Miss_Mono

11 hours ago, gotscrapz said:

Would you mind saying why? I have been all over the Caribbean, but somehow never to St. Lucia and it's somewhere I think I'd really like to go at some point. However, I recently started going to Europe and so have been focusing my money there.. but keep thinking I need another Caribbean cruise so I can go to St Lucia so I would love to hear the pros and cons.

 

Sorry for the slight hijack!

I thought I was the odd ball when it comes to St Lucia. However, it wasn't my favorite either. I could be biased on it though because when we were there last week, we had a segway excursion I was sure they'd cancel due to the pouring rain, but they did not! We missed the part of the "touring of the sights" on this one and got extremely soaked driving segways up a mountain and then headed to the beach (seemed a little "sketchy" area)  to sit in overcast/rain. So, I wish I had a better experience there, but, unfortunately I don't. Perhaps, if we go there again, I will try a different excursion. 

18 hours ago, oldsouthcruisingfamily said:

Well that's a bummer... with only 2 weeks until our sailing I've been checking for reservations at Shanghai's and they're still showing "Reservations are not offered" (Shanghai's and Shanghai's Noodle bar) and "Not available to book" (Shanghai's Chinese restaurant).

 

If you hit up Wasabi (which I know doesn't take reservations) I'd love to hear about it!

We didn't have reservations and just lucked out, but I bet if you get on board and check in with them you could make reservations. 

2 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you, again, for all of your help with information a few weeks ago.    

 

We were the first ones in the terminal; but not the first ones in for check-in as about 20 people jumped ahead of us.   We walked extremely fast to Guest Relations and were first in line.  Literally within seconds, the non-Haven guests ran on line and the passes were gone immediately.   We asked for seven, the next family asked for 14.   They were only allowed 13 and somehow another family were given four which made four unavailable to the family that wanted 14.  In the interim many passengers were being told there were no more passes available.    After about ten minutes, the family that wanted 14, passed on them as there were only nine available at this time.   So then the next group of passengers received passes, but in theory, they should of went to the passengers that were told they were sold out previously.    Since I was paying for all the additional passes, they did not have any issues with everyone being present.   

I was one of the lucky passengers that was able to score passes after you, and so glad i did! Very worth it. Just wish there was more loungers and more shade sometimes. Having our own space, bathrooms, and bar/bartenders made it for me. 

7 hours ago, spenecer said:

Belated Review of Shanghai’s Noodle Bar

 

We are at Shanghai’s Noodle Bar on Day 2 but I wasn’t able to live blog due to my daughter interdiction against blogging at the dinner table (or bar in this case).  There are almost no recent reviews of Shanghai’s Noodle Bar. We showed up at Shanghai’s at approximately 5:30 to see if there were any tables. There was a line which moved quickly and revealed that there were no tables available at the restaurant, only the bar. As sitting at the bar is not one of my daughter’s favorite activities, this put our visit to Shanghai’s at the deficit immediately. 
 

The menu at the noodle bar is done on the dim sum style where you mark the items on the menu that you would like except you are limited to a single main. This was not a problem for us as we did not order any mains. 
 

Sitting at the bar at most noodle joints means that you can watch the chef’s cook and you are served over the bar. Unfortunately, the Shanghai cooks are assembly line prepping dishes so it isn’t very artistic or interesting. When we arrived, there were a dozen bowls of the Seafood Udon sitting on the counter (A dozen pork char sui noodle bowls were on the other side of the counter) and we got to watch the chefs just heat them briefly in a pot of water/soup and then put them in a heated holding area until waiters could take them to passengers. It was fast and let them serve many passengers at once but it wasn’t interesting to watch. Other passengers definitely did not seem to want to sit at the bar. I saw one group leave when they were told only the bar was left and they could not get the restaurant.

 

As for the food itself, somehow my Seafood Noodle bowl came without all the components. Since I could see all the bowls being prepped, I know that each bowl was supposed to receive 1-2 pieces of imitation crab, one piece of squid, 4 shrimps and a cups worth of noodles. My noodle bowl had one mouthful of noodles (about 4 pieces), one piece of squid, two shrimps and no imitation crab. Fortunately, I was very full from the surfeit of food from other meals so I didn’t miss the imitation crab. My daughter’s bowl was very filling. the food was tasty but my daughter said she would only go back if the restaurant was available; she would not do the bar a second time. 

The venue is very small and reservations for Shanghai’s Noodle bar and Restaurant can be made ahead on the NCL website or app.  We did not make reservations. We walked up asked if there was a spot for 2.

Definitely try to get back to Shanghai! We loved it and only had it our last night and wished we had it sooner! 

On 3/26/2023 at 11:08 PM, spenecer said:

Speed: 6 Mbps Down / 1.1 Mbps Up

 

Clearly, the internet is faster at 11PM when most of us are too drunk to be typing with our thumbs. Thank goodness for autocorrect. Here are the pages for the Day 2 Freestyle Daily.

 

 

I'm reading along your review! We got off the ship right before you sailed and I wish I stayed! Enjoy your cruise! Against all negative reviews, we had a fantastic time on the Epic and only one complaint...very small one...don't get the red snapper in Taste...just eh. 

4 hours ago, spenecer said:

I finished my bacon, ahem breakfast, and went to the sun deck above the pool for an unclouded view of the sail in. It turns out, the secret sun deck on 18 (my first choice) is closed from 6pm to 9am so I couldn’t go there. 
 

I got to see our ride for today pull into the parking lot. 

Hope you get Shania! 

1 hour ago, vacation44 said:

Thanks for the tip as we will be on the Epic this Sunday.  

Hope you are having a great time even with that crowd.   We expect the same next week, but we sailed the Escape during her first Christmas/New Years' cruise and believe nothing can top that.  

We will also be on this cruise. How do we find out how many will be sailing with us? 

Good Morning Ladies,

I'm in a bit of a panic mode and hope some of you can help calm me! I was to get married on Grand Turk on Oct 11th. Reality is looking like that won't happen. I'm sad, but I know my situation is hopefully easily fixed while all these islanders are dealing with way worse. Loss of homes, electricity and water is well more than what I need to rearrange.

However, I am curious if anyone has had to come up with a Plan B and what that may entail? Would the Captain be able to marry us at whatever port we now may be sent too? How did you go about licensing in that situation or would it just be a symbolic one? If that is the case do we need to be officially married ahead of time?

I would also be out over $1700 and wonder if I would get a reimbursement for any of it.

So many thoughts going thru my mind. I just want this to be a good trip for all of our friends, family and our children that so looked forward to our wedding on a tropical beach and have it go smoothly with our alternative.

Thanks for any thoughts and prayers to any of you in Irma's path.

We have our wedding cruise on the Pride in Oct (a port wedding not embarkation day). We are going to be in a suite while my minor children will not. My concern is if our boys (15yrs) need us to be with them to board or can I have my father with them and their needed documentation? I would like to get on, get our bags dropped and prepare for our guests, put their goody bags in their rooms if possible, book our cabana at HMC, meet up with the Maitre D mostly done before they get on or I'd have no problem waiting back with all of our guests and our children.

Same with carnival, only silk flowers. It just seemed like their prices were kind of expensive so I was looking into bringing my own.

 

 

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I'm getting married with Carnival and using the free Bridal flowers and boutonniere and had a silk arrangement and boutonniere's made for my daughter and our sons to bring. Much less expensive.

Has anyone created a wedding door banner for their cabin? I'm considering ordering one from Shindigz, but am at a loss as to what to say on it?

We are doing the same thing as you on Pride in July. I'll be able to give you info after :)

 

 

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When do you sail? We are getting married while in Grand Turk aboard the Pride! We leave 10/8.

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What date are you sailing? We are getting married on Grand Turk while sailing aboard the Pride in Oct. We embark Oct 8, 2017!

That's awesome. Are you doing the same dates too?

Our cruise leaves 10/8 with our wedding taking place in Grand Turk on 10/11.

That is what a couple of our guest are doing . I put enough information on our website to give them some direction. I also plan to do a hotel block for those that decide to fly in .

 

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We are doing the exact itinerary and getting married in Grand Turk also! I have some that have expressed an interest in meeting us there. Only thing that may seem more expensive, is having to get on two (or more) flights!

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Awesome! Just amazing!

I want to go to Malta just from reading your review and seeing your pictures!

I paid up front for the wedding package from Carnival but didn't pay for any extras I want for the ceremony on the beach for ours. This may be different if you are doing everything on board.

I may splurge for the arch and some little extras. Not much. This is our second wedding for both so we are just enjoying having our kids and some family and friends join us. We didn't do the reception on board because we figured that they could all celebrate throughout the cruise with us. Easy peasy!

I'm keeping things very simple. Not bringing much extra except for sand ceremony jar/sand and if I bring my own flowers. Perhaps gift bags for guests or do room delivery from onboard gift shop. I'm doing Grand Turk too Nickaf. Can you show your finished bouquet when done? What other options did you choose there?

I'm wearing a white lace dress for our beach wedding

Congratulations to all the new future bride's! And those invites are adorable!

Thank you so much for such kind words! Orlando was a great guy! He really knew how to calm me down. He had a very calm and cool manner but also had a great sense of humor. We ended up chatting with him throughout the cruise. The debarkation process did actually get better as the cruise progressed. The first couple though were doozies!

 

We got to see Volbeat last summer with Hell Yeah and Five Finger Death Punch. They were great! Listen to Michael Poulsen's band just before Volbeat (Dominus), its quite different. They were considered to be Denmark's version of Metallica. I think they mean in popularity not sound!! We listen to Sirius XM a lot and they are playing Volbeat's new stuff. Digging it!

Loving your review and your pictures are absolutely amazing! Postcard like! Just wanted to chime in because not many know of volbeat and five finger death punch...my fiancé loves them...and now I listen to xm and know their music....carry on with the review.....😃

I have exactly 500 days! 😞

Congratulations! I'm getting married in Grand Turk in Oct 2017! Now to sit and wait...