Gem Itinerary Change - No Bar Harbor

[Cruising Lynne]

1 hour ago, Menocchio said:

I'm getting the very vague impression that Juneau isn't aiming for as restrictive a ban as Bar Harbor did. These days, every port should probably draw a line somewhere lest they end up with multiple Icons of the Seas showing up at the same time. 

The Icon class ships really bother me. I am sure they are fun to be on, but I feel that they give cruising in general a bad image. They dump too many passengers into a port all at once. It is ships like these that help lead to all these restrictions and bans. They also cause damage to port areas and lead to more dredging and need larger piers built to accommodate them.

[Cruising Lynne]

3 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Personally, I hope Bar Harbor keeps the ban. Heck, I'd be ok with them decreasing the number to 250. 

 

I do have to agree about four days in Bermuda! That would be lovely! 

We can always drive to Bar Harbor from Massachusetts, but I enjoyed the two times I stopped there on cruises. Once on a Boston to Bermuda cruise, and once on a Canada/New England cruise. Hubby wants to camp up at Acadia, but I tell him my idea of roughing is when we get an inside cabin instead of a balcony! 

[Laszlo]

1 minute ago, Cruising Lynne said:

We can always drive to Bar Harbor from Massachusetts, but I enjoyed the two times I stopped there on cruises. Once on a Boston to Bermuda cruise, and once on a Canada/New England cruise. Hubby wants to camp up at Acadia, but I tell him my idea of roughing is when we get an inside cabin instead of a balcony! 

My son and his girlfriends family went Glamping in Acadia last year over the 4th and had a great time. Town was crowded but it seemed to clear out after the parade

[Cruising Lynne]

6 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

My son and his girlfriends family went Glamping in Acadia last year over the 4th and had a great time. Town was crowded but it seemed to clear out after the parade

Glamping could work for me.

[Crazy planning mom]

We have done some great bucket list itineraries with NCL.  With their recent frequent itinerary changes, I probably only would book them if I was only interested in the ship and didn't care about the itinerary so much.

[Laszlo]

11 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Glamping could work for me.

https://www.undercanvas.com/camps/acadia/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt4tUigS66OOQbeY2af6yA31Q0-gLNc31nIFqq5Lsm485FiGyBbG9vhoC0lUQAvD_BwE

[brookie848]

3 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

It looks like part of researching future cruises will be going to all port websites and seeing if the particular ship we are looking at is actually scheduled to be there.

But you can't trust those, either.

 

You should have seen the chaos on the Roll Call (and other site) of our last cruise. We were on the Viva out of San Juan. Our week was a diversion of the ship's normal itinerary. It obviously told you that when you booked the cruise (you got the warning window).

 

The only issue was that several port schedules did not show the Viva in that port that day (and the times were all wrong). I think Antigua and Tortola showed the Viva coming in on the "regular" schedule that week, but that's not what was actually happening. People were trying to book excursions for the wrong day and at the wrong times.

 

People were insisting that the port schedules were correct. They most certainly were not. I knew the port schedules were wrong. NCL and the cruise mapping websites matched each other and I trusted them more than what the local port was saying.

 

Of course, what NCL provided to us when we booked our trip was our actual port schedule.

 

I'm not a fan of NCL changing things for "no" or "stupid" reasons -- especially after final payment. I know it is in their contract that they can do so, but it just feels icky. But just don't 100% trust what the port sites tell you. Sometimes they don't have a clue.

[cruiseny4life]

1 minute ago, Laszlo said:

https://www.undercanvas.com/camps/acadia/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt4tUigS66OOQbeY2af6yA31Q0-gLNc31nIFqq5Lsm485FiGyBbG9vhoC0lUQAvD_BwE

Great company! I know the folks that run the Yellowstone location. If you want glamping, it's a great company to do it with! 

[Travelling2Some]

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

 

Juneau issue is with hot berthing where the Bliss leaves and then the Encore pulls in about 30-60 minutes later and there is also too many ships in port at the same time like around 5 ships. For most ports i think they should be a limit of only 2-3 ships 

Yes, that probably explains it.  I was thinking Juneau must need cruise money unlike the ports mentioned, especially with such a short season.  But, as you point out, it is likely a case of too many ships at  once.  Also as someone else mentioned, ships have gotten much bigger.  On land vacations I still check the port schedule and avoid being there when a "Behemoth of the Sea" pulls in.

[The Traveling Man]

26 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Glamping could work for me.

Is glamping when you stay at the Marriott instead of the Radisson?

[Andoria]

I sail on the Gem on Friday and BH is still listed. Bummer!  

[Laszlo]

26 minutes ago, Andoria said:

I sail on the Gem on Friday and BH is still listed. Bummer!  

Have a great time!

[Andoria]

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Have a great time!

Thank you! I'm sure I will:)

[JIMESOPUS]

At least for us the notice was sent out before final payment, by one day. Am I surprised, not really. Continue to book with them is like taking a page out of Animal House,  "Thank You, Sir. May I have another "

Edited April 25 by JIMESOPUS