skeeter195

The scallops with pork belly app at Ocean Blue is the best thing I have ever eaten on NCL. I now make it monthly at home. It is that good.

We have had both. the ocean ones when looking at the water are to the left of the lagoon. We prefer the ocean ones. There is small cove, very protected cove in front of the ocean ones while the lagoon ones have the large lagoon in front of them. Here is why we like the ocean ones better: -higher up with better views -water is calmer and clearer(the lagoon is very weedy and murky at times, also is has a stale smell when the tide is low) -right next to the buffet -the service was much better, maybe because there are fewer ocean villas as compared to lagoon ones

The cuts of meats, chicken and sausages are all very simple in Moderno. The preperation is also very simple. The atmosphere of the place makes it a different and "fun" place to eat. To me it is simple ingredients done right to produce an overall better than average dining experience. I laugh when some complain about the quality of a cut of meat. Yes, when grilling a steak to medium rare it needs to be a better a cut. On the other hand some of the best dishes throughout the ages have been made with "poorer" cuts of meat and poultrty(think French, Italian, German) intentionally. I would definately go to Moderno if you have never been. I go every time I sail.

We sailed on the Atlantic for our honeymoon in 1989. I upgraded us a month before leaving and we got the grand bahama suite, no number just the name. My wife was very surprised and worth every penny. I remember ordering drinks and giving our cabin and then signing a slip of paper. In the gift shop the same thing. It seemed like half of the drinks never made it to our account. Even when I tried to make it right with the front desk they told not to worry about it. We did the 4 day cruise with 4 days in WDW staying at Sonesta village with 4 days of passes, a lincoln town car, and airfare from NY all for $1143 total for the 2 of us. I guess we had a great TA.

We usually eat lunch at food republic twice on sea days using one food credit for 4 items each time.

We have been on 3 cruises(Breakaway, Gem and Joy) since October 21 and each one had a seafood night in the buffet. Each time there was a chilled station with mussels, seafood salads and large(21-25) shrimp. On the Joy in May there were even some tiny crab legs. Then at least 5 different seafood dishes other than the normal things. I always remembered this on other cruises pre pandemic also. I have no idea what day it was, we would notice it in the daily.

Double Belverdre gimlet on the rocks for me

In the port side Haven hot tub.

Check with Celebrity to see what the rate is to charge chips to your room. On NCL the charge is 3%. When I charge chips to my room at the end of the cruise it is put in as a purchase and not a cash advance on my credit card. Now, my credit card gives me 5% back for travel purchases so I get charged 3% and get back 5%. So if I break even or come out ahead in the casino, bring home the cash and pay off the charge I am up 2%. I do get the 3% waived now at times with my tier level and max out my card on board and then get the full 5% back after paying off the card. I look at it as giving me a small edge with my casino money. As everyone knows the casino is never going to give any kind of edge.

I goy an invite for this as well. The numbers may in fact be low and that is why the invites are going out. Also that is the same week as the poker finals cruise on the Encore out of Miami. There will be 500 plus poker players on that cruise. Some of these players and or wives/husbands may have like to go on the slot tx on the Breakaway. So if you are looking for lower numbers you may just get it. Wow, 76 entrants would be nice for you and your wife. Good luck

Keith, the difference here is that the butler is assigned to you and your room. Another thing is that the butler is "in charge" of your room making sure that everything is kept up to standards. So even you if you never see them they are still making sure you are taken care of by the other staff. The bartenders are not directly assigned to you but the hotel in general. if I did not drink at the Haven bar I would not tip them either. I see where you are coming from though.

I do not disagree with you John. I think you said it best "when in Rome". I was just trying to give you an idea of service industry wages if you were not aware. Believe me and many others when we say that the "resort fees" that are charged in Las Vegas and other places now are a total money grab. Unfortunately once one property got away with it all of the other properties soon joined in. Back to the OP. You can ask your butler for no services but I have never seen a rate for not having a butler.

Captain John. I think this is where Americans differ from from the UK and other countries around the world at times. The first time I visited London and I tipped our server $31 when our bill was $69(I gave a $100 bill and said that I did not need change) I thought that he was going to hit the floor he was so happy. He explained to me that the service industry workers get paid a much better wage before tips than Americans do(BTW a servers wage in America before tips puts them well below the poverty line). Saying that about half of the time no tip is ever given, which he is perfectly fine with because of his wage. The butlers on NCL are like an American server, they have to rely on that tip to support themselves. Again though if they are bad, rude, or just cannot handle their job than no tip is needed to be given. When you book a haven room, you get a butler. Imagine if 4 of the rooms a butler services for the week do not want services, that would be a big hit to their wallet or pocketbook. Butlers are respected and desirable jobs, with that comes a nicer payday. I am not rich by any means but I have been in or around the service industry for over 40 years and understand and appreciate good service. I tip well when deserved. When I splurge on the haven I understand my responsibility to the service people who work there.

I may get blasted for this but I think it should be said. Butlers are counting on your tips as their salary. Even if you ask the butler to never show up in your room I think a tip should still be given. A Haven room comes with a butler and the tip. Some do not understand this but that is why CC is such a great place to give and get information. On the other hand if the butler is horrible and there was no attempt by them to correct the problem(s) then a tip is by no means required.

The public water from NYC has been a "secret" for many years when making pizza doughs their. There have been places around the country known to buy bottled NYC water just for their dough.

Those tomato pies from your area are good along with some traditional pizzas. The pies from NYC are tough to beat though when the dough is made with their water. BTW I can't stand NYC for many reasons and only go once every few years for a game and some pizza.

I keep hearing the same thing over and over which I must correct. The waiters in the haven are not running to different restaurants on the ship. Being a waiter or waitress involves a lot more than just taking orders and serving food. If something needs to be picked up from another kitchen or dining room on the ship this is done by runners. Maybe they need to get more shrimp or spinach or a specific size plate from another spot on the ship. Granted good prep will cut down on these shortages but every single day a runner will be going to different spots on the ship for different things including special food requests for the highest paying guests. It just in a days work for them.

One thing for sure, those people were very lucky with the calmness of the ocean. Look at the second picture and how much that craft is listing in very calm waters. I do not think that craft could stand even a 2 foot chop with that many people on it.

Pat attention now. -I never said what my bankroll was(less than 2k by the way), if it was 1.2 then I would have my own yacht to sail on -the 1.2 was what was played through by me -I played mostly blackjack and craps with very little slots so the house edge was closer to 2%, thus giving me a comp of around $7200. -52k loss?????, where does this come from?

I am sorry to everyone else here for bringing this up. I guess there is just no way to explain something to a rock staring at a tree.

I am just being nice as I think you were confused with a lot of it. If this makes you understand a little more of how things actually are then I am glad to have helped. If not I am sorry for bringing it up.

Let me try and put this in more simple terms for you. Bankroll-the amount of money someone uses to gamble with for the trip Losses-the amount of money that is lost from the bankroll Theoretical, projected, possible future losses or whatever term you want to use-the amount of money the casino expects you to lose based on the game you play and how you play it. Example, if the slots are set at an 80% payback and if you play through(not lose) 10k then your theo loss is $2000. If you play perfect basic strategy at blackjack then your expected loss would be around $50 per 10k played through. Comp value - at 30% the comp value of the slot loss would be $600 and $15 on the blackjack. This is the money "you can use" for future bookings. Now here is where you are way off. You do not have to lose money to be comped. I did not see where anyone brought this up(maybe I missed it) so I will. Overall I am a big winning player on NCL(not the case for all casinos). In 2004 I won a lot on one cruise. I started out small and increased my bet size and had a dream week of gambling until the last day when I lost almost 30k. I walked of the ship with 52k more than when I boarded. That cruise alone got me offers for the next few years(I played through around 1.2 million while never being down more than $500). In fact I am still using my winnings from that cruise to gamble and pay for cruises(over 25) on NCL. Lastly in May of this year I won just under 1k playing around 15 hours total. I made big bets and am happy with my outcome. Why?, because I booked 2 cruises within the last 2 weeks and they are both Haven comped cruises.

I love Coke and hate Pepsi(too sweet). I do not know why but I love Diet Pepsi and hate Diet Coke. On a cruise though I only drink soda to calm an upset stomach so it won't matter to me much.

This response is almost laughable calling it pedestrian. If you like it or not it is still an upscale dish. Creme Brulee is a classic french dessert that has stood the test of time. Most finer dining restaurants on land will have some version of a creme brulee. It is also a dessert that does not have to made daily and could even be frozen if done correctly then finished for service. They are not throwing these away nightly. You cannot compare a buffet(even Caesers or Wyns's) creme brulee to a properly finished one, night and day. For us and others who we travel with creme brulee was always something that we looked forward to in Le Bistro. In fact on our last few cruises I have asked the host to have a creme brulee sent from Cagneys(although not as good as le Bistro was) to the haven dining room one or two nights as it is my wifes favorite dessert.

We were on the Breakaway in October in a Haven 2 bedroom. The A/C in the living room would not go below 76 degrees while the 2 bedrooms would get down to 64. We like it cold so this was annoying. Our room steward noticed it and had someone look at it. Workers tried to fix it for all week and then finally on the last day they fixed it. We just dealt with it and never complained. The concierge grabbed me on the last day and said that they were giving us $400 OBC for the problem. If they were willing to give us $400 for a little warm air then I am sure that no toilet for 3 days is worth a lot more than that. I would let the concierge know that the GM is not offering an acceptable amount. the concierge has more power than most people realize. Good luck and I am sorry this had to happen