abbyar

I also had a difficult time with the e-check in. I’m sure they will take his photo and you won’t have any further problems. 
 

We are also on this sailing - see you tomorrow!!

We’re on this sailing departing tomorrow Sunday the 18th. Were you on last week’s sailing? 

Sandwiches/ canapes were the usual - some canapes we liked better than others. The frequent request from our children were chocolate covered strawberries, and we usually ate 2-3 plates of those a day. 

3 hours ago, Cruise4Twos said:

 It's good for those that have a good travel agent.

Yeah, for all the "good" travel agents I've been referred to, I've had our last names misspelled MANY times. Not worth the hassle. I can book it myself in less time, and the time and aggravation saved is worth more than the $50 offered. 

http://www.seatrade-*****/news/news-headlines/will-new-trump-administration-policies-impact-cuba-cruises.html

this article cites an NCL spokesperson. 

On 4/17/2019 at 4:11 PM, pieshops said:

its in the article posted

 

That's for sending money, it's not specific for travel.  They haven't even announced what the travel restrictions will be.

On 4/18/2019 at 5:48 AM, rhinomike said:

 

Good idea. But they are not cracking down on people to people visits. They are being eliminated. Family visits only. 

That's not what the announcement said. They didn't say anything about eliminating people to people visits, only remittances to the island. 

On 4/11/2019 at 3:12 PM, ute_fan said:

Have a friend who always sailed Disney with her son and 4 grandsons, and she's feeling the same way.  Their last cruise was on Princess and when she came back she said it was OK -- but it wasn't Disney.  With all the changes I'm not so sure NCL is going to feel like NCL for us.

This was a bit surprising to me. 

We we have sailed NCL and disney - Dh has also done trips with his older kids on Princess recently. DCL had most certainly gone down hill since our previous sailing. We got a fair price for the cruise, and Star Wars day at sea was our instigation for the cruise, but after that cruise I was done with Disney. Food was mediocre at best - hollandaise and other sauces were obviously powder based mixes, our meals were sometimes awful. The pools were ok, but the ship felt tired and busy. Ice cream was frequently out of order. It made me miss NCL, and for the price point it certainly wasn’t justifiable - for the price of a balcony I would have been able to sail in a suite (perhaps haven depending on sailing). 

Thank you so so much for sharing

Did Blexie come to Havana for you? It looks like his tours start in Varadero.

Does anyone know where Jomar is? I miss his "baby trees" in the mojito bar on Gem!

That's so awful. I'm sooo soo sorry you had that experience. We've had slow service at Cagney's sometimes, but never inedible. I'd be ready for bed or the buffet after waiting that long too. I hope your other meals were more positive events.

Had to call for something else - 4 to 6 months prior to sailing (we're just before 6 months now, so no surprise that bookings aren't yet available), and no priority for Latitude members. We're not sailing in a suite for this cruise so I didn't ask. 

Will be interesting to see how bookings go as it looks like only Insides/ Suites are only rooms available.

😮 Can't believe it - so sad. Did anyone follow up with you after? It's really appalling. My kids love Cagney's so that has me a bit terrified for our cruise.

I thought on our previous bookings there were specific dates that groups could book reservations for cabanas/ dinner - ie Haven/Suite, Platinum, Gold. But I can't find it on NCLs website. I've PIF for our October cruise and just want to mark it on my calendar so I can book when available.

Any ideas?

Sufficient sleep and eat your greens - leafy greens have l-lysine, an amino acid that is vital to creating white blood cells in your body. If you want to take a supplement that will prevent colds, you may as well take that, as it will help support your body's natural response.

My kids both love to be active so I'm glad to hear this ! Our last cruise on Disney was great but I could just tell that they were a little bored with the clubs and there wasn't much else to do. How about food ? Did you eat at any of the specialty places ? We have the beverage and dining package.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We ate Teppanyaki, Le Bistro, and Cagney's each once. The kids joined us at Teppanyaki. We prefer to eat later so we would get them food from the buffet or order sandwiches/ pizza from the butler, then take them to the club. We'd then either go to dinner or the show and then dinner. We ate at the Epic Club the other nights. The food there was on par with Cagney's/ Le Bistro but in a more American format vs the steakhouse/ French menu. If you have foodies they may want to join you but mine are too impatient, and after we sat down at lunch that was enough for them for the day. I especially liked eating later as the butler would bring snacks to the cabin in the afternoon - the kids requested chocolate covered strawberries, which we had a plate of daily. I don't care for their standard appetizer plates so we requested fruit and cheese daily and then weren't hungry for an early dinner.

Did your kids love the water slides and other activities like rock wall etc ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes I knew the waterslides would be a huge hit. Dh and I went down them took and loved them. We made sure to go first day during boarding and then on the Cozumel day so there would be no lines. They did the rock climbing almost every morning after breakfast. They have different level of difficulties so they'd try one route and then wait for another turn and try a different route. They also loved the bounce thing on deck 16 aft. Basically it's a bungee cord that attaches to their waist and they can bounce for a few minutes. Between the two activities they were always ready for quiet activities in the afternoon. They were fully exhausted by halfway into the week and would sleep till we woke them up at 9:30 am for breakfast. They loved it. And I have to say I liked that they could be really active.

The Fantasy is slightly smaller - we were on the same itinerary this week and in port one could see the difference. Its max capacity is 4,000 to the 4,100 double capacity on the Epic.

GSC is beautiful. The setup is a little different than the Disney private island. The snorkeling is good near the Large Cabanas, though there are standard lounge chairs there as well. We didn't rent one this trip but have in the past & loved it. The Haven area isn't complete yet so I haven't seen it but I'd bet it would be beautiful. The kids enjoyed playing with their friends on the more main part of the beach. They've done a great job expanding the offerings to accommodate such a large ship - we had lunch from the taco hut and there was the buffet etc. The food we had at the cabana last time was very nice as well. The Haven bartender (Debbi) was at the bar near the large cabanas, which I'm sure was no coincidence. She truly was the best bartender I've ever met at sea, and likely one of the best I've met in my life. And I've traveled quite a lot in my day.

Oh I checked Epic for the same week - $8500 for the 2 bedroom suite. And they are great rooms. Really gorgeous rooms.

To note: I hadn't looked in a while, but for Thanksgiving week right now I could get the Fantasy for $7200 for the most basic inside and $8050 Haven forward suite on the Escape. The Epic might be slightly less. But Norwegian throws in offers that offset that $800 (drinks etc) so it would be the higher value to me.

Thank you. We are sailing week of thanksgiving. Disney has just become so expensive that we decided to give Norwegian a try. Were u In the haven ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes, we were. And price point wise, the Haven was less than a family inside on Disney - so if it's in the budget do the Haven. You should have lots of kids over Thanksgiving week. We did not spend a ton of time there, but the kids much appreciated it there when the main pool got busy on sea days. We loved the service - if we had to drop the kids off at the club, we showed to the show 10 minutes prior and showed our key card and were instantly admitted, no escort from the Concierge needed. We were escorted off the ship this morning and given a priority line to customs. In short it made being on a ship with 4500 other people a pleasure.

Background context: the Captain was updating us this morning on the status of our very-delayed arrival in Port Canaveral due to fog. There was quite a bit of hand-wringing going on about flights etc.

(Over the loudspeaker): "An annoucement to the passenger who lost a $10,000 Rolex watch in Jamaica..(pause)

...

...

The time is now 8:38 am."

It got more than a few chuckles.

What are your kids ages ? We are sailing in November and my kids will be 8 and 10. We have previously sailed Disney and the clubs were fantastic. Kids never wanted to leave. So hoping it's the same with Norwegian.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Our kids are 7&9. We've sailed both Disney and NCL, and frankly, they loved the club this time on NCL but there were some very very good Counselors on this ship. They also had a good time on the Jade but they counselors there weren't as great as on the Epic. For instance - we saw Wheels when we left Teppanyaki one night and even though he was on his night off he stopped and chatted with the kids for a few minutes and was very kind. I also think it depends a bit on the other kids that week and if they click with your kids. With this week being a break there were lots of kids so there were a few my kids got close to.

The entertainment is not kid oriented - something I was totally fine with (actually thrilled for, I don't want to see Toy Story on vacation). And the food - omg the freestyle dining was so great with the kids schedules. I very much appreciated the specialty restaurants over the standard offerings on DCL.

Just off the Epic and heading home after a glorious week. Had great food, good entertainment, the kids had a grand time for winter break. We adored Debbi in the Epic Lounge, Roni and Retzchel in the restaurant at breakfast, our Butler Zoran (who was so classy when I answered the door at one point nearly naked bc dd had just called and said she would pop over for her phone). Oh and Serge by the Haven pool was fantastic - I meant to submit a Vacation Hero card for him and forgot. He was so attentive and sweet and knew when to bring something over and when to be attentive. I was worried about kids checkin at the club but the Epic is set up in such a way they could have 2-3 people checking in at once - so much smoother than the gem class ships. My fellow cruisers were the same - although one traveling in a studio mentioned she'd like more quiet spaces. I do think they're more hidden on the Epic - like the covered area on 15 by the ping pong tables was usually empty, but it was a nice area to watch the water. We had amazing weather up to this morning, although a little windy on our GSC day, the sun came out and it was glorious! I ended up getting a little too much sun but wasn't worse for the wear.

We stopped moving around 7 am this morning - unfortunately Port Canaveral closed for a few hours due to fog. Orlando airport also closed, but flights were only delayed for 60-90 minutes so there were some worried travelers.

Only thing I'd change - we boarded early last Saturday with bathing suits in hand to ride the slides - which we did and the kids had a blast. But after they wanted to go rock climbing and socks are required. I had packed the socks and bags weren't in yet so we went shopping for some - no socks for sale on board. Even asked the Concierge and nada! So NCL, I want my themed socks!! Of course by Friday they'd had their fill and just wanted to hang out with their friends in the club.

Any questions about anything feel free to ask.