Cruising Latitude

A few midship deck 5 OV cabins on Jewel do have portholes but they are not category OB.  All OB cabins have large picture windows. 

Now if it’s the ones right off the elevator lobby and they open the gangway on deck 5 midship on port days you will hear noises.  It would be worse if they open the gangway on deck 4 as well.  

See below:

On 6/28/2019 at 11:39 AM, mac_tlc said:

My gripe is with the Ultimate Abyss, not so much the water slides. I would just rather have the aft view, and it definitely affects the view from many of the Boardwalk Balcony cabins. Its not like people don't have the opportunity to enjoy the Abyss -- it will be on at least 3 of 4, and probably 5 of 5 of the Oasis class ships. If you would rather have the view, you are SOL.  I don't know, which view do you prefer?

 

 

 

When we were on Symphony a month ago that white cover thingie over the exits of the Ultimate Abyss was not there.  

I wonder if the Ultimate Abyss to be added to Allure and Oasis will be exactly the same as on HOTS or Symphony?  I kind of hope Royal give some variations to the slides on different ships, making them more interesting.  

Contemplating to buy the 100 shares but getting a little apprehensive as I noticed the sharp dip in the past few days.  Carnival Q2 earning report is pretty good so something else must be causing it.  

Please enlighten me.  😅

It was a lot of fun.  They hurry you up a lot because many excursions share the same trails, such as the ATV excursions, and they have to keep the trails clear.  

You can take turns driving and I let DH have most of my turn.   I liked it better than ATV but others in our group disagreed.  Lol

It was held on a sea day morning in one of the pools close to the PADI shop.  

Very simple course.  Fun for those who have never dived before but would be a little boring and not very useful if you want to get certified. 

Feel your pain.

As of last week I have had 5 cruises in a row that were changed, shortened or flat out canceled, for various reasons.  As someone who cruises for ports, I find it frustrating that cruise lines do not seem to take their published itineraries as seriously as I would like. 

At the moment I have thousands of $$$ of credit due to canceled cruises from 2 cruise lines but I don’t have the confidence to book “good” itineraries and I certainly don’t have the vacation time to waste on “fillers”. 

Instead DH and I are planning a 3-week land trip in Scandinavia and another 3-week land trip in China.

As much as I like being on a ship I also want to reach my destination.  

3 hours ago, Sunkissed Mommy said:

 

We watched them raise the balloon later in the afternoon, I assume as practice or something.  No one was on it and I was glad, it was swaying pretty far.  It would have been a scary ride.

 

Sorry it was cancelled on you, as it looks like it would be a neat experience to see everything from above!

Yep! I went back to the ship before 3 and I saw it going when I was waiting on top of the Ultimate Abyss.  The ticket lady said they would do a test run to around 200 ft up to test the wind.  If the wind reached above 18 to 20 miles per hour it would be too dangerous. 

56 minutes ago, senrab said:

 

This is a huge disappointment, and may drive me to cancel my snorkeling plans on CocoCay.  I was more excited about the plane than anything else...the fact that it's still on the maps is a bit deceptive.  We had booked the snorkel at your leisure, but may cancel that in favor of relaxing on the beach, oasis pool, or at the floating bar.

We were disappointed too as we had planned to swim out to see the plane.  I knew it was weird that Royal removed the little plane symbol from their latest Cococay map.  

The positive side is: at least for now you do not need to bring your own life jacket.  You can take one from the rack.  But then again if I weren’t a strong swimmer I would take my own just in case Royal changed its mind.  

A correction: the balloon went up to 450 ft not 450 meters.  

Another addition: self serve beer in the buffet.  You just swipe your card and pull the lever.  How convenient is that?  

We were also on the Memorial Day weekend Symphony of the Seas 3 day cruise, our first time on an Oasis class ship and first time to CCC. 

A few newly learned tidbits of facts and impression of Cococay, hope they might be useful to other cruisers:

1.) We didn’t book the water park but from outside the water park did not look crowded, though I did hear others say the water slides wait time was still long.  The slashaway area (with tipping buckets)  was free for all and loads of fun. 

2.) The Oasis Pool area filled up as the day went on.  It was practically empty when we first walked by it at 9AM but by 12noon it was a little harder to find two loungers together with an umbrella.  The pool and the bar all looked clean and inviting.  

3.) The South Beach area with the floating bar has lots of chairs and umbrellas and some natural shade. The water is very shallow for about 200 yards and you can walk far into the ocean without needing to swim.  We saw a few stingrays and a little shark like creature and lots of fish.  Good snorkeling for those who don’t know how to swim.  

4.) Chill Island Beach, lots of chairs and umbrellas though not much natural shade.  Very breezy and comfortable compared to the pool, or even South Beach and it is the choice for snorkelers.  Deeper water to actually swim and lots of colorful fish.  The further you go the calmer and clearer the water. 

PSA to snorkelers: Unfortunately the plane wreck is now out of the boundary defined by buoys and ropes and the good reef area is now only accessible by paid snorkeling excursions.  But there is still a sunken boat by one of floating platforms.  As far as free snorkeling in the Caribbean and Bahamas go this is still a pretty good location.  

5.) Food stations are large and lines were short if any.  Finding a table at peak lunch hour could take a couple of minutes but still not impossible.  The standard burgers and hotdogs and the little sandwiches were very tasty.  DH had his fill on corn on cob. Bars didn’t seem crowded either. 

6.) Zipline, we didn’t try but it looked much shorter than the one in Labadee.    

7.) We booked helium balloon rides but could not go due to high wind.  It didn’t feel windy at all at ground level only comfortably breezy but the ticket lady said it was too windy at 450 meters in the air so the balloon was grounded.  

8.) The day was mildly cloudy and we applied layers of sunblock still ended up with a little sun burn.  So lather up please especially if you get a bright sunny day.  

9.) Overall a very nice private island.  Due to balloon cancellation by wind we end up not spending anything on excursions but still enjoyed our day very much. 

7 minutes ago, Oxo said:

Is that for the week? What do you get for that? 

For one full day use of one Oasis Lagoon Cabana at Cococay for up to 8 people, adult or child.  

On our Symphony sailing the cabana price is $1,449.  

Yep, you read that right.  

We choose cruises by timing (non negotiable), itinerary and departure port, in that order.   Ship, cruise line and price are not that important. 

TBH I have wanted to sail an Oasis class for years but knowing DH I know his first question will be “how many days off work and where does it go?” And no cruise that uses a week of vacation and only goes to the same old ports is worth it to him. 

But after years of waiting finally there is one Oasis class cruise that made the cut. We will be sailing Symphony this Memorial Day weekend.   

On 1/24/2019 at 10:56 AM, LaCal said:

Perfect time to have Nationwide Choice or Luxury Cruise Insurance 

You’d get either $750 per person(Choice plan) or $1,250 per person (Luxury plan)  just for this itinerary change 😜😜💰💰

 

We only use them and have gotten paid 3 out of our last 4 cruises including $1,250 each on our Bliss Panama Canal Cruise for port changes PRE Cruise 😜💰

 

Not all States are included in the

cruise benefit part but most are....I’ve included a pic of the States that are Excluded 

 

Nationwide is On Your Side 😃💰💰😜

How much is the premium?  Cruise lines change ports so often nowadays I have had 3 out of my last 4 cruises changed too I could have made a fortune.  Lol

10 hours ago, happy cruzin said:

 Wonder if NCL is going to help pay for flights for those that live in Miami and now have to fly home, but would not have needed flights home when they were ending in Miami??

I agree the wording is confusing. I was in the same boat and had the same question and based on my one time experience, the answer is yes, NCL would pay (up to a cap).  

I was on a recent NCL cruise that was canceled half way (Jade Thanksgiving). We chose to forgo the free charter flights and travel independently and NCL paid for our flights back to Miami, full new fares, not change fees.  

Flew back yesterday after spending a great week in Puerto Rico (the island has so much more than San Juan!) and back to work today.   

Our flights from San Juan back to Miami only cost $78pp with no other flight changes necessary and that’s the only expense I will ask NCL to reimburse.  Plus maybe the Taxi ride to the airport.  Hopefully quite straightforward. 

Any official word on for how long the future cruise credit will be valid?  I was told by a rep one year but someone else on the ship said it’s 4 years like a cruise next cert.  How do they count the days?  The day the cruise starts or ends? 

We generally only do this type of cruises  around Thanksgiving time and since Thanksgiving week changes every year I will probably need to know the precise dates more precisely than most.   Lol.  May need to wait a few days for the final word.  

Is SJU the only airport they use?  One NCL rep told me there might be multiple PR airports involved though I had a feeling he didn’t know what he was talking about.  

There is a good possibility some pax will be transported to locals hotel for tonight because there won’t be enough flight seats to get everyone off.  

30 minutes ago, ljz0000 said:

How are they working out who goes on which flight? Is it random? We are on Deck 11 and barely any of the staterooms on the upper decks are being called. 

I don’t know their method but I know if you have a preference you can let them know and they will accommodate as well they can.  Our neighbors told the guest service they prefer to stay on the ship as long as they can and the guest service made a note of their room number and so far they haven’t been called.  

Looking for a hotel in San Juan with parking at a reasonable rate as we will have a rental car for a few days to venture to the rest of the island.  

Anyone has any suggestions?  

TIA

23 minutes ago, Aviator of the Seas said:

The Jade will be TOWED to Miami beginning at 7:00 AM Puerto Rico time.  Everyone should be off by then.

I am curious as to why they wouldn’t allow pax (who choose to do so) to stay on the ship and get towed back with it?   It would make back by next Monday morning so no one would need to change flights.  Surely it would cost NCL much less than charter flights and maybe even hotels?  I honestly wouldn’t have minded as long as the ship is still functioning.  

Just curious.  

Anyway, I booked a PR hotel which starts check-in at 3 so I will leave the ship around 2 to pick up my rental car.   I already informed the officers that we won’t need charter flights but they don’t know our flights details yet.  I am sure I will be calling their customer service after we get back.  

Keep calm and cruise on.  

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

what if you dont want to fly?

or afraid to fly?

 

I honestly don’t know.   Pure speculation: as the ship is hopefully eventually arriving in Miami in time for the next sailing maybe they will allow pax who have special needs to stay on?  

We have booked a hotel in PR to stay till Saturday and booked a light to fly back to Miami.   I know that flight will be reimbursed but am not sure how to inform NCL of our flight information and cost.  Or is there a deadline for that.  The guess service line is 1.5 to 2 hours long.  It would be more efficient if they posted answers to some faqs in stead of answering pax one by one.

I wouldn’t have minded experiencing their charter flight once but then we don’t want to waste more of our vacation days than necessary.  

An officer told me that as soon as all passengers are off the ship they will move at 5 knots to a repair facility near Miami (Not sure which one he is referring to and personally I wouldn’t take anyone’s word at face value).  

The bottom line is they want all pax off the ship ASAP so they can move forward with their repair plan to hopefully ensure upcoming sailings are not affected.  

DH and I are on the ship.  Trying to find out more details.   

Pax will receive a full refund and a future credit based on the fare paid. They just offered everyone 60 min of free internet.  It’s a good thing we upgraded ourselves last minute and enjoyed 3 days of free Haven.  Lol

Keep calm and cruise on.   

Last year’s 21-day Antarctica cruise, on a 100 pax expedition ship, with no specialty restaurant, no theater, no casino, no pool, no hot tub.  

And it was absolutely glorious.  

I learned Cosol Tours no longer does the return trip by the sea. Instead they now use a van both ways. 

Anyone who have used Cosol Tours very recently (within the past one year) can confirm that?  

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