calex

On 3/1/2019 at 7:34 AM, Linda the Book Lover said:

We also attended the Latitudes party and had a great time. My Granddaughter really enjoyed herself as my daughter explained that we received an invitation to a "private party".  We have pictures of her and the Captain grinning ear to ear.

On 2/28/2019 at 7:16 PM, quillwercruisers said:

We did this cruise in March 2018.  We didn't participate in a M&G if there was one.  Our cruise was cut short by a day because of problems they had with the ship.  We left a day late.  There was a latitudes party as we were sailing out of Kauai.  It was pretty cool because it the front bow of the ship where the crew has their small pool which is the first time I have seen it done there.

Is the Latitude Party is held on the Friday Afternoon Cruise of the Napali Coast, then?

On 2/27/2019 at 12:44 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

It is going to be a tough sell doing a M & G sailing the Hawaiian waters.

 

So much to see -

So much to do -

So many conflicts with Shore Excursions -

 

I would try for the embarkation night around 9 pm

There is no Casino on the POA so no slot pull

Cabin crawl will be possible but the cabins on the POA are nothing to write home about

Try to have at least 20 signed up with 10 in actual attendance ***

*** you want to at least have the guests outnumbering the crew

IMO - do not schedule it after the second day of the cruise - wasted waning effort

there are no SEA days so no good time for a M & G gathering.

 

Regrets being negative on this as I started it is going to be a tough sell and that is not

to downplay the Roll Call which can still be used to get folks with common interests

I. E. Shore Excursions - Rent-a-Car to meet and plan other activities.

 

Play the Roll Call up and see if there is much interest in a M & G and when and where !

Thanks for validating my thoughts and concerns about the window of opportunity in scheduling the M&G on the NCL Pride of America. Your negative feedback is real and it is what I am looking for. 

I'll let our roll call know the challenge of getting it scheduled on day 1 sometime around the Safety DRill, Sail Away Activities, Welcome Aboard Variety Show, and Dinner.

On 2/24/2019 at 7:18 PM, Lorey2007 said:

I arranged the meet and greet on our POA cruise in 2015. NCL event planner scheduled the day & time, it was held on

embarkation day at 3:30 right before the muster drill. We barely made it because we had a tour before boarding.

We only have 10 in our meet and greet group and I was worried that no one would show up but fortunately everyone did.

 

Thanks for the relevant information.

You confirmed the problem of finding a time slot to hold a Meet and Greet on a Hawaiian cruise. From the itinerary below, the possibilities are late afternoon/evening on departure day, or evening on day 4 or 5. Not good on a short 7 day cruise...

Anyone else have first hand experience with a Meet and Greet on a Hawaiian cruise?

Does anyone have recent knowledge on the Pride of America on these subjects:

1. Do Cruise Critic Meet and Greets work on this port intensive itinerary? If so, when is the best time to schedule one?
2. When is the Latitude Exclusive Cocktail Party scheduled?
3. Is there a Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour for Latitude Platinum members? When is it scheduled?

Thanks for any insight you can share...

In May 2018, aboard the Jewel on a 20 day Trans-Pacific cruise I experienced a diverticulitis flare up causing me to be admitted to the Jewel's Medical Center Clinic  five times for IV antibiotic treatment. I really got to know the two doctors from Columbia and the three nurses from the Philippines. My onboard account was charged over $10,000 for my treatment. I was responsible for paying this debt prior to leaving the ship.

Once I was home, I submitted all my medical bills to my primary insurance who reimbursed me for the treatment less my standard co-pay for a visit to the ER in the USA. Once my primary insurance was completed, I submitted copies of the processed claim from my insurance company plus the medical records to my TRAVEL INSURANCE company and they reimbursed me the balance of my out of pocket expenses.

In Japan, I was sent by ambulance from the ship to the hospital for a CT scan. In the ER, I was swarmed by flock of non-English speaking medical folks who poked and prodded me everywhere. Communication was done using a translation app on a phone. My visit included the ER visit, x-ray, CT scan, and meds resulting a total bill of $570 paid on my credit card. My primary insurance picked up this bill at 100%.

I am lucky I purchased travel insurance for this adventure. I booked a Hawaii cruise for this Fall and I purchased travel insurance shortly thereafter (not from a travel agent). BTW, we signed up for the NCL Mastercard onboard and used it to pay the medical bill. We were able to acquire more than the 30,000 points needed to get a cabin upgrade from an OV to a Balcony on the Hawaii cruise. 

I know all about being an Aloha shirt snob. Got a closet full of Hawaiian made Aloha shirts. In Honolulu, you may want to try the Iolani Store at 1234 Kona Street 2nd Floor -- https://iolani.com/pages/store

If you are on Oahu on Wednesday, Saturday, or Sunday, you could visit the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet where virtually anything is available. Here are a couple of good links:

• http://alohastadiumswapmeet.net/content/home.aspx 
• https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/or/albany/KORALBAN48

On 1/24/2019 at 5:14 PM, cccole said:

I'm not sure what you mean by name brands.  Reyn Spooner has beautiful shirts depending on what your price limit is.  There is a fabulous Salvation Army Store on the Nimitz Hwy in Honolulu with racks of Hawaiian shirts, great value.  Across the street is the KMart that also has a selection.  There are some great Goodwill Thrift Stores on Oahu which have racks and racks of Aloha shirts.  The surf shops also have some great aloha shirts.  I always check to see where they are made.  We are not interested in Aloha shirts made in China.  Have fun shopping,  Cherie 

 

p.s.  Don't underestimate the Costcos on Oahu, Hawaii, and Maui.  They have some really nice Hawaiian shirts and other souvenirs.  I'd rather shop at a Costco than a Hilo Hatties type store. 

I would second this idea to check out the Thrift Stores in Oahu. The Goodwill store I stopped at had a rack full of 2XL+ Hawaiian shirts. I ended up buying four Hawaiian made 2XL shirts which were in like new condition

Most authentic Hawaiian shirts have a pocket where the pattern matches the shirt pattern.  Plus, the tag says made in Hawaii.

Much more likely to see Futball games onboard than Football games.

Thanks for the feed back to date regarding this line, "Guests are no longer allowed to bring extension cords and power strips on board", that now appears in emails from NCL's Access Desk.

This note will not keep me from bringing a 12' extension cord with my CPAP machine. It is a long way from the one 120V power outlet on the desk to the head of the bed in most staterooms. Plus, it will probably be needed at our pre and post cruise hotels.

NCL's Access Desk is now including this statement in their emails starting in the Fall of 2017:

Checking NCL's Prohibited Items list at https://www.ncl.com/prohibited-items, neither extension cords or plug strips are listed. Not list either are Surge Protectors which are a known fire hazard onboard, and have not allowed for years.

Has anyone in recent history (since September 2017) had a non-surge protected extension cord or plug strip confiscated during the boarding process or onboard?

Really glad not to be cruising the Mexican Riviera this year. With Hurricane Patricia at Category 5, the impact zone includes a lot of the cities we have visited aboard the Norwegian Star out of Los Angeles: Acapulco, Ixtapa, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazalan... this one is going to hurt a lot of people. Definitely pray for the safety of those this will affect.

BTW, I meant uncorking fee, not corkage - that'd be silly!

 

And in a somewhat related question, I also sleep with a CPAP device for Sleep Apnea, and I'll need to bring onboard a gallon bottle of distilled water for the humidifier part of it. Unless they sell that on board, which I doubt. They won't give me any problem with that, will they? I assume they'll want to open the bottle to check it when boarding, which is fine. But it'll probably look like the worst smuggling attempt ever before they do so. LOL. A funny predicament but it must come up often as these devices are quite common now.

No need to bring distilled water for your CPAP, see this post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47364780&postcount=17

Chris

Glad to hear all went well.

Does anyone know if they still have happy hour pricing in the Star Bar (or equivalent) from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM? Last November on the Star, during happy hour, you could get 2 for 1 on Blue Moon Beer, Angry Orchard Hard Cider, and a couple of cocktails. You did not have to consume them in the bar, and you could ask the bar tender not to open them.

I would order 4 beers, drink 1 or 2, and bring the others back to my cabin for later.

Sometimes the luggage will not appear in your cabin at all if the x-ray process indicates security needs to further inspect your luggage. Instead, a letter will be delivered to your stateroom instructing you to go to a location on the ship (Naughty Room) for a further inspection in your presence. Frequently, the x-ray shows a bottle in your suitcase that they need to verify it does not contain alcohol. If they find something you are not allowed to bring aboard, they will confiscate the item(s) and return it at the end of the cruise.

On our Panama Canal cruise last November, my DW's suitcase did not show up in the cabin and she did not have any prohibited items in it. Around 3 PM she received a phone call indicating they recovered her suitcase from the bottom of Miami harbor after an incident where a luggage cart rolled off the pier. She was instructed to go to an area on deck 4 where they would inventory all items prior to the items being cleaned by the laundry. Although it was an unfortunate incident, we did not allow it to spoil our cruise.

Duplicate

Sealing the luggage tag with clear shipping tape is a WISE idea, When my DW's suitcase was being loaded onto the NCL Star last November in Miami, the luggage cart and all the items on the cart sunk to the bottom of Miami harbor.

NCL had divers recover everything. The only thing in, or on, her suitcase that did not get wet was the luggage tag sealed in shipping tape. Some unlucky passengers were further delayed when the ink on the luggage tag smeared when they got wet and could not be read.

Granted, having your luggage dropped in the harbor is not a normal event (at least we hope it is not normal), but it can and has happened. From that lesson, I will always seal my luggage tags in shipping tape.

Both my DW and I used CPAPs on our Panama Canal Cruise last fall. All it took to request the distilled water was an email to accessdesk@ncl.com requesting it. Make sure you include your reservation number, ship name, date and port of embarkation, and cabin number. Within a couple days, I received the following:

Note the recommendation regarding an extension cord.

We also found it convenient to have an electrical triplex outlet to increase the number of outlets needed to keep the camera, phones, and tablets charged.

Hi, Calex!

Yesterday our PCC said she received an email about a charter on the Jewel in February 2016. I didn't ask for more details because that's not the ship we are looking at now.

Wouldn't it be nice if they added a couple of Panama Canal cruises between Los Angeles and Miami during those 4 weeks aboard the Jewel? Especially now that they are in short supply and the unsatisfied demand for this trip after the Star was cancelled in April. Most likely a block of charter cruises with an entertainment theme will be marketed soon.

Looks like you had a great trip on the Dawn's northbound reposition based on the 7354 posts on its roll call that nearly crashed Cruise Critic. Hoping the fun you experienced can be mirrored by us on the Southbound reposition in October... fearing they will need to work on the Dawn's Azipods like her sister the Star in April.

You are correct. They are missing from NCL.COM; but still showing at other on-line travel sites.

Geri, Bill, Harriet, and others... I know we are all on the same side wanting a quality vacation and the best value possible without the needless drama that infects some of these threads. No need for CLOWNS today - just an honest sharing of experiences about our favorite form of vacationing.

Organizing a M&G has its rewards which is getting to know a like-minded group of individuals with a common purpose of enjoying a quality vacation cruise. If you keep this your focus in organizing a meet & greet, anything else that unexpectedly flows your way is gravy and should be accepted graciously.

Chris

The more discussion there is on this topic, the less discretion the HD will have to offer special recognition to CCers. I cringe each time I see this topic brought up. I fail to understand why someone would ask this question . . . Even more I fail to understand why folks would reply in detail about their experience.

 

Was it Dear Abby or Ann Landers that said MYOB?

Interesting observation... I recent heard a HD at a M&G answer the question 'why our group was not being offered a bridge tour?' was because of the prolific writers on CC, and other social sites, that got passengers on ships that normally did not offer the tours to demand it. The corporate line pushed back out of Miami was to be consistent fleet-wide and not offer the bridge tour.

Some HD/Captains may personally keep some discretion to offer limited free tours counter to the corporate push. So, if you get the 'perk' think before you write too much and it is gone for everyone. Then the option for non-platinum latitude members is to pay for the tour or not take it at all.

The big dent is gone.

... and we hope there is not a NEW DENT from her unscheduled visit to Bermuda.

Welcome back girl, we all missed you...

Interesting that the one I posted was out of date since I got it right off the NCL website. It's really a shame that they would try to make this kind of change mid-cruise. You would think they might have learned from the room service charge debacle. I'll be interested to see what comes of all this.

 

Based on this, will they now start selling UDP for kids? They haven't up to now.

What is more interesting is that I pulled up three different versions on Friday of the Free Style Dining Guide when I searched NCL's website and they are all active and valid links. Which one do you believe?

Check my post on the other thread on this subject: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46366345&postcount=7

Before April 10, this was the Free Style Dining Guide:

 

 

CHILDREN EAT FOR LESS

Children 3-years old and younger always eat for free. In our specialty restaurants, children 4- to 12-years old can choose

from a complimentary Kids’ Menu or from the restaurant’s Specialty Kids’ Menu for half price. Excludes dinner and a show dining events.

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Dining-Guide-10032014.pdf

 

Now it reads:

 

SPECIALTY DINING FOR KIDS

In our Specialty Restaurants*, children 3 years old and younger always eat for free and kids 4-12 can choose from a complimentary Kids’ Menu.

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/DiningGuide_041015.pdf

 

Another example of NCL's thoroughness in communicating with its customers NOT.

This may be one of the problems NCL is having sharing information. They have multiple versions of the same document available on the NCL.com website. I have pulled up three different versions of the Free Style Dining Guide this afternoon.

This is the version linked on the DOWNLOAD DOCUMENTS page for the Free Style Dining Guide. The section on SPECIALTY DINING FOR KIDS remains unchanged in this version.