BBTT

By the way the current sailing of the gem is scheduled(as of yesterday) to tender at Tortola on 11/28/14. I read the reason for all the confusion is that they JUST RECEIVED the grant money they requested some time ago to make improvements to the docks to handle the larger ships that are being built now. I recall just a few years ago they built a small dock to the forward right side of the current dock(didn't look big enough to handle a small cruise ship). Right now they are only able to handle two ships-one on each side of the current dock-maybe they should have considered building another dock to the left and then they could handle 4 ships instead of two-maybe poor planning on there part.

yes St Marteen is there stop tomorrow maybe they will think of old dad here and find a wifi hot spot and check in. It's the LEAST they could do since I insisted they not change our plans because I couldn't go-I still wanted them to go and have fun. I'll tell you one thing-Next years cruise will be the best and longest we have ever taken and i WILL be on it not stuck at home with a dog that misses them all and is acting up and a snow storm that just dumped 10 inches on us-The silver linning: two of my neighbors offered to bring me over a Thanksgiving platter-one at 2:00 and the other at 4:30 and I said yes to both of them-eating good tomorrow at least.:D (I'm not quite worried enough yet to spend $20.00+ for the phone call yet.:D

In MY opinion there really isn't much at Tortola to do on your own-on the other hand if your willing to spend 100-200 dollars for a ship tour they say they have some of the most beautiful spots for snorkeling and such at the baths(not my cup of tea). 100 dollar credit would be fine in my book. Overall all the cruise companys need to develop new carribean stops(which I understand is being done) for those of us that have been to the Carribean numerouse times mainly because of having more homeports that do not require flying which can break the bank when you are traveling with a family.

Kind of personal question I guess but I've been a member here for about 10 years and almost always get reliable info here. My wife and 2 kids are group leader on board the current sailing with about 40 other pass. I talked with her yesterday when they were in PR. on face time and all was good(rough seas from N.Y. to PR) and we both agreed we would talk again today since verizon plan we have covers PR and St Thomas USVI. I saw the ship anchored on web cam but did not hear from her or either of the kids(even sent my daughter pictures of her dog playing in the fresh 10 inches of snow:eek: we got today with no reply back). I am confident they are ok (they have been on over a dozen cruises) but i am a worry wart. I wonder if since they were tendering that maybe the ship didn't turn off their wireless tower alowing them to use verizon signal or some other glitch prevented no call.-Anyone have any ideas as to what could have happened or anyone reading this that is onboard that might have details ? Or are they all having such a great time that they forgot about poor old dad that couldn't get time off to vacation with family. First time in 24 years that we haven't vacationed together.Just a poor old husband/father here that does enough worrying for the whole family so they don't need to.:confused:

also remember if you purchase in port before ship gets to sea you will pay extra for n.y. sales tax. probably same in most american ports ?

Smokers have rights too-and yes they must be respectful to those nonsmokers-we allways book an aft facing balcony and seems smoke travels straight back not sideways. I have been on 15 cruises and never had any balcony neighbor mention anything about smoking-probably because most were smokers themselves

saw her on AIS this afternoon sailing northwest alongside celebrity summit doing 22 knots southeast below atlantic city a bou100 miles out or so-wont be long till she docks

also keep in mind the passenger capacity is only around 2200 or close to it. Dawn was our first ship and we loved it-been on her for 2- 7 day cruises and 1- 10 day and she is still our favorite-best staff, easy to navigate and a great promenade deck on 7 that goes completely around the entire ship-we have been on breakaway,epic,spirit,gem,jewel and we love that ship-lots of ocean views and windows thruout the ship.

Sorry guys, just trying to state facts of our situation and got interrupted umpteen times. Although I am an educated person I have been led off the path of proper English and caps etc. mainly due to texting and just trying to answer with minimal strokes etc, :o

our experience on breakaway this past nov.-we were a group of 36 that cruise together each year. one evening about 10 of us made reservation at main dinning room. total time in restaurant was 3 hours from ordering meal to dessert which most skipped. we called over the maître d to discuss service and he rudely commented that ncl standard is 3 hours for 3 course meal-well I have been in the restaurant business for 30 years and rule of thumb has always been 2 top table 45-min to an hour-parties of 8 or more about 1-1 1/2 hours. 3 hours totally unacceptable unless you are a group having drinks and leasuring talking etc after dinner.-removed dsc for dr service and yes you can adjust up or down by area-steward, dr service etc. even if you mention your issues at desk u cannot fill out adjustment till last full day of cruise .flame me if u will I removed dr service portion as service in all non pay venues was below par. they are building these larger ships with higher passenger capacity and not increasing staff enough to meet demand (used to be about 1 staff member to every 2.5 pass.-seems now about 1 staff member to every 4 or 4.5 pass). when we started cruising ncl 15 years ago it was definetly a better experience. ncl is still usually our line of choice.

We try to always sail in aft facing (stern) balconies. The view and piece and quiet-exception of the wake which is white noise to us is the best-never had noisy neighbors on any of our 8 or so cruises (lucky I guess) actually I was surprised at how little it seemed that people even use their balconys, I always spend a lot of time out there-so relaxing. We were on the epic 10/9/10 sailing and felt no vibration with the exception of an announced "test" anounced by the captain 1 night from 7 pm to midnight that could be felt everywhere on the ship. Even when docking there was very little vibration. We were on the 13th deck-last cabin on starboard side BA catagory at the time and our balcony was about 2-3 feet wider than our neighbors. we had a full chase lounger,(requested and brought first day by steward -small table, two regular chairs and often brought desk chair out when company visited. Overall ship was too big for us and service staff in restaurants was a bit to be desired compared to our other NCL cruises-guess we will stick to the smaller NCL ships in the future-still had a great time-no such thing as a bad cruise-only good and better-once you go aft(stern) you will probably never go back to side balcony.