robbinsca

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

Montrealer here. If you are driving down from Quebec City to Montreal to board a late afternoon flight, I HIGHLY recommend you make use of the excellent Google Traffic system and watch very carefully for road closures and traffic jams. Learn to avoid the red and black lines on Google. There has been a huge increase in road closures in and around the island of Montreal over the last few years and there are actually times, particularly on weekends, when entire highways and/or bridges are completely shut down for construction. In the inner city orange traffic cones are pretty much everywhere these days.  Note also there is massive construction going on at the airport, with complete re-building of the parking garage and long traffic jams with cars lining up to drop off and pick up passengers at the terminal,  even on weekdays. Car rental return at YUL is in the same parking garage immediately adjacent to the terminal building, and that garage, as at two days ago when we drove past it, has been 30% demolished for its reconstruction.

 

I'm not trying to sound alarmist, you should still be fine, but please plan ahead and watch for traffic jams. They're not guaranteed, but are happening far more frequently than they used to.

Thank you for passing this along. Will definitely take your advice!

We are from SoCal and used to having a car available at all times. We are renting a car the morning of disembarkation in QC and driving to Montreal. Seems to be more of an assurance that we will get to the airport on time for a late afternoon flight. If we get there early we get a little bonus time in Montreal.
 

I also like having the trunk of the car protecting my luggage.

I used to wrk for a life insurance company, and my wife for an auto insurance company. Both of them incorporated completely separate companies for NY due to the regulators in that state. NY required that all policies in all states issued by a company followed NY rules, which were rather cumbersome.

Not surprised Princess (or its vendor) has to deal with the same situation.

First time on Princess.

Plus is advertised as including gratuities. Do those gratuities only include the daily gratuities? Each drink will actually cost me 18% of the menu price- even the juices and sodas? Seemed too good to be true…

Specialty restaurants can offer better quality food, but you do pay dearly for it. On NCL recently it was $70 p/p for the Moderno Churrascia with gratuities but no extra liquor, etc.

We enjoy the camaraderie built by dining wth the same people each night at a mixed table. Service seems to be better when the waiter knows you. Have been on RCCL and NCL in the past 8 months. NCL has you at a different table every night and waiters did not engage with you, just took the order and someone else delivered it. RCCL maintained the classic two waiter system and provided much better service.

and yes, the quality is well below what it was “back in the day”.

Just back from the British Islands. We could pay for almost anything with a card. We had several situations where the restaurant did not even give us the option of adding a tip, and only one where a service charge had been added. Tour guides were delighted to get a few extra pounds or euros.

Ship- Dawn

Deck 8
Stateroom #8000

Starboard Side

Was the cabin noisy-  Only during docking processes. The tie ropes seemed to come out of the hull right next to the room and the thrusters wee located directly below the room at the waterline.

Connecting Stateroom- No

Comments- the room was at the very, very front of the ship so it was a long trek from the stairs to the room each time. We had no maintenance issues at all. The space near the stool in the bathroom was very limited but the shower was good sized.

Would I recommend deleting this room- No

We just rented a car and went where we wanted rather than doing the land tour. It was easy, and much cheaper, but there were only two of us. With 30 the logistics are a bit more involved and the land tour may be a better choice.

We are going to Quebec City for the Sky on 10/2. The flight goes only as far as Montreal.I asked for a variation to arrive a day early and was told I would have to arrange my own transit to QC then. We just accepted the same day travel. I figure it is up to NCL to get us to the ship on time. 🤞

20 hours ago, Dachgraf said:

I have a question regarding the White Pass Railroad: Which side should you sit on because of the nicer panorama? We take a minibus up and the train back down.

15 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

People board in Seward from 10am through 7pm.

Left side on the way up the mountain. You get the view while you can hear the narration. Everyone switches at the top.

It has been 11 years since we were on POA but I remember Jefferson’s Bistro as one of the better NCL meals we have ever had. Teppanyaki always delivers for a carnivore, and while I like Moderno my DW doesn’t think it is worth spending one of her Specialty Dining evening there. I think the quality of the meats is actually best in the Teppanyaki restaurants.

On 10/28/2022 at 1:14 PM, Johnkut said:

Hello all, we are going on a British Isles Cruise on May 24, 2023. Would like to get information on the below cruise stops. 

Iverness, Scotland

Glasgow, Scotland

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Holyhead, Wales

Liverpool, England

Cork, Ireland

Dover, England

Are there any stops that we can just get off the ship and walk into town and go on our own? What stops should we take an excursion, and any recommendations on excursions? We just came off a Holland Cruise, and we realized that some of the stops we could get off ourselves and get free transport by the ship into town. So any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

If you are on the NCL Dawn be aware that they changed the itinerary and will not be stopping in Liverpool. They changed the landing date at another stop and have added Waterford Ireland instead. We are on that ship, and very disappointed in the change.

NCL is still listing Liverpool as a port on its website for our September, 2023 cruise. My TA forwarded an email sent to her over a month ago that informed her/us that Liverpool was being dropped, our timing on visiting Dublin was changing and we would now stop in Waterford, Ireland instead.

Since Liverpool was my main point for choosing this itinerary I just get madder and madder each time I see it. NCL is burning bridges with a lot of people.

I saw a similar thing on a RCCL Cruise that we have booked. We thought it might be in danger of being cancelled so we checked with our TA.
 

The explanation was that because of the uncertainties of capacity levels the cruise line was holding cabins back from sale - so they don’t sell 90% of the rooms, and then only be able to sail at 60% capacity, or the like. The cabins will be released when capacity levels are confirmed.

We booked a balcony on our first cruise, and one other, but now get an Oceanview. The balcony is always smaller than you want, and you will probably want to look out over the water a few times from there, but cruise ship rooms are pretty small- you will want to be out on deck. Of course, on a honeymoon you may look at things a little differently....😉

We booked a deviation  using  the NCL Airfare program for our  British Isles cruise and were informed that the transfer would be voided for the new flight time. They will transfer us back from the  ship, but getting to the ship, since we will be there a day early, will force us to book our own transportation from  London to Southampton.

ISP is by far the least commercialized of the ports. Not sure a 6 year old’s attention is going to be held for a full day anywhere, so I would opt for the half day option.

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Taquan Air did a nice job on our flight last week. 10 or 11 passengers on the plane. The only thing I missed was that we only got out on the float part of the plane when we landed on the lake- last time we went we actually walked in a beach at the lake.

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We were on the same cruise. I agree with your assessment of Moderno’s. While I have enjoyed it in the past the quality of both the food and the service was well below par.

Cagney’s and the Teppanyaki Grill, on the other hand, were both excellent.

We had a different view of the buffet. Had one situation where the Offucer was just plain rude (contrary to his opinion fajitas or chili con carne are NOT normal fillings for hard tacos). The carved turkey was good but the hamburgers on two occasions were just inedible. The grills out on deck for lunch provided a much better, and fresher, meal.

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2nd Street has a lot of foodie places. I have seen lots of reviews, but don’t get down there often enough to make a recommendation.

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I live about 8 miles from Disneyland. I would not try to visit Disneyland and fly out the same day. If you are going to stay overnght this is very doable. You would need to make arrangements for your luggage, so maybe Super Shuttle can take you to your hotel room near Disneyland. Then drop off the luggage and head over. Be prepared for a LOT of people at Disneyland. That place is packed to the gills every day.

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Save some for next week!

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Sounds as if everyone else is as torn as I am, with a little lean to the balcony. One line has a $US difference of 1000 per person while the other is only about 200. It may come down to which line we choose. I like the balcony in Hawaii and Alaska #1, but did not need it in the Caribbean, New England or Pacific Coatal.

Oh, to only have this type of problem in life.....

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We normally just go Oceanview but next summer is our 40th anniversary. Should we spend the money on a balcony on the NCL, or Princess, cruise we choose in

June/July, or save it and spend the money on excursions?

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