bobnpaml

Thank you Saint Greg.  We will be in New Orleans the day before and after our Jan. 21-28, 2024 cruise on the Breakaway.  Not our first cruise out of NOLA.  Last time we stayed at the Hilton Riverside but the cost is way over our budget this time. 

We love New Orleans, my husband's roots goes back to the early 1720's, first Census on Rue Royal.

Has anyone stayed at the Mercantile Hotel on St. Peters?  Is it within walking distance ( with carry on luggage only) to the NCL cruise terminal?

I booked our upcoming cruise straight thru NCL (person that answered the phone).  Upgraded the same way.  Got a phone call several night ago from our newly appointed PPC, extremely nice your lady.  We talked for awhile about cruising AND she asked to to wait just a minute and came back and told me she had gotten us and extra 10% off the cruise.  And if I found a price drop to contact her and she would see we got that. She also told us we could book dinner venues and shore excursions with her when they become available. I do not know if the fact we a platinum status ( one more cruise away from sapphire ) made a difference. Hopefully she is getting credit but working FOR us none the less

Grand Isle has very good food.  Shrimp and grits, yummy.  The prices can be  expensive

Used their flight last January to Miami.  We flew in very early on day of flight.  I believe you can pay an up charge to have more flexibility in the flight.  We went to Tahiti several years ago with Windstar cruises. Flew out of LAX on Air Tahiti Nui.   Long but ok flight.  Getting to plane was a chore.  Farthest gate and then had to ride a bus on the tarmac to get to plane.  But there are several companies that fly there.  You will love the Society Islands.

Does anyone have the information on senior staff on the Pearl?.  Thank you.

We used hotwire and choose 3 1\2* downtown and it will shows you four hotel that you will be booked into one of them.  We got the Hilton for $117.00 plus tax.

We are booked on the Dec. 30th Pearl cruise, several weeks ago they changed Harvest Caye with Belize City, bummer, been there, done that, several times, but no biggie. Yesterday received and e-mail changing back to Harvest Caye but different times, earlier departure from Tampa, dropping Cozumel the first port and adding Grand Cayman for last port and changing times on shore on most ports. This just makes a big headache for those of us that plan and book excursions early. Still a lot of time to change those things, but please NCL, decide on the ports and times and stick to it.

No dinners, no bottle of wine.

Booked on Hotwire for Dec. 29, 2018, one nite for Tampa.

Choose 3 1\2 * in downtown area.

received Tampa Downtown Hilton.

$117.00 plus tax.

on other sites, $250.00 plus.

we are happy with what we got.

On our 4 night cruise we received the 30 min. Internet perk and priority embarkation. That's it. We are platinum.

Thank you both for answering my questions. GaryPG, the streetcar will work great for going to Ybod City. Not so for the cruise terminal Sunday morning.

Capt. the link is great. Thanks.

Knew I would get my answers here from those that know.

We will be cruising from Tampa the end of December '18. We are staying the night before our cruise at the Hilton Downtown ( this was the hotel we were assigned via Hotwire). My question is can we ride the street car to Ybor City, the afternoon after we arrive and take it to the cruise terminal the morning of our cruise. We only travel with carryons, so will this be a problem traveling on the streetcar to the ship?

We went on a NCL Cuban cruise last August and used Blexi tours. Contacted him via e-mail and it was the high lite of our cruise. Our tour guide was an English major and spoke fluent English. Don't be wary of using this company. Also heard from fellow cruisers that used other companies and they were very happy. We were highly surprised by the large number of Cubans that spoke English. If you like vintage Vegas shows, Tropicana is not to be missed.

On our last NFL cruise we had only two carry-one each. Took them on with us and check them with entertainment staff once we boarded. Can not remember if it was in a bar or restaurant but it was just inside once entering the ship. Went and had lunch and when rooms were ready, picked up luggage then went to cabin and unpacked. This was not the first time we have seen or used this. They will tag your luggage and give you a receipt to reclaim your luggage.

Thank you so much for taking your time to post this review and answering all of our questions. We are on the August 14th sail and working with Blexie about our excursion. Again, thank you

It is $18.99 and $21.99 for those of us on the Sky. Guess I will be paying early.

I received an e mail from NCL yesterday concerning our Aug. 14th Sky cruise. It was changed over to Cuba. We have until Feb. 17th to decide if we want to change over or cancel our cruise. So I am sure it will be after that date to start booking cruises for Cuba as they will have a better account if available cabins. I was told by our PCC that if I booked today my $399.00 pp inside would go for over $600.00. Needless to say upgrading to a $900.00 pp for a balcony is out.

Just received our e mail. We are going to accept the change and stay booked. Looking forward to seeing a new island. Does anyone know if we will need visas or will NCL take care of that. Guess I will call and find out.

Just returned yesterday from the Wind Spirit. Wonderful cruise. Will post review at a later date. If you have any questions, ask away. I will try to get the answer you want.

Thank you for your replies. Wanted to know if boarding was more "big" cruise style or more river cruise.

Next question please, can you go back a shore after check in and lunch? Or just wait and check in after seeing Peepeete, and check in later in day!

We will be sailing on the Spirit Jan. 6, 2017. This will be our first Windstar cruise but have sailed a number of times on larger cruise ships.

Could someone please explain the embarkation procedures at Peepeete, Tahiti.

1. Is there a building/dock that we check into prior to boarding or do we check in on the ship.

2. Do we drop off our luggage prior to boarding or carry them with us. Even large suitcases.

3. Is there a security screening prior to boarding or when you actually come aboard. For both individuals and luggage.

I am sure I will have more questions but have found a lot of answers already thru these threads. And for that thank you.

Did this this past January. Stay inside hotel and follow signs to Riverwalk mall. Go to the food court and take the outside exit at back of food court . Just outside take the elevator to the street level. Turn left, walk across the street (over railroad tracts) and enter the terminal. It will cost $8.pp to take a taxi to terminal.

Pathubia, 15 steps and you are out on the deck. Didn't miss a balcony one little bit.

~~~~~~~, to answer a few of you questions: there are two dress up if you want nights. First sea day and next to last. Most people that dress up eat at the more formal dining room at back of ship (forgot name). On our cruise we saw several men in tuxs and women in after five. More in suits and ties and dressy evening wear. Most men in docket type pants and collars shirts. Women in dress slacks and blouses/sweaters.

If you are driving to New Orleans, there are a couple of options for parking. We used on our first cruise out of NO, Holiday Inn in Matirie, La. They have a part and cruise package that is reasonable. I believe there might be several more in the suburbs. Parking in NO can be very expensive. I suggestion would be to look on the web for park and cruise packages.

As far as wine. They have a table to check in at for your wine, before you go through lines. Pay your fee and then put your wine back in carryon. NCL wants it in the carryon.

Hope this helps some. We didn't do organized excurusios on this trip, but bug spray is always a must. Not only for mosquitoes but also sand flees.