wilmingtech

Today is the big day!

Have a great cruise!  

Hope the Embarking process is smooth and drama free for you!

December 2019.  Haven Suite on the Joy through the Mexican Riviera.  Next cruise in 14 days on the Escape out of Port Canaveral.

I think the huge amounts of OBC in this thread all seem to be related to getting a Suite in the Retreat area or refunds from canceled or repriced cruises.  We have an 11 day cruise booked in 2025 and got 450 OBC (10%) for just a regular balcony.  In addition to this OBC our Gratuities were also included in the price along with Wifi and a Drink Package.  I'm trying to figure out how we are going to spend the 450 obc with all of that included.

When we have booked a suite on other lines we have received large amounts of OBC (Over $1000).  On those lines I also had a hard time finding things to spend the OBC on when everything else is included.

1 hour ago, little britain said:

We get the Classic included… is it worth upgrading to Premium? It’s $6.99pppd to upgrade at the mo. 

 

I drink Aperol Spritz, and Pinot Grigio. Perhaps a few frozen margaritas… are they covered by the Classic please?  I know you can pay the difference & tips 

I'm struggling with the same type of questions.  We had the classic included with our initial cruise purchase and now for 184.00 for an 11 day cruise we can upgrade to Premium.  We don't really drink much and have a bunch of OBC so I am really wondering if its worth it.  The one thing that I am using to convince myself that it is a good deal is that all the drinks are going to be more expensive in 2025 when our booked cruise departs and for the price we pay today it will probably be worth it. 

The other thing is that cruise lines are being forced to come up with new ways to increase revenue to overcome losses in the past 2 years and bring shareholders back and the trend seems to be everything "a la carte".  So by 2025 we could see possible changes like coffees no longer being included in the classic beverage package or instead of paying the difference in the drink prices, if its not included you have to pay full price.  If i could see the future and for those reasons I would buy the upgrade today.

PS - Aperol Spritz was 1 or 2$ more than the price that the classic package covered back before covid based on other postings i have read.  So I am assuming it still trends that way.  I have seen some Pinot Grigio on menu's here that are less than 10$ - https://profcruise.com/celebrity-bar-menus-2023/#cellar

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/11/22/norwegian-cancels-2025-cruises/71671519007/

I weigh the cost of the aft cabin to the size of the balcony and other possible options for staterooms.

On a recent purchase I chose the front facing balcony over an aft because it was much cheaper and the balcony up front is huge compared to the aft balcony that was available and it'll be mostly a slow trawling cruise through the inside passage.

On past ships we have chosen 2 staterooms side by side with a removable divider as opposed to a rear balcony because the combined balconies were slightly cheaper and larger and way more space with 2 separate rooms.

We have also chosen an Oceanview room that was much cheaper than a balcony as the Oceanview had 3 separate rooms vs the cost of a single room of a balcony.

I'll usually weight the cost against the size (including balcony), layout and location of the room.  Most of the time the aft is very expensive for the benefit of seeing the wake.

I second this.  We did the Haven on the Joy and the Haven Bar and Bartenders were the best.  If you don't like the drink, they will ask you what you don't like about it and then make something more amazing.  My wife is not a drinker and they would just ask her how she I's feeling and what her plans for dinner are and then make her a drink that was surprisingly close to exactly what she didn't know she wanted.  They were alot of fun.

Thank you so much for doing this!  We are on the same itinerary from the 9th-16th of December (DR, St.Thomas,Tortola, GSC)

I'd be super grateful if you shared the freestyles for this itinerary!  Any menus or other paraphernalia would be icing on the cake.

Looking forward to your review!   

Hope you guys have great cruise!

Last January it was on Day 2 and 6 (At Sea Days) on the Escape for the Orlando >Dom Rep > Great Sitr Trip which is Identical to the Eastern Caribbean trip that the Escape will be doing this season.  Today its headed out on the Western Carib route and hopefully we get some feedback on how the 1st cruise after reposition goes and updated Freestyles. 

7-day Caribbean Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay & Dominican Republic 21-28 Jan 2023.pdf

10 minutes ago, GuelphCruisers said:

OMG! 😮

So one more thing to bring onboard ourselves, after:

• Tim Hortons Coffee (the real McCoy)
• 18% Cream for said coffee
• Real Quebec Maple Syrup
• an ample supply of Clamato Juice for our Bloody Caesars
• now
  - enough Hash Browns for a weeks worth of breakfasts... 

Sheesh, eh?

I'm on your cruise, I'll gladly fork over some cash for the Tim Hortons coffee 😀

Also - Can you bring cream on a cruise ship?  My wife would be extatic if we could do that.  Wasn't a problem on our last 2 trips in the Haven but sadly we are down in steerage for this one.  Someone needs to cancel their Haven suite so we can upgrade!

5 hours ago, sebas030 said:

In fact this is a "RÖSTI",it was invented in Switzerland...not a Hahsbrown 😉 

Not sure it was invented by the Swiss.  Although the "RÖSTI" is a staple in Swiss culture, potatoes were not even a thing in Europe until after they were discovered in the "New World" in the late 1500's by the Spaniards.  I cannot imagine that in the thousands of years they had potatoes in Peru before they were discovered that it was the Swiss who figured out how to thinly slice and cook them into a "cake".  

43 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

You won't have a bad time! Alaska is amazing, and there's so much to experience we've been back multiple times, on a range of lines. 

41 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

You’re going to LOVE it!

So I am assuming if we go on our 1st trip to Alaska with NCL and we love it, the next cruise we do on a different cruise line can only be better 😁

We picked NCL as it was the only 10 day itinerary that hit almost all the places we would want to see other than Glacier Bay and with all the discounts we were able to get it was a no brainer picking a 10 day for less than a 7 day on most other cruise lines.  

18 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

i did find something for past customers on the canadian NCL site offering $200 for any cruise on the getaway... in 2015. why that page is still out there and hasn't been cleaned up, i don't know. but that's the only offer of this type i was able to see. 

There are a lot of documents, old pages, special deals, pdfs of all kinds of things buried deep in the dungeons of the NCL website.  I think it's pretty interesting what you can find there.

It's interesting for sure. I'd rather have pre paid services charges included 😉 as I usually get a bunch of OBC from my TA.  And I'm sure the OBC would only be for new bookings.  They had a similar deal at Halloween and we got 250 from NCL and another 150 our TA.

Or if they had a discount on all the excursions and add ons for the cruise for black friday.  I'd be up for that.

I wonder if it was from a past deal?  Try searching the NCL website for black friday.  There are usually old pages floating around.

Search for -   site:ncl.com "black friday"

2 minutes ago, stefmaia said:

It used to be the big 4 for me too, but as you get older that number changes.. +1 glasses for reading...+1 glasses for seeing...+1 medication

 

I'm sure there will be more as the years progress....

This is so true.  I'm getting to that point a lot faster than I want to.  

I travel probably 20-24 weeks a year for work.  Packing takes me about 10 minutes.  I have a cruise booked in 3 weeks and I'll pack my bag and empty it twice before it's ready to be packed for the cruise.  There's no way I could leave my bag out for a week to pack for a trip.  It would drive me crazy.  I just make a list so I don't forget anything and if you do forget something,  as long as you remember the big 4 -

Wallet, Passport, Keys, Phone.

Everything else you can buy.

38 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

This is so bizarre.  I always just stay logged in.  No issue first thing this morning.  But somehow I got logged out on my iPad.  Now I simply cannot log in.  I tried searching for cruises (not logged in because it won’t let me) and it shows no cruises available at all!  It’s bizarre.  I can log into the app on both the iPad and the phone.  I can log into the website from the phone, but not on the iPad.   I have closed out of the site multiple times and restarted the iPad.  No luck.  Cannot log in.  All other sites are working fine.

 

Anyone dealing with anything like this or have suggestions?

Clear your cache and cookies and it will be just fine.

I was looking for other similar "Front Facing" balcony rooms from other cruise lines and never realized how rare they are.  I think other than the Mardi Gras by Carnival and a handful of suites, specifically the Celebrity Apex and Edge Iconic suites, there are very few ships with front facing balconies.

On 6/27/2023 at 6:59 AM, D_And_K_gocruising said:

We'll be going on the Escape 12/2-9 for our first cruise and we couldnt be more excited!!  (First time that's ever been said I bet!)

1st time ever!  😁

 

Anyway, we kinda understand that on port days the casino is closed etc etc. But any other things closed on those days? 

Most of the restaurants are closed for lunch except Garden Cafe and O'Sheehan's.  The more common space bars like Wave's at the pool deck, H2O, O'Sheehan's and maybe one bar down by the waterfront will be open.  In the evening everything open's back up.

 

And on sea days, seems silly question, but are anythings closed on sea days?  I wouldnt think so since EVERYONE is on board, but being newbs, have no clue!  

Typically everything is open but this is dependent on weather.  If it's windy, rainy or big waves most of the outdoor places may shut down including ropes, slides, pool, hot tubs.  Sometimes if it's stormy enough they will keep places closed indoors to keep employees and cruisers safe but that is a rare occasion.  The Captain would have to make that call.

 

If you dont want to be in the thick of the crowds, where are some nice places that tend to be "less crowded" on sea days.. If you want to be out and about, but not at like the pool decks etc etc. 

As mentioned earlier there are some great spots up on the upper sun decks and where the upper hot tubs are that are rarely busy.  On all the cruises I have been on the sun decks are almost rarely used.  Also, even though the restaurants are closed during the day, we have used the tables on the waterfront to sit and play cards or a game before.  Surprisingly the waterfront during the day is usually pretty empty (This was on the Joy)

6 minutes ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

Wait, have I committed do doing a live report?!?!  Hell, I've never even been on a cruise lol.. Actually that may be interesting to see a newb cruise report 😄

No commitment required, only a compelling persuasion of community encouragement!

But you will be required at the least to report any sightings of hashbrowns.

1 minute ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

12/2 or 12/9?  If 12/2, see you there!

12/9 - But I'll be following your 12/2  "LIVE FROM THE ESCAPE" thread like a one eyed dog in a meat market!

😁😁😁

On 11/12/2023 at 11:19 PM, cruiser2015 said:

That'll teach 'em!

I will join you in that boycott!

I vow to not sail on the Escape until they bring back HASH BROWNS!!!

(Or for the next 3 weeks.  Whichever comes first.)

it's because the Sun was scheduled for trips to Israel and they are probably rethinking a schedule for that ship in 2025.

24 minutes ago, WillCruiseForMoney said:

If you do happen to find out, please let us know.

We did buy the cruise right around OCT 31, so I'm sure it has something to do with a promotion for possibly OBC.  That's the only thing I can think of that it might be related to.

I've got the following -

ALL4CHO

Treat23

Not sure what the Treat23 is.