CruisinHarvey

I am casino so I am good with boarding and the sailing I am on (8/19) seems to be undersold. I was just wondering if I was on a fast walk, a jog or a sprint! I had to run last year on the Breakaway and we were 42 & 43 but I had to try and throw a $20 to the guy taking the numbers. BTW - He refused to take the $20. We were in a race with 3 wonderful ladies and we laughed all week in Vibe about how we were racing each other to guest services. I know some folks on here don't think Vibe is worth it, but when I get a week without our 3 kids, I don't want to see yours. No offense!

Not sure how CAS is going to help you. You get priority check in. No priority boarding in Miami.

Has anyone been to Bermuda during these big summer holidays? Just realized they are this week, when we'll be there. How is it getting out of dockyard?? I realize busses are on reduced schedule. Are taxis still plentiful??? How do thousands of passengers get to and from the beaches if not?

I've got the same question for Labour day. It's the next public holiday after the 2 next week. Is everything closed? I thought I saw where even the Swizzle Inn closes for holidays.

Just an FYI Most specialty restaurants don't have a bar in them. The only ones I know of is Q. Los Lobos and Cagney's share one, but you surely can't a reservation for the bar.

If you board in Miami and are on a CAS sailing do they just give you a group 1 pass or is there nothing in Miami?

No priority boarding in Miami for CAS. Just check in. I agree with everyone else. We're platinum plus and CAS. We just go to the shortest check-in line.

I’ve been to 4 M&G on Getaway and all have been at Cagneys so I assume that is where this one will be. On my question about inviting people from the fb group I’m not sure what to do about the ones who would like to participate but don’t want to join CC. 50 are CC members and 6 aren’t so I’m not advertising the M&G on the fb group any longer since I’m not sure about the rules. I’m signed up to attend a M&G on a November cruise and many have signed up on a spreadsheet that the organizer has posted on fb and are not CC members. All 5 of my upcoming cruises have private fb groups and all advertise the CC M&G. Guess I need to submit my question to a CC moderated. Thanks for your help!!

 

 

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For my meet and greets, I've had non CCers attend. I figure after the M&G they may want to join anyway. They just don't have a CC id to fill in the on the NCL sign up sheet when they arrive. For the Bliss M&G I'm hosting, I've got couple folks signed up already. We cruise at the end of October.

Do you happen to know if NCL will send invitations to the M&G attendees if I provide the name and stateroom number? I’m a first time organizer and waiting for a reply from the ship coordinator. Also, do you know if the attendee must be a CC member. There are a few people on FB who would like to attend. Thanks for any info you can provide.

I make up a single page fun type reminder myself. Get the cabin numbers from those want one. I usually deliver them myself. But, I have had them deliver to places I can't go, like the Haven or the Studios. They've told me at multiple M&Gs that if I wanted they would have delivered all of them. You just need to ask at guest services.

We've been on the Escape 5 times, out of Miami. The area just outside of Vibe was never crowded. Few people even knew it existed, and most of those are going to Vibe. It has some amenities of Vibe, without the padded loungers. fruit etc..But, it even has the same bartenders. Obviously no snacks, but has never has a hardly any kids, and plenty of available loungers. Was that crowded the week you sailed?

I'm surprised that I read through all these postings, without anyone mentioning the real reason. I wouldn't book the Pearl or Jade between January and April. That's prime charter season. Other ships may be used, like the Sun, but those 2 ships are their primary charter ships. That's why there is no even little slide on either ship now. It blocks the view of the stage they set up on the pool deck for those big charters like the Sixthman. Avoid those 2 ships and it will be far less likely your NCL cruise will be cancelled. Book either of those ships during that time frame, and you're taking your chances. That's just the way it is.

To bad you're not on the Escape. They've moved the time to noon on the first sea day, and they have in the District Brew house. They have hot snack and beer tastings now. Last one I did there, everybody said it was best one they've ever been to. It has nothing to do with what I did. LOL Usually though it's in Cagney's or Le Bistro on smaller ships, based on the attendance number you give the events folks. NCL does a nice job.

Why have they been cancelling the 10 day cruises?

They're just cancelling specific cruises on the Pearl and Jade. Those are their 2 primary charter ships. They do it all the time. They make a ton of money on charters, so if someone wants one, they'll cancel the cruise scheduled for that time. I'd never those 2 ships from January through April, if I needed exact dates. That's the busiest charter season. Although if you're flexible, sometimes they give decent OBC for cancelling.

Oh - No. Plat + and plan to arrive early but earlier than 9am is tough. My first time trying for Vibe and really have heart set on it.

Why arrive so early? You get a priority check in line and priority boarding. We usually arrive between 10:30 and 11:00 and we're on the ship by 11:30 at the latest, unless there's a problem with the ship. We love watching the Vibe runners, after we board though. We'll sit at the Atrium bar, and guess who'll get them. There's always a number of them walking around despondent when they run out of passes. We have no use for the passes. Actually the area just as your entering Vibe, has just about everything Vibe has except the padded loungers and fruit. Same bartenders. No children that I've ever seen, and never crowded at all. It's a hard area to find unless you know where you're going.

Just found this on youtube

 

 

a5O9o_VNzLY

Pretty sad. they added 4 holes.

I honestly did not notice the other things were gone and that there was a charge for the new activities. I have not been to the CC board in a while! I have Encore booked for January 2020 and the rock walls, ropes course, etc... were going to be fun for my grown children. We may need to reconsider the ship choice.

I honesty haven't seen anything about the deck plans for the Encore. I do know that the go karts on the Bliss are now $7 and going up to $9.95 in January. Laser Tag is $5.

we too were on it's TA. I expect the weather had something to do with no one there.

It's empty on the Getaway and Escape too. Not sure what they're attempting to with it, with the cover charge. I'm sure it will gone when the current agreement is up.

How can you even guess at this point? They haven't put out the deck plans for the Encore yet. Just being new is not always better. As often as they refurbish the ships, which the Breakaway just comes out of tomorrow, they're all in great shape. For your San Juan question, just head to Punto de Vista for dinner. It's just a few blocks from the pier. Best mofongo on the planet, and 2 for one Mojitos.

We were on the Escape 3 weeks ago and had a light on our balcony. But, it was a H5 Haven balcony room, not a standard balcony room.

 

So,,, what's with the fascination about a balcony light? The balcony is only a few feet wide and the light from the room pours out there. The room light definitely far overpowered the shaded light we had on our balcony.

It's been a topic in several FB groups. Some folks like to read out there.

Can anyone provide pictures of a standard balcony cabin showing light on the balcony? It's been argued for along time whether or not they exist on the Escape. I'm not talking about the aft cabins. We've been aboard her 5 times, and still can't find a light. Believe me, we've looked. It really doesn't bother us. I just don't want to give out bad info, if we've just missed it.

Thanks for your help.

Doug,

We've considered a TA in the past, but never taken one. From your photo's it looks like no one used the pool deck most of the trip. Out of the 12 days, how many was the pool deck really usable/comfortable? Since you were cruising later in the spring than most TAs, I'd assume most are as cool or cooler than yours was.

thanks again for the live!!!

Kerry

Prices are going up on all the cruise lines. MSC is trying to get foot hold in the US. That's why prices are low and they're the only line which matches other cruises loyalty status status. Once they firmly establish themselves, those things will change. They're sacrificing current profit for future business. NCL sees Royal as they 're closest competitor. So when your looking for a cruise, compare those two for the experience and total costs.

Doug,

Let us know if you find Bong. We saw you with the Cowboy on day one. I'm guessing the Mojito bar outside. Great coverage of the ship. Thanks for posting everything.

NCL canceled our reservations.

 

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That's the appropriate approach for them to take. If they're going to charge you, they surely shouldn't just allow you to think your $0 conformation is valid. If you want to rebook it, then you'll know how much it costs.

I assume most folks on here want to go on the Bliss. Is it because you bought into the "built for Alaska" hype, or because you like new ships? We've got October out of LA booked. That's mostly because it will be new destination for us, and we like bigger ships.

Is there a sports court? golf net?

 

Maps have been missing these elements. No basketball court is bad news for kids/teens/families. You cannot do waterslides all day. I'll budget for the race track and laser tag, but sports court is great for "free" activities.

I've been saying the pool deck is going to be horrible for months now. They got rid of all the free activities for kids. No more sports court, ropes course, rock wall, mini golf. The race track and laser tag have a fee. Do you see the arcades packed? No because they cost. Parents are only willing to spend so much. So where else will the kids have to go other than the pool? So glad they still have Spice H20 for adults.

Are thhre many children and are all cabins sold out? Thinking about doing the transatlantic next year on the new ship but still debating with or without a child:)

 

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If you look on Dougouts live 4/21 thread, he said there's 700 empty cabins.

I was forced by my girlfriend to pay to see Hamilton (really good show, BTW). I thought “how much could it be? $100 for good seats?”

 

Boy, was I wrong. I spent $1,000 for 2 decent seats.

 

That will give you some perspective.

Hamilton is NOT a typical Broadway show. It's the only show on Broadway that costs that much, due to it's popularity. We're seeing the touring version, in the orchestra, next year for $85. Cruise line productions of any Broadway shows, while good, are still the cruise line versions. You just can't get the quality performers on a cruise ship that Broadway has. NCL it just trying to fees back into the Supper Club. It's has really produced much revenue since they moved the Brat Pack to the theater. Never heard of this new production. It's not a Broadway show though.