Twinbooty

11 minutes ago, wcook said:

So I took a look at the daily programs back when we were docked in Dubai and the casino wasn’t open. Bummer. It’s closed while we are in Doha, but opens as soon as we pull out. 
 

VP selection is mighty thin. Maybe 4-5 multi-game machines where one of the options is VP. Since the machines were locked in attract mode I couldn’t check pay tables. I assume they are terrible. 
 

Slots are new and very colorful. Lots of the games you see in American casinos - but standard stuff, nothing exotic: pandas, tritons, buffalos. One bank with the fake-ish reals Euros like. They have a couple of those electronic table games with the electronic dealers, plus 4-5 true table games.

 

Overall a pretty small casino, especially for the size of the ship. It gets zero promotion except for the scratch cards and lotto jackpot.
 

No promises, but if you have any more questions fire away and I’ll check out when the casino’s open. Assuming I don’t drink too much and forget 🙂

LOL - Thanks for this.  I live in Dubai and miss my trips to Vegas so in advance of the Wynn opening in RAK, just wondered if i could get a 3 day cruise fix.  My concern though was there isnt a lot of sailing so casino time would probably be limited and i was hoping there was more "American" slots rather than typical Euro ones.  

Yeah any other info you can give, without it costing you too much trouble of course, would be appreciated but i get the idea now anyway.  Again, very much appreciated you taking the time to reply.

3 hours ago, wcook said:

I’m on the Toscana now headed to Doha. The casino has been open

Thanks WCook.  Can you advise if its only open when at sea or if its open when you were in dock in Dubai??  (I presume it wasnt of course but worth checking)

Also.....and apologies for asking.

Do you know if there are Video Poker machines or a Video Poker Bar.  As well as what kind of slots there are.  IE - Are there the classic Buffalos, Huff n Puff, All aboard machines.

Ive tried to research to see a good walk through video of the machines and cant seem to find any.

Thanks in advance.

Just checking if anyone has been on recent cruises around Dubai/Doha/Muscat etc and if you can advise if the casinos were open when at sea.

Thanks.

Did anyone on this topic sail around the Emirates like Dubai, Qatar, Oman Abu Dhabi and if so, can you please tell me if the casino was open or closed ?

Thanks in advance.

Apologies for going a little off topic but i feel this group can answer my question the quickest.  Ive only ever done European cruises and when in Europe they close the on board casinos whilst in port.

Is this the same in USA and the Caribbean as im thinking of pulling the trigger and doing one this summer.

Also, we really love Bar Top VP when in Vegas and we therefore love the Norwegian set up.  Brownie points if you can suggest other ships with the best bar top machines.  

Thanks in advance.

Hi all, im looking at Spectrum sailing from Singapore to Shanghai but our end destinations is going to be Hong Kong.  Are you able to leave a cruise early before reaching Shanghai on Day 5 or 6 or do you need to sail the entire cruise ?

Thanks in advance.

4 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I think the OP means a box of bottles as it's Prosecco.

Yeah. I'm meaning 2 boxes of 6 bottles. Is that too much? 

I have the alcohol package and can see from other topics I can bring Prosecco on board buy my question is by what method....

Ie...I have no room in my 1 case. Would it be OK to rock up with a box of wine and hand that over alongside my case. 

Or will I need to find room in my case somehow? 

Thanks Keith.

Sorry to jump in on this topic but it is related and i thought it best to not start a brand new one.

If a solo traveller has 3 speciality dining packages, can they use 1 for another traveller who doesnt have any at a meal for 2 ?

Also, as a solo traveller can i book a table for 2 and use my speciality package for 1 person whilst the other person just pays the a la carte prices as thei meal price at La Cucina isnt going to be worth buying another speciality package for ?

On 4/15/2023 at 8:55 PM, Toronto_Cruisers said:

Well, I just booked my June 3rd cruise on the Getaway and Syd is still there as an option.

Hi there and hope you are enjoying your cruise.  Can you confirm if its still open and what the nightly entertainment has been on it ?  Thanks in advance.

2 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

You can only bring wine and champagne onboard in bottles (no boxed wine). Typically, there is a $15 corkage fee assessed per 750ml bottle at embarkation, but recently the policy changed and that fee is now waived if you have any of the beverage packages.

Wow. That is defo a game changer.  That's excellent news for my companion.  Thanks for this.

Separate question to above, if someone is on the Premium Plus package, are they allowed to get a bottle of prosecco or champagne for a night on the balcony? Or is it just by the glass through room service? 

On 5/27/2023 at 11:12 PM, DrUrsula said:

In Miami and Ft Lauderdale Publix supermarket will deliver Veuve and /or any other wine that they have in stock directly to your hotel front desk. Our last trip Veuve ran around 51 dollars a bottle and a small Instacart fee. I hit a sale! this was in March of this year.

Orders can be placed about a week in advance. We have also had wine shops deliver bottles to us at the hotel but that was years ago.

I didn't think you were allowed to take your own alcohol on board. This is potentially a game changer. 

What's the process for that and is there a charge from NCL? 

Morning all.

Checking in for a friend who has the "Free at Sea" package and therefore all the standard alcoholic drinks included.  I was having a look and couldnt see any prosecco on the package and even checking the Premium Plus package there doesnt seem to be any mention of it on there either.

Are there any prosecco/champagne drinkers who can fill us in on the difference on the packages.  Also keen to know where Grey Goose sits on the grand scheme of things.

Thanks in advance

9 minutes ago, hallux said:

Not always.  I've seen some sailings where this was not an option. 

Yeah, I've had a look around and can't see anything. I wonder if booking it in European site is different from USA site? 

We have someone booking on the same trip as ourselves next month and Im trying to see if i can book a cabin close by however whenever im online looking to book, i cant seem to find anywhere the option to pick a deck and cabin.  Is there something im missing or has Norwegian changed its policy to always anonymously choose a cabin ?

Im also curious to see the current capacity of the ship though i appreciate it may change in 4 weeks.  Is there anywhere online to view that also ?

Thanks all for the responses on this one.  Very very good information and hadnt thought about the drinks on the balcony being outwith "the rules" as they have the premium drink package bought but everything said makes sense.  Will defo run it past the staff and we can see from there.

And yeah, no expectations from me so will understand if its a no.

TY. x

Hi all, I've booked a Haven Suite for an upcoming cruise and my friend has booked a balcony room.

I 100% understand they won't be able to use the Haven facilities but I was wondering if in general there is an issue with them accessing my suite.  Ie if we wanted to sit on the balcony and have some room service, is this allowed or is it frowned upon?

Thanks in advance.

47 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Barcelona to Dubai, on that trip the casino was open every night. The ship then did round trips around the AUE, don't know if the casino was open. Doubt Costa would do this if they had to close the casino. Will be back on the Toscana end of this week from Dubai to Genoa. 

Cheers Gerry. Casinos are not normally open at port but the cruise I'm looking at is essentially 3 days at Port Rashid so just curious if it will be pretty much closed the entire trip as that's the only reason I would be going on it. Will contact them directly. 

On 3/9/2023 at 8:28 AM, gerryuk said:

Costa Toscana, although big is a beautiful ship.  

Hi Gerry.  Which cruise did you do on Toscana and was the casino open during any trips in Dubai/Abu  Dhabi if you were there ?

On 3/11/2023 at 4:42 PM, alpencoolcruiser said:

I am a fan of D-I-Y shore excursions , whenever possible. I am selective of what I want to see and if I am able to will prefer to arrange my own way. In Dubai , we got to see quite a lot on our own - on metro, buses, trams, monorail, abras. The Costa Toscana was docked for 2 days at the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal near the Palm Jumeirah. There were no shuttle buses from the terminal.

The biggest problem we had was to get a taxi from the cruise terminal to nearby metro stations. They simply did not want to take us when we wanted them to turn on the meter and pay by card. We were once desperate enough and asked how much it would be with no meter and cash. The driver wanted to charge us 3 times the price of the meter fare. Anyone else faced this in Dubai ?   Just a fair warning if you are cruising out of Dubai - do download the Careem app and order a taxi through it. In the end we still managed to see quite a lot of this beautiful city.   

 

Hi there.  I know the norm on ships but looking at the 5 day cruise on Toscana with 3 days at port.  Do you know if the casino was open when it was in port on your trip ?

3 minutes ago, AnitaVacation said:

wow....just so stressful...we are booked for a b2b leaving 1/3/22...we are flying to Orlando next Sunday (a day ahead)...we have booked a PCR test for Friday morning...Our biggest fear at this point is coming in contact with covid at the airport or flight...we have the good N95 masks and lots of washy washy...still super stressful.  PEOPLE, PLEASE... get tested before heading to the terminal...(I know it is going to be a requirement soon, now it is just a recommendation)...

At what point do you think the cruise lines are going to stop making accommodations for people that test positive??  This has got to be costing them a fortune.

 

I really wish the airports would start doing more to screen for covid...are they doing anything??

just on that last point, anyone with no pre tests were being told they had to pay the $200 a night for the hotel if they chose that option.

To answer the various questions, the ones with symptons tested negative and are fine.  The issue we all had here was that everybody was fine to do tests the day before but as it was Xmas then home tests were the only option and you then get into a catch 22 situation.

If you do a home test and are positive then you cant fly to LGB BUT you also cant get a £2500 refund so it actually encourages you to NOT do a test, travel to the pier then find out the result which is just stupid really.

As for how it got resolved, eventually at 430pm some 7 hours after testing positive people were taken to their bags and then dropped off either at a local hotel or a place where they could be collected and were safe.

When the positive person left at 430 there were still over 50 people sitting waiting on secondary results though perhaps the decision had already been taken they were not getting on. 

 

3 minutes ago, hallux said:

 

I imagine the call center is pretty busy then, no surprise that you had trouble.

 

You're still at the port, right?  I see the ship is still there.  I bet the port folks are pretty busy trying to find bags for those that tested positive if there were that many.

 

If I had any prescriptions I would never put them in a checked bag, no matter how short of a time I'd be without it.  ALL medications would be in my carry-on.  Sorry, but this part is on her.

 

 

Agree on the last part to be fair. 

One of our party tested positive at 915 this morning second test around 10am.

Haven't got their bags back, nobody answering, nobody knows when bags will be back.

I called the call centre and they called the ships supervisors who would deal with it.  Am hour later still nothing so called again and theu said they would phone her right away.

Waited 30 minutes and still nothing so called again and of course they are now closed.

Nobody knows anything at the port.

With the test waiting room ticket system, could they not organise bags the same way and only send bags on once passenger is clear.

I know people will say she should have kept medicines but there is medicine in her case that no one would expect to be 7 hours without in these circumstances.

Apparently there is Hundreds all positive and not sailing.