CalLuvsCrusingToo

The haven serves a full thanksgiving dinner, the only thing they didn't have were turnips.

Turnips? Is that an LA Thanksgiving thing? ;)

( and I don't mean LA, as in L.A.)lol

I'm only Gold, and between the M&G, and meeting crew, and casino staff,

and Latitudes party, and, and......

Everyday there was 2-3 plates of Something in our cabin, from this person,

or that person.

Choc dipped Strawberries, fruit & cheese, chocolates, pastries, wine, Caviar,

yes, Caviar with some mini sandwiches.

What the heck?

And WHO did they think we were? LOL

Of course nightly chocolates on the bed.

It got quite comical..... What the heck would they bring us plates of next?

What a great letter. How exciting.

I originally saw MDQ in Vegas, like 4 times before seeing onboard.

But wasn't on Getaway...... Epic? Escape?

In any case it was just as good onboard, as the show in Vegas.

And the exact same set! Fantastic.

Also, would like to plug Legends in Concert and Blue Man Group.

Those are also fantastic Vegas shows that weve seen onboard & just as great.

How about...............didn't tip? :D

YES beautiful pics.

When we went under GG bridge during March

Calif Coastal, the ship went underneath........at almost Midnight!

I think most of the ship was Asleep! lol

I managed to stay away & take some pics at night from our balcony.

But yours are even better. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for your review.

I find it hard to NOT get sinus probs while on most ships.....

Either from passengers, or the constant Blowing of fans/ AC in the cabins.

Hate that. Wish we could turn Off the darn things.

Since you mentioned needing blankets, my guess you had a BLOWER! :cool:

Hope you feel better soon.

Were on Grand in Oct.

Alittle nervous about condition.

How were beds? Noise levels? Smells? Casino games? Really smokey? etc.

Thanks.

Wow, I can understand Why many of you jumping ship to other Lines.

The prob for me, its hard turning down the Comp cruises. NCL or otherwise.

Right now, I have more Vouchers than I can book......(before they expire)

Only our 2nd Princess casino comp cruise coming up mid-Oct.

So were basically bottom of the food chain with them.....

But I'm only a couple cruises from top level (Plat.?) with NCL.

So I plan to finish off with them, albeit alittle slower pace than I

was before I started adding in Princess freebies.....lol

The goal is to be Top tier (on 1 or 2 Lines) before retirement in a few years. Hoping this Helps keep our cruising going, with deals & perks, etc.

Every little bit helps.

Yes, I will be standing by to hear about Celebrity too.;)

I have never played in a casino before. If I am in the ship's casino with a friend with a disability that does not gamble can they sit beside me while I gamble or do they have to be gambling as well?

Yes, friend needs to be gambling age.

Because ships casinos are Small, machines are Limited. It can get Very crowded and sometimes Not enough machines to play.

If your friend is in a wheelchair, they can easily sit beside you on an End.

Otherwise, take a chair & move it to one side of you, so your friend isn't

blocking a machine that could be used by a player.

Thank you for being so courteous.

Practice online before you use real money. And then play small denom

like nickles til you learn more. ALWAYS Play MAX coins, whatever

denomination you play.

I used to carry one of those handheld little battery operated vp games

with me, and would play it in Doctors office, carpool, etc.

It really helped to teach me strategy.

Otherwise, stick to slots.

VP takes time to learn, and can be expensive

if you make alot of mistakes.

Good luck.

Interesting question...... must admit I don't think I've ever seen any

cruise personnel playing in a ships casino.

My guess would be No. But that's my guess.

They would need to play with a card? Or maybe Not use one?

Which is Wrong in my book, you Must Always play with a card.:p

Plus some ships, you need a card in order to cashout....

Maybe someone else knows for sure.:rolleyes:

I've been on Breakaway & we were on Escape last Thanksgiving.

Unless you GET reservations, you may have trouble (especially with a large

group) on Thanksgiving.

What WE did......got Res at Teppanyaki? the Benihana type restaurant

on Thanksgiving. Cuz Who thinks to go there on Turkey day? Lol

Worked out GREAT.

On the way to our table, I mentioned to the server, who then talked with one of the chefs.... "wouldn't it be great if we could have alittle Turkey with

our meal tonight? Then we would be having a Legit Thanksgiving!"

Sure enough, the chef raided the restaurant next door & got some turkey,

and cooked it with our dinners! So we all got a few bites of turkey

on Thanksgiving.

All was right with the world.....

:)

We had one on the Star arranged by the concierge. This was the first time for us as we never asked but thought it would be fun for my old sailor to be on a bridge again.

FYI-

On Princess they have the Ultimate Ship tour. Pricey, but went

everywhere including the bridge. Small group, like up to 9 guests.

Yes, they have Security officer along, as well as photog.

I've done a couple of those tours on NCL.

Seemed very basic & getting more access limited, like on the bridge.

Versus a really great behind the scenes tour on Princess.

(unless Prin. makes a major change for safety too in the future?)

In the meantime, I would do Princess again, and pass on NCL, unless its free.

I think of ships casinos like playing at the Indian casinos.

I still prefer Vegas to our local IC's, where I know Nev. Gaming comm. at least has jurisdiction. At least its something.....

On the ships, I strictly play Video poker. Theres no sneeking with what the payouts are. They are marked on the machine.

Smart vp players KNOW to check all payschedules before dropping a coin.

As far as slots?

Those can totally be set for terrible payouts, including on ships.

I don't know enough about tables, but I know 6/5 vs. 3/2..... play what

you feel comfortable & fair to you.

After playing all week with some small wins and more losses, on the last day I had a hand-pay on Ultimate X Video Poker. I was playing 10cent 5-play and my starting hand was four to a royal. Luckily the 5th card came in on a hand with a 10X multiplier for $4000. Nice to carry money off the ship for a change:D

NICE one! I luv that game. Played it on Breakaway, & same thing, dimes, hit a RF on one of the hands but only 4X mult for $1,600.

Congrats :)

Thanks. Good to know. We will be at palazzo June 24-27 on same promotion. Interior cabin! Out of curiosity at what level did you play? I only ask because I understand at certain levels of play, promo is for better cabins.

Want to use for post T-day cruise to mexico so that will work!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I played only about 10k points, which could have upgraded to 15 day cruise,

but we didn't need that. We aren't retired, and can't take a 2 week cruise right now anyway....... So I just took the Inside cabin.

I told Grazie rep. that I didn't need to spend a couple thousand in casino, for

points toward a couple hundred upgrade in cabin level. (like inside to OV.)

Long story short.....if you aren't winning? Take the Inside, and just Pay to upgrade cabin level.

PS- I've been Gold level at Ven/Palz for YEARS..... they have decimated vp inventory. Its down to hardly anything! Mostly all slots & more tables.:mad:

Just picked up my Princess cruise voucher from Venetian this wknd....

Certificate says Book by Oct. 4

Sail by 6/30/17.

NOT long in comparison to the NCL vouchers we usually get.

YMMV

So your Ranger didn't interrupt on the Ships loud speakers off & on, over the course of 4 hours? Didn't think so.

We heard others grumbling, and some people didn't know any better......

Hey, we luv the Captain, but don't want to hear Him over the loud speakers

30+ times either!

In the future, we hope to avoid ships that do this. When we sailed out of

Vancouver, they did Not have a Ranger.......It was sooooo much better.

Theres a thread explaining what happened in Ketchikan.

 

Celebrity ship rammed into one of the docks, got damaged &

the pier was damaged. Believe this happened Sat. during 45mph gusts.:eek: Theres video of it posted. (I don't have it)

 

Long story short, its going to be awhile before theres parking space

for all the ships.

 

Can you say Hello Tenders.;)

Thread is titled: Cruise Ship Plows into Ketchikan Dock.

(might be on page 2)

For someone who mainly Flies domestic, but occ sails out of Florida,

or Vancouver...... I'm debating Which to apply for? :confused:

Originally was leaning towards just the TSA PreCk. $85 for 5 years

But after reading this whole thread..... thinking Global Entry for $100 might

be the way to go?

Theres a thread explaining what happened in Ketchikan.

Celebrity ship rammed into one of the docks, got damaged &

the pier was damaged. Believe this happened Sat. during 45mph gusts.:eek: Theres video of it posted. (I don't have it)

Long story short, its going to be awhile before theres parking space

for all the ships.

Can you say Hello Tenders.;)

Interesting observation from someone at the scene.

 

http://mvwildblue.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/2016-13-cruise-ship-damages-city-float.html

Yep, that looks like the same ship setup we had in Ketchikan couple weeks ago.

There will be more to the story......I think Celeb Capt will say Infinity was sacrificed for sake of Not running into Zaandam? Hmmmmmmm

Perhaps they should have stayed & Not try to leave?

Luckily ship we were on, NCL Pearl, had already left & made clean getaway.

Ehhh, that'll buff right out. :D

 

 

Grey

Serious as it was.....that comeback made me LOL.

We were in Ketchikan 2 weeks ago & weather was nice.

Think that ship was nearby us. All was well.

Glad everyone ok, looked scary.

NCL offer for inside still cost over $1K and they want another $1K to upgrade from inside to balcony $900 plus port and taxes for 3rd in cabin. I also have a Princess offer for an inside stateroom and it is only $400 to upgrade to balcony with a 3rd person between $199-$399 depending on stateroom. NCL wants $900 for an inside cabin.. Getting a better deal on princess, but I was getting a better deal on Royal. Will have to wait to see how that program has changed.

 

Overall not a NCL fan. Still going on the cruise but doubt I would ever cruise with them again.

Yowza!, I don't know where you're getting your prices either?

WHERE are you going?

I've done 7-8 NCL casino cruise vouchers and NEVER paid exorbitant prices

like that!

I usually upgrade from Inside to OV or Balcony, and averages

$100-300 pp.

(could be more for Alaska, but balconies were a premium, so I did OV for $100)

No catches. You are still responsible for port, taxes, and admin charges with casino reservations. And you will be responsible for the gratuity on your drinks package (18% gratuity on the retail price of the package).

 

Overall a great deal.

 

On a recent cruise on the Escape, there were over 400 casino guests (between Casinos at Sea and Caesars Entertainment). Everyone taking advantage of offers like yours.

YES, its getting harder for me to make a case for Princess vouchers.

It sure seems I'm getting more bang for my buck with NCL cas vouchers.

There are very few airports in the US where there are dedicated International terminals with no post-security connections to domestic terminals. Even the dreaded TBIT at LAX is now connected airside to T4-8.

 

Thus, if you are flying coach internationally, and are thus not getting PreCheck, just purchase a cheap fully-refundable same-day domestic ticket and use that PreCheck endorsement to get past the huddled masses. Cancel it pre-departure.

Brilliant idea.