OV8

While it is probably fun, there is no real need for a Jeep - the roads to Whitehorse and Carcross are paved.

Totally agree.

With all the stops & the length of the road in Skagway, we barely had enough time to get back to the ship comfortably.

You can go off road but then you might be giving up some stops along the way.

We've done the POA twice. I think a combination land/cruise visit is the best option if you have the vacation time. Fly in early precruise or stay over on one of the islands. The island are all so different and we love seeing them all. I don't think I could choose just one or two for a strictly land vacation.

Yeah, time would be an issue.

As I doubt we'd have more than 1 day prior & 1 day post cruise at most.

This is on our list for next year as a late summer or early fall trip.

iConcierge is now $9.95 (for texting and calling onboard) for a seven night cruise but the app has been updated and works better. Keep in mind though, that you have to keep it open or you will not get messages.

So I was going to reply originally that the app was buggy.

Ha thanks for confirming this. I thought it was only my family! :D

Recently on my Jewel trip, some members complained that they weren't getting mssgs.

I suspected it wasn't running - at least in the background - or wasn't fully connected to the ship's network at all time.

You've got it exactly right. The POA visits 5 ports in Hawaii. In order to duplicate what you'd see on the cruise, you'd have to book expensive hotels in each of those cruise ports. Food in Hawaii is very expensive, as in $30 pp for breakfast. Then you'd have to book a flight between Waikiki and Maui, another over to the Big Island, and another over to Kauai. Unless you fly home from one of those islands, you'd have to add a 4th flight back to HNL. With all the flying around, check in and out at hotels, you're going to lose a lot of tour and relaxation time, so add a few days on to make up for the lost time and factor in hotels and food for the extra days.

 

Or, you could simply unpack once on the POA and relax, spending maximum time actually seeing what you came to Hawaii to see, eating for free, and being entertained for free in the evenings. The food in Hawaii is wonderful, but would be very expensive if you had to purchase every meal. We like to do a few special meals on the overnights, or a lunch off the ship.

 

By the time you add up the inter island flights, food, and hotels, I don't think you can do better than the price of a POA cabin, unless you are booking an expensive suite. An inside cabin will work just fine for this cruise. Touring on your own with a rental car from the cruise ship is very easy and inexpensive in Hawaii, so you can save some money there.

@ punkincc - thank you for setting me straight or at least confirming my suspicions.

If I were to do Hawaii a 2nd time - after an initial cruise visit - then maybe I'd do land only island hops.

But going for the first time, I can't imagine a better more cost effective bang for your buck than on a POA agenda.

If you've never been to Hawaii, take a land vacation! You will see more, and do more...and get a better over-all experience! Yeah...cruises are great, but not for Hawaii! Land based is the way to go!

Cost wise how does it compare to a 7 day cruise + airfare from the main land?

I can see where it would be more expensive having to island hop on your own dime vs. having the cruise ship take you island to island.

And food on your own may not be as good as on the ship.

But that's just my no-experience pre-conceived notion.

I'd rather hear from posters with pro's vs cons of land vs. sea.

I'm not going to say what you should or should not do, but here is what I do.

 

I book out as far as I know I want to go. So, if it were me I would book now. Then, i would watch the prices and sales to see if a better deal comes along. if it does, I rebook with that new deal. Once I get near the cancellation penalty period, I then buy trip insurance. I don't like to buy the trip insurance too far in advance in case I end up cancelling.

Can you explain more about using trip insurance in conjunction with cancellation?

How difficult is it to collect from the insurance company?

How much are you out of pocket for with the cruise line when cancelling?

What a mess.

Another excellent reply thanks. Those are our ports exactly and I've done the weather layout as well without the actuals. I think we'll be fine.

 

P.S. the pants look a little heavy for me, but I have a pair similar and they are packed already.

I'll vouch for the pants - as I am a sweat hog/claustrophobe - but they made of light waterprrof stretchy material & if you are hot, you can roll the bottoms up & button them up to get some air circulation around your ankle.

That's what I did in Ketchikan, and no one dared call me capri boy LOL!

Layers, hoodies, other outer wear needed?

If you are strictly asking about what to use only for light hiking, walking around the port & even for kayaking then you would be comfortable with:

1 pair of hiking pant in my prior post,

1 fleece pullover or sweatshirt,

1 long sleeve tee or base layer, and one rain jacket

and a tennis/trail shoe.

Good info, thx. Additionally, I wear shorts from April-Nov...will that work in 2 weeks when we're there? Layers, hoodies, other outer wear needed?

I actually did a port by port 15 year weather analysis using weatherunderground's historical numbers for each day that we would be in port & it was pretty much accurate for late July.

I am not sure what the temps would be like in late August but when we were there it felt like early spring late winter in the mid-atlantics i.e. high 50's low 60's.

Ketchikan - history = possible rain; actual = no rain

Juneau - history= certain rain; actual = rain

Skagway - history = certain rain; actual = rain

Victoria - history = sunny; actual = sunny

Seattle - history = sunny; actual = sunny

Pardon me, as I don't know if these are the same ports that your trip will call upon.

That said, I tend to wear shorts from April - October but still invested in this pant for all 3 AK ports. They were perfect for our AK hikes (no glacier hopping for us), are versatile & not too heavy for my hot sweaty self.

And you could actually use it in the dining rooms & not feel out of place.

Victoria & Seattle are for sure shorts weather. After you come back from AK, Victoria & Seattle felt downright hot.

What can you or anyone tell me about Footwear at Mendenhall glacier? Just regular shoes or boots required?

I was just there 2 weeks ago off the Jewel.

It was rainy, wet & the paths + area immediately surrounding the base of the fall was flooded out.

So we couldn't get to the actual fall base.

But all the paved or wood plank trails around the glacier & fall were all traversable with regular tennis shoe at the very least.

We even did the hardier east glacier loop trail (1.5 miles all the way around) under those conditions with out any problems for my 80 year old Dad.

Yes, a water resistant goretex shoe might make you "feel" better but you are NOT anywhere near impassable conditions or ankle high flooded walk ways.

If anything you'd want something with a few more nubs on the bottom sole for traction but not bulky like a hiker.

My preference is a trail runner & mine was this 7 years old shoe.

Otherwise, a tennis shoe with good traction will get you safely & comfortably through!

For me the only way you will be considered a "HOG" is if you are those types that set your paperback or a cruise line issued towel on a lounger & then walk away for 2-3 hours & don't come back ever to visit in that time.

Otherwise, if people can see you clearly enjoying the lounger (& not your lifeless paperback) then they won't have a problem.

Rising @ 7am to lay a paperback or t-shirt down on a lounger & then going for a 2.5 hour breakfast & gift shop excursion is downright rude & open those types to all sort of nasties.

They are doing this because there is a problem with expulsion system and they need to repair it in Seattle. I have been on the phone with them multiple times today. They are being difficult even giving me a hard time about wanting to change my perk from the excursion discount (less ports) to UBP because we are so close to sail. I'm only making the change because of a change they made so close to sail. Beyond frustrated at the moment. $100 on board credit and bad customer service is all they are offering.

WTH is the expulsion system?

Perhaps it's not clear, that's not what I wrote or intend to, with respect to Fi at sea - it is not, referring to availability on the islands, including Bermuda (and, of course, Mexico & Canada ... where we are heading this Fall to see foilage, Asia last year when we did fly-n-stay escorted tours)

Ahhh -- - sorry I misinterpreted what you wrote about PFi.

 

On the Breakaway, we used ship's WiFi package (which has the "faster" speed within the fleet) - we allocated about 4 hours of "airtime" minutes daily while at sea (since we didn't need it while docked/on land) but in practice, used about 6 hours worth a day, one device at a time & that was plentiful.

 

The setup was conditionally call-forwarding using Google Voice (both calls & SMS/text) to our Nexus devices, and to an unlocked iPhone 5S with Fi's data only Sim. All "other" calls go directly to our lines' VM and they're transcribed & received as email for screening, once we enabled our devices. While on the ship, we use Hangouts to screen SMS, emails & make free outgoing calls (if necessary) - it's a somewhat elaborate & complicate setup but very functional, with another backup global travel # that roam on AT&T on the ship for true emergency calls at higher cellular rates (about $2.50 USD per minute). That's essentially VoIP or WiFi calling for the average person and worked well - with compatible hardware - and it doesn't need lots of bandwidth, just like Skype - which we can also use.

I also use Google Voice & Hangouts via my N6P & my wife's iPhone

But I always thought you had to use a land based WiFi network or else how would they figure out how to charge you?

That being said, I don't doubt you had the ability to make GV calls while using the Escape's WiFi network while out at sea.

I of course, didn't try since I also suspected the satellite signal is not up to par from past experience with satellite WiFi.

Keep in mind that I would only recommend this setup for someone sailing on the Breakaway, other ships - based on everything I've read, seen or know (nieces/other relatives been on the Getaway & Pearl ... not working well or at all) - a combo of ship's WiFi and cellular in the ports. T-Mobile's Simple Choice Plan with int'l roaming data at 2G is painfully slow and on par with ship's satellite speed, since it's throttled.

When we got to AK & roaming, the calls were good on TMO network but the data was spotty at best in terms of consistent speeds.

In Victoria BC, the both data & calls were good but not on the first try/connection.

That $1400 with 4 freebies looks fabulous

I've been on 4 different NCL ships and the Cagneys menu is essentially the same on each one. I've eaten there at least 10 times and have never had a bad meal.

 

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Cagney's compared very favorably to some land based steak & seafood houses costing 2-3x more.

We were there using 2 out of our 3 not really free specialty dining perk last week.

I would say that the entrees were spectacular & the sides were not as memorable but were right sized compared to land based S&S restaurant sides.

Haha, :D :eek: :p :rolleyes: - LOL, what's that again ... keep waiting, blame EMC, pass the bucks to the orbiting satellites, waiting for the contractors, etc. etc.

 

Well, since our last cruise in late May on the Breakaway, our Google Fi network's international data roaming speed has gone 10X to 20X faster, previously at 3G speed in the Caribbeans including Bermuda, to 4G and almost LTE speed, with no price increases - $10 per GB, same as domestic/home rates - that's 1,000 MB worth of data. The same data over satellite was priced at $129 on the Breakaway, at slower but reasonable & usable speed over 5 GHz band (2.4 GHz being more commone & more congested) - fortunately, we had that Choice250 "Free" package as part of the promotion, so we got 1 GB worth of data to use when we registered & activated - ended up using less than 2 GB worth of data on the timer as we shared/used 2 stateroom's allowance.

 

BA has switched out the Cisco routers/hotspots to NEC between 2015 and 2016 and from what I looked at ... should be an easier upgrade. For other ships in the fleet, might take a while - patience is a virture, don't hold your breath.

 

Someone sailing soon on the Jade wishing ... don't bet on it anytime soon. Isn't she not scheduled for dry docking until Spring 2017.

I wasn't aware Project Fi was available on board a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean??

Yes, you can use any OBC for drinks purchases plus the 18% auto tip (and anything you may want to leave on top of that).

Thanks KeithJenner & everyone else for chiming in on this thread.

I sat down & reconciled everything on my bill on a spreadhseet.

Categorized them & even tried to align the various credit types with the charges.

At the end of the day, & having been in the Banking industry far too long - I over thought it.

In sum:

The 2 debit & credit columns just net themselves out to ending bottom line balance.

Even when associating charges to the OBC by refundable & non refundable, it still just basically nets the 2 columns.

Simple & elegant.

NCL does it right here.

Thanks again all!

But the gratuity on the free at sea perks are paid along with your cruise fare, not on your onboard account.

 

At least that is what has always been stated. Your experience would suggest otherwise, so I suspect it may actually be something else.

Would you happen to know if the OBC (non refundable) can be used for the drink purchases - which includes an automatic 18% tip - on the ship or in the specialty restaurants?

I know that OBC can't be used for tips but what if the drink bill includes the tip in it?

But the gratuity on the free at sea perks are paid along with your cruise fare, not on your onboard account.

 

At least that is what has always been stated. Your experience would suggest otherwise, so I suspect it may actually be something else.

Hmmm...

I just checked my final payment confirmation from my travel agent & it does have the $12.42 charges as included in the final cruise payment.

Thanks for that reminder!

I'll have to check again on my final statement when I get home to see what these charges are & itemize them.

.

That is what most people do. We prepay ours for two reasons. One is to make the final bill easier to check. Since the DSC is charged daily and we take long cruises that saves two lines a day for 14-33 days. We don't have UBP so drinks also take up lines, as do casino tournaments on our ta sea days.

The other reason we prepay is to have that charge on a different billing period than the cruise bill.

Great advice.

Wish I had seen this before I took the cruise. LOL!

What is the $13.50 speciality restaurant fee for exactly? Is that the gratuity?

 

Just wondering ...

 

Cheryl

Dug a little deeper in my question about the Service Charges aka Gratuities & it basically is 18% of the Dining Package 'Free at Sea' perk's cost.

I'm still not sure how the math came out to $13.50 pp for my 3 meal Specialty Dining Package perk.

I don't have the bill in front of me here at work. But it should be $69 x 18% = $12.42 pp not $13.50 pp.

As stated before, your perks aren't always free with NCL.

Being new to NCL this cruise, I am now more aware for future reference of all the fine print.

The OBC from NCL should cover everything except what you call the cabin steward tip (based on the amount I assume you are talking about the DSC). I'm a little unsure what you mean by the speciality restaurants service fees, but I can't think of anything it could be that isn't payable from all OBC.

If the TA OBC was refundable then it can be used against anything. The only problem is the order that the OBC is used. I've heard differing stories, but there is the possibility that it could have been used first against items like the drinks and gifts and then the NCL OBC ran out of things to be applied against.

 

Without knowing how much you drank and what the ships doctors visit cost, we can't say for sure, but it would surprise me if all OBC wasn't used.

Oh, the OBC was definitely all used.

I was just trying to line up what went with what charge.

The bill just has a debit & credit column & then a final balance at the bottom.

You can't specify what to use your OBC on...If you have $200 OBC, the 1st $200 you spend is covered.....it's merely a credit against any charges.

OBC cannot be lined up against cabin tips - true?

Therefore, it's everything exclusive of cabin tips.

But what about the $13.50 Service fees in the Specialty restaurants (we got the 3 free special dining upgrade)? Is that in the same category as cabin tip & the OBC can't be applied to that?

Ran off the ship with my bill at first chance & now I am starting to recon it.

I had a $100 refundable credit from my travel agent delivered as gift to my account and

$85 non-cash out OBC from NCL.

What can the $100 apply to & what can the $85 apply to if we had these charges:

1) $189 cabin steward tip.

2) On board gift shop items

3) Specialty restaurants service fees ($13.50 pp per restaurant)

4) Emergency ship doctor's visit

5) Alchohol/Speciality drinks

6) NCL port de-embarkation poncho (they called it a house keeping item)