Turtles06

I guess that will give NCL the option of using Amber Cove if it doesn't feel comfortable that day with Taino Bay. 🙂 (Sucks for pax planning, though.)

If you have an iPhone or other Apple device running on iOS 16, no special service is needed to remove the background from a well-defined subject. You just tap on the subject and hold it until a white shimmer appears around it, then choose copy or share to place the subject wherever you want. E.g., you can email it to yourself, which will create a new photo with just the subject and a white background.

Thanks. That was certainly my understanding of how VPN works. It’s a shame NCL can’t communicate better. 🙃🤣🙃

Thanks! Silly me, I'd been looking at the package descriptions in my account where NCL is trying to sell them to me, and those descriptions are different. 🤣 I notice that NCL uses this strange wording re the VPN, placing it within the access to email only: "This Unlimited Premium Wi-Fi package gives you access to unlimited web surfing, email access (including VPN), social media access, all apps." I have to believe that this was just poorly written by NCL and that once you have logged on using a VPN, you are accessing the internet through the VPN for all purposes and not just for email access. I can't even imagine how a system could even impose those limitations, but can someone please confirm that the VPN works for all internet access? (It would be pretty useless if it didn't.) Thanks!!

I did the check a few days ago for my wife and myself on the NCL app using my iPhone, and it was a breeze. Have your photos ready (either on your phone if using the app, or on whatever device you are using if you are signing in on line to your NCL account) -- blank wall (to be on the safe side), no glasses or hats or face coverings. (I've always taken the photos on my phone and haven't had a photo rejected because the file size was too great.) And, as noted above, also have your passport info, your credit card info, and the name and contact info for your emergency contact (not traveling with you, obviously). You will have to watch the (brief) safety video. And, if you are checking in someone else as well, you'll have to watch it again for them. 🙂 Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

Since our most recent visit to Cartagena was three years ago just before the pandemic, I can't offer the recent advice you are looking for in your various questions, except to say that the climate remains unchanged and that it is typically very hot and humid in Cartagena, and the earlier you start your day there, the better off you will be. 🙂 I hope you have a great time! We've been to Cartagena twice, the first time taking a great private tour with Dora de Zubiria (along with a bunch of folks from our Roll Call), and the second time taking a cab to the Fortress and spending hours touring it on our own, then hopping a cab back.

We'll be sailing on the Gem shortly, and I would appreciate hearing about recent experiences with using a VPN with NCL Wi-Fi -- is it still the case on NCL that a VPN will work if you have the PREMIUM unlimited Wi-Fi, and only with that package? My search here returned at least one thread with a screenshot from last summer of NCL's description of the Premium unlimited package, and it specifically said "including VPN," but neither the description now of that package in my NCL account on line or on the app mentions using a VPN. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone with fairly recent knowledge about this. I'd like to get the least expensive Wi-Fi package that allows use of a VPN, and have no need for the Premium package if it doesn't allow it. (I use NORD VPN, if that matters to the answer.) I'll add one more question: is Wi-Fi calling only (still) available with the Premium package? Thanks for any info, tips, or advice!

We’ll be on the Gem soon. Here’s the Cagney’s sample menu showing in my account on the NCL app. Hope that helps.

Our shareholder OBC shows in my account in that same green block but in a line *above* payment status called “Onboard Spending Money.” And it also shows up further down the same page as shown in comment 10 above, quoted here:

Since flowers have been mentioned, is it worth visiting the Flower Auction in Aalsmeer in late June? I know it will be open, but wondering if it’s really a seasonal thing or whether this would be a good time of year. Thank you!

They are at Taino Bay. See the two comments immediately before yours. 😊

Here's a screenshot of cruisemapper.com, showing the Dawn and Sky in the same location that Marine Traffic shows them (see my comment immediately above)

Marine Traffic shows the Dawn (and Sky) at Taino Bay. (See below.) Looking at cruisemapper.com, I also see them at Taino Bay. (See comment below.) Not sure why you are saying Amber Cove.

Hello and thanks for joining this thread. Quick questions: we have a turnaround day (full day) at Fuerte Amador in February. Do you know if we can expect cabs to be waiting to pick up passengers wherever the shuttle buses from the ship leave us off on the Causeway (possibly Flamenco Island)? And, for the return, how easy would it be to get a cab to return to the ship (or, more specifically, wherever on the Causeway we have to be dropped off) from, say, Casco Viejo, or the Miraflores Visitor Center? Would Uber be a better option? Thanks for any advice!

Agreed, but a BTS tour may well visit the engine control room. We've been able to do that. Fascinating.

If you do a search in this forum separately for Alesund, Geiranger, and Bergen, you’ll find a great deal of info about each of them. In fact, just scroll down through the threads.

I’m sorry you’re losing that hour from what was already a relatively short port call. I’ve seen that “carbon footprint” letter posted before, and it strikes me as ridiculous.

Folks, the British Isles forum here on CC has a wealth of info re hotels in Southampton, getting to Southampton from London or Heathrow, where the cruise terminals are located, etc. All of these topics are regularly discussed there and questions answered. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

I agree about the Gem -- perfect size! Are you on the Feb. 6 Panama to NY sailing? If so, please come over and join the Roll Call:

I thought it was going to be a question about Cinnabons

I hope you are able to find something that will work for you! We have two port calls to Eidfjord this summer, and have booked a ship's tour that will take us to the overlook at the hotel, which I hope will be sufficient for us. (Frankly, I'm not sure I could even walk out onto the Step Bridge! 😂 More power to you!!)

I don't know if this is helpful to you, but this web site about the Step Bridge project includes the following: "Vøringsfossen is the largest waterfall in Norway and the third most visited tourist attraction, next to the Vigeland Sculpture Park and the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo. The project covers a large area, including a visitor center, a walkway over the waterfall, various viewpoints, and service facilities. The area also includes an existing hotel." [emphasis added] https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/opening-voringsfossen-waterfall-step-bridge-carl-viggo-holmebakk

While I can't answer the luggage storage question, I do want to be sure you know that the cruise terminal at Fuerte Amador (which is still under construction and not being used yet by guests) is at the end of the Amador Causeway, not someplace I suspect you'd want to go all the way back to before going to the airport, which is on the other side of Panama City. What are you planning to do for the day? Is NCL offering an excursion for disembarking guests that will then take you to the airport later in the day? (That would also solve your luggage question.)

Well, if no one reports in by February 6, I'll try to do so from the NCL Gem, which will be turning around in Fuerte Amador that day. I'll be on the B2B that starts and ends in NY, but there are a number of folks who will be embarking in Fuerte Amador for the cruise back through the Canal to NY.

There’s an app call Tube Map that I have on my phone that we find extreme helpful for getting around the Underground. It will plan your route for you from station X to Station Y (or to a well known place), give you the options for getting there (which lines to take), tell you when the trains are arriving and how long they’ll take. I think it’s invaluable. It’s free with ads, but a nominal one month charge to get rid of them. (I use the equivalent app for the Paris Metro.) Don’t leave home without it. 😊