EaglesWin

Thanks both of you. We will be monitoring as well...

We are considering an Explora Caribbean voyage in November. Two adults, both MSC Diamond and NCL Sapphire. We have done both Haven and Yacht Club and looking for something different/better.

What amenities or discounts are available based on MSC/NCL status?

42 minutes ago, Petersonfcu said:

Ships in the Carnival cruise family allow you to transfer money from your shipboard account to a slot machine without any sort of fee.   Is this also true with the slots on Norwegian cruise ships?  Sorry if this has been asked and answered before . . . I did do some searching but to no avail.

Yes.

5 hours ago, sulala said:

You can call ncl to get an answer.

And you can call NCL twice to get two different answers.

1 minute ago, js said:

 

We do balconies on RCCL but YC on MSC and Haven on NCL so I know what I will be missing. It would make it easier if I didn't know LOL

 

I know exactly what you mean. We've switched to Haven on NCL and haven't gone back (2 so far). But we are thinking of getting a balcony for our next NCL cruise.

Only you can decide if it's worth spending an extra $5k for Haven. We don't know your financial situation. For some it would be a no-brainer. Others might have important things they can do with that 5k.

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Post #1 clearly states that the OP verbally asserted that he had nothing to declare... until the CBP agent questioned him and he admitted to making an incorrect declaration. 

Exactly my point.

1 minute ago, fstuff1 said:

 

there is no longer a customs form.

they did away with that last year

So I guess it's verbal and you didn't mention the liquor to him when he asked. What port was this? Boston?

On 7/6/2019 at 12:25 PM, fstuff1 said:

 came back from Dawn Bahamas cruise.

bought 3 bottles of alcohol using OBC from the ship's Duty Free shop.

 

debarked ship and went to US Customs.

Handed agent my US Passport. He asked anything to declare and i said no.

 

then he asked how much alcohol i have and i said 3.

he said you're only allowed 1. the rest you have to pay taxes on.

i said i bought them from the Duty Free shops and thought it was unlimited alcohol since it's from the Duty Free shop and offered to show him my receipt.

he said it's 1 but waived me through and said next time you know.

 

Items from the ship's Duty Free shop isnt exempt from the US Customs limit in bringing certain  items into the US?

 

Did you put it on your custom form? You still have to report liquor you bring in. They usually will not charge duty (about $3/bottle) because it's too much trouble. But if you didn't declare it, he might have been trying to give you a hard time.

On 7/6/2019 at 6:59 AM, newmexicoNita said:

Well according to our investment councilor it is still a very good investment. We just had our semi annual meeting with her. Of course maybe you know better than she does and we should turn our port folio over to you? Have you compared this year's earnings of the 3 major mass marketed cruise lines. You may want to do that. 

They were referring to the Haven being a deal 7 years ago.

The DSC does not include the kids crew staff either. So make sure you tip them as well if you leave children with them. Base it on how much time your kids are there. When our two were small (10 years ago), they spent every possible minute there and we usually gave the staff $100 or $150 at the end of the week.

Never used it for shots or beer, just mixed drinks and wine. Also works well getting off the ship and into port, can’t bring beer bottles or obvious alcoholic drinks into port but the insulated cup keeps your beverage concealed and cold for hours.

Not sure I would recommend bringing alcohol off the ship into a foreign country. You could get into some serious trouble if caught.

They are good if you want to buy a gift for someone cruising.

Best money I've spent at the excursion desk.

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Is it a climate controlled space ? Is there heat and AC ?

That I don't know. It was never uncomfortable.

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Did you see the Haven roof in any position other than about 95% closed during our trip?

On the last sea day it looked like it might have been nearly closed but there was still a gap.

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He is pretty thin to begin with so don't run him too hard. Never had a problem last week at any location getting two drinks with one card.

 

We did have differing stories of how many things we could under with the UDP at Cageny's though.

Whenever we ordered wine or whiskey, we were always asked if we wanted a double.

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Just off the Gem. The valet is Amit and he is great. He will bring your drinks to the courtyard or sun deck and is very attentive.

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8 is the biggest.

but they fit 6 comfortably.

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The cabana will be the best money you spend on your cruise

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Must be the Spirit

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Isn't Nassau on Sunday? We leave on a Saturday, since Nassau is the first stop, it has to be Sunday.

yes I meant to say Sunday

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We're booked for an Eastern itinerary, and Nassau is our first stop, which, I think, makes it a Sunday.:)

They are changing the itinerary after drydock to go to Nassau on Monday instead of Friday. The visit to San Juan on Wednesday is all day, 9 am to 2 am.

It does on the BA at the least and I don't know why it wouldn't be the same on all of them. We gave it a shot on the first night, came back from dinner to a room that was muggy as hell and it took all night to get it cool again and I couldn't sleep.

oh that's too bad.

I was just on the Divina, and the card slot didn't affect the AC or TV.

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it doesn't have anything to do with the AC.

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