Sugar0802

We booked another Prima cruise immediately after getting off our first Prima cruise.  A few weeks later, we booked a Viva cruise.  We absolutely loved it, especially Indulge.  We are not big lovers of mega ships and prefer the smaller cruise ships and Prima was a bigger ship but with the small ship feel.

I paid $249 for 2 tickets from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Miami/FLL for our Caribbean cruise over Thanksgiving.  I requested a 1-day deviation (credited $25) to fly in early due to a flight cancellation earlier this spring that forced us to drive all night to NYC to catch our cruise.  We got our flight information yesterday - 94 days out.  Both flights are on American in Economy - 11:00am GRR to LaGuardia for a 1.75 hour lay-over then to Miami with a 6:30pm arrival time.  Our return doesn't leave Miami until 8:30pm, but it's a direct flight.  Super happy with these times, especially since the exact same itinerary would have cost $1430 if I booked it on my own last night.

I was able to change a return flight on United 7-days before we left.  No issues and no charge.

We were in the same boat (literally) as you - we were the ones that had to drive from Michigan on your cruise.  I am still battling NCL insurance, but so far no denial.  You can email United to get a cancellation letter.  I got mine in ~24 hours.  I then uploaded that to insurance and called them to make sure they had everything they needed.  I have no idea if I'll get reimbursed my driving fees, but here's hoping!  Good luck!!

I just chatted with an agent and got nowhere.  She said that there are plenty of activities and space for both charter and non-charter guests.  She could not provide me any details on their itinerary or any information about the charter.

On 10/30/2022 at 6:48 PM, Charles4515 said:

 

You can take the ferry to Hamilton and then a bus to the caves. 

I'll be on the NCL Prima in April so both NCL ferry options should be available.  If I wanted to go to the caves, which ferry/bus combination is better - St. George or Hamilton - or is it a wash?

31 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Most reports are that non-refundable OBC can't be used in the casino.  However, one poster today claimed that he did use non refundable in the casino but he also claimed he had both types so I am suspicious of his accounting.  

Until proven otherwise, I'm believing that non-refundable OBC can NOT be sued in the Casino.

 

I used our $100 per person in the casino.  We charged it to our room and then gambled with it, but we could have just cashed it out.  I am 100% sure we used the nonrefundable OBC as we had no other credits and the amount was very specific.

We were on the same trip and fortunately we didn't have any of the same issues.  My favorite meal I've ever had on any ship was in Aqua.  We boarded immediately, disembarkation was slow, but not horrible for us (self walk off).  Our room steward was awesome and always greeted us warmly.  They always had the drinks we needed except they ran out of Truly the second to last day.  Bar staff was very attentive, oftentimes following us to our seat to take our order.

Yes, it was crowded in the buffet.  We oftentimes ate outside or sat with others.  We met some great people doing this.

Missing the 2 ports was disappointing, but I do believe it was the right decision.  We did get an extended cruise thru the fjords which was amazing and almost made up for it.  

I do think there was some issues with communication, or lack thereof.  They did try to prevent mass lineups, but people weren't listening.

Entertainment was a little disappointing.  The female vocalist and male vocalist were outstanding.  More variety would have been helpful to pass the longer days.

This wasn't our favorite cruise, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  Everyone's experience is different, though.  Hopefully you'll experience something more similar to what we had vs what the OP experienced.

I pre-booked an Uber for embarkation day.  Looks like they are very active in Buenos Aires.

We've found that the food post-Covid is much better than what it used to be, especially the desserts.  We've been on  many sailings, primarily NCL but also RCL and Carnival.  For us, NCL's choices and options were better than the others, but that could just be personal preference.  At the end of the day, we've never gone to bed hungry on a cruise and we also gain the obligatory 5-10 pounds so no complaints.

2 hours ago, Fun4Us2013 said:

We needed 10 points to go platinum when we cruised in November. To our surprise there was an envelope in our cabin with the platinum awards certificate in it which included the 2 speciality dinners, in addition to the two free for sea, an additional bag of laundry and a couple of other things. So maybe it can happen to you.

Same for us.  We were 5 away on a 7-day and we were even listed as Platinum on the app even though the points clearly showed us as Gold.  We didn't say a word and just enjoyed the bonus.

Here's information from Spain but the information is the same.

https://cbarc.cancilleria.gob.ar/es/01-requisitos-de-ingreso-la-argentina#:~:text=SE HAN DEJADO DE REQUERIR,SERÁN EXCEPTUADOS DE REALIZAR AISLAMIENTO.

No Covid test is required for entry into Argentina.  For boarding, that may be determined by your cruise line, but there is no current requirements from the Argentinian government to have a negative Covid test.  The Argentinian government also does not require the medical questionnaire, per the information above and linked below from the Argentinian government.

https://www.argentina.gob.ar/interior/migraciones/documentacion-para-ingresar-al-pais-como-turista

I will caveat all of this with cruises haven't started from Argentina for the season so this is all subject to change. 

All of the entry requirements are found here:

https://ar.usembassy.gov/covid-19/

We are using Chile Dream Tours to pick us up in San Antonio, tour to Valaparaiso and Vina Del Mar, return to Santiago airport.  Super easy to work with.  $180pp + $100 San Antonio pick up charge per group + 5% service fee

We were booked on the POA for February and we got the same letter a few weeks before they cancelled our trip.  I don't think this letter guarantees she's sailing.

We are not seafood eaters so our choices are a little different than others:

1. Los Lobos - we seek out ships with Los Lobos.  Awesome service, great food, lots of choices

2. Moderno - LOVE the grilled pineapple (I make my own now) and cheese bread.  Plus as good as filets as you can get in Cagney's, IMO.

3. Teppanyaki - the garlic rice, yum!

4. Q - pleasantly surprised, but SO much food

5. Cagneys - hit or miss with food and service.  Thanksgiving on the Bliss was the best experience we ever had and would rank higher if every experience was that good.

6. La Cucina - nothing I'd pay extra for, but with free meals it's okay for a change

When our POA cruise got cancelled, I received the refund within 3 days. 

For flights, we booked 4 one-way fares - one to the lay-over city and then from there to HNL and the same on the return flight.  When the cruise got cancelled, we only had to cancel 2 of the flights and instead are doing domestic travel at our lay-over city for the week we were supposed to be gone (Plan B).  American Airlines and Southwest are really good about letting you cancel and reschedule within 1 year from when you purchased your tickets.

Lots of cancellations confirmed this morning:

5 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

Cancellations announced this morning

 

 

Thank you for the heads-up!  Super disappointed, but given the current circumstances, I can understand.  How did you get this notice?

I'm on the Pride of America RT Hawaii sailing on February 12 and this message just popped up on my NCL account last night (I'm paid in full).  In the past, this message precluded cancellations.  The upgrade offer is now gone, too.  Anyone else seeing this?

57 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Just for clarification, My niece and I are flying next week (She isn't on a cruise), but I suspect that cruise passengers will also receive their QR codes immediately now that the questionnaire is no longer in play. 

I received my QR code today for a 2/11 flight.  I uploaded my vax document a week before Christmas.  My assumption is that now that the questionnaire is done, the QR code should come quicker.

10 hours ago, favoritevacation said:

Only liquid soap in the shower and at the sink….we did not ask for bar soap, so I don’t know if it is available. No chocolates. No towel animals. 

You have to request towel animals from your room steward.  Ours provided them during our Baja cruise on the Bliss.

38 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

My husband is a man of simple tastes. He’s so happy to have easy access to Jello for dessert, and so sad that there hasn’t been a cookie to be found on our last two NCL cruises. But he swears he saw someone with a cookie tonight, so now he’s on a mission to solve the cookie conspiracy…

 

Cookies are out after dinner (usually after 9:30) in the buffet.  We were on the Bliss over Thanksgiving and that's when they magically appear (also found this to be true on other sailings).

We also did it in November and it's super easy.  Just cross the street and then there's a sidewalk/promenade that goes the length of the pier.  They also offer a complimentary shuttle - just sign up when you check-in.

I will say that when we were there, we saw a Doubletree shuttle waiting to pick people up after disembarktion.