aggiesmom

2 hours ago, cathi007 said:

BTW this is exactly why I purchased the Nationwide Luxury Cruise insurance. If you got that insurance, you would be paid 1250.00/person for the change. My Jan Escape cruise just switched our itinerary and now we will each get 1250.00 for the change. There are 6 people on my policy. Purchase that insurance next time and you will be much happier about the weather change 🙂

I’ve never heard of this insurance.  I’ll need to check it out for the next cruise.  Thanks 

5 minutes ago, need2cruisesoon said:

 

All we got was $100OBC

I wasn’t even aware of a hurricane/tropical storm in the area.  Looks like the storm will hit early this week. Wonder how soon to departure they’ll make their final decision.  Not impressed with this compensation 

We are sailing out on Saturday the 27th.  Haven’t seen any notifications from NCL regarding g a change.   We will be very upset if there is this kind of itinerary change and no compensation 

Glad you had a great week. When we got off last Sunday we were the sixth color to be announced. The loop around the casino took twenty minutes. It was about 9:45 by the time we got our key cards swiped. First I went thru then my husband and his card made a funny noise in the machine. They made him step aside. After a five minute wait we were told he was randomly selected to go thru a customs inspection. The young NCL employee took his passport which we were not happy about as she's not a government official and led about 8 of us thru the line to go to the customs office After a fifteen minute wait sitting on a bench the customs agent asked where our luggage was as we just had our carry on with us Told him we didn't have it which exasperated him and us as we had booked NCL transfer to MIA and had no idea if we would have transportation waiting when we got finished. He got a NCL employee to take us to our luggage so customs could go thru it. It was 11 am by the time we got out of there. Luckily the transfer buses were still there. We had a 3:30 flight so we weren't sweating the flight departure. Makes you wonder why there is still a technical issue causing one gangway. Guessing they like it that way.

Wow your noise situation sounds exactly like what we experienced in 8120 which is forward. At times it sounded like mini explosions. We were wondering if it was supplying water to the water slides. We've done 8 cruises and never experienced a noise like this however, this was our first mega ship. We didn't bother to complain. We figured it would get us no where and we were all unpacked. I'm sorry it ruined your cruise. For us the biggest issue was undisciplined children and their attendance in the bars at night. In my opinion a 9 pm show in headliners is late enough to be adults only. The performers shouldn't have to restrict their repertoire.

We made our dinner reservations and Burn the Floor reservations weeks before we sailed. We enjoy eating early so we can get to earlier shows. Just works for us. We felt specialty dining on the Getaway far exceeded MDR such as Savor and Taste. We didn't mind having to pay extra but we were just a party of two. My favorite $8 bottle of wine cost $39 on the ship though.

We made show reservations, such as the comedians and Million Dollar Quartet once we got on the boat. The comedians perform at the Headliners Comedy Club and seating is quite limited. You needed reservations for Tuesday and Thursday night. Wednesday's show was in the main theatre. No reservations needed for Howl at the Moon. Entertainment was very good. Can't comment on the illusionist.

Just got off on Sunday. I wanted a mini suite with a large balcony. Loved the balcony but the room was above some water tank/septic tank that made the most incredible noises all day/night. Paid extra for the large balcony. These class suites (MS) are on the 8th floor. If it hadn't been for this issue, we would have been very happy. We were far removed from public area.

A week ago they started boarding at noon but staterooms weren't ready until about two The crew is actively cleaning staterooms now.

At 8:20 they finally called for self assist passengers and yellow tag holders. 20 minutes later called for orange. At 9 they announced that congestion at customs is causing quite a bottleneck. I would guess anyone with a flight earlier than 11 is probably hosed

Its 8:10 and we still aren't cleared. They want passengers to wait in the public areas. Glad I have a 3 o'clock flight.!

It's 7:46 and sitting in my Getaway cabin. Just got an announcement that they are waiting clearance before passengers can get off. Also there are technical issues with the Port of Miami so only ONE gangway can be utilized. They predicted this would slow things down. Should be interesting 7th level is packed with people

Love reading your experiences this week. We will be boarding on Sunday. I have a question on currency at the ports. Did you find that U.S. currency was acceptable with cab drivers and retailers?

I prepaid mine in advance because mentally I prefer to see a smalller bill at the end of my cruise. :p I've sailed Holland America more than NCL and their gratuities are built in the cabin price plus when you reserve excursions you have to pay at reservation time. Usually my final bill ends up being liquor charges and gift shop purchases.

Make sure if you prepay for your gratuity charge online that you get an email confirmation. I prepaid online and even though I received a "thanks for your payment" after I hit the send button I never received an email confirmation and noticed a few days later that it was still showing as not paid on my account summary. After a call to NCL they confirmed it never went thru.

We are on the Dawn leaving April 9 and booked with Cozumel H2O. We have a private charter booked with them and they were ok leaving at a later time. I also had a friend who dives Cozumel yearly recommend Challenge Diving.

 

 

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Thanks very much. I'm feeling more optimistic with all of these recommendations

Pretty much the only advantage to a cruise ship-booked excursion is the fact that the ship, within reason, will wait for you if there's an issue on shore. Not so with shore-booked excursions. That being said, most dive ops on Cozumel are VERY aware of the cruise ship schedules and will get you back on time.

 

Aldora seem to have an excellent reputation here on CC, as well as on Scubaboard, and would be a good bet. I'm going to be on Coz next week, off the Getaway, but owing to time constraints, am forced to do a few boring shore dives only. I've decided to use Scuba Club Cozumel (used to be the old Galapago Inn) A short walk from the cruise dock in town and very well reviewed. Rather boring diving, but being Coz, lots of marine life right off the dock. Can't wait ;o)

 

Have a great cruise, and HAPPY DIVING

We might have to contend with a one tank dive rather than two if we use a shore booked dive shop but that's better than no dive. I appreciate the assistance. Enjoy your cruise and your diving!

Scuba Tony does an early and afternoon dive

 

 

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Scuba Tony told us a few weeks ago he couldn't accommodate us but thanks for the referral

We'll be there on April 7. On the Getaway Most dive shops say their boats leave at 8 and can't accommodate my husband since we dock at 8.

Thanks for the link! :p

Thanks for the reply. It gives us a sense of relief

Thanks for your replies. We're running into shops that want to leave for dives earlier than we'll be in port. But we're still searching.

Thanks for the postings. We're leaving in a few weeks and are trying to book our own diving excursions at certain ports. NCL website says you need to be onboard 2 hours before the ship leaves. I've never had that experience on previous cruises on other lines. What was your experience as to the required time to be on board? I didn't see anything on your dailies about it.

We want to dive in Cozumel but not sure if we want to book thru NCL or find our own dive shop. We have many years of diving and would prefer to dive with other experienced divers

Would a cruise ship excursion offer this possibility?

Thanks Scottbee for this valuable info. Maybe it will put her mind to rest.:cool:

Any chance there is a music store downtown Vancouver where my daughter can buy the latest Sam Roberts Band CD. My daughter is "DYING" to get it since its not available in the US yet.