Turtles06

That was definitely important to do years ago. But many if not most credit card companies no longer ask you to do that. (The bank thru which I have my ATM card doesn’t even have a way to record that info now.) Can’t hurt to try though. 😊

Thanks to folks who just plain cheat, or who rationalize their way to cheating because in their view a policy is "unfair," cruise lines like NCL require both adults in a cabin to get a drinks package even though only one might want it. Thanks a lot, folks.

How can we know? 🙂 Are you sure you don't have any typos? Is there any restriction on your card for international charges? Do you have another card you can use?

I’m on the same cruise as @Skicruiser55 and am booked at 10am with these folks: https://www.geirangerfjord.no/panorama-exclusive-bus

The 10am is what I'm on too! 🙂 My wife is doing the RIB tour in the morning. (We can move the discussion over to the Roll Call. 🙂) Judith

Hi @Skicruiser55. My wife already concluded this tour would not be for her, for the same reasons. I'm doing it, on the Panorama Bus Tour. Maybe your husband and I can meet up! 🙂

The taxi stand is on the southeast corner of 12th Ave and 48th St. (Remember, you have to cross 12th Ave to get to it.) For anyone taking a taxi, get a porter at baggage claim inside the terminal, even if you don't really need one. They'll take your stuff and get you across 12th Ave. and put you in a cab. Well worth the tip you will give them.

Fascinating. I thought folks who might be visiting the Van Gogh Museum soon might find this of particular interest: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/chef-spots-misidentified-vegetable-in-van-gogh-still-life-2287691

We have a port call in Geiranger in July, and my research showed that the Mt. Dalsnibba and Eagle Road bus tour was quite popular. Our cruise line (HAL) was offering a tour, but many folks on our Roll Call (including yours truly) are booked privately on the Panorama Exclusive Bus, link below. Obviously, not having done it yet, I can't recommend it, but I wanted you to have the info. If you do a search in this forum, you should find posts from folks recommending it. https://www.geirangerfjord.no/panorama-exclusive-bus PS: I spent many summers of my life in Monticello, NY. 🙂

We've visited Corinto twice on Panama Canal cruises, once in 2017, and once in 2020, just before the pandemic. Prior to that first visit, I'd done as much research as I could, and concluded that this port did not have much going for it and that the most interesting thing for me to do was to visit the architecturally interesting Cathedral of León, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Given the distance from the port, and it being Nicaragua, I took a ship's tour for this. (My wife chose to say on the ship for this port.) I wrote about that visit in my review of that Panama Canal cruise. You'll find it starting at comment 42 in this thread: For our second visit to Corinto, we both got off the ship and walked around the town for a little while. I doubt it's on anyone's list of favorite ports.

And many of us have done just that and been turned down by our drs. The reason, apart from the fact that the script requires a positive covid test, is also that Paxlovid interacts with many other meds and is contraindicated in certain situations.

Many doctors (in the US) will not give you paxlovid unless you have tested positive for covid. It’s not authorized otherwise.

Just an aside about Pommery, folks, if you really want to treat yourselves to something special, get a bottle of Pommery Cuvee Louise (on land, of course). 🙂

Hi @cruisemom42, I'm flattered by your tag. ☺️ I've done both the Golden Circle and South Coast tours, and they are both wonderful ways to spend a day. The question of which of these two tours to do (if someone is only going to do one) is asked often on here as you've probably seen. As a general matter, when I encounter that question, I tend to suggest the South Coast tour because of the spectacular natural beauty. From start to finish, it's a gorgeous day, with highlights along the way, including the black sand beach and basalt columns of Reynisfjara, and a number of beautiful waterfalls. Lots to photograph of course, and possibly a more "photogenic" day overall than the Golden Circle. Or, at least, more sweeping vistas, given the nearby ocean! In your case, though, given your specific interest in history, you might find the Golden Circle tour more substantively interesting. You mentioned Thingvellir, which I'm sure you know is a UNESCO World Heritage site and of course one of the three highlights of the Golden Circle. It's where the parliament of Iceland began in the late 10th Century, and (especially if you have a good guide or guide book) there is much history to be learned about how that came about and what came next. It's the original site of the world's longest running parliament. Thingvellir was also a thrill for me as someone interested in geology, since it's the only place in the world where the Mid-Atlantic Rift is above sea level, and it was an absolute thrill to walk alongside the North American tectonic plate. Photo op right there that you can't get anywhere else (above ground)! The other two highlights of the Golden Circle are the Gullfoss waterfall (Godafoss is outside Akureyri), which is huge and spectacular (more of a Niagara Falls type view than the vertical bands of waterfalls of the South Coast), and the Geysir geothermal area. If you've been to Yellowstone, you aren't likely to be wowed by the latter, but it's still lovely and you can get some good photos of a geyser erupting. I hope I've offered some useful information. I know you research your travel well, so I'm sure you will do sufficient reading and look at images,and think about what would be most important for your day. I don't think you can go wrong either way, and I hope you enjoy whichever you choose! (And the rest of your trip of course!)

Pommery is a really excellent champagne. I have to say, I don't get the almost cult-like devotion to Veuve. It's good, yes, but so are many other champagnes.

Here comes the Sun . . . (Miraflores web cam)

The Sun has sailed under the Centennial Bridge (far right) and is approaching the Pedro Miguel Locks on the Pacific side of the Canal

You're most welcome. Just about every ship has a forward-facing exterior deck high up, and it's always crowded during a Canal transit. But it's a shame that the Sun did not open her bow as well. We've transited the Canal on both the NCL Gem and the NCL Jewel, and the bow was opened all four times. It's a different perspective to be down that low. Perhaps there's something about the equipment on the Sun's bow that made it too dangerous to have guests out there, or maybe it's just too small. In any event, I hope everyone on board the Sun is enjoying their transit today!

I had the same reaction to that "compensation."

Here's a screenshot from the Panama Canal's Gatun Locks webcam:

We were on B2B cruises aboard the Gem in Jan/Feb, a total of 23 days (NY to Panama and back). There were numerous "port" T-shirts for sale in the gift shop throughout the cruise. I think they were 2 for $25. They were mostly of ports that were not on our itinerary. They were also not very attractive (imho) -- huge graphics taking up the entire front of the shirt. What was really disappointing, though, is that the expected shipment of Panama Canal T-shirts was not delivered for either of our two transits of the Canal. (This was confirmed by the staff in the gift shop.) On our prior transits of the Canal, there were tons of Canal shirts available the day of the transit and after.

There's about a 50-50 chance that the ordered water will be in your stateroom. If it's not, just ask your cabin steward. NCL doesn't charge for distilled water (yet). HAL does, don't know about other cruise lines.

That is definitely one of NCL's best desserts imho. 🙂 BTW, I noticed on your list of Officers and Staff that "JC Sanchez" is the Cruise Director. Is that "Johnny Cash" Sanchez? I remember very few CDs, but "Johnny Cash," as he was known a decade or so ago on the Gem or Jewel (I forget which now), was fabulous and really added to the cruise. I hope you had a good day in Panama. Enjoy the transit tomorrow!

We'll be sailing on the Rotterdam this summer, first time on a Pinnacle class ship. A small group of us will be taking a morning tour together (not a HAL tour), and want to meet on board before disembarking, so that we know we're all there and aren't looking for anyone down at the pier. Any suggestions for a good meeting place on the ship? Preferably on a lower deck (so that we can easily get to the gangway), not too far from elevators, and someplace that's not likely to be very crowded early in the morning. Thanks for any suggestions!

Having transited the Canal four times, I'd say that's a pretty good explanation. NCL will have paid extra to reserve a daylight transit for the Sun, I'm pretty sure on a specific day. Hopefully, NCL will still be able to take the Sun through on a different day. Ships typically leave Cartagena early in the afternoon in order to get to the Atlantic entrance to the Canal by around 5:30am the next morning, in line for the daylight transit, which will typically start around 6-6:30am. @smillerholmes -- I love your attitude. Keep staying positive! Thanks for letting us know what's going on; I hope everything is working again soon!!