mreding

I got back from a 7-day Glacier Bay cruise before Labor Day (2016) and was given the option of a bag of laundry for just under $20 (I think it was $19.95). The deal was you turned it in the morning on Wednesday and it would be returned on Friday evening by 6 PM.

Our cabin steward was AMAZING. We gave him the bag of laundry Tuesday night and he had it back Wednesday evening! No extra charge.

Note that we STUFFED that bag full. It's a paper bag, so we even had to tape it back together in spots...

You do need to tally up what you put in the bag, and they will glue (if that's the right word) little tags in your collars and waistbands. They do that to everything but underwear and socks. They just do one of those and probably put them in a bag together to get washed.

Clothes smelled clean and fresh, and whites were pretty white, too!

All in all, I was very impressed.

Our cruise was a Sunday to Sunday cruise, and the offer was in our Dailies on Tuesday, so the 3rd day of sailing. It's a little early to turn in stuff and possibly not get back till Friday, but we quickly realized we'd be out of clothes if we didn't.

You are replying to a post that is almost a YEAR old!!

NMLady: I aware of that. I can read the dates and know how message boards work. This thread actually spans a few year, but the questions I'm asking are still relevant.

And while I appreciate wdsted's response, I was hoping to hear back from the person I quoted. The information you (wdsted) provided is virtually the same as what the majority of the others have said.

Here's the deal... I have bad luck. If it can happen, it will. That's what my friends say. So if I ask someone who had 3 negative experiences about their experience, then maybe I can avoid that same pitfall.

I don't know what to say. We are 0-for-3 regarding the laundry being really clean. The first time (Jewel) it was terrible, the other two times (Sun and Dawn), it was mediocre.

 

We didn't bother complaining any of those three times, and just accepted it.

 

But I'm surprised the rest of you are giving such glowing reviews.

 

Maybe I have the worst laundry luck in the world, though I've seen others here also echo my complaints.

Pokerpro5: Something I'm noticing in this thread is people mentioning stuffing their bag to the gills and getting as much in them as possible. But if the one poster is correct in saying that they basically throw your stuffed bag into the laundry machine and it gets washed "as is," then of course none of the clothes would come out clean.

The other question I have is what kind of detergent do YOU use? I once stayed with a friend and they were generous enough to throw my clothes in the washer. When they came out of the dryer and I was folding them, I noticed they smelled pretty bad. Thinking it was their washer or something else, I investigated. What I found was that certain brands of laundry detergent will react poorly (or make them ineffective) with other brands. It took about 4 washes to finally make their soap "wash" my clothes. And then when I came back home, I had the same problem in reverse.

All that to say, I wonder if maybe you use one of those brands that just counteracts the soap NCL uses.

Finally... someone asked and it didn't get answered. For the special, do you get one bag per cabin at the special rate or one bag per person in the room?

Hey there. Did you happen to take any photos of this room? I'm in 10142 for an upcoming cruise.

Martincath, thank you!!!! That first link that talks about the eTA is the first site I've seen that specifically mentions sea travel.

Everything I could find before that mentioned air travel, and as you said, there were requirements based on the airline and airport, and I found travel by land... But having something that clearly said sea makes me feel more at ease that we will not get to the ship and be denied boarding (and thereby, forfeit the cost of the cruise).

Hey there. I am brand new here, and this will be my first cruise, but my (then) husband and I will be traveling on the NCL Pearl to Alaska next August. He was born in the Philippines and carries a Filipino passport. He has lived in the US since he was a child and has a US Green Card (therefore, he is a lawful US resident).

I cannot seem to nail down definitive information as to whether he will need a visa to board the NCL Pearl, or if he will be able to board and also disembark in Victoria, B.C., Canada during our trip with just his Filipino passport and his US Green Card. I have spent hours and hours searching the Canadian Department of Citizenship and Immigration website, many US-based websites, and have tried to call numerous departments (in the US and Canada).

What I've found is this... if he were traveling via air, he would not need a visa since the Philippines is one of the allowed countries to enter since he has a US Green Card. I also found evidence that if what he needed was a transit visa, he would also not need that visa and could enter using the passport and Green Card. What I cannot find is wording that specifically mentions arrival by ship/cruise!

Many of the cruise lines say that passengers, other than those holding a US passport, will need not only a visa, but a temporary resident visa (not the transit visa, even though we'd be in Canada for less than 48 hours).

Since I know that the answer ultimately lies with the people checking his documents before boarding the ship, and that the cruise line itself won't seem to give any information themselves... we're in a bit of an odd situation. We don't want to try to go through the lengthy and expensive process of obtaining a temporary resident visa if we don't have to!

Suggestions?

Also, though he will be my legally married husband, he will not be a naturalized US citizen when we take the cruise.

Thanks for your help!