MountainMermaid

As in the thread linked above, we were changed from Puerto Plata to Amber Cove and they talked about it like it was a completely different location, but it is just the Carnival port a few miles outside of Puerto Plata.  Any tour company you book with privately would probably just pick you up at the other location, but you might want to confirm when you do book that they can do that.  Our booked excursion with NCL did not change.

1 hour ago, bortman23 said:

 

My gut feeling was that it was a glitch from the start, they've never allowed shore excursion credits to be applied to rentals on GSC (paddle boards etc), so i'm pretty happy I managed to snag one.

Yes, I stated it the way he phrased it... which made it out to sound like it all was a new change, but I agree that it probably was never supposed to go back to the old way on the clamshells and they just figured it out and "fixed" it.  At some point there will be another update that also takes the "shore excursion credit will be applied" statement off of the clamshells booking page, but it still shows that for me even though it isn't true.  Glad some were able to take advantage while the credit could be applied!  

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Call back and speak to another agent.  I was able to do it online with no problem.  45.00, less 10% silver discount was 40.50 and the 50.00 credit was applied.  I got the email confirmation a bit later.

I also just spoke to someone and he said that it just changed in the last day or two and they now consider the clam shells and things like paddle boards to be rentals, which are not subject to application of the shore excursion credit.  So those who booked it with the shore excursion credit must have done it prior to this weekend or whenever the system was updated to no longer allow it.     

On 1/15/2022 at 2:54 PM, GreenValleyDogWalker said:

I am not really sure where to post this question - help  😀

Just booked a 9 day Itinerary (to replace a canceled Getaway) which includes Port Canaveral - 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (Friday, August 26) 

Never been there

Wondering about making the long trek into the park for the day - I guess we would book the NCL "transfer only" to get there and back

Any comments - suggestions ? (2 senior citizens - probably would not go on a whole lot of rides, maybe just enjoy a "themed" meal somewhere) 

Thank You 

People have a lot of different opinions about Disney, and many people (like some commenters above) over the decades have become disenchanted with the company over various decisions and changes, but it comes down to what matters to you. I do think it would easily cost you $400-500 for two people just for admission and themed dining.  No one else can decide if this is worth it to you or not.  I personally think you would have a great time. If the cost is not a concern, then it might be a good thing to do with your day.  

You should definitely keep in mind some of the things said above... you do need to buy tickets as soon as possible in advance and make your park reservation.  You can't show up the day of without a reservation, and some days sell out well in advance so you may not be able to get into the park you want if you wait.  If you want to do a sit-down dining, especially in one of the popular themed restaurants, then you need to make reservations for that as soon as the reservations open (I think someone above said 60 days, I don't know that detail myself).  If you do those things you should be fine.   As others have said, you are at least 45-60 minutes from the parks if there is no traffic.  I'm guessing you may not be to the actual park until 9:30 or 10:00 and then will probably need to leave by 4:00 or 4:30 to get to the bus back.  But for a lot of people that is enough time in the park, especially if you aren't planning a lot of rides.  It was mentioned that you are both senior citizens... without knowing your preferred activity level, I can only share my own experience that the older members of my family that have joined on Disney trips typically like to go to the parks for just a few hours at a time because they get tired with so much walking and how hot it is in the summer.... so this time frame would be more than enough for them to get the enjoyment without feeling like they've exhausted themselves. You have a couple hours to walk around Magic Kingdom and try a ride or two, then sit for a nice lunch in air conditioning, and then maybe another ride or two and some shopping.  I personally disagree on the recommendation for Disney Springs, as to me it is basically a Disney-fied outdoor shopping mall and won't give you a Disney park experience.  If you are just looking to eat and shop, it would be fine, but I interpreted your intent differently.  Enjoy your cruise!

On 12/22/2021 at 9:29 AM, mjkacmom said:

They will hold it for you if you can’t take it.

This is true.  Although as previously stated there is a chance that the person doing the checking could say no to allowing it on board with you, the thing that happens next is not confiscation and disposal. They hold it until the end of the cruise.  It is treated like any alcohol passengers bought in ports along the way.  So there is still probably a small risk of it getting lost, or that NCL would change the policy, or that the person checking wouldn't know they do that... but I think the risk is low.  

I just got off one of the mask-required cruises and the cigar lounge was open.

Just got off the Escape today. I would say most people complied with the mask requirements, but the rules and enforcement were somewhat loose. Yes, if you were sitting at a bar or sat down at a table somewhere the common practice was to take off your mask and leave it off until you got up again. I only once or twice heard someone be asked to put their mask on and it was walking in the hallways… but I really didn’t see many people not wearing a mask while moving around indoors.  In the theater or atrium during activities it was about 50/50.  During a show like Howl at the Moon most people were not wearing masks.  Again, no one was policing it.  I think most people complied while moving around the ship, but most then took their masks off as soon as they were settled somewhere. 

For myself, I would just redirect the trip to another destination, unless things get exponentially worse over the next few months.  I think a lot of people fear being turned away by the country where you are meant to disembark more than they currently fear the illness, so I guess land-based travel might be the best backup plan. In the case where it is a specific dream destination your daughter picked for her birthday trip, I would probably postpone the trip to next year and plan a shorter, more local getaway to celebrate this year.  Maybe go somewhere with a Little Italy neighborhood for the weekend and enjoy the promise of the trip that you'll take next year!  Celebrating her 16th in a special way, but just pushing the actual trip back a bit.  But that's only if she really has her heart set on Italy.  If she's really flexible and has other dream destinations, I would be more likely to try one of those.  My personal backup choice might be Iceland or Norway. But that's because I haven't been. My actual backup plan for my spring cruise right now is a land-based trip to Belize. But as I watch things spread I also think "where could I travel that has really good health care, just in case?" 🙂 I hope that it turns out you don't have to change plans at all!

I love this and I want to be like you some day... and in the meantime I am still searching for a man like your son-in-law who won't ask about how much money I spend on travel!

The combination of destination and price are the main factors.  Ship is starting to be consideration for me, but it remains a distant 3rd priority in my decision making.  I suspect that the more I cruise, the more likely I am to develop ship preferences and that might become a more important factor in the future. 

On 1/31/2020 at 3:01 PM, MicCanberra said:

Any sunscreen that do not contain any oxybenzone and octinoxate are considered Safe for reefs.

This is probably what you were actually asking.  But it depends on how "reef safe" you want to be.  There are other ingredients that are also suspected to be problematic, but don't have actual research yet to determine one way or the other.  The easiest is to do what others suggested.  Look for "reef safe" on the label and/or check that they don't have these two ingredients.  If you want to go further, products like Stream2Sea try to avoid all ingredients that are suspected as being harmful. When I looked into it for a snorkeling trip I realized that I was just thinking of sunscreen and hadn't previously considered that my shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, etc. were also potentially damaging.  

I was worried about it, too, but it turned out to be super easy.  We have had a good experience with Cortrans.  They were good with communication, the shuttles were comfortable, and it was zero hassle.  That said, though, you can definitely go cheaper with other options, like renting a car.  Especially with more than one or two people.  

I'm 0 for 2 so far... both in March.  When it was the stop on the way to Nassau, we went into Nassau early and stayed overnight for the original port day.  When it was on the way back to Florida, it was a sea day.  

This was the view from our beach cabana.  I didn't feel like we were that far from the water. If I recall correctly, it wasn't particularly deep, soft sand.  Personally I would be comfortable letting a 7 year old play in the sand in front of the cabana, but would feel like the water was way too far away.  Different people have different comfort levels, though!  We did have those umbrellas and lounge chairs on the beach that could be dragged closer to the water's edge if desired.  We were a group of mostly adults, with an 18 year old being the youngest.  We enjoyed the space, privacy, and quiet... and as others have said, the private bathroom was pretty nice. Some people would definitely prefer the greater activity and atmosphere of the pool area.

I'm not sure if it is always the same, but on our upcoming March sailing the options are the 2nd night or 4th night of the cruise at 7:30 or 10pm.

We were on a different deck, but our angled balcony on Epic already had 2 loungers and 2 chairs when we arrived, so we did not need to request anything. Just wait and see what is there, but know that you can ask if needed!  This was one of the best balconies I've ever had.

Definitely sounds like it's worthwhile to just make the call.  I will definitely give that a try next time! 

If you book online, you have to pay in full up front. I did this recently and the $50 was credited to my onboard account after we did the excursion.  I think you can get the discount credited up front if you call, or maybe not even have to pay when you make the reservation.  I'm not sure about that because I'm one of those people who hates having to actually call. 🙂   

We were on the Pearl for NYE a couple years ago.  Even on the smaller ship, there were different types of music and various levels of celebration in different venues, so we basically did a little bar hopping to check out the different options to see where we wanted to settle.  Ended up sitting in one of the lounges that had a more traditional, "classy" feel with a live band until just before midnight, then joined the pool area (where they had more of a modern party vibe) for the countdown.  True that it is hard to predict specifics about what will happen on Encore at this point, but I would think it is likely that they will have multiple options around the ship.  We had a lot of fun celebrating NYE on a cruise, so we are actually also planning to be on the Encore this year.  I'm just guessing here, but since we will be in San Juan until almost midnight, I was thinking that a lot of people would be on shore for much of the evening.  So maybe things on the ship won't get crowded until more like 11 or 11:30 and you'll have more options to find a seat if you are on the ship earlier than that.     

I actually came here looking for a post about this!  That disembarkation really was a nightmare.  We were stuck right there with you in that unmoving line.  They had even turned the air conditioning off and it was getting so hot and people weren't prepared to be standing around waiting for 2 hours to get off the ship.  Some of us got on the courtesy phones and tried to get them to take some kind of action to help, and it took a lot of calls before they finally seemed to take it seriously.  One person even had the operator argue with her that she was in the wrong place... so apparently she and the other hundreds of people who were also in the "wrong place" (because they were directed there by crew who wouldn't allow them to proceed to the lower deck) were just doing it wrong and should know better.  I've never seen it be such a disaster on any ship, even others with NCL. It is absolutely ridiculous that they don't have this figured out.  It's not like they don't do it at least once a week.  

I didn't have the same issues with getting drinks, and we either had reservations for dinner, went to the buffet, or got in line early.  The ship just generally did feel like there were too many people for the amenities that were available, and everything did feel insanely crowded. We couldn't get into any of the shows that didn't have advanced reservations.  But the crew was super friendly and did their best, and we did have a great time right up until disembarkation.  It's a shame that so many people were left with that as their last memory of this cruise.

We sailed on the Pearl and the Breakaway last year, and like others said you will probably be happy with either one.  I haven't been on the Gem or the Epic, so I can't make comparisons there for you.  For me, I felt like Breakaway had more variety of entertainment and nightlife options.  Otherwise, they felt very similar to me.  If you have a strong preference for smaller ships, you will probably like the Pearl better, but if I were choosing between the two ships with all other factors equal, I would probably choose Breakaway.  I wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Pearl again, though, if it was a better deal or had a particular itinerary I was looking for.