(Semi?) - Live From the Sun | Panama Canal | MIA to SEA 04/21 - 05/11

[smillerholmes]

Day 20 - Victoria

 

I love this island - so beautiful, so clean.  Soooo Expensive - Yikes!  I still added explore Canadian citizenship to my to do list - can't hurt to check can it?  I took the City Highlights excursion.  Ugh, it left late and while our guide was super nice and friendly, he kept forgetting where he was with his stories about the local landmarks and people.  It was a very disjointed tour and when he let us off to shop downtown I decided I would just walk back to the ship.

 

I had lunch at Milestones - cute little restaurant near the visitor area with a spectacular view.  Three margaritas later I enjoyed an afternoon stroll past the vendors and bought a few trinkets for home.  The weather was lovely with temps in the upper 50's, so a nice walk back to the ship.

 

A shower and a nap and we were already underway when I headed down to dinner in the Four Seasons.

I still had my bottle of wine from my Sapphire benefits so took that with me as I started to accept I was going to need to start packing.  Ugh!  

[smillerholmes]

Day 21 - Seattle

 

 

Packing was a bear - I know my bag is over 50 lbs, I guess we will see what Alaska Air says???  Up at 6 so I can do self-assist; my flight leaves at 10:15.  A quick breakfast in the MDR and I am on my way at 7:30.  I was absolutely dreading Bell Street Pier so imagine my surprise when I was able to walk right off and get a taxi by 7:45 - where are all the people that are normally crammed into this space?  While sitting in the cab I realized there were a couple of reasons for the relative ease.  1.  I think the Sun was the only ship in port at the time?  I could be wrong, but I didn't see another ship.  2.  Not alot of people were getting off the ship, most were staying on for Alaska.  3.  It was too early for embarkation for the Sun or any other ship when I was leaving so, yeah pretty easy walk off. 

 

It took about 20 minutes to get to the SEATAC - let the record show my bag was 68.4 pounds, but the conveyor belt died while she was trying to arrange for payment for baggage fees and she couldn't charge me and just waved me on and told me it was my lucky day!  I had already received an email from Alaska Air on Wednesday asking for volunteers since my flight was overbooked (voucher for $350 on the line) - I immediately responded in the affirmative!  I'm waiting at the gate and they announce $1K voucher to fly tomorrow.  Yeah, I'll take that.

 

Glad to finally be back home...

[Oakman58]

Wow, lucky in the casino and lucky at the airport.

[Warbird]

On 5/8/2023 at 4:49 PM, smillerholmes said:

Day 17 - Sea Day redux

 

Up early to the Casino.  I won a few hundred on my preferred machine I decided to switch it up and let's just say they handed me another tax form for my troubles. 😁  So yay!

 

I am ashamed to say I spent the entire day in the Casino and I only left because it was time to get ready for my dinner with the Officers.

 

.

 

 

 

So, can you tell us what casino game you did well at? Slot machine? Where? Glad you had a good time.

[smillerholmes]

33 minutes ago, Warbird said:

So, can you tell us what casino game you did well at? Slot machine? Where? Glad you had a good time.

All Slots - favorite machine is the Lock it Links/Diamonds - there are 4 near the back of the Casino.  Just one jackpot, but I consistently did well on that machine.

Crazy Money - 2nd favorite game - just one jackpot, but I probably only broke even on this game.  There's only 1 in the Casino

3rd game I honestly don't remember the name.  It's near the front by the Players Club and the bonus game is where you get to catch Koi fish?  I rarely switch games, pure luck on that one to get the jackpot.  

 

Yeah, I had a blast.  Back to the salt mines so I can get ready for my B2B in November.

[smillerholmes]

I didn't have my phone with me for that last win, but here's a couple of pics.

[cajun-crazy]

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading about your experiences! 

[Von & John]

On 5/9/2023 at 11:55 AM, Warbird said:

...  To my understanding the cabin stewards only service your cabin one time a day.  Can one pick the morning or turn down in the early evening?  Someone else has mentioned that the cabin stewards work a straight shift meaning they have no time off in the afternoon to go ashore.  That would be tough on the cabin steward in my opinion.  Briefly, can you correct me on my understanding and describe what we can expect from the cabin steward now?  TYIA

 

Most of this was answered above...

One thing I'll add - on this cruise our Steward alternated which of the hallway/rooms he started w/.
It was nice to be first some days & late others 🙂 
We had a fabulous Steward (Jayesh) as well!!!

Edited June 2, 2023 by Von & John

[Von & John]

On 5/13/2023 at 12:51 AM, smillerholmes said:

Day 21 - Seattle

 

 

... I was absolutely dreading Bell Street Pier so imagine my surprise when I was able to walk right off and get a taxi by 7:45 - where are all the people that are normally crammed into this space?  

 

... I had already received an email from Alaska Air on Wednesday asking for volunteers since my flight was overbooked (voucher for $350 on the line) - I immediately responded in the affirmative!  I'm waiting at the gate and they announce $1K voucher to fly tomorrow.  Yeah, I'll take that.

 

Glad to finally be back home...

 

We truly enjoyed the cruise - even our extra time in Cartagena!
You timed the disembarkation perfectly!!!

We were a little later - getting off the ship was quick...

 

However, the line for Customs was crazy - not all stations were open & the station we were funneled thru - the Customs Officer carried on a Conversation w/ every single person/group through his line!

By watching - we quickly learned:  if you were short w/ him or evasive - he kept you even longer...

We were of course pleasant & polite and were a shorter conversation 🙂 

The workers funneling the stations apologized to us, when they sent us to his...

 

Woo Hoo on the Alaska Air voucher!

They were seeking volunteers for our flight as well - however, I needed to work Friday - as I had 24 days to catch up...
Hate to admit - there are still some items left on my e-mail triage list - obviously they were not on the high priority side 🙂 

 

Enjoy your next cruise - we're looking, but haven't found one we have to take yet...

Cheers  --  Von & John

Edited June 2, 2023 by Von & John

[Crown Vic]

On 6/2/2023 at 4:57 PM, Von & John said:

- we're looking, but haven't found one we have to take yet...

Cheers  --  Von & John

 Von, about time you got back to work! Betcha John isn’t just sitting around. Just teasing!

Back yesterday from a one week MSC cruise outta NYC to Florida and the Bahamas. Well priced…cabin serviced twice a day…no cut back in food…lobster galore, smoked salmon in the buffet, filet mignon in the dining room etc…great shows…snazzy ship. Worth investigating IMO.

Good meeting you on the Sun. Time to get your humour posting machine cranked up.

Cheers…

[Von & John]

@Crown Vic - saw one of your postings on humor thread & thought of you & Ruth!!

Happy to hear you've had the opportunity to be on the water again!!!

It's summer in AK (OK Almost) & we attempt to not leave the state during the summer 🙂 

Hope to see you on another cruise soon...

Cheers  --  Von & John

[Mike Senior]

Hi, thanks for the trip report.

Could I ask if NCL wanted any evidence of your Yellow Fever vaccination status when you boarded at Miami or when taking a Shore Excursion at Cartagena or Colon?

I'll be doing the same cruise in April 2024.

Saw 2 Rachel Dodt performances on the Sun recently, well worth attending.

Kind regards

Mike

[smillerholmes]

1 hour ago, Mike Senior said:

Hi, thanks for the trip report.

Could I ask if NCL wanted any evidence of your Yellow Fever vaccination status when you boarded at Miami or when taking a Shore Excursion at Cartagena or Colon?

I'll be doing the same cruise in April 2024.

Saw 2 Rachel Dodt performances on the Sun recently, well worth attending.

Kind regards

Mike

Hi Mike - ummm...to my knowledge there was no vaccination requirement for Yellow Fever and there was no mention of it by NCL in Miami or for any of the excursions.  Enjoy your trip!

 

I did a quick Google search and found that Columbia, Guatemala and Nicaragua currently require the vaccination only when coming from a region with Yellow Fever so perhaps that is why I did not experience that question.

[Mike Senior]

 Hi smillerholmes, thanks for the response, I just want to make sure that I satisfy the NCL requirement to comply with any local visa/health controls in force for ports/countries to be visited. 

Kind regards

Mike