planefring1

Is GoPort a reliable transportation company? Need to book for a September Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral.

Great info. I will take care of it once onboard.

Thank you..

Would the Mardi Gras or other newer ships attract the same "PARTY CROWD" as the older, less expensive ships?

17 hours ago, Ashland said:

Then look like you're doing what works out best for you.

I guess my main question was. Is the Hertz at the port as bad as some reviews make it out to be.  Sometimes saving money just is not worth the aggravation. I'd rather spend more than have a hassle.  I rent from Hertz all the time, Just don't get a warm & fuzzy about the port location.

Ashland,  

We did try costco. And correct, because we arriving late we are staying near MCO. We looked at shuttles, Uber & nothing comes close to the car rental in terms of prices.  We used the Hertz/AAA site, seems they are having a hard time renting electric vehicles.  SO we are getting a HUGE bargain.  And they are waiving the car charging fee with my company's Hertz discount code, they let us combine.

Never left out of PC before.  We are on the Mardi Gras July 20th.  We are flying into MCO very late on the 19th. Arrive about 11:30pm.  We plan on renting a car with Hertz in MCO and dropping off at the port location the next morning.  We are doing the opposite on the 27th. Our flight is not until 5:30 pm.  Hertz had by far the best deals on 2 one way rentals.  Less then half of anyone else.  

Now i'm reading mixed review of the Hertz location at the port.  Am I going to get what I paid  for? are the other rental companies worth over 2x the cost?  

Its getting to the point, cruise ships are becoming floating theme parks. While cruising is an amazing way to vacation, New cruise ships are quickly becoming caricatures of themselves. Bloated, cartoonish, grotesque hunks of steel.

Came across an unusual product sold in NCL gift shops.  single use packages of Tide laundry detergent.  When I noticed it the shop was too busy on the last night to inquire as to why.  Do any of you, possibly know why.  Because NCL does NOT have self service laundry on board. Silly question, but perplexing nevertheless.  Would think it makes a horrible souvenir.

I noticed the navigation channel on the Joy looked kind of outdated.  Then on the map screen the bottom reads

1996 Scandinavian Mirco Systems. Are they really using 25 yo technology or is that a typo?

4 minutes ago, The P said:

Were Latitude perks like an officer's dinner, wine tasting, ship tour, etc. offered?

honestly i don’t know.  Cant recall any listing for these events in the freestyle.

just off the Joy. I talked with the hotel manager.  he said there were 363 unsold balcony cabins on the 8/23 Joy sailing. However, due to many cabins holding a 3rd or 4th guest were all but sold out. the ship sailed at 3950 or 102 % occupancy.

First off we are first time cruisers with no previous point of reference. This review is strictly based on our experiences.

We arrived at Pier 88 about 11:30am parked on the roof of pier88 ($360).  As we entered the parking area security quickly checked our vehicle using a K-9.  then we quickly unloaded the bags and we got assistance from a luggage porter.  After the long elevator ride down to street level (elevator was slow). We got on line outside at 11:50 and we boarded the ship at 1:30. 

This is where all the great suggestions we received from CC came in handy.  We did not do the buffet. We had an amazing relaxed lunch at Savor. during lunch we were told our rooms were ready.  We had two inside family suites on deck 11.  the 2 bedroom suites were non Haven. but very spacious based upon other cabins we saw passing down the hallways.  I would say they were equivalent to 4 inside cabins in size.  the master BR. had a wonderful king side mattress that was unbelievably comfortable and plush high quality linens & pillows to complement the mattress.  average size wall mounted TV and a bathroom with double sinks and shower/tub combo.  the kids used the other BR with a lower twin and and upper bed that was lowered from a recessed frame mounted into the ceiling.  They had a small bathroom with single sink and glass enclosed stall shower.  Both bathrooms featured wonderful L’occitane bath products.  Hand soap, Moisturizer, conditioner, shampoo & body wash.  They also provided and umbrella and waffle robes for use.  In between the BR’s was a living room with a table and 4 chairs, a leather seat and another small round table with a cute plant on it.  A third TV and a virtual balcony that during the day provided a view from an outside camera.

each room had its own thermostat and definitely kept the room very comfortable for the entire cruise.  Lastly a mini bar consisting of a mini fridge and a counter with a nespresso machine. (it made a heck of a  good single or double expresso). They replenished the pods daily when requested.  Also 2x during the week they served small plates of treats. Also note there are about 30 PPV Movies on the ITV system, they were no charge for them as it was included in the suite.  Side note, the $9.99 pp ncl communications app does not work  very well. it would fail to call or text the passenger you wanted to communicate with.  There were 11 in our group.  and they refunded the app with no fuss at all.

Unfortunately our cabin steward was not very attentive, as we had to ask multiple times for things to be done.  One time he left a bottle of toilet cleanser on the counter close to my kids electric tooth brushes.  I was not too happy about that. But we did not complain either.  We noticed he was overworked and have about 12 suites to attend to.  So we sort of felt bad.  We kept our rooms tidy, as we really tried not to make his job more difficult.  However, we did replace our towels daily.  The bath towels we so cheap they literally pulled apart with little effort. 

The ship was quite beautiful. very bright and modern and easily navigated.  We saw both major production shows (Footloose & Elements) Footloose was very well done, and seemed to be a high quality production. Elements was fun but a little boring at times (like this review). We also saw the Acrobatic couple (forgot name) But they were amazing as well.

 The food in the MDR was also fine, nothing too special, but the service was always excellent.  We at at most of specialty restaurants, this is the order in which we rated the entire experience  

1) Teppanyaki 

2) Food Republic

3) Le Bistro

4) La Cucina

5) Cagneys

All the above offered AMAZING service and nice spaces.  However,  Cagneys was at the bottom because the steaks were underwhelming and under seasoned in our opinion. We also upgraded to the 5 restaurant meal plan so it was a bargain compared to most restaurants being al la cart.  The Garden buffet was plentiful but uninspired cusine, However I found the Indian cuisine to be quite good. Never used or saw ANYONE eating at the American diner, But the local was also a great snack location open 24/7 with decent pub style food. I must say the loaded nachos topped with chili was my goto snack.

The ports were Norfolk Virginia, Port Canaveral Fl, Private island GSC Bahamas & Bermuda.

In Norfolk we went to the navel museum right next to the port, Did not get off in Fl. Had a great beach day at GSC, And Bermuda was an overnight stay at a beautiful small island. Bermuda was the highlight port of our cruise, we absolutely had a blast. Jet skiing, Glass bottom snorkeling tour, sightseeing, shopping. I also must add the $40 fee per person to enter Burmuda was a cash grab and very silly to me. And since we had a call to Bermuda on day 6 we had to retest for covid (no charge) it was a joke, it took almost an hour online in a hot Manhattan room,  And everyone said they swab pretty much just tickled our noses. I believe NCL  wanted a Zero covid count.  It was a joke….

The ship had two relatively small pools that were so crowded and lounge chairs in a prime location were taken very early in the AM.  The cruise seemed full but the only time you noticed were on the lido deck. 

Overall we had an amazing vacation, crew members we alway saying hello, and friendly. Service was wonderful and would definitely cruise again.  But, when we got  home yesterday the Mrs & I were not feeling 100% and tested positive for Covid. Hopefully the kids and my other family who went will not test postive.

Thanks for reading…

We all agreed that one location we all want to see is the Crystal Caves.  we want to sightsee before so we don’t want to on the tour schedule.

Do we take the free ferry from the RNDY to Hamilton, then a cab or bus to the caves? any feedback on tips or money saving ideas are extremely welcomed.

Thanks again…

We completed our EMED COVID test.  a negative letter was emailed. However,  another barcoded negative test result was also available from the EMED app.

So, does it make a difference which version is used? 

Thank you.

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Where is your cruise departing from and visiting?

NYC, headed to Virgina, Florida, GSC & Bermuda (after 5 days of embarking)

We leave on TUESDAY, They say proctored antigen test can be done 2 days before.  is that 48 hours of scheduled departure time or is it just anytime within the 2 day window? For instance can we do the test on Sunday at 7am. Or do we have to wait until 4:30pm on sunday?

I thank all of you for your input. However,  this is our first cruise.  lets say i never stumbled upon CC.  All I had was a worthless PCC at NCL and info received in piecemeal.  We have no point of reference. our last trip was Disney World during last xmas break.

We knew exactly what the protocol for the parks and the airline’s simply stated on the boarding pass and in the documents Disney sent us. However, this is beyond people at NCL making things easier for the guest.  I should NOT have to check this, check that.  Some people are not that computer  savvy.  Maybe my expectations from my “Carrier” were unrealistic, and I am just naive enough  to think NCL would make simple to follow, clearly illustrated instructions to follow that takes out the guess work.  But I feel no matter how legitimate my grievances are against NCL some of you will not see this from my prospective.  All I'm saying its just silly for this to even be such an issue.

2 hours ago, FlGoodShips said:

Like everyone else posted....go to NCL website. It is very clear about testing. Whether you are vac or not vac...it spells it out very clearly. Scroll down on website to see about Bermuda requirements. Its all there.

Enjoy. 🎉🥳Be happy.😊 You are going on a cruise.🛳🏝

Thank you, but sometimes its fun to rant like a looney. 

1 minute ago, MoCruiseFan said:

But then she would not have a (lame) excuse to come to Cruise Critic and rant.

thats pretty much correct.  i just wanted to have a lame rant… However, i took my meds, i'm much better now🤪😜🥴

Received yet another pre cruise letter from  NCL. This one simply regurgitating the info as the same letter we received  last week.  I called customer service and asked the following “Do we have to test for covid prior to this cruise” Response from CS “Not according to the letter you received, However, you have to test at your expense onboard to be able to disembark in Bermuda”.  

Then I read on NCL SAIL SAFE. That we still have to pre test 48hrs.  before the cruise. The cruise line will test us for Bermuda entry  at the ships expense because we will not be going to Bermuda within 5 days of embarkation. 

So, I called NCL BACK… and guess what, the next CSR, said exactly what I read on the web site.  

We are first time cruisers,

IM YELLING NOW:

IT SHOULD NOT BE SO DIFFICULT  TO GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER…. OR RECEIVE A LETTER WITH INFORMATION THAT IS ACCURATE & COMPLETE.

WHO RUNS NCL.. THE DMV?

2 minutes ago, shof515 said:

This is the very important bit that you need to pay attention. The thing about guest are responsible for travel restrictions been a standard language for many years even before covid

 

On the Bermuda Travel Authorization (TA) form it does show a pre cruise covid test is needed. therefore a test is needed

yes, i read that just now.  But they can simply make it easier. Especially when you send a misleading letter.  I wonder why it does not also say pre cruise testing is required.

Then one would think they (NCL) would send a letter that encompasses all the pre cruise documents & testings need to board.  Should not be this difficult to send a letter laying every requirement needed.  crazy stuff…

We are confused at this letter received in my email earlier today from NCL: Does the mean only proof of vaccine is needed? it does not mention pre cruise covid testing.  

 August 9, 2022
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Embarkation Procedures for Cruises Sailing to Bermuda
Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners:

On behalf of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), we thank you for your loyalty and for making us your vacation of choice. We have important information regarding cruises sailing to Bermuda. Travel partners should share the below information with guests who may be affected.
All guests must complete the Bermuda Travel Authorization (TA) form within 30 days of sailing. The cost of the Travel Authorization is $40 per guest. The form is available at www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation.
• Once approved, a travel authorization number will be provided to you.
• If you have any issues with the process, please contact Bermuda Tourism Authority:
o Via phone at 1.833.570.2594 (toll-free) or via email at TAapprovals@gov.bm.
Given the current public health concerns and our commitment to protecting guests, crew and the communities we visit, our vaccination policy requirement will remain in place for the foreseeable future. As such, we will require all guests ages 12 and over, as well as crew, to:
1. be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure,
2. acknowledge vaccination status prior to sailing, and
3. present proof of vaccination at the pier at embarkation in order to board.
For additional details about our vaccine requirement and our robust SailSAFE health and safety program, please visit www.ncl.com/safe. As science, technology and government regulations evolve, we will update our health and safety protocols as needed and appropriate.
We encourage you to learn more about the efforts we are making, and how to prepare for your upcoming voyage by visiting www.ncl.com/prepare-for-your-cruise and www.ncl.com/travel-requirements-by-country.
As a reminder, all guests are responsible for checking on travel restrictions and complying with all requirements. NCL recommends for all guests to follow, and where possible, sign up for notifications from their local government on international travel regulations that may prevent, restrict, or require additional documentation when traveling to another country for embarkation or during their cruise.
Failure to comply with the above requirements will unfortunately result in denial of embarkation. Guests who are denied embarkation or reboarding for failure to comply with Norwegian Cruise Line’s COVID -19 Policies and Procedures shall not be entitled to a refund or compensation of any kind. For more information, please click here.
Thank you for your attention, and we look forward to welcoming you aboard! Sincerely,
Katty Byrd
Senior Vice President, Guest Services
      

Looking for recommendations for a lunch spot in Bermuda. Something unique to the location.

Thanks…

Once again, you all have been so helpful. Thank for continuing to answer our questions.