They changed my port time.. Can't go whale watching!!!

[pizzalady1]

The OP is Kohara who is leaving in 10 days now, and she seems to be missing. twoznuff2 is cruising in September. Don't know why twoznuff2 said she was the OP??:confused:

[Budget Queen]

The OP is Kohara who is leaving in 10 days now, and she seems to be missing. twoznuff2 is cruising in September. Don't know why twoznuff2 said she was the OP??:confused:

 

Good grief, I can't keep track. :) :)

 

 

Even in Sept. it's light past 7pm in Sept.

 

Butchart is also well lit, and actually quite beautiful with an evening walk through. The opening hours would be the issue to verify.

[Robertac1004]

When I went to Alaska we had several time changes, excursions booked thur the cruise line will change their pickup time to accomate you. Tours you booked on your own you must you must figure out. My floatplane excursion was cancelled due to fog, I. Shopped and an hour later fog cleared and I booked a floatplane right on the dock. It's your vacation relax enjoy, Alaska makes many changes due to weather and believe me they want you happy everything will work out. Ps the best whale watching I did was last day on my way to airport we had a full day to kill and did an excursion that spent the day touring with airport drop off. We had a luncheon cruise food was good but we saw whales everywhere, Eagles, seals,mountain goats, and moose. The only thing we missed that day was a bear.

[MissLiss76]

September is so nice in Victoria. Here's a quick link to events happening at the gardens in September, lots of evenings scheduled! OP will still have a lovely time, the leaves will just be starting to change. It's my favorite time of year here.

http://www.butchartgardens.com/activities/calendar

[twoznuff2]

Pizzalady.. my mistake for posting as OP. I simply looked at the post with my quote above it and... simply made a mistake. Yes our cruise is September not 12 days.

Budgetqueen.. I guess neither of us can keep track. I am happy the garden is well lit,but again my complaint is I choose that sailing not another one that does visit Victoria in the evening and goes to Glacier Bay because of the early Victoria dock time. If I knew we had to go to Victoria in the evening we would have selected the cruise that went to Glacier Bay not Sawyer glacier.

[jenseib]

Still no excursions listed for Aug. 1 sailing. I am not looking to book one ...just updating.

[Missymo]

I just finished a celebrity cruise that docked in Victoria at 6pm til midnight. We had been unable to go whale watching in the other ports and Victoria was our last stop. It all worked out. We booked and went on a whale watching excursion, and were able to watch a pod of about 20 Orca's.heading up the coast. It does not get dark until around 9:30 so plenty of light to watch them. Got back to the ship around 10pm. The ship even made food available early. And the buffet stayed open til 11

Edited July 23, 2015 by Missymo

[Retiring cajun]

any changes on POA????

[viccullen17]

I just checked my itinerary for my cruise on the Jewel on August 8th and everything was the same except for the stop in Victoria. It showed we are arriving at 5:30pm and will depart at 11:59pm

[pizzalady1]

any changes on POA????

 

Yes, there are threads on this board and the Hawaii board. arrival on Kauai has changed to 11am from 9am

[Retiring cajun]

pizzalady1: we have an NCL excursion booked. 8:30 am??? If port time changed will they adjust their tour ???? sure would be nice to know!! aug 15 cruise!!

[Lancer1568]

This is not cool at all.. The only reason I booked the September 5th cruise on the Jewel was because of the stop in Victoria. My mother wants to see the gardens. We will not see much at 5pm. No notice from Norwegian about the change either. UGH!!! so disappointing.:(

we were in victoria on a princess cruise and we did not get there until 7 pm as I remember and left at 11:59 pm. They had a special evening excursion to the gardens. Also, remember it probably will not be dark until pretty late. Of course, I would share your frustration about the port time changes but maybe you can still see the gardens like you hoped.

[bonvoyagie]

Where did you look to view your itinerary?

 

I can't see where anything has changed - however there is the old "Itineraries are subject to change without notice" wording on that page.

 

As for the Skagway to Victoria run they have to average around 20kts in order to make the distance in the current time of 45 hrs.

 

Adding three hours only reduces that speed by 1kt - hardly enough to really save that much fuel. So it is doing 20kts for 45 hrs or 19kts for 48hrs. The only way to really save fuel is to add another day which would allow them to go back to an ave of 13kts which would save fuel costs.

Another option would be to make port call in somewhere like Prince Rupert.

 

I think that a bean counter is going overboard with trying to cut fuel costs.

[viccullen17]

Where did you look to view your itinerary?

 

I can't see where anything has changed - however there is the old "Itineraries are subject to change without notice" wording on that page.

 

As for the Skagway to Victoria run they have to average around 20kts in order to make the distance in the current time of 45 hrs.

 

Adding three hours only reduces that speed by 1kt - hardly enough to really save that much fuel. So it is doing 20kts for 45 hrs or 19kts for 48hrs. The only way to really save fuel is to add another day which would allow them to go back to an ave of 13kts which would save fuel costs.

Another option would be to make port call in somewhere like Prince Rupert.

 

I think that a bean counter is going overboard with trying to cut fuel costs.

 

 

I am able to see my itinerary on the NCL website. When you log in on the top right hand corner it will show your cruise date. If you click on the date it will give you the option to view your vacation summary and you can view your itinerary that way.

[bonvoyagie]

OK, so you have to have a cruise booked - the rest of the site shows the same old times.

 

My next cruise is way off - over a year - so we will see what happens - right now I don't see where there will be any high speed runs required - we are doing a B2B to New England/Canada on the Dawn - only 2 sea days and lots of ports - should be able to idle between ports :D

[newmexicoNita]

Woke up this morning, checking the threads I learned that there were a bunch of port time changes. Go to check my itinerary and of course it was changed without any notice. I am leaving on the Jewel for Alaska in 12 days!!! I am so upset, this is a trip of a lifetime for me and what is Alaska/canada with no whales. If I wasn't a part of this group when would I find out about this? The day of? So ridiculous. I had my whole day planned, excursion booked, attractions I wanted to see.

 

We have sailed Alaska twice, loved it and didn't go Whale Watching. We did in Cabo though; a really wonderful expereince except for the crowds. It is often hard to even see the Whales with all the people crowded so don't let something like this upset you or ruin your trip. Also remember, no one knows why port times are changed, it may not be the fault of NCL or it might be, but again, don't let this ruin the wonderful experience of cruising in Alaska.

[newmexicoNita]

Budget queen.

The OP is not "gone" I just have a life that doesn't revolve around this forum. I did not "jump the gun" with my claim. The port time did change. I did not get a notice about the change from NCL and just because it is "DOABLE" to you,does not mean it is satisfactory to me. The sun sets at 7 something that means it will be dark not day. We had the intention of seeing the garden in the day time. My complaint is that NCL should notify their passengers of changes.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

Just to let you know: the OP isn't you so BudgetQueen wasn't referring to you. Yes, missing the gardens is a big thing, It was one of my favorite tours when we did Canada and Alaska. I do want to add, for all those complaining, I don't remember ever being notified about port change times. Should they notify us? yes...would you change your mind and cancel the cruise? Of course not. And, as most of us know, the tour companies do adjust to fit the cruise line schedule.

 

It is amazing the OP never responded to anything anyone had to say. I have a feeling she did her venting and we may not hear from her for awhile. All she really has to do is check with the vender or if she booked through NCL and she will probably be able to rebook her tour. It sounds like she paniced before she did any research about other options.

Edited July 23, 2015 by newmexicoNita

[dexddd]

any changes on POA????

 

All the time changes I've seen for PoA for Kauai have been from 8 to 10 a.m. including our trip in March. Looks like if you are going this August yours has changed as well. There is a separate thread on this all about PoA change and you might want to check your roll call.

[motleyfan]

Of course only savvy cruisers will ever care about these changes

 

 

The newbies will be none the wiser

 

 

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Us newbies still just feel fortunate enough and are still in awe of cruising in general. I hope I never get so jaded and always remember what a privilege it is.

[Homosassa]

Of course only savvy cruisers will ever care about these changes

 

 

The newbies will be none the wiser

 

 

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Actually here is what savy, experienced cruisers know. An itinerary or scheduled port time can be changed at any time due to a variety of reasons. Sometimes you will get prior notice. Sometimes changes will be made due to circumstances on board ship (a medical emergency or a rescue at sea or two examples).

 

Never think the itinerary is set in stone. If there is something that absolutely has to be done in a certain port or at a certain time, then don't cruise to that port. Arrange to fly in and stay on land.

 

Remember. travel can be an adventure and one needs to adapt to the unexpected.

[jenseib]

Email with time changes came tonignt...it also says this....

 

If you pre-booked shore excursions through Norwegian Cruise Line in Victoria, the departure times will be adjusted accordingly. If you have any questions

regarding shore excursions, please visit our website at http://www.ncl.com/excursions or contact our shore excursion desk at 1-866-625-1167.

[Houstonguy62]

We just got back from Alaska on the Norwegian Sun. If you haven't resolved the whale watching tour yet, check out Harv and Marv's whale watching. They went out three times a day and have a mid-afternoon tour. We really enjoyed them.