nets33

 

On the Starward (NCL)

 

The NCL Starward was the only ship that allowed us to come aboard to visit once we showed our RCCL I.D. She was a little beauty and I'll have more pics of her later. We used to dock together in Cozumel. HAL gave us a firm NO I recall.

Ahh the memories! Did my first cruise on the NCL Starward in 1987. I remember going to the top floor lounge that is behind you in the photo and sweating as there was no AC in there. A great reminder of when the cruise bug bit me. :D

Appreciate the retro photos and the review! The hubs and I just booked an 11 day on the Reflection for 2019.

Yep GO BLUE!

 

 

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Nah! Go GREEN! :D

I like the Dawn - haven't sailed her since the rehab. Navigator is a bigger ship and has more "stuff" on it if that is the atmosphere that you are looking for. If you prefer a smaller more intimate ship the Dawn is great. I didn't feel that the Dawn being smaller made it feel more crowded, I felt more crowded on the Navigator at times.

IMO the decision between these two ships would be based on the itinerary and the cost. Both have different aspects that make the both good ships to sail.

Thoughts, observations, tips....

 

- the Windjammer has a "grill" section where they serve eggs over easy and medium out of buffet trays. Next to that section, they also have a tray of "real" scrambled eggs.... not pale yellow fake eggs served in all the other buffet sections.

 

Are they still doing custom omelettes in the grill section? In the last couple of years my stomach has decided it doesn't like egg yolks so I have to get egg white omelettes.

 

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This makes me very happy. Roughly 30 Days, 19 Hours and 01 Minute until I'm on board!

Does this mean that rental car companies would also pick you up at the Port of Miami and take you to the airport rental car location?

We have gotten a rental car post-cruise. They will have a shuttle that will take you from the port to the Miami airport, the rental buses run regularly and can't be missed at the port (big rental car signs on the side). NOTE: You will have to show proof that you are renting a car. If you don't have proof they will not allow you on the shuttle.

I do not understand why anyone would want to prepay, why give RCCL the money before you have too. RCCL charges you daily a flat fee for tips, amount depend if you have a suite or not, ( we also normally tip extra depending on service )

We find it easier to budget when we prepay and makes our final on-board bill less. Yes, we understand that they are getting our money before we use the service but it's not like you're going to make a lot of interest from your bank on ~$200.

I dont think so.You comment startled me I had to do research on it.

 

The research shows 200 deaths a year with all cruise ships worldwide.

It's more common that you realize. You would never know unless you are near it or see it.

Had someone die in the cabin next to us on the first full day of our NCL Escape cruise in November of last year. Code Alpha (NCL Medical Emergency) called, medical staff and gurney in the hallway with no emergent life saving work going on. They had medical staff and a defibrillator but no activity with it. When we left our cabin they had the hall blocked by security and we were asked to move along quickly and not look in the cabin. No movement in the cabin after that day. The room steward was given a few days off - we assume he walked into a bad situation. On disembarkation they had what looked to be a crime scene photographer in the room - room had obviously not been touched since the day of the medical emergency.

DH and I saved bills from a couple different cruises to determine if it was worth it for us. For us it is pretty much a break-even.

However, when we were able to get the package at a discount for our upcoming 9-day we grabbed it. We usually get a bottle of wine with dinner but we're happy to use the package for glasses of wine. And we can enjoy some coffee drinks too!

DH and I loved Vintages on both Oasis and Navigator!

It wasn't terribly busy but there was always people coming in and getting a glass of wine. Some stayed, others didn't. I would hate to see Vintages go. I can't stand overly busy bars or lounges. I thought it was much busier than some other bars we wandered into. Probably depends on the time of day and who is on the cruise.

Clear cache and cookies.

^^^ THIS!

I was having the same problem with both Chrome, IE and Firefox. Clear cache and cookies and it's all good.

There is always the old fashioned way.... Plan your day ahead of time and have a check in place and time. (i.e. at 1pm meet in the atrium by the statue). You can also leave sticky notes on cabin doors and voice mail messages on cabin phones.

Was on a cruise with my Mom, SIL and two nephews and never had need to text. We planned ahead and agreed on meet up times.

You can totally stay on plan if you want to. I have actually lost weight on a cruise before watching my food and exercising.

Educate yourself on the points for each food. You will have to make some guesses but if you stay with simple foods without sauces it will make it easier. A phone app or a book that can help you with points will also help.

Cruised last week on the Adventure. I never make reservations because My Time Dining should be just that ! I never know when we will go to dinner. I always ask for a table for two and other cruises, that is what we got. Not this time. They said we had to share a table for 4, so we did.

I would have refused to do so. There is no reason that you should "have to" share a table if you don't want to. If you still got the run around I would have asked to speak to the restaurant manager. The beauty of MTD is being able to sit with who you want when you want.

Seriously? The gratuities are INCLUDED. We already pay them. I'm tired of wondering how much and who to tip. It adds stress to the vacation. I don't want to be stressed on vacation.

 

I did tip extra. I said I did. I know I have heard of some lines that now ban EXTRA gratuities. Not ban gratuities altogether.

DH and I have gone on cruises where we don't tip a dime above the included grats. No guilt here.

We've also had cruises where we tipped $50 to room steward and a few $ here and there for our favorite bar staff. No pressure for us to do so.

You shouldn't feel pressured or guilty for not tipping more. When we tip extra it's because someone on the staff has gone above and beyond for us. We're thankful that we have the extra $ that we can tip, but you shouldn't feel any pressure to tip if you don't want to or can't afford to.

DH and I do like to leave extra $ for the room steward - anywhere from $10 to $20 is normal for us. It is not necessary as the room steward is included in the daily grats but if they've done some extras for us we do leave a little extra.

Small bills for on shore is good to have - not necessary for the ship.

Been on both RCI and NCL. Love them both.

They are more alike than different. Just off the NCL Getaway and NCL Escape and they are both outstanding ships if you're looking for a larger ship experience. DH and I pick cruises based on price and itinerary with a preference for NCL and RCI.

Sounds like DH and I are the odd ones out as we do our best to find chairs away from the pool. I can't stand the crowds and the sounds. If we want to take a dip in the pool we take a short walk, leave our flip flops by the pool and then walk back to our chairs when done.

I've never had a problem finding a chair (or a couple of chairs) - ever! If you're willing to be away from the madding crowds it's easy enough to find a chair.

vibration - deck 7. I heard/read this one is overstated.

Did an aft inside cabin on Navigator on on deck 6 and had no issues with vibration. We were only two cabins from the rear of the ship. It was such a non-issue for us that we're doing almost the same cabin again in 56 days.

This thread posted recently has some info for you:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2444151

Amazon Echo requires the use of WiFi to stream the music. Even if you have unlimited WiFi on board the speed of the WiFi could cause issues with streaming the music.

I'd recommend music on a iPod or your phone and buying a Bluetooth speaker. No charge for using Bluetooth from your iPod or phone (and keep phone in airplane mode to avoid data charges).

How much of a hassle would it be to go back to the ship and get our belongings after the zip line? $8 to lock up our belongings for a 62nd zip line seems a bit much. Might just be easier to make a quick trip back to the ship? It's been several years since we've visited this port and can't recall the logistics. Thanks.

 

It wouldn't take you long to walk back to the ship from the end of the zip line to the ship. For DH and I we decided the $8 was worth it to save us another 30 to 45 minutes to have to walk back to the ship, grab our stuff and then walk back to our beach of choice.

FYI... The zip line will take you ~45 to an hour depending on when you're scheduled. There is the safety speech, the practice small zip line, the drive up to the top and then the actual zip line.

How much are the lockers at Labadee and if they take cash do I need coins or bills.

I believe lockers were ~$8 for all day and is charged to your room. (Not sure if the $ is correct but I remember it wasn't cheap).

You can put stuff in one locker and then move it to a different one. We used one locker when we did the zip line and then moved to a different one when we did the wave runners.

Just did a B2B - first week on Escape and second week on the Getaway.

While the ships are very similar I preferred the Escape but I wouldn't say no to going on the Getaway again. :D

Thanks. Glad to hear that. No idea they were callled hull balconies.

 

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If you google Hull Balcony and your ship name you should see a few images come up to show what they look like. :)