rajones007

I use Chrome and I've never had any issue logging in. BUT...I do have issues with the website. Mostly those little Flash-based pull down menus in MyNCL that don't respond, but there's also a number of other areas that don't work well.

It used to work perfectly, until NCL did some sort of update back around Christmas and mucked it all up.

So I have to suck it up and run IE to do anything with MyNCL.

It's funny. At this time last year the Carnival site was mucked up in Chrome while NCL worked great. Now it's the other way around.

Teppanyaki is an a la carte restaurant (not a cover charge restaurant), and is not part of the UDP:

Hmmmm. It appears you've never been to Tepanyaki before.

Just an FYI.

We were on the Spirit in July and were in a suite. We originally purchased the UDP but on the second day were told that we could NOT use it to have food from a specialty restaurant delivered to our suite. It was only good if you went to the actual restaurant. We were able to cancel it without any issue. We had decided to only purchase if we could have specialty food delivered to our suite. My mother is in a wheelchair and tires easily. We knew this would be the only way it would work for us.

NCL did tell me that they had tried to offer that service but too many people took advantage by ordering food to their suite for people who had not themselves purchased the package.

I can totally understand why NCL would do that. It makes perfect sense from a corporate standpoint.

There's always somebody who abuses the system and ruins it for the rest of us. That's why we can't have nice things.

Not true at all, I just figured it out for our 10 night Jade cruise in December. If we eat 8 nights in the restaurants and order the surcharge menu items in Cagneys and La Bistro we will be ahead, that is the plan

Ours is a 13 day Panama Canal cruise, and I figure the 3 of us can eat in specialty restaurants for 9 of 13 nights and pretty much break even. That leaves 4 nights for the MDR or buffet.

And that only includes 1 single trip to Tepanyaki, which we will most likely do twice. Same goes for Le Bistro, possibly. Any additional visits like that just makes the UDP even more appealing.

As well, my calculation does NOT include a few nights when we might do 2 in the same evening. My son and I like the idea of going to LaCucina for a quick caesar salad and splitting a pizza, head to the 7pm show, then visit Cagneys for a steak and fries later.

I don't understand your comment. No one mentioned the MDR being sub-par.

 

What's wrong with someone just wanting the variety that the Specialty Restaurants offer???? And if they want to purchase a package that allows them to eat in a SR every night, who cares.

Exactly.

And not only that, his statement:

...To get your money's worth requires you to eat in a specialty every night

is completely inaccurate. I think he needs a new calculator or something.

Have fun. We were in that same cabin for 12 days during the Dawn repo from Tampa to Boston in April 2013.

My wife and I seen a turtle somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Aruba. It seemed really strange to us to see this little turtle, maybe 1'x1', out there in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from any land, paddling along in the opposite direction as the ship.

Between St. Thomas and Boston during the last of 3 straight sea days the captain announced there were whales on the starboard side. I swear I could feel the ship list as everybody rushed to starboard. The whales were way out there though, so you couldn't really see much.

It looks like you're talking about 93L

http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/2014/Invest-93L?map=model

The prediction

...the disturbance will arrive in the northeast Lesser Antilles Islands on Friday evening, move over Puerto Rico on Saturday evening, and approach the Southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands on Sunday evening.

snipped from http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2741

So my totally uneducated guess would say that it's doubtful you'll miss any of your scheduled ports. The Captain/NCL may decide to take a more northerly route than usual to avoid rain and/or choppy seas, but I don't think they will make that decision until you're underway.

I used to just put my cruise card in my front pocket, but it tends to slip out if I'm sitting down in the theater or in a bar or laying back in a lounge. So I started using this little leather money clip that I'm almost certain was a gift from Princess Cruises. It has 3 card slots and a little gold money clip in the center. It folds up nice and thin. It's small and light enough that it's not cumbersome, but it's enough in my front pocket that I can tell if it's there without actually having to touch it.

- On the ship I just keep my cruise card in it (along with one or two 20 dollar bills in case I happen to be walking by the casino ;) ) in my front pocket. It has never slipped out when I'm sitting down.

- On shore I keep my cruise card, 1 credit card, and however much cash I think I'm going to need in this little money clip in my front pocket. I try to keep the cash to a bare minimum though. If I want to make a big purchase, that's what the credit card is for.

- it's tiny enough that the metal detector doesn't detect it when getting back on the ship. So I can just leave it in my pocket.

- my wife and 15 yo son both use lanyards. My wife doesn't care how it looks, but my son is getting to the age where he feels a little silly wearing it. I'll be surprised if he uses a lanyard for our upcoming cruise in November.

Ours was awesome. Then he got promoted to supervisor. And his replacement is even more awesome.

I guess we got lucky. Twice.

Thread Tools > Unsubscribe from this thread.

Best decision I ever made.

edit. DANGIT. Making this post re-subscribed me.

I will never buy it, though I will consider some form of foreign medical insurance if I cruise/travel to third world countries, as that might be worth having. I've traveled before without it, but maybe that was a mistake.

Good for you.

I hope this thread made you realize that you're OP was a total swing and a miss. Travel Medical and Travel Cancellation is a good sound financial decision in most cases for people of all ages. Insurance is available for a reason. The concept of insurance was invented in ancient times and people have been buying it ever since. The insurance companies have people who are smarter than you or I who run the numbers and come up with a premium that is low enough that people will purchase it, but high enough that they will make a profit. They do this by calculating the difference between the vast amount of expected purchasers vs. the low amount of expected claimants. There's a method to their madness. And if they miscalculate too many times, they fire the people who miscalculated and hire somebody else with a better formula and a better calculator. Or, they go bankrupt.

My wife and I are late-40's and we buy both medical and cancellation/interruption coverage (it's included in one of my credit cards, but that's besides the point.) If I were to buy it separately, the medical coverage is cheap and worth it's weight in gold. For a family of 4, a two week holiday in Florida will run less than $120. Why on earth would I, as a Canadian, risk financial ruin if something were to happen to anyone in my family and we had to deal with the for-profit disaster that is the US healthcare system?

Although more expensive, cancellation/interruption coverage will refund any non-refundable portion of my vacation. What if my elderly mother-in-law (who isn't going with us) decides now's a good time to have a heart attack and is put in the ICU? And what if my 15 year old son breaks his leg in 3 places playing football a week before we leave? I could go on and on with possible scenerios, but the quick answer is "We would get our money back."

Buying travel insurance is a sound financial decision. You can try to justify otherwise all you want, but shrugging it off so decisively as you have done in your OP is not being practical. I don't think you thought it all the way through. There's a big difference between being "frugal" and being "cheap". I suspect you're being the latter, not the former.

I'm glad you've never been closed out of an excursion, but it can happen depending on the type of excursion it is.

 

My advice to the OP would be that if it's something he/she really wants to do, then book it now. In terms of paying now, it's one less thing on your account at the end of the cruise.

Good point. I had thought about that but my post was getting too wordy so I deleted a paragraph or two before I pressed the post button.

We tend to stick with the city, cultural, and history type of tours and never had any issue by waiting until onboard. However, I imagine the sporty type of tours have a very limited availability.

Couple questions on shore excursions:

1. If I book shore excursions with NCL online beforehand, do I pay now or is it added to my onboard account?

2. We are on the Sun in November. There are more than one pier is Cozumel and also, I believe in Roatan and Belize. How can I find out where we will be docking (or does someone out there know?). We've been before to Cozumel and Roatan and really just want to go ashore and do a little shopping but don't know if we will be within walking distance to do this.

Thanks

1. If you book now, you pay now.

A word of advice - don't book them now. We have never had an excursion sell-out, so why pay for it before it's necessary? Just make a note of the excursion you're interested in, fill out the form that will be in your cabin when you first arrive (or provided with your first daily), and drop it off at the shore excursion desk.

2. In Belize you will be tendering in. The ship will anchor and you're about a 20 minute boat ride (@ full throttle) from the pier. The tender will drop you off right at a little plaza with the typical cruise line shopping scene. It's a secure fenced-in area, so it's safe.

In Roatan you'll be docked at Coxen Hole. You'll walk off right into some little shops. Again, it's a secure fenced-in area.

The only other pier in Roatan is Mahogany Bay, which is owned by Carnival. At one time other cruise lines paid to dock there, but for the last few years it is exclusive to Carnival-owned cruise ships.

In Cozumel you'll be docked right downtown (Punta Langosta???...something like that). There is plenty of shopping right there within easy walking distance.

Nope. I've never paid a fee to cash them on NCL or Princess. All they ever ask me to do is write down my cabin number next to my signature. I've always gone to Guest Services to cash them, but I understand they'll also cash them at the Casino.

My bank doesn't charge me a fee for them either, so using travelers cheques is a no-brainer. It sure beats 1) traveling with a big wad of cash, and 2) paying the ATM fee, and 3) never having to deal with a possibly sketchy ATM.

I guess I better start getting used to the big ships.

Not only do I hope for new ports, also longer itineraries is what I need if they want me on the new ships. We're just getting comfortable on the 7 day cruises and then we have to pack up and leave.

After our Panama Canal cruise this November, we're going to have to start looking at other cruise lines. If I have to see the same ports, the least I can do is allow myself to see different ships.

The problems arise when passengers don't follow directions. I have seen full sheets taped to the suitcase, sheets of paper folded in half and attached to the handles, and even tags cut out and attached as a single layer of paper.

You reminded me of something I had totally forgotten about...

When arriving at the terminal in Miami (Epic, Nov 2012) the porter I gave my luggage too was just setting aside another passengers luggage. Those passengers simply took the flat 8.5x11 sheet of paper and wrapped it around the luggage handles of their 3 suitcases. Then they put tiny folds in the corners of the paper in a futile attempt to secure it.

The porter was chuckling about it. He said the couple just left them there and walked away without saying a word. Luckily for the passengers he was a pretty cool guy. He said he would put on a proper tag on them as soon as he had a moment.

I like Cagneys. The steaks are good, but it's the service and atmosphere that I enjoy the most. I much prefer a quiet dining experience, very much unlike the MDR and buffet which can both mimic the noise level of a daycare center at times.

My son had a sirloin (I think) at Cagneys that had a big piece of gristle right through the center. Our waiter seen him struggling with it and pretty much insisted that he take it back and get another. Which he did.

Yes, things like that should be caught before it ever reaches the table, but meh, I live in the real world and understand how things like that can happen in any restaurant anywhere in the world.

Every steak I've ever had there has been done perfectly. I like the rib-eyes myself (more natural flavour, imho) and the filet is always practically fork tender. Their fries are good, not great, but very good for soaking up the steak juice left on my plate. (side note: La Cucina on the Epic had the best rib-eye steak I've ever had.)

Great. Now I'm starving.

It's worth the $30, if you ask me. That fee weeds out the "I'll have it well done and make sure we have lots of ketchup" crowd. ;)

That is because Chrome is a non-complaint browser. It does not adhere to the W3C code standards.

LOL. Wut?

Not that it matters anymore, but Chrome is indeed compliant.

Besides, Chrome is the worlds most popular browser. Why large corporations like NCL insist on coding their website only for IE is beyond me. If Microsoft would realize they aren't the browser champion anymore and stop thinking they can make up browser rules as they go along, then issues like this would not be as common as they are today.

Are these insurance companies for Canadian's as well? If not, can you suggest one that is?

 

Our first cruise had the insurance booked through a bank and it ran us around $400 for two adults and two children. Does this seem about right for the usual run of the mill coverage?

$400 isn't too bad. It depends on what was covered and how much.

-- Kanetix . ca is the most popular Canadian all-in-one insurance quote site. But I find they have a limited amount of travel ins. companys that they represent.

-- Medipac .com is the only travel insurance company endorsed by the Canadian Snowbirds Association (and you don't need to be a retiree to apply.)

-- The big banks all offer very affordable travel insurance, especially multi-trip annual plans that include cancellation insurance.

-- Then there's Travel Cuts ( travelcuts . com, then click insurance at the top of the page.) They have the best prices I've seen in a long time and they're underwritten by RBC Worldprotect Insurance. Travel Cuts was originally intended for university students who wanted to backpack around the world and live like a hippie for months at a time. But they now accept anybody under the age of 50. A 7 day cruise for a family of 4 will run you about $250, and that includes $5k (per person) of cancellation coverage.

Your prices are off slightly: Modernos and Le Bistro are $20/pp, Teppanyaki is $25/pp, La Cucina $15/pp and Cagney's (you're correct) $30/pp

Dang. Thanks for letting me know. (and it's too late to edit my original post.)

So that puts me at Cagneys still $270, La Cucina $135, Moderno's $120, Le Bistro $60, and Tepanyaki remains at $75. For a grand total of $660 which, oddly enough, is the same! ahahahaha

And we still have 3 open meals as possibilities, and also 2 meals in the same evening (as I asked earlier and awaiting a possible confirm/deny.)

We have a 13-day Star cruise in November. It's $209 per person and there's 3 of us. Myself, my wife, and our 16 year old son. So it'll be $627 to buy the UDP.

I'm thinking:

3 x Cagneys ($270)

3 x La Cucina ($90)

2 x Moderno's ($150)

1 x Le Bistro ($75)

1 x Tepanyaki ($75)

(That's assuming that Modern's, Le Bistro, and Tepanyaki are still $25pp, La Cucina is $10pp, and Cagneys is $30pp)

That's $660 for 10 of the 13 nights and we've saved $33. Funny how the UDP hinges so much on how often a passenger visit Cagneys.

To note...

• Almost 40% of dining (5 of 13 nights) will be at a steakhouse of some sort. That percentage might be a little high for my wife.
   
   
  
• We're in a suite, so Le Bistro will be served in our cabin. We are really casual folk and Le Bistro seems a little beyond what we pack for our cruise.
   
   
  
• We could probably do a Tepanyaki early in the cruise, and then again late in the cruise to make it even more worthwhile. That'll fix my wifes craving of lobster on a cruise ship. They still offer Lobster at Tepanyaki, right?
   
   
  
• We love La Cucina and know they have a very good variety on the menu that we might even do it more than 3 times.
   
   
  
• I should look up the current menu and make sure we won't tire of the variety offered at Cagneys.
   
  

Is it possible to do 2 in one day? Like, what if at 5.30 we go to La Cucina and have a caesar salad and pizza. Then go to the show, the casino, whatever. Then at 8.30/9.00 we slip into Cagneys for a steak and fries? Do they allow that?

We're still thinking about buying the UDP. So your thoughts and comments would also be appreciated.

Ugh. That last post of mine was number 666. I can't leave it like that.

I'm not superstitious. I'm just a little stitious.

I'm a firm believer that atmosphere has just as much to do with the quality of the food you eat as the food itself. Crap atmosphere = Crap food. Without fail.

We went to the Crown Grill (steak house) on the Crown Princess. The atmosphere was much too stuffy for our liking. We found it very uncomfortable. It was like eating dinner in a funeral home.

Our experience in the Crown Grill actually turned us off of the Princess specialty dining. We never bothered going to Sabatini's later in the week, like we had planned.

Cagneys, on the other hand, is much more relaxed. The casual dress code and laid back servers make it a more comfortable place to sit and dine. Everything we have had to eat in Cagneys on our 3 NCL cruises put the Crown Grill to shame.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Princess was like going out for dinner with the boss. NCL was like going out for dinner with the neighbours.

OCMS...can you make your signature block bigger, it's really hard to see. ;)

I was going to ask that too.

OCMS Fan> No offense, but it's signatures like that that cause most users to turn off signatures. It's too big and takes up too much real estate.

I normally have signatures turned off, but I turned them back on a couple weeks ago.

Aaaaaand they're off again. :)