Ken the cruiser

Just got back from talking with the Internet Cafe person, and it’s basically one or the other. We get the 15% discount if we pay the full price to purchase the Unlimited Wi-Fi plan. However, if we use the FAS internet minutes to “upgrade” to the Unlimited package, we do not get the 15% Platinum discount in addition to the $100 discount (value of the FAS minutes) we used to reduce the upgrade charge.

For those interested here are the internet speeds while at sea, both upload and download, when in our cabin on the unlimited (but not streaming) internet package. BTW it’s pretty much been around these speeds the whole cruise so far.

Day 6 - Nov 2 - Sea Day

We’re going to hopefully see today, but does anyone know if you are Platinum and upgrade your free FAS minutes, in our case 150 min, to unlimited, do they apply the 15% discount off the upgrade charge when you purchase it prior to boarding the ship?

Tonight while waiting for Cagney’s to open, I took a picture of the bay after the sun had set. Then after a very tasty dinner in Cagney’s, we headed over to watch the Duo Forte acrobatic show in the Stardust Theater. We were there when the doors opened, as there was only one show tonight for fear of rough seas around 9 pm, so we got a couple of pretty good seats. But the best part of the evening was when we went to watch the hilarious Lipsync Battle. It was the best “game show” we’ve seen so far in the Ultra Bliss Lounge! 😂 Afterwards at 9 the production show singers provided the entertainment to a fully packed Ultra Bliss Lounge. Many of whom stuck around after the Lipsync Battle. One last note. Today by accident we discovered there are at least 3 different pier areas (we think) in the St Thomas area, one for Carnival ships (Cruz Bay), one for Royal Caribbean Group ships (Charlotte Amalie West), and one for NCL ships (Downtown St Thomas). So if you ever cruise on ships affiliated with these different cruise companies and wonder why they might offer different excursions, this might be a good reason why.

I’ll keep an eye out in the Daily’s for any Cornhole contests plus I’ll try to figure out who to ask, and I’ll let you know if I find out anything.

We just got back from a fun day at the wildlife rescue center learning and looking at a variety of land and sea creatures! It also got us more excited about going to the Galapagos in December! 😁 Here are some of the wildlife we saw. Went to a sea lion presentation which was quite informative. We went to the undersea observatory which was quite fascinating. If you look close, you can see the antennas of a crab. The Caribbean Reef Encounter exhibit

We have arrived in St Thomas, with the NCL Encore right behind us!

Day 5 - Feb 1 - St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

We’re getting close to arriving at St Thomas. Should be there in another 90 minutes or so. And it looks like we won’t have the port to ourselves today! 😂 Here’s what we’re doing today in St Thomas.

Hi there again! I would imagine it’s probably a little warmer here than in Norway right now! 😁

Not bad pricing if they still continue to include the gratuities in the base fare, and each guest is still allowed 2 devices to access their unlimited internet services. Their cancellation fees prior to final payment are also much more reasonable than the “old” Crystal policy.

We just did the regular 45-minute tour which was quite interesting. You can see some of the pictures I took on my Live From thread on the Dawn I’ve got going over on the NCL forum.

We’re currently on the NCL Dawn and that’s exactly where we docked this past Sunday. Very convenient to a variety of things to do just off the ship. We did a self-guided walking tour of the Harry S. Truman Little White House, the Shipwrecker Treasures Museum, and the Aquarium for $59 each plus tax.

This evening after a very tasty dinner in Le Bistro, we then headed to the early show in the Stardust Theater to watch comedian Anthony LeDonne. Then we were off to the Ultra Bliss Lounge at the other end of the ship to watch the game show Wheel of Ill Will. One thing about the 8 pm game shows in the Ultra Bliss Lounge, they usually have a full house every night!

Yup, we’re cruising now to St Thomas. Have fun on the rest of your cruise!! I’ve got a thread going with regards to our adventure if you want to follow along. 😁

And we’re off again. Next stop St Thomas, Virgin Islands tomorrow around 11 am or so. Thought the field of wind turbines looked pretty cool as we were leaving! 😁

If I might ask, where do you look on your NCL account to find that 10% FCC?

No idea. It’s a nice port, but then we went on an NCL excursion to Puerto Plata, which was about a 15 minute drive to get to. Not quite sure what there is to do within walking distance though, but I can definitely see the advantages of docking in Taino Bay.

FWIW the Dawn is docked up the road in Amber Cove next to the Carnival Celebration. Just curious, can another ship dock there next to the Gem, or is it only a one ship pier?

We got up early this morning and headed to the Excursion Desk and like others have suggested it wouldn’t have been an issue to go there after we got back from our tour to have our 10% Latitudes discount applied. But she added the 10% discount while we stood there as well as confirmed the $50 FAS excursion perk would be applied to our account once we completed the tour! Thanks everyone!

We had a fun time on our excursion which turned out to be a 5 hour tour! Our tour bus was about 85% full, but as usually there were a few extra seats in the back of the bus where we like to sit. 😁 Our first stop was the Amber Museum, which was fascinating to see various small critters and plants captured in the amber. In the museum they also had a section associated with growing and drying the tobacco to ultimately made DR cigars. I did not know the process took 4 years! Of course we had to walk through the gift shop where this little guy caught my eye, but unfortunately I forget to check the price. Next stop was the General Luperon Museum. Then it was time for our visit to the Macorix House of Rum. I apologize for not taking more pictures of the rum tasting area. I was doing double duty by having to drink my DW’s six samples of different rum along with mine! 😁 Then off we went on a walk to visit the famous Umbrella and Pink alleys. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the beautiful parrot along our walk between the two alleys. Then we walked over to an open square where we caught up again with our bus. As you can see, the elusive Puerto Plata pigeon was a little easier to find here. 😂 Along our ride back before leaving Puerto Plata, we stopped to take some pictures of Fort San Felipe which was built in 1577.

We got up early this morning and headed to the Excursion Desk and like others have suggested it wouldn’t have not been an issue to go there after we got back from our tour to have our 10% Latitudes discount applied. But she added the 10% discount while we stood there as well as confirmed the $50 FAS excursion perk would be applied to our account once we completed the tour! Thanks everyone!

Day 4 - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

We have arrived at Amber Cove in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic! The Carnival Celebration is docked next to us. We’re going on a NCL excursion around the town today.