Mid43

22 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

We did a tour, possibly that same one, back in 2015 that visited the caves in Arikok. If your tour has a stop at an Aloe "factory", then it's very likely the same tour.

 

I don't think the tour into the caves is particularly "strenuous", but there are some stairs. If you can navigate stairs and walk half a mile to a mile without being exhausted you should be fine. It was a good tour and we had lots of time to stay at a beach afterwards. We made our own way back to the ship since we wanted to stay at the beach stop longer than the tour did.

Thanks so much; this is exactly the information I was looking for.

Good day! Royal Caribbean advertises a Hidden Gems Tour in Aruba that visit the caves in Arikok National Park. The description mentions that the tour is "Strenuous". Does anyone have any idea what would make this tour strenuous? I am of average physical condition and climbing a few steps is not an issue, but I don't want my average physical condition to slow the tour down. Any ideas or thoughts anyone? Thanks!

11 hours ago, redwave said:

Re guaranteed inside cabin, we were given I2 deck five under the theater. If 72 hours before there are alot of inside cabins available, will they accommodate if we ask to be moved to a higher deck?

My experience has been, that you can call and ask; they may possibly be able to relocate you to another cabin within the same class as what you had been assigned. This has worked for me in the past a few times. It's probably a 50-50 chance.

The best that they will offer is to upgrade you to a cabin that is in the range of the original price you paid. So for example, I recently paid for an inside Guarantee, the price dropped and now what I originally paid was in the price range for an obstructed window which I was upgraded to. They don't always do this, but sometimes it works. I have heard that on a rare occasion they may offer you some on board credit to make up the difference, but this to may or may not happen.

Hope this helps.

On 8/24/2019 at 10:35 AM, CJJSanchez said:

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We also just got our Sail Away assignment for November and we like our room! It’s a wheelchair accessible which is great for my 80 year old Mom moving around but she is not in a wheelchair - just limited.  I fear they may reassign us. If they do, would they upgrade us, or could they lower our room back to a worse room (obstructed view etc) 

 

Hope my question makes sense. Wondering once the room is assigned at a particular higher level of room type OA instead of lower OX, etc, if once assigned it can only go up in level, and not down? I’d be bummed now we have a good room for it to be lowered to a worse room.

 

Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts?

You are correct, the type of room will not go down. In fact, whatever your room assignment is today, that will more than likely be your room unless you go through the bidding process of paying a little bit more for an upgraded room as NCL does. In most all cases, once you have been assigned a Sail Away room, it will not change unless you specifically request it.

4 hours ago, CJJSanchez said:

When you do receive the room assignment?  Is it well before the sail date, or a day before, or it is when you get to the ship?  Thanks! 

Hey Cjj, as of the last 2-3 years, NCL has been assigning the rooms soon after you book, I would say within 2-3 weeks after you book the room (On average I tend to book my trips 3-4 months in advance of the departure date).. I think this is a little rare to assign rooms that early, but it's great that they do and that is what has been happening.

Just recently after final payment, prices dropped considerably, I contacted my travel agent and they were able to upgrade me to a room comparable to what I paid, so I went from an inside Gty, to an obstructed view Oceanview and more square footage... so good news for me!

Every time I have booked a Gty though, I have gotten my room assignment no later than a month prior to sailing.

I hope this helps.

At last check, all theater shows were 7pm & 9pm.

If the ship is due to arrive at 7am, you could be off the ship as early as 8am or 8:30am if you do self assist walk off with your luggage. There is NO place to store your luggage, the last folks are usually off the ship by 10am or 10:30am, and it takes roughly 45mins - 1 hour to get to LGA from midtown NYC depending on traffic of course.

I'd swear the bottled water they give you is poured from the taps on the ship and bottled on board... it's actually embarrassing for them I feel.

I was on the Jade prior to the TA voyage, got towel animals every night. Some pretty creative ones too!

I was on the cruise after the Bon Jovi charter; yes it did feel as if there were 700 children on board. This was mentioned by a few crew members on the ship as far as the total kid count went. By the end of the trip the kids were getting a little stir crazy and slightly raucous, but nothing too out of hand. The ship felt busy throughout the voyage.

There is also a Dinner Reservation location to the far left of Guest Services; this is usually manned 8am - 5pm I think, and here you can make reservations for any of the restaurants on board.

Off the Jade last week; towel anaimal every night without asking for it. Very nice, and some very creative ones too! Thanks Rendra!

If the Mother/Daughter happen to read this who did the $50 Dolphin encounter Thursday, the photo's I shot came out pretty good! Please reach out to me I still have not received your email.

I feel bad as their was another family doing the full dolphin encounter and I have a few beautiful shots of their young daughter's one on one with the dolphin, I was going to reach out to them afterwards to let them know I had these photo's but I lost track of them and missed them after the encounter and could not offer to send them the pictures... bummed.

Safe travels all!

Was on this trip with you, and have pretty much the same thoughts. We felt the Ass't cruise director Fabi was doing a better job than the cruise director. When you have the Newlywed show, and the contestant gives an answer and the cruise director consistently said "I don't know what to say to that" tells me they are not ready for their job. Most seasoned cruise directors have humorous quips or responses that keep the show moving. We felt the nightly music was ok, particularly Dave the guitarist. The theater shows were enjoyable.

Was not impressed at all with the Shore Excursion team. I had to cancel a tour because I was not feeling well, and their response was, "you sure you don't want to wait till the day of the tour to cancel?" Thanks for putting my health over profits. I told them, "how 'bout we cancel now, and if I am feeling better I will rebook" He shot me a dirty look and cancelled my tour.

Same with photo department; I selected 6 photos; without saying a word to me or asking me any questions he just comes out and says, "you know you would be better off with the 10 photo package" I asked him "why would you think that? I told him I was perfectly fine with the 6 and saved myself $60 from their 10 photo package that I didn't want anyway.

All about the Benjamin's with NCL...

But getting back on track, nice steady trip, no WOW factor's any more on NCL trips. Crew were great (except for the salesman), food ok, ship in good shape.

Enjoyable trip...

(Sorry about the rant)

Safe travels everyone!

I've been on the Gem about 4 times, inside room every time, worked out just fine. I would say (not that you asked) avoid the front of the ship, probably the worst room we had ever been assigned, but other than that, and inside room inspires you to get out and explore the ship!

The NCL towels will be in your room on the first day when you arrive; after use at the pool or excursion, you can exchange them at a towel station near the pool on the ship. These towels are for use at the pool, hot tub, excursion, wherever you prefer and again they can always be exchanged for fresh towels. I am not sure the room steward would exchange them for you, I would check with them.

As for the airport shuttle post cruise, we did use the NCL shuttle and it worked out fine. We had a small bus, and we did wait maybe 10 mins for the bus to fill up, but it wasn't long. I figure more than half the ship is looking to get to the airport. The NCL shuttle worked out fine for us.

There are also plenty of private shuttle options available curbside, as well as plenty of taxi's. As previously stated, it is a short trip to the airport.

Enjoy.

I have been successful in changing my Sail Away assigned room to within the same category on 2 occasions, one other time I tried, I was unsuccessful. I book Guarantee rooms all the time (15+ cruises) and am generally happy with the assignments.

It doesn't hurt to reach out to whomever you booked the cruise with, and maybe they can assist.

Doesn't hurt or cost you anything to ask.

23 hours ago, 138east said:

The problem is that things have changed substantially since 2-3 years ago.  There are basically now 2 parking options as detailed here: http://www.massport.com/cruiseport/to-from-cruiseport/parking-directions/

 

The closest parking “a block away” is at the EDIC parking garage at $30/day.  For “select dates” parking is $25/day prepaid at the new South Boston Waterfront Transportation Center, located at 406 Summer Street across from the Waterside Place in the Seaport District. A free shuttle to the Cruiseport is offered.  I’m not even sure how you get into the garage, but it’s supposed to be signed.

 

I just went went by the new parking center yesterday on the Silver Line bus.  Congress Street outside the street level Silver Line World Trade Center entrance is all torn up.  To get to the Seaport hotel entrance on Seaport Lane you have to walk back to the light at Ave B and then walk down the other side of Congress St to Seaport Lane.  The other option would be to take the elevator in the Station entrance up to World Trade Center Ave and enter the upper level of the hotel from there.

Ok 138; since there were so few responses I figured I would offer my 2 cents from a few years back. Thx.

Did this about 2-3 years ago, somewhat convenient. Go to terminal first to drop off the bags, then swing around to the multi-level parking garage. It's a one block walk from garage to terminal; easy when you return. It worked out ok from my experience.

"For environmental reasons" yet for the soda package they are no longer offering the reusable thermal cups, instead using the (smaller) plastic cups each time you order a drink, which I am sure are more environmentally friendly than reusable cups. "sure"

I am scheduled on an NCL cruise in the coming months, and suspect this may be my last; the whole industry in changing in a direction I am not fond of.

On 3/15/2019 at 12:19 PM, Gatorj said:

So last night was a doozy. First, Rock of Ages was great. Let me soapbox again however. They announce this show as adult oriented with lots if language, sexual innuendo, and that it is loud and obnoxious. If that sounds like it would offend you, DON’T GO. Many people got up and left in a huff because there was foul language, sexual innuendo, and loud and obnoxious behavior.

Next time, listen to the announcements, read the info, and don’t be “those people”.

Back to the evening.

After the show it was down the the Dancing with the stars show. It was entertaining to say the least. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, but still fun to watch.

Up to Syd Norman’s. Referring back to a very early post where my spelling and use of the word Sid was critiqued and the name Syd was referred to as short for Sydney (almost always a girls name).

Syd Norman was a guy.

After a while in Syd’s it was time for Shakers. Out come the dice for a 2 hour long game of 7-14-21. Bartender’s choice for the shot. If you’ve played it, you know. We ended up recruiting 2 more groups to join in and soon we had about 10 people playing. Yep, glad I had the patch. The DW did not. Rough morning today indeed.

So today we stayed on the ship and it’s surprisingly empty. A port like Costa Maya is not typically a super busy excursion day, especially with the short duration in port. So, empty ship and Osheehans for lunch. Good times.

Day 6 Daily:

I got up and left from Rock of Ages not because of all the things they warn you about, but because it was loud, obnoxious, and I've seen High School drama clubs with better shows and talent than what I saw on this ship.

I stayed in a similar room/location on the Gem (the two ships are similar), good enough location, you will be fine. As for bidding, about 60 - 80 days before your trip you will be notified when the bidding process opens. You do not get to select the room, but I do believe you are not obligated to take the room. (I've never had one of my bids accepted, I  always bid the lowest).

I am the type, as long as you are on the ship, you are good; in 20 years of mostly booking Guarantee rooms, there was only once I was less than thrilled.

Good luck!

Most likely yes. As many of us know, they usually have the Sail Away parties, poolside, but given the weather and temperatures in February when you are sailing, most likely the sail away party will be held in the Spinnaker Lounge just after the Muster drills.

Tumblew467, one never knows, it's all dependent on weather/sea conditions; also if they need to practice emergency drills, which lifeboats need to be run through the paces... it varies visit to visit, nothing consistent.