cmurchake

On 4/25/2024 at 2:06 PM, vacation44 said:

Great thread.......anyone else have any input?

Can only vouch for Sapphire, but I had an amazing time. There were 5 ships in port the day I was there (5th came later in the afternoon) but it was never overly crowded. Got there pretty early in the morning and got seats with shade. I will say that shade areas on the beach fill up pretty quickly. Food, drink, and a boutique shop were all pretty nice. Water was beautiful! Can't wait to get back one day

Hideaway was great. Think of it as like a mini Vegas dayclub. Pool was pretty crowded during prime times, but we still got in quite a bit. The seating fills up fast so we normally got seats somewhere in Thrill Island and then walked over to Hideaway. There are servers who will deliver drinks to you right in the pool which was fantastic.

The Overlook was a pretty cool spot with lots of cool seating and views. The Overlook bar wasn't always open, but Rye and Bean bar was every time I was there. The Aquadome market is right there as well for some food. You can also watch practice of Aqua Action which was pretty neat. 

5 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

That's far different from a post on another social media site--not FB. That post said passengers were rude and the main pool was closed every day because someone continuously used it as either an upchuck bucket ( subtle comment on food?) or a loo for #2.🤢

Luckily I didn't experience rude passengers. I did read on FB many people complaining about kids. I will say that there were a ton on this sailing, way more than I've ever seen, but it did not ruin my time at all.

The main pool was closed several times...not sure it was every day though. The good news is there are many pools to choose from, but like almost every other ship, the pools are going to be crowded at peak time no matter what. 

I think some of the beauty of cruising is that 2 people can be on the same cruise and have wildly different experiences. It really can come down to what you make of it. I prefer to go with the flow and enjoy rather than nitpick or critique every little detail.

14 minutes ago, colesc15 said:

Is all the Icon merch that showed up in the cabin in the beginning no longer a thing? Like the Icon hats etc. I'm assuming that stopped after the first few sailings. 

I did not receive anything in my balcony stateroom

I was on Icon last week. I'm probably not the best to answer dining questions, but might be able to assist with others. Not sure how many people were onboard, but I was very pleasantly surprised how good the service was, how small lines were, and overall how efficient things seemed to run. 

5 hours ago, Beyhive19 said:

@cmurchake Hi! Did you book a ocean view guarantee or an ocean view balcony guarantee?

sorry, I booked an ocean view balcony guarantee

In my experience there was a variety of shaded and sun seating. If you wait too late in the morning and you might have a tougher time finding exactly what you want.

I was not a big fan of this type of room. Like others have said, when the window is down the AC turns off which is unfortunate is 1 person wanted to use the "balcony" and the other stay "inside". Within minutes the mirrors fogged up on us and we shut the window again. I wouldn't book this cabin again, but it is far from a "bad" cabin.

I just got back from Icon and chose an ocean view guarantee (booked late and it was all they had). We were assigned an infinite ocean view balcony on deck 11 pretty close to midship. While I didn't like it as much as the traditional ocean view balcony, I felt pretty lucky to not get assigned Central Park or Surfside. All luck of the draw

This may be old news, but the shore excursion free at sea promo used to be $50 per port per day. Looks like this has changed to $50 per excursion? 

I am cruising to Bermuda and thought about doing a morning and evening excursion in the same day. I booked when the promo was double shore excursions ($100 off). Can I apply $100 credit against both excursions in the same day now for a total of $200 off? Anyone done this?

Here is what the T&C state:

$50 USD Shore Excursion Credit
Offer is applicable to first guest on the cruise reservation.
The first guest shall receive free shore excursions priced at $50 or less (“the promotion”)
In the alternative, first guest will receive $50 in Shore Excursion Credits to apply against shore excursions priced greater than $50.
$50 Shore Excursion Credit is applicable to all tours, including debarkation tours.
In the event the tour is less than the value of the credit the $50 Shore Excursion Credit will be adjusted to match the tour value.
The first guest may redeem the promotion of $50 Shore Excursion Credit on more than one shore excursion per port.
Latitude Members Discount is combinable with the $50 Shore Excursion Credit.
In the case of multiple excursion credits or discounts, the $50 Shore Excursion Credit will be applied first followed by any additional shore excursion discounts.
In the event a port of call or shore excursion is canceled, the guest will be refunded the amount that the guest paid for the excursion.
For shore excursions purchased prior to cruise, the promotion or $50 Shore Excursion Credits will be applied to the first guest at time of purchase.
For shore excursions purchased onboard, the promotion or $50 Shore Excursion Credit will be applied to the first guest’s onboard account.
Please see additional restrictions below:

• If the first guest purchases shore excursions tickets for other guests, the promotion and $50 Shore Excursion Credit will not apply to such tickets.
• The first guest cannot purchase shore excursions for themselves where the duration of such excursions overlap in time.
• For port calls in Great Stirrup Cay and Harvest Caye, the promotion and $50 Shore Excursion Credit does not apply to equipment rentals.
• Pre-cruise and post-cruise land tours are not eligible for this promotion.
• $50 Shore Excursion Credit has no monetary value, are non-refundable, non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for actual currency of any value.
• Other guest in the stateroom are not eligible to receive the promotion or $50 Shore Excursion Credits.

Shore excursion credit can be redeemed by booking online via NCL.com, by calling 1-866-625-1167, or onboard.

Taking NCLs newest ship, Encore, to Bermuda for 2.5 days from NYC

Anyone have a favorite spot on the water to grab lunch or dinner? Will be here in May for 2 overnights and was looking to have lunch or dinner off the ship with a view of the water.

I am 1 for 3 in January. The first miss was the last day of the cruise and turned into a sea day. The second miss we were scheduled to go to Nassau the next day so we were lucky enough to overnight there. Got in around 1pm and didn't leave until about 5pm the next day.

I did a BTB on the Escape about 2 years ago in Miami. We received a letter in our room with all the instructions. We changed from an inside the first week to balcony the second week so we had to pack up our stuff and set outside the door the night before. Our first week steward knew we were changing cabins and I believe he is the one who moved our bags. In the morning we hung out at O'Sheehans with a few others until we were escorted off the ship, through customs, and waited in the terminal for a few minutes before heading right back onto the ship well before anyone else.

I did a BTB on the Escape about 2 years ago in Miami. We received a letter in our room with all the instructions. We changed from an inside the first week to balcony the second week so we had to pack up our stuff and set outside the door, but you won't have to do that. In the morning we hung out at O'Sheehans with a few others until we were escorted off the ship, through customs, and waited in the terminal for a few minutes before heading right back onto the ship well before anyone else.

Thanks princeton & mark, this was very helpful!

1 minute ago, navybankerteacher said:

It would leave plenty of time if the ship is actually alongside at 7 and there is nothing to prevent your getting your luggage and being out of the cruise terminal by about 9.

 

On January 3 our ship was over an hour late alongside the pier - and debarkation started  about an hour later.

 

 Are you carrying all your luggage yourself - so you can do unassisted debarkation? If so, you could probably make it.  I would still suggest a somewhat later train if you have options.

Several options a little later so no worries. And understood about delays. Figured it would be a quick taxi to Penn Station so wouldn't need too much time after we get off. Thanks!

Anyone have  experience docking in Manhattan and then taking the Amtrak train home? I am supposed to dock at 7 and didn't know if catching a train around 10 would leave plenty of time.

Did a back to back on Escape in January and everything from the first week rolled over to the second week. At the end of week 1 I owed $130 but at the beginning of week 2 I received $200 OBC so my balance sat at ($70)

Not sure why people say it takes so long for food and drink. I was there in January on the Escape and the Sky was there as well. Some of the bars/restaurants closest to the MAIN beach were crowded (not 30 mins crowded) but there were stands set up EVERYWHERE where you could get drinks and/or something to eat. Not all food/drink, but a variety. Take a short walk past the first beach and there were hardly any lines at all

What time did you get to Nassau? Normally they get in at 6 pm but there was a report a few weeks ago they got in mid-day.

In January we missed GSC and arrived into Nassau around noon-1

Has anyone been to GSC since New Years... Haven area open yet? Would be nice to know, if not could always ask concierge when we get on the ship. Our cruise is April 2.

I was in January and the Haven area was not finished. Looked like it would be a while as from what I could tell the structures were just about complete but not much else.

One year GSC was scheduled for our last day of the cruise. We missed GSC and it became a sea day. Last month GSC was scheduled for our second to last day as we were due in Nassau the last day. We missed GSC and arrived in Nassau around 1pm and did an overnight. We received $6 refund per person

If someone can find out for sure the time frame for Chocolate Cowboy's stint on Bliss that would be great. I convinced my wife to book another cruise and I am 100% getting on the same boat as the Cowboy. He literally made my trip this past cruise and my first and only with NCL. He is for sure the reason I will be sailing with them again. If someone sees this I believe he is off until April but not 100% sure. That was just the last I knew when I talked to him on our last night on the cruise. Thanks ahead of time if anyone happens to get the info.

was on his last week in January. Said he will be joining the Bliss and believes it will be a 8-10 month contract

If one doesn't get this offer in the mail, is it still possible to get it by calling CAS? Or is this more a targeted to specific cruisers/gamblers kind of thing?

I have been given a mailer 1 time before and used it. But I have also heard/read from others if you do not have a mailer you can call and see if they can offer you anything. They may be able to do something for you, they may not, but it doesn't hurt to check. That's what I'll be doing on my next cruise....whenever that may be