Cj_wants_to _sail

If you're Canadian, you almost certainly have a "US booking", i.e. a booking with NCL Miami.

 

Just wondering, is the currency of your booking USD or CAD?

When I look online, it displays in CAD. I called to book he quoted me in USD, but switched to CAD on request and I was billed in CAD. Paying that extra 30% really sucks.

Thanks so much!! It's nice to know they have labeled a veg option on the menu. I know they didn't have that on our last NCL cruise, because I looked for it, as when we sailed on Carnival, there was one "every day" and one "revolving " veg option listed.

We just didn't make it to the Asian restaurant last time.... really loving the idea of some Pad Thai!

We are coming up on our 2nd NCL cruise.

On our first NCL cruise, I found the process of getting a vegetarian/vegan restaurant meal a long process. The veg choices were not highlighted on the menu and none of the servers knew. Of course, sometimes its obvious, but more often than not, items can be misleading, like vegetable soup made with chicken broth, etc...

I was told to go to the restaurant I wanted to eat at the day before and arrangements would be made to make whatever I wanted. Fair enough, but we had a port heavy cruise and I just didn't have the time to pre plan...my family of carnivores were fine everywhere, and I'm not a big foodie, so I kept it simple, and am not complaining.

This cruise however, will be much more relaxed and I'll have more time to try new foods. When I was talking with our PCC, he told me he does vegan sometimes, and the chefs whip him up some nice meals.

But I don't even know what to ask for! I am open to trying whatever veg/vegan foods they can make, but am lacking in the inspiration department.

So, has anybody had any great veg meals? Or can you think of one of your favorites that can be easily made veg friendly?

I can't recall if the daily info was in the dailies, but I think so. I do remember that the days events were posted outside the kids club.

Thanks for the replies.

I also watched a few videos and am still torn as Bermuda looks like the nicer destination, but we do want it warm enough to snorkel in the ocean and swim in the pool. I do wish the Dawn had a water slide like the Star.... Yes, it is a pretty crappy water slide, but the kids scooting themselves down on their knees kept them busy.

DH's vacation for 2017 is already set, but we could do the 1st week of May instead of 3rd week of October....I googled the temps though and it does not look any warmer.

I guess I'll just watch the prices for a bit and see how things go.

Thanks again!

We are looking at taking our 2nd NCL Cruise next October -- based on schedule, we are looking at the Dawn from Boston to Bermuda or the Breakaway from NY to Bahamas.

We have started researching, and would love any insight anyone may have to offer.

I know the ships are hard to compare. We were on the Star last year and enjoyed it, so haven't decided if the Dawn being similar is a pro or con. The Breakaway looks fancy and in theory, DS would be awed, but would not do the ropes course and doesn't like big, covered watersides. I think that ship wise, we'd be happy with either.

As for departure ports, both are similar in drive time. We visited NYC this summer but have never been to Boston, so it would be nice to see Boston, but probably would only have a day to spare -- not much time for sightseeing, so departure city is not a big factor.

We have never been to Bermuda or Bahamas, but found enough to do to keep ourselves entertained in either place.

What I am not sure about is deck weather. We want warm and to be able to use the pools ASAP. I understand it is still hurricane season and nobody knows what will be brewing, but which itinerary will reach pool weather first??

(We are trying to avoid the long drive to Florida)

TIA

Does anybody know if parents have to buy this pass to be in the water with a kid that does have the pass? DS would enjoy the slides, but I am happy just to watch, yet I need to be in the water close to where he is, as it must be relatively deep.

I don't know anything about the Sky, but wanted to mention that you can book in Cdn $ if you book over the phone. I don't know if it makes a difference with our $ being so low these days, but I wish I had known that when I booked, as we would have saved a fair bit of money!

Thanks for the info.

I've checked out the NCL site and watched a few YouTube videos, so we have some idea of what to expect of the look of the ship....hopefully when the current sailing returns they will have some entertainment suggestions as I can't find that on NCL's website.

Is the white hot party and adult thing, or are kids allowed to attend?

We sail Nov 1st, so I will take some pics of the kids club info (although mine is 9, so I don't know if I'll be able to get the info for the other age groups) and the entertainment schedule which may be relevant to those sailing this winter.

I'll also try to get a list of the foods that are vegetarian... When I asked NCL, I was advised to ask on board as there is no set menu (?). Not a big deal, but I'd of rather gone in knowing my choices then having to ask each meal.

We are excited for our first NCL cruise next week on the Star.

Since booking, I have been looking for tidbits and tips to know for our cruise, but have not found much up to date info on what the Caribbean cruise would be like as the ship was in the Baltics.

I have the drink list :) , so that will help! and I know to get to the kids club asap....other than that, I don't have much info. Any shows that we should try to see? Do they have a "white hot" party? (And if so, what exactly is that??) any good lookout spots to star gaze at night?

Any tips would be appreciated!!

TIA

We are taking our first NCL cruise on the Star sailing November 1.

You will probably have already made up your mind on what you are going to book before we return, but when we do get back, I can share the Kids Club schedule and what the line ups were like so you can try to plan a little if that helps. It won't be the same as a holiday sailing, but may provide a frame of reference.

The Kids Club is important to us too as our DS needs his time with other kids or he becomes pretty cranky. When we sailed Carnival we made sure to get to the Kids Club early, as some days the lineup got pretty long and I don't know if everybody was allowed in.

Of course it would be more convenient to just drop off whenever, but it is worth it to me to plan and stand in line if I need to to get a spot.

Don't you tip cab drives? Valets? Bellboys? Porters? Pizza delivery? I always make sure to travel with a lot of small bills.

I have a car, so don't take cabs. And since I have a car, I pick up my own pizza (true, I do drop $ in the tip jar when I pick it up).

I don't think I have ever stayed in a hotel with a bellboy or valet :eek:

I do tip the porters at the terminal, but yes, it feels awkward.

Guess I lead a sheltered life!

Thanks for the replies. It will be a learning experience, but now I have some reference to go by.

I don't know if it is just me, but tipping makes me uncomfortable. Adding 20% on to a restaurant tab or leaving a tip in the room for housekeeping is easy, but it feels awkward to give people a few dollars in their hands. Almost insulting. But, that is my hangup, and I guess with time I'll get better at it so I don't feel the need to over tip, even when I really don't think it is warranted.

Caribbean port excursions, if that matters.

I do understand that tipping is based on personal preference, and different people wil have different ideas about what is expected/acceptable. But this is our first time doing port excursions, so don't know how to calculate what is "generally" acceptable.

I'm guessing there will be a driver, then at least one guide, and in one port we will go to a locals house for lunch.....so how do you figure a tip for each person?

A percentage of the cost of the tour divided by the number of people you interact with? A standard rate for a person doing a specific job? Just give a tip to one person who divides it up?

I want to be able to budget and plan ahead of time, so any help will be appreciated.

We are taking our first NCL cruise in a few weeks. To be fair, we have only cruised one other time, so can't really have an opinion on which line suits us best.

We chose NCL based on sailing date ( DH vacation dates are not flexible) then on price, followed by departure port and itinerary.

We booked back in April, and I think we got a pretty good deal that included 3rd passenger sails free and the UBP including gratuities. But I have been watching the price for our sailing go up and stay up, so if I was booking a vacation today, NCL would be out of our budget and we would be going to a land based AI.

And prices are dropping closer to sailing contrary to what some here have been saying recently. I just now moved from a studio to a balcony guarantee on the Getaway for the Oct 31 sailing. Totally free.

Not being an experienced cruiser, I am comfortable with what we paid overall (can't say if it was a good deal) - 7 nt. Star in Nov, 3 ppl, OV, UBP for two and Soda pkg for 1 incl drink gratuities for $1680 USD.

I am disappointed (in myself, NCL and the global economy) that there was a way to pay in CDN $ that I was unaware of.... by the time I found this out, NCL said there was nothing they could do, so this trip is going to cost us a lot more than I would have liked and won't be a better deal than we could have gotten on a nice AI.... Live and learn I guess, we are still super excited that we are able to go on a vacation!

The one thing I have been watching for and have not seen are any real price drops as we get closer to sailing - maybe it is still to early?? Or maybe we did get such an awesome deal to begin with that it will not get any cheaper then what we paid?

I guess my point is that, to the unexperienced cruiser like myself, based on the prices I am currently seeing, I am not convinced that cruising is a "great deal" (which is totally different than being a great experience).

Port to Money Bar will be posted on the sign near the cab line - expect the fare to be about $10-12 and the ride will take under 10 minutes.

 

Check with the driver BEFORE you get into the cab -- fare to PB from MB should be about $12+

 

Fare from PB back to the pier should be about $17

 

Posted fares cover up to 4 passengers in the cab - have a great cruise! :)

Thanks!

Another general question -- what kind of activities do you do if it rains?

We have never been to the Caribbean in the fall, and will be sailing the first week of November.

A big tropical storm and we stay on the boat. Passing showers we carry on as usual. But if it is supposed to steadily rain all day, are there any child friendly indoor activities around?

Thanks for the feedback.

Splitting our Cozumel time between Money Bar and Paradise beach sounds like I could make everybody happy.

Our DS will be 9, and he too enjoys snorkelling. All of us are novice snorkelers, I'm not as comfortable in the ocean surrounded by critters, but DS and DH quite enjoy putting their faces in the water. DH tends to dive more, so I stay close to DS in case something freaks him out.

Funny thing is that both of them get cranky when in the sun too long, but neither will admit it (where I could lounge in the sun all day), so they need a reason to stay in the water and between the snorkelling at Money Beach and water equipment at Paradise Beach, we should be good!

Do you know the average cost and time to get from the NCL Dock (Punta Langosta) to the Money bar by cab? Then from the Money Bar to Paradise Beach?

I'm up in the air over what to do at these two ports.

I would like one day to visit some ruins and the other to have a beach day with good beginners snorkelling.

I was looking at doing the Mayan Experience tour in Costa Maya and then Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Paradise beach looks great for me and DS, but I'm not sure if there will be enough to keep DH happy. He likes snorkelling but is not much of a beach bum.

We have been to Chankanaab before, so I know he would like to try someplace new. I was looking at the Money Bar, but not sure if I could keep DS occupied.

(I was planning on a beach snorkel trip at the Rotan port, so the Money Bar may be more of the same in his eyes).

Any advise? We can switch our activities to snorkel/beach in Costa Maya and visit ruins in Cozumel if there are better options this way.

TIA

You likely didn't know, and it is unlikely you would ever be caught, but it is illegal to feed the fish inside of Cozumel's National Marine Park, which Chankanaab is inside of. Please respect local laws and do not feed the fish next time you visit.

Hmm... I did not know that. Good to know!

Ignorance is not an excuse of the law, but I don't recall it being posted (at least in English) at the beach and I don't see it readily available on their website. In the FAQ's it recommends biodegradable sunscreen, so I'd think that would be a good place to put it to raise awareness.

Not sure what the penalty would be, but I don't think I'd appreciate the accommodations in a Mexican jail :/

We went there in April 2014.

We chose it because we wanted an affordable, easy to get to, "safe" day at the beach with decent beginners snorkeling.

Even though it was not that long ago, I'm foggy on some of the details, but I'd say we got what we were hoping for.

After walking through the shopping area at the port, we took a taxi to the park. It think it cost around $10 and took 10-15 minutes. I can't remember the entrance fee, but we had printed a coupon from the official park website that we were able to use (i think it was $2 off pp?? -- not a big savings, but why not).

The grounds were well kept and the beach view was beautiful. There was a small inlet/cove area for kids, but since they were busy fishing jellyfish out of the water there, we didn't spend much time there. The main beach area where we were had beach chairs and umbrellas (are they called tiki huts?) and servers to take orders. One thing I recall is that we had to climb down rocks or slimy water stairs to get into the ocean -- not a big deal, but I'm glad we had water shoes!

We brought our own snorkel gear. The water was very clear and if you put a little bread in the water, there were tons of fish to check out (for our next trip, I'd rather have a little real fish food to give, as I don't know if bread is good for them). There are also underwater statues around that are cool to see. I have read that many expert snorkelers think Chankannab is cheesy, but for beginners or kids, I think it is a good choice.

The restrooms were fine - outdoorsy as expected. There was a lady with toilet paper around sometimes, but I didn't always see her, so was happy that I brought my own!

We walked around a bit and saw a diaplay of either crocodiles or alligators and also saw a seal lion show. There was no additional cost for this.

The one thing we noticed when we were leaving was that there seemed to be a food/drink deal available at the restaurant. We just did pay as we went, but if we went again would check for deals before ordering (we ordered bottled water and soda and a pizza and I think it was around $35 USD).

We will have a stop in Cozumel in November and may end up here again, based on price and convenience. If so, I would not complain!

We are sailing NCL for the first time next year, and of course got the great UDP for my wife and I free. Our son will be 3 at the time of sailing. Obviously he is gonna share some of our drinks that we get using the UDP [YES ONLY NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS!] but will that get us in any kind of trouble? Do people get in trouble for things like that or they let that slide? Thanks for any help.

I wouldn't think a 3 year old would drink too much juice -- can you bring a pack or two of juice boxes to keep in your cabin? This way you know you have something your son will like.

Whenever we go on vacation, I always bring a package, which is great for convenience and excursions.

We have not sailed with NCL yet, but on Carnival they had 100% apple or orange juice in small bottles in the buffet at breakfast... I think NCL has a small fridge in the room, so maybe you could take an extra one of these at breakfast to drink later in the day if NCL also has these??

Also, I don't know if you know that bottled water is not included in the drink package. We are happy with the free water, but if you don't like it, maybe you can bring on some bottled water too (also great for excursions).

There was one small change for our November Star cruise with regard to port times -- originally Rotan was 10am until 6pm. It is now 11am until 7pm, so no actual time lost, but we do lose an hour of morning daylight, which will shorten our stay as we want to be back before it gets dark.

Since this is just an adjustment and does not fall into the "will save fuel" argument, I guess there was a logistical reason for the change.

My only real complaint is that the only reason I know is because I have a copy of the original itinerary and this thread made me curious to compare.

When we went on Carnival last year we brought on some can pop (for the adults) and juice boxes for DS. I don't know what or how much you can/want to carry on board, but it worked well for us as it was nice to have a pop available when we wanted it and juice boxes are easy to bring for port days.

The juices/lemonade and milk avail on board were enough for DS, but those juices are pure sugar... We cut them with 1/2 water and DS still thought they were great. I think more than anything he just loved being able to use the juice/water dispenser on his own!

Thank you - I just assumed because of the name there would be water activities [emoji6]. That would be the only time they would be under the supervision besides ourselves (obviously) and it wasn't until I found that same link I realized there was no water activities.

That's too bad! I actually thought with them having a separate kids splash area that water activities would be part of the kids club too. We have been to AI's where they take the kids to a supervised kids pool, so I don't understand why a cruise ship wouldn't do the same.

I would not let DS in the main pool without DH or myself, but I actually prefer the kids area to have less parents and let the kids club staff run a program... one set of rules with staff keeping the kids in check works better IMO than a free for all with over active kids with uninterested parents.