ljk76

We will be joining you tomorrow, 6 couples in all. We are doing aqua class.  Very excited when we all tested negative!  We all did the e med tests. I was a little torn on going but Benny’s live thread did the trick! I believe FOMO would be worse than Covid for me.  See you in Cafe Al Bacio!

I know…none of you have crystal balls. And Regent has extended final payment to just sixty days from the cruise, so a final decision won’t be needed til mid April.  I have some hopes that the Covid situation may have ebbed and countries now closed may open up. But the political situation makes me wonder if we will be welcomed, or allowed, in St. Petersburg.

Some of you who have cruised in politically turbulent times may have opinions.  We were very excited to be going back to Regent after a decade away, and on the Splendor. 

Received this a few days ago, both directly from Regent and our TA…ours is also a Baltic cruise and we were not looking forward to making a decision next month. Hopefully it will still happen for both of us!

Will be making a decision on our end of January Apex cruise.  Biggest concern is the thought   of an inside cabin if unfortunate enough to get Covid. We will be driving to the port. Any Apex, or Edge, experiences would be very helpful.  
 

Another question…if you are identified as a Known exposure, but do not test positive, what are the restrictions?

Passing on a Celebrity cruise in 4 weeks…but so hope it’s a different Covid picture by late March when final payment is due on our Regent June Baltic cruise. That cruise is all about the ports for us! Significant changes would be so disappointing. The Regent experience alone we know is an amazing vacation. But for us we want a true travel adventure on this cruise as well.

Family afts are the best cabins on the ship.  Years ago we also lucked out on finding one to switch into after final payment. It’s a special opportunity…you can go aqua for you next cruise! 

An example would be if you planned to get there via taxi. We want to take an excursion out of red hook in St. Thomas. Fine with the captain, her guests, the unknown would be the cab driver. 

Could anyone provide a link to this coverage? I loosely organized a  large group of friends for a late January cruise and want to give them accurate information. Thank you so much! 

 Now waiting endlessly for van to return us to the parking lot. I personally would avoid GoPort. We wonder if perhaps their volume is so low that it isn’t efficient right now. I wish we had investigated parking at the port.  On a happier note…our cruise was incredible!

Same exact experience as Ozark above. On board the Mariner and loving the suite life! 12:00 check in, we arrived 11:15, I pointed out we were early and they just said no worries. Since our suite wasn’t ready til 1:15 we stashed our roll boards in the suite lounge. Alejandro prepared cappuccinos for us, we had some treats for lunch, he made ice show reservations for tonight, chef’s table reservation for tomorrow night. It just made everything so easy! Loved our room when we got in! Our room, and the entire ship, sparkles and looks very fresh! These three days will pass way too fast!

Horrible experience so far! Hotel was so bad we had to find another. Great difficulty finding GoPort parking based on the address they gave us. And now….waiting endlessly to be picked up to be taken to the port praying the cruise goes much better than the stress mess of the last day. 

I searched and found a site that listed all the stay and park options in the Canaveral area. Literally 18 minutes from the space center now, staying at Best Western Titusville tonight, boarding Mariner noon tomorrow.  Will report back on the experience. 

6 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I have a question about those who have used laptops. Do you need an actually external webcam or does the emed site access your onboard camera in the lid of the laptop? Basically does it act like zoom?

On board camera…

I searched and found a site that listed all the stay and park options in the Canaveral area. Literally 18 minutes from the space center now, staying at Best Western Titusville tonight, boarding Mariner noon tomorrow.  Will report back on the experience. 

Can’t lie…I found this stressful. Just having to move from the phone to the laptop was unexpected. Luckily I’d read through this post. Before the test itself I experienced a glitch.   The proctor couldn’t read my birthday from my license and very quickly told me to call customer service and then she logged out of the call. I started over, this time using my passport as ID, and a more patient proctor and that worked.  But reading about the process was very helpful so my thanks to the original poster and all who contributed.  

So excited! Bid just over minimum on a grand suite on a 3 day Mariner Cruise leaving Friday and found out yesterday we did get it. We have new cruise docs already. Thanks to all on this thread that helped me figure it out. If anyone could tell me what perks they value most I’d appreciate it!

Thank you all so much! It sounds like a blissful day without having to spend a lot in upcharges!

In a few weeks we are doing a Mariner long weekend. What is included in your “perfect day?”  Just  a 60+ retired couple hoping for a fun day in the sun…I’ll enjoy watching others on the toys!

New NCL cruiser with a question...included perk  premium does not include bottled water or specialty coffee? Plus includes all bottled water, and premium coffee, which is Starbucks? Plus includes full bottles of wine at dinner and you can take remainder to your stateroom? Thanks for your help!

We would cancel...not due to concerns for our safety, but concerns for disruptions on the ship. Watching the current Celebrity ship with two positive tests with great interest. Only 600 passengers on that ship and full vaccination required.  Wondering what 4000 passengers, even fully vaccinated, would turn up with post cruise testing. 

OP here! Just wanted to thank everyone who’s weighed in. It sounds like lots of things to love...and a few not so much. For our port intensive 7 day itinerary I think we will be just fine. If this was relaxing in the Caribbean and enjoying the ocean, maybe not as much.

 
just a couple more questions, please.

1. two chairs and a side table on the balcony? I can hide out there when the toilet is in use lol?

2. Breakfast room service? Usually don’t even use room service but it is a convenient option with early morning excursions in Europe

3. anything I should pack that might be unique to these cabins?

4. Is specialty coffee part of the included drink package? Where, if so. 
 

seems like NCL attracts a friendly and helpful crowd! Thanks.

Longtime cruisers(30+) but in October we join a large group of friends on a Mediterranean cruise, and this will be our first time on NCL. We know we will have a wonderful time with friends and enjoy the ports. We are trying to set realistic expectations about the ship experience.  Our European cruises have all been on MUCH smaller ships. 

What should we expect with crowd control...embarkation, ports, venues?  It looks like advanced planning and reservations are required. Understand that Covid restrictions may still have an impact in October.

it looks like lots to do at night which will be great with this group.  Are venues crowded or hard to get in?

The cabin...it certainly looks unique. We have a basic balcony on 13. I’ll reserve judgement on the bathroom, although my first impression based on photos isn’t great.  But no one cruises for the bathrooms! 
 

Service? We generally have been impressed with service on all our cruises, whether low end or high...we’ve cruises on everything from Carnival to  Regent. We are not hard to please with any sincere effort appreciated. Is there water and ice service in the cabin? Breakfast roomservice, even limited, available? Coffee makers..really? I was pretty excited to read that!

Really appreciate any comments and knowledge or tips any of you can share. It’s actually quite fun to be a newbie again and this will be our first, not last!, cruise since Covid.  

Booked the Splendor just yesterday for a June 22 cruise..so excited! We haven’t been on Regent for 11 years. Somehow we jumped to Azamara. But we felt extra secure with Regent, particularly with shore excursions. Usually liked being adventurous but in these times we know they are experts and their safety protocols seem strong. Got our second vaccinations last week and can’t wait to travel again. 

We are looking at an Apex Caribbean cruise a year from now.  It’s looking as though it could easily be eight or more couples. Are there any advantages to booking as a group? Last time we all just called into the same online travel agency. It worked out fine but I’m wondering if there are any benefits to a group booking. Thanks for any help!

We watched a Regent webinar last night. They did talk about a slow roll out to get back, maybe one ship a month. All crew need vaccinations and extensive training. There will be more medical staff and an unsold block of rooms that could serve as a quarantine area. They didn’t address guest vaccinations. They claimed their 2022 bookings were way above previous years. They have sold out their around the world cruise to exclusively people booking the entire cruise. Usually many segments are sold separately to fill the ship.  But I agree...so many questions still!