PATRLR

Of course you don't. But when you write "I got in trouble once YEARS ago for not having it with me... luckily the person checking was kind", there should be nothing wrong with asking for more specifics on this incident, which by the way you didn't supply other than identifying the continent. In my mind, this is a "bring the passport with me" situation because it likely wouldn't be easy for me to get back to my hotel to get my passport should something happen.

I would argue you have a better chance of losing your passport and getting stranded than getting into a situation where you couldn't get back to your hotel or cruise ship to get your passport if you needed it.

Please tell us exactly where this happened - other than those countries that require you to carry it (e.g. China, Malaysia come to mind. Russia I believe is another one)

Really? So tell me about some of these situations where you actually needed your passport and had it, but, if you were like me and left it in your hotel safe you would have been in trouble. I spent years travelling the world for my work (for many years, 70% or my work time was out of the country - boy did that ever suck!) and whenever I was in the same place for more than a day my passport stayed in my hotel safe - I was adamant about it as I had been taught by more senior travellers I worked with. The exceptions were when I knew I needed it for access to a client site but that was typically only on the first day (but some clients it was every day) and of course the few countries that require you to carry it.

Unbelievable. That price is more than what Fogo de Chão is charging and Moderno is nowhere near as good as a Fogo. I have to be honest, if their plan is to just charge us the 20% tip (~$18 in this case), I'm not sure that amount is worth it for Moderno, either. Agreed.

Be careful, if you leave your phone cellular enabled for 24 hours and 1 minute, you'll have started a second day's session. For that reason, I always go back into airplane mode when I no longer need cellular service regardless of the timings. Also, I may be completely mis-remembering or confused here but if you start your Travel Pass in some port, then leave the port and get out to sea and your phone is still on, won't you connect to the ship's cellular network and that wouldn't be included in the Travel Pass (so, you would then be roaming)? For some reason I have it in mind that it's very important to make sure you are in airplane mode when on the ship, regardless of Travel Pass.

@soonergirl8 - I recommend the Sky Princess itinerary because it give you more Norway. And your idea of tacking on an Iceland land tour makes excellent sense, IMO. (IcelandAir from Heathrow to Reykjavik is a relatively short flight and usually reasonable price) We did the Sky Princess trip this past July. Report here - I encourage you to check it out and I'd be happy to answer any questions: If you do Sky Princess, in Stavanger I encourage you to hike Pulpit Rock if you are capable (it wasn't an option for various reasons for us). I've not been on Prima, but have been on Viva. I had heard concerns about Prima/Viva in cool weather itineraries and after having been on Viva I can see where cool weather would lead to crowded interiors. Lastly, please spend some time over in the Baltics forums, especially this one which talks about the Norwegian fjords. There is a lot here, but it's all very, very good stuff:

Yes, I have the Travel Pass for travelling outside North America and use it regularly.

I'm in the US and my Verizon plan includes calling to/from/in Canada. And I don't think I have any special plan (but maybe I do).

I've been tripped up by this in the past. I don't spend much time looking at my phone while driving but I do look at a car's clock. Haven't missed a ship, but have bungled business meetings. Maybe you, but, I've never worn a watch in my life.

Sorry to hear of this misadventure. Sounds like you have the right outlook on things, I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise. I do have a question. I often read that for those that miss the ship they will get your passports from your room and leave with port agent. And I wonder if that is true. Any comment on that?

I did Princess to the Norwegian fjords this past summer. Very pleased (there is a report around somewhere). Booked Princess to the Med next summer. I'm not writing off NCL, I'll cruise them again...

I don't think there is any doubt about the things your wrote above. I have no doubt they have the legal right to do what they are doing. The fact that they are choosing to do these things and there now seems to be a pattern with no bounds, to me it sends the message that I should be concerned about future bookings, particularly when the itinerary is the primary motivation for selection.

Fair question. At the very least I'd have options. Maybe I cancel the cruise and convert it to a land vacation. Maybe I can convert it to a combination shorter cruise and land vacation that still allows me to use my trans-Pacific flights. I don't know what I might do but I do know once you are past final payment your kinda stuck with going on that specific cruise.

You used the word incentive. For me, it's not lack of incentive it's downright concern. I'll probably use NCL again for something mindless like the Carribean where we really don't care where the ship stops, but for more "interesting" itineraries I'm concerned enough to look at lines other than NCL.

I guess I don't really expect anything to change because for years now NCL has demonstrated that they really don't care about their passenger's experience, byond keeping them safe. What I would like to see change is NCL's well documented behavior of waiting until after final payment to announce substantive changes to their itineraries.

I was on Viva in Caribbean and I thought it was an issue. On the port days, people return from the beach or wherever during late afternoon and the only place to get food was the grille (or down inside at Local). We had Vibe passes so we could see the line for the grille snake out it's back door and start working its way up the stairs to the race track. Happened each port day.

I believe they have crossed a line, but IMO they've been crossing it many times before now. It's just that this time, they are way, way beyond it. I'm specifically referring to the well documented behavior of of waiting until after final payment to notify passengers of changes. I'd love to see NCL forced to pay for these transgressions so maybe they stop it. As I get closer to the point where I'll be able to take these longer, more exotic cruises, I'd like NCL to be an option but they won't be if this behavior continues - I just won't be able to trust them. I assume insurance would pay for the lost/unuseable airfare, but I don't think insurance will cover a more expensive airfare to the new ports or more expensive hotels, etc. And is it really right to make insurance pay for NCL's bad behavior? As with anything that takes advantage of insurance, we all ultimately end up paying (and NCL skates away clean).

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Thank you for putting that spreadsheet together. I agree and I think I've commented in the past that the venue hours on Viva were not good, especially that late afternoon returning-from-excursions timeframe and your spreadsheet makes it clear. One thing I notice is that you show Indulge as not open during the lunch hour, I don't remember that being the case in December when we were on her. If I get motivated, I might steal what you've done and overlay the hours of some of the other cruise lines we've been on recently. I think the difference will be significant.

In all seriousness, I wouldn't let that $0.02 remain unpaid or unresolved past the final payment date. I'd hate to see your cruise get cancelled out from underneath you. Computers may not know the difference between $0.02 and $2000.00.

I'll be following. We did Oasis of the Seas in summer 2023, first time on RCCL in probably 15 years. I found the entertainment to be very good with many options. Otherwise, generally similar to the other mass market lines. We will cruise them again, if the itinerary and price is right. Looking forward to your commentary.

Interesting comments. I honestly can't remember the last time we had a photographer approach us in a dining room - to the point where I thought maybe they stopped doing that. Perhaps our records are tagged "they never let us take their photo so stop trying" 🙂

In my opinion, the primary reason to do the Artic Circle portion of those itineraries is for the midnight sun. It's a full sea day to get up there, full sea day coming back, in my opinion whatever you are going to had better be worth the trip, and it's midnight sun that would make it worthwhile to me.

I am looking for fellow CC'ers who have experienced one of the Princess "Private Vehicle" excursions in Santorini. Our group has booked the "Santorini by Private Vehicle - Van Class Half Day (With Guide)" and I am wondering what to expect with respect to where we will meet up with our van. Should we expect to have to get to the top of the cable car, or, is it possible we'd be meeting at the "new" port area? I know if we booked a vehicle privately (not through Princess), those bookings indicate to meet at the top of the cable car. Anyone know for certain?