Stealthdog

I think it is fairly common in the cruise industry that gyms are not open 24 hrs.  I don't think I have been on a line that does offer 24 hours.  I get the need to keep them closed during sleeping hours though.  I hate going there on peak times and having to wait for equipment - 6AM should be good though because no one else will probably be there.

I agree completely about the boring and repetitive menus in the MDR.  I'd mix it up a little with some of the other options - Irish Bar, Specialty Dining, etc. 

Stateroom not being clean is not acceptable.  I would ask for your pre-paid gratuities to be credited back to your account and re-distribute them accordingly.

Enjoy the rest of the cruise while you can - we are getting snow where I am today and tomorrow is going to be around 15-20 degrees F.

In that case - it looks like you got a good deal in October for your cruise.  Cruise prices change weekly.  Current quotes for balconies for the 23 Feb sailing of the Anthem with the same itinerary are $2024.32 (category 6D) to $2146.32 (category 8D).  Looks to be a little cheaper than the Norwegian you are looking at.

You probably saved close to $1000 by booking in October. :) 

Never mind - I misread your post.  Thought you said you were leaving on Feb 3rd. :)

Comparing prices between cruises when one is sailing over a Holiday weekend and one isn't won't be a good comparison though.  Sometimes cruises over holidays almost double in cost.

Its a different itinerary than yours.  The Norwegian is a Bahamas cruise that stops there and then returns to NY.  Yours is a Southern Caribbean cruise - Barbados is one of my favorite ports.

That particular one Norwegian cruise is also over a Federal Holiday (Presidents Day).  Cruises over holidays tend to cost more.

There is an 11 night on Feb 25th that has a similar itinerary. 

The appropriate comparison would have been, what was the cost of a like NCL cruise at the time you booked your Anthem cruise in October, and comparing the same category of cabin type.  Otherwise, you are comparing the price of one cruise line you booked 3 months ago to the price of another cruise line today.  I can't even tell what the price of your Anthem cruise today if I booked because the only rooms available are suites. 

It looks like the closest comp to your 12 day cruise on Feb 3rd is a 14 day NCL cruise on Feb 3rd out of NY (Escape), but they are different lengths, go to different ports, with a different embarkation port, on probably different ship categories.  The only thing the same is they leave on the same day.

A 14 night cruise in a balcony category cabin with unlimited drinks, 4 night dining, some OBC, and $50 off per for port excursion for about $4300 seems like an ok deal.  I like the itinerary on your Anthem sailing better though.

There are a lot of factors that go into the cost of a cruise - dates of the cruise, itinerary, cabin type, perks, etc.  Without knowing more details can't really comment. 

Ready or not, we are giving it a try.  Booked a Yacht Club suite on the Meraviglia for an October 2019 Canada cruise.  TA advised against it, but when he saw the price of YC compared to other cruise line suites, he changed his mind.  We have friends on this cruise that are not staying YC, so we'll be able to see the difference with their experience.

It depends on your comfort level and how much you want to personally coordinate.  Also depends on the port you are going to (some locations make it very easy to get off the ship and go on your own, others are a little more remote).  We usually do about half through NCL and half through a private company, or just do stuff on our own.

Some benefits of going through NCL (already mentioned):

- the $50 per port (per cabin) perk cuts into the cost a little.  NCL excursions tend to be more expensive.  But, if you are also able to book a distinctive voyage, you can stack that $50 with the $50 Free at Sea for a total of $100 credits per cabin.  That could make the NCL excursions cheaper than other options.

- less stress.  You don't have to worry about getting back to the ship on time, language barriers, or anything else.  NCL does everything for you, from telling you the time and location for meet up, directing you off the ship, and towards whatever bus you need to get on. 

Some benefits of going through private:

- Cost benefit.  More often than not, you can get the same experience for cheaper than NCL.

- On the flip side, you can pay more than a NCL excursion but have a very small group (4-8 people), with a private tour guide, that can be tailored for whatever you want to do.  It allows you to ask more detailed questions and not be shuttled around like cattle to your destinations.

- I have never had the experience, but some private groups guarantee you back to the ship.....so if you are late and the ship leaves, they will get you to the next port.

There really is no right or wrong answer.  Just do whatever is comfortable to you.

35 minutes ago, Grandpa Elliott said:

 

 

No you can't.  You can get the DSC removed but not the auto-gratuities.  The auto-gratuities are charged for the dining and drink packages and are mandatory.

My apologies for not being as clear.  But, yes, I wasn't referring to the 20% gratuities added to dining and beverage packages.  I was referring to the automatic daily gratuities ($13+/day). 

41 minutes ago, rhblake said:

 Therefore you probably ate most of the other 42 meals at the buffet? How did you reward (tip) all of those servers, working the buffet?

Did not go to the Buffet once.  Very rarely do we go to the buffet on any cruise line because of all the unsanitary health concerns.  Had breakfast and lunch at Cagneys every day and specialty dining for dinner for all but the three meals we had at the MDR.  We redistributed the tips directly to the breakfast/lunch staff at Cagneys.

Just got off a 15 day on the Sun.  You absolutely can get a refund for the automatic gratuities while still on the cruise.  Just go to Customer Service near the end of the cruise and they can do it for you.  We only went to the MDR 3 times over the 15 days, so we got the automatic gratuities refunded and then gave that money back to those who served us directly every day (restaurant and cabin staff), plus a little more.  It was an interesting experience - you can now do a ship charge directly to a NCL staff member.  Just give their name to the customer service and they can pull up their account number, charge your on board account, and send that charged amount directly to the NCL staff member's account as a credit.

We like going because we find them fun and there is no obligation to buy anything.  Over the years we have collected some fun pieces from multiple different artists - some unique some not.  My favorite is still our first - the 4 seasons tree by Najar.  We are on the Sun right now and their first auction was really disorganized, so we left and probably won’t go to any on this ship.  If you have an hour or two with nothing else going on, it could be fun to attend.

My experience with the Epic over the Summer was ok.  It was probably a different crew, and I didn't see the same issues of understaffing and slowness of service.  I wasn't a huge fan of the ship itself though - did not like the layout.  We found the food in the MDR and specialty restaurants to be pretty good (not as good as a Celebrity, but it was fine).  We never did the buffet, so really can't comment on that.  The entertainment was outstanding - it was the best of any ship I've been on (Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, and Royal).  Just book your dining and entertainment pre-boarding (or immediately when on board if you can't book prior) and you will save a lot of headache.

We choose our cruises based on 1) itinerary, 2) dates, 3) cost in that order.  The specific ship (or class of ship) really doesn't matter to us.  If the itinerary was right, we would go on the Epic again, but it certainly isn't one of our favorite ships. 

All cruise lines and cruise sites advertise in this manner.  Often there will be only one cruise available at the lowest price cabin for that price and it is typically sailing within a week.  I get more frustrated with the advertised price on various advertisements and sites not being to true total cost......but even still, they will typically have their caveat at the bottom somewhere in fine print that note that other fees may apply.

Cagneys twice and Le Bistro once.

Looks like I’ll be trading mine in.  This is my only non-dividend investment.  Don’t see any value in holding on to it anymore.

Compared to the other cheaper lines I have been on (Royal and Carnival), it’s pretty good.  Don’t know how they compare to MSC or Princess.  Wouldn’t expect them to be as good as the next tier cost lines (ie Celebrity, Disney, Holland, etc).  

I only go to La Cucina on long cruises to mix it up.  It’s the worst of the group IMHO.

i don’t bother with Moderno either.  I have 3 Brazilian steakhouses where I live - no ship is going to compare.

Cagneys and Bistro have always been great every time I have gone.  Tepanyaki has been ok to me - but you are paying for the entertainment and not really the quality of food.

My favorite specialty is Qsine on celebrity. My least favorite is Sushi on 5 on Celebrity - was even worse than Cucina.

i don’t do the buffets, but even when the MDRs are good, I’ll still go to several specialties per cruise.  NCLs are better than average imho.

I've left a few shows over the years early because I found them dull and boring.  I haven't seen this one in particular, but as paying customers - we shouldn't have to sit through something while on vacation if we are not enjoying it.  I don't see what the big deal is.  On some cruise lines I just stopped going to the productions.

The airfare and hotel perks are not good. Hotel appears to be limited to undesirable locations. Called for airfare and they would not confirm booking until a few days out. Not a big fan of that promotion.

Going on the Sun in a few months for a Panama Transit cruise. Definitely appreciate your feedback on the dining! We find every ship tends to be different. In our first NCL Le Bistro was our favorite, on the next it was our least favorite. We will look to book Le Bistro over Cagneys on our upcoming sailing. Thanks for the tips!

While this can be true in the states; the context is usually more like tipping $1 on a $100 restaurant bill. In that case it’s insulting and the server would probably prefer no tip. When you are talking about tipping with drinks, $1 per drink isn’t a bad tip except for higher end places, and $1 per two drinks isn’t low enough to be insulting. A nickel or dime would be.

 

In the context of the ship however, the bartenders very often receive no tip due to the gratuities being pre-paid. I believe any tip in that situation will be well received.

 

 

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I think you will start to see this changing, with a number of states/cities forcing a change on the pay of the service industry. Once they start getting the $15+/hour (instead of $3-4), tipping will probably end. I'm ok with paying the price up front (in the cost of food/beverage) instead of the trying to figure out how much I should pay in addition to the check.

I've used a TA every time. Usually get an additional perk (grats, excursion, dining) and/or OBC from the TA.

Just got off the Epic and had a great time. The food was much better than the other NCL ship I've been on. We did Cagney's twice, Modeno once, and Le Bistro once. Bistro was our least favorite. Main dining was also surprisingly good. Not quite as good as Celebrity, but definitely at the top of the rest of the dining experiences. Entertainment was also great. Tons of choices and quirky things that made the ship really unique. We enjoyed the Cirque Show and Howl at the Moon dueling pianists the most. The others were fun. The amount of things to do can be overwhelming, but I would rather have a ship offer too much than too little entertainment because you can always choose not to go. We went into every port - we might have liked another sea day. But, overall we found very little to complain about with the Epic.