me know that she couldn't book restaurants either. They were all full. 88 days before the voyage? We have the 3 meal package (and two for our Platinum status).

 

I'd appreciate any insights or new steps. Thanks. You all are great! :)

as I said before for us it was - show up without reservations earlier and wait for 30 minutes for hostess to give up on no-shows and get seated.

While standing and waiting for seating in Cagney's I have seen a lady show up at 6 pm and saying "I have 9 pm reservation at LaCusina" ... and got seated right away, that worked. I was amazed :) I have not thought myself that reservations are interchangeable like that.

we have been on Gateway and I am not thrilled with casino placement. it is in the middle of the deck and you have to walk through it and it does smell.

If you kid is 9 years + - they do tend to have kids club for 9-12 group in Bliss lounge just in the middle of casino.

another big smoking place is Sunset bar on waterfront, so half of waterfront smells ( and waterfront is great, I loved it.. quiet, nice chairs.. )

as for "big ship" experience.. may be RCL ? Gataway was big, but say compare to Dawn\Gem type of ships it had no much to offer - a little bigger waterslides and ropes course..that is it.

Boarding starts 11-30, but you can checking earlier and sit in waiting area..We have checked in around 11-15 and were group 7 for boarding..on the ship around 12-15 I think..

If you are in Heaven you will get nicer waiting area with some snacks and boarding ahead of other people..

This is the thing though. They are prepared for people to use them. There are sufficient spaces in the speciality restaurants for everyone who has the SDP to use them. If there wasn't then these boards would be full of people complaining about not being able to use their dining credits.

 

What there is a problem with is people waiting until the day, or later in the cruise, in order to book their reservations.

 

.

I think we are going in circles here :)

we were able to use our credits, but we had to stand and wait for at least half an hour in front of empty restaurants. And we were not only ones.. If we reserved earlier - it would have just shifted issue on someone else , not solve it.

as about "full boards" - there are tons of people who cruise and never been or posted on any boards. Out of group of people I cruised with it was only me who reads boards about cruising and even I hesitated should I post it here or not.

as about reservations .. I took 4 cruises with NCL before and never had issues with reserving LeBistro for same or next day. But yes, it was before SDP.

( I am also not a big fan of switching to ala carte pricing from cover charge, but this is full other topic to open :) )

60% of the tables are held for onboard booking. You didn't.

by lunch time on Day 3 they were all booked.

And again - it worked for us 4 cruises before, on smaller ships though, we were booking same day , knowing plans - how long we gonna stay in port, if we want to see some show etc..

also...just a thought - if they sell so many SDP dinners they should be prepared for people to use them.

Hello, does anyone know if there are volleyball courts on HC or any other areas for activities? Thanks!

I have not seen any.

they have zipline ( not cheap) and some kayak rentals ( again, they were free on Costa Maya )

for kids tiny water park ( too boring for 5 y.o ) and couple of animals in cages.

We have been on Harvest Caye last week, it was fine, but no , I will never book a cruise to it again.

It is boring. I mean no snorkeling, beach sand is too rough for kids to play with..

There are barely enough chairs and not enough shade - you cannot move umbrellas and there are totally not enough of them.

As about pool... well...it is shallow and people mostly standing in it with beer, and looks like they don't bother leaving for bathrooms..

Agan, water was warm and we spent some time on a beach, but nothing to see and do for the second time. I would prefer real Belize any day, it has so much fun stuff to offer.

We just off Gateway and there were no robes in our room. I never asked though.

we did just last week, it was good.

we choose animals + snorkel tour and payed 45 pp.

We spent about an hour snorkeling, then about an hour holding animals and making photos and then we got to a beach where we stayed for couple of hours

it was a good day, probably best of the cruise.

one tiny drawback was - car had no air conditioner :) but we survived it

His email dandan_johnson@yahoo.com and he is pretty responsive.

I think Victor Bodden also can get you there. I have used him as well before - no issues..

Royal Caribbean- cruise leaves on Sunday and returns on Friday before Easter. I was looking for a 5-6 day cruise.

I would say it will have enough kids, it will be vacation week at NY and probably other states, so unless plane tickets are crazy - people will travel..

Which is my whole point.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you at all as to how its is working on many cruises these days.

 

My point is that this is how it's working. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but these days this is what freestyle means, rightly or wrongly. From what you say, it sounds like the NCL setup isn't going to work for you whilst they are giving away the SDP.

yes, I am thinking on switching lines..

I have cruised with them and liked them, but some new things just not right anymore.

It is a little sad, since I am do not have a lot of option out of my home town and they we convenient for "no fly - save more " cruises.

If their reservation logic was so far out then we would be getting threads like this all the time. Unless people are keeping quiet about it (which is unlikely on this forum) or most people are getting to use their dining credits.

 

I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that there aren't enough reservations available for all the SDPs they are giving away or selling. Add in the ad hoc, pay as you go diners and there is the likelihood of having trouble if you leave it too late, but it isn't hard to get reservations if you have the package and don't leave it to the last minute.

we got to use our dining credits but it required standing for 30 minutes at least near hostess until she finally lets you in.

And reservations options were all gone on day 3 of the cruise...all, until end of cruise. I have seen enough people standing in hope to get in ...

Last time I sailed with NCL was before SDP and we had no issues with same day\next day reservations for desired time.

as about "not leaving to last minute" - planned by the minute vacation is not for me. I can plan for today, may be tomorrow, but planing on land ahead of time and place to it - it takes out too much of fun.

depends...what cruise line and where it cruises from..

our school shows spring break on 10-14 .. so NY will be out there :)

Absolutely agree.

 

People read freestyle as meaning you can decide what you want to do at short notice and be able to do it. That isn't how it works in practice (and I don't think that is ever how it was meant to be, but that is a different discussion).

 

Rightly or wrongly, what freestyle actually means in practice is that you decide your schedule. The choice of where and when to eat is yours, as is what entertainment to see and when to dress up (if at all), but you may have to plan it to make the most of it.

 

That is what I have always understood freestyle to mean, but regardless of whether that was the original intention or not, that is how it works now.

I could have booked restaurants in advance and even book specialty on each night of the cruise

but we are getting in "musical chair" kind of game here . They are out of spots on day 3, which means booking in advance for me just make someone else with SDP to stand and wait ...

may be they don't have enough waiters

may the their reservation logic is faulty..

..but it really does not work well..