MyTMo777

@Faithcruiser I second @baltic17's question. We are scheduled to stop in 
San Juan del Sur on November 20. Would love to know what you'd recommend. 

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Two of the three you've named in this thread, Cabo and PV, are certainly OK for venturing out on your own. Only Acapulco isn't.

What other ports are you visiting ?

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, & Puntarenas, Costa Rica. We have been to both the Guatemalan and Costa Rican ports before, and we know that we need to book an excursion because we dock in an industrial area. From what I am reading online, it sounds like Nicaragua is also not a port where we can just walk off the ship into town. 

5 hours ago, njhorseman said:

I'm not Ashland, but I answered your question on the thread you started. Acapulco has a very high crime rate with police and military armed with semi-automatic weapons seemingly on every street corner.

I felt uncomfortable enough at times even taking an escorted tour, and I would never consider going out on my own in Acapulco.

I appreciate the feedback. We seem to have an abundance of ports on our upcoming cruise that either are not safe to venture out in on our own, or that dock in an industrial area, which necessitates an excursion. 

Ashland, have you been to Acapulco? Can we do things on our own there?

Can we do something in Acapulco on our own? Walking tour, cab to downtown and/or a beach? Is it safe, easy and affordable? All of the excursions in every port are adding up, so I want to do as many ports on our own as we can.

How do I find out the prices of cabs in ports, and whether they are set or negotiable? Specifically, we are going to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco. I'm not looking to cheap out on a negotiable price, but I also don't want to over pay. 

Not much for beaches there. But we enjoyed just walking from the ship into town (super close). We browsed through the markets, tried some street food, paid a boat captain $2/each to take us out to our ship and tour around it (got some great pictures), and generally just enjoyed the culture of the town.

On 8/17/2022 at 9:17 AM, nikkiml said:

When we booked, we already knew that we were flying the day before departure. Hopefully, we'll not have to do a "milk run" to get to Miami... can we say "milk run" for the French expression "run de lait". 

Yes, that's completely appropriate! 

Maybe it’s a Prima glitch or special rules on that ship. But we made reservations just after making full payment at 120 days. That’s on the Jewel. I do know that people have had issues reserving for an odd-numbered group, so just reserve for 6. 

That’s what I’ve done in the past, but other people have said their tags were lost off their luggage between the pier and their room, so I thought luggage tag holders might help prevent that. 

I thought I'd order luggage tags from Amazon, but my-oh-my - way too many choices! I didn't know there were so many different sizes of luggage tags. I found one especially made for NCL tags, but they were 3x more expensive than some of the other ones offered. Which tags do I need?

13 hours ago, tedbearz said:

Seems like the NCL policy is vague on the actual help they will provide.

 

Flight Assistance While Traveling En-Route (Pre and Post Cruise)
In the event that your flight is changed or cancelled by the airline due to mechanical, inclement weather, strikes or any other involuntary reason, you should immediately advise an airline representative at the airport that you are a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line, and you are on your way to join a cruise. In most circumstances, the airline can arrange alternative flights at the airline counter, so you can get to the ship or the hotel destination. Please notify NCL through the "Flight Assistance Hotline" (contact numbers below) as soon as possible if a delay or cancellation. Please provide the agent with the new flight information, if applicable. Please note that air tickets cover flights from and to the vessel. Failure to travel on the outbound flight may resolve in automatic cancellation of the return flight.

 

RCCL Policy for comparison

 

Guest purchasing airline tickets through Air2Sea who experience travel disruptions do indeed receive assistance. With our Assured Arrival program, we have a dedicated group of professionals in the Emergency Travel Team standing by to provide air re-accommodation, and to provide hotel and ground transportation if needed. Even though we monitor your flights, we ask that you check with the airline while at the airport prior to contacting the Emergency Travel Team. The Emergency Travel team will work with you to find accommodations on the next available flight. In some instances, same day viable flight options may not be available, and in those instances we accommodate you to the next available port where you may legally join the ship.

This is helpful, but where did you find that paragraph? It's frustrating to me that I spent an hour searching the NCL site and Googling key words (which took me to NCL pages that I couldn't find on their website myself) and I didn't find that paragraph at all. Where on their website do you find ALL the fine print - I mean the really fine print - about every aspect of your cruise?

On 8/4/2022 at 10:33 AM, MotownVoice said:

Unreliable airlines is precisely why you WOULD let your cruiseline handle it.

If something happens, they fix it.

 

I looked repeatedly through the NCL terms and conditions to see where this is denied or confirmed, and could find nothing. Do you have a source that tells exactly what NCL would do to "fix it?" Get you to the first port at no charge to you? Refund your cruise and flights? There's a big difference there.

NCL is very safety conscious especially of windy conditions at Harvest Caye. My friends had their parasailing excursion canceled because it was too windy that day (fully refunded the same day). It was disappointing, but they found plenty of other ways to enjoy Harvest Caye, and everyone stayed safe.

I agree with the idea of moving about the ship. You have several hours in transit through the canal/lake, and the scenery is always changing. Going through one lock, I'd watch the whole process from the bow. For the next lock, and watched the whole process aft. I watched one lock fully open and close while sitting just above the water level inside so I could see right into the lock. It was great fun!

On 7/19/2022 at 7:52 PM, bbstx said:

@MyTMo777can you fit enough product into contact lens cases to last you a week? I use them for moisturizer and conditioner.  Can you off-load some of the stuff to your DH?  I covet and save every little container that passes thru my hands.  

I definitely need to work on this! Like one other poster said, I should "practice" at home putting thing into small containers and then seeing if that amount will last me 2 weeks. I could also probably downsize some of my skin care routine and make up for two weeks. You people are inspiring me.

On 7/21/2022 at 4:54 PM, crystalspin said:

100ml isn't that tiny! I have 3oz, 2oz, 1oz bottles -- fill the 100ml at home and use for the length of your cruise, then see how much is left. Take only as much as you are going to need. As far as stuff you really do need more of, like mineral-based sunblock -- figure out a way to stop at a "drugstore" after arriving at your departure port city.

Thanks for the advice. I need to work on this more and see if I can actually do it. It sure would give me more piece of mind with the way airports are right now!

My problem with packing light isn't about the clothes - it's trying to fit all my toiletries in tiny 100ml containers that all have to fit in a 1 litre plastic bag to get through security. Part of the problem is that I value my skin care routine and I love to wear make up in the evening, plus I use numerous hair products. I say someday when I retire maybe I'll just go grey and stop wearing make up and worrying about getting wrinkles, and then I can just use a carry on for trips.

My TA told us not to expect flight info until 30 days prior to the cruise at best. She said all the cruise lines are waiting until as late as possible to book flights in order to avoid having flights canceled and having to rebook them. That makes sense to me as I know people booking their own flights too early have had cancelations, sometimes multiple times. I'm content to wait. 

Hi Kay, we booked using NCL air for the first time, and they contacted us about a month before final payment was due to verify that the names on our passports matched exactly what they had in their records. When issuing flight tickets, all that is required is the passengers' names - no other passport info, but the names must match exactly. The airline will check your passport when you check in.

10 minutes ago, weltek said:

We opted out of the NCL air promo based on everything I've read on Cruise Critic (not all bad, but a lot bad). But we have Delta BOGOs to use up, so it wasn't a hard decision to turn down NCL and use our own BOGOs.

If we didn't have BOGOs, I know I'd need to be prepared for red eyes and dealing on my own with cancelled flights (and possibly having to fight for a refund from NCL, depending on the situation). 

 

After reading stuff on CC, I swore I would never use the free air promo. But there was no way I could get flights as cheap as they were offering with the 2-for-1 deal. We're paying $500 total for flights that would cost $2000+ EACH if I booked on my own. So I'm hoping it all works out. What makes me most nervous is flying in the day of embarkation. We NEVER do that. So I'm hoping we can get a deviation at least for that. If not, getting to LA is the cheap part so we can book our own flights.

Tried it on the Bliss and couldn't get it to work when one of us was in a stateroom or public washroom. It only worked in the common areas. It was useful at times, but frustrating when you're texting, "Where are you?" and the person is in an area where it doesn't work.

Like any good love story, your first is always special, so I do love the Sun. But I think the Bliss is my favorite overall. I love the look of it and all of the activities.

Thanks for the insights. This is the first time we've used the air option. I've emailed our TA with the link to NCL's promotional policies to see what she has to say.

On 6/3/2022 at 11:42 AM, MSN-Travelers said:

 

If you like to walk and try different things, I would suggest you try a "Food Tour".  It will give you an opportunity to try foods and local food outlets that the typical tourist might not consider.  We have visited Vallarta regularly since 2000.  We did the typical tourist restaurants for over a decade and tried https://vallartafoodtours.com to see what we might be missing.  We started with "The Street" followed by "Mex-ology" and then the "Original Downtown" tour.  All have been a great experience and made the hole-in-the-wall places that locals frequent regular eateries for us.

 

Enjoy! . . .

 

 

What a great idea! Thank you.