SilentlyPerfect

In the past,  it did not matter if everyone in the same stateroom had the same check in times; now it does. The new NCL Check-in time rule is even if you are in the same stateroom, if you have different check in times it will not be honored and those with different check-in time will be turned away.

Recently, when checking in for our up coming cruise on the NCL Dawn 11/27/22 at the traditional 21-day mark, I discovered a hick-up in the check-in process. Innocently, like everyone else on that checking in I stood up to check in at 12:00a. Nothing came up until 1:00a to check-in and with that had internet issues. Then I discovered NCL was going through a maintenance issue and would be shut down for maintenance until 4:00a. My competitive side got the better of me and stood my ground waiting for the NCL web-site to reopen. When it did, I quickly grabbed the 9:00a-9:30a slot for both my husband and myself. A few days later while printing out our boarding passes I discovered I had the 9:00a-9:30a time slot and my husband had the 11:00a-11:30a slot. I called NCL rep to find out if his could be changed since the statement under the port information basically read that anyone with different check-in times will be turned away. The NCL Rep was of no help except to say this was a new rule. The NCL Rep even consulted with others on this matter and stood firm, thereby stating that no one is getting on the ship any sooner than 12:00 noon. She even suggested I give-up my 9:00a-9:30a slot that I stood-up all night to get. I did not choose 11:00a-11:30a for my husband, why would I? And at that time in the morning had I finished with my check-in the worse case possible I should had ended-up with the next time slot over for him (I started the check-in process with me first). So what happened? This is a new rule by NCL and according to the NCL Rep there is no exception. In my opinion, why not have the website (while checking in) with the first person automatically be the time slot for the second person in the same stateroom? Or all the people in the same stateroom?  Is this to easy of a problem for NCL to fix? 

After hanging-up, I decided to checked with the groups that are sailing on our ship.  I created a Google Sheet for anyone to join in the Meet & Greet and other activities across more than one platform for the NCL Dawn 11/27/22 sailing; almost 100 people had sign-up. After contacting these groups, I noted many had the same problem or was not able to get a check-in time due to website issues. I offered them the NCL Rep number and the number for those having technical difficulty.

Overall, I foresee on 11/27/22, at the Tampa Port there will be hundreds of angry guest trying to check-in with different check-in times with their loved ones who are sharing the same staterooms. I can imagine, this will be happening at other ports of call if they insist to separate everyone in the family to come back at their check in time, thereby splitting up families or children in the process.

Once again, this is a hick-up that can be fixed by NCL and I am wondering how long will it take to do so. Especially if NCL are insisting this is the way to go with their new check-in policy! Really? In my opinion, it will cause a lot more work for those involved or to split up families staying in the same staterooms, plus a lot of upset people arguing their case at check-in.

Do you have this issue on your boarding pass?

On 11/8/2022 at 10:41 PM, Lucky Dude 2101 said:

Greetings fellow cruisers. Checking to see what you wonderful and knowledgeable folks know about the Thermal Suite Pass.  The NCL site lists the unlimited pass for $299/pp for duration of cruise. However, we also have Vibe passes for the week, so my preference would be to be outside rather than inside.

Question - do they offer day passes, or just the weekly long unlimited pass?
Additional question - how can I find out the hours of the Spa amenities, as this information may help with decision as well.

 

Thanks in advance, and happy cruising!

It sounds like you have already made up your mind by stating you prefer the outside to inside. In my opinion, if you plan on doing a winter or chilly weather cruise longer than 6 days and you love water/ heat the Thermal Suite Pass is worth every penny. The NCL Thermal Suite Pass allows the freedom to access the spa throughout the whole cruise which includes those long sea days. If you ever had children (under 18), jump into a hot tub with you while cruising, or even traveling with your own children, you will appreciate the lack of small children in the spa area. If you had ever traveled in a stateroom with multiple guest (having little privacy), you will appreciate the spa.

My suggestion is to bring your ear pods or even a good book and soak-up your cruising adventures in a zen like atmosphere. The spa does have separate (men/women) locker rooms, showers, hair dryer, extra fluffy towels, chilled fruit flavored water/ or tea for your use, besides all the other amenities that make it an attractive deal throughout your cruise. If the price is what is holding you back, skip an excursion or two. Every ship is a little different on how they handle these passes and most if not all are typically sold online. Approximately only 100 Thermal Suite Passes are made available to guest. Not everyone purchasing this pass uses it everyday of the cruise, so chances are you may be the only one (or one of five people) in the spa during certain times of the day; especially on port days. The hardest part in using this pass is being alone with no one to talk if you are the only one using this pass in your group, but then you may be that special someone who craves that alone time.

6 hours ago, Belle said:

Katia--My thought about cruising--- CDC made the rules--you follow them even if don't

like them or agree. People didn't book because of the rules and now a few are getting

by the rules. I wanted a b2b to Alaska and they said NO only 7 day cruises, no b2b.

Like only could have 7 day cruises and there doing an 8 day. How did the  cruise line

get to do that?  People had 8 day cruises cancelled and now their sailing one.

Yes a NO Brainer all cruisers should have the vaccine.  Having non vaccine passengers

doesn't make sense. Plus ones without vaccine couldn't do some things on the ship.

 

 

Belle, I think because of Florida is going through so much change, and is in the news these days fighting the CDC, as well as so many people are foretelling the end of Covid is near, therefore the cruise lines are allowing B2B cruises. My sources say it is not over until it is over and that is why getting vaccinated is only the first step. Change is happening everywhere everyday and so fast I am sure the news media is reluctant to report on anything, because what is happening today can be changed right back tomorrow. In my opinion, the news media can only go so far before being accused of messing with the public's mind and instead of reporting news, they will be accused of reporting fake news. I agree we should all be following the CDC guidelines no matter where we live in the United States. As you know, because of the way our government is setup, states for the most part can decide what works best for them. Florida is so depended on tourism and can not survive much longer without the influx of tourist coming here to our beaches or traveling through our air ports and cruise ports on their way to somewhere else. Okay we will survive, but we want our designer coffee, eating out in an actual restaurant and our vacations to somewhere else and preferably on a cruise ship. Like most mindful individuals, I have not eaten out in a restaurant since before Covid.

Alaska has their own set of problems and can be a bit self-efficient when it comes down to it. Alaska can well afford to exclude who ever they want, including cruise lines from it's shores. If something doesn't work out, try again. Needless to say, always try to find another way to solve a problem. That is why when booking a cruise (after I had a cruise canceled), I picked something far into the future and crossed my fingers. Alaska like Florida will have to settle their demons in a row and take their first step back to the real world. After all, hiding out in Neverland did not get anyone anywhere near being wiser. 

Katia    

Good Evening all 😃

Belle, it is kind of hard to regulate back to back cruising and with many having had been vaccinated rules become bendable. Those that have not been vaccinated will most likely find it harder to do anything like they used to do on ships. Of course, this includes either gambling on a cruise and taking excursions outside of the ship's tours. In the back of my mind, I cannot help but to believe the cruise lines will make most unvaccinated guest to feel uncomfortable enough to swayed them into getting vaccinated. The individuals that jump ship for their own kind of excursion wasn't betting on through intelligent devices, cameras and key codes the ship crew can follow anyone anywhere, even if you do not think they are looking. Over the years, I had taken ship backstage and behind the scene tours. Most every crew member carries a small phone to communicate with everyone else on the ship, as well as communicate through codes to each other. I have been everywhere on the various kinds of ships and including where the captain sits. On one such occasion, I overheard a conversation between the captain and another individual discussing one of the passengers lit up a cigarette their stateroom. From where I stood, I could see they were both looking at digital board where a small red light was lit and then following the conversation sent one of the crew to go down to make sure that cigarette would be extinguished. 

I am vaccinated and scheduled to take a 14-day cruise from Tampa (round trip) on 02/27/22, NCL Dawn. I had picked this cruise May of 2020 and rebooked for a slight discount in June 2020. The price we paid for this cruise is phenomenal and I have not been able to find anything near the price we paid for the stateroom category. I have worried over time the cruise line will think twice about us early bookers and delete us in favor of someone willing to pay far more. Cruise lines are in the business to make money and if they can get someone willing to sail back to back, then they are only too happy to oblige. I have no doubt it has a lot to do with many individuals being vaccinated and knowing they cannot afford to turn anyone away on a small technicality they themselves may have a hard time proving the legal rights of whom to turn away. The cruise lines depends a lot on their computers to do their thinking for them and sometimes that can be to their determent. This is why when I board a ship I have all recent copies of all my paperwork in a folder. When something goes wrong with your cruise bookings (excursions, specialty restaurants, drink packages etc.), they will ask if you have any proof. I know, because I was in such a position in May of 2016. Thank goodness, and to their surprise I had everything to prove my case. 

Tonight I made a purchase, actually two of them, and it turns out their computer did not pick-up this mistake in my favor. I only picked-up on it by double checking my numbers after I made both purchases one right after the other on a whim with NCL cruise line. Obviously, I will call them in the morning and make them aware of this mistake or else it will eat me inside out over time worrying if they will eventually figure it out. I am pretty sure they will not because, like most people they go by whatever the computer tells them, like we do when we look down at our scales. Moreover, computers are not designed to make mistakes, even if they do on occasion; like our scales. 🤣 

Katia         

Good Afternoon All! 🙂

Another weigh-in day (Thursday) and I am happy to report I lost another 1.2 pounds! Slow going with the weather (rain) not being in my favor.  Getting outside other than pulling a few weeds, housework, grocery shopping and researching excursions has been about the extent of my endeavors. Okay, I will admit I do Pokémon, but usually from a car window. 🤣 I plan on stepping it up in the activity section of my life. There are a few walking trails my daughter takes around our development so that is just one of my goals to start this next week. I have reduced my meals to one a day to prevent from over-eating, but this next week I plan on working on portion control and not going back for seconds. I thought I could give up coffee, but it is a persistent habit that wins out. I suppose I will save that goal (doing without), for another week. In other words, baby steps!

Our bodies does not like changes and seems to fight against our good intentions by tempting us back into our old habits. My mother used to work for weightwatchers and she warned me many years ago that our bodies don't like destroying those little fat cells we created over time; it takes work and energy on our bodies part to create them. In fact, our bodies like to regulate everything and prefers homeostasis, you might even say our bodies can be somewhat anal-retentive at times. When we go on diets our body defends itself against us (yeah imagine that, we are the enemy), because staving is not in its best interest. As my mother would put it, "Our bodies or rather somewhere in our subconscious, fears losing control and will compensate for that when you go back for seconds." I suppose that is a weakness for me, going back for seconds, especially when I am congratulating myself for not eating anything forbiddingly sweet. Once again, baby steps will have to be my motto for this next month. Rome may had not been built in a day, but my goals far outweigh giving-up. Giving-up just means I am willing to settle for the weight I have reached today and so far, I am not willing to allow myself that kind of surrender.    

Thank you all, and hope everyone has had good results today. 

Katia     

Good Morning to all 😃

I am happy to report a loss of 1.2 pounds! Wow, I am so elated about this first weigh-in. I was not expecting such good results on my first weigh-in, but there it is... I can imagine if I keep this up better days are ahead. I even think my husband is trying to lose a few pounds (so happy if he does), but I am okay if he ultimately doesn't. This is my journey and I own that till the day we set sail in February. Then after the cruise,  I have plans to maintain and work on the next goal. Why stop, right?  Even if I will have bad weeks at some future date, there is hope at the end of this journey, as long as I keep looking forward, instead of settling back into bad habits. 

Thank you all and hope everyone has had great results today. 

Hello all!

Keeping myself busy doing other things, creating projects, pulling weeds outside, etc., rather than concentrating on what is on inside of the refrigerator helps! Have to laugh at myself once in a while and remind myself of my goals. I have a tendency to eat out of boredom, rather than actual hunger. 

I have a very overweight cat (Yogi) that I have been trying to scale back his food. Wow, I certainly can sympathize with him when it gets close to feeding time and he sits at his empty food dish and meows (in fact, he meows a lot!). 🐱 Although, I assure you these past few days that I have not yet been reduced to meowing for food. However, I certainly get Yogi's point when I look at the refrigerator and politely tell myself "No"!   🤣

I just wanted to mention, today is my birthday and I am celebrating with a Vegan cake, a very small vegan cake. Hopefully weigh-in tomorrow will be kind to me! Especially, since I feel very giddy about turning yet another year older (God help me). Therefore, I plan to celebrate with a small number of people called my family, who do not care how much I weigh. They are supportive in my weight loss decision and for that I feel extra special. 🥂   

Hello all! 😃

Well I found the scale, it was in my daughters bathroom. I had to replace the batteries and was still skeptical if it was indeed working properly. Handed the whole matter over to my husband and with his magical hands made it work. All I can say is how disappointed I am in myself for letting this whole weight thing get so bad! 🤨 However, I am confident now that I am self-aware enough to not play around with losing this weight anymore. Especially, since I will be able to turn this situation around and aim myself in a healthier direction, and not because the number in my head where I want to be, does not match what the scales had just recorded. I am so thankful I had discovered this group! You may have just saved my life from a life of denial. Today, I will make better decisions and do things like walking, basic exercises and such to help me in my current goal to lose weight. I do not think I had ever in my entire life weighed this much. 🙄 When I meant my husband over 23 years ago I was 110 lbs. Wow, when life gives you a wake-up call, it does not mess around.   

Overall, I am not kidding myself anymore; I am done with that line of thinking. Especially, when I knowingly have a battle that will lay ahead of me to loss this unwanted weight. Thankfully, I have at least six-seven months before I cruise again, so yeah there is hope for me after all. As well as a goal to shift this weight solidly planted in my brain. Once again, thank you all! 

~SilentlyPerfect (Katia). 

On 6/19/2021 at 5:31 PM, Tapi said:

Not me, but I witnessed as a 78 year old lady, traveling by herself this morning to St. Maarten to board the Millennium, missed her connection, with zero chance to make it there before the ship sails tonight. 😢
 

It absolutely broke my heart, just thinking about all the preparations, and anticipation after so many months without cruising, go down the drain.

 

So I just wanted to throw this out there, and remind everybody to never fly on the same day of the cruise, no matter how many times you’ve done it without issues, or how many backup flights there are, etc, etc. 

In 2016, my husband argued with me over the fact I wanted to take an earlier flight over a later flight out of Tampa to Miami, Florida. We ended up taking the earlier flight! After getting on the plane in Miami to meet our cruise ship in Spain we were told by the flight attendant that the second flight out of Tampa was grounded by mechanical difficulties. No one from that plane made our final flight out of Miami to Spain. The flight attendant had to fly out of Tampa on a special seat, in order to arrive in time for the Miami flight.  My husband had to admit I was right! I used to work for NWA as a reservation sales agent and I am all too familiar about what can go wrong. Never leave anything to chance, be prepared and count your blessings every time, "what can go wrong, usually does." ~ SilentlyPerfect (Katia).   

17 hours ago, ECCruise said:

First, the Dawn definitely will not be crossing on 11/21 (when it was scheduled, not 11/27) unless it is without pax.  That sailing is cancelled.  It thus will be able to cross any time between now and when the first cruise is scheduled out of Tampa in December.

Many ships cross in November and early December every year.  And most return to Europe in April or May, every year.  This is not in any way unusual.

 

The Dawn is not, by any means, a "small ship."  Having crossed over 30 times in all sizes of ships, the difference between an R Class ship (30,000 tons) and and 'Away class ship (145,000 tons) is not as significant as you may think,  Dawn (92,000 tons) sits right in the middle.

Hey thank you for that update. 😉 Not surprisingly, I must had gotten the date of the transatlantic cruise messed up with the actual date of my cruise 02/27/22... the day that is, not anything else. Obviously, I have never sailed across the Atlantic, but it is on my list of cruises to do. I have always heard of the NCL Dawn being on the small size, since living near the Tampa Bay port, only the smaller size cruise ships can sail into the port. I suppose that is one of those things I should had research first, after looking into when rough sea do occur. I am not the sort of person who get sea sick and I have no idea why. In fact, I have a better chance of getting land sickness (approximately up to two-weeks) after coming back from a cruise. Therefore, I have no fears of rough waters no matter where I sail. Hopefully, NCL will sail the Dawn across the Atlantic sooner than later and quite my nerves. For some reason, I feel like NCL would be losing millions of dollars in revenue from December 2021, to April 2022, unless deciding to switch the Dawn out for another one of their ships. Since only the smaller ships in their fleet can actually sail into Tampa port, it makes me wonder which ship would that be?  I suppose it all comes down to a waiting game, no matter what ship you plan on cruising during 2021 and early 2022. 

~SilentlyPerfect (Katia) 

Hi all! 😀

Interesting topic, to say the least and would love to join this small group. I was working full-time and then some (hardly home), always on the go, then Covid happened. My husband (retired) and daughter (lives with us) begged me to stop working. They were even upset I put in a two-week notice which I am very glad I did. After more than a year at home I have grown in all directions, not badly...but enough to say I really need to shift this weight before our up coming cruise in February 27th, 2022, on the NCL Dawn out of the Tampa, Florida port.

Maybe with weekly or even monthly check-ins, I will feel like this is a reason not to cheat my goal in losing enough weight to fit comfortably back into my sailing clothes.  Needless to say, I have not stepped on the scales for a very long time. Therefore, tomorrow morning I will step on the scales and start the official counting down process. Even if our cruise does not go off as planned, for who knows what the cruise industry as  planned for the rest of us, I will book another cruise. We have a few Cruise Next coupons to use and had already given many of them away to family members. 

Recently, I read the NCL Dawn transatlantic from Rome to Tampa the end of November is frozen by NCL or rather canceled. Surly NCL will find us another ship to sail on out of Tampa. I cannot imagine NCL missing out on the revenue from December 2021 to April 2022, from the NCL Dawn vanishing into thin air. That has to equal millions of dollars to NCL!  

Wishing everyone an excellent year to come in fulfilling your goals! 

~SilentlyPerfect (Katia)  

Realizing, I am not the only one concerned about the recent NCL cancellations, because these cancellations do  affect the cruises that are scheduled to sail after them. For example, I am booked on the NCL Dawn 02/27/22. This cruise depends on the NCL Dawn crossing the Transatlantic from Rome on 11/27/21 to Tampa, FL arriving on 12/08/21. If this ship doesn't sail as planned across the Atlantic the rest of us who has had bookings on the NCL Dawn, is without a ship. Unless, there is a backup plan of action for another ship that NCL has in mind. Moreover, I did wondered why they would sail such a small ship like the NCL Dawn late in November where the roughest seas occur due to no land masses. Only to turn the Dawn around and sail her right back across the Atlantic in April. I suppose their logistics are a bit off after not sailing regularly.  In my opinion, doing the Atlantic crossing late in October, would make better sense.  

~SilentlyPerfect (Katia) 

The NCL Spirit certainly lived up to its name and spirited us away on a lovely adventure. The adventure was attended by numerous crew members that found their way into our soft spot and accommodated us in such away we never wanted to leave. Meeting the CC Spirit group was awesome and the shared adventure so much the better. Recently I was on Facebook and saw a picture of my husband taken by another CC Spirit group member which brighten my day. Marveling at the way we touched each others lives and came away with so many memories was worth every penny spent! Especially since some of the CC Spirit group members we met on the cruise have become friends for life. It was amazing how we kept bumping into CC members while on-board/off the ship and came away with a small town feeling rather than feeling lost in the sea of people (smile).

Although we had unforeseen issues the first two days, we will sail again on the NCL Spirit and in fact recently signed-up for another NCL cruise. The paperwork mishap happened due to the many changes and adjustments over the course of months. Thank goodness I had all my paperwork with me which help minimize the situation and tears. The lesson I learned is that your plans are never totally complete as you think they are so all ways bring copies of your paperwork on every cruise. My heart sank when upon hearing the first words out of the crew member behind the desk say did I have any proof in my claims to having bought the dinner or the soda package. Once your sailing date arrives your MYNCL itinerary disappears along with your sailing summary. The crew on-board the ship cannot reach an internet because they are trapped into their own internet system. Also, if you are sailing out of a different time zone, the corporate office, in this case Miami (hours behind us) made the decisions. Also, your credit card companies are also in a different time zone and cannot be reached even if you were offered a free phone call from the ship. Overall, we were proved to least be half right (we did indeed have the food package) and had a bottle of wine, various cheeses and snacks sent to our room. NCL allowed me to purchase one soda package to compensate for that misunderstanding; even if it was my fault for not double checking the paperwork. My husband did not want a soda package after the ordeal of trying to prove we had purchased it. My word of advice to all is do not trust what you see with your eyes on your MYNCL summary (like I did), look at your printouts and if your printouts do not include that amenity call! Trust me you will save yourself a ton of anxiety on a vacation that was meant to soothe your inner soul.

Katherine

PLEASE take note that posts soliciting other passengers for shared shore excursions can ONLY be placed on your roll call. (This is explained in a stickie above.)

 

Because of this, your post will likely be removed shortly by the mods.

I am sorry, I am new to all of this on Cruise Critic. I thought because the shared excursion is officially connected to the "Epic" ship, not Spirit, that other people on the Epic ship might be interested. Otherwise, I would of not posted here. Thank-you for the heads-up, I will in the future be more mindful. Love your quote and thank-you for sharing.

SilentlyPerfect

Shore Excursions in Italy

Hello everyone, my name is Katherine (SilentlyPerfect). I am on the NCL Spirit and our ship will be in the Livorno port on June 2nd, 2016 same day and time as the NCL Epic. Wondered if anyone (two-people) would be interested in a private tour of Cinque Terre Tour -- total of 8 people, currently we have 6 signed-up for this tour - 2 from the Epic and 4 from the Spirit. Please contact Monica at Shore Excursions in Italy. E-mail: info@shoreexcursionsinitaly.net -- Monica is awesome and will return your e-mails, I like that about a tour company!

DATE: JUNE 02ND 2016: PORT OF LIVORNO TOUR: "CINQUE TERRE"

SHIP: "NORWEGIAN EPIC"

BOOKED: PAX: 6

AVAILABILITY: PAX 2

RATE: SINCE EURO 82.5 EACH

*Check for this availability under shared excursions

http://www.shoreexcursionsinitaly.net/2/share_a_shore_excursion_3363809.html