djwho

How long did it take to do the tram/walk and mendahail glacier? Weather permitting I want to do the tram first, but would also love the glacier.

The whale tour from the ship is $240 per person for 4 hours.... I think I can get more port time and more value for my money... but maybe I'm wrong....

either Juneau or Skagway..... CruiseB, whenever I search I get everything plus, not sure what I'm doing wrong, but if you could post some tricks I would appreciate it

Just booked for an Aug 28th sail... Was going to book whale watching through the ship, but with exchange rates, it's very expensive.....so my question is, who is local and good..

I was hoping anyone that has sailed the Mexican Riviera could advise on experiences with some of the snorkel shore excursions or nature excursions such as the sea turtles etc.

Haven't really decided much for the upcoming cruise.

Thanks for the updates. I fly in at noon, will drop off luggage and make the best of what time I have.

I'm looking at a private tour and wondered if it's reasonable to get on one of the first tenders in the morning. I'm thinking because we overnight in Cabo, there won't be a made rush to get off the ship.... could be wrong though.

Arriving on Nov 1st with NCL Sun, and can't seem to find this info.

Thank you for the replies, looking forward to this tour

I'm hoping people from San Diego can advise.

I'm flying into San Diego, figure by the time I get to the hotel (Ramada/St. James) 1:30 p.m. at the latest.

I'm hoping someone can advise how long it would take to tour of this ship? I believe it closes at 4:00.

Thanks

I'm fairly new to cruising and first time on NCL. what are the changes that have people upset? I just booked the Mexican Riviera cruise.

DJ

I've printed off all the shore excursions for my cruise, but wondered if I'm missing something as the printout does not show the start times of the excursion. Seems I have to go into each one as if I was booking the excursion and see when it leaves.

Is there an easier way?

Thanks

Thanks for the posts... I'm sure we will wait till we board....

I've been searching and can't seem to find the price of a "can" of soda. My friend and I are travelling together, (not a couple, not a family - just two friends travelling and sharing the costs of a cabin).

She is interested in the soda package but the rule seems to be, we both have to purchase the package. I know I can bring some onboard and might do that, depends on whether or not we buy the package and I won't limit her purchase.

Has anyone been successful in getting NCL to not make us both purchase the package?

My apology for mistakenly saying Kauai instead of Kona. :o That'll teach me not to post while doing other things. ;)

 

Once I scuba dived a week in Kona & without many sandy beaches visibility was excellent with short boat rides. The last I checked Kona only got 0.04" of rain so probably not much runoff to cloud the visibility.

Good advise either way. I'm completely new to snorkelling and have never been to Hawaii.

Thanks for the input. The tour operator out of Kona mentioned they are still doing their snorkelling trips since iselle left. I'm waiting for input from the hotel as I was planning on being their Aug 30th.

Has anyone gone snorkelling since the storms passed through? Wondered how the waters were.

Not sure where you are from, but I've only gone to Alaska twice (i'm from Canada) Last time was the two week cruise on the Amsterdam. A lot of rainy days and cold. Both Hubby and I used the following jacket. It was two fold, yes it is water proof the rain just beads off of it, and it also kept us warm. I think it depends on what type of activity you will be doing. When I was on one excursion it rained, so I used the cheap rain poncho I bought which helped with the legs as I was on top of the catamaran taking pictures… but didn't help much with the wind etc., but my hoodie kept my body nice and dry and warm.

http://www.marks.com/shop/en/marks-marksdefaultsalescatalog/full-zip-thermal-hoodie-20591

Here is a link which you can share with your family and then do some homework including contacting Canadian Government. It's March now so if they qualify, now is the time to hustle on getting the paperwork done.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5312ETOC.asp

I would strongly recommend this tour. We took it back in 2012 when we were in Anchorage (Amsterdam). So we had the bus trek portion as well, and the day flew by.

You should see lots of seals (much closer than on the ship), whales are a possibility (we did see them), but the scenery is just amazing. If I get back there I will do it again.

Donna

Review of Westerdam – Nov 30th – Dec 7th

The purpose of this cruise with strictly R&R and I was sailing solo this trip. I chose the Westerdam as it put me at Half Moon Cay for my birthday. What more could I ask for? This is my third cruise (all with HAL).

I started off with flying to Fort Lauderdale on the 28th. Didn’t want to get stuck in Canada in one of our winter storms as I was flying into Toronto for my connection. Of course when I booked everything, I completely forgot about the American Thanksgiving. I almost changed my dates but remembered Half Moon Cay on my birthday. Someone was watching out for me, because the weather became nasty while I was on my cruise back home.

I wanted a hotel close to the port and beach access so I could walk down the beach and be part of what I’ve been watching on the Port Everglades webcam for several months, so LagoMar it was. Beautiful hotel, I like the looks and feel of it, AND very family oriented AND very busy during the long weekend.

Weather was a bit cool and wet during my few days in Fort Lauderdale, but okay since I’m Canadian and some wind and rain is better than cold and freezing wind chills.

Enjoyed watching the sail away Friday night, as I was able to watch the Zuiderdam sail way. My first cruise was on the Zuiderdam.

Embarkment - I left the hotel just before 11:00 to head to the port. Cab ride is about 10 minutes and costs around $15 without tip. The process of arriving was painless, and it was about half an hour tops I believe before I was on the ship. Still have not had the Mariners lunch people talk about and this is my third cruise.

My cabin was 5080 (just above the life boats). Since it was just me; the smaller balcony was not an issue. This cabin has a tub with shower.

Room Condition - Air conditioning – I’ve read reports where people were having problems with their air conditioning. All I can say is I felt like I walked into a freezer, had to adjust it a bit, but no problems on that cruise with air conditioning.

You can clearly see when it comes to the stateroom overall that there is a definite need to update or replace some items. Curtains on the balcony doors need to be replaced, they are worn and dirty, carpet worn etc. Grouting in the tub has some moldy spots, the diverter wasn’t working right, taps at sink had a slow leak.

Ports – Grand Turks, didn’t plan a thing and thought I would wait and see what the weather was like, and then decide what I wanted to do. It was a nice day so off to the beach I went and tried out my new Olympus TG2 waterproof camera. Should have brought my snorkel and mask. There were some fish around, not sure why I was thinking with all the people swimming there would be no fish. Oh well, live and learn.

San Juan – did the walking tour of Old San Juan. Good tour, but my only complaint on this, is the 2.5 hour tour ended up being closer to 4 hours by the time we were done. So if you have other plans, be careful. The guide was very much into the historical importance of San Juan that he didn’t give much opportunity to take photos. Also the tour doesn’t end back at the ship. You have about a 15-minute walk to get back to the pier. I mention this as I wasn’t intending to shop or dine by myself, and it was important for me to tour with a group. So I just followed the crowds on the streets and made my way back. Also take the large bottle of water off the ship unless you are use to the heat.

St. Maartens - took the glass bottom boat excursion and to be honest, the time off the ship was okay, we did get to see some fish, but it was for a very brief time. They have a diver on board who goes into the water with food and the fish gather around him and swim with him as he circles the boat. You literally go below, single file, two people to a bench. As the first couple is seated, you put the bench down, then the second two with a bench etc. until you fill the seats. If you are claustrophobic, this probably isn’t for you. The scenery was nice between the bus and boat, but I would have loved it, if they stopped along the way for a few photo opportunities. Instead you spend half an hour in St. Martins shopping. I myself would rather have had the opportunity to get up close to a chameleon, than shop.

Half Moon Cay – seriously I could have stowed away on this island. Loved, loved, loved it. I started my birthday with the stingray snorkel and really enjoyed it. The water was cold at 9:30 in the morning. A younger couple was in front of me complaining of it being cold and chickened out and told me to go first. I figured if I could swim in a glacier fed lake, it wasn’t going to be that cold. It was cool as the snorkel adventure is on the west side of the island and the sun wasn’t high enough yet. Guess my age is showing, as that wouldn’t have bothered me 30 years ago. Go later in the day and it will have warmed up. I really enjoyed this excursion and would do it again and the price is right.

I was also planning the Snorkel by boat excursion later on, but it was cancelled due to choppy waters. I guess it’s better to be safe than become fish food. So I turned a lemon into lemonade and went to the waterpark area and snorkeled. It’s not the coral, but still some fish and still had a good time and more practice with my camera.

Disembarkment – after reading stories of long wait times to clear through customs I decided I would stay another day in Fort Lauderdale and fly home early on Sunday morning. All I can say is, I swear it was five minutes after picking up my luggage that I was out looking for a taxi. So I guess I got lucky. I took one of the later disembarkment times and there was no wait.

Okay onto the good the bad and the ugly……(very little ugly… :-))

Room Stewards – perfect gentlemen and very respectful but way overworked. They should be focused on the rooms only and not also involved with hosing down the decks etc. That could be done by another crewmember.

Public areas of the ship were clean and maintained. Whenever I was out walking around on the Promenade deck, it just didn’t seem very busy. The pools on the other hand, especially days in port where busy. My only complaint is the cleaning of balconies during the day when you would use it, and also the pool area was shut down early. To me the daylight hours of the public areas are for the travellers who have paid to be on the cruise. You need to have dedicated night staff to work on some of the cleaning at night (like the pool area)

Entertainment – didn’t go to any of the shows, so I can’t comment.

Hydropool/thermal suite, purchased the week pass and if I ever book a week cruise again, will pay for when I use it. I found that when it was a port day, I didn’t go, especially when I was at the beach swimming in Gran Turks and Half Moon Cay.

Food is subject to many likes/dislikes etc. I only ate at the dining room once for the Mariner lunch. I ate at the Lido and had some room service. Food over all in the lido was good. My only complaint is the hours. I went to have breakfast without realizing it didn’t open till 6:30. When it did finally open, I went to get my breakfast and the cooked bacon was cold. Clearly food is being prepared night before, to start the next day.

I personally think with all the reviews I’ve read that the cruise ships should move to privatizing the dining options and have people pay for their food. That way they can focus on being a floating hotel that takes you on a tour. You would see less waste of food and better service if I have a choice of 4 venues for example to have breakfast. Just my opinion.

Room Service – what can I say, I’m convinced now between my experience at both the LagoMar and on the Westerdam, I shouldn’t order room service ever again. Three strikes on both venues. For the Westerdam, the food was cold, my medium rare steak was well cooked and dried out and looked like it had been sitting under a lamp for a very long time. My hot water for my breakfast was luke warm, eggs were cold, bacon cold. Wrote a complaint and also noted the problem with the online survey.

First 48 hours. Hal needs to rethink what they are doing. They don’t want you to help yourself, yet at certain stations you need to take your own desert spoons!!! They put plates and bowls in front of the food suggesting to people they are to take one. The server should clearly not be leaning over the food to get a plate or bowl, BUT most importantly, HAL needs to staff the stations properly. The bread and fruit stations were not manned at all.

At the end, I stayed another night at Lago Mar and was able to head down to watch the sail away live, but it was getting dark by the time the Westerdam sailed away. One more thing to mention, when watching the Zuiderdam sail away, I was sitting on the rocks. Noticed a rat scurrying along. So I scurried to another spot not on the rocks. Guess I’m spoiled being an Albertan.

Overall the purpose of my trip was successful and I enjoyed my cruise. I rested and enjoyed my time in ports. This was my first trip down to the Caribbean and I would go again.

Donna

I was on the Westerdam on the Nov 30th sailing. I purchased my single package and it was $199 for one or $299 for two.

Donna

I wonder if your spell-checker demon did a number on you and your request -- watching spillways :confused: Sounds like a dam thing, but not sure it was what you intended. ;)

Yes spell check gets me some days.... Thanks for the info, as I'm sailing on Nov 30th..... Don't know if there will be enough day light then to think about doing it

When I watch spillways (when I get a chance), what do people use to secure their banners to the railings for sail away that stands up to the winds?

The Inn at the Market is also very nice… spent a few nights there before my cruise last year.