desherry

I am booked on the Jan 4 cruise. Other than swapping Timaru for Lyttleton and earlier Akaroa for Lyttleton, we have not seen any port cancellations. We have had excursions canceled after booking in Melbourne, and have had to book another.

It took a long time before anything was offered for Timaru, and some excursions sold out for other ports that we procrastinated on booking. With that said, all the ports had about 6 excursions available with some having more.

I stayed in room 13258 on a LA to Miami cruise this last January. We were directly above the Cavern Club, and the Beatles shows were heard in the cabin. Also heard the band on the pool deck whenever they were playing. That being said, the cabin was great.

On our Dawn TA last May, we used the NCL bus to Victoria Station. It is an easy TUBE ride to St Pancras. There are plenty of taxi's at Victoria Station that could also be used.

Stopped at the Fuerte Amador complex overnight on our Jan 6 Norwegian Joy transit of the canal. The port is under construction, and it was originally to be completed in 2020. Our tour guide stated that officials are saying the terminal will be completed sometime this summer. Because it is an active construction site, the only transport in or out is by bus. The pier is completed, but the terminal building and surrounding area is an active construction site (no pavement, numerous trenches, and construction vehicles).

26 minutes ago, moonjelly said:

Also,

Our group is looking for a place to regularly meet up in the buffet area. The most logical place for this group would be near the ice cream. 🙂 Can you tell me where they usually have the ice cream located?

There are multiple ice cream stations on the Joy. One is on Starboard side in the middle of the Garden Cafe, and the other is on Port side near the Indian food station toward the front of the Garden Cafe.

I left from LA on the Joy on Jan 6. A taxi or uber will drop you off in front of the tent to check in. You will wait in the tent until called by boarding group to proceed to a bus. The bus will carry you about 1000 feet to the screening area (no you can not walk, security will not allow it), and after the scanner checks, you will walk on the gangplanks to deck 6.

I disembarked the Joy on Jan 21, and they were having a mass change-out of crew. While waiting in the theater for our tour to disembark, there were about 200 crew filling out paperwork on the stage of the theater. This may have caused the delays in embarkation.

Also, the disembarkment and embarkation in LA on Jan 6 was delayed. We arrived at San Pedro to embark at 10 am, and didn't get onto the ship until after 1:00 pm. They hadn't cleared the ship until about 11:30 am to begin embarkation.

1 hour ago, Jorg_ said:

We will be on the same cruise. Where can I find info about which berth the ship will leave from? (I know you said berth 46, but can I actually see that somewhere in my booking or elsewhere?)

Will be taking a taxi to the port - do we need to specify to the driver what berth our ship will leave from? Or is there only one drop off area?

It is in your edocs. It lists the berth and address.

I am on an NCL cruise from LA to Miami on the Joy leaving Jan 6, 2023. I just learned that it will leave from Berth 46 instead of the Cruise Terminal's berths 92 or 93. What facilities are at berth 46? I am staying at the Hilton Doubletree in San Pedro which looks to be across the marina from the berth. Is there transport from the hotel available?

On 11/27/2022 at 10:26 AM, billco said:

Thanks. I thought it was available, but just wanted to make sure after reading the website. This is a Panama Canal cruise, so hopefully internet should be fairly good.

Be aware that the satellite position will cause poor connections as you approach Panama. When I last went through the canal, the ship had very poor connections  from Cartegena, Columbia to Puntarenas, Costa Rico. Even the crew had issues contacting corporate offices because of the satellite position..

14 hours ago, desherry said:

I have done the "Two Oceans by Railroad" excursion, and enjoyed it. I must state that I enjoy train travel as a disclaimer. The excursion guides gave excellent descriptions of the various areas we passed and of the canal and railroad. Train passes near the canal, and travels about 50 miles end to end. On the Northern end, the railroad diverges away from the locks, and they may not be visible. On the Southern end, the tracks are beside the canal and ships may be seen in the locks.

I have done the "Two Oceans by Railroad" excursion, and enjoyed it. I must state that I enjoy train travel as a disclaimer. The excursion guides gave excellent descriptions of the various areas we passed and of the canal and railroad. Train passes near the canal, and travels about 50 miles end to end. On the Northern end, the railroad diverges away from the locks, and they may not be visible. On the Southern end, the tracks are beside the canal and ships may be seen in the locks.

I have done the "Two Oceans by Railroad" excursion, and enjoyed it. I must state that I enjoy train travel as a disclaimer. The excursion guides gave excellent descriptions of the various areas we passed and of the canal and railroad. Train passes near the canal, and travels about 50 miles end to end. On the Northern end, the railroad diverges away from the locks, and they may not be visible. On the Southern end, the tracks are beside the canal and ships may be seen in the locks.

6 hours ago, JTBCruiser said:

Thanks for the feedback. Very similar process on both Carnival and Royal. 

The procedure was a joint effort by Royal and NCL.

I had the unlimited package on the DAWN Transatlantic this past May. It had numerous dropouts that would be a problem with streaming. Because I was just reading email, it was usable, but slow.

Norwegian supplies all of it's ships out of Miami. They dispatch containers of supplies from Miami to the various docks that they consider capable of transfer to the ship. The issue I believe is in the transport of those supplies from Miami to the various ports.

This was covered in one of the videos they put out during the restart phase.

When I went through on the Gem in January 2020 west bound (North to South), we used the right lane (West side) in the Gatun locks and the left lanes( East side) in the Pedro Miguel and Mira Floras locks.  We may have been the first ships on a  direction shift as all traffic from Gamboa to the Pacific was in the same direction, however, we passed several ships traveling Northbound in the lake and Gatun locks. We followed the Crystal Symphony through the canal.

2 minutes ago, JennKach said:

One more question - is it luck of the draw which of the locks the ship uses?  We are leaving Panama City and heading to Colon.  I assume we'll use the old locks, but are they "one way" or do ships just use which ever one is available?  I checked a couple map programs and photos appear to show ships going both directions in each lock.

It depends on the ship size. The Jewel class uses the old locks, but the Breakaway and Breakaway plus classes are too big for the old locks and use the new locks. 

Here is a picture from the port side of the Gem entering the Miraflores Lock. We are on the Promenade deck. 

Deck 7 will be at the top of the wall. I traveled the canal on the Gem, and this was the case. The Gem is the same class as the Jewel. I would travel the various areas of the ship to get different perspectives. On the Promenade deck was great to see the operation of the mules, the bow was great as well, and the top deck gave great views of the surrounding areas.

12 minutes ago, quincychic said:

I am looking at PC cruises for early 2023. I just saw ‘partial transit’. What does that mean? I envisioned passing through the entire canal-locks and all. Think I’m going to have another of my fantasies crushed.

Am taking my family6 adults and 2 small children. I welcome tips and advice.

 

A partial transit goes to Gatun Lake and turns around, returning to the ocean that the trip originated on. The most popular ones travel from a Caribbean port through the first set of locks on the Atlantic side and then return.

You can also do a full transit usually from Florida to California or the reverse.

When booking, a smaller ship will use the old, original locks, but the big ships from NCL and Princess use the new locks. The old locks are more interesting to observe, but to each there own preference.

Also, read the book "Between the Seas" to understand the challenges faced by the canal builders.

Traveled from NYC to Southampton on the NCL Dawn from April 28 - May 14. Weather was cold in Nova Scotia and Iceland, but we had a warm day between Halifax and Reykjavik in the upper 60's. Ocean was rough leaving NYC, calm between Halifax and Belfast. Belfast, Amsterdam, and Southampton were pleasant (temps in the 60's).

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@lx200gps - Unless things changed recently as in this past Sunday, security lines (that's "checkpoint #2) at MCT does not open until 9:30 am at the earliest and by then, there are hundreds standing there already, waiting to get thru ("checkpoint #1" being the initial passport, eDocs & quick visual about having proof of vaccination & testing results - in one massive long line ... and, as numerous others reconfirmed again, nobody gets any kind of priority or preference except for Haven & accessible passengers, and, possibly families traveling with very young children in strollers)  

 

Both of these are major bottlenecks, extended wait & very little (if any) social distancing and most don't wear even a cloth mask - and, personally, ventilations or HVAC system inside the huge terminal building complex isn't the best to draw in fresh air.  

 

Once you get past #1 and #2, checkpoint #3 is the Bermuda documentation check and that's equally bad & under-staffed - but then, the worst is almost over as they put a colored stickers on your passport(s).  The unfortunate ones missing Bermuda TA get directed to another line to deal with their incomplete documentations or whatever.  

 

Lastly, you hope & just want the shortest line to get check-in and the room or guest key cards handed over to you ... and, there is also the quick health questionnaire by the pier agent.  Haven, Platinum (they obviously are clueless about Sapphire or Diamond tiers) and Casino At Seas - if asked & the agent is well informed, direct you to the appropriate line(s) for, hopefully, a shorter wait & quicker processing (that's your checkpoint #4)    When it's your turn to embark, be patient with the security staff as they frequently need to adjust their facial recognition app to scan & tell you to proceed ahead to the gangway.  

 

Between #4 and security, you are easily looking at anywhere from 30 or 45 minutes, to as much as 2 hours or more.  By then, early boarding that started as early as 10:45 or 11 am should be finished and group/zone numbers with the lower #'s are on their way up the "Z" gangway(s) already.  It might not make sense to exit & leave the terminal, just to step outside for fresh air  - or, is it to not deal with the thousands gathered inside ??  You might be better off just wait and personally, I strongly recommend, put on & wear a quality KN95 or KF94 masks & do your best to maintain social distancing away from "strangers" in your area.  

 

Good luck, happy & healthy cruising.  Our local CC friends are also boarding the Joy this Sunday too - Bon Voyage. 

 

.. If there is going to be a Meet & Greet on the sailing, it might be worthwhile if several of you ask to speak to Guest Services and/or the GM about the mess again, inside MCT.  It is utterly unacceptable and reiterate to them that we on CC about very annoyed about their incompetence and corporate is looking foolish & negatively here in NYC - knowing, of course, they will kick the tin cans & past the bucks again.  

On my Trans-Atlantic on the Dawn, the initial security checkpoint did not open until 11:00 AM. Once  past that, the Canada paperwork check was the main bottleneck, but with that said, we were on the ship by 11:30 AM. This was with 960 passengers. We had arrived at the port at 9:30, and were about the 100th person to get through the initial security checkpoint.

On my upcoming TA cruise on the DAWN from NYC to SOUTHAMPTON, I have a FITOBC credit that gives my wife and I a $50 on-board credit for each of us.

We are looking to book a trip on the Norwegian Spirit that travels from Auckland, New Zealand to Sidney Australia. Which side of the ship will give the best views for this trip. We are looking at a balcony on deck 10 (not aft or forward).

The Dawn is on the move. It is expected in Barcelona on Sunday November 21.