Always Cruising

I'm sure I could find it somewhere, but any info on getting from Montreal airport to Montreal train station?  Express bus has some departures from the airport, but by the time we get our air info, maybe won't be able to find seats.   Thank you!  (and airlines delays are always an issue if rail or bus tickets are pre booked)

We have a 2 day deviation at beginning of trip, and would love to book train or bus from Montreal to Quebec City, but people are coming from 2 different cities, and air isn't confirmed (at least sorta confirmed!) until 3-4 weeks before the cruise.  So without knowing arrival times in Montreal 2 days pre cruise, we can't plan bus or train tix.   Grrrr....

"drop passengers off in Montreal and tell them to make their own way to Quebec City" is exactly what they're are telling us

Thanks to everyone for your answers

Our cruise isn't until October, but we've received some info (I know it can change, even up to a week or so before cruise) about our flights, and that they are ending in Montreal.  We were told by NCL air department that we'd have to get our own transportation to Quebec port.  We purchased an air deviation to get to Quebec 2 days early.  Any ideas would be appreciated (an NCL agent said the flights might still be changed to get us to Quebec, rather than Montreal).  It's a 4 hour bus between cities, and nearly that by train. 

Or the kids could order al a carte (not at Tepanyaki or Moderno - which have per person prices)

Deck 7 (if I remember correctly) - across from Guest Services

5 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

So, the weather was much better today.

 

Volos was ok. As is quite common, the area around the port is not good at all (the last couple of pictures on my instagram post).

 

However. The towards the centre, and especially along the seafront it is quite nice. Lots of bars and restaurants. We walked for a few miles, grabbed an ice cream, and then ended up in a bar where we had a couple of local beers.

 

We were off the ship for a few hours and it was very enjoyable. The nicer weather made a big difference.

 

Once back onboard we had mudslides at the Great Outdoors and have eaten at Jasmine, which I have always enjoyed. We are currently back at Tankards enjoying more champagne. I’m using the excuse of posting on cruise critic to give myself a break from playing cards for a while. 🙂

 

My wife just went all the way up to the buffet (6 floors up from here) to get some

cookies, and found they weren’t out yet. On the way back she thought to check the Java cafe, just one floor up from us, where there were loads. 🙂

 

I haven’t had chance to ask any of the questions discussed previously yet. Well, I have had loads of opportunity, but just haven’t done it yet. I really will try to do better tomorrow.

 

Mykonos tomorrow. We have no plans in port again. I suspect that we will just find a bar again.

Java Cafe cookies and cakes are free for anyone - I thought they were an extra charge, like the Starbucks drinks.   A nice surprise...

On 4/13/2022 at 8:52 AM, cuterlmt said:

We were on the same cruise, no kids though. It was a wonderful trip. It was quite crowded though, so we would sneak away to the observation lounge or our balcony for some peace. I'm sure the crowds were there because of the Escape cancellation. We met many of those folks who complained incessantly about not getting the cabins they had booked on the Escape or their specialty dining or shows, etc., etc.

A few takeaways:

1) The Ihealth test given to us by the government was valid for the cruse. We had it proctored (paid $20 and had to make an appointment for each of us), and it was pretty easy to do. I read on facebook before the cruise that some passenger had to re-test after having done the test at 10am two days before the cruise, because he couldn't get on the ship until long after 10, so we scheduled our tests for after 5pm two days before. A lot of people balked at what he said, but I didn't want to take a chance.

2) We stayed at Miami Hilton Downtown through Hotwire for $260, one night. My husband wanted to be close to the port. It was ok. The bathroom was small, and had a tub. We did have floor to ceiling windows that faced the city, which was very nice. The restaurant was fine - we only had breakfast as we got in very late from our flight. I would probably choose next time to stay closer to the airport. We had hoped to have a nice dinner close by but as you'll see in my next point, we got in very late. they did have a shuttle to the cruise port every hour starting at 10am for $7 per person. Quite convenient. Very quick and easy drive, and nice driver.

3) The Miami airport was a nightmare! Anyone going in to Miami might think about flying into Ft. Lauderdale instead. A lot of people were in line to collect their luggage because of cancelled flights. It took over two hours for our luggage to come out on the carousel. There was very little seating anywhere and it was hot in the airport. This was quite late in the evening on 4/2, 

4) We flew out of Fort Lauderdale airport and it was great, small terminal, easy to navigate, etc., etc.

5) The ship was beautiful - we had been on her before. We were impressed with the staff, as always, and the food was always pretty good. The casino and crew in the casino were wonderful.

6) About the casino - we spent a good amount of time there. A couple of times, the casino host approached me and asked if there was anything he could do for us. I didn't need anything so I said no. On the last night, he approached me at after 1040pm and said that I had a lot of on board credit to use based on my play - several hundred dollars, and encouraged me to go to the shops and spend the money. He said the shops closed in about 15 minutes. I was concerned about buying a bunch of stuff and having to declare it, and didn't really need anything. I do regret not taking him on it but just felt weird about it. It's difficult to explain. We did get all of our extras comped - our extra speciality dining charges. We prepaid all of our excursions and gratuity, otherwise that might have been covered. 

7) we had some nice excursions, all through the ship. To get to Fort Lauderdale airport, we did a bus ride and airboat ride at Gator park (I think that's what it is called) and that was fun.

😎 we originally had an oceanview cabin through CAS, but bid on an upgrade to a balcony for the minimum, $25 per person for $50, and won. We were notified about two days before the cruise. I was surprised we got the upgrade because of all the folks coming over from the Escape, but quite pleased. I will say the bathroom seemed smaller than our last balcony on the encore. The toilet is quite a tight fit next to the shower. I really prefer the Epic set up.

9) We saw Choir of Man which was fantastic - I would highly recommend it. We did not see any other shows but heard mixed reviews of the comedy and magic shows.

10) Out specialty dining was Le Bistro and Ocean Blue and American Diner. All excellent and too much food.

11) We primarily ate in the MDR, only one meal in the buffet because we had to rush to an excursion. All excellent, especially the staff. We ate once in Manhatten so we could go to the show. To me, it is too big and loud. 

 

I would be happy to answer any questions.

I try to find my casino credit (if I have any) asap the last night of the cruise.  Usually about 9 pm.  Then I go the gift shop and grab a pair or two of Raybans - easy to pack and good as gifts.   I wish the casinos would do it a bit earlier, but they want us gambling as long as possible, I'm guessing

Can a certain airline be requested with NCL air? 

Wondering if we purchased the Premium Plus package before the new rules, if the old regulations apply?

Was wondering if anyone has seen the scales after return of ships after Covid.  I can see their being removed because of possible transmission (but don't think that follows the "science").  Thanks in advance for any experiences!

9 hours ago, Guzzi12 said:

I spoke to NCL 3 days ago and the guy said, that also private tours are possible. We are on the Jade on March 30th , so let's see

I am on that cruise, also (finally!  3rd time we're trying to do it due to Covid cancellations).  We were told by an NCL rep that for Palermo - our Port on March 31, an NCL tour is required to leave the ship.  But all other ports will be fine with private tours.  Of course, everything may change....

I used to use $2 bills, but found some servers didn't recognize them, and thought they were fake.  I liked the uniqueness of them, though...but use two $1 bills now.

In the "olden days," I was able to book one person in a Haven cabin as a 5th or 6th in a 2 bedroom suite, and then get a single cabin for that same person.  It meant paying a second set of taxes, port charges and daily gratuities, but it was worth it.  It often caused a bit of confusion the first day or two (with Guest Services and Concierge trying to figure it all out), but I was able to do it 4 times.  Jewel class ships 3 times, and Breakaway once.  The last time was 2016.  I haven't tried again, but it may not be a possibility anymore.    My CAS booking agent did it for me (upon my request) and documented the reservations, but still needed to be explained once onboard. 

I requested the credit card refund, rather than the FCC's.  You're right - NCL did cancel the cruise, and gave us the date of March 23 as the first day we could file for refund or FCC.   Curious why it took my request today, as if I hadn't requested the credit card refund on March 23 - and why there aren't emails for the other 6 people (generic emails, without names were sent to me on March 23).    I'll spend a few hours on the phone tomorrow trying to find an answer.

I cancelled my Jade cruise on March 23, and received 7 emails confirming the cancellation (7 of us in the cabin).  We opted for the credit card refund.  I've been checking my NCL account, and the cruise still registers as booked (as some other Cruise Critic folks have mentioned).  Today (out of curiosity),  I tried cancelling with the online form, and it processed, and I received a single email "Cancellation Request Confirmation" - but just 1 this time.  Has anyone experienced this?  Cruise still shows as booked on myncl.  I've tried calling CAS and been on hold for up to an hour, so haven't been able to talk to an agent about the problem.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts. 

No cancellation email for me - would like to have one, but it may not happen.  Good luck to everyone cancelling, that in 90 days (or even more, because that is for the "processing" of the refund), we will have our credit card refunds.

I also saw the cancel for everyone on reservation part - thank you, udking - for the link.  I just completed the one form and hoping it covers all 7 of us. 

Was hoping this would be available - am I missing something?

We used 7 charge cards....

I know we have to wait until tomorrow to see the online form for cancelling for either FCC's or credit card refund, but wondered if anyone had any ideas on how this will work.  We are 7 in a cabin, and it would be so much easier if just one of us could do the paperwork. 

Isn't there usually a 3 month window from date of credit charge to do a charge back?  If not, we have a chance at a refund.  But if that date is adhered to, most of us charged with our credit cards much earlier than 3 months (or 90 days) ago. 

And if you should pass away, or NCL goes bankrupt - FCC is worthless.

But if the first two on the reservation paid a higher price, and the next two less as 3rd and 4th passengers - they will get FCC's in the amount listed per passenger.  People often divide the total fare by 4, even though passengers are charged different prices.  It becomes murky if they don't travel together in the future to give the 2 that paid less the advantage of the higher fare credit by passengers 1 and 2.        Maybe someone else could explain this more clearly....

2 hours ago, molole said:

Wait what?  now we only receive FCC even if the cruise is canceled prior to final payment?  Source?  

Yes, according to the NCL CAS agent I spoke with at length yesterday.  She was surprised, as was I.  Hoping it changes.  I cancelled two that were before final payment (120 days), and she was told by a supervisor that I would receive my c card deposit and CruiseNext payment ($2000 for each of the 2 cruises) as FCC's.  I'm not happy with that decision.