Port change from Costa Rica to Acapulco?

[Turtles06]

 

8 minutes ago, jskinsd said:

And what is the big draw to Costa Rica that has all these people upset..  Zip lines, city tours, wine tasting, ancient ruins or the chance for adventure.  Don't these  activities happen in pretty much all Mexico and Central American ports. 

 

We had a port call to Puntarenas several years ago as part of our first Panama Canal full transit.   A handful of us from our Roll Call took a "highlights" tour out of the city with a highly-recommend private tour operator, and it was easily the best day of the 16-day trip, beside our transit of the Canal.   The tour was mostly about seeing wildlife, and it was just fantastic.   And it was nothing like ANY of our other ports on that cruise.  Personally, I don't care whether Costa Rica interests you or not, but for many of us, Acapulco would be a poor trade-off for a port call to Puntarenas. 

[jskinsd]

5 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

We had a port call to Puntarenas several years ago as part of our first Panama Canal full transit.   A handful of us from our Roll Call took a "highlights" tour out of the city with a highly-recommend private tour operator, and it was easily the best day of the 16-day trip, beside our transit of the Canal.   The tour was mostly about seeing wildlife, and it was just fantastic.   And it was nothing like ANY of our other ports on that cruise.  Personally, I don't care whether Costa Rica interests you or not, but for many of us, Acapulco would be a poor trade-off for a port call to Puntarenas. 

What special places and what types of wildlife did you see that was only Costa Rica.  Are the birds different?  How about the alligators?  Did you see a Toucan?  Any waterfalls?  Maybe an anteater?  

So when is your next trip to Costa Rica since it was so special?  Are you on the Joy or Bliss this season?  Like I mentioned I am going back for my third time starting friday on the Joy.

[CardFanDubG]

2 hours ago, jskinsd said:

Like I mentioned I am going back for my third time starting Friday on the Joy.

Will be joining you on that cruise. Have you checked out the Roll-Call? It has been very active. Over 160 registered for the Meet and Greet. IF you are interested in the Meet & Greet, here is the LINK. 

 

Meet & Greet Form LINK 

 

 

Here is the Roll Call Thread.

 Hope to get an opportunity to meet you. 

[Zippeedee]

3 hours ago, jskinsd said:

And what is the big draw to Costa Rica that has all these people upset..  Zip lines, city tours, wine tasting, ancient ruins or the chance for adventure.  Don't these  activities happen in pretty much all Mexico and Central American ports. 

I have a tour scheduled for a coffee and chocolate plantation.  I will be disappointed if Costa Rica is changed to Acapulco on my cruise in April. Where else can I do that? I booked a cruise with ten ports, they have already eliminated one. You don't care but many of us do. You complained for days about missing a football game. 

[Deeliteful]

3 hours ago, jskinsd said:

And what is the big draw to Costa Rica that has all these people upset..  Zip lines, city tours, wine tasting, ancient ruins or the chance for adventure.  Don't these  activities happen in pretty much all Mexico and Central American ports. 

Costa Rica is the “greenest” country on the planet. The wild life, the flora and fauna are just awesome as are the people (that I met anyway). Think there is a huge difference. I can’t wait to go back on a land tour but pretty costly to fly from the UK but I will go back.

[jskinsd]

24 minutes ago, Zippeedee said:

I have a tour scheduled for a coffee and chocolate plantation.  I will be disappointed if Costa Rica is changed to Acapulco on my cruise in April. Where else can I do that? I booked a cruise with ten ports, they have already eliminated one. You don't care but many of us do. You complained for days about missing a football game. 

You better believe it.  Football is important.  And not purchasing not to show the NFL on the Jewel where other NCL ships will.  Maybe on the Joy next week.

 I cruise to cruise.   And occasionally things happen.   Ship mechanical problems, weather, volcano, dock being damaged, health report, union strike and how about an active shooter over an airport causing planes to divert to other airports on embarkation day.  Happened in San Diego a couple years ago.  So boo hoo hoo on plans slightly being changed.  We are still going on a 16 day cruise.✌️😀

[jskinsd]

9 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

Costa Rica is the “greenest” country on the planet. The wild life, the flora and fauna are just awesome as are the people (that I met anyway). Think there is a huge difference. I can’t wait to go back on a land tour but pretty costly to fly from the UK but I will go back.

I can agree with you about scenery. Mother nature is special.  That is why I spend two months on cruise ships in Alaska each year.  That place has pretty nice flora, fauna, wildlife and nice people too.  And now the Panama Canal the last three seasons.

They all have their uniqueness.

Hopefully the other ports on the cruise will be memorable for the people whose favorite port was cancelled.

[Deeliteful]

Love Alaska too 🥰

[kenzie]

17 hours ago, CardFanDubG said:

Will be joining you on that cruise. Have you checked out the Roll-Call? It has been very active. Over 160 registered for the Meet and Greet. IF you are interested in the Meet & Greet, here is the LINK. 

 

Meet & Greet Form LINK 

 

 

Here is the Roll Call Thread.

 Hope to get an opportunity to meet you. 

Hello,

If anyone is intending on doing a live or review I would be very interested & excited to read that as I am doing the return in January. Also if anyone could report on the cost of the vibe for a 16 day cruise I would be very grateful. 

Thanks to anyone who is able to respond. Enjoy your cruise.

[Mbird50]

We talked with NCL today. They will have replacement excursions up in a few days, for Acapulco and Guatemala. We also received today, a credit on our card for the excursions that were cancelled. The zip line was not the only reason we were disappointed in the change, even though we've been told it is one of the best zip lines. We have been to Mexico several times, but have never been to Costa Rica, so we were excited to visit a new port. Our favorite port is Aruba, so we still have that to look forward to, and the Bliss looks amazing!

[Love my butler]

On 10/7/2019 at 4:43 AM, tallnthensome said:

 Acapulco is much more beautiful than many stops in Mexico. 

And much more dangerous than any other stops in Mexico.  Fact borne out by the US Govt and Mexico's own published crime statistics.

[chiquiDYKE]

On 10/3/2019 at 7:40 PM, km3045 said:

The itinerary of Nov 8 Panama canal cruise on the NCL Joy was changed today.  No explanation given, but Costa Rica has been changed to Acapulco, meaning there are now 4 ports in Mexico on this cruise.  The website hasn't been updated to reflect the change, so no shore excursions showing yet.  Looking for info and tips on what to do in Acapulco and how safe you felt, while there.

 

Thanks.

“Seven people were arrested for bomb attacks in Costa Rica”.  This is probably why the itinerary got changed.

 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, chiquiDYKE said:

“Seven people were arrested for bomb attacks in Costa Rica”.  This is probably why the itinerary got changed.

No, that's not it. Other NCL cruises including two I'm on are still going to Costa Rica, as are cruises on Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, both part of the NCL Holdings corporate family.

[tallnthensome]

5 hours ago, njhorseman said:

No, that's not it. Other NCL cruises including two I'm on are still going to Costa Rica, as are cruises on Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, both part of the NCL Holdings corporate family.

Then it’s probably a berthing issue where there are too many ships in port that day. That’s why our ports were changed on our Panama Canal cruise. 

[Issy49]

We are on the Joy Panama Canal Feb 14, 2020. Our itinerary was also changed. No explanation of course. Mazatlan was added. Now we will just sail straight through the Canal and keep on going. The main attraction of this cruise was the 2 days spent here. The excursion in Guatemala that was scheduled and paid for prior to the itinerary change was just cancelled. That was weeks ago. Still no excursions to replace it up yet. After reading 3 pages of many recent NCL cruises booked and then itinerary changes of the canal crossing being cut short and adding a Mexican port of call, it appears to be a consistent thing not generated by size of ship, volcanoes, or anything like that. When was the last NCL cruise that actually sailed that Panama Canal itinerary as advertised and sold? Very dissappointing.

[Turtles06]

2 minutes ago, Issy49 said:

We are on the Joy Panama Canal Feb 14, 2020. Our itinerary was also changed. No explanation of course. Mazatlan was added.

 

I am very sorry that your itinerary has changed (and it sure would be great if NCL provided explanations when they do this, even though they don't have to), and I hope that you still have a great cruise!  I just want to add that we called at Mazatlán on our first Panama Canal cruise, aboard the NCL Jewel in early 2017, and had a very enjoyable day there.  In case it might be helpful to you, you can find a full description of how we spent that day, starting at comment number 75 in my full review thread, here:

 

 

PS: In the intervening years since I posted that review,  my photos have been obscured by Photobucket. 🙁

[Sensenigr]

On 10/3/2019 at 4:40 PM, km3045 said:

The itinerary of Nov 8 Panama canal cruise on the NCL Joy was changed today.  No explanation given, but Costa Rica has been changed to Acapulco, meaning there are now 4 ports in Mexico on this cruise.  The website hasn't been updated to reflect the change, so no shore excursions showing yet.  Looking for info and tips on what to do in Acapulco and how safe you felt, while there.

 

Thanks.

 

I'm sorry to disagree with the majority on here on one aspect of this.  First of all, we stopped in both Costa Rica and Acapulco.  We enjoyed both ports.  However, there isn't much you can do to change things.  

 

I find Acapulco and most other parts of Mexico to be extremely safe, as is the case here.  People are talking about military style presence with the police.  YES!  Who cares?  Go about and enjoy the absolutely beautiful landscape, scenery and tours.  They are there to protect and to look out for the bad guys -- just like they do here in the States, maybe with not as much of an appearance in most areas. 

 

I would encourage you to look at the excursions when they come online the NCL website, and I am very sure you will enjoy your port in Acapulco.  

[Issy49]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I am very sorry that your itinerary has changed (and it sure would be great if NCL provided explanations when they do this, even though they don't have to), and I hope that you still have a great cruise!  I just want to add that we called at Mazatlán on our first Panama Canal cruise, aboard the NCL Jewel in early 2017, and had a very enjoyable day there.  In case it might be helpful to you, you can find a full description of how we spent that day, starting at comment number 75 in my full review thread, here:

 

 

PS: In the intervening years since I posted that review,  my photos have been obscured by Photobucket. 🙁

Thank you for taking the time to share with me. It is appreciated. This will be my 4th visit to Mazatlan. 2 previous cruises, 1 "girl trip" at a resort. I enjoyed it.