cantthinkofanythingfun

I hate to sound like an old guy. I'm not THAT old, but I want to commend you on your writing style. At 17, you are actually using proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. It's a lost art in the age of text messaging.

I booked a cruise about a month ago for the Pride leaving next Sunday. When I booked I was told that all dining times were wait listed. I put us on the anytime list. My booking still says wait listed. What does this mean when all dining times have a wait list? When do you usually find out if you got what you wanted?

Is it 100 total or 100 per person? On the Pride balconies are normally only about 100 more per person than Ocean view. They have a lot more balcony rooms than ocean view on that ship. I would do it for 100 total.

The Pride is always starboard facing the port when in Baltimore.

Hi guys!! It's the wife here! I have a few questions, too and since Mike already started this I figured I would just add on....

 

1. Those of you who have been on the Getaway before...which of the specialty restaurants do you recommend? We will probably buy the 3 restaurant package and know we want to do Ocean Blue (love me some GZ so I definitely have to check out his restaurant!) and the Brazilian Steakhouse.

 

2. Hows the sushi??? I'm a sushi lover and when we went on the Breeze it looked good....but not something I thought would be worth the money they were charging. And also, is the sushi restaurant and the raw bar open for lunch?

 

3. Where can I eat late night? We need 4th meal every night (which is actually probably 6th or 7th meal if you consider the amount of food and ice cream we eat throughout the day) and I admit I haven't investigated thoroughly but I've gotta get my palate ready.

 

4. And most importantly.....what's your favorite drink? Since we have the drink package I'm going to have to start making my list now. I want it all!!

I haven't been on the Getaway, only the Breakaway, but it's nearly the same ship. When I went, Ocean Blue was not included in the dining package. One time I went GZ was actually on board. My favorites were Cagney's and Teppanyaki.

The sushi was pretty good. Not the best I've ever had, but still very good. Sory, I don't remember if it was open for lunch. I believe it was on sea days.

The buffet always had something out late at night and O'Sheehan's is open 24x7. The food at O'Sheehan's was pretty good.

I'm a simple drinker. I stick with Captain and Coke. My theory is dance with the devil you know, but NCL also has a drink of the day like Carnival. If you don't get the souvenir cup, it is included in the drink package.

One letter away from a good Austin Powers gag.

You could probably get them to throw that one in a blender.

It's a good rule because if you were to give birth on board, and one day your child decided to run for President of the United States, the media would probably have a field day with his/her citizenship.

The comedy shows on NCL are Second City comedy shows, and they don't run them every night. It is a lot of improv stuff. It is a comedy troop as opposed to stand up. I wasn't crazy about them, but I also don't like Carnival's comedians. I love stand-up comedy, but I've never seen anyone all that funny on a cruise ship. They really do seem to play it too safe, but they do have adults only shows. On nights that they don't have Second City, they will have Howl at the Moon dueling pianos. That has really been my favorite entertainment on any cruise ship. If the crowd is into it, it makes for a really fun night. The main shows on NCL blow Carnival's away. They do recommend booking ahead of time, but I never had issues getting front row seats the day of the show. There are always no shows. On any given night there is a good chance you will find good entertainment all over the ship.

I have never eaten in the MDR on NCL, but I believe they have 3 of them, but all have similar menus. I always have bought the dining package and eaten in the specialty restaurants. They are all good. They do not change their menu during the cruise, but there are enough on board to give you a good variety.

Sorry I don't know anything about the movies. The big screen is all the way aft on the ship. On Thanksgiving they did play the football games there, but at night they have a lot of parties in that area.

If you are going to buy the beverage package anyway, then you are getting a great deal with this new promo. Having sailed both NCL and Carnival, if the money is equal, I would choose NCL every time. With these new promos, NCL is coming out less than Carnival and it's really a no-brainer. I think you'll enjoy it.

I came close to doing it last November, but I had a 2 week break in between. It was fun. Most of the crew I interacted with still remembered me. It's also not so depressing on the last day because you know you're coming back.

When my son turns 18 I expect to pay him to go on cruises with me. He can push me around in my wheelchair, get me drinks, and place my bets on the craps table.

I'm about to take my 5 year old on his second cruise in two weeks. My TA told me I would need a notarized letter from his mother even though I have joint custody and my son has the same last name as me. I didn't need that on his first cruise (wasn't carnival). I called Carnival and they told me that they didn't require it. It was just recommended to protect me if she were to say that I was taking him without her permission. I could get the letter, although it is sometimes a hassle for me to get her to bring me my son with shoes on his feet, so I'm not going to bother.

All of this trouble over a free beer and a picture?

I will be on the Pride from July 5-12. I will buy the first person that sees me at a bar any drink they want up to $15.00. I'll even get you the fruity drink in the whale tail cup. I will snap your picture with my iPhone and email it to you right away.

Like others have said, a cruise director won't ruin your cruise, but they can make it a lot better. They really are entertainers if they do their job right. I went on two NCL cruises within a month, same ship/same itinerary. The first one had a CD who was a fill in. He was just okay. The second had some woman named, Julie. I think she is like NCL's John Heald. It was a totally different cruise. The parties were better. The daily shows were even entertaining. The Newlywed Game had the exact same questions, but her's was far more entertaining. She was better at getting the guests involved. It's a gift for the really good ones.

IMHO Cruise Director and Hotel Director are the two most demanding officer class positions on the ship.

February is a very popular month for large group cruises. A group isn't really a bad thing. many times they will just have some kind of group seminar on the first sea day (that will keep them out of the pools that afternoon). They will seat them all together in the MDR, and the rest of the time they can do what they like. It's a good way to take a vacation and write it off on your taxes.

The Cheers program isn't worth it for us. Last cruise in April, we brought on 4 bottles of wine, 32 oz of rum, 16 oz of vodka, 16 oz of bourbon. At the first port we brought on another bottle of wine and 3 six packs of beer. Our bar bill was less than $10 on our s&s.

Did you have room to bring clothes with you?

You are in port that day. You can stream it. One of the advantages of cruising out of Baltimore is that you will have good cellular internet coverage for the entire first day as you cruise down the Chesapeake Bay.

My very first cruise was a Celebrity cruise with a funeral director's trade organization. I was part of the group, so that part didn't creep me out. The first night in the MDR everyone was talking shop, and at the time my now ex-wife and I got little vacation time and wanted to get away from work on the cruise. One of the couples had their daughter with them. I'm 6'4" and she was every bit as tall as me and an attractive girl. For some reason halfway through dinner he asked me how old I thought his daughter was. I responded, I don't know, 25? He told me she was 12, and I literally did spit my drink out. That was the last time I ate in the MDR on that cruise.

I wasn't going to do it on the next cruise, but the fact that it includes frozen non-alcoholic beverages and this new Alchemy Bar intrigues me. I may wait until day 2 and buy it. I really never get my money's worth out of it, but I do like just paying the 400 and being done with it.

The Port Canaveral/GSC/Nassau itinerary might be the worst that NCL offers. Of course there is always the old adage that it's still better than being at work. :D

I don't think it's a terrible itinerary to do once. The problem is that those of us that live in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast that want to drive to port seem to get stuck with it a lot. It isn't just NCL. Carnival has one that is even worse, Port Canaveral/Nassau/Freeport. If you've never been to Freeport you might wake up and look out your window and think pirates hijacked the ship overnight.

If I ordered them do you think they would arrive by July 3?

Kennedy Space Center is the best bet for the time allotted and distance from the port. I've done it twice. The second time I took my son. Of course if you have no interest in the space program, it would be pretty boring. I think Port Canaveral is an awful stop. If I ever go again I would just use that day to stay on the ship and enjoy the low crowds.

Thank you for the info. I was going to take a cab to and from the port when I go in two weeks, but this detour will make a cab with tip cost about the same as parking. I'll just take my car, or maybe find someone willing to give me a ride.

How much are sodas. I don't think I will be drinking enough alcohol on my next cruise to make it worthwhile, but I do like to grab a few sodas during the day.

We returned today from the June 14th Pride sailing! We had a fabulous time! We had 4 boys in our group (Ages 7,8,9,11). The 8 & 9 are mine. :) We know all children are different so you may have the wait until you are there to see what they enjoy. Mine have been different every cruise.

 

 

 

My 8 yo wanted to go to Camp Carnival a couple nights. One night he went right after dinner by himself. Stayed from about 8-10. Had a great time. The 9yo didn't want to go, but went one night to give us a little adult time. They had dinner with camp and stayed until 10. They had a great time! :) Even though the 9yo said he didn't want to go he had a blast once he got there. The 7 & 11 year olds did not participate.

 

 

 

The water slides were a huge hit with the group. The 7 & 8 yo did not like the big green slide, but the yellow was fun. My 8 yo loved splashing around in waterworks. The two older boys loved the green slide. We were up there after the day in Freeport and there was no line. My son probably went 15 times in a row.

 

 

 

The Dive in Movies were the other favorite with our group! We were out there several evenings watching movies and swimming.

 

 

 

The arcade was difficult to find. Felt like a maze. Once we got there it was hot and not much there. The kids liked it because they wanted to keep trying to win prizes, but we didn't spend long there.

 

 

 

We went to the Dr. Seuss breakfast on the last sea day. So cute and fun! We all really enjoyed it!

 

 

 

We went to a couple of the family comedy shows which we enjoyed. Trivia was also a fun one for our group. My 9yo wanted so badly to win a ship on a stick. The staff was fabulous! Told him if he tried hard to win one and didn't that he could find them on the last day and would get one. He was thrilled.

 

 

 

Rebecca, the comedy director, was great! She hosted many of the trivia sessions. The boys loved her. One night my son left the comedy show to go to the bathroom (which has never been an issue), but he couldn't find one so he went all the way back to the cabin. We didn't know this and panicked when he was no where to be found. Rebecca saw me looking and immediately jumped in an helped up search. Of course he wandered back a couple minutes later like nothing happened. ;)

 

 

 

That's most of the kid related stuff I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

 

 

We all had a great time! I would definitely sail the Pride again!!!

 

:D

Thank you for all of that information. My son is looking forward to the cruise. I live near the port, so I took him by today to see the Pride before it left.