Things are looking up…NCL Test Cruise, Drop In Fare and Final Payment Due Date Push Back

[Goldconnection]

Just spoke with my NCL CC and he shared with me Norwegian’s test cruise is scheduled for August 1st and he will be on board. It will be seven days and will leave out of Seattle for Alaska. I believe he said there will be a total of three ports. 
 

Also, I had him to check the prices of our three upcoming cruises in December. All three have dropped in price saving us $1100 total on all three. Lastly our finally due dates have moved from August to October. 

[mrlevin]

Wow, so NCL is not 100% vaccinated; if they were, no test cruises required.  

[Cruiseaholic07]

There is also the chance they are testing out all of their new protocols

[craig01020]

That's confusing.

[coffeebean]

27 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

Wow, so NCL is not 100% vaccinated; if they were, no test cruises required.  

My thoughts exactly. All this time, NCL has claimed they would be sailing with 100% vaxxed. Guess they have changed their strategy.

[redsox1584]

If the first Encore sailing leaves August 7, how does that leave time for a 7 day test cruise that’s scheduled for August 1?

Edited June 30, 2021 by redsox1584

[Goldconnection]

28 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

Wow, so NCL is not 100% vaccinated; if they were, no test cruises required.  

No where in my post did I mention vaccine. Please don’t read any more into my post then what I wrote. Thank you.

[Goldconnection]

13 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

That's confusing.

Please, let’s not get in vaccine talk. My post did not mention the word vaccine.

[Goldconnection]

30 minutes ago, jcu1210 said:

There is also the chance they are testing out all of their new protocols

I am not sure it that is the case. 

[SSFun]

This may be a training cruise for the crew. If this crew hasn't worked on a ship in over a year and haven't worked on this particular ship or worked together, NCL may just be doing a training. If there are crew members that are brand new, this will be their chance to learn the ropes. I am going with that scenario and hoping for the best. 😉 

[Karaboudjan]

Why would they switch to unvaccinated at this point?  That makes no sense, especially in Alaska where there should be no issues with getting documentation.  

[Cruiseaholic07]

I'm sticking to the training crew, working out the new protocol, and rewarding some employees and whoever paid a pretty penny to go

[coffeebean]

41 minutes ago, Goldconnection said:

Please, let’s not get in vaccine talk. My post did not mention the word vaccine.

Your original post mentioned "test cruises". Other cruise lines have been conducting test cruises for the CDC so they can sail with less than 95% vaccinated passengers. Just mentioning "test cruises" is ALL ABOUT VACCINATIONS. That is what test cruises are for......so the cruise lines can test protocols for having unlimited amount of un-vaccinated passengers on board.

[Cruiseaholic07]

So a follow up from a post on another site from someone in the know...

"

She is sailing to Seattle empty, with a minimum skeleton crew. She is arriving the evening of the 4th. The crew will fly in, in waves from Aruba daily from the 5th to the 10th. They must prepare the terminal building at Pier 66, pre-set gangways to Encore-specific dimensions, provision, refuel.... and by then, the first simulation (invite only) voyage leaves on August 2nd. So much to do in so little time."

[oteixeira]

I agree that the "simulation" is to knock off the cobwebs and get the crew a feel for what is to come.  They never swap an entire crew out at once in normal circumstances, so I think this is their way to get the kinks out.  I think it has nothing to do with the CDC or vaccine protocols.  We will all know soon enough.

[World Juggler]

It seems to be training. According the the Alaska cruise calendar, the Encore leaves Seattle 8/2, goes to Ketchikan on 8/4, and is back in Seattle 8/6. It is using a new dock in Ketchikan--Ward Cove--so I'm guessing they're testing it out plus training crew.

 

Here is the full Alaska cruise schedule:

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.51/2xl.54d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/All-Ports-All-Vessels-Alaska-2021.pdf

[redsox1584]

29 minutes ago, World Juggler said:

It seems to be training. According the the Alaska cruise calendar, the Encore leaves Seattle 8/2, goes to Ketchikan on 8/4, and is back in Seattle 8/6. It is using a new dock in Ketchikan--Ward Cove--so I'm guessing they're testing it out plus training crew.

 

Here is the full Alaska cruise schedule:

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.51/2xl.54d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/All-Ports-All-Vessels-Alaska-2021.pdf

 

I didn’t realize the new dock was so far away from Downtown Ketchikan 

[World Juggler]

23 minutes ago, redsox1584 said:

 

I didn’t realize the new dock was so far away from Downtown Ketchikan 

Yeah, not thrilled about that. I'm on the 8/7 sailing and not sure the best way to get to my tour and town since no one has done it yet.

[redsox1584]

8 minutes ago, World Juggler said:

Yeah, not thrilled about that. I'm on the 8/7 sailing and not sure the best way to get to my tour and town since no one has done it yet.

I wonder if there will be some kind of trolley or water shuttle?  They should offer something considering it’s so far away. 

[JamieLogical]

3 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

Please, let’s not get in vaccine talk. My post did not mention the word vaccine.

 

You didn't mention vaccines, but the claim that NCL will be doing a test sailing implies they are doing so to comply the CDC's conditional sail order, which would only be required if they plan to sail with fewer than 95% vaccinated on their revenue sailings.

[MorganClark]

4 hours ago, coffeebean said:

Your original post mentioned "test cruises". Other cruise lines have been conducting test cruises for the CDC so they can sail with less than 95% vaccinated passengers. Just mentioning "test cruises" is ALL ABOUT VACCINATIONS. That is what test cruises are for......so the cruise lines can test protocols for having unlimited amount of un-vaccinated passengers on board.

 

[libtrek]

I looked up info on the new dock. Our tour guide is picking us up there. I think I read somewhere that they will have shuttles.  On our last few Alaska cruises we docked way down the road in Juneau. They had shuttles to town that were fairly organized and not too long of a wait. Mary

Edited July 1, 2021 by libtrek

[BermudaBound2014]

12 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

, I had him to check the prices of our three upcoming cruises in December. All three have dropped in price saving us $1100 total on all three. Lastly our finally due dates have moved from August to October. 

 

Since covid m, these have both been bad signs. 1) ship isn’t selling well so price reduction is needed 2) final payment pushed back due to uncertainty cruise will sail. 
 

I don’t think we can definitively claim these as good signs just yet.

 

Joy is still In San Juan for the stated purpose of vaccinating crew to send to encore. That timeline is a bit tight considering they all need a 2 week quarantine after the jab. Not saying it can’t be done, just that the timeline is tight.

10 hours ago, jcu1210 said:

. The crew will fly in,in waves from Aruba daily from the 5th to the 10th

[KennyFla]

What happened to NCL?  Remember back in April they were so gung ho, and gave the CDC that ultimatum that they were going to sail July 4th.  Now other lines are moving forward and they seem to be floundering.  

[Mintgreen]

Cruise lines do test cruises all the time and have long before anything COVID - new ships, refurbished ships... It's been along time since they've sailed and with some new protocols it's perfectly logical they would do this on their own.