NCL Ships at Amber Cove

[European_CruiseGirl]

10 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

Me too, but as far as Puerto Plato goes, it seems like the Dawn is not going to dock at La Taino.  When the most recent sailing boarded yesterday, they were given a letter saying the port has been replace with Puerto Rico.  I checked the schedule and Amber Cove will have 2 ships on the day they were supposed to be there, so at least that part of the theory is still standing.  I really wish NCL would tell people BEFORE they get on the ship.

Darn, that really is too bad 😔 

[AtlantaAlly]

We’re on the encore on 1/10 in PP. only one carnival ship slated. Here’s hoping we get to dock. They already changed us from GSC to Nassau

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, alwalaska said:

Me too, but as far as Puerto Plato goes, it seems like the Dawn is not going to dock at La Taino.  When the most recent sailing boarded yesterday, they were given a letter saying the port has been replace with Puerto Rico.  I checked the schedule and Amber Cove will have 2 ships on the day they were supposed to be there, so at least that part of the theory is still standing.  I really wish NCL would tell people BEFORE they get on the ship.

 

That's too bad.  I totally agree with you -- if NCL already has letters in cabins about an itinerary change, they should be able to tell folks before boarding, maybe even long before boarding.

 

I appreciate your posting this info about the Dawn.  It doesn't seem to bode well for the smaller ships either.  We're on the Gem, scheduled to be in Puerto Plata on Jan. 31, along with the Dawn and the Encore as well as a Carnival ship and a HAL ship.  I've been assuming the Gem and Dawn would make it to Taino Bay, but now who knows.  San Juan is already on our itinerary.

 

 

 

 

[alwalaska]

13 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

That's too bad.  I totally agree with you -- if NCL already has letters in cabins about an itinerary change, they should be able to tell folks before boarding, maybe even long before boarding.

 

I appreciate your posting this info about the Dawn.  It doesn't seem to bode well for the smaller ships either.  We're on the Gem, scheduled to be in Puerto Plata on Jan. 31, along with the Dawn and the Encore as well as a Carnival ship and a HAL ship.  I've been assuming the Gem and Dawn would make it to Taino Bay, but now who knows.  San Juan is already on our itinerary.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I think HAL is owned by Carnival corp, so that doesn't bode well for the Dawn and the Gem.  Some people have been rerouted to GSC.  Good luck and have a wonderful cruise wherever the ship ends up going.

[farjar]

57 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

That's too bad.  I totally agree with you -- if NCL already has letters in cabins about an itinerary change, they should be able to tell folks before boarding, maybe even long before boarding.

 

I appreciate your posting this info about the Dawn.  It doesn't seem to bode well for the smaller ships either.  We're on the Gem, scheduled to be in Puerto Plata on Jan. 31, along with the Dawn and the Encore as well as a Carnival ship and a HAL ship.  I've been assuming the Gem and Dawn would make it to Taino Bay, but now who knows.  San Juan is already on our itinerary.

 

 

 

 

We are on the Dawn that day.  Our original itinerary does not include a stop at San Juan so I guess NCL could send us there although that would be extremely disappointing.  We have been to Puerto Rico several times but Puerto Plata was going to be new to us.  Also we are looking forward to the Off Road Buggies and Beach excursion we've booked through the ship.  Cruisemapper is now showing the Encore in Amber Cove on Feb. 3rd but I doubt that helps either of us.  You may end up with an extra day at sea.  😡

 

[Turtles06]

3 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

Yeah, I think HAL is owned by Carnival corp, so that doesn't bode well for the Dawn and the Gem.  Some people have been rerouted to GSC.  Good luck and have a wonderful cruise wherever the ship ends up going.

 

Yes, HAL is a Carnival Corp. brand, which is why I assumed Amber Cove would be full up on the Gem's (and Dawn's) scheduled day there.  Thanks for the good wishes; we are doing B2B Panama Canal cruises on the Gem, so it's all good.  🙂

 

In fact, we have another port call scheduled for Puerto Plata on the second leg, so two chances to miss this port! 😂

[pjtjmn]

3 hours ago, mpcaruth said:

We are scheduled to be in DR on the Escape on 1/9.  One of the main reasons for choosing this cruise over others (considered RC and Carnival) was the DR stop.  I have a private tour booked, and will not be happy if we miss this port, especially if the cruiseline knows in advanced and chooses to hide this info from customers.

 

There are 2 Carnival ships, one RC, and the Escape currently on the Amber Cove schedule (cruisemapper.com).  And based on history, it appears to be only a 50% chance of making it to GSC! Oy Vey, fingers crossed.

 

 

This is what I see on Amber Cove’s website.  Doesn’t look good for your date on 1/9, or mine for 1/30.  😕

 

I know that there are many unforeseen circumstances that prevent a ship from docking, but, this is reasonably “foreseen” and feels like they are not being upfront and honest with their customers.

 

[asmit4]

5 hours ago, AtlantaAlly said:

We’re on the encore on 1/10 in PP. only one carnival ship slated. Here’s hoping we get to dock. They already changed us from GSC to Nassau

Why did they skip GSC and go to Nassau instead? 

[meyermtacmj]

4 hours ago, pjtjmn said:

This is what I see on Amber Cove’s website.  Doesn’t look good for your date on 1/9, or mine for 1/30.  😕

 

I know that there are many unforeseen circumstances that prevent a ship from docking, but, this is reasonably “foreseen” and feels like they are not being upfront and honest with their customers.

 

On the Dawn, scheduled to be in DR on 01/20. Looks like we might actually make this stop. 

 

Though, is it weird that there are NO ships scheduled for that day?

Edited December 24, 2022 by meyermtacmj

[AtlantaAlly]

5 hours ago, asmit4 said:

Why did they skip GSC and go to Nassau instead? 

“Port congestion” because Prima was scheduled same day

[BubbaJo]

1 hour ago, AtlantaAlly said:

“Port congestion” because Prima was scheduled same day

Interestingly enough, I contacted NCL about the change from GSC to Nassau (I'm on the same cruise), and they said they knew nothing about it and that they're still showing we're going to GSC (as does everything online, including my reservation details)..despite the email that was sent out to us on 12/20. Trying to figure out how exactly we're supposed to plan for the day with excursions, etc., considering GSC was going to be our one chill/beach day for the week. 😞

[PATRLR]

12 hours ago, pjtjmn said:

 

I know that there are many unforeseen circumstances that prevent a ship from docking, but, this is reasonably “foreseen” and feels like they are not being upfront and honest with their customers.

I agree, it appears that NCL is not being upfront and honest with their customers.  I encourage anyone on a ship affected to ask an officer (at a meet and greet for example) and hold them accountable to answer why NCL is not being more honest about this.

[asmit4]

3 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I agree, it appears that NCL is not being upfront and honest with their customers.  I encourage anyone on a ship affected to ask an officer (at a meet and greet for example) and hold them accountable to answer why NCL is not being more honest about this.

1 reason- b/c the law says they don't have to. There should be a law that requires them to be upfront and share information and until that happens? (it won't) this is what we get. It's very frustrating. 

[HabitualLineStepper]

15 hours ago, pjtjmn said:

This is what I see on Amber Cove’s website.  Doesn’t look good for your date on 1/9, or mine for 1/30.  😕

 

I know that there are many unforeseen circumstances that prevent a ship from docking, but, this is reasonably “foreseen” and feels like they are not being upfront and honest with their customers.

 

I only see Carnival Corp ships in this schedule.

[HabitualLineStepper]

On 12/15/2022 at 7:21 AM, Laszlo said:

You need to read the fine print. We had a Bermuda cruise out of NYC diverted because of a hurricane that never even hit Bermuda. We wound up go to Florida (PC). We were then suppose to go to Nassau and GSC. Nassau then got cancelled and when we got to GSC is was too windy to stop. So our 7 day cruise ended up going to Florida and back to NYC with one stop LOL. Lots of angry cruisers that week

Did everyone need to pay a fine? Didn't this violate the Jones Act because it never stopped at a foreign port?

[AtlantaAlly]

21 minutes ago, HabitualLineStepper said:

I only see Carnival Corp ships in this schedule.

This is the official Amber cove schedule. When you superimpose the other port, there are 1-5 ships per day for most of January.

[AtlantaAlly]

Just now, HabitualLineStepper said:

Did everyone need to pay a fine? Didn't this violate the Jones Act because it never stopped at a foreign port?

If there were weather reasons, they can file for an exemption- and if it were an operational reason that didn’t qualify for exemption, then NCL would eat that fine.

[Turtles06]

26 minutes ago, HabitualLineStepper said:

Did everyone need to pay a fine? Didn't this violate the Jones Act because it never stopped at a foreign port?

Just an fyi. The Jones Act applies to cargo. The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) applies to passenger ships.  😊

[HabitualLineStepper]

19 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Just an fyi. The Jones Act applies to cargo. The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) applies to passenger ships.  😊

Thanks! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/jones-act

 

This trip probably wasn't applicable because the embarkation and disembarkation ports were the same unless someone decided to disembark in Florida. Doesn't Carnival allow any passenger dissatisfied with the cruise to disembark at the first port of call to receive a refund?

[Turtles06]

7 minutes ago, HabitualLineStepper said:

Thanks! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/jones-act

 

OMG!   That RCI page is just SO wrong!  😮  It's bad enough when cruise line phone reps don't understand these things, but it's inexcusable for official guidance/information on a cruise line web site to be incorrect.  Not only does RCI have the name of the law wrong, but the page makes it sound like a foreign-flagged ship can NEVER transport guests between two different U.S. ports, when in fact it can, as long as it stops at a "distant foreign port" (as defined in the PVSA) along the way.  For a roundtrip out of one U.S. port, the ship need only call at a "foreign port."    (So yes, your question about a possible PVSA violation was relevant, if the RT cruise out of NY did not make it to a foreign port.) 

 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program ...  what's NCL doing with ships scheduled for Puerto Plata?  😂

[Shidah]

My Jan cruise was listed on the schedule at one time, but now I see only Carnival. I would love if they changed the itinerary to be San Juan instead.  

[Cruise-mom]

We are also due in DR, Jan 9th on Escape. Two Carnival ships are listed on the Amber Cove port schedule so if we can't dock at Taino Bay?? We have an NCL excursion booked. I did chose this particular cruise because of DR. I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if it was missed but I would be annoyed if we are only told about a change when we get onboard when this can be foreseen by anyone at this early stage. 

 

We are also due to go to GSC and we all know how that goes. So if we have two extra sea days, our only ports will be St Thomas (nice) and Tortola leaving at 1pm!! I think the alternative ports for missing DR seems to be San Juan or Nassau? We have been to both, I wouldn't be disappointed to visit again but I would like some prior notification so we could plan our day. 

[cruisinpips]

Update, Escape is currently at Amber Cove, according to cruisemapper. Not sure why they aren’t going to Tiano Bay, unless they think it needs to dredged since Escape ran aground a while back. 

[JandC_Cruising]

4 minutes ago, cruisinpips said:

Update, Escape is currently at Amber Cove, according to cruisemapper. Not sure why they aren’t going to Tiano Bay, unless they think it needs to dredged since Escape ran aground a while back. 

The Escape is the only ship scheduled for Amber Cove today (according to the Amber Cove calendar https://ambercove.com/Port-Schedule.aspx) so there is no conflict with Carnival ships. 

Odyssey of the Seas and Oceania Insignia are currently at Taino Bay.

[dbrown84]

scheduled for DR on April 3rd.  Neither amber cove or Taino bay have their schedule for April on their sites yet, but cruise mapper is only showing two ships for that day, the Escape and on Carnival ship.  So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.....