MudbugsTherapist

2 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

NCL and Huna Totem have plans to build a new dock in Juneau.

https://alaskapublic.org/2023/08/10/juneau-planners-approve-150m-waterfront-project-including-new-cruise-ship-dock/#:~:text=Norwegian Cruise Line purchased the,Huna Totem in August 2022.&text=Huna Totem's original proposal included,of one area still undecided.

Exactly.

This is the new way... Cruise lines will not just have their own private islands... they will have their own ports and port buildings.  And as long as NCL has 3-5 regular ships during the Alaska season, they will be full.  People with kids, older millennials, and even some younger Gen Xers are willing to give up the convenience of randomly walking through a city for souvenirs and junk.  They want ships with things to do and excursions that are worth the money.  Princess and HAL will always have their demographic, especially for Alaska.  But NCL, Royal, and Carnival will build docks that don't have to follow a city council decision on pax limits.  And all they have to do for local support is to promise JOBS.

9 minutes ago, Coral said:

It is not a win as NCL has really crappy times in Ketchikan that their cruisers can barely do anything in port. Unfortunately - many don't realize it until after they have booked.

 

If you consider it a win, good for you. 

NCL Jewel:  On my way up, I have 7am - 4pm.  On my way down, I will have 1pm - 8 pm.  What are you doing in port that you need more than 7-9 hours?  Or are you just assuming that the 6-hour early port times from the Bliss apply to all NCL ships because those people have complained the most?  A return-to-ship time of 1pm makes people believe that they are in port for fewer hours than other ships.  But that ship arrives at 6am, instead of 10am.  I can't help people who can't do basic math, or think that ships should only port after brunch.  There are MANY ships who port early and leave early, especially on higher-end ships and smaller ports, but the masses don't know that if they only cruise the same cruiselines (Princess and HAL) and the same 10 ports.  

15 minutes ago, fmrlkr said:

Thank you for this post and all the replies.  I didn't really pay much attention to the Military Discount program until today.  My husband joined the Marine Corps on his 18th birthday.  He also loved the military meetings on NCL and Carnival. He proudly wore a Marine Corps pin or baseball cap while on board and was often asked about it.  We have many great stories about veterans we met on cruises. He passed away on 9/11/2021, before NCL had this program.  After reading these posts, I checked and as a surviving spouse, I am eligible for the discount.  So I am signed up and ready to book more cruises. Thank you all!

There is a website for you to get a military id card as a surviving spouse, if you don't already have one.  Sometimes it helps for when the travel discounts want you to enroll in "ID Me" to provide proof.

https://www.militaryonesource.mil/military-basics/new-to-the-military/military-id-and-cac-cards-for-military-community/

41 minutes ago, Coral said:

I don't think anyone likes the solution NCL has in Ketchikan (tons of complaints on this board of Ward Cove) and it still brings people into port. Not a great solution IMO.

The same thing was said when they added the 2nd port in Cozumel.  Now, nobody even notices.  The NCL Hawaiian ships don't port in any downtowns or beaches, except for the tender into Kona. The complainers are the people who want to get off the ship and be surrounded by crap to purchase, like in the Caribbean.  Hawaii and Alaska aren't like that - they are excursion-heavy cruises.  Even if the Bliss has 3000 on excursions and 1000 complainers on a shuttle bus to downtown, it is still counted as a win for NCL. The complainers come on CC because "someone moved their cheese."  Change is hard for people that are set in their ways about what a cruise port should look like.   Ketchikan is LOVING the fact that the bulk of NCL pax are leaving from Ward Cove for excursions, hiking, etc., because the city still benefits from those excursion dollars and jobs created in Ward Cove. 

1 minute ago, 1025cruise said:

There is a difference between Bar Harbor and Juneau. Bar Harbor has a good enough tourist season without the cruise ships. Juneau is more dependent on the cruise ships for business. In other words, Bar Harbor can afford to upset the cruise lines, Juneau can't.

Bar Harbor is only 3200 people, with almost 80% depending on hospitality/tourism for their income.  They are now getting rocked with 20% increases on property taxes to fund local infrastructure and programs.

Juneau is 32,000 people, with 1100+ millionaires and an average household income of 90k.  If Juneau limits ships to 5 per day, or maybe 15000 pax per day, it won't change a thing for them.  They already have the infrastructure to support that with three docks.  The 6k ships can build a dock in Auke Bay or Thane, put a little shopping area like NCL's place in Ketchikan, and shuttle excursions straight from that point.  I think the major cruise lines will start doing this instead of battling with local city councils about pax limits.  It costs the cruise lines more in fees and legal than if they just buy a plot and develop it.  

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/04/04/hancock/hancock-police-courts/bar-harbor-resident-sues-town-cruise-ship-visits-n6hjn1me0n/

I also recommend breaking up the flights.  Long Beach airport flies to Honolulu direct, and you can avoid the LAX nightmare.  It is a fantastic little airport.  Parking/Drop off to the TSA is about 40 feet, and there are only 10-12 gates.  Sometimes you only have a couple of Hawaii flights each day to choose from, but it is nice to break up the flight to Hawaii.  Stay in Long Beach, see the Queen Mary, etc., and then fly out to HNL the next morning. 🙂

From what I have read in local Juneau sites, there was a handshake agreement with CLIA to not have more than 5 ships in port.  This has gone well until the ships became Monster of the Seas and 6000 pax.  Now, when they squeeze in a 6th or sometimes 7th ship (which was just looked over in the past) it is crowded like a 90s rave through the streets in port.  So the immediate ask from Juneau is to formally limit the port to 5 ships ASAP.  Then, there are smaller groups that are arguing back and forth locally in Juneau on whether there should be a pax limit in addition to the 5-ship limit.  But many businesses seeing what has happened in Bar Harbor don't want to put a pax limit on Juneau for fear that some cruise lines will skip the port completely, especially when other ports are now being developed in a private, Coco Cay/Half Moon Cay/Castaway Cay/Great Stirrup Cay sort of fashion.  NCL figured it out in Ketchikan... Other cruise lines will do the same and avoid the issues in Juneau.

My preference is NCL, but my parents' preference is Carnival.  When I make them go on an NCL ship, my dad gets the military discount.  He went to the veterans meet-up, and he LOVED it.  I didn't think it was that big of a deal, since he was in the army in the late 60s/early 70s and he rarely talks about it.  But after hanging out with a few older veterans on the Bliss in 2022, he always attends these events now.  It motivated him to go to the VA by his house and get a Veterans ID Card.  

9 hours ago, jrt.mom said:

I did this on the last cruise. Wasn't cheap, but worth every penny! My roommate didn't, but loved the benefit of having the shower to herself since I used the roomy luxurious rainshower in the spa.

YES!  This.  The spa pass is just my "excursion" on each cruise, because I don't go on any ship excursions.  So I use my excursion money for my daily trip to the spa.  I plan my mornings to start in the spa, and my evenings to end in the spa.  I never use the tiny cabin bathroom to get ready for the day, or to get ready for bed. You know how the balcony people will say that they can't go back to an interior cabin?  I can't go back to just having a cruise without a spa pass.

On 7/22/2023 at 5:40 PM, Crown Vic said:

Any word on the whereabouts of Kaj Turunen who was, until a few months ago, GM on the PoA? Thanks…

Kaj works for Viking now.

Nope, I worked on POA.  We were fully staffed, and there were about 20 bartenders at any given time.  About 30 bar servers.  We got paid minimum wage, plus overtime.  That is why the cruise costs so much more... it is the only USA flagged ship, and it must have 75 percent American crew.  So Norwegian can't dip into its pool of extremely underpaid Filipino workers to staff the ship.  And without NCL raising the wages, they aren't competitive with bars and restaurants who are paying their GOOD bartenders on land anywhere between $15-20 per hour, plus tips.  The training and background checks to work on this ship takes a LONG time, and it is very intense.  Once workers are onboard, they are given one day to acclimate to living onboard.  ONE DAY.  After that, any mistakes are grounds for termination, and some departments are sadly lacking in management experience.

I used to work on a Norwegian ship, and I have also worked in a port.  Understand that the people from the previous cruise sometimes do not get off of the ship until 10 AM.  Every single person has to be off of the ship, what we called "Zero Count," which happens before 11 if everything runs smoothly.  After that, there are crew members that are disembarking for vacation, other ships, medical reasons, or whatever.  They are processed through the terminal, customs, etc.  After that, any guests that are "back-to-back" are allowed to scan off/scan back on.  At this point, especially on shorter cruises, wedding parties are escorted on by the ship's wedding planner.  Even if they aren't going on the cruise, all guests must have identification and a boarding pass to attend the wedding on the ship.  Once the wedding parties are onboard, the ship will let the port know that general boarding can begin.  At this point, housekeepers onboard have gotten all of the trash and dirty sheets/towels out of the cabins, bathroom cleaning is in full force.  Is your cabin ready?  Absolutely not.  Would it be ready in a fully-booked hotel?  No way.  So why do you think that cabins can be completely cleaned, sanitized, and reset in an hour or two?  Ridiculous.  It was always so frustrating to be delivering bottles of water, wine, liquor, etc., on a rolling cart, and guests would walk past the closed doors that say YOUR ROOMS ARE NOT READY YET.  I would have to wait until the guests are told the exact same thing that was on the signs they walked past by a cabin steward in a hurry, who doesn't have time to stop and tell guests what is already printed on the signs.  On a good day, we would finish our deliveries by 2 or 3 PM.  As a port worker, it was unbelievable that guests would try to arrive at the port before 10 AM, when every single taxi, Uber, and Lyft are clogging up the pick up/drop off lane.  At this time, 18-wheelers are lined up and waiting to deliver all of the supplies to the ship, as well as take off all of the trash from the ship.  We also have a herd of vans and buses that are shuttling people to the airports, hotels, and off-site parking garages.  So when we would have John and Jane Smith and their 3 kids arrive for a cruise that isn't even going to begin boarding for at least 2 more hours, we all just sighed.  People aren't allowed in the port building that early, so it is possible you will be in hot sun, wind, rain, or whatever.  There's no food or drink allowed in the port, and you can't bring liquids through security.  So every week..."Where can we get some water?"   Well, at the hotel that you didn't have to leave before 11 AM.  Also, any restaurant that you passed on the way here when the entire flow of traffic was against you.  Once you are in the port building, you will sit and wait.  There's no possible way for you to board early.  Period.  Customs has the final word on that, not the port staff, and not the cruise line.  I personally hated "Faster to the Fun," because the people who bought it would ask over and over, "When do you think we will board?"  Also, once the Diamonds and Platinums boarded, everyone else was onboard within MINUTES.  We don't stop and take photos anymore... it is only a scan and you keep on walking.  So if we started boarding at noon, everyone waiting in the terminal was on board by 12:20, even if they didn't pay for FTTF or have Diamond/Platinum status.

The smartest people?  The guests who came to the port AFTER a late brunch or leisurely lunch.  There won't be any contraflow traffic, delivery trucks, or buses blocking your way.  You're still early enough for porters to manage your luggage, port staff will be back from lunch breaks by 1:30 pm, and there won't be any lines at security, guest services, or embarkation photos.  Once you board, you aren't sitting with your bags in the buffet for hours until rooms are ready, and you won't be dumping your things in a cabin that hasn't been cleaned, annoying your already stressed cabin steward.

TL:DR - The sweet spot for embarkation, from a ship and a port standpoint, is 1:00-3:00 PM.

following.

I wish that more people would update with their experiences on the Rotterdam to give those of us who are sailing in 2018 some hope. We are trying HAL for the first time due to the price hikes on NCL, and we prefer the regular ships instead of the megaships. I know that there are some things that are out of the staff's control, but a great crew can make a ship's errors seem charming. (NCL Gem is well-known for this.)

Are the HAL ships a training ground for green staff?

An alternate reason for having a balcony: My DH has to have dialysis every 2-3 hours, and each session lasts about 30-45 minutes. Being "trapped" in the cabin so frequently, we make sure that we have a balcony to still feel like we're enjoying a cruise. I bring him a specialty coffee in the mornings, a plate of cheese and fruit in the afternoons, or a dessert from the main dining room in the evenings. He enjoys using binoculars to search for other ships or sea creatures, and we don't feel like we are missing out by being in the cabin so often.

The NCL rep that has been trying to talk me into an Eastern Caribbean cruise for March 2018 said that "all of the affected ports will be back up and running by the end of November, without trees."

CCL and NCL are both losing big $$ every day that those islands are down. They will pay contractors any amount of money to get the areas around the ports back to tourist-accepting status.

Shannon

To RMLincoln (Maureen):

Your description just sealed the deal for my DH (37) and myself (40) to book the Rotterdam for our yearly cruise.

We both want to avoid Carnival because of the unattended children and 18-25 crowd that never seems to be aware that others are on the ship, too. Norwegian has been our preference lately, but due to the unlimited alcohol and internet the service and atmosphere is trending towards Carnival-levels.

I cruise to relax, not to party.

Thank you for your description; you should get a perk for recruiting another couple to book on HAL!

Shannon

Deb, was his name Captain Lars? We were on the Gem and we LOVED his updates! He was the best! We have no idea who our Cruise Director was, but we still display our photos with Captain Lars proudly. Hilarious. "Well folks, I am not going to lie to you about the weather... there IS weather." "Don't get off at this port with your wife, or you will end up quite poor."

Haha! That reminds me when we were on the ncl gem and the captain who was an amazing character one day in his updates said we are in the middle of no where and the closest land was the bottom of the sea! But he wasn't planning on visiting it that day. We didn't know wether to laugh or be worried 🙂

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Forums mobile app

NCL can't provide detailed information for every single disability. There are thousands of disabilities, in 14 different categories.

I love the Special Access desk. Without them, my husband wouldn't be able to cruise.

If you need any help, I would be willing to try. I am going on the Breakaway in 8 days, but I can help you before then.

Hi, many thanks for your informative post. Do I have to let them know? the main worry is disposal of the bags xx

Yes. The trash can they have brought us on the Gem and the Jade was a red, round, plastic bin with a lid marked medical waste. It was emptied at least 2x per day, sometimes more. If you don't tell them ahead of time, they could possibly have to remove a container from the medical center to put in your cabin, instead of getting an extra.

Hi there! Congrats on your first cruise!

My husband has a port for peritoneal dialysis, and we cruise every year.

We contact the special access coordinator (usually a special 800 number to call) listed on the cruise line's website. We inform the coordinator of our special needs, and then we fill out a form that indicates what extra things we need. (Medical supplies dropped off at the port by the supply company and held until we are checking-in for embarkation, a large trash can in the room that is specifically for the dialysis bags and tubing, and lots of ice to be offered instead of water/tea/drinks due to his restriction of fluids.)

Sometimes this goes splendidly... sometimes it does not, and it is scary! In Houston, on the NCL Jade, we were on board but the medical supplies were not. It took many phone calls and me physically saying to the Jade's coordinator, "We have to get off of the ship if you can't locate the boxes at the port. We can't sail." She personally went into the port building and found the boxes after that.

No matter what, they want you to sail. Just make sure that you are notifying them ahead of time of what you need. Even if it is something that you MIGHT need, you have to make sure you tell them ahead of time, so they can have it for your sail date.

Cruise ship medical centers will have basic supplies... nothing specific to your care routine. Don't expect them to have any back-up supplies.

Make friends with people on your cruise ahead of time, whether it is on Cruise Critic, the face book, or the ship mate app. We found out that there is going to be another gentleman on our cruise that is from Canada, and he also does peritoneal dialysis. It's good to know that, in case he needs something, or if we need something.

We also find the dialysis center at each port of call. That way, we can stop by a clinic if something minior happens, or if we need an extra bag/tube/cap.

Other than preparing ahead of time, nothing else is different. He isn't allowed to get in public pools or hot tubs at home, so we don't do that on the cruise, either. He has to do his exchanges every 2-4 hours, and they last 30 minutes, so we book balcony cabins for him to sit outside while he does them. That way he still feels like he is on vacation, and not trapped in the cabin. While swimming in salt water is allowed, we aren't snorkel/dive people. We look forward to vacations to relax and explore different ports.

We don't book excursions that often, because there's always the chance that we need to return to the ship for an exchange in the middle of the port day. It's not a big deal to us... we try to plan it so we return, he heads to the cabin, I grab us a couple of burgers from the buffet, and we sit on the balcony and have lunch, usually people watching the pier. When he is done, we head back out for some shopping or a walk through the city.

We take each day as it goes. One day, we may not be able to cruise anymore... so, we are making the most of what we have while we can. Sorry this was so long, but I hope it helps you in some way.

Yes, on the first day we put up our dailies, coupons, and shore ex tickets to make sure everything was within sight. See the blurred photo.

We also bought our embarkation photo and a few candids from the dining room on the first day, and we used tiny magnets to put them on the walls around the cabin to make it seem more like home.

15!

Wow....ya know, I feel bad for senior citizens.

Why? Is there some reason that they can't book using the NCL app?

My parents are senior citizens, and they spend more time online everyday than I do.

My ex-husband is my age, and he doesn't own a computer. Still doesn't understand texting. Hates that he has to carry a cell phone for business.

I look at it as any other vacation... the more info you seek out, the better prepared you will be.

If you wait for someone to spoon-feed it to you, don't expect to get all of the information ahead of time.

Book a balcony room on the Breakaway.

 

Go outside.

 

There's your joke.

Wow. You are so bitter that you could take a thread about cruise jokes and turn it into something angst-ridden? Maybe you should talk to someone about your issues. You definitely exemplify the feeling that Gem/Breakaway cruisers have about "Like the Ship/Love the Crew/Hate the Local Cruisers."

Blockety Block Block... Bye, Felicia.