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7 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

What am I going to do with the 50 CUCs I saved from my April cruise?  I was hoping to use them on a cruise to Cuba next year.

This Thursday, June 6th, from 2pm-5pm McDonalds is having a promotion where you can exchange any amount of foreign currency for one of their new “Worldwide Favorites” menu items. That’s probably the most value you’ll get out of your Cuban Monopoly money because I don’t think many banks outside of Cuba accept it as real currency. Or you can keep it as a souvenir to remind you of that one time the Cuban government swindled you out of $50+ dollars in exchange for a worthless piece of paper. 

Norwegian Sky, September 8 from Miami: The ship’s three-day Bahamas cruise has been cancelled. We will be providing a full refund to all guests, plus a 50% future cruise credit.

Soo, future cruise credits.... anyone have experience with them or know how they work? Do you get a future credit valued at 50% of what you paid for the cancelled cruise or is it more like a 50% discount on the value of a future cruise? I'm guessing it's based on what was paid for the cancelled cruise but either way I'm not complaining.

For me this was just a quick weekend getaway with friends on a local booze cruise. I was even planning on working until the last minute on Friday before the cruise and then Monday morning when I got back. I'm actually happy they cancelled the cruise since I was worried about being away from home during a potential hurricane. Anything NCL gives me is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the update on RCCL. It's looking more like this cruise will be canceled which is probably for the best. Miami-Dade government is starting evacuations and closing schools Thursday and Friday. Now, my personal opinion as a lifelong local is that it's a little too early to be making these decision and perhaps people are over reacting due to the hurricane in Texas but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Honestly just in case it does come I'd rather wait it out at home than be out on a cruise worrying about what kind of mess I'll have to come back to.

I've been following the storm for the past few days and I think it's still way too early for Norwegian or anyone else to decide anything in regards to the cruise. By Wednesday or Thursday night we could be looking at a completely different track for the storm. I mean, just compare the current track from the one they were predicting this past weekend. Still, even if the storm keeps its current track it will be very unlikely that they'll cancel this sailing. By Friday night the storm is still predicted to be passing to the north of Haiti and Eastern Cuba. That's way too far from Miami to have any effect on operations at the Port of Miami. Saturday sailings will be a different story. At most they'll have the ship leave a little earlier on Friday and theyll definitely change the ports of call (I'm thinking 2 sea days or a stop in Cozumel) but the cruise won't be cancelled. The storm should also have cleared out of South Florida by Monday morning so I think at worst the ship might come in a little later in the morning/afternoon but they won't want to disrupt the next sailing either.

You know what they say "When in Rome...". I didn't know how much to tip the guides either so I just watched what others were doing and did the same. I noticed many people didn't tip and those that did only gave a couple of €1 or €2 coins so I did the same. I don't know if that was appropriate or not but if others were doing it then so was I. The end/

Since this is a cruise forum I'm assuming you're going on a cruise ship that provides you with clean water and toilet paper. I would think most people would be fine just bringing along a water bottle they can refill onboard and carying a travel size pack of tissues they can use during their excursions.

Just fill out that you are doing the general people to people travel thing and that's it. Don't worry about it. No one from the U.S. government currently checks what you are doing while in Cuba and I doubt that at any point in the future will they go back and call thousands of cruise ship passengers asking to see their itinerary/personal travel journals from their trip to Cuba. It's all just a technicality to get around the embargo.

Cruise lines should refund or give future credit to those affected by the change. I doubt cruise lines would lose much anyway since the number of tourists and green card holders from those specific countries going on a cruise within the next few months must be ridiculously small.

To those that have been offered upgrades were the upgrades free to offset the price drop or did you have to pay a fee? Also did you call to request the upgrade or was it randomly offered?

While I think the OP's worries about the shooting in Mexico is a bit alarmist it is just as silly to bring up the shootings in the US as a comparison. Misguided as he/she may be, the OP has a somewhat valid reason to worry about Mexico since their government/police forces aren't exactly known for their efficiency. Crime happens everywhere but worrying about shootings in the US is like worrying about Muslim terrorist attacks while vacationing in Europe.

"Chic" night to me just means it's the night people should try to look their best. I think it's a very fair compromise because it doesn't force anyone to wear anything specific but at the same time it allows those that like to dress up to go all out.

7am means everyone has to get up at around 6-ish the latest to start getting ready. I don't even get up that early for work. To get a full 8 hours of rest you'd have to be in bed by 10pm. I realize Celebrity Cruises sometimes resemble floating nursing homes but this is ridiculous.

What departure port did this happen in?

They don't ring up the drinks? How does one tip the waiters and bartenders? Is it all cash? I assumed we'd have to give them our card and sign.

Right. Sky has been all-you-can-drink, but I didn't see language to that effect on the Cuba itinerary.

 

 

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Ok, I just called again and asked if it was included or if it was an "extra option with a fee" and they said that yes it was included on all 3 or 4 day cruises on the Norwegian Sky. I specifically asked about the Cuba sailings and they said yes. They didn't actually look anything up and it seems like it's a stock answer. So far I've gotten two "yes" answers to the question but I'm still skeptical.

When you click on the ship info on the website it does say "Norwegian sky is now sailing with an open bar." Plus I found this. In the bottom it says "Haven & Suite categories are not applicable for this offer. Offer is not applicable to any Norwegian Sky sailings visiting Cuba as a port of call." But I think that fine print is in regards to the $50 reduced deposit. In another section of the site it specifically uses a bold font for the words "Bahama Cruises". Since the ship is going to Stirrup Cay does that qualify it as a Bahama cruise? Anyone else want to call and see if they get a different answer from someone else?

Honestly although it sounds too good to be true I don't see why they wouldn't include it if they do it on every other cruise. The Sky will be doing their typical 3 day Bahama cruises in between the Cuba cruises. I'm sure it's already in their budget.

"Available," or "included"?

 

 

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Ahh good question. Guess I'll be calling back and rephrasing the question. Honestly it does seem too good to be true.

I just called and was told the open bar was also available on the Cuba sailings. I have a reservation on RCI but I'm thinking that with the overnight stay in Havana, the lower priced balcony rooms and the open bar it might be worth switching over to NCL.

Thank you so much for the advice. The cabins are 7532 and 4000. Those two are the only ones available since there are only six "small ocean view" cabins total on the ship. Two each on decks 4, 7 and 8. I called to see if maybe the cabins on deck 8 were available and just not showing up online but they weren't available. I'll keep checking to see if maybe someone cancels before final payment or if they decide to upgrade. The ones on deck 8 are the only cabins in that category that have a normal "window". I should have just booked a normal ocean view cabin and paid the small price difference at the time. Oh well, lesson learned. I guess I'll be sticking to the one on deck 7 for now.

So I have two options. One is on deck 4 all the way forward with a small porthole window while the other is on deck 7 right by the Atrium with an obstructed view window. There's a lifeboat outside blocking the view. They both have their plus and minuses so I can't make up my mind.

What I don't like about Deck 4 is that it's all the way at the bottom removed from everything and possibly near crew areas where they could be coming and going at early/late hours. We are under the theater so I don't know. Plus the porthole window looks super tiny. The plus side is that at least there will be a view even if it's just of the waves and it's also away from loud crowds of people so the noise might actually be less.

Then there's the room on Deck 7 which is by the atrium where they have nightly parties that last until midnight. I'm a bit worried about the noise from the music and of people coming and going but it might not be that big of an issue since we don't go to bed early anyway. There's also the obstructed view issue. I looked at some pictures of the ship and I saw other obstructed view cabins where the only thing you can see out the window is the lifeboat. It covers everything. Pics of the outside of the ship show that for the room I'm looking at you can at least see some of the window from behind the lifeboat. I'm hoping that means the view isn't completely blocked and there will be a little bit of ocean or sky to look at. The pluses of deck 7 is the location near the center of everything. I have an outdoor deck area just down the hall and I'm also next to what seems to be a small sitting area in the atrium so if I start to feel cramped inside the room I can always just go sit outside for a while.

So what do you guys think is the better choice between these rooms?

Same thing happened to me. I "held" the reservation and when I went to make the deposit the price had gone up by about $300 I think. Good thing I had taken a screenshot of the original price to text to my partner when we were discussing the trip. Otherwise I might have thought I was confused and paid the new price. I called and they said the discounts had changed when I went to make the payment. They reversed the changes and gave me the original price. So I made the deposit and then I went on to modify the dinner seating and room arrangement. When I got back to the main reservation page SURPRISE! They had automatically added the pre-paid gratuity to the cruise price. I'm going to have to call again and get that removed. Honestly I don't know if this stuff is done on purpose or not but this is my first cruise on Royal Caribbean and all of these "mistakes" seem extremely sketchy. I was really tempted to cancel out of anger.

If your kids love birds then I think it's worth it. They'll really get to interact with the animals. They have a feeding cage where they give you slices of fruit and the birds land on you and eat right off your hands. The flamingos are loose and you can just walk right up to them and take all the pictures you want. You don't have to wait for the show. The "tour" of the city is ok. It seems like the driver just wings it really. Ours just drove past everything pretty quickly giving a quick description. Honestly though there isn't much to see. It's all pretty plain/boring and broken down. Our driver also made a stop at a Fort on our way back to the boat and we got to get off and take some pictures. That was pretty much it. On our next trip we just plan on walking down the main street for a little while and then heading back to enjoy the empty boat. The main street with all the stores was packed with tourists walking around so it seems safe enough.