cruisin07family

I agree with Ken, I don't want DASH! I want UBP or UDP! Anyone know if any of the online agencies offer that as a promo as I would definitely use them to book our August Bermuda cruise. Otherwise, I guess I'll keep waiting and hoping to get a good last minute rate!

My son works on the Getaway so I asked him today when he called from St. Thomas. He said the Asst. CD is filling in because Sinan had a family emergency and will be out another week or so. I thought he said JoElle, like a girl, but maybe not. Anyway, hope this gives some of you looking forward to Sinan some hope that he will be back. My son comes home next week and I can't wait to see him (he left in Nov for Germany to join the Getaway).

Many thanks to all of you. I believe I do have what should work. I thought someone here posted a cool pic of BA and GA when they were docked together in NYC for Superbowl weekend but a search hasn't turned up anything. I know there is one on NCL's facebook page but it isn't very clear. I may be able to print a few in a collage frame as well. I'm very excited to get started on this project!!

Here's the situation....Our son works for NCL and he will be coming home for vacation in May til July 12. He has worked aboard the PoA and Getaway so far and he's going to the BA in July. Dh thought it would be a cool idea to find pictures of "his" ships and have them blown up and framed and put in his room before he comes home in 3 weeks. I checked the shots on NCL but they are not hi-res enough to blow them up without distortion/blurring. Ideally I want to print a photo at least 11X14. Does anyone have a ship picture that s/he would be willing to send to me?

 

Here's my email: mdgurganus at gmail .com (without spaces)

 

Thanks in advance to any suggestions or photos.

[quote name='SeaShark']Nobody denies that the service charge is discretionary. Its just that we realize that it means it is distributed at NCL's discretion (see NCL FAQ page) and not that it is paid at the discretion of the guest. If the latter were true, then it would be totally optional....like trip insurance.[/QUOTE]

:) I agree with this explanation. This is how I interpret DSC as well. We only cruised once before the auto DSC started being added. I thought it was a huge hassle to have cash and then try to hunt down those who I thought I should tip. It also seemed like many cruisers avoided the MDR on the last night to avoid tipping as the DR was only half full. Of course, that is my assumption as to why the DR was only half full, before someone is sure to point it out.

We loved Headliners when it was the dueling pianos but not so much for the Second City acts. As someone above said, they repeat. The 7pm show each time it's offered is the same skits, the 9pm show every time is the same, the 11pm show is the same. We didn't realize that at first so we were quite disappointed that once we spent the first night watching there was no reason to return. Personally, I'd rather see a comedian. There was a fantastic comedy magician on the Jewel when we cruised, Jean-Pierre something. Would love to see him again.

We love NCL because of the freestyle concept and no need to pack dress clothes. We haven't personally sailed on Celebrity but friends always cruise them. They think Celebrity is a bit more upscale as they think the food is better and they also enjoy doing the whole black tie thing.

 

If you posted this on the Celebrity board as well, expect to see those posters recommending Celebrity over NCL just like here you will likely see most prefer NCL.

I am glad that Getaway will do Western with the private island but I wish it alternated between Eastern and Western so I could do a B2B. One day I will talk my dh into a repo cruise. That's on my bucket list.

Thanks for the assistance. I'm not ready to book yet which is why I don't want to call. When I switched categories I was able to get the box to type in a cabin number but every time I try, the page fails. I tried it in Chrome and IE so I give up. When I'm actually ready to book, I suppose I will have to call. Oh well.

I am looking at bookings for pricing info and I cannot get two cabins to line up together. I want a balcony and an inside across from each other on the Dawn. I know which categories both are in but the "recommended" cabins that come up aren't together. I used to be able to type in a cabin number but I can't seem to find that on the new website (I know it's not really new at this point.). I know I can always call but I prefer booking online rather than talking to a live person, lol.

I'm curious as to why this would be a negative or even a mention really....

 

"- The staff were not very mixed and were mostly from one or two countries. (you'll know which ones right away) We are used to cruises being a real mix of people from all over the world (including Europe). I don't believe we met one person from Europe working on board."

 

 

I will say that your statement is simply false. You may not have met anyone from Europe, but they are definitely there as my son is employed on the ship and he has talked about all the many different people from so many countries that he has met and befriended.

If your picture is correct, you just sailed the Western Caribbean on the Dawn so I'd try the Getaway for the Eastern Caribbean. We did the Eastern Caribbean on the Epic and have to say we loved the Epic. We had a large balcony cabin on Deck 12 and large it was!! I don't think you can go wrong with either. Does sailing day matter since GA is Sat-Sat and Epic is Sun-Sun? Some people prefer to have that extra day at home before returning to work. Just something to consider.

I did get to port at 10:45....

 

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I'm curious if your dd has been employed with NCL for very long and if you used her family & friends discount? If you'd rather not discuss here, can you email me at my address below? Also, do you happen to have a mailing address for sending stuff to your daughter aboard the Getaway? (Sons are the worst for getting info and details!)

Bermuda cruises arn't cheap . They don't drop much and almost always sell out.

 

You might get a balcony cabin last minute in the shoulder season for 2k .

 

We watched them last summer to get an idea for this year. Since our son works for NCL we have to book 45 days out or less to get a good discount. There were still many inside, ov, and balconies available at that timeframe. Just studios and suites were sold out. Hopefully, that is the same this year. I agree with the OP that the prices are just nuts for Bermuda.

I haven't sailed the Gem but we did the Pride and it was great fun. I think the PC times are better on the Pride because I've been to Disney in the summer and I've always thought the earlier the better. Plus AK is not open into the night. You should check the park hours but it's probably 8-5 or 8-6. We really enjoy NCL's informal dress code and dining but Carnival does offer anytime dining so you aren't set for daily meals if you go that route. CCL has 24 hr pizza and soft serve ice cream which my teen sons absolutely loved and missed on NCL. NCL definitely has better theatre shows but other entertainment is similar (bingo, magicians, piano bar, comedians, etc.). It sounds like you are set on the PC, Nassau itinerary but if we did Pride again, we would definitely choose the other itinerary - Carnival private island, Grand Turk and Nassau. The Carnival private island is absolutely breathtaking!!

 

The Baltimore port was so easy for us to get in and out of that we wish CCL offered better itineraries from there. Where are you located? When we cruise from NYC, we go up the day before and stay in NJ and then drive to port in the am. If by chance you are closer to NYC, you might want to check CCL's NY ship, maybe Splendor? When we did the bahamas route it was the Miracle. Anyway, it is an 8-day itinerary and usually is the same cost or LESS than the Pride for an extra day.

I have searched the NCL site and cannot find the link for any ship's webcams so I must be doing something wrong. I have a link to the webcams of NCL at krooz-cams but no Getaway as of yet.

Yeah I had to refresh a couple times but it finally came up. It was really hard to hear KS even with my speakers at 100%.

Is it audio only? I have a black empty box but I hear singing.

According to my son, there was significantly less than 3000. He thought he heard closer to 600. There were no crazy, out of control parties that he saw or heard about. He reports he is glad to be heading south where it will be warmmm and we can keep the snow!

The Getaway is still running their shows and entertaining guests but they have to refer to the ship as the "Bud Light Hotel". My son is a sound/lighting tech and he was working with a few of the Food Network stars onboard doing demos. Sounds like fun. He met the Cake Boss and Aaron Sanchez as of yesterday. I didn't get a chance to talk to him today.

So cool, beautiful fireworks as a send off!

Sorry, didn't see the question til now. Son says sailaway is 8:30pm so I'm excited to watch it!

 

http://www.portnywebcam.com/

My son is a sound tech on the Getaway and we got to talk to him yesterday. He reports as Michael did above that it wasn't too bumpy and he thought the CD said there were just over 1000 passengers onboard. Sure wish I could've been onboard with those low numbers. He is enjoying the Getaway so far but does report it is kinda boring working some of the sound effects in the smaller lounges because there isn't really much to do and he typically works alone. On the cruise that leaves today, he says he heard that both Buddy the Cake Boss and Jeffrey Zacharian are supposed to be aboard. He didn't hear if Mr. Sheehan is supposed to come also but I imagine he will be in Miami for the ship's christening.

So after you hit your 250 yard drive, where does it land? It would have to be a "bring your own balls" driving range!!

 

LOL.... Is anyone else picturing the Seinfeld episode where George is pretending to be a marine biologist? Yep, a hole in one!

 

So if this poster cruised to Bermuda and felt duped by NCL, why is this just being shared now in mid January? Wasn't the last Bermuda cruise some time in October?

I don't know who Trace Adkins is or what he sings since I do not listen to Country Music...can't stand it actually. I was just reading this thread for an interesting read. But it seems to me that right from the start of this thread you were bound and determined that he must be guilty and searching for any piece of information, true or false, to back up your claim. It almost reads as if you are on a witch hunt with a personal vendetta against the man.

 

I don't know all the facts, but the eyewitnesses from CC, the changing of the story by TMZ to say it wasn't physical, the photo showing the altercation not in a private room, but in a public room, and the statements that he took himself off the ship to check into rehab (not NCL kicking him off), all indicate that it was not a physical altercation. Despite your assertions that he is guilty of physical violence and should be punished, you haven't given any evidence to back up your claims and yet you lambast anyone who disagrees with you and lends support to Trace Adkins for trying to correct his error in falling off the wagon. So my question to you is why are you so sure he is indeed guilty of physical violence and not just falling off the wagon after 12 years? What real evidence do you have to back up your claims. Please don't say the tabloid TV Inside Edition is your proof. I don't believe a third of what they have to say. They are in the entertainment business.

 

Again I really don't care if he is innocent or guilty because I don't even know who he is. I am curious about why you feel so strongly he is guilty when the evidence doesn't seem to be pointing that way.

 

:) This is the same conclusion I came to as well. The only other explanation is that perhaps SW has a real hatred of alchoholics perhaps from some personal experience and that could also color his/her viewpoint about this particular incident. When presented with facts from an actual cruiser aboard THIS cruise versus a tabloid's story of the incident, s/he chooses to believe the tabloid.

 

Thank you lifino for your firsthand account. I won't hold my breath for other cruisers to report their firsthand accounts if they feel they will be discounted or the insinuation that they are lying because they are a just a fan afterall.