abbyar

Thanks for your review of HC - I have one question and one comment...

 

Q: I thought I read that there are sand fleas on the beach at HC - did you find this to be true?

 

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We did not experience any sand fleas during our day in November.

We loved HC when we were there in November. Yes the beach is a little coarse but it's more of an active island than beach day - that's why they built the pool, right? My kids enjoyed the zip lining and ropes course and our oldest loved loved parasailing - they went so high they could see schools of dolphins and parts of Panama. It was a cool day but we loved it.

The Dawn is sailing out of New Orleans. We needed to sail out of a Florida port.

They are not going to let you on the ship with those kids unless an adult is registered in their room. And then that adult will not have Haven privileges.

Please stop sharing inaccurate information. Your information is wrong. I'm asking Debbie (djmess). She has mentioned nothing about being moved cabins at check in.

Uggh.. I've called again today and they said the kids wouldn't even be able to check in with me... like ***?

Uggh.. I've called again today and they said the kids wouldn't even be able to check in with me... like ***? That is NOT what I was promised.

PP - did you check in with the kids in the suite area?

We sailed a 14 day Panama Canal cruise a few years ago. Believe me, there's always something to do, even on day 14. Yes it's more drawn out with lots more down time, but it's fun as an adult to ask today's Tinkerbell handler where Peter Pan is today, as he was flying around yesterday (hint: said handler has a very boy-like appearance).

There are absolute positives of shorter and longer cruises - both are a blast. Don't short change either.

On another note, I placed a hold on a room we want for a cruise next year. I specifically want that room, but haven't made a payment (placed a 72 hour hold) - normally I would book through a Ta but didn't want to lose the room.

Will a TA be able to pick up the reservation as a new reservation? I can't see how to cancel it online, and I wonder if the room would immediately be avaialable to book again. Thoughts?

Yes, it was NCL that initiated the switch. We went from Spirit to Jade when the spirit moved to Asia, then Jade to Epic when the Jade was contracted out. This is what happens when you buy early folks (we booked March 6, 2015). They wouldn't give us a 2 bedroom haven suite so we ended up with this. Couldn't switch dates as we are traveling Presidents week. I didn't really think much of it at the time. We booked and paid for originally for all 4 of us to be in a family suite, I expect us all to have suite benefits.

Now that I'm thinking about it though, I hardly doubt NCL won't let the kids board with us and have lunch the first day, and beyond that and priority disembarkation at GSC I don't care so much.

It's so funny to call though. Every time I call (i.e., when we had our cruise docs printed), the very first thing the PCC tells me is "you can't have a room with only minors". Yes, I know, so how about you go and upgrade me to that 2 bedroom haven suite hmmmm? Oh no you'll leave it as it is? Oh, ok.

 

Isn't there some kind of pre-cruise Haven concierge that you can call and explain the situation and have them get your kids Haven access?

Of course, why didn't I think of that? Thanks!

. Secondly, they aren't going to be right across the hall from you (if they end up being in the cabin by themselves).

We are in a Haven Aft cabin on the 11th floor. ID is about 10 feet away.

PCC. It was the only thing they would give us (outside of a balcony, which was $1K less than what we originally paid). I don't mind really as they aren't super young any more and we will just sleep in the ID with them. I prefer inside rooms for sleeping anyway as it's nice and dark. And dh and I can lounge and dress in the big cabin. I'm just annoyed at myself as I didn't realize the kids wouldn't have haven access. I don't think they'll care. They'll want us to go in the big pool with them or go to the kids club.

Calling now and it looks like they haven't made the notes- but now that I think about it it may not matter as kids won't want to eat with us most nights and They get breakfast/ lunch at the buffet most days anyway.

We were switched from Spirit to Jade to Epic for February sailing - we had a suite so when we were switched to Epic we were given an H6 and a ID across the hall. My kids are 7&9 so yes they're minors but omg I cannot believe the drama. I called yesterday to get edocs and the headache to get them was insane. Everyone keeps asking me why they put us I this room - well, I don't know, how about you tell me why they wouldn't upgrade me to a 4 person suite??

Anyway with all these questions I'm concerned about the kids having haven access. When I moved over the reservation I assumed they'd give the kids haven cards with dh and I but now I'm unsure. Any experience with this?

Oh, and at one point I was in a elevator with a bunch of drunk guys bitching about exactly this (before they got the small screen set up) and you can tell their wives were PIIIISSED. As they got off one of the women said something to the effect of, "we are at sea, don't you want to do something other than watch football?"

That's so weird. We were on this cruise and saw tons of people watching College football Saturday in the bar near Cagneys. Yes it was on a laptop, so what? We saw the NFL games Thanksgiving Thursday & I much prefer those over college ball. Why would NCL think anyone wants to watch amateur games anyway on international travel? They had the pro games.

Why couldn't they hold the party in the Haven due to weather? It has a roof that closes.

It was cold!!

Jade's Spa has separate faciltiies. So each male/female side has a sauna, steamroom, Jacuzzi, plunge pool, showers, water station and relaxation chairs.

In the unisex area is a small square thallosotherapy pool - its not huge but it was never busy and we were a full ship - and tiled heated loungers.

I think from previous research if I remember rightly Gem has a bigger unisex pool.

 

Beautiful view from the very front of course with floor to ceiling windows

Lovely :)

Aaaaaaaah wish I was there right now......

Thanks for adding - I did not get a spa pass the week we were on the Gem. It was nicely spaced, and I boguht my spa pass the first day on board. I think there were a lot of last minute bookings bc they were still advertising soa passes on the 2nd day! Perhaps it's bc of th very few sea days (just 2) on this itinerary.

I agree the unisex area has few amenities than the single gender rooms, but the view is beautiful. This wasn't an issue for me as Dh is not a spa type guy, so it was my quiet time while he went to play basketball with the kids.

Off the Jade Thanksgiving.

LOVED the Mr Worldwide. Had no problem substituting Titos Vodka. Also ordered off menu a few times, and generally didn't have problems except at restaurants (Dh tried to order the speakeasy at Cagney's and had no luck). The Mr WWs were highly addictive and rather potent.

Now that we are home & settled I can write a proper review.

We sailed the Jade November 20 in a 2 bedroom suite, room 11018. Had such an amazing wonderful time, and my liver will take a while to recover from all the Mr Worldwides (new favorite drink!)

The kids had a blast. They loved Splash, especially Teddy who is moving to the Getaway. He was amazing and the process was much smoother with him than on the gem last year. They loved loved loved Harvest Caye. The ropes course and zip line were big hits and reasonable ($20 each). My oldest (15 yo) loved parasailing. My oldest 2 also enjoyed the scuba excursion in Honduras. I wasn't anticipating Honduras much, but it was extremely pretty.

Dh very much liked the shows, especially the new Elements. It was refreshing.

Dinners were 2 at Le Bistro, 2 at Cagney's and 2 at Teopanyaki. All were great meals. Thanks for the tip from here to order the ice cream and chocolate fondue at Le Bistro. Omg amazing!

We had Thanskgiving dinner delivered to our suite from Pedro. Pedro was quiet but had a nice flair when he set up our in suite meals. Cyrus our Steward kept up after all 4 kids which is pretty amazing, considering I can barely do that at home.

My spa pass was well used - I napped in lounge chairs and sweat in the sauna and eve tried the Japanese dip pool (just once was enough!)

Only small drawbacks - embarkation. We arrived early (just before 11am) and walked straight up to the concierge check in. This worked great for us, but at one point there was an hour long wait outside to get through security 😶 Thankfully that was not us. We did have an issue with getting pictures assigned to the right key cards, which was a little difficult on ship as no one we encountered had ever needed to fix it again. After a visit to guest services and requesting help from the Concierge Omar it was nicely fixed.

There were new staff on ship, so some small hiccups. My only real bummer was the suite Reception was in the Star Bar instead of the Haven (due to weather). But it was very nicely handled and such a nice reception.

Yes the Jade is older, but in beautiful shape. No worn carpet or anything of the sort. The only thing I really noticed were electronics - DVD players in suite instead of on demand like the Gem. I'm assuming this wil be upgraded with the dry dock this spring.

In short we had an amazing week. Feel free to ask me any questions in this thread. Oh, we had a great cruise critic meet and greet with the requisite coffee and sweets. The staff was very kind and introduced themselves and answered questions. I met some lovely people.

It was almost always open last week (except in high seas). Two circles, not too fast. Kids (7&9) loved it.

We were there on Black Friday. All aboard was noon so didn't eat drink but did lots of Activities. Kids LOVED rope course and zip lining and parasailing. They have really made it into a gorgeous resort style feel. The workers there were very kind. I was nervous about ds (7) going on the zip line - the person who went tandem with him explained they go through 200 hours of training. He had a blast!

Nearly all the Thanksgiving week cruises are off the NCL website..... it looks like there's still one out of Miami available. Did everything sell out in the last week or so? The Jade sailing from Tampa had loads of availability. It's so odd.

Sailing the Jade November 20th. Was planning to check in at the port around 11:30, however now it appears dh won't arrive until later in the day and will check in around 1 pm. Will that cause any issues? Will they show our suite number as arrived and expect him to not go into the waiting area?

Does it sell out? Would rather use OBC, but not going to fret over losing a seat for $35.

We are Haven if it matters.