johnrich
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Posts posted by johnrich
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Following.
We are cruising on POA in Dec. We’re from PA and I check out the airfare prices almost daily, lol.
Loving the review so far! Looking forward to reading the rest.
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John, thanks for the info.!
For some reason, NCL always got a bad 'rap', that is why we never tried it! We had a chance on our last cruise to go with NCL and we passed! Now, I have huge regrets, because as I mentioned, the Princess Ruby was BORING and staff did NOT want to be there! I had a group of 30 that went with us, and I felt terrible because of the boring ship.
Also, thanks for the food comments! Sounds like food is good on NCL. We didn't care for RCCL food, Carnival was much better. Princess was fair and X was a step above the others. We're looking forward to compare! I'll be writing a review after comparing Celebrity Equinox, Princess Ruby and NCL Escape.
Joe, thanks for the info., we'll see you in a few months!!! Spa sounds good for my old bones, lol!!
We hated the staff on Princess. No one seemed happy. We may have seen two crew members smile the entire week. And the food was horrible. We loved the staff and food on X but you couldn’t find anything to do after 10 PM. We’d probably go back to RCL if we could find a good deal but with the free at sea deals, you can’t beat NCL (especially if you like to have several drinks a day or more).
I have to agree with Joe above. The thermal spa is amazing. We actually booked a spa balcony for our next cruise.
We are on the Escape the week before you are so if you have any last minute questions, just let me know and I’ll try to find the answers.
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Hi John, how would you compare NCL with Royal and the other lines with regards to the food, shows, entertainment and activities?
Any tips for Norwegian? Thanks
I think the NCL food is on par with Royal. Some things are even better. I love that you can go to the MDR for lunch on embarkation day (lunch starts at 12 normally on that day in the MDR). I really like that OSheehans is available 24/7. Broadway type shows- some are better than RCL, some are even. Overall entertainment I think is better than RCL. There is always something that you can find that interests you whether listening to piano music or hip hop to painting or games.
Tips: Go to the Meet & Greet. The officers will be there and will come around and talk to you on NCL. They will then make it a point to stop and talk to you for the rest of the cruise! I went to every M&G except my very first cruise and never met an officer at the Meet & Greet.
As I stated in my prior post, if you find a server/waiter you like, request him/her for your next meal. They appreciate it!
Final tip: have fun, join in activities, and have a positive attitude. Was every NCL Cruise perfect? No, but by having a positive attitude and bringing it to the crew’s attention it gets fixed almost immediately.
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As you can see from my signature we also have tried several different lines but mainly RCL until we tried NCL. We haven’t been back on RCL since. We love NCL. IMHO the bartenders get to know you more than the other lines. The staff have always been happy.
Several posters have stated that they like traditional dining. On two of our NCL cruises (1 Getaway and 1 Escape) we really enjoyed the waiter we had the first night and asked for his/her section for the rest of the cruise and were pleasantly surprised we were accommodated. It was great because they got to know us and had our drinks ready as soon as we sat down. The maitre de also got to know us both times and went above and beyond.
Enjoy your cruise!
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We liked Harvest Caye when we were there in September. Our only issues were (1) no bars had diet soda, and (2) the drinks we ended up getting were horrible.
Not sure if they have diet now but three different bars in Sept said they don’t carry diet.
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I wish they'd just replace all straws with red Twizzlers.
A girl can dream! ;)
One of the bars near Pittsburgh actually has extra long Twizzlers to use as straws.
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Thanks for doing the review. Great pictures. We love the Escape and can’t wait to be on her again in 146 days!
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We will be cruise on POA from Dec 1-8. With Dec 7 being Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, would the 8th be extremely crowded? Should we aim at going on the morning of Dec 1 before boarding the ship?
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What is the night life like on Pride of America? Are the bars open late? Do they have activities going on late into the night? Does the cruise director’s staff have lots of activities to participate in?
We will be on POA in 250 days and can’t wait!
Thanks in advance.
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Keith,
Thank you for the wonderful pictures. We will be leaving for Bermuda in 165 Days. It will be our first time visiting there so your pictures gave us a great preview of what to expect.
Thanks again!
John
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Duplicate post
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1. I guess you don't just get upgrades anymore, not that I ever did; now you have to bid on them. If I get that chance, what would a balcony normally go for?
2. There was not even a roll call yet for my southern Caribbean cruise on the Jade in December so I sort of started one. Not sure what I'm doing. No one has started a Meet and greet either. Is there somewhere I can go for info on this? Are there any perks for heading a Meet and Greet? Don't know where to start.
TIA.
Linda
Hi Linda,
I have never bid on the upgrades so can’t answer that question. Sorry.
To organize the Meet and Greet, you need to email SpecialEventsJade@NCL.com
Let them know the date of your sailing and that you would like to set up a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. They will contact you back with a date, time, and location of the event. A week or so before the cruise they will want to know the approximate number of members attending the Meet & Greet.
As far as getting any perks for organizing the M&G, it varies from ship to ship (and probably what officers are on the ship). Sometimes a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries. One time we had slippers, robes, and upgraded soaps and lotions (the ones they use in the Haven) and had a small plate of treats every afternoon. Other times they may not give you anything.
I like organizing it to get to know people and don’t expect the perks but am grateful when they do provide something a little extra.
There is a pinned thread above from Laura with some tips and info on organizing a M&G.
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The third person just has to pay like anyone else would who was not in a spa cabin. On a seven day cruise, it’s $199 in advance. If the three of you are splitting the price of the room already, just add a spa pass for the third and split it too. No big deal.
Most perks, promos, etc only apply to the first two in a cabin anyway. The UBP as a freebie only applies to two. Same with free dining package.
We were told everyone in the cabin automatically gets the spa access. This is why we upgraded from a regular balcony to a spa balcony.
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For us it was a deal because we have three pax in the cabin so the third person essentially gets the spa access for free. We originally had a regular balcony but when we called to get the spa access added the rep figured it out and we would save over $200 by upgrading to a spa balcony.
Also, I don’t see it listed on the NCL website for spa balconies, but the rep said that all of the spa balconies also have the waterfall showers with the extra water jets on the wall. I know regular mini-Suites (at least on the GA) have these (and I love them) but not sure if the spa balconies actually do. The call center reps don’t always give the right info.
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Originally posted by rabidstoat [/url] I asked this in another thread just today and was told no (though a more optimistic person suggested asking at guest services or something but probably no).
being used to pay for an onboard tour.
Oh you can try but expect to have the roll eyes treatment - did he just say what I thought he said !
satisfied impressed passengers.
Sorry. I thought that since you booked it at the SHORE excursion desk and the tour was given by SHORE excursion members that maybe you could use the credits. Not quite sure why you have to be so condescending.
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I asked this in another thread just today and was told no (though a more optimistic person suggested asking at guest services or something but probably no).
Thanks for the info! We still might try.
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Does anyone know if you have the excursion credit, could this be used toward the paid tour since you book with the ShorEX team?
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We had a midship balcony for our Sept Bermuda cruise. There were three of us in the cabin and we planned on getting Thermal Spa Passes. When I called NCL, they suggested we upgrade to a Spa Balcony because all three of us would get access to the Thermal Spa and it ended up being almost $200 cheaper overall.
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We were going on a family cruise in Sept 2016. AA did the same thing to us. DW’s seat disappeared as did both sets of BIL and SILs. When I called they gave me the run around. DW,MIL one BIL and I were on one flight - none of us seating even remotely close to each other and they put other BIL and SIL on another flight 2 hrs later. Problem was that all of the in laws live around 2 hrs away and road to the airport together so once we arrived they had to wait for the others. DW and I even offered to take the later flight so they could all leave together but AA wouldn’t even do that. Haven’t flown AA since then.
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DW and I have been on both ships although it has been a while since we were on AOS. We really liked AOS but absolutely loved Escape. In fact we are booked on the Escape to Bermuda in September. We’ve been to the Bahamas several times and although there are nice areas, we are Bahama’d out. Lol. Highly recommend the Escape to Bermuda.
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It was really nice to just have that drink! And to try new ones!!
This is something my DW and I take advantage of... trying new drinks. It is nice to try something different yet not have to worry about wasting the money if we don’t like it.
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In regards to the Cabin Crawl, I have organized them on the Getaway and Escape. We were not permitted to enter the Haven. Luckily someone on the roll call both times had a non-Haven suite passenger so we were able to see an example of what the room may look like but couldn’t see the Haven Common Areas. This may vary by ship and/or staff.
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Post cruise, we have arranged transportation to the airport in Anchorage but we will be arriving around noon and our flight out isn't until 7:45. Assuming we can check or pay to store our bags, is it worthwhile to go into town for a few hours? Or is there anything to do near the airport? Sadly Delta doesn’t even have a lounge in the airport.
We had a similar flight time. We went into Anchorage and spent around 5 hours walking around. Went to a museum, an outdoor market, and did a lot of window shopping. We had a really wonderful day.
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Pride of America - Suite plus inside
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
There will be 6 of us sailing on POA so we have a Penthouse Suite and the inside cabin right across the hall booked. I know on POA suite guests can eat breakfast and lunch at Cagneys. Since 2 of our family members are not in a Suite does this mean they cannot join us there? I.e., we’ll need to eat in the MDR if we want to be together?
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