JoieNsk

I can try to send an e-mail to the concierge. But with other cruise lines I had certain experience, that pre-cruise customer service is not very well connected to the on-board one. So I might be just wasting my time trying to request anything like this pre-cruise?

Would appreciate any info on what alcohol we should expect to be in the 2-bedroom on embarkation - on Epic for 11 days in Europe?

I like to have sparkling wine for sailaway, and I like dry - brut. 

If I can - I just buy my own. But we are not going to have plenty of time before embarkation on our upcoming cruise. So not sure I am going to run around and look for a wine shop in Marseille. Even though there are couple close to our hotel.

We have never been on NCL at all. But I always thought NCL is somewhat the same level as Royal Caribbean. And the free alcohol we have gotten couple times on Royal Caribbean was not any good :)))) Even though I am by no means a wine expert or a connoisseur :)))

Though with Celebrity we had much better experience. Suites on Celebrity are considerably more expensive than on Royal Caribbean, I get it. So no wonder the alcohol was much better.

I would think that Haven should be on par with Celebrity suites? So we should hope to get something decent? 

Also I could not find where I can buy some flower arrangement on NCL web-site. I have allergy to certain flowers, so I prefer to just buy myself something simple like carnations or roses. Usually what you get from the cruise line - has a wide mixture of all kinds of flowers. Which is pretty. But I am most likely going to be allergic to 70% of those pretty flowers :)))

NCL doesn't let you get you own flowers? Or it's just our cruise is that unlucky? 

Thank you very much for all the info!

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Not exactly. There are actual SC cabins on many ships. And we have two SB GTY bookings upcoming on Zaandam. There are SBs on Zaandam, but no SCs.

2 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I have a SB guarantee on sister ship Volendam and when I asked, they assigned me a cabin.  I like these SBs so marked my reservation Do Not Upgrade.

Thank you for the info!

These boards are priceless as a source of info!

Like I mentioned before, this is our first experience with guarantee room.

11 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

 

Same here.  What guarantee category did you book, if you don't mind?  We booked an SC (we are fine with any Neptune cabin really) but I think we will likely get an SA (those were the only ones left when I could still see open room for our sailing).  Our PCC thinks so too, but we will just wait and see where they put us.

My understanding is that any Neptune guarantee is called SC. That's what I read here at CruiseCritic. This is HAL's code for Neptune Guarantee.

When I booked, there was no option to pick up some category, as far as I remember. I booked Guarantee, and then later noticed SC without a number in our reservation.

But now our reservation says SA7068. 

2 hours ago, Midwest Sunseeker said:

We board July 30. Still no room, Guar SS.   What happens if we get to the port and there are no Signature Suites available?  Hal is still selling Spa Verandas.  Will they assign us a lower grade room and refund the difference we paid?  

We were on guarantee Neptune Suite. And there was none available whenever I looked too! So I was a little worried, as this was our first experience with guarantee rooms.

We just got our room assigned couple days ago for our cruise on August 19th: we got great room, SA type - not the one upfront, not a handicapped etc. Even not far away from the lounge.

@81Zoomie, thank you very much for the great info!

We will be boarding Rotterdam in about 30 days. It will be first time on Rotterdam, and I am particularly looking forward after reading your comments.

Thank you also for the easy and entertaining style of your comments! The info goes down much better when brought up in such a fun way! 🙂

We just got our cabin assigned - seemed like today - for our cruise starting on August 19th.

I am impressed! I thought we would have to wait to a week before, because it seems like it is typical timeframe lately. 

It's our first time with guarantee. So far we got lucky.

Hope they are not going to change the cabin - closer to the date 🙂

3 hours ago, PatJim said:

That elevator also goes 1 deck below the Haven lounge, opening directly to the Garden Cafe.  I used this shortcut all the time to get curry lunches, which I brought back up to the Haven to eat.

Thank you for the tip!

Maybe if the buffet (Garden Cafe?) will be busy, we will take the food and go up to eat it in Haven places.

1 minute ago, mrbocbox said:

The short answer is no. All the sites we visited were public. A few were pretty quiet when we visited so, it seemed like we got some dedicated space. 

 

We made some obligatory visits to "Alabaster Factory", "Nubian Spice Shop", and "Mosaic Factory." These were nothing more than sales pitch visits. Some were better than others and we bought a couple of places.  

Thank you, Matt!

You were mentioning that you weren't quite happy with your Egyptologist tour guide.

Was it only because of the luck or time they gave you? Or something else was a concern?

I watched some reviews about other companies experiences (the lower priced and local based). And some of them praise their guides. But some of them were saying that the guides weren't really knowledgeable, or/and were kind of scamming the tourists to get as much money out of them as they could.

I read that even the companies well-known and well reviewed here cannot provide the same type of experience in Egypt comparing to what they provide in Europe for example. As things in Egypt are run differently, and the companies we book through can not really control a lot of experiences - even if they try.

On 7/9/2023 at 3:21 PM, mrbocbox said:

Overall, it was a bucket list trip for us and we enjoyed this once in a lifetime experience. 

I noticed that many companies include one or two of "private" or "exclusive" experiences, where they would take you to some place without other groups, or do an after-hours visit.

Did Avalon have anything like this? 

Thank you in advance for all the info!

Thank you very much for the review!

I am researching going to Egypt for a while. My husband doesn't want to go, so I would have to go by myself - and I am a female. So I have to go with the organized tour - there is no way I am going just by myself.

And Avalon seem to be the least pricey of all the companies I am comfortable with. But I could not find any reviews for their Egypt trips.
 

So that was really helpful for me!

3 minutes ago, omahabob said:

O'Sheehan's. It's usually always open, except 3:30 AM to 6 or 6:30 AM. Fairly limited menu there, but we loved the food.

 

Thank you! Will put it into my notes!

4 minutes ago, omahabob said:

 

For the most part, full restaurant menu items are available.

Thank you!

Sorry - one more question.

What is the 24-hour restaurant you guys are mentioning? It is the buffet?

Yes, it is very nice place to get info!

Really appreciate all the great advice here!

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

The answers above are spot on.  I want to address you missing the buffet.  I was on the Joy, fully booked, went to the Buffet for breakfast when in a Club Balcony suite.  I also was on the Breakaway, fully booked, had no issue going to the Buffet.  You will also notice, NCL has a 24/7 restaurant that is pretty good if you don't want to have a long meal in the Haven.  

 

Remember, any meal that the Haven Restaurant is open, you butler can serve it to you in your suite.  Keep that in mind but ALWAYS tell your butler when open, always gain food (only what is on the Haven menu) from the Haven Restaurant.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Thank you!

We do eat in the room a lot too! On our last cruise with Holland America we never stepped foot into the Main Restaurant. We had couple special restaurant dinners, and the rest of the dinners we just had in the room or in the buffet. Their food from the Main Dining restaurant was VERY GOOD.

So it is really nice option - to eat in the room, especially on a port intensive cruise we are going to have. After long day off the ship, we like to eat early and go to bed early, so we will be still alive next morning for more exploring! :))))

And thank you for the tip about ordering from the Haven restaurant. I assume that the regular room service is probably comfort food etc - like on some other cruise lines?

3 minutes ago, GALSews said:

Yes, they have a selection of breads, yogurts, fish (lox, disguised as roses, and herring), fruit, meats and then there is a menu. I think there is steak and eggs, omlettes, French toast, waffles, etc. The coffee is French press and the oj is squeezed, I believe. 

 

In case you haven't seen it, the Haven menu doesn't change. 

Thank you!

11 minutes ago, GALSews said:

Yes, Did I beat Gary to the answer? There is a selection of items at the breakfast buffet. Gary (OP) raves about the almond pastries. Personally, I would take more than my share of the lox from the buffet and then I would request a bagel and some lettuce to make a good bagel, lox and cream cheese sandwich. (They don't have lettuce on the buffet.) There is also a menu that you can select from. 

Thank you!

So they have continental set up for breakfast? But you can order omelet for example from the menu?

I can be totally happy with continental stuff for breakfast. But my husband really like omelets.

6 hours ago, JoieNsk said:

On 7/8/2023 at 8:03 AM, graphicguy said:

...Epic is supposed to have the best Haven in all of the fleet, and it’s just been redone.  So, should be fun!

I think we are going to be the lucky ones on Epic - in the Haven. 

I just watched recent review of the Epic, where it was brought up multiple times about how packed with people all the public areas were, the 20-30 minutes waits just to get a drink - in every single bar on board etc. My understanding is that the ship doesn't seem to have an efficient set up for the amount of people it can carry.

I suppose the Med Cruise might not be as packed as the Caribbean one in the review. But on the other side I just read an article about how packed Europe is this year. 

I have never being on NCL, it is going to be our first cruise with them. I just hope that Haven bar and restaurant are not going to be that bad as the rest of the ship? I have a feeling we will just stick with Haven area for food and drinks then.

Though normally we like to go to the buffet a lot, to avoid spending time at the sit-down meals. But if the buffet on Epic on our cruise is going to be like it was in the review - no seating to be found anywhere: so much that they opened up special restaurant spaces for people to take food from the buffet and go up couple decks to seat somewhere - to eat it. Unless I misunderstood something.

We really are going to miss that buffet! Does Haven have any buffet style meals at all?

Thank you for the information again!

On 7/8/2023 at 5:53 PM, Sthrngary said:

@amygutman It was not the Encore.  I was the NCL Joy.  The good news is that the NCL Joy (H2) Deluxe Owners Suite with Large Balcony is exactly the same as the Encore with one exception.  The Joy had a Fireplace on the wall and the Encore did not.  Other then that, the same.  

 

I will post the video but to be quite frank, it is not my best work.  Here you go, enjoy.

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the video.

I really appreciate when people make video reviews. I am too lazy to do this. But I try at least to make pictures, and post reviews on Tripadvisor.

But the videos of course are much more helpful.

I doubt we would ever end up in this suite. But you never know. We got couple pretty impressive cost-wise bookings - also due to Covid cancellations, and ended up in couple cabins we never thought we would get to stay at.

On 7/8/2023 at 8:03 AM, graphicguy said:

Really looking forward to this (once I get rid of this “guilt” complex), as the Epic is supposed to have the best Haven in all of the fleet, and it’s just been redone.  So, should be fun!

Well...

Everybody is different. But judging by what you mentioned about yourself so far - you might never get rid of the guilt completely :)))

But together with guilt - I always get even higher appreciation of how lucky I am that I can live the life I live. The more that due to my job in a midtown big city hospital - I get to see very close people who live very different life.
 

So enjoy! Maybe you are just somewhat more lucky that others. But also I am sure you worked hard to get the life you have. And life is short, very short sometimes :)))

Congrats on upgrade! Enjoy the shower! :))))

21 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

One last thing, I check cruise prices daily.  I keep  a spreadsheet with prices of cruises I’m interested in!

Thank you! 

I check too, but not every day.  I think we actually got the same kind of price - but we are two, and we booked 2-bedroom upfront. We also had 20% coupon - for our cancelled cruise in February.

I guess I just have to hope that price will go down on my other cruise too 🙂 But I don't believe it will... I think this Epic sailings in October are very unusual - price-wise, that's it.

Unfortunately I can't book at the last moment usually. And the best deals probably come up after final payment date - if the cruise is not sold out.

But I am anyways very happy that I finally get to try that shower :))))

On 6/29/2023 at 3:38 PM, graphicguy said:

I can upgrade my Haven Spa Suite for a 2 BR Haven Suite within steps of the Restaurant, bar, concierge etc.  Again, I'm a solo, but the upgrade would be about $350.

 

Would you?  Could you? Pros?  Cons?

 

I usually don't feel guilty, but this has me talking to myself given I'm considering it.  

 

 

Maybe you already did it, as this post is "old".

But I will still chime in. I would do it just for the bathroom in 2-bedrooms! Did you see that shower looking into the sea? :)))) We are two of us, and I feel a bit guilty too, as we really didn't need the second bedroom. So I think I know where you are coming from. But I always wanted to try that shower with the view!

BWT, how did you get that upgrade for $350, if it is not a secret?

We are booked in 2-bedroom - on the same cruise, and we are getting what I feel like an amazing deal, considering how much those rooms normally cost. But we are still paying considerably more. Maybe because we are 2 people?

I guess it would not matter for this time, as we are paid in full. But I would like to get any tips for the future :))) I would LOVE to get the 2-bedroom on the Antarctica cruise I booked for 2025! But I just can't swallow the price. I still am crying about the price of the Penthouse I booked :))) But it is a 14 days cruise, and I really wanted nicer and bigger bathroom - even just for the two of us.

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

The OBC is only for one cruise booking at a time.  Some report they say it is only once a year.  My practice is to apply and understand if they say no 

Thank you!

I will try once the holidays are over.

I have to call my big-box travel agency for that.

Thank you, everybody!

I had no idea such thing existed with Holland America. 

Just got verified as eligible for this healthcare onboard credit.

Can I add it to existing booking? Or it only can be used for new bookings? As I have only one cruise in the books with Holland America so far. And it is already paid in full, as it's less than 2 months before it starts.

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

If the pre-cruise concierge isn't able to get you the reservation, you'll be able to get it when you board so don't think all hope is lost. Just talk to the concierge or fill the piece of paper some concierges hand out in advance of you boarding. I'm sure you'll get your reservation.

 

As for those of that work during the day....well, we might, maybe just are bored at work. You can see all my posts are done during the day, whilst at work. I rarely post on nights or weekends. 

 

Hope you have a productive day off today!

Thank you!

I did call them. And the guy told me that I will not have a problem getting the time I want as I am a Haven guest :)))  And he said he would request the time and day I wanted from the restaurant.

But the confirmation he gave me was for 9.30pm, because nothing else was available so far :)))

So I don't really have any confirmation anyways, before I get onboard. He told me that once I get on-board, I get the confirmation of some kind.

I figured - if it works, great! If it will not work - I am not planning to eat at 9.30pm. I'll just loose 37 bucks. I'll survive :)))