abbyar

Ok, so I did the search and only found a bunch of threads saying to search soooooo can somebody link please?

We have only cruised DCL & NCL, but I love Freestyle cruising. Cagney's and other specialty restaurants are a great experience for us - I much prefer that over Palo, which was grossly overrated for breakfast and dinner IMO. That and considering I can get a NCL suite for the price of 2 DCL insides, I see it as no contests.

Of course nothing is perfect, and there are things NCL can improve on (see line on wait for kids club), but with NCL I have loved not only the staff but my fellow cruisers. On DCL I ran into so many entitled cruisers who felt they could stomp over anyone they wanted bc of the price they paid. On NCL everyone I spoke to was kind. Of course, I may have a different opinion on my February Haven sailing, so maybe ask me then hahaha.

No, in fact even at 2 weeks NCL will sometimes say upsells aren't yet available, and not release them until one week before. People are most definitely not getting upgrades before then.

Please please please for others reading this thread - do not call until 2 weeks before your cruise. If you call too frequently or far in advance NCL will shut down the line (as they have before).

These are so great! I always feel overwhelmed on embarkation day and feel like I have to keep a list so I don't forget. Especially for things that have changed like bottled waters.

Sorry you didn't have a good time. On our cruises when kids were little, we would feed them in the buffet then go to dinner while they were in the club. We have similar habits when going to a fancier sit down dinner anywhere - even Disney. IMO no child should be forced to sit down for a long dinner. An early dinner combined with morning pool time (before it got busy) was definitely enough to keep mine worn out and entertained.

Teppanyaki can be hit or miss it seems - I doubt that was related to your kids.

Hopefully your next vacation experience is better, but I do suggest you allow your kids to be kids and not force them to eat dinner with 25 people. That sounds like the most dull time ever from a 4 yos perspective - waiting for 23 adults to order, sit, wait. Definitely not a healthy expectation for very normal 4 yos.

We are on Jade 11/20 sailing (2nd week - Thanskgiving). Really looking forward to the port and hoping it goes smoothly! Will update when we are off the ship!

Very. It will not apply. Even on a 2 day though I'm sure you can find something to spend $100 on.

Not sure how this thread got bumped, but anyway....

We had reserved the SJ for the 6 of us on this Thanksgiving's sailing ages ago on the Star, and got an awesome price ($5300 for 6 + UBP UDP $100 OBC and free gratuities for first 2 adults). That is very affordable compared to many other family vacations for 6 over a holiday week - and nearly as much as we would spend on just 2 hotel rooms for the week.

As you all know Star was canceled and we were moved to a 2 bedroom on the Jade. I'm definitely not going to turn down the 2 bedroom but a wall of windows gives a very pretty sight too - especially for families who have littles they worry about being on the balcony. Had we booked the 2 bedroom suite straight out it would have been $8K.

So yes I'd definitely pick and even book an SJ.

It is possible to make reservations, and most definitely required if you want specific times in specialties

Sailing Thanksgiving week on Jade out of NCL. Would it be worthwhile to book in advance - will prices be likely higher on board? We have $300 in OBC I want to use, but want to make sure our excursions don't sell out. Also considering the spa pass.

There's a cool area outside Cagney's with large chess pieces and golf tee. My younger ones Loved running around there and it's generally not busy.

The library is nice for some quiet play (reading kids books or puzzles if you choose to bring any).

Eek! I'll remember no jets. I can't recall if there were or not on our Gem SC. Thanks!

I don't want to make a huge mess but love long baths - is it approved to bring bath bombs or does that mess up the water treatment system onboard? Or does NCL provide bubbles for suites? I stayed in a Gem suite last cruise but think I didn't have bubbles.

I'm not usually one to care, but please don't wear flip flops to specialty restaurants. I can hear the clip in my head now.

For MDR, I doubt anyone would notice.

I could have sworn I saw a thread on this once upon a time, but haven't had much luck with search. I'm eager to read about others' routines after boarding - lunch/swim/spa/ splash academy registration? Cagney's/Haven first or drinks first? What order do you do things in? What do to pack in your carry on?

Some good ones on this thread! Hopefully the change in programming is as good as they say it is. I do wish they would automate the checkin process.

Fair warning - on the gem I had two very nice glasses of wine that were above the UBP max at that time. I was charged the full amount, and even after I complained to the concierge the UBP amount was not offset. I'm still rather steamed as those glasses should have only been about $2 each. And this was not so long ago and people were also pumping the UBP offset. So it *should* work but you may want to ask the bar manager specifically when you order. (Manager, not bartender or waiter).

Yes you will have an issue. Club won't open until 7 and then checkin takes 15-30 minutes depending where you are in line (check in process is very inefficient. And for some reasons the person who is the slowest writer on earth has to do it and she is the only one and she has to ask the same questions every time and oops she got distracted bc someone else didn't want to wait).

If you can't tell, this was the one area of frustration for us. Kids can either go to 7 pm show with you (which I don't suggest with these as they are very much adult shows) or you go to the later show.

Yo was more concerned with what impact was felt this past weekend. Was NCLs choice to depart NYC early enough to get ahead of the rough waters caused by Hermine?

Saw there were early departures from NY. Royal did not and the news shows their boat being tossed around with even crew getting sick. Wondering if NCL avoided the rough seas.

Boys swim trunks will usually have Velcro closed pockets. Might want to check his suit.

Meh. It's an error. Programming errors happen.

We won't be getting off the boat in zika infected areas. Otherwise I'm not afraid to cruise.

My kids are about the same age and this is something they would love. Plus you don't have to stress about them opening balcony doors. And mine love a dark inside room - they will sleep forever!

I agree with pack very light. And if you try to upsell you may have some luck and get something bigger. But you'll still have a blast.