trivimp

2 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

48 hours?! Wow. Don’t think that is going to work then since I sail on Sunday and excursion is on Tuesday. 

They'll be able to do it, just make sure you visit the shorex desk as soon as practical once you board on Sunday.  They once adjusted an excursion for me that was a "boarding Sunday, excursion Monday" situation.... they obviously know that you don't have a 48 hour window to work with around boarding time, they work around it 

The two hours after and two hours prior statements apply to boarding day & disembarkation day -- not the ports of call.  

For Bliss 12/5, I have one offer now marked "processing" while the rest are "expired".  Looks like we're going from a balcony to a spa club suite.  Not the Haven, but not bad at all.  Plus, we now get the Thermal Spa, which I haven't been able to talk the guy into on previous trips.  Maybe he'll see the light on how awesome the spa is 🙂 

7 minutes ago, anmyers72 said:

Ok writing on here in the hope of winning our upgrade offer for 12/5 Bliss as that seems to be the magic touch today. Fingers Crossed!

I know!! I'm trying not to drive myself crazy hitting Refresh.  12/5 Bliss as well.  

It's a glitch in the CVS system.  You can ignore it.

My guy has the exact same issues: severe back pain, can walk OK but can't stand.  We always ask for wheelchair assistance during check-in; a crewmember pushes him through the whole process & across the gangway.  Once he's on board, he's fine with a cane.  If, however, he had an emergency on board, we could contact Guest Services & have them provide a chair for a short period of time (say, while going down to the medical center & back.)  They keep a small number of chairs on board for this purpose.  They also can provide wheelchair assistance during disembarkation, which we use.  

Edit to add:  This means I am always the one standing in the buffet line, the Guest Services line, or whatever while he sits nearby & waits for me to get to the front of the line.  Sigh, we do what we must 

On 11/21/2021 at 7:58 AM, havanadaydreaming said:

We have 4 leading contenders:

 

Joy -penthouse suite, W Caribbean out of Miami

Epic(2) - large balcony, S Caribbean out of San Juan

Encore  -lg balcony, E Caribbean out of Miami

 

I actually really like the Epic in spite of the unique cabin restroom layout. Love the aft video screen. 

 

Havent been on Joy or Encore, im intrigued by the suite.  Encore go kart/laser tag is a nonfactor for me.   

 

I'd go with either the Joy or Encore, for two reasons:

1. I always enjoy being on a new ship, and 

2. It's such a hassle for me to fly in/out of San Juan.  Miami is way less expensive too 

It's a glitch in the CVS system, you can ignore. 

CVS glitches also meant (at least as of last month) that some people's appointments just vanished off the paper (!) list that CVS employees are checking off to send you into the test center.  I had to go stand in the no-appointment line, despite showing them the appointment Q-code on my phone; while my boyfriend was on the list.  Our appointments were made at the same time, too, no reason for one to show & not the other.  Go figure.

Anyway, this happened to at least a few people on my sailing.  If it happens to you, the remedy is just to fill out your info on the tablet at the no-appointment table, and then it magically finds you.  An annoyance, but a fairly minor one.

It'll be disappointing if we don't get to see Jersey Boys, but, it's not going to make or break the cruise for us.  Shows can get cancelled for all kinds of reasons, we'll find something else to do that evening.  Especially on a ship as large as the Bliss, there's always half a dozen things going on somewhere.

There's a few, mostly out of Tampa.  https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call/cruises-to-key-west 

3 hours ago, kitty-sail said:

I did as you suggested and Moderno is still listed as a restaurant.  However, it no longer exists on any ship since covid. I was looking for someone who has cruised in the last month or so to answer my question.

Moderno is still on the Gem, we ate there twice last month.  

For the 10/3 & 10/10 Gem sailings, it was at Le Bistro on the first sea day at 11:00 am.  

Dunno about y'all but I'm with @Turtles06 : I'm bringing my knitting, along with an extra skein of yarn, just in case 

On 11/1/2021 at 7:19 PM, _Mr.G_ said:

 

As it was said before: These shower controls are very common in Europe. The idea behind it is that you have to adjust the water temperature just once and then never touch it again. You just have to control the water flow and you will always automatically get your preferred temperature. (Also it usually has a maximum temperature limit that prevents too hot water and burns. It can be exceeded by pressing that little red button on the temperature control). Also, I'm from Europe and don't like these either 🙄😁

On my very first NCL cruise, the comedian did a routine during the Welcome Aboard show: all about how to use the shower knobs.  He had the whole audience roaring "HOT!!!"  "COLD!!!" as he made the downward- or upward-twisting motions.  It definitely was easy to remember after that, but it kind of tells you something about the unfamiliarity of the controls (at least to a mostly-North American audience) that he could make a whole routine out of it.

On 10/25/2021 at 7:26 AM, The Traveling Man said:

As for the shower controls, the handle on the left controls water flow, while the one on the right sets the mix of hot and cold.  Just set that one once and then don’t touch it again.  Just use the left handle to turn the water on and off.  Yes, it will start out cold then warm up to your selected temperature.  

Hello, THIS ^^^

we just got off the Gem a couple weeks ago, my boyfriend's third time on NCL.  He apparently still didn't know how the shower knobs worked.  He came out of the bathroom on the third day swearing.  "I have a ****ing master's degree and I still can't figure out the ****ing shower"  So, we had a little shower tutorial 🙂

I don't know why NCL doesn't put a little sign up in the bathroom explaining this, they have a little sign for every other thing 

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Weird note, but on the Breakaway 9/26 and 10/3 sailings, we didn't have an ice bucket in our room. I am sure our steward would have brought us one if we asked, though. He was the best!

We didn't have one on our 10/3 Gem cruise either... but one quickly appeared on request 

We're on that one too!  Don't forget to sign up for the meet & greet! 

On 10/24/2021 at 8:44 AM, Langham1865 said:

I wonder if I can use my On Board credit from my NCL credit card to pay for cruise next... I guess I will find out December when I am on the Breakaway...

No, that's gone the same way as the shareholder credit.  We weren't able to use either one of those for CruiseNext on our 10/3 Gem cruise.  

During that time, Gem will be chartered for a handful of Sixthman cruises.  https://www.sixthman.net/festivals  

$11.20 is the TSA fees  ($5.60 each way) that you're not allowed to pay for with miles or points.  So yeah, a lot of miles stashed.  I sometimes pay $11.20 once I have enough miles saved up, but I don't generate enough bonus miles on my credit card promos or whatever it is to do that for *every* flight.  Different story when I travelled for work a lot, though.  

I remember asking about it during a 2018 cruise (I was going to treat my sister & I) and it was $60 or $65 for a plain polish mani, don't remember exactly, but it was stupid expensive for me.  (I paid about $25 locally back then.)  

5 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Each of the cruise lines seem to have their own little things they cannot do very well with respect to their online website experience.  I can't seem to get NCL to understand that my friend and I do not live at the same address.  We're not a married couple.  Just friends who cruise together.  I keep getting NCL promotional material with his name sent to my address even though we've put both our addresses on our accounts.  We have an agent change it.  It gets changed back as soon as we take another cruise together.  I've given up on that battle.

 

 

For a long time, my sister (with whom I last cruised in 2016) got NCL mail for me at her address.  No big deal.  I mentioned it to my PCC once, he apologized & said he had fixed it.  Now I get her mail at my address 🤣

22 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

Clearly this is because kids under 12 can't sail as they're aren't yet eligible for the vaccine.   

 

This applies to all kinds of cabins... I snagged a nice upgrade when the Family Balcony cabins dropped way below the regular balconies on my next cruise.  Same thing, low demand for family accommodations, I assumed.  

Food is so subjective.  I like the MDR offerings on NCL better than that of Carnival, but it's a pretty close contest.

Alchemy is by far the better bar concept, but NCL's bartenders are friendlier.

I'm not a fan of the over-the-top dancing waiters & Joe Farkas décor.  If that's your jam, then NCL might be too sedate for you.

NCL has much better entertainment offerings, especially in the evenings.  The big ships have Broadway style shows; the smaller ships have more of a variety/musical revue vibe, plus a lot of lounge acts scattered around the ship.

A more specific answer to your dining question:  You don't get a certain dollar amount of credit; you get the electronic equivalent of however many vouchers for dining loaded on your card.  (It's currently 2 for a 7-day sailing.)  Then, when you present your card at the restaurant, they will use a voucher to pay for your meal.  Anything you order will be fully covered, with a small number of exceptions, but those will be clearly marked on the menu as a "dining package upcharge."  The servers are also good about telling you if you're ordering something with an upcharge.

As far as the drinks, it's not just crappy well pours, it's a pretty decent selection of mid-price spirits.