SAS21

Are there any benefits of purchasing the key when I am diamond plus? We are sailing on Harmony in November 2023. We haven't cruised since 2019 and I see there are a lot of changes.

Thanks!

We are cruising on Harmony Nov. 5th for seven days. I have looked at several hotels but I don't see any that offer parking and shuttle. Any heIp is appreciated.

On 11/20/2019 at 11:21 AM, mskaufman said:

 

We did this and while it may have been a few bucks extra it was simple and easy.  It was actually less than the Uber fare quoted above). We had a great day in Aix.

Where was the ships bus drop off in Aix en Provence? How much time did you have once there?  I am thinking of doing a DIY walking tour and need a starting point.

Thanks

1 hour ago, dkmk529 said:

@Hammergirl Yes, you are correct and we are ok with that because we have to get 2 rooms anyway. I have no other cruise lines to compare to (other than a Carnival cruise from 1999, which i don't count) other than RCCL.  I don't know how you can get much better than that. You say you would take Harmony over Breakaway 100 times, but would you still say that knowing RCCL is $4000 more? and that price doesn't include the drink package on RCCL or internet, which tacks on an additional 1400......

Harmony for sure, while I haven't cruised on her I have been on Allure. I was recently on Getaway (sister to breakaway) on a transatlantic for 19 days and did not care for it. Long lines at bars and main dining rooms. Balcony cabin is only enough room for 2 people, very tiny compared to RCL. Not enough storage space. Toilet kept stopping. Food was subpar at best and they ran out of things pretty quickly like milk. Service in dining room slow. Stateroom attendant not up to par, long story. I could go on & on. I would personally spend more money, know what I am getting for that money and know that I can give my family a pleasant experience. Maybe call RCL and see if they have any family oceanview cabins available that hold more than 4 people.  

On 1/20/2020 at 9:26 AM, Moltar said:

 

 

Tell that to people in Flint and Newark and God knows where else in this crumbling infrastructure country.

I don't drink tap water at all. I don't cook with it either. We live outside of NOLA along the Mississippi river and our water supply comes from the river. All the runoff of the upper states trickle down to us, not to mention all the marine traffic dumping fuels and oil into the river . Plus there are numerous boil water advisories through out the area regularly, especially in New Orleans itself. I can't imagine how many chemicals they add to purify it.

I don't like evian or dasani so not sure what I'm going to do on next cruise. 

A little trick I learned somewhere on here in the past, is to keep the cabinet door that houses the fridge slightly ajar. This keeps the heat of the compressor on the fridge from heating the inside of the cabinet. It works to keep the items in the fridge cooler. 

We do this on every cruise now and were surprised at how much cooler our items were. Of course the stateroom attendant closes it when he comes in. 

I would consider spending two nights in Barcelona. The first day see the sights around the city, on the second day take a tour to visit either Montserrat or a drive out of the city to Tossa de Mar and Pals ( These are 2 medieval towns) I loved. We spent 5 days in Barcelona after our TA and loved everything.  Check with the cruise line and see if they offer an excursion to see the main sites of the city along with your luggage and then drop you off at a central location. That would give you some insight to the city

before you set out to see the city after checking in at the hotel. Placa de Catalunya was our drop off location, very near the apartment we rented. 

On 11/11/2019 at 12:38 PM, david_sobe said:

I'm curious.  How did your cabin steward lock you out of your own cabin?  Don't you carry your room key with you outside the cabin?

We were in an ADA cabin, when you inserted your key card the door automatically opened for you, so that anyone with a wheelchair did not need someone to help hold the door open while they were entering. Apparently there is a switch at the top of the door that allows the door to remain open while the cabin stewart is in the cabin. The stewart kept switching it to the wrong position when he left the cabin, causing the door to not function with our keycard. Needless to say I was not happy. There were also some other small things that were not up to par.  

42 minutes ago, zounds said:

    Thank you all for the lengthy, well=written accounts.  I hope you were able to adjust your gratuities.  We'll be on her for the 1st time in Dec. and are Platinum, so I sure hope they get their act together.  

I didn't remove any gratuities, but I certainly didn't give anything extra. First time ever that I have done that. Our cabin steward was not up to par with his daily duties and considering that I don't have any special request he barely deserved the cruise lines suggested amount. I actually told him if he locked me out of my cabin again after 4 times I would remove his tips.

2 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

We just completed the 19 day TA on the Getaway.  We had this cruise booked almost a year and a half in advance and were really looking forward to it.  Sadly, it will be our last cruise on NCL for the foreseeable future.  We've already cancelled an upcoming cruise on Norwegian and booked a different cruise line.  We are experienced cruisers with Platinum status and have sailed with NCL more than any other line.

 

 So, what went wrong?  It would easier to talk about what was right.  The ship was immaculate.  The bed was comfortable.  The European ports were fantastic.  Embarkation was fast and efficient.  The restaurant staff were friendly.  The good points pretty much end there.

 

The low point was probably the food.  I know food opinions are subjective, but I find it impossible to believe that anyone would have found the food served on this cruise to be even close to good.  We began rating individual dishes as barely passable, pretty bad, and inedible.  75% of the dishes fell into the latter two categories.  I did have a dessert soufflé and a wings appetizer that I thought were actually good, but every other dish fell into these three categories.  My wife loves fish and usually orders whatever fish entrees that are offered in the MDR, but she gave up after several days of poorly executed meals.  I'm more of a meat and potatoes guy, so I'm used to ordering whatever red meat entrée is available.  Many were left half finished on my plate.  I don't know if it was the lack of skill of the chefs, the recipes themselves, or just poor, low-quality ingredients, but this food was just plain bad.  Our best meal was in Cagney's, but in no way did that restaurant equate to a high-end steakhouse.  It was okay, but more like an Outback Steakhouse in terms of quality, and I would not have been happy if I'd had to pay their premium prices for what I received.  We also tried O'Sheehans once again, the fourth ship we've had the dubious pleasure of eating in this establishment.  I used to equate it to eating at a Chili's or Applebees, but I think that may be too high of a bar.  

 

The ship apparently ran out of coffee creamer a couple of days into the cruise.  No problem, they still had half and half in the buffet.  Then, that disappeared,  Then one day, even the milk disappeared, and some of us resorted to using the juice box servings of milk to squeeze into our coffee.  Half and half would randomly reappear on the buffet one day, then be gone the next.  The creamers didn't reappear until the last two days of the cruise.  Lettuce and tomatoes also disappeared for extended periods.  It was clear that restocking and inventory management were not this crew's strong points.

 

Our cabin steward was the most unfriendly, unhelpful steward we've ever experienced.  He never introduced himself at all, and I gave up greeting him with a friendly "good morning" toward the end since I almost never got a reply.  It's not like we're demanding passengers.  We asked for an extra towel one day.  I asked for an iron once and left laundry a couple of times to be washed.  The first time I asked for an iron as I passed him in the hallway, and his replay was you have to be in your room and call.  Okay, I tried that later and got a recording telling me he was unavailable (7 straight times over two days).  Finally, someone picked up (not him) and delivered the iron.  The first time I needed laundry done, I wrote PLATINUM across the bag, and it was picked up and returned in less that a day (no complaints there).  The second time a week later, I did the same thing, but the bag was still sitting where I left it with a laundry order form placed on top.  So, I filled in my name and cabin number on it (which I did not do the first time), but it was still not picked up.  I finally found the steward the next day and asked why the laundry was not being picked up, only to discover that we needed to actually fill in the order form with specific counts of items.  I told him I was happy to do that, but asked why I hadn't needed to do it the first time.  His response:  if you hadn't filled it out, I would not have picked it up.  He actually argued with me that I must have filled it out.  

 

Then there was our port stop in Miami.  We were scheduled to be in port from 7 until 2.  The day before, we received a letter telling us that we'd be going through Customs since this was our first US port.  Each deck was assigned a specific time period to go off the ship, and we would not be able to return to the ship until everyone had gotten off.  The people who had to get off at 7:30 AM could not return to the ship until after 2:00 PM.  Fortunately, our time wasn't until noon, so we at least got to eat lunch on board before spending 2 1/2 hours standing in the terminal.  When we got off, we could see the terminal overflowing with passengers, many sitting on the floor or standing since there weren't anywhere close to enough seats.  NCL's only assistance, despite this being a dedicated NCL terminal, was to dispense paper cups of water to the waiting passengers.  Then, that evening, aware that virtually everyone on board was angry, the captain apologized over the announcements and blamed everything on Immigration.  Pure BS.  I was aware that we'd need to go through immigration in this port, so that part wasn't a surprise.  NCL even knew how long it was going to take and what the process would be well ahead of time since they put it in our letter.  They had no business even advertising this as a port stop since the random staggered debarkation times precluded making any arrangements in port.  Most people with private excursions or plans had to cancel  Only the NCL excursions were permitted to debark early and go on their way.  Secondly, knowing how bad this process was going to be, NCL could have done a far better job making sure there was enough seating in the terminal; maybe providing some basic snacks and drink; maybe providing a shuttle to transport passengers across the bridge to where there are several restaurants. Heck, doing anything other than stacking us like cattle in the terminal.

 

Great Stirrup Cay was only marginally better.  NCL had two ships in port because they had rerouted the Sun from another port (poor things, they actually had two separate port stops there), so they only allocated one tender to the Getaway.  That meant that 400 passengers were being tendered every 45 minutes.  Some passengers didn't get off until 1:30,  3 1/2 hours  after we arrived and got there 15 minutes before the main food service on the island was scheduled to end.  They only got off that early because NCL finally allocated a second tender to our ship at that point.  The food on the island was comparable to what we had on the ship.  As just one example, they were serving baked beans with the BBQ lunch buffet.  How can someone mess up such a simple dish?  You can start by making it from scratch, but forgetting to actually presoak or cook the beans.  Think putting a forkful of rocks in your mouth, and you have some idea of what this was like.  Obviously, not one cook actually tasted the dish prior to serving because it was truly inedible.

 

There were many other smaller problems on board like numerous drinks not being prepared correctly by bartenders (I actually had three separate margaritas on different days and in different bars where they "forgot" to add alcohol).  There were one hour waits to be seated in the MDRs, and the only way to avoid them and make a 7:30 show was to show up for dinner by 5:15 PM.  Surprisingly, the waits disappeared after the first week, so either the staff improved, or enough people got sick of the food and stuck to the specialty restaurants.  We also noticed staff reductions like the absence of assistant waiters most of the time.  That appeared to be one reason service was slower than we've experienced on other cruises.  Finally, it appeared to us that fewer crew members had any sort of command of the English language.  It was like they had received a crash course in the phrases they would need for their position.  If you asked a question like "do you have any half and half?", the crew member would have no idea how to respond.  I also can't count the number of times I was told that they would go and check on something, yet never return.  None of these by themselves would be a big deal, but lumped in with all the other issues, and they just served to add fuel to the fire.

 

So, after pretty much sticking with NCL over the past ten years, it's time for us to go back and give Princess and HAL and Royal Caribbean another try.  Maybe they are just as bad these days, but I find it hard to believe that they could be worse.

 

 

 

 

Also, don't forget that they took us straight into a hurricane and tropical depression. Worse seas I have ever experienced. I don't know who's decision that was Miami or the captain but certainly not a great decision.

I agree with everything you said, however we preferred O'Sheehans over the dining room even with limited food options.

Our room steward left a lot to be desired also. he was friendly but he locked us out of our cabin 4 times because he didn't put the switch on the door in the right position when he finished our ADA cabin. 

I just read on the a FB page for my upcoming cruise that in Copenhagen you have to bring your suitcase's into the terminal to the conveyor belt yourself. While that is not a problem for me alone,  I am traveling with someone with a disability who cannot manage their luggage alone. Does anyone know if there are porters in Copenhagen port? or any type of assistance?    

I am new to NCL and got an OBC due to a significant price drop on my cabin. Can I use the OBC towards the daily service charge?

I would suggest packing cubes since you will be sharing suitcases. A different color for each child or person. When unpacking just put the cube in the drawer.  It also keeps the suitcase neat, clothes aren't moving around so less wrinkles.

I also agree on the ponchos, they cost very little at Walmart maybe a dollar or so, easy to pack and carry for those just in case rainy days.

4 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

 

Biloxi, MS. On the Point, which is a peninsula.  Water came up on all three sides. We had 4.5 ft of water in the house, and were 18-20 ft above sea level. I imagine it was pretty awful in lower Louisiana too, especially with all the marshes. 

Yes it was awful. My parents lost everything. The house exploded from the pressure, nothing left. We weren't in the house though, thank goodness. 

I am very familiar with Biloxi, we have friends that live in Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian. 

1 hour ago, barbeyg said:

 

My dad kept us home in Hurricane Camille, a Cat 5. I think shock starts to set in and you just function. I was small, but remember the calm way the adults were discussing trying to swim to trees to tie us little ones into the trees if the house started to collapse. We were in the attic. I don’t think us kids spoke a word. 50 years later, I can still remember vividly. 

Where did you live then?  I also went through Hurricane Camille when it passes through Lower Louisiana.

58 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

We don't get our travel insurance from the cruise lines, but this sounds very weird to me. What would homeowners' insurance have to do with coverage for travel delays, trip cancellation, etc.?  My pretty standard H/O policy with a major national insurer certainly doesn't cover anything remotely like that.   

I worked for a major insurer for years and homeowners would only cover any losses to personal items under the contents coverage, minus your deductible. Lost luggage and contents within it would be covered.

32 minutes ago, Tagsalong said:

The eye is now over Marsh Harbour and Elbow Cay.  Coco Cay is 71 miles (115 KM) to the south and will be spared the worst of it.

Marsh Harbour  26.5242° N, 77.0910° W

Coco Cay  25.8179° N, 77.9389° W

 

 

It may depend on the width of the eyewall and how far out the hurricane force winds extend from the eye. For example Hurricane Katrina which hit where I live had an eyewall 37 miles wide with the hurricane force winds extending 120 miles from the eye. While the eye did not make landfall right over where I live, it did make landfall 50 miles away. 71 miles it not a lot of distance when to comes to hurricanes.

Our cruise had a port stop in Rotterdam. We have booked a NCL bus from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. It only says that the drop off/ pick up will be at a central location in Amsterdam. Does anyone know where that location may be? I've called the excursion help line and they couldn't tell me anything.  

I have done a search both here and on the port of call board and didn't find anything.

Thanks

Hi everyone! I an new to NCL and I have a couple of questions. When I booked this cruise I got a 2 x 4 meal package and also 120 minutes internet plan.

So my first question , how does the meal plan work? They charged me what I am assuming to be the tax or gratuity, so what are my dining options? Which restaurants?

Second question: Do I have to sign up for a more expensive internet plan to get my 120 minutes or do I get just 120 minutes? I only need 120 minutes to keep in touch with family at home. I would prefer not to have to spend more money just to get the 120 minutes if that makes any sense.

We are sailing on the Getaway.

Thanks!

Hi Danish Viking,  Thank you for all the valuable information. I have a question for you.

Where is the best location to watch the changing of the guards?

We will be in Copenhagen in October and from the information I have found it seems the Royal Family may be in Amalienborg Palace at that time. I would love to see the changing of the guards while I am there.

We are staying in Nyvahn so we will be really close to the palace.

Thanks!

Is there something wrong with people from NOLA that would cause someone not to take this cruise? Does it matter how many are locals?

We are flying out of Ft. Lauderdale to Copenhagen to board a cruise ship. First we have to get to Ft. Lauderdale. The only nonstop flight that works for us flies to Miami. So, my question is can anyone recommend a transportation company that will pick us up from Miami Airport and get us to a hotel in Fort Lauderdale? We booked a day room since we would arrive Mid morning in Miami and our flight to Copenhagen doesn't leave until 9 pm. 

I searched the Florida ports board but did not find what I was looking for. 

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

Hi everyone!

Are taxi's readily available at the airport? We would need a larger one to accommodate 4 people and 8 pieces of luggage. Would it be necessary to pre-book before arriving? I would prefer not to pre-book in case of a delayed arrival.  

We just disembarked Vision yesterday and I have to say the food was the worst we have experienced on RCL. We  have had dinner in the windjammer on several other cruises with no complaints but what they served on Vision was awful.

I didn't however see any packaged sandwiches. 

Thanks! We are on Vision in an Owners suite.