trivimp

Wine: yes, with a corkage fee.  ($15.00/750ml bottle, $30.00/magnum) 

Soda: no, not since 2016.  

I always attend the M&G, I find it pleasant to chat a bit with the various officers & hotel staff, and it's nice when they see you later in the voyage & say hi.  The most valuable part of the exercise, though, is making sure to pick up one of those little cards with the names & phone numbers of the various department heads.  If you have some minor mishap a couple days later -- a bag of laundry goes AWOL, something along those lines -- you'll have someone to contact who can get it resolved.  Works like magic.  (No, I don't escalate trivial stuff; but if I do have a concern, they are very happy to help me)  

I adore Priscilla!! Seen it multiple times, both at sea and ashore.  What's not to love about over-the-top drag queens and 80s music?? 

Some people just aren't happy unless they are complaining.  I liked the Epic just fine.  Sure, it has a few little weirdnesses that absolutely won't ruin your holiday.  It also has the best Studio lounge in the fleet.  (Probably doesn't apply to the OP, but worth a mention.)  

I'd sail her again in a minute.  

They say that ghosts hang around if there's some important unfinished business that wasn't completed before death.  Maybe this is the spirit of some poor disgruntled cruiser that died before they could get to Guest Services & remove the DSC.   

Unpopular opinion:  I despise the "cruise ducks" fad.  And now there's people hiding painted rocks, too.  Why do people want to junk up the beautifully decorated ship with random sh*t?  

The only thing I would book way out is something like a cabana at GSC... you know the cabanas aren't going to be cancelled by a tour provider that goes out of business, you know they are in short supply & sell out frequently, and you know that you'll get refunded to your on-board account if the ship misses GSC due to rough weather.

Everything else is so hit-and-miss since the restart, I would wait until maybe 60 days out to even start looking.  Excursion stuff is appearing & disappearing almost constantly.  It's been frustrating.  

You can't replace the alcohol beverage package with a soda package, they are not interchangeable.  But if you decline the alcohol package, and then purchase the soda package for $9.95/day, it still comes out about half price of the alcohol package.  

I, too, have had some pretty mediocre steaks at Cagney's.  My favorite is Le Bistro, followed closely by Onda -- which isn't on Breakaway, but it's so good it deserves a mention anyway.  

In all cases, if the server sees that you are not eating or otherwise look unhappy, they will bend over backward to try to make it right.  It may not always be 100% successful (see above story about the char-marked steak) but they usually do pretty well.  

Bon voyage!  

What a nice surprise for them!!  In this case, your best move may be to purchase a two-dinner package for each of your parents, so they can join you at your two platinum dinners.  

3 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

This is correct.

 

The only thing to add is that with the reported change to platinum vouchers being able to be used in any restaurant, would it be possible to use them both in the same restaurant at the same time? If so then what the OP asks could work.

 

I don't know the answer to this question. Just wondering.

I was under the impression that the "use at any restaurant" policy was at the discretion of the hotel manager on certain sailings, and was not an official change... but I'm sure someone will come along & correct me if I'm mistaken.  Couldn't hurt for the OP to ask.  I'm not counting on it for my next cruise, though.

you can use the coupon to dine with whoever you desire, but you only get one set of vouchers per cabin.  So if you and your brother are sailing in the same cabin, you won't get double vouchers despite both of you being platinum.  

Next time, book yourself into a cabin with Mom & your brother with Dad.  Then have guest services switch up the keycards once on board.  Then you could take Mom & Dad to dinner in the way you describe.  

I've seen USB-powered electric heated masks, maybe look into one of those for travel.  (And then we could have a thread about whether it would go to the naughty room.)  Or, just go the ziplock-and-hot-water route, that seems like the least hassle.  

I am so sorry.  Did they offer any additional FCC as compensation?  If you've got the time off all arranged, you could (in theory) turn around & book a bargain out of Miami or someplace.  Not quite the same as Hawai'i when you've had your heart set on it, but at least you'll have a nice vacation.  

16 hours ago, Cruisercl said:

I forgot to ask, is your husband color blind? It is more prevalent in males. My brother is color blind so that came to mind too.

oooh good point.  My ex-huz was profoundly colorblind, we often had some funny conversations along the lines of "those two things are the same" "No, they're completely different" 🤣

Love the one on the left just a tiny bit more.  But you should really keep them both.  

I like to put decorative magnets on the door -- sometimes seasonal stuff, sometimes just flower designs.  In ten or so cruises, we have been asked to take it down once (that was on the Jewel, pre-pandemic.)  Therefore, in my highly anecdotal experience, you can decorate your door 90% of the time 🙂 

44 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

As the late, great Paul Brown always said about success…..”Act like you’ve been there before”.

 

I always thought that was a Vince Lombardi quote... but you made me curious.  My typically haphazard research shows that this quote has been attributed to at least half a dozen football greats, a list also including Tom Landry, Joe Paterno, and Bear Bryant.  Nonetheless, good advice for Haven denizens.

7 minutes ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

Panna cotta ≠ crème brûlée 

Duh, of course; I assume you realize they are both sweetened cream-based desserts though.  I mention it for the benefit of cruisers, like @Farmer387, who enjoy custardy things.  I know we had crème brûlée at least one night on the Encore a couple of months ago, as well, but it wasn't in Le Bistro.  Probably the MDR, although the vacation is all blurred together by now. 

On a related note, Onda still has panna cotta on the menu, so you can get your custard fix there.  

19 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Ok y'all...I'm going to show my naivety for a moment - I'm not a wine drinker. Why is Veuve so popular amongst NCL'ers? 

because it sounds FAAAAANCY  🥂

Yes!  It happened to me on my next cruise (I booked it about 70 days out.)  I got the email, but the "let's get you upgraded" banner never showed up, so that's different.  I ended up purchasing the upgrade outright, so I can't speak to how the acceptance process might differ.  

In my experience, the fun of a pub crawl is killed by a supersized combined-social-media-groups roster.  Strolling around to various bars with six or eight new friends, pleasant diversion.  Shoving into bars with sixty other people, an exercise in long waits & frustration.  

37 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

Oh brilliant, and with the breakfast and lunch, is it a set menu?

Yes, set menu, with pretty standard American breakfast items (omelettes, eggs Benedict, waffles, that kind of stuff.)  Lunch is usually some sandwich options or a choice of a few hot dishes.  

VEUVE ALL DAY 🥂