Dannirose

On my 2018 cruise the thermal spa was $150 for the week. We ended up bidding on and winning spa balcony cabins so the pass was included for us but a few others in our party who did not have spa cabins purchased them. We all used them every day and thought they were worth every cent. And we did have someone with us who wanted a day pass but it was so crowded they told her they could not accommodate her.

On 8/12/2022 at 4:00 PM, nasellemom1 said:

I used the chat on NCL through my booking and was told I would need to call the Shore Excursions phone number. I have to wonder if it has something to do with only being a 5 night cruise not 7? 

The 7 night has the same issue - we only show excursions available for Puerto Vallarta. Nothing for any other port, so it must be a bug on their end.

Another vote for Teppanyaki, and we also really love Moderno.

1 hour ago, Sue Do-Over said:

There were LOTS of families in matching PJs on either Christmas Eve or morning gathered in public spaces to open gifts. (Epic 2019)

 

 

What a cute idea! I won't be subjecting the husband to that, but if we were traveling with kids I could totally see doing that.

Our favorites were Teppanyaki and Moderno. We also really enjoyed Sheehan's after a night of partying. 🙂

2 hours ago, possum52 said:

The Aus Open is from the middle of January for two weeks in Melbourne. When you say your husband would want to scuba dive, is there any particular place he would want to do that? Is he thinking the Great Barrier Reef?

Yes, if it is still permitted, he would want to dive the Great Barrier Reef. I'm thinking we would fly into Melbourne for the Open, make our way to Sydney for the start of the cruise if we ultimately chose to do the cruise, and then end the trip with the diving portion before heading home. The alternative is fly into Melbourne, see the Open match and a few sights there and whatever day trips make sense from there and then head to Sydney and see the sights there and do one or two day trips (including the dive trip).

While we had not been considering the cruise option before (because we honestly hadn't thought of it), the pricing right now does make it rather attractive.

We always leave extra cash, but we usually bring some extra snacks, candies and small trinkets which we leave on the last day with a note asking the stateroom attendant to share with the rest of the crew. Our last cruise was our wedding and we had a large group with us so we had a lot of "extras" and I had asked the cabin steward if it was okay to leave those as well and was told they pool the items and whomever needs something takes it, so it was appreciated. That trip we even left behind some lottery scratch-offs that our group had not not used.

I think the bottom line is cash is always best, but a little extra never hurts.

17 hours ago, possum52 said:

A number of things to consider -

• how long do you want to spend visiting Australia?
• when do you plan to visit?
• what are you want to see here?
• what are your interests?

 

If you decide to just visit Melbourne and Sydney, both cities have many sights to see and also some great day excursions.

 

Let us know the answers to the above and we can offer better advice. I would suggest the minimum time you would want to spend here would be two weeks. Australia’s main cruising season usually starts in late September/early October with re-positioning cruises and through to late March. P&O Australia and Carnival Aus will have cruises all year round. 

 

It would be between 2-3 weeks depending on what I can arrange with my work schedule and likely in January-February 2024. We want to see as much as we can in that space and are fairly open to things to do. My husband will want to scuba dive at least once while we are there and possibly catch a tennis match if the Open is happening while we are there, but we don't have any other must dos. Even if we take a cruise, I expect we would plan a few days on land to be able to do the scuba and/or tennis but am trying to figure out the best options for the bulk of the trip if that makes sense.

Thank you all for your input so far.

For my husband's 50th, we want to go to Australia. Originally I was thinking we would fly in and explore by land, but that likely means we will spend a few days in Melbourne and a few days in Sydney and not really see much else (unless we can arrange a day excursion here and there), so we have been thinking of doing a cruise instead. I know some people say with a cruise you only see 5% of the country, but besides the 5%, what would you say are the pros and cons of seeing Australia by cruise? 

We will be on the Joy this December and cruising the Mexican Riviera over Christmas. Can anyone share some of their favorite things NCL has done on previous Christmas cruises?

Our two favorite specialty restaurants on the Escape are Teppanyaki and Moderno. Both were great experiences.

We had 2 teens in our group with us on the Escape and they absolutely loved it. We rarely saw them because they were so involved with the onboard activities through the Entourage club. The waterslide was a huge hit, as was the arcade.  

We were a group of 24 and even with reservations were split into several smaller tables when eating together for meals. Only once were we given 2 long rectangular tables in a sort of "L" shape set-up. The others they kept us all in the same part of the dining room but it was very scattered and some people were at a table for 4 and others a table for 6, etc. The maître d said it had to do with the times we were eating and even the group reservation cannot control if some people seated before you arrive take longer than others to finish eating so they have to seat you as they can. 

We were also assigned Amanat.... She wasent very personable.. I sent a email last week and was told she's no longer with the company and we were given another coordinator.

ROE seems to be going through a bit of a re-org lately with wedding planners and turnover. I will say, my replacement coordinator ended up being much more efficient than my original.

I was at the Dollar Tree the other day for cruise items and found a great first aid kit. It is a flat plastic box with your usual bandaids, alcohol wipes, etc. They also had advil and zantac in carry-packs - I think 2 in each box, so .50/each. You could add those to the first aid kits. I thought the presentation of the kits, with the very flat box, was great. Very efficient and not too bulky. (I'm a new grad nurse, so I love first aid kits, LOL)

 

You reminded me to pack safety pins!! I forget those every time, and they are NOT easily found on a cruise ship!

 

Danni - what are light key cards and deck locator cards?

Instead of using your regular ship card or a credit card to power the cabin electricity some people buy little cards that have some type of custom logo or design on them and magnets on the back so you can keep them on the wall of your cabin when not in use.

Deck locator cards are also credit card sized and have basic information about where things like the restaurants and bars and other common areas are located. I got both for my group from a seller on Etsy but they are also something people make themselves.

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Your local dollar store is a great place for goodie bag items. I got nightlights, plastic clips to secure beach towels to chairs, mini tissue packs, highlighters for the dailies and post it pads to be able to leave notes for one another on doors all from there.

I also got light key cards and deck locator cards from a seller on Etsy and glow necklaces from the party store for my group to use on Glow night.

Did you originally have Tiffany also? I've had a slightly more difficult time since we we're switched to a different planner.

 

 

 

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Yes, I had Tiffany and now I have Devyn. I’m sort of having to go back and pick a lot of things all over again because it is turning out Tiffany didn’t put everything we discussed through and some things she told me were not accurate.

Your wedding is really soon right? That sucks you are having trouble now - nobody needs that extra stress.

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I’m an embarkation day wedding on the NCL Escape in July. We have 24 guests, all sailing with us so it should be a fun week. I’ve found the planning to be simplified which is exactly what I was going for, even with a switch in my planner 2 months out.

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Hi,

 

 

 

I'm newly engaged and planning our wedding for may 2019! We decided on a cruise wedding, if we can get a boat that will allow a ton of people. We are inviting around 200 people, and expecting/hoping at least 1/4 to not show up. We hope to have ceremony and reception on the boat but it's been difficult to find info on max number of people. Has anyone done this with that many people? If so, what was your experience? Which cruise ship was it on? Specific port? Any tips? About how much did you spend on the reception and what options did you choose? Or any suggestions on how to do it on land before embarkation, without spending more than you would on the boat? Thank you so much for any tips you all have!

Part of it will depend on whether or not your guests are actually sailing with you. I was told when I booked my embarkation day event that I could have up to 20 non-sailing guests attend the ceremony. If I wanted to have more than that I was obligated to also have a reception but that if the number of non-sailing guests exceeded 50, the ship would have to approve the event and guest count.

Mostly this is because of the logistics involved in getting these guests on and off the ship prior to sail away. Also keep in mind, embarkation day receptions are not allowed to be longer than an hour and a half.

Hope that helps, happy planning!

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Thanks for the review. Since your son didn't really hang out in the teen club, was he bored or did he find enough to do on his own? We have a couple of teens in our group and I know not all of them are joiners or the teen club type and a little worried they might not find enough to do within their interests if they don't go to the teen club activities.

Thanks for this info. I will definitely check them out now. The description on the NCL page just had me thinking "eh" but your post has peaked my interest.

Great tips, thanks! Looking forward to your full report. :)

Just a quick FYI for anyone who might have been working with ROE and had Tiffany as their planner - she has left the company and all of her weddings are being reassigned and you might want to check in and reconfirm your arrangements.

I'm now working with Devyn who seems super sweet and organized. It appears most of what I confirmed with Tiffany was in the file but there were a few things not there that Devyn is now taking care of for me.

Happy planning all!

Following, I would also like to see the dailies. Thanks!

I'm getting married on the Escape in July and bringing some of my own decor. I have to give my planner at ROE a list of what I am bringing and have someone in my wedding party assigned to doing the set up while I am getting ready. They do have some restrictions about what you can bring onboard like no live floral or bubbles, but it's pretty reasonable.