Yunah

Since you were there for 2 days, how did the second day work for getting off the boat. You said they collected your Visa. I assume that once you entered the country, you did not need a Visa again and it was a lot easier to get on and off the boat. Is that correct?

Yes you hand them in the first time you disembark and after that when you want to enter or exit the country you show your passport and off you go. Much quicker.

Wonderful review! We're off on this cruise tomorrow (the excitement!) and we can't wait :)

One more question for OP and anyone else booked on this itinerary: when did you book this trip? I'm wondering if some people booked at normal Sky prices and then were lucky enough to get "upgraded" to the Havana itinerary.

 

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I believe we did! When we originally booked at the end of last year there was no news about the Cuba sailings as yet. At some point during this year we received the news that our itinerary would change but we were not requested to pay any extra (as far as I'm aware).

Of course you will wish to make your own judgement Yunah, but do take in to account the content of this article from Reuters:

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN1872XC

 

 

You will only read the words "from Europe".

 

In addition this possible extension to the ban from other countries to the US is only under discussion at the moment. From that article, one of the items they have to assess is how much notice to give airlines to introduce this increase in ban.

I stand corrected, I looked it up on google once again and they only mention from Europe indeed. Not sure where I read that, or maybe my mind just made that part up. I guess they won't be able to implement this in the grand time span of 6 days so I'll reconsider bringing my Surface tablet along. It's also easier to store my photos on there as opposed to my phone (and it's limited storage capability). Thanks for clearing that up! :)

As I understand it, this only applies to flights going to the US and not the return.

I believe the articles I read mentioned both inbound and outbound flights. I'd rather not take the risk and I'll stick to my phone. I've got the Netflix app on there and I downloaded a bunch of series and movies so I'll be fine. There's always the in flight entertainment (were flying United as mentioned above but I believe our plane still has the screens in the seat back in front of you, I downloaded the app just to be safe!). Traveling across the pond is so much fun sometimes ;p

We're leaving for NYC next week (and flying out to Miami for our cruise and back to the Netherlands via Germany after) and I'm a bit apprehensive about taking my tablet along for watching movies while on board the planes. They might not introduce the ban before next Thursday but it might have been introduced by the time we fly back...

Also I believe (but do not quote me on this!) that dslr cameras are included in the ban. Thankfully I also have a Canon eos m that's smaller than my phone and should be OK to bring along. But this might also be a problem for the (amateur) photographers amongst us...

Interesting question. I am thinking how would a US " rule" apply to a UK passport going to a third country? I wonder if the U.K. Passport and the visa issued to it would need to match. Don't know...just thinking maybe the agent was correct. The original reviewer here showed his visa form that was given to him by NCL a few pages back...mAybe that picture would be a clue. Good luck

The visa we got was blank, we needed to fill in all the information (full name, passport number, DOB, etc) so it should obviously match. The website I got it from did offer a service where they would fill everything in for you but that costs extra and we can do that by ourselves perfectly fine. The problem here is that it doesn't matter what country you are from, or what country's passport you have, you are travelling from the US so you need a different visa then when I'd be travelling from my home country (or any other country). It's a bit of an annoying rule for us non-US citizens but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes..

Hi Yunah, I note that you are from The Netherlands, could I ask how you managed to sort your visa/tourism card? Have you arranged this through NCL, and if so, how?

 

We have UK passports and think we've been incorrectly advised y NCL's visa agent to arrange a Cuba visa in the UK before the cruise, but as we'll be travelling to Cuba directly from the US I believe US rules apply, so visas sourced elsewhere will be invalid.

 

Hope you can help.

Hi there, sorry I didn't see your question before but here I am! :)

I am in fact from the Netherlands and tried to arrange for a visa through NCL. They couldn't get it organised at the time I spoke to them on the phone (about 2 months ago?) but from what I understand they are able to do that now. For a moment we contemplated going to the Cuban embassy in NYC (we're flying out to NYC for a week first, then a few days in Miami and then the cruise) but that would take up a lot of time that would be spend better elsewhere.

We had to find another solution so we contacted a few companies over here that arrange visas but because you need a different visa when you travel to Cuba from the US that proved to be difficult. I managed to find a company that could arrange them at last, they're called cubavisa.net and they are a Dutch company. From what I understand they also ship internationally so they could also help you out. The visa is valid as long as it's the PINK one. The one you need "from the rest of the world besides the US" is green. I checked back with NCL after we received the visas and send them a photo and they confirmed that they are the correct ones.

Hope this helps! :D

PS. This is the link, I looked it up for you: https://www.cubavisa.net/en/product/blank-pink-visa-for-cuba/

They keep the full visa (both parts) when you go through the first time. I had questioned it, but we never had any issues.

Oh right, well I suppose that does make sense in a port as you can come and go multiple times. Not like at an airport where you will enter only once and leave once. Thanks for answering!

Thanks so much for your review ctcruiser. Three more weeks for us, I really can't wait after reading all this!

Just a quick question. You've told us about getting into Cuba and coming and going. What about leaving for the last time. Do you tell the customs officer that this will be your last time passing so that they keep the other half of the visa? How does that work?

Thanks again, we've got a private tour booked in one of them really old cars too, should be a lot of fun!

Hi there, thanks so much for all the info you've provided! Just a few more weeks for us.. Can't wait :eek:

I do have a question however, which you might answer later sorry if that's the case. You've told us about entering the country and leaving half of your visa with the customs officer. Upon entering and leaving the country you need to go through customs and X rays. But when do you leave the other half of your visa with customs? And what about when you enter for the second time (on day 2)? Sorry full of questions :)

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

On my cruise last week, they checked our eDocs before we went through security at the cruise terminal, but that was it. Security needs to make sure you actually are supposed to be there (like having your boarding pass when you go through airport security). I suppose if you had an electronic copy, that would probably be sufficient but I don't know for sure so please don't take my word for it.. All of my stuff said to have them with you on embarkation day, and I would be too paranoid to chance it.

Ahhh yes we're the same! We'll make sure we get them before we leave and if we can't get them here I'm sure there's bound to be somewhere in NYC or Miami where we can print them :D which cruise did you go on?

Oh my I never realized anyone answered, so sorry. Thanks for the answers regarding the land waves (never knew it was called that!) and I'll give the thread a read.

But I'm glad to know that the sky is a very stable ship. I don't get sea sick (well, I wasn't on this trip) it's just that feeling of being in bed and going everywhere isn't very exciting to me.

Anyway I'll check back on the website and if it doesn't show up soon (we're leaving for a trip to NYC and Miami before that), I'll contact our travel agency. I thought you needed to print everything though, but we don't have to?

Ohh I'm going to follow this one! Four weeks tomorrow until we're on this same trip :D

Hi all,

Only 29 days until we sail on the NCL Sky! :D Our very first cruise.. woohoo! I understood that you can download and print your edocs from around 30 days before you travel. It's 29 days now, shouldn't they be available for us? We did book it through a travel agency here in the Netherlands, could that have something to do with it?

And another 2 questions. I asked something on here before about the outlets and all that and I was told (amongst other things) that ships are not earthed/grounded because.. guess what, they're not connected to the earth ;) I was on a ferry between the Netherlands and the UK a few days ago and the plugs there WERE earthed/grounded. How on earth is that possible? My dad and I were thoroughly confused and we brought along our non-earthed/grounded power strip along for nowt because we couldn't use it.

And the last question. The ferry we were on (DFDS King Seaways) moved a lot on our way to the UK even though the weather wasn't really all that bad. We're now three days down the line (and a trip on another ship (DFDS Princess Seaways) back home, but that one did not move nearly as much even though the sea looked exactly the same) and I STILL feel like I'm on a ship. I'm literally sitting here on the sofa and I feel like I'm moving left and right and everything. I've only been on those ships overnight with one night in a hotel room in between so I dread to think how I will feel after 5 nights on a ship in a row. Can anyone please calm my nerves and tell me that the NCL Sky doesn't move around much at all? :(

Any help is appreciated! And sorry about the ridiculous amount of text, hahah :lips-sealed:

Two things to add. The ships that are getting dry docked like the Jade are coming out with a USB port at the desk. You can now charge USB charged devices directly. Second, you can only do that if you are in the room. Someone on the Jade "Right Now" posted a snap of the Daily which states that you can only have devices/appliances plugged in if you are present. Housekeeping will unplug anything they find if no one is around.

"Sadly" (this, of course, is relative) we will be on the NCL Sky so I don't think we will have USB ports in the rooms. And fair enough, I normally don't charge anything at home when I'm not around either so that makes sense to me. I work at an insurance company and more specifially in the department that handles business insurance directed at buildings, inventory, goods that are stored, etc so I'm always (hyper)aware of anything that might cause a fire. I've seen businesses burn down due to a simple, aviodable mistake or oversight. :(

Good news we found two really cheapass ones at the DIY store so we took them along with us. Problem solved! Thanks for the help everyone!

Thanks for the replies everyone and especially to Chengkp75. I will not use the surge protected ones on board. :D However, I will be bringing one along (as I plan on using it in our hotels in NYC and Miami), as has been mentioned they might be confiscated. Will I able to get it back in that case? It's a pretty expensive one as it's not a normal one (it's a powercube rewireable, if anyone wants to look it up). I would be pretty damn annoyed if someone took it off me and wouldn't return it after the cruise.

And I'll invest in one of those multi USB chargers, does anyone know if they sell them at Walmart or similar for a few $? I'd like to get one with a US style plug so we can use our power strip in the European style outlet.

Ok, it looks like I've got a pretty good alternative.. a splitter. We'll buy 2 of those (as I understand there are 2 European style outlets in each room?) and make do with those.

Maybe someone with a electrical degree can explain it, but the way I look at it if there is surge the surge protector does nothing. No assume a surge did hit. It could get what ever is plugged in. Assume a 6 plug strip. That could be 6 possible sources of fire compared to maybe 1 that is designed to handle the surge and redirect it to ground

 

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Well that makes sense. Thanks for explaining! :D

Try changing your search term. Try searching for "multi outlet extension cord". Essentially that is what you need... an extension cord that has more than one outlet on it. I got one from Walmart years ago, and that is what I travel with.

I've tried that in Dutch (as that's where we are from) however nothing really comes up. I'm asking someone who works for an online store now, hopefully they can help me out!

I have a NON surge power strip that I bought on Amazon.

It clearly states that it is non-surge on the packaging, which I left attached Just in case they had a question during scanning.

 

So far, (yn)it has not been a problem.

 

Patti

I did find some on Amazon, that's correct. However the next problem arises.. we have European plugs on our electronics as we're Europeans (surprise! ;)). So we could only plug in 2 things as we only have 2 adapters.. I have another extension cord that comes with bunch of different plugs for different countries but that one is also surge protected. This is getting a bit troublesome. Even the cheapest one I could find for less than $5 is surge protected.... :(

You possibly risk getting said power strip confiscated.

 

I just bring a multiplug extension cord that I put in my CPAP case. Haven't had it questioned yet.

Will they go through all of our luggage? :confused: What's the difference between a power strip and a multiplug extension cord? Sorry, might be a stupid question hahaha but as far as I'm aware there's just one thing to create more outlets and that's a power strip.

Have you looked on line?

 

 

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Only place I've been looking because that's where they have the most stuff. I've looked on Google and all big online sales websites here including DIY stores. Couldn't find anything without surge protection.. It just seems to be very uncommon here.

Hi all,

I have a question about the power strips you can use on board. I've read a lot of stuff about not being allowed to use power strips with surge protections due to the amount of power it uses (I think it was?). I'm having a hard time finding a powerstrip over here (the Netherlands) that doesn't have surge protection.. How bad would it be if we were to use a power strip with surge protection and only use it when inside the room? :)

It could be an idea that we buy one when we're over there but does anyone know where I could possibly buy a power strip like that? Walmart? Best buy? :o

Thanks.