barric

It now shows as a sapphire perk.  But based on these replies, not worth bothering with. 

Thanks all

This is our first sailing with Sapphire.  Can anyone advise what this latitude perk is?

Thanks for the reply.  I guess I will try to request a dvd player.  Otherwise, I will have to bring my small Sony DVP. 

If I can contact the concierge prior to boarding, I will request a player.    

We have a family suite for Dawn Jan 28.  

Can anyone tell me if the suites have DVD players.  I like to bring some boring dvds to watch when going to bed.

OR

Can one access the TV using AV inputs?

DVD players?

We are booked in a family suite Jan 28 on Dawn.

Can anyone tell me if a DVD player is in the suite.  I would like to play media that I bring myself.  

We were on the 10/26 Breakaway sailing and could not agree more with OP.  For example, the 2oz of shredded beef "short ribs" was awful.  Even the Maître Dei had no comment when we summoned him.  I really dislike the fact that they turned the forward observation lounge into cabins.  Now there is no inside forward viewing area anywhere.  We also were very disappointed in the lack of lounges and lounge entertainment early in the evening.  And the furniture.  Geez.  Who did they get to design the chairs in lounges?  7 foot tall people?  Form over function.  

We have sailed on Getaway and Breakaway previously and had much better experiences then.  Now, we will avoid both ships unless reviews change for the better.

We are 63 days out from our Dawn sailing.  For 11 days, the Thermal Suite pass is $259.   

Is there any history of the price going down as we get closer to sailaway?

We got a good price for a Family Suite without balcony, on Dawn.  Never sailed on this class of NCL shlp before and am not familiar with its perks.

I see that Dawn does not have the Haven.  So does that mean no dinner restaurant for us?  I believe we get the specialty restaurants for breakfast and lunch.

I am considering upgrade bidding to other suites.  Advice can sure help me with decisions.

Our SP suite is quite large, over 400 sq ft. The  SN AFT suite with balcony lists Total Size approx 360 and the balcony is about 70.  Does the 360 include the 70?

If so then the Aft suite itself is under 300.  Much smaller than our current room.

Also, I assume there is not much extra  in the way of perks for better suites, other than size and furnishings ????

In an older youtube video, it was stated that the Family suite rooms have a dvd player.  

Can anyone confirm?

Normally I bring a small portable player.  Sometimes I can connect to the tv, sometimes not.

Sure would be nice if the room had the player so I can watch boring stuff when we get in bed. 

In an older youtube video, it was stated that the Family suite rooms have a dvd player.  

Can anyone confirm?

Normally I bring a small portable player.  Sometimes I can connect to the tv, sometimes not.

Sure would be nice if the room had the player so I can watch boring stuff when we get in bed. 

I am familiar with all of these benefits EXCEPT the new Priority Dining perk.  That's what I am interested in. 

Just made Sapphire.  How do you use it and does it work well?

We seniors did this 7 night cruise, having sailed Breakaway and Getaway, (among other NCL ships)  previously.  We no longer LIKE Breakaway.  Here are the good and the not so good.

Service.  Ship was near capacity but all service was outstanding:  bars, restaurants, customer service, boarding.   All good.

Music.  Big disappointment.  Daytime and early evening only had poolside music.  But this is Oct, and not suitable to sit and listen outside.  Only once or twice was there lounge music at 5:30.  Only in a small lounge, crowded of course.  With really horrible furniture.  Form over function.   After 6 there was some music in the Atrium.  Hugely crowded.  Worst chairs you can imagine.  Only good for someone 7ft tall.  Nobody could sit back comfortably.  The last place for early evening music was in the Manahattan room but this was  at dinner.  Wife and I like to have a pre-dinner cocktail and hear some entertainment, but forget it. Did I mention the bad furniture throughout the ship?

Later on, there was music.  Howl at the Moon was exceptional. 

Buffet.  Good!  Self serve.  Had lots of protection for food.  Breakfast and lunch choices were good.  Staff was accommodating, going specially for a juice item I wanted. 

Around the ship:  No forward indoor viewing areas.  No aft outdoor lounges.  So if you wanted to view sailing, nothing was satisfactory.

Daytime entertainment;   Trivia, sodoku and not much else to our liking.  There was always some kind of commercial event going on.  And always some outdoor stuff in the 55-65 degree weather, with wind. 

Boarding and disembarking:   fast, easy.  Tendering was aok.

Dining:  We learned to carry a cocktail into MDR and order wine inside.  This avoided the slow bar service in Manhattan.  Cocktail service in other places outstanding. 

OSheehans expectedly good.  Last time on NCL, this restaurant did not feature daily specials.  This time yes, including prime rib.  MDR Manhattan was either poor or satisfactory.  A short ribs entrée was just shredded beef on a ton of noodles.  Good thing I ordered a double because the meat serving size was pathetic.  One or two nights nothing in MDRs appealed to us so we used our specialty dining perks

Cagneys:  not up to previous quality.  Porterhouse did not seem to be a good cut. 

Ocean Blue:   Wow! Just great.

La Cucina:  We always like this place and it did not disappoint again.  Osso Bucco and Filet Mignon outstanding.

Le Bistro was good

Internet:  Poor.  We each had 150 minutes.  It cost me nearly 100 on line to achieve 30 useful minutes.  

We have a sailing on Getaway in March, so it will be interesting to see if anything is different.

On our Oct9 cruise, in St John, we took a non NCL excursion, Bay of Fundy Coast to shore.  FABULOUS, if a bit too long.  Took us to St Marten to see the fishing boats stranded on the sea floor.  Took us to reversing falls early at low tide, and again later at high tide to see the change.  Lots of other nice stops.  Great excursion

For the our US sailing on Breakway after Sept 30, the NCL website shows clearly that Canada requires no testing, no data, no anything .  But the NCL web site still seems to require testing or vax proof to board the ship.   

Can anyone clarify?

Just got a Latitudes email.  Anyone know what the dinner change is??? 

I also had a problem with completing the Contact section.  Thought I had everything correct but still 93%.  Eventually I used the CHAT that popped up.  Took a while but the agent sorted it out and told me what to do to fix the issue.  Now all OK

We sail 10/9 from New York to Maine, then St John Canada arriving 10/13.

What is ArriveCan and do we need to do this before boarding in NY? 

Or, is this done aboard ship?

And how is this done?

Advice appreciated.

I prefer my gin in martinis up/olive, and can hardly taste differences when mixed with tonic.  Here's how to test yourself.

Have someone make 3 gin and tonics, 2 with one gin, one with another brand.  Make them exactly the same.  Measure.  Use the same amount of ice and tonic.  Be sure the mixer has marked the glasses  and knows which is which.

Taste the 3 glasses.   Repeatedly.  Not always in the same order.

Can you correctly identify the two matching glasses?

If not, well you know.

If you can, which do you prefer? You might be surprised.

This is a good way to test all kinds of liquors.  

I have done this with bourbon and a small amount of water.  No ice.  I have found that Evan Williams beats the pants off Jim Beam, Old Grandad and others.  Saves me bucks!

We sail X frequently.  Aqua class is great.  We seniors like dining in Blu and find no reason to spend extra at the specialty restaurants.  The menu and service are outstanding.    Depending on the ship, you may be able to get items off the main dining menu as well.  Sometimes we spot a particular appy or entree on the MDR menu to get at Blu.

Aqua gets you the Persian gardens (sauna, steam room etc) which I don't use. 

Daytime activities are limited.  Trivia is popular.  There might be a movie somewhere.  Always some sales related events.  No shows during the day, but the nightly Celebrity theater shows have been outstanding.  The casino is open during the day when not in port.

Starting about 5, there will be music at various lounges. We usually find one or two of the acts to be to our liking and seek them out daily.  

My wife also doesn't drink alcohol but the package comes included with other "always included" perks and is a no brainer to keep.  The drink package will also be good for a variety of non alcoholic cocktails. 

Just made Elite after our May 4 Summit cruise.  I see we now get  "Access to daily coffee lounge for exclusive breakfast".  What is this?  Is it a decent perk?  I've never seen a coffee lounge around the various ships. 

We usually sail in Aqua class, and do get breakfast at Blu, which is quite good.  

Also we now get   "Complimentary Captain’s Club Daily Elite cocktail hour".  Where is this and is it anything worthwhile?

Some of the theater acts are professionals who perform across US cities.  Entertainers such as comedians  often have been on tv shows.  Other production shows use ships cast performers who are mostly extraordinary.  Lounge music acts are hires from various countries, or bands made up from Celebrity orchestra....sensational.  

We sailed on the May 4 Bermuda cruise in Aqua.  Blu was excellent most nights, but the MDR menu was always available.  We are foodies...not particularly meat and potatoes seniors.  But one night nothing on Blu looked good so we had everything off the Main Dining menu.  Nice prime rib, escargot, French onion soup.   Yum.  On another night, I had two of the filets from the children's menu.  Very good.  

On this sailing, I am assuming staffing in the kitchen was weak.  We had to wait with a beeper for a table for 2 for 8 of the 9 nights, 5:30 up til 7pm.  Service in Blu was attentive and there seemed to be plenty of waiters, so I think the problem was in the kitchen.  Once the first course was arrived, the wait for subsequent plates was satisfactory to occasionally a bit slow.

Another note.  The wine steward had wines readily available.  I often had Prosecco which goes well with many things for me.  But when ordering a cocktail, the steward had to go out to Cellar Masters and that sometimes took extra time.  So, I brought a martini into Blu and just had my Prosecco there.

In Aqua, we had one night with lobster tails.  Full size, not the 4 oz midgets.  Ordered 2 and it was plenty.  Not sure if it was offered in the MDR.

Didn't see any available CS or RS, but the ship often holds back some rooms.