rabidstoat

How do you sign up for one of these? Can you sign up on board and where do you find out about it?

If you mean the behind the scenes tour, you can sign up for it online before your cruise or onboard, space permitting. I'm not exactly sure where it is in the cruise excursion area because their website has been odd today with the rework. I want to say it's like $119.

I didn't realize they were breaking-- er, I mean, 'improving' the site today. Luckily my cruise isn't until May and maybe they will fix it by then.

I had to double-check the connection a few times to ensure myself I hadn't ended up on a phishing site!

Even if you mistakenly hit one, don't worry as the smallest tables are for two at all but one restaurant. Now, if you did book the Teppanyaki restaurant, I would confirm that you hit two, as there is limited seating,

I was going to say 1 versus 2 doesn't matter, but you're right! Teppanyaki it does because it's a shared table. (And a lot of fun.)

Here's some answers to questions based on my experience with unlimited Internet on other cruise lines and my technical knowledge of how browsers and apps work. I have not used unlimited Internet on NCL yet so these answers might not be 100% right, but I am reasonably confident in them based on past experiences elsewhere.

question is whether there is the bandwidth to dynamically handle the extra loads & demands [of streaming], etc. at sea.

On the newer RCL ships I used their Voom streaming unlimited Internet and was about to get 6-8Mbps download during sea days in the middle of the Caribbean. I was pleasantly surprised.

I'm not entirely sure how NCL is providing its high-speed Internet. A few key points for others who are interested:

1. The more people using the Internet, the slower it goes. This means that sea days will see more usage and therefore slower speed than port days, and times around breakfast and dinner (when people might stop to check social media) are more apt to be slower than at 4am.

2. The speed depends on a lot of technical factors. It sounds like they are upgrading their satellite technology which can help. But it also sounds like some of their speed increases comes from utilizing connections that require being either at or near or port, or at least at or near a semi-populated shore that helps in connecting to the Internet. If this is indeed the case then what you'll see is that the Internet is fastest when you're in port (and probably least likely to use it, as you'll be out doing shore excursions or shopping or maybe even using free in-port wifi at a restaurant) and slowest when you're in the middle of nowhere like the middle of a transatlantic (when you are more likely to want to use it because you can't be anywhere else but on the boat and there is more downtime). I'll try some speedtests myself, but won't be on a NCL boat again until September.

Is unlimited per person or per cabin?

If it's like other cruise lines it's "per device", which means if you have two people in the room you can share the unlimited plan, but only one of you can be connected to the Internet at a time. If Person #1 is connected they will have to use the option to disconnect before Person #2 can connect, or else it might be (as it was on RCL) that when Person #2 connects it automatically disconnects Person #1.

Also, do the socialmedia apps work with this or does it only work through a browser.

I've not used unlimited on NCL but most likely the mobile apps for, say, Facebook will work. Technically speaking it would make sense, and that's how it worked on Carnival when I had a social media package. It's possible it might not work for some apps for technical reasons but I imagine for "major" ones like Facebook, Instagram, etc., it'll work.

I saw that, but I wonder what the “etc.” in the list of socialmedia sites include.

I'm just guessing here, but I bet this is one of those things that three computer geeks in a building somewhere know definitely and no one else, so that getting The List will be impossible. It may also change slightly over time. You'll probably have better luck asking about specific sites and seeing if someone online with the package can test them.

I hope someone tries out the new Social Media soon because if I can post to Tapatalk with pictures I'll get that for the Bliss transatlantic.

Based on a purely technical understand on how I imagine Tapatalk must actually work, I think at best it'd be on a 'message board per message board' basis. For Tapatalk to work, under the hood it has to be able to access the web site that hosts the forum you're posting on. There's also a chance it has to connect Somewhere Else that is specific to Tapatalk for arcane technical reasons, which may mean that even though you can connect to the forum's web site directly you can't post it through the Tapatalk app. This is something you'd really want to ask someone on a ship with the package to check.

Which package would I need for FaceTime please?

Premium. It's video transfer, so it'll count as streaming.

I'm trying to decide what package I need in order to video chat with my daughter. Would I be able to use Facebook video chat if I just got the social media package?

I've not tried it so I can't be 100% sure but I am 99.875% sure that you would need unlimited premium wifi for that. It's video streaming, basically, even though it's through the Facebook app, and I imagine they will block the video chart part of Facebook (which is technically not that hard for them to do with their computer people) for the social media package.

Upcoming cruise I have all 4 standard perks including a 3x$50 shore excursion for our 3 ports of call.

One of them I'm already planning to do third-party excursion as it appeals more, so I won't be using that credit on a shore excursion.

I am, however, paying for a Behind the Scenes tour on one of the sea days. Any hope of that $50 credit applying? I'm guessing not since it's listed as a "shore excursion" credit and not just an "excursion" credit, but I thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows definitively.

I still wonder if delays like that -- it cost extra fuel in nothing -- get charged to the passenger who caused the delay.

Then again, being an American I also wonder if passengers tend to sue if they manage to fall over the side and live to litigate.

Edited to add: Googling 'overboard cruise passenger sues' reveals that yes, of course people who get drunk and fall overboard sue.

If you have a tablet you can get a Kindle app for most of them. Heck, you can get a Kindle app for most phones, Androids at least. The screens aren't as easy on the eye as a Kindle compared to a general-purpose tablet, and a phone screen will of course be smaller, but you can definitely install the app, authorize them, and download some books.

Was this Epic cruise a week long cruise or shorter? I'm about to go on my third spring break cruise on Saturday (Escape) and I've encountered more elementary kids than college-aged spring breakers. I kind of hope to avoid them since I work at a University and it may remind me of work!

It was one of the 3- or 4-night cruises.

Epic usually does week long cruises, alternating between Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. But the first two weeks in March -- which when ALL the major Florida universities have their spring breaks, along with a number of others, next week actually seems busier than this one -- they switched to alternating 3- and 4-night cruises.

Those 3- and 4-night cruises are going to attract more college kids, or perhaps be targeted to them. It's a shorter cruise, so less money. Looking at the Epic schedule it seems pretty much to target college kids without a lot of money who want to go on short cruises where rooms often have a perk with them, the most popular of which is unlimited drink. Bad luck to cruise at this time. I think in general the 3- and 4-night cruises attract a more "party" crowd.

As someone else posted, your 10+ night itineraries in spring are unlikely to attract college crowds as the kids aren't off school that long.

oh no, we board on 3/17! We were on a ship the first week on June and I guess a lot of college kids got cruise for graduation....my grandkids could not get in pools or on water slides because of drunk college kids! Glad kids aren't going to be with us.

It probably won't be as bad then.

This week there were 2 major FL schools with spring breaks: University of Florida (who apparently were on a 3- or 4-day weekend cruise that just got back) and University. Next week could be bad as there are 6 major FL schools -- pretty much the rest of them that are big, including the biggest undergrad enrollment which is like 45 minutes drive from the pier at UCF -- with their spring breaks. And a lot of other big schools that didn't already have their breaks as well.

But then the week you're going, 3/17, none of the major FL state schools have their spring breaks. Really, nothing that big nearby. Maybe UMD kids, or University of Arkansas, Clemson, Georgia Tech. They're just not as big. The big schools seemed to be going in the first half of March, so you might've lucked out.

I've booked a Haven spa suite that was a Latitude Insider offer when booked. I did get the extra $100 credit for the Insider offer. Since Haven suites are (as I understand it) normally giving 2 points per night, does that mean that the extra point a night will make for 3 points a night -- or 21 points on a 7 day sailing?

Or am I missing some fine print that caps it at 2 points a night still?

I was on Carnival last week and pre-paid internet. When I connected to Carnival wifi I got redirected to the login page, and I used my folio number and birthdate to sign in. I think there was a business card that explained this, though I just remembered from using it before.

That said, the wifi on Carnival Splendor was almost fully unusable under the premium plan, biggest waste of money ever. I've used Carnival's wifi in the past and even premium was slow, but this was unusable, I couldn't even load most websites unless I waited until 3am when few other people were using it. Otherwise I was getting 4-8kbps (not mbps) download. Took me 3 hours to download a Kindle book. Fully useless, never again.

I was just on the Carnival Splendor with the super-expensive "premium" package and it was practically unusable. Web pages would take 30-60 seconds to come up -- if they ever did. It took me literally 3 hours to download one Kindle book. Half the time the websites wouldn't connect because they timed out. I was looking at my Internet speed and during the day, I'd get 8-24kbps (that's kbps, NOT mbps!). If I was logged in at 3am I could get a few hundred kbps.

That said, the Internet probably varies from ship to ship, and also based on where the ship is located because of the satellite signal. I also think the number of people who sign up and use the service also impacts the speed, which is why the Internet was pretty much fully unusable during the day, but was only somewhat unusable at 3am.

Sorry, thought I was on Royal Caribbean board! This answer below is about Royal Caribbean and Carnival, not NCL. Though 6:5 blackjack payout on low limit tables is pretty standard on cruise ship casinos I've been to, along with $6 minimum, which means that players betting the minimum get the worst payout possible on blackjacks, making the casino even more money.

On Navigator of the Seas now. I was on Carnival Splendor last week. The blackjack tables work pretty much the same.

The blackjack tables on Navigator are $6 minimum. Blackjack pays 6:5. As someone else mentioned, this is making it so that if you bet the $6 minimum and hit blackjack, you only get $7 for the blackjack, you're getting basically 7:6 payout which really sucks and means the casino makes (even more) money.

It might be that the $25 minimum table will pay you 3:2 on a blackjack, I'm not sure because that's too rich for my blood. Either Carnival Splendor or the RC Navigator (or both) paid 3:2 on blackjack at the $25 minimum table, just not at the low $6 minimum table.

On Carnival you could take even money on the blackjack if you got it when the dealer had an Ace showing, which I always did because you were getting 6:6 for the blackjack and if you didn't take even money you risked everything for the extra dollar getting 7:6. On Navigator you can't take even money on blackjack at the $6 minimum table.

Though Navigator had $3 minimums from noon to 4pm on the first sea day. We've not had the second sea day yet to see if they'll do it again. They only advertised it on one table but the second table they had open honored the $3 minimum as well. Of course, that means blackjack would only pay out $3 (even money) on the minimum bet.

I checked my balance and they did remove my messed up / non-delivered room service charge.

They also said that they should have diet coke at room service. It wasn't just the delivery guy not making an effort to track it down, he went off and came back with a regular coke as an alternative and said there was no diet coke. I don't know how he couldn't find one since there are 100s of cans on the boat. Very weird.

They confirmed me a table, supposedly, but at late dining instead of early dining. So I went back down to guest services and waited 15 minutes to talk to someone, and told them if I couldn't be confirmed for early dining like I was originally I would prefer my time dining.

What followed was another 15 minutes of phone calls and finally they told me that I had a table reserved at early dining. Suspiciously, it's the same number they claimed I had at late dining. I told them I didn't trust their table assignments and that I'd prefer my time dining but it was full they said, so I will just show up tonight and hope I don't have to wait another 45 minutes. Nobody, not even the supposed dining manager, seemed to feel like it was a problem that they hadn't assigned a number of people tables and made them wait 45 minutes to sit the first night, so whatever.

Though I had to go to guest services anyway as the room service I ordered in the middle of the night, after not eating much at dinner because I was all annoyed at the whole process, was messed up. I ordered their Wagyu beef burger that said it had carmelized onions and whatnot, and I got a burger like that serve at the Windjammer, just a plain old cheap patty on a cheap bun with a regular slice of onion and tomato and lettuce. Not what I thought I was paying eight bucks for. I also ordered a can of diet coke and said I was fine paying for it, but they brought me caffeine free diet coke. I told them I didn't want that, they went back to try to find diet coke and came back with regular coke, which I also told them I didn't want. So I took no soda can, but they still charged me three bucks for it.

Guest services seems unwilling to remove these charges, like they don't believe me. It's a $12 charge, I've had no issue paying them for drink package and internet and Johnny Rocket's lunch but having to pay for things that they get wrong, or don't even deliver at all, irks me. They say the room service manager will look into it tomorrow.

All I know is that at this point I have been on the ship less than 24 hours and 90 minutes of that has been waiting in lines at the restaurant or guest services to fix mistakes on Royal Caribbean's part. It's just frustrating and not relaxing. I mean, it's little charges, but still. And time wasted on vacation over someone else's errors is just annoying.

Was there no table number on your Sea Pass card?

Nope. The dining time was properly filled in as 5:30. There was no table number, though, the area was just blank. And there were at least five other couples it happened to. One of them commented they'd been 14 cruises on Royal Caribbean and never seen that before, so they must've been at least Diamond, and they were stuck waiting as staff would listen to the issue and then just kind of awkwardly tell them to talk to the staff member at the head of that huge line.

Well, I really hope they remove the soda charge as I didn't take it, I wanted a regular soda.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows anything about the soda choices for room service. That just seems odd. And if the burgers have been changed and aren't the nice 8 ounce burgers with Waygu beef and sauteed onions and stuff described on the menu? Granted, this was a 2:30am room service order but I wasn't warned that the menu was different.

I'll probably end up at room service anyway as I had dining reservation troubles as well. I had a 5:30 seating but no table assigned, so I ended up waiting 45 minutes for a "temporary" table. Others had the same issue. Our wait was so long as it was the first night and only one person assisting people, and they were handling all the people who wanted to switch to early dining before the ones who were missing a table, as we originally got sent to a different line upstairs.

I ordered room service on Navigator of the Seas, just going off the supposed room service menus I saw online. It was the standard $7.95 fee.

I tried to order a cheese steak but they said they didn't have that. So okay, I ordered the burger. I thought this was the 8 oz Waygu beef burger, but what I got was just a plain old quarter pound burger, extremely well done, on a sad bun.

Then I ordered a diet coke, acknowledging I'd need to pay $3 (apparently $3.25 now?) for it. I really wanted a diet coke. Well, what came was caffeine free diet coke. The server went off to get a regular one, and when he came back he said all room service had access to was caffeine free diet coke or regular coke, but no diet coke. Does that sound right? It just sounds really odd that there's no diet coke at room service, I've seen cans all over the bars.

Well sounds like you have options.

 

If it was me I would just get a porter to help.

 

I don't think it is a half a mile anyway.

 

I walk the terminals regularly when we visit Miami and also when we have been in transit.

 

Keith

I ended up seeing a cab going back after dropping someone off, and offered him 10 bucks to take me down to the terminal. He was happy with the short and unmetered trip since he didn't wait in line for the pickup.

The walk was probably just under half a mile. It didn't look like there were sidewalks quite the whole way but the roads weren't busy at around ten. Still didn't look like a fun walk with multiple bags.

When I press the button to flush my toilet, sometimes it flushes immediately. More often, though, it takes 2 to 10 seconds to actually flush. While it's waiting, it makes this high pitch whining noise.

What's going on here? Why is there sometimes a variable delay for the toilet to flush? Is it contemplating its life choices? Considering going on strike? Can adjacent toilets not flush at the same time lest the cabins explode so they have to coordinate?

My current thought is to try to find a shared shuttle van with enough space for one person and two big bags, and see if they'll take me to the other terminal for five bucks. It's at least in the direction of the exit, I think.

Or I might head downtown for a civilized breakfast before heading to the new terminal. Debarkation day breakfast (or lunch on the next ship) is always a madhouse, I might decide its worth the extra uber and meal cost for something more peaceful.

I'm B2B cruising on two different cruise lines, so Sunday I'll be arriving at the Carnival terminal and transferring to the Royal Caribbean terminal.

Though less than half a mile away, I don't really want to haul multiple suitcases that distance by myself. Suggestions on getting from one terminal to the other? I'm sure that short of a trip would not make a taxi driver too happy...

I just fill my water bottle from the toilet bowl, plenty of room to dunk the water bottle there and if runs low, just flush to fill it up again!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

If you have a phone you could take pictures of the offerings to show her, instead of trying to remember them. If there's a sign up of the main entree choices you could take a picture of that, or even just a few shots (or video!) of the buffet stations.

I'm guessing that hurricane trivia questions are off limits? Same with sunken ships?

Doubt it! I was on a Carnival boat once and one of the movies showing on TV was In the Heart of the Sea, about the sinking of the whaling ship Essex.