piper45maru

Here's a couple more threads about vow renewals, and one has pics.

Congrats on 50 years!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2242934

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2216436

I was on the Epic for an 8/26 sailing in a balcony, and this was the coffee setup. I don't drink coffee, so I can't speak to the quality of that, but they had quite a nice selection of tea at the buffet that I stored in my room and brewed each day.

I, too, enjoyed the Indian cuisine. It's located near the burger/hot dog/fries section - toward the aft of the main buffet (across from the soft serve ice cream). I thought the chutney was especially yummy!

Thanks!

Thanks so much for this review! I love Indian food (it was the only thing I ate during my two buffet visits on the Epic in August) and am sailing on the Pearl at the beginning of November. I booked an aft room on Deck 11, so even though I usually avoid buffets, I was planning on really utilizing the Garden Cage this time with it being so close to my room, but I was nervous. This actually makes me very excited!

Is the Indian section prominent on the Pearl? I feel like I lucked into finding it on the Epic after wandering aimlessly around for a while finding nothing else I really found appealing.

Thanks again!

So is anything being added? Based on the list I read that bowling is gone, unique dining venue is gone and kid's water play area is gone. How is this an improvement or upgrade?

I know Single Cruiser already answered this very well, but I wanted to add a bit more from my discussions with the Hotel Director and various bartenders from when I was on the Epic at the end of August. Although the bowing alley in Bliss is going, the new design of the bars should be a lot better for the "flow" of getting drinks to customers in a much more timely manner.

Of course, the Hotel Director was brand new and had boarded the ship the same day I did, and I talked to him on his first full day on the ship while he was still getting used to things, so this may not be set in stone, but getting drinks to customers in a more timely manner seems like an improvement to me. :p

He told all of us at our Meet and Greet to get pictures of Bliss (where the Meet and Greet was held) for posterity because it was going to change quite a bit and we'd have a piece of history.

Just got done reading the pages at Beyond Ships. So much info. Thank you! Part of me wishes I could “storm the beach” a la Normandy like the original passengers, but I know I am in for a good time. Thanks again!

If the SUP gives a priority tender ticket that's the way to go, you can show up for the tenders (from ship to shore, not vice versa) and get priority boarding on any tender that is about to go to GSC. :)

Thank you once again. Have I mentioned you're my hero? :)

That sounds AWESOME! I've read booking the SUP gets a priority tender ticket, so booking it I will be! I thought I'd be tied to a time if I did, but if not, I'm "onboard"! Ha! See what I did there? :)

The buffet food won't be local, sorry. ;) Pizza slices, hamburgers, fries and a salad bar IIRC.

Did you plan the menu? If so, you should be sorry! :p Good to know ahead of time it will be standard fare.

Did I already spammed the http://beyondships.com/NCL-GreatStirrupCay.html link in this thread? Great site.

I hope not, because I will feel woefully inadequate in my research if you did! I've done a lot of Googling (as you can imagine), but this site hasn't come up for the Pearl or GSC (but I am an idiot, because it did for my W Med Epic itinerary, so I should have known to have gone there!).

Thanks again! :)

I was recently on the Epic from 8/26 to 9/2 and had a pending charge on my AmEx in addition to the actual charge of my final shipboard bill.

I had been keeping a close eye on my account through the iConcierge app every day on the cruise (and did notice a duplicate charge for something I had prepaid that they removed for me onboard, so I was glad I was keeping tabs), and I noticed that the pending charge was the same as one of my final days on the ship, so I assumed that NCL had run that amount as a safeguard near the end of my cruise.

I signed up with AmEx to monitor the charge, and I got the email notification at the end of last week that it was dropped, so it took about 12 business days or so, but it never actually got charged. HTH!

Absolutely gorgeous! Congrats! I'm glad NCL was able to add a little more "specialness" to a special milestone!

I try my best to make it a better world. ;) :D

You made mine a better world! :)

I would utilize a priority tender ticket, GSC is a really nice place, only even to maximize your time there. Especially if you're having the UBP and/or a (small) cabana, some people decide to invite others to share a cabana (costs), heard that quite often.

So, forgive another question. Am I to understand by your reference to a "priority" ticket that you don't get assigned a time if you buy a GSC excursion? I've only tendered into a port once (last month in Cannes), and you had to sign up for a tender time (mine was insanely early because of my chosen shore excursion). The way I'm understanding it, there are two lines--priority and not, and I can leave when I want, and I can get into the priority line if I book the SUP ahead of time.

The lagoon is gaining in popularity on CC so be aware.. ;)

Good to know. Our roll call is pretty dead, so hopefully most of my fellow passengers are not CC frequenters and will just stop at the first beach. :D

I think I've covered them all, feel free to ask, this post was made in a hurry :D

You did. Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to respond when you were in a hurry.

Now, the endless font of questions has another question about GSC (can you tell I used to be a research scientist? LOL!)! I was looking through the NCL Freestyle magazine I cribbed from the ship last month and was reading about traditional Bahamian BBQ today. I know no one can answer this definitively, and my mileage may vary, and yadda yadda yadda, and that's fine, but GSC is the only Bahamas stop on my itinerary. Anyone remember if NCL makes an effort to include traditional Bahamanian food in its buffet in GSC, or is it the usual generic buffet food? Just was curious and thought I'd ask here since you guys are always a wonderful source of info!

Thanks!

A couple if years ago, I tried booking the paddle boards for 3 of my kids, could only book 2 (tried a week before the cruise, on the BA). We also had a priority tender ticket, but we must have sat on the tender for at least a half hour in full sun while the filled it completely. I would've rather waited an hour or two, when they were no longer filling them.

Thanks for the tips! Maybe I'll tender in a little later and take my chances with being able to SUP and finding a private spot if I walk a little farther!

Lagoon lower left, on the right is the road where the tram has three or four stops from the tender bay in the upper center.

 

The beach areas go, top to bottom, from crowded to less crowded to leisurely quiet at the lagoon. :)

You steered me to the best spot on the Epic for my recent cruise (heaven!), and now I am booked on the Pearl to GSC at the beginning of November, and here you are again offering advice. :)

Again, not worried about a long walk or having nearby bars or attendants constantly checking on me--I'm all about a nice private spot to lounge for the day. I'm good with no shade because I actually have a medical need for sunshine (that sounds a lot better than reality given the symptoms, especially when you're from Michigan, lol!).

So, if anyone who's been to GSC could help me out with the following questions, I'd really appreciate it (and apologies to hijacking the OP).

If I sleep in a bit (maybe until 8 or 9?), can I still have a leisurely day at the lagoon with my pick of spots and some privacy? It seems like it based on the comments here, but I'm a planner, so I like specifics. :) Or if I sleep in that late does it mean I'm pretty much at the mercy of an insanely long line for the tender? And if I decide to spontaneously standup paddleboard (which is almost a given), can I do that? Or do I need to I book the SUP excursion? And if I do book the excursion, will I get a set-in-stone tender time I have to honor?

So sorry for all the questions! After my port-intensive, shore-excursion-booked-every-day-mustering-insanely-early recent cruise, I'd like a much more relaxed freestyle cruise this next time, but I also don't want to miss out on what I want to do, either. Thanks in advance for any answers from those in the know!

I have done lots of searches in the Ports of Call forum for the Bahamas for answers to these questions, and have found nothing, so I appreciate this thread.

Epic 2 weeks ago on a Western Med itinerary had Campari. Aperol was also being downed in a very enthusiastic manner. :)

We will be on the Epic commencing 25 October 2015, do you think it will be warm enough to seek out Deck 18 or would you recommend a spa pass?

It's a completely open deck with no cover, so I'd look up the average temperature for that time of year and for the locations your cruise will be going to and decide what you're comfortable with. The three times I was up there, it is was between 90 and 100 degrees and docked in port, so I can't speak to cooler temps or what the wind is like when the ship is moving.

Nice to see your reporting back and had a good time! :)

I did have a lovely time, and the whole time I was on the deck, I kept mentally thanking you and planning on reporting back in this thread with my gratefulness. When I took that pic of Mt. Vesuvius, I knew it was icing on the cake, and I had to use it!

Without your posts, I don't think I ever would have had that view--or the revelation of lying on such a comfy day bed (which actually eclipsed the expensive day bed I booked at a swanky pool in Vegas once upon a time that didn't live up to the hype) soaking up the Mediterranean air.

So, thank you! :)

I'm just following up in case anyone else searches for information about this now that I am off the Epic.

It was reported in some threads before I left (on 8/25) that solo gatherings on some ships were moved from the lounge to public places to alleviate the need for lounge access. All solo gatherings on my cruise (8/26 to 9/2) were in the Studio Lounge.

I did not have keycard access to the Studio Lounge no matter what time of day, even during the time of the gathering. I was knocking on the door on the fourth night of my cruise at the same time that the head of some cruise ship division was trying to come in to give a talk about purchasing upcoming cruises (I can't remember her title), and she said to me, "If you don't have access, you should be able to get it from Guest Services."

Basically, that says to me that even management personnel from divisions other than Guest Services think that all solos should have access and that Guest Services can provide it. I assured her that every time I had needed to access the lounge someone was there to let me in, and my cruise was more than halfway over, so I was fine not having to go to Guest Services. Considering how much I was stressing about not having access before the cruise, you can tell (a) how much the cruise itself relaxed me and (b) how little I actually needed access. :)

Not having access did not dampen anything for me one bit, and when I did need access, people were more than happy to let me in. Hope this helps any solo not booked in a Studio cabin in the future.

So, the sun deck all the way forward on Deck 18 really was the best place on the ship, as far as I'm concerned! It was wonderful! I was on a really port-intensive itinerary, so I didn't make it up there as often as I wanted, but the three times I did make it, it was heaven.

I was the only one up there on the Barcelona embarkation day (I got on in Rome, so it was a regular day for me) for over an hour. The whole deck to myself for an hour! I did a quick morning tour of Barcelona and was on the deck by 2:00 pm after spending an hour down by the pool (using the waterslides with no lines!). Most people boarding in Barcelona hung out on the pool deck, so when it started to fill up at 2, I went to deck 18, and no one found it until a woman arrived at around 3. I stayed until 4, and only a few people wandered through the whole time I was there.

I was back on the ship by 3 pm on the Naples day, went straight to the deck, and it was about half full. The picture below was my view as I sunbathed (Mt. Vesuvius). Loved every second I spent on that deck!

Ship – Epic

Deck – 10 aft

Stateroom # – 10315

Stateroom Category – Large balcony (B6)

Starboard or Port Side – Starboard

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Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes, being the last cabin on the starboard side (before the actual aft balconies facing the wake), it was very quiet. Some noise/vibration from the engines depending on the port and how much the ship needed to maneuver in port. Woke me up a couple of days. On days I was already awake when the vibration started, I wasn’t sure it would have awoken me. Loved when it did wake me up because I realized we were docking and eagerly jumped out of bed to watch the docking process from my balcony. Was disappointed the one morning it didn’t wake me up (Civitavecchia), but it was my last morning of the cruise and I stayed up way too late with new friends the night before, so that may have been the reason I slept through it. *g* I am generally a light sleeper, so I’m not sure heavier sleepers would wake up or not.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? – No.

Balcony View – Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – No obstructions at all. Last balcony on the starboard side so has a full view of the ship looking left from the balcony. Pretty awesome. Starboard side views were fantastic for my W Med cruise (Livorno, Cannes, Palma, Barcelona, Naples).

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? – Maybe slightly smaller for class, but still enough room for two chairs, a lounger, and a table while still allowing me room to practice yoga every morning in the empty space. Would book again in a heartbeat! Much bigger than the balcony next to me but smaller than the open balcony below me.

Was wind a problem? – No.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? – Not truly an aft cabin, but noticed no soot.

Any specific problems with this cabin? – I had to leave it and return to the real world. *sigh*

Any other comments? – The cabin layout is spacious and well organized. As I said above, I would book this room again in a heartbeat.

That's really too bad. I just got back from the Epic yesterday, and Palma was by far my favorite port. It's the only one I want to visit again!

I was on this sailing as well and had the time of my life! Met many wonderful crew members and fellow guests, which was fantastic, as I was a solo cruiser. Had a lot of great experiences in port, too. generally shun organized excursions, but since I booked relatively last minute as a solo traveler, I chose the shore excursion credit and booked four shore excursions plus a disembarkation excursion with transfer. None of them disappointed and two of them were absolutely stellar! Can't wait to read more of your experiences, and I hope to post my own soon, too.

Congrats on your 1,00th post!

Am I allowed to say that my favorite NCL cruise is the one I am leaving for TOMORROW???!?! By virtue of the fact that it is my first NCL cruise, my first cruise in 12 years, and oh, did I mention--it's TOMORROW??!!? :)

You all sound like you've had such great experiences, and I am so excited that my chance is finally here! :)

I hope your friend reads the dailies and is able to hook up with the other solo travelers. But, no matter what, she's on a cruise, right? She should have an awesome time! :)

When I was 32 days out, I still hadn't gotten my eDocs and was worried so I called NCL and was told that because I was a GTY, I wouldn't get them until 30 days out. Sure enough, on Day 30, they were there.

I have heard here on CC both of people in Insides and balconies having their cards coded for the lounge and being refused. Apparently it depends on who you ask.

I wanted to book a Studio for my 8/26 Epic cruise. There was one room left, and I waffled just an hour too long, and it got sold within that hour. I called NCL and asked if I could get 24/7 access to the lounge as I had seen some (but not all) people on CC were able to. I was told no by the NCL person I spoke to after he talked to his manager--but he said I might get a different answer on the ship and to ask when I checked in. Seems even the NCL people know that it's not consistent! I cruise in 3 days, so we'll see what they tell me on the ship! :)

I definitely wouldn't consider an inside an upgrade--the benefits of the lounge for a single traveler seem really great, and that's what I am really bummed about missing out on for waffling an hour too long. The good news is that when I booked, a balcony was only $180 more than an inside, so I was able to justify that cost pretty easily. I'm looking forward to the balcony, but I know I'm going to miss the benefits of the lounge in the morning when I have to truck all the way to a dining room or the buffet instead of sleeping in a bit, lol! I am excited I'll be able to meet other solos during the nightly gathering, though!