ImADaneFan

I have a tip question that's a little different.

When we go to a specialty restaurant we tip extra. We normally add it on the tip line when we sign for the meal.

My questions is this: Does your actual server receive that tip, or does it go into a pool for the staff that worked that night?

Or if we leave a tip in cash does the waiter get to keep it or does it go into a pool?

I have never thought to ask and I want to make sure that tip actually goes the person that gave me great service.:)

July 16th and she's docked on the starboard side @ 7:40 Bermuda time.

Well, the Captain is mixing it up this week, starboard is off pattern. She should be port side today and starboard for next week, if she was following the pattern.

Since May 9th it's been:

Port

Port

Starboard

Repeat

This is the balcony of a aft suite on deck 12. The balconys on 9 are a little larger.

Of course the aft balcony won't be this big, but you can use this pic to get an idea of how deep the balconies are on the aft cabins.

She was late due to hurricane Arthur. The port said they are staying until 6am tomorrow.

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We will be in NYC for 2 days before our BA cruise on September. I just found out about the New York Pass. http://Www.newyorkpass.com. It offers free entry to 80 different attractions and you can add the hop on hop off bus to the pass if you want. They are 15% off until June 30th. Depending on how many attractions you visit it could save you quite a bit.

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I agree 100% with you about Adrian. He is simply the best and I was disappointed to discover that he will be on vacation for my upcoming BA cruise. Anoop is filling in and I hope my experience will be a good one.

 

Tracy

Tracy we are on BA the week before you. Do you know when Adrian is leaving on vacation? I'm guessing we won't be lucky enough to be the last cruise before he goes. :rolleyes:

Hi everyone! I've done a forum search but haven't found a definitive answer on this: are Breitling watches available on board? Specifically the GA. Thanks :)

 

 

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I have never seen Breitling available on board. But they are available at Diamonds International. Thank heavens they haven't been available onboard....My DH wants one very, very badly. :D On the Spirit several years ago I got him to settle for a nice Tag.

We just got off the Breakaway today from an aft suite and Roy was our butler. He came and met us the first day. We told him we loved coffee and my DH loved choc chip cookies and I liked sliced fruit. He kept us well stocked all week. We only had him bring breakfast once and that was right on time. He kept asking if there was something more he could do for us and seemed almost disappointed we didn't use his services more. But we liked him, and he made a point to stop and talk when we saw him off the ship in Bermuda. This was our first butler experience and we were not disappointed!

 

 

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We had Roy on our trip in March and he is a very nice guy. For servicing the aft rooms they have to draw from the front galley they told me so it is always a bit of a hike for them to service the aft cabins on the BA.

Do you know if Roy's last name was Perigrino? (sp). We had him as our butler on our Gem TA a couple of years ago and he was fantastic! We're on BA in September in an aft suite and hope it's him.

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Could anyone tell me how the "Vista Dome" works on NCL Cruisetours? I'm looking at the description for the 12 day Denale Alyeska Explorer and I see 2 separate classifications.

 

In one spot it states "Dome Class". Further into the description is stated "Adventure Class" wondering style scenic views from the Vista dome. One person at NCL stated everyone has seats in the lower level and can visit the upper level when there is room. (I would much rather have a seat in the upper level)

 

Is it difficult to get into the Vista Dome? Anyone know if it's possible to upgrade to the Vista Dome?

 

Should I just go with HAL or Princess because they have the Dome Cars which DH wants?

 

Thanks

When we went to Alaska before our 2012 cruise we booked our trip to Denali directly with the Alaska Railroad. We wanted to be sure to have a dedicated seat in the dome car for the entire trip. To do this you want the Gold Star service NOT Adventure Class. The adventure class your seat is in a different car and you have to rotate sitting in the dome car. With the Gold Star service there is a bartender in the car with you. We drank sodas and they were included, I'm not sure about alcohol. This was great since it's quite a long trip and we didn't want to miss anything. The AR cars are at the front of the train and HAL & Princess's are hooked to the back of the train. It was a fantastic trip and we want to do it again! We were very lucky that Mt McKinley was out the day we went into the park. Here's a pic of it. It doesn't do it justice.....the mountain is spectacular! I'll get on my laptop and see if I can find my pictures of the train. I know I took pics of the different train cars.

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We are going to try the UBP for the first time in September. We normally order an in room bar set up. The advantage of the UBP for us will be the convenience. We now won’t have to go back to our room to make a drink before going to the shows. Another advantage it gives me, is I now have the opportunity to try drinks that I normally would not try. And the main reason I wouldn’t try something new, would be the expense in case I didn’t like it.:o

Ty all for your responses.....we have decided to forgo the Denali portion and do some costly excursions instead...who knows we may have to go back and do it again :D

I hope you do return and go to Denali. We went in 2012 and it has been the highlight of our travels so far. We went a week before our cruise and rented a car and went to Seward for 2 days. It was amazing to get close to the glaciers. Then we took the train from Anchorage to Denali and spent another 3 days there. My recommendation for the train is, be sure to do the Gold Star service...It was well worth the extra $'s to have an assigned seat in the glass domed car.

We were lucky enough for Mt McKinley to be out in full view on the day we went into the park. It was spectacular.

Alaska has been my DH's favorite trip....He's ready to go back anytime!!!

Hi,

We are going on our first Transatlantic cruise from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale.

Help me:

how to pack for a September crossing

the conditions on the crossing

things to do

Can you be outside on the crossing days or is it just too windy?

 

Add your own thoughts because I am sure I have NOT asked the really good questions!

 

Thanks for your help,

Kathy

We did our TA in October of 2010. I don't think ours was a normal crossing. We caught the end of a Nor'easter as it headed up the east coast. The captain went as far south as he could considering we were headed to NYC. :p The temp wasn't bad, and if it didnt storm we definitely could have spent time out on the deck. Unfortunately we had 4 days of waves that peaked at 40+ feet. :eek: They closed some of the restaurants that were on the high decks because the waiters couldn't walk around, and everything would slide off the tables. The waves actually crashed onto the balconys on deck 12. Even with the storm I wouldn't have missed it for the world! But that's easy for me to say because I don't get seasick. :D. Check out some of the pics and video I shot. The link is in my signature line.

Linda

Just out of curiosity.... has anyone ever heard if NCL upgrade fairy upgrade passengers to the Garden Villas? We are booked in a DOS and dreaming "What if" we got the call from NCL. Hey, we can dream can't we? :D

We got an upsell to a GV on the Star's Mexican Rivera cruise in 2009. We were originally in a balcony and paid to change to a forward suite. Then we received a call from the fairy with an offer for the GV about 2 weeks before our cruise. We were sailing with friends anyway and we jumped on the offer. The final cost was less than $1500pp. The experience was just amazing. It was our 1st suite and we've been hooked ever since. :D

How and when do you do request a bar setup?? We love Bailey's...all of them :D!

 

OH, BTW...amazing video's of the 35ft waves...that must have been some trip!

You can request the bar setup up to a week before your sailing date. They do process them in order of sailing, so if your date is out aways it might take them a few days to get back to you. I have to always think about this, If I'm wrong I know someone will correct me. You email groupeventgem@ncl.com , substitute the "gem" with the ship you'll be on. Just let them know what you would like and they will send you the prices. Last November the prices ranged from $63 - $83 - $103, depending on the type of liquor you selected. The bottles are full liters not 5ths.

I thought the waves were a lot of fun, but I know there were a lot of people that were very green. ;)

I Noticed that you had Irish Cream on your Bar area. Did you bring this on board or are you able to order a whole bottle of Irish Cream for the room. I hate mini's:D

The Bailey's was part of the bar setup that we ordered. I believe we got a bottle each of Original and Caramel Bailey's, Rum, and Crown. The caramel Bailey's is Wonderful in your coffee.;)

Thanks for sharing your pics! We just stayed in that room on the Jewel. ;) Whoa! Was that storm for real!?!?! :) Scary!

Wow! That is one reason I am wary of doing a Trans-Atlantic! Great videos!

Yes the pics and video are real. I thought it was a great experience, but then I don't get seasick. :p;) My DH was in the Navy so this wasn't anything to him. I wasn't able to get any pics or video of the really large waves (45+) those were at night. There were some passengers that were hurt when they were knocked around. You know you're in for trouble when the bridge has their copy machine tied to the wall with rope.:eek::D

Even with the storm I would to a TA again in a heartbeat.

We are sailing on the Gem to Bermuda in late August in one of the Courtyard Villa's. This will be our first full week with Butler and Concierge service...for those of you who have used them before...what do you use them for??

 

I know the NCL website says that your butler will unpack your suitcase, etc., but I can't see me having someone do that...lol

We were on the Gem's TA in November in CV 14506. I have a link to some pics of the suite in my signature below. If Roy is your butler you will have one of the best.:D He had been chosen for concierge training, so I'm not sure if he's still a butler. He has a great sense of humor and always made sure I had fresh pretzel rolls. :o He happened to hear me mention that I was going to the buffet to get some and wouldn't hear of me going to get my own. ;) I belive Josephine was the butler on the starboard side. We had friends that had her. Their opinion was that we got the better butler. She was OK, but didn't seem to go that extra that Roy did.

On our Spirit repo in 2008 there's an image of one older guy that is burned in my memory. I would swear he was trying to smuggle a squirel in his speedo.:eek: I almost injured myself trying not to laugh.:rolleyes::p;) On the same cruise there was a woman that had to be 80, in a bikini. YIKES I guess I'll never have that good a self image to be able to do that. :D