SheehanDJ

Never an official group, but it seem every cruise there is a 20-30 people family reunion cruise all wearing the same shirts throughout the cruise, usually themed to the port or sea day it happens to be.

My hat is really off to who ever organizes them, we have family every year that says they are going with us on our yearly cruise, has yet to happen. They usually wait until the week before we leave to make a decision then blame us when the price is now double if there are any cabins available at all.

I would recommend an un-obstructed ocean view cabin.

Why: Its your first cruise, it's nice to wake up to sunshine and blue water, but other than sleeping, showering, and changing you will be out enjoying the ship. Exactly like we do and have done for 11 cruises.

As for the were, definitely check what is around your cabin and above and below. As far as mid, fore, or aft I really don't think it matters unless you are really susceptible to motion sickness, and even then it really won't matter. We have stayed in all locations of cabins and have noticed no real difference between them.

In my opinion balconies are over rated. Socializing and people watching is one of the best things about cruising. I've heard the "enjoying coffee/breakfast on the balcony" thing, you can do the same with out the up charge on an upper deck. Not to mention the fact that there are all kinds of threads about how their balcony experience was ruined by some real or imagined slight.

We have been on 11 cruises all in ocean views or promenade views if RCCL, and have enjoyed every single one.

Definitely list those you really enjoyed/provide excellent service by name on the comment cards. It leads to promotions and other perks for them. Take a picture of their name tag if you are worried you won't remember how to spell it.

We are on the repositioning cruise for the Dawn in January 2018. Where is a good place to find a hotel for the pre-cruise stay? I am looking for one that will let us store our luggage for the day since boarding is at night. What is the best way to get to the port? And finally what are good things to do during the day? Thanks for any suggestions!

I'm not sure how NCL works, but for RCL there are two separate lines one for luggage one for passengers.

We went to the port early 10:30am dropped off our luggage at the boat, spent most of the day in Old San Juan, and came back to board around 4.

Not sure why "climbing a waterfall" is such a big deal..

It's kind of like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, its just a hunk of metal. Or a picture holding up the leaning tower of Pisa. One of those things you just gotta do if you vacation there.

We were on a 6 top table, 3 couples. One of the couples were young and on their first cruise.

They got their menu's and their heads went together and they started discussing what they were going to get. I'll get the crab cakes, you get the shrimp cocktail and we will share type of thing. So the waiter comes to take the order and starts with the new folks, they place their well thought out order so they can get a nice sampling of a few dishes by trading portions.

Then in turn he comes to the rest of us experienced folks. We were probably a bit more glutenous than normal, but all in all what I consider to be a normal MDR dinner order. A couple appetizers each, a main course with a third shared plate of something else, that kind of thing.

The look on their faces was priceless, with their heads slowly swiveling, tracking our orders. When the waiter finished with the last order he went back to the new cruisers and handed them their menus back. They did much better on their second attempt.

It was definitely a "you had to be there" moment, and one that probably could never be repeated in the modern internet age.

We are in bed by midnight 1am, up at 7am, deck/beach chair nap at some point time dependent upon shore excursions.

If your music is spilling over from "your space" onto my space, I don't really care what time it is or what kind of music it is. Use ear buds. Listening to music on your balcony any other way is just rude.

Wow!

You know what, I don't like what you look like or the sound of your voice. I don't have a problem with what other passengers look and sound like, just you. Your image and sound is spilling over from "your space" onto my space so you need to be restricted to your cabin.

See how ridiculous you sound?

You are on a cruise ship with all different kinds of people. Each with their own flaws, quirks, and views of the world. If you go out into public AT ALL, you don't have a "space" all to your own any more. If you don't like this, the solution is real simple, don't leave your house.

Well, OP, sounds like no one is really trying to help you. Which cruise are you on? I will make the sacrifice and book at the same time and allow you to buy all my drinks...

RCCL forced us onto NCL during the second Empress launch disaster. We had a b2b booked and found ourselves with out a vacation at the last minute. NCL had an opening the same week out of the same port and the price was comparable to our refund.

We had a blast. There were things we wished NCL would adopt from RCCL and vice versa. That was the end of our loyalness to royalness, now when planing a cruise we look at all the lines. This September we are going on the NCL Escape, May of 2018 we are going on the new Symphony, 2019 who knows. There is an old adage, "It's cheaper to keep a customer, than gain a new one." Before RCCL by default had our vacation dollar, now they have to compete for it with all the other lines.

There are haters and abject loyalist for every cruise line, what we found out was cruising is cruising. If you bring your fun with you, you WILL have a good time.

You're entitled to your feelings but it's a fact that the number of non-smokers killed per year by nic addicts is approximately 40,000 just in the United States.

Actually that "fact" you are quoting is from an EPA study that was found to have the data "cherry picked" to reflect an outcome the EPA wanted to find.

What's worse, is the bad science that follows it. As in "new" studies that site this known bad study as their primary source. There is actually a scientific paper out there that is entitled "Don't believe that second hand smoke won't kill you" (paraphrasing, don't remember the exact wording but that is real close). With in this paper there is a disclaimer stating no factual evidence could be found that second hand smoke will hurt you. This paper is cited often as scientific "proof" that second hand smoke is bad for you.

The reality is, human lungs are awesome filters, the smoker is removing the vast majority of the bad stuff from the cigarette smoke. The left overs that are exhaled are being diluted by the surrounding environment to the point that there isn't much measurable bad stuff left. It's along the same lines as why we all aren't dropping dead from carbon monoxide poisoning from all the vehicles around.

Common sense will lead you to this conclusion in and of itself. Back in the 40's and 50's the vast majority of people smoked, and smoked for real. No filters, 6 packs a day, inside with windows closed. If your facts were correct then 100's of thousands of non smokers should have been dropping dead along with their smoking counter parts. The reality is, there weren't. Kids grew up, some became smokers other's didn't. They weren't cancer ridden and according to you and your "facts" that should have been.

Now, I respect that fact that you may not want to be around someone who smokes, but honestly, if you are going to attempt to quote numbers you should at least have enough self respect to do your own research. Not just regurgitate something that you heard from someone else, and since it fits your view of the world, randomly decide that it is true. Anyone who spends even a few minutes looking into this stuff can quickly find some truth, the problem is, you don't want truth. You want to find things that agree with your view of the world, the internet was made for you, because on the internet it is very easy to find groups of people who will agree with any inane view of the world anyone may have.

I suggest, in the future, you simply state that you don't like to be around people who smoke. For your own personal reasons that you really don't have to share. It is just something you don't like, and want to avoid it. I also suggest you spend some time really looking into things, I don't want you to believe me, I want you to do your own research. And don't just research things that are against your view of the world, research those things that are in agreement with your view too because you may just find out you need to rethink a few things.

We will be in 11100 Sept of 2017, similar cabin type. My TA has a block of these type cabins, it could be why you aren't "seeing" them on fake bookings.

Thanks to the well wishers!

 

(Not trying to blame the cruise line or anyone, I'm just naturally curious and wondering if I could have done anything differently to avoid it, i.e., did I just not wash my hands that one crucial time, or did we all eat the same bad dish. I do see that chengpk75 says food-borne is unlikely.)

You touched something then touched your face more than likely. Folks immediately think buffet or food, but more likely it was an elevator button or a casino chip if you caught it on the boat and not on the plane to the boat.

Filthiest thing in the world is the TV remote control.

They will honor your purchased package or upgrade you for free. I received my 'SP' sticker while on the Adventure a few weeks ago, the cruise was after they changed to Deluxe only.

So when my TA tells me the price it will be $113.50?

 

And when my TA tells my friends their price in the same exact cabin next to mine it will be $100?

 

Hmmm

 

Funny thing though in the past I price my cruise out without logging in to my Ncl account and price it out before calling my TA who gives me the exact same price and perks plus an obc

 

I also price out cruises just for fun with logging in to my Ncl acct and it's the same price when I'm not logged in

 

Fwiw I've never removed dsc but based on what I've gathered both here and from research...I just might remove it on my upcoming cruise and tip the steward and mdr for their personalized service.

 

I'm not real worried about cruises down the road as I'm exploring other lines now

 

 

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There's this thing called cookies. All web sites use them, whether you are logged into NCL or not they still know it's you. Every website you go to looks at these cookies too and pass that info to GoogleAds who then make sure you are seeing advertisements about recent things you have looked into.

If you are running an AdBlocker type software, the cookies are still generated and stored, the Ads are just not displayed. If you are using Chrome in incognito mode, the cookies are still stored, your history isn't. If you disable cookies, cookies are still stored. EVERYTHING you do online is tracked, stored, analysed, and available for sale. I know it sounds like I'm paranoid, I really wish I was, but it is how it all works.

I do book Inside GTY's last minute and buy no packages. :p

I see, so you just want to argue, you really don't have an opinion of your own just making posts contrary to mine. Pretty classical definition of a "troll". Good to know.

NCL Is NOT FILLing the ship's!!

 

Thats why you see $379 cruise's

 

Dawn's first Canada run had over 500 empty beds

 

Most NCL ships still have rooms for sale the day before sailing. Check some.

I did check, having empty beds has nothing to do with the profitability. At current price points NCL is making money and not loosing enough customers to change their price point.

You, however, didn't address the over all theme of my post. That being you/us the passengers are choosing to pay more than we have to.

I booked on the Escape for next year, I could have gone for $1500 ($599 p/p inside guarantee) I didn't. On your next NCL cruise are you going to be staying in an inside guarantee? Are you not going to consume paid beverages, meals, and shows?

If you answered yes, how is that NCL's fault? It isn't it's yours. You are making the choice and in doing so you are rewarding NCL's behavior and encouraging them to continue. If you want them to stop, then start booking the cheapest inside guarantee and don't participate in any upcharged items.

Nickel and diming would be if NCL advertised a cabin price, then forced you to buy a drink, dining, and entertainment package. If you didn't purchase these additional things, they wouldn't sell you a cruise. This isn't happening. What is happening is people are blaming NCL for their own lack of ability to control their own spending.

The simple fact is that they are filling up their ships, so are all the other cruise lines. As long as they continue to do so prices are going to be adjusted upwards until they reach that point of balance where it is more than the market will bear. Only then will prices start being slowly reduced.

Cheap cruising is available on all of the cruise lines. Inside cabin, only drink what is free, and only eat where it is free and it can be an amazingly inexpensive vacation. Right now you can go on a 7 day Eastern or Western for $379 pp (+taxes and fees), so probably right around $1000, and that's on the Escape.

BOOK IT! $1000 for vacation, let's go! Wait, though. It's only $38.50 p/p per day more for a balcony, why be stuck in a cabin where you can't enjoy your own private little paradise, especially at that small of a price. Then a few drinks around the pool while enjoying the sun and music, of course it would be uncivilized not to have a glass of wine with dinner, not to mention another while enjoying this amazing evening on our own private balcony. You know, that drink package only adds about $14 p/p per day to the total cost of this cruise, we might as well get it as it pays for itself. You know what also would be good though, it is vacation, we should treat ourselves to a nice steak dinner. Oh, and look here, the price of just paying for that steak dinner is more than it would cost us if we just signed up for the 3 free specialty dinners. It would be foolish not to do that.

Every single person complaining about price and/or nickel and diming has made those exact rationalizations to themselves. If you are honest with yourself you know it's true, we do it every single cruise. Those that post here complaining about it just haven't come to terms with it yet. Those that post here and don't complain have. Then there are those who don't post here, and don't even know or care that here exists. Those are the folks only spending the $1000 and are going on 3 to 5 cruises for every one of ours.

The policy makes sense for a couple reasons:

1) They just aren't staffed nor have the room for a bunch of folks to walk up and request take-out.

2) The buffet has plastic plates, the restaurants have glass, if they allowed it some idiot would take it to the pool deck and then drop it and break it.

We have never done it on NCL, but on RCL we most always have lunch by the pool from the buffet. We have also taken a fruit plate back to the cabin from the MDR, our waiter gladly wrapped it for us. I don't recall if it was switched to a plastic plate or not.

11 is early to close, is that on all cruises now? Do they cater to the crowd and more likely to stay open later on spring break or is closing early a cost saving thing and wouldn't matter?

 

 

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Their costs are fixed, closing early wouldn't cost them any less. If the bar is full I'm sure they would keep it open. The only reason to close is mandatory crew rest time.

I've never been on the Escape (we are booked for 2017), but the district brew house doesn't sound like a "party" bar to me, if they don't have entertainment then I doubt it stays busy until late in the night.

Depends on which hemisphere the ship is in...

...And we have a winner!!!

This post sir/madam is outstanding.

Wonderful to see a Doberman in a service dog position.

Due to movies in the 70's (and even UP in a way), this breed has really gotten a bad rap. They are just big bundles of goofiness and love, not to mention loyal and smart to a fault.

When we went in May we were in 5836, which is pretty much right by the rear elevator's and stairs, not to mention right under Taste. We were really worried about noise and never heard a peep.

When it was assigned to us (we went guarantee also) we were pretty disappointed about it being in such a crap location too. Turned out to be an excellent cabin whose location really worked out for us.

 

Checked on our upcoming AOS cruise starting this Saturday 9-24-16 and lo and behold, the upgrade Fairy passed and upgraded us from a Junior Suite to the Royal Family Suite. Woo Hoo!!

 

First time to be upgraded and we are so excited.

 

We usually get a balcony but we are 3 women and decided to get a Jr Suite for the extra room for clothes etc. We are totally surprised with the upgrade.

 

Flying out to San Juan on Thursday for a day of sightseeing on Friday before the cruise on Saturday.

 

Marlene

You say you just checked? RCCL never contacted you about the upgrade they just changed your room number and you happened to notice?

Is that normal? Never been upgraded.

Find a good one, and use them. Keep in mind there are bad ones that may work for large TA's, so if you like the large company but don't like the agent they assigned you, you can request a new one.

I never used to use one, that's what the internet is for right? Then via suggestions here I tried it, why pass up OBC right. Turns out I got a lot better deal than just OBC, I also got quite the reduced fare than what I could have gotten.

What we have learned is be flexible as possible in dates, destinations, cabins and cruise lines for the best deal.

In example, for the cruise we are leaving on in 9 days, we got it with a hefty discount and a bit of OBC. We just asked for a southern Caribbean trip sometime in the Sept - Oct time frame.

2017's cruise we didn't get much of a deal at all, but we wanted to go on the Escape western and it had to be in the first two weeks of September. We only got a deal at all because we accepted a bit of a less desirable cabin.