hladygirl

Playa Mia and stingray excursions appear to be too crowded for my liking. Will stick with Nachi Cocom in Cozumel.

The basic NCL policy now is you only get them if you request them. You will then have to tip Stewart more or feel like a jerk. Just NCL’s way of making you feel like you have to pay more. On my last cruise in April 2019, no towel animals or ice bucket without request. Made you feel like you were inconveniencing them and should pay extra for what you got on previous cruises. Will expect only one cabin steward service soon instead of two per day like carnival.
 

I have been on 10 NCl cruises and never had this happen. Never had a sales pitch in MDR, Buffet or specialty dining rooms. I would be really pissed off if this happened while I was trying to enjoy my meal. What is RCCL thinking?

When I went solo on the Gem last spring I booked a last minute sailaway. No drink package. I met an older lady who had the drink package. She kept trying to order me drinks with her card. I kept refusing and all of a sudden noticed all the cameras every where. She was persistent but I would not allow it. She then pulled out all these nips from her bag and gave them to me. She said she just brought them in her carry on and no one questioned it. Lol. If I brought them I’d be caught.

All the cruises on NCL that I have been watching keep increasing the the price regularly. Even the ones that are leaving soon with lots of empty cabins. The latitudes 20% off cruises keep decreasing the inventory. NCL is not looking like an affordable vacation anymore.

Either the WiFi is out on the ship or we are being ghosted.

You will get a cake and the waitstaff singing you “ Let me call you sweetheart” in the restaurant. We were totally embarrased and will not tell them again. Some may find it very nice. Just not for us.

Our last 14 night cruise we thought we only had 3 nights specifically dining and our 2 free platinum. We ended up not even using one of the platinum dinners because we liked the menus in MDR better than new menus in specialty. 

We have cruised on the Dawn 8 times and a lot of them for 14 nights. This ship is perfect size for us. We don’t care for all the toys or crowds of the mega ships. In the evening we have a routine. Dinner, game show, large theatre show, casino then bed. During the day we mainly just relax, sun, pool, cocktails and nap at times( something I never get to do at home). I also like not having to make reservations for everything like you have to on the big ships. I also enjoy getting to know the staff which is easier on smaller ships. To each his own.

Bonine once a day has always worked for us. Never had side effects either. We have been in some very very bad seas and never had a problem. I have gotten sea sick on small boats in good weather so that says a lot. Swear by it.

All I can say is wash, wash, wash your hands. Noroviris need to get into your gastrointestinal tract to infect you. Mostly caused by eating without washing your hands thoroughly right before eating. Keep your hands away from your mouth without washing hands first.

When I was on my first solo this past spring I found another solo cruiser who was not platinum to come and join me for a free meal. No problem and she was very great full.

1 hour ago, miataman19 said:

Last time we were on Tortola was 2 years ago on Escape. We used https://www.oceanmagicmitch.com/

We got 12 people and used Captain Rudy. Probably more now but we paid $75 each plus tip. Met him at the end of the pier. Walked 10 minutes to the boat and off we went to Soggy Dollar. Saw the 2 excursions from the ship come and go. We got there about 10 am and left around 3 pm. Got back to the ship in plenty of time.

I second ocean magic Mitch but you have to have enough people to make it worth it. We had 8 last year and spent just a tad more than the ncl excursion but had much more time.

That is the smallest closet for hanging space I have ever seen on a cruise ship.

His review is now unlocked.

Doesn’t sound like you will get more than 2 hours max but probably less. If you have 7-10 people you could do a private charter and have the whole day there. We did that through ocean magic Mitch last year and it was great.

Jost van dyke! We chartered ocean magic Mitch and Kate. Took us al over then to Jost. Had a party of eight and cost us less than cruise ship with almost double the time.

The last time we did southwest we paid a little extra for automatic check in.

We have done this excursion twice with NCL a while back. It was awesome. Back when we did it the excursion was 6 hours with at least 4 hours on the beach. How much time do you get now on the beach?

Just looked at the Soggy Dollar Bar webcam. Looks like a small cruise ship just anchored. Should be full of action today.

1 hour ago, Howie411 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions.   We ended up grabbing a water taxi round trip pass. $7 a person and then we rented 2 chairs and a umbrella for $25.     Definitely cheaper then going with RC.  Only thing I wish I would have checked around for the chairs.  Some places like the lazy lizard were offering 2 chairs an umbrella and 6 beers and wifi for like $20.

Yes. The chair vendor guys were fighting for our business. All we wanted was to sit on a beach and swim in warm water. We did not want an all day event but only a few hours. This worked great for us. Cheap trip off the ship.

5 hours ago, alwalaska said:

 

Sorry.  Here is the link http://crew-center.com/norwegian-cruise-line-dry-dock-cruise-ship-schedule-2020 

I wonder why ncl is selling a cruise to the Caribbean from New York when according to this schedule it will be in dry dock on the gem.

I guess my issue was that we had been on the Dawn out of Boston so many times before and loved the food. I then got on the Gem with the same menu but the same dishes were so much different in taste and presentation. You would think same menu same taste but no. I was spoiled by the much better food on the Dawn.

Last fall we just walked over to the water taxi. Took it for $7 round trip to great bay. Rented 2 chairs and umbrella for$20. Swam for a few hours in the warm water and ferried back to the ship. The day cost us $34. Were back on the ship for late lunch and empty pool. Will do it again when back there.

I think the hard part of this to deal with is that NCL just jacked up the prices the sat before thanksgiving and thought no one would notice. If they had gradually increased prices over weeks or months and then offered 30% off people may have thought they were getting a good deal. Just another FDR blatant slap in the face to NCL customers. Just like him right out saying he is going to suck more money from every cruiser. Just obnoxious.