MillerWRHS

On 1/2/2020 at 9:49 AM, amandalcarlson said:

My hubby and I have cruised NCL 4 times and we love it. We're thinking about taking the kids with on a cruise next year (probably over Christmas break sometime). 

 

What room do we need to book for 5 of us? It's hubby and I, kids are 15, 11, 7.

 

How do you get the best deal booking this? Wait for a 3rd and 4th guest promo? Do I need to book a suite since we have 5 people? Hubby and I usually stay in a mini-suite, and with 2 of us, I've never had to put thought into where 5 people would sleep.

 

Thanks for your help!

We have this same dilemma when traveling as a whole group. We ended up getting a 2 bedroom family suite (non-haven) on the Pearl. It was perfect for us—kiddos had their own room, good size balcony, living room area and dining area were perfect for breakfast. Plus concierge and butler? Yes please! We got spoiled.

On 12/29/2019 at 2:07 PM, hftmrock said:

Im going on the sky a week before (Mar 9 - 13) and GSC and Grand Bahama Island are still on the itinerary

So weird! I wish they’d tell us why. 😞

They got rid of GSC for sure. GBI still showing on main site but not on app. I understand GBI is still recovering. Why GSC would be taken off though is confusing me.

We booked our cruise - 5 days from Miami March 18-23 - on Christmas (yesterday). Ports of call were Key West, Nassau, GSC, and Grand Bahama Island. Today, GSC was taken off the itinerary. Later today, depending on where I look, GBI is gone as well. On the app it shows as 2 sea days, but on the browser it shows a weird “overnight” at GBI but never an arrival time? Attaching photos.

so it looks like we went from 4 POC to 2 with now 2 sea days. Not happy. I know it can happen, but it’s super disappointing and we have received no communication from NCL to let us know.

We will be on the Pearl in 12 days (!!!) and trying to "sell" the trip to my 14 year old. Does anyone have recent or recent-ish dailies for Entourage for Pearl? Or any that would be similar to Pearl's? I found an older Entourage for a different ship (not Pearl) but it was also an 11 day cruise versus 7, and so wasn't sure what would and wouldn't "transfer."

TIA

I am curious as to what your original booking was? I know you booked a guaranteed, but what category? If they stuck you in an inside but you had booked a guaranteed balcony, for example, that is frustrating if they did not offer difference in price at the very least.

We booked and final payment was due that day (less than 100 days out). I noticed about 3 weeks later the price dropped for our 2 BR family suite by about $450 total. I knew we were past their 10 day requirement but I submitted the request anyways. We ended up getting $150 in OBC (110% of difference of 1st 2 passengers). We were confused on the amount and when we asked about it, they said, "Oh, you weren't actually supposed to get that anyways. Someone made a mistake. You got lucky." So we left it alone. lol

18 hours ago, cdnsteelman said:

First, Miller, we are on the same cruise. Be sure to join the roll call if you haven't already. Second I'm 16 cruises in to the habit mostly (13) with NCL with sailings in many different parts of the world. I have only booked 3-4 official NCL excursions in all that time and never had any issues. Read roll calls and the various port boards to see what others have done and recommend.

 

There is no rule that says you must overpay for ship excursions so you will not be a rule-breaker. I get that everyone has different "risk" tolerances but in my experience there is very little risk in using local operators and they don't have to be the big ones mentioned here like Viatours. With a little research and common sense you can get better experiences for substantially less cost by using smaller, local operators.

 

The "fear" you are feeling is carefully cultivated with the constant reminder that you can't miss the ship if you pay NCL's high rates for excursions but, in practice, very few people ever miss the ship and - if you use common sense - you won't either. Nothing in this life is 100% but, again, in my very deep and broad experience using local operators you don't have anything to worry about if you're smart about it.

Awesome! I am on the FB group and here on CC.

Thanks!

1 minute ago, alexgtp said:

I tend to book 3rd party excursions, based on recommendations from this board. I have booked mostly in the Caribbean/Mexican Riveria. So far I have had no issues.  Have done well over 10 cruises and multiple 3rd party excursions.

 

We also tend to book excursions while we are in port day of. No planning what so ever. These sometimes tend to be the best excursions we have ever done.   We did a half price excursion to the Chaccobhen ruins in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Great company and an awesome tour guide (we were able to get it half price because the bus needed 4 more passengers in order to leave). We tipped the driver and tour guide the difference, and it was still significantly cheaper than booking with the cruise ship,

 

I would not hesitate to book 3rd party excursions with reputable vendors recommended on this board.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise! 

 

p.s. I am also a manic planner, i plan everything to the T but some days i leave them as "OPEN" and just go with the flow.

We have one day open on our cruise. I figure if we see something that interests us, we can always book something. That makes me kinda nervous though... not checking them out and such before hand. Again, I am a super worrier. The kids will be on the ship for 2 of the days... so I REALLY hope we make it back for those. lol otherwise - party in suite 11006!

None cut close -- The "closest" one ends 3-4 hours before we have to be back.

On 1/20/2019 at 11:39 PM, LakeWobegon said:

We used Cozumel Cruise Excursions on our 10 night land vacation last Summer and it was phenomenal. Small boat picked us up on pier outside the condo we were staying at, took us to two reefs for great snorkeling and then El Cielo where we spent about an hour. Our guides gave us coronas and patron shots while we relaxed there and all the while were preparing homemade guac and also fruit which we got to enjoy on the way back. 

This makes me so happy!!! We just booked with them a few days ago for our cruise in March. It looks gorgeous.

So I have been on a few cruises (2 through Carnival, 1 thru Disney) in the past. We have our cruise on the Pearl coming up March 17-24. I'm a planner and a "rule follower" (I'm a teacher...lol), so I have ALWAYS booked excursions through the cruise line. This go around, with 5 of us cruising, I have taken a different approach, mostly from seeing it as an option - book through the companies themselves. As we get closer to our date, I am starting to panic about getting left in port.

Someone or someones who cruise and use non-line excursions reassure me. I booked through shore excursioneer for a beach day in Costa Maya, Cozumel excursions for a snorkel trop in Cozumel, and Daniel Johnson for the sloth/monkey hangout in Roatan.

thanks to you both. 🙂 I figure we will shoot for an 11:30 arrival.

We are in a 2 BR Family Suite (non-Haven) on the Pearl Mar 17-24. We leave out of Tampa. We live in Tampa, so it is just a 10 min drive to the port for us. We are wondering when we should arrive (because we are suite guests, it gave us a window of time rather than us choosing a time)? There are 2 adults, a 14 year old, a 10 year old, and an 8 year old in our party. Thoughts for anyone who has traveled NCL out of Tampa before?

13 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

Depends which one you use, this is my choice and does work against Noro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for this awesome review! We head out on the Pearl (first time on any NCL ship!) March 17-24 from Tampa. We live in Tampa, so it's really nice to hear good things about our hometown. 🙂 Thanks for contributing to our local economy! lol The Barrymore is very nice. Good choice. 🙂

11 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Can 12 year olds have sign in/out privileges (my kids are younger so I don’t know).    Maybe one can get the other at their kids club and then both can leave together.  The kids clubs should be close so they can easily reach the other when one wants to leave.  

Pretty sure only adults can sign out the kiddos. But I believe 12 year olds can sign themselves out (just not other kids).

6 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

I am travelling with my son in July, without my husband, his father.

 

I was told I just need to have his father sign a form letter giving permission to bring his child out of the country.

 

Are you sure you need a notary? We all have the same last name.

 

 

My understanding is yes. A notary verified that who signed the letter is who actually signed the letter. Otherwise, I could just “sign” for her dad and no one would know any different.

14 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

One can arrange for a notary to come to one's home.

 

When we closed on a house in another state, the lender sent all the paperwork to us, and then had a notary show up for us to do the actual signing.  The guy said he had a bunch of "rounds" to make that day, from house to house...

 

IF that's what it takes, it might be easier and worth it, compared to going nuts without proper paperwork.

 

GC

Thank you!

My daughter has my last name hyphenated with her dad’s last name (my name comes first). Her father is immobile/bedridden and lives in Louisiana (we live in Tampa, FL). Father cannot forseably make it to a notary to get a letter signed and notarized that gives me permission to travel with her. She is 14 (today actually!).

I am a weird situation with the name and can’t find a direct answer about it. I know if names are completely different, I’d have to have the letter. If name the same, would be fine (likely) without it.

help!

Excited to have a little insight to our cabin in March!

Should I be concerned about noise overhead? Since we are under the pool?

On 8/12/2018 at 12:02 AM, jimsig said:

We sailed the Pearl 2 years ago in the 2br family suite, cabin 11530 the Amber Penthouse out of Seattle. I have a trip report linked below in my signature. Included are pics of the cabin, what we experienced, and a video of the cabin. Check it out to get an idea of what to expect.

We are staying in that exact room in March! I don't see the link to your review... do you mind sharing?