schmoopie17

Always enjoyed your posts over on the NCL page. Glad I found this one. We did the Panama Canal from Miami to LA in 2019 on the NCL Bliss. Great cruise, but I just don't get the attraction with the canal. To me it was a few hours of creeping along without much to see. But that's just me, I guess. When we saw Cartagena on our itinerary, we were a bit wary...Columbia being one of the drug capitals back in the day. But we ended up loving it...our segway excursion through town was one of the highlights for us. Your pictures of flamingos, peacocks and the Old Town brings back some great memories.

I had a similar question, since I will be dropping off three fellow passengers at the ship before going to park. How difficult is it to get close to the ship for drop-off on a weekend day with four ships in port?

You left off the quotes around "lady". Fixed it.

"Have a reasonably clear background". What??? That's about as vague as you can get. I guess NCL will ultimately decide if someone's background is "reasonably clear", but still pretty wishy-washy (not to be confused with washy-washy)...

This from the company that implemented paper straws but kept plastic cups.

Or. "for your convenience"...

It appears from other threads that check-in times aren't even being checked at the dock. So probably doesn't really matter. But I have a question. We checked in online for our November cruise. For our upcoming cruise next month will we have to do the picture thing again? Or is it "on file"?

We got a $1200 FCC due to a price drop after final payment. Like you, the email came three days later. We've already used the FCC on our January Prima cruise, along with my 10% Veteran's discount and a $250 Cruise Next. It worked out great.

We were on the Escape in November (Cabin 11214) and trust me, the door opened OUTWARD. There is a little nook or "vestibule" outside the cabin where the door opens up to, so there is no safety hazard by having the door open into the hallway. The challenge was getting the bags into the vestibule while shutting the door from the inside. Because the door opened OUTWARD, I had to try to maneuver them in place outside the door while opening the door a few inches and reaching through the small opening from the inside before shutting the door. The bags ended up sticking out into the hallway a bit, which I thought would be a safety hazard. We also couldn't easily open the door to get out of the cabin once the bags were there, without pushing hard and moving the bags...since the door opened OUTWARD.

Putting your luggage outside your door never made sense. Security issues aside, the doors open OUT...which makes getting out of your cabin a chore. Heck, even getting INTO your cabin and shutting the door can be a chore with those bags there.

A lot of places don't take $100 bills, either. Must be because they don't have a slot in the register. *sarc*

Hospital Administrators focus on protecting patient privacy, which was a major aspect of HIPAA. Ever hear of a HIPAA violation? Sorry if that offends you. In any case, I'm done with this discussion and will not be reading or responding further. The rest of you can continue to beat this dead horse.

I understand HIPAA better than the majority of people on this board. I was instrumental in writing our hospital's Policy and Procedures for HIPAA...among numerous other policies. I never said it provides protection for anonymous people. My point was patient privacy is just that...private. It's one of the major tenets of HIPAA, It's nobody's business why someone got into an ambulance, unless you are rendering care to that person, regardless which country. And I seriously doubt anyone on this board was giving care or has a need to know. Period.

Hate to be snarky (actually, I love to be snarky)...It's nobody's business. It's why HIPAA became a thing.

I may be the only one confused by this, since nobody else is questioning it. But if they awarded you double points after final payment, why would you call to request double points? EDIT: Oh, after re-reading this for the fifth time, I think I see what you were saying...that the cruise in general qualified for double points and you called to see about getting the double points even though it wasn't a new booking. When you said they doubled the points for "your cruise" I thought you literally meant they doubled the points for YOU. I need more coffee...

@BirdTravelsI wouldn't be surprised to see someone commenting on a post from a Mayflower traveler from back in the day. That traveler probably had complaints about the beverage package and the WIFI.

So...I signed up and everything's set on my account. But I'm confused...what's the advantage to signing up my wife if we always cruise together? It's not like they'll give us a double discount...

Following the discussion of no-longer free continental breakfast vs. reduced price for "hot" breakfast... I've never ordered the "hot" room service breakfast, but I would be hesitant due to the fact that most "hot" breakfasts we had on our recent 16 day cruise in the dining room, O'Sheahan's or even the buffet were not "hot". Without exception, they were lukewarm, at best. I can only imagine how not hot it would be after sitting on a cart, going down an elevator, being rolled down the long hallway, etc.

Room service could be considered a "hidden" spot...

You already have embarkation covered, above. As for debarkation...DO NOT USE THE NCL AIRPORT TRANSFER!!!!! It was a total sh!t show. We were told to stand in a line outside the buses. After about 15 minutes of standing in that line, they said we need to move to another line. Again, after about 15 minutes they told us to go back to the original line. Note that we had just about gotten to the head of the line when they told us to move back to the BACK of original line. All of this was in 30 degree weather with howling winds.We waited another eternity to actually board the bus. The driver was surly, didn't speak English, couldn't figure out how to turn down the heat...people were loudly complaining of the excessive heat on the bus, Upon arrival at the airport, without a word he jumped off the bus and began pulling everyone's bags off, regardless if that was the terminal people needed. Never again...

As stated above, the fried shrimp appetizer is fantastic. It was so good, we asked the manager for the recipe and it appeared in our cabin the next day.

We missed a port in the Azores on our recent Escape TA due to high winds and rough seas. The next day our account showed two credits of $40. I assume those were refunded port fees. Never asked because I was happy to get $80 in credits.

That doesn't mean we didn't want two if the price was right. I think I know what I wanted and what I was thinking more than you do. Like I said, case closed. Unless you want to keep beating this dead horse. In which case, you can argue with yourself. Knock yourself out. I'm done with it.

When did I say we only wanted to buy one? We were considering two future cruises (one that we knew we would be booking soon and another we had some interest in for later.) Until she told me I could get two for one, didn't know that deal was even possible. The way I see it, we're $250 ahead. Case closed.

So, I got "preyed on" for getting $500 worth of certificates for $250?? I'll take getting "preyed on" like that every day of the week. Tell you what...you give me $500 and I'll give you $250. Now who got "preyed on"?