xriva

Are we required to go to the actual lifeboat or are we assigned locations in the ship with seating! Do we have to wear our life jackets or just carry them!

One other point I didn't see made which is critical for any people with motion issues - the elevators do not work during the drill, so if you do have issues (or just hate stairs), make sure you get to your station a few minutes early so you can ride down instead of walk. We usually wander down as soon as the first warnings are announced ("in twenty minutes ..."), as long as we are mustering in a restaurant or one of the bars, so we can get a seat.

Note that if you are in a large area (like a restaurant or bar - or the theatre), you will have multiple muster stations, so find your proper area before grabbing a seat. (On the Jade last week, we were in muster station H2 which was in the MDR, but the entire MDR was "H", so we had to find the section of the restaurant that was H2.)

On our cruise last week, it took more time waiting for people to wander in than to do the actual life vest demonstration (which is eerily similar to the one you saw on the airplane flying to the port.)

Have a good cruise!

The people in front of me were parking first - I could hear the parking attendant mention they could go drop off first, but it was up to them.

I dropped off my wife and luggage and parked, and it was easy. I pre-paid and had requested a car cover, so I was given a tag to show to the attendants when I was directed to my space. (We came in early due to fog, and I could see all the covered cars from my balcony so they do actually cover them!)

If the amount of luggage is small, or you're not going to use porters, it's probably fine to just park. If you're going to give your luggage to the porters anyway, drop and park.

Either way, it's a short walk to the terminal, and I did see a shuttle bus cruising the lot when we returned.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for posting, I am leaving today for the New Years cruise and was surprised when I pulled up Vessel Finder to find you had already docked yesterday. We have had a foggy week with many delays. I see the Houston Ship Channel is open now and as I type a Maersk Hartford is pulling out from Bayport. I hope you were able to make all ports of call on your Christmas trip!

We made all our ports, but now I understand why you leave Roatan relatively early. When we were speeding along much of Wednesday evening and Thursday, I figured we were racing against something, even if it hadn't been announced yet.

I wonder if this will have any downstream effect tomorrow (either being able to board earlier or delaying our sail away)?

They were fueling the Jade this afternoon so that's done. We should be able to disembark on time since we've had so much extra time to prepare. So, I would think you would board on time. I haven't looked at the forecast to see if the fog will burn off.

Sailing in this afternoon

The Jade is coming in early due to fog and high winds in Houston - they're not kidding, we're in fog now. Stores and casino closed at 2pm. Taxes are being charged - which dismayed a bunch of people in the photo shop line. Our minibar is already sealed.

We'll overnight in port, disembark in the morning.

When we were doing 22 knots most of yesterday, I figured we were trying to get in early.

Merry Christmas! You probably shouldn't be gambling on the Lord's birthday, anyway.

I am well prepared for the deservedly Cheap Bastard label from my “Little Crab Cake” but question for the group, as Cary Bradshaw would state, “How does one survive and in fact thrive, in the smallest and most likely loudest cabin without making your "Butter Bean" run to divorce court?”

"Wow. Look at that large bird flying by the ship on the BridgeCam! I believe it's a Grey Goose. Say, speaking of Grey Goose ..."

Do you know how CC calculates that "loved it" score? Does it simply include all reviews from the very beginning, weighted equally, or is the formula more complicated than that?

I think it is (Excellent + Very Good) / Total Reviews

I think there were enough changes in a short enough time period that a lot of people are boarding ready for a fight. If you are annoyed at a company before you start using the product, you are not going to enjoy it. Plus, when you get the piling on effect from the professional whiners around here, it just makes the problem worse.

I am sailing out of Houston on the Jade for Christmas, and many of the reviews say it's horrible, but there are also reviews that say it's good. So, I usually ignore the extremes on both sides of any reviews and read the ones in the middle.

Also, as someone who has had to survey customers for years in corporate life, I read the comments - I don't just look at numbers. The comments can often show that the numbers are skewed one way or the other.

A lot of people who will never be happy will end up on review sites. They will go complain instead of asking for a manager at the time the issue occurs. Also, many of the problems are self-inflicted. My favorite was someone getting pissed because they went to Galveston when the Jade sails from Houston. This, of course, was NCL's fault. Read the brochure, people.

A bad cruise is better than a good day at the office, unless you're a taster at a whiskey distillery. I'm not, so I'd take a bad cruise any day.

The ship will be decorated for Christmas. The decorations will probably be down after New Year's. We sailed one year on Christmas Day and it was a New Year's cruise - the vibe was completely different than a Christmas cruise.

I don't think Christmas changes how people dress - I will say that a lot of people dress up on Norwegian's Night Out because the photographers are out in force, and there are usually photos with the Captain.bSince a lot of families cruise at Christmas, there are a lot of family portraits being taken.

There has always been caroling on Christmas Eve - but it can be very popular, so get there early, because the atrium is not that large. It's usually about 6pm, as I recall, so it doesn't really interfere with the night's activities.

I've never had youngsters with me, so not sure about Santa.

I'm not sure about age limits on the Glow Party, since we usually skip it.

There have been services on some of the cruises but it usually depends on having a priest or minister onboard who offers to do it. It's not scheduled otherwise.

Merry Christmas at sea! My favorite White Christmas is a sandy beach.

Not having high speed internet on a vacation isn't the end of the world.

It is in the First World. #FirstWorldProblems

Hi xriva, quick question, I read several of your posts and would like to know how you managed to have the captain marry you?

 

 

 

I had originally booked a wedding package on the Epic but I eventually cancelled so we would get married at home.

 

 

 

I figured that perhaps a vow renewal could be a good option, went through guest relations like you but was told that the captain does not do vow renewals. The captain doing the ceremony was a must for me.

 

 

 

Maybe the policy changed since your renewal in February 2015?

 

 

 

Can you share more with your experience?

 

 

 

Thanks!

There were two vow renewal packages when we booked - the regular and the deluxe. There were a couple of features that the deluxe added, but the one that justified the extra cost was that the Captain performed the ceremony. The Captain was a must for my wife, as well. I looked after we returned, and the deluxe package is gone.

When we were on the ship, one of the group events people said she thought the Captain had delegated the duty, at which point my wife almost blew a gasket, but that was corrected and Captain Myre performed the ceremony.

I do wonder if some of it depended on the Captain - I have noticed some Captains are ambassadors of the line, and some drive the ship. Since the deluxe package forced all Captains to perform the ceremony, it went away.

It's interesting that some of the hotel staff - like the cruise director and assistant cruise director - are considered "officers", so they could do the ceremony.

I think someone underestimated the importance of the Captain as an officiant.

Keep going, I just bought a large popcorn

Don't spill it on the sheets, we don't know when they're changed yet.

You do not put on life vests. But just out of curiosity, what prompted the question?

 

 

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Depending on how long ago their last NCL cruise was, they may have had to take them before.

Credit card is definitely more convenient in the sense that you will not have to wait for a refund if you do not spend all of the cash.

 

 

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Also, a credit card doesn't freeze your account when it runs out! Unless you leave a lot of cash, you will have to keep going to Guest Services to replenish it.

Of course, if you don't charge anything to your room, it may not be an issue.

It was stated earlier that someone was ready to see the current ad campaign of "Let's Go" come to an end.

 

Does anyone else agree with this? I happen to really love those ads. It really gets me in a good mood when I see/hear those ads.

I have the remixes downloaded from iTunes. I was surprised to find them there, but someone had mentioned that "Let's Go" was available for download. Playing them and thinking about my next cruise is cheaper than therapy.

We have had trips where our WiFi bill was higher than our bar tab, which is embarrassing.

That said, I like unlimited plans because I don't have to remember to disconnect. I don't have to disconnect at home, so it's an extra step. I'm not tied to my phone by any means, but it's my watch, so I have it with me pretty much all the time. If I can have it connected while I'm onboard, I'm going to consider it.

If nothing else, it makes it easier for my wife to exchange texts with the pet sitter.

 

No matter what...cruising is awesome! :D

 

(I'd like to figure out how to retire on a cruise ship.)

Have you considered retiring as a lounge singer?

My wife and I renewed our vows on the Getaway on our 15th anniversary in February. The Captain did our ceremony because we had the deluxe package (which seems to have vanished.)

I'm glad we did it. I was trying to come up with something special for our anniversary and I assumed (correctly) that nobody in either family was going to go along no matter what we did - with the possible exception of one brother-in-law and sister-in-law, so I decided if we could have the ceremony on our exact anniversary on the ship, that would be fun. The Getaway happened to have an itinerary that fit the schedule.

It was fun. There were more NCL staff than guests, but it was a great party. The ceremony was short and sweet (because I wrote it), the staff was very helpful, and when else am I going to get the Captain of the ship to serve me and my wife champagne?

It was completely different from our wedding, which was on a schooner off Key West, but it had been fifteen years, so we needed a slightly larger boat!

What exactly does a "floating Ghetto" look like?:confused:

A Carnival ship with no power.

I've been on the Spirit, the Jewel class, the Epic and the Breakaway class. The Breakaway class fixed a lot of the issues I had with the Epic but they're getting too big for me.

I dislike the Epic because it was designed so you won't know you're on a ship. It is all closed except for the pool deck. It's a floating Vegas resort. I can go to Vegas. I chose to goon a cruise.

The Breakaway class added the Waterfront, where you can enjoy watching the waves go by from a restaurant or bar of your choice. That, to me, was a vast improvement over the Epic.

However, after doing Transatlantics on the Epic and the Breakaway, followed by an eleven-day Caribbean cruise on the Pearl, I'll take the Jewel class.

Well this is great thank you so much for the information. So it's not necessarily the person to person service it's the timeliness aspect. So hopefully I will not have an issue as I am doing a private reservation. I have a large group so as long as our group is there altogether at the meeting spot we should be on the shuttle and away we go right?

If you have a private group, yes. Also, if you have a group large enough to fill the van, you should be on your way, as well.

I am looking for some current reviews for Super Shuttle. The few on Trip Advisor are not very favorable. Is there anyone out there with a recent experience that you could share??

Try Yelp for reviews, as well.

SuperShuttle at the airport can be annoying, because they tend to wander around until they're full before leaving - at the port, with a few thousand getting off at once, that may not be as much of an issue. Inbound, you're picked up at the time you select. There may or may not be other stops.

I used them for years until I discovered my company had a limo contract :)

They can be much cheaper than cabs because they are shared rides - it just may take time to find the people you're sharing with.

I've found the best time to book is usually the day after I book. It's not always a Tuesday, though.

Glad to see this post....We have 24 ocean cruises & just completed our 1st Viking River Cruise (Blue Danube) I looked this week into going on a Mississippi Cruise and was floored by the cost. For $4' date='000 per person, I can stay at all these places at a 5 star hotel. If someone can shed some light as to why these trips are so expensive, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks[/quote']

 

 

I always assumed the rather extravagant costs were based on the smaller passenger capacity (as in all river cruises), plus the Mississippi ships (I believe) are US-flagged (no foreign ports), so need to be all-American crews on an American-built vessel, which would add a lot to the costs,

 

When Viking announced Mississippi River cruises, it was mentioned that the ship have to be US-built with US crews.