justhappy

17 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Cool...so after having the apple tart ala mode in Ocean Blue, I can run down to the buffet for even more deliciousness.

This is the way……

14 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

When in Paris! Even the airport. Four pastries for less than €9!

 

 

Had to get a pretzel! 

 

 

 

 

So many pastries!!!

 

A simple thank you is not enough 😋

I was raised this way, not from a military family but a lot of uncles and aunts were, 

my cousins were also raised that way. 
I still abide by this rule and it drives my kids crazy😉

11 hours ago, Asawi said:

I am so relieved and also impressed you were able to sort It out!

What I try to remember to do is take  pictures of meeting place, bus, guide... I said "try to remember"... It gives me some peace of mind when there are several groups, buses, same looking buildings... I have had some slight moments of panic when realizing not being 100% sure of where/who to find. 

Seville is a labyrinth and being in the wrong place there is something I can definitely see happening! I rode a bicycle around there last year and frequently lost my direction. Figuring out what corner I was actually in was not always straightforward! Without Google maps "my position" I'd probably still be trying to find my way home! 😁

 

At my age and with my husband’s memory loss, trying to remember is definitely not going to work for us so notes on our phone calendars, photos of everything on our phones and lists in notes app is how we survive! 
So losing our phones is now my biggest worry 😂

17 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Just curious….given the other people on your tour found the bus/guide, do you know if you were in the wrong meeting spot?  You mentioned  you felt you were lost.

 

Or, were you off on the meeting time?

 

Just a  note that may help in the future, I always “drop a pin” where any meeting places are.

I’m going to use this advice in the future, thanks!

On 11/15/2023 at 9:56 AM, cruiseny4life said:

Usually I forget to download movies, shows, and podcasts until I'm in the airport. Then I frantically attempt to download everything in five minutes! This time I actually remembered ahead of time to get the downloads going on Hulu, HBO, and Spotify. 

 

- Music is downloaded, including playlists and liked songs on Spotify.

 

- Podcasts will be downloaded in a bit, just depending on which episodes I actually listen to before our flight on Friday. Options to include:

    - Make Me Smart - best podcast EVER, though I do miss Molly Wood.

    - Marketplace - I have a MBA and enjoy keeping track of the economy. Kai Ryssdal might just possibly be my favorite news personality. 

    - The Economics of Everyday Things - I like hearing about oddly specific goods

    - National Parks Traveler - come on, I started this live out talking about hiking the Grand Canyon. Did you not expect the National Parks to make an appearance?

    - Amateur Traveler Travel Podcast - just a nice little travel show

    - Sea Change - I'm boating on the ocean and that ocean, and our world, are changing rapidly. This show from WWNo/WRKF has really been eye opening to the extent of change along the gulf coast. 

    - How We Survive - another one from American Public Media. This season is dedicated to climate change. 

    - LGBT Outdoors - fun podcast to hear from those in my community

    - Rise Up! - I really want to open a bakery. When I was in Yellowstone, I had a part time gig at the local bakery, crafting yummy scones, breads, muffins, cookies, pies, cakes, and other delish items. And this Mark Dyck guy from Canada may genuinely be the kindest man I've ever listened to on a podcast. 

   - Travel Tales by AFAR - new one that I haven't yet listened to. I may not download any here. 

 

- On Hulu, I have the following entertainment options ready to go:

    - Vesper - no clue if I'll like this movie

    - Boston Legal - I'm almost done with the show, but not quite yet through with Denny Crane, Sharon Schmidt and Alan Shore

    - Han River Police - I started watching this when I traveled to Wyoming. Stopped watching it as I thought my husband would like to watch with me. He informed me last night he has no intention of watching it, ergo it's on my list to finish. It's in Korean, so a lot of subtitles! 

 

On Max, my choices are:

    - Station Eleven - this may be a bad choice. I'm not sure, but will try it out

    - The Polar Express - hey, Christmastime is almost here!

    - Kids Baking Championship - I'm hoping to learn some baking skills from this show. Who knows if I'll actually watch it or not.

    - The Pacific - Watched three episodes of this when my husband was galavanting around the Mid-Atlantic with his mom. Just like Band of Brothers, I'm really enjoying (is that the right word to describe watching a war mini series) this show.

    - The Nun II - we started watching it, but it was dark out and I was on my phone so I wouldn't see the scary parts. On the cruise, I'll lock away my phone, then just hide my eyes when I'm scared. Pr1ma is too new a ship to be haunted, so no scary nuns can get me...I'm a little worried about Barcelona and Cartagena though! Old European cities seem like they could be haunted. I did tell my husband that two nights ago, when I took the garbage out, I thought I saw a nun in the cornfield next to our house. He just laughed at me. I...well, we live like 100 yards from a cemetery dating back to the 1700's. I'm not so sure about this choice. 

 

Plus, we have whatever movies/shows NCL will allow us to watch on Pr1ma. I think my entertainment options are great ones.

 

Does anyone else have any suggestions? What's your favorite podcast? I'm always looking for new ones to listen to! 

I’m going to check out your podcast list.

DH and I spend a lot of windshield time going cross country in our little class B RV (with Princess Daisy of course) and listen to a lot of podcasts.

We are space nerds so our favorite podcast is StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I hope y’all have an awesome cruise, and that you post a lot of awesome photos❤️

Food porn is always appreciated 😍

Loving your review! And love your Halloween costumes.

All the Choir of Man shows I’ve seen have the gay character. I too hope they didn’t change that.

I’m sad to hear still no hash brown sightings 😬 I hope that changes before January!

If you ever have an issue in the buffet please find Lilibeth Espinosa, she is amazing and is a very special lady.

She usually supervises the buffet.

If you see her tell her the Mals and Snows send their love.

1 hour ago, Cruiseguy14 said:

As part of CAS I was offered a courtyard penthouse or an aft facing penthouse. I looked at the specs of the room and the balcony in the aft facing penthouse seemed much bigger to me. At the time I took that offer I was under the impression everything was in the haven bc I have never sailed the haven before but after reading this my guess is that it is not. We are both unde 40 so I don’t mind the walk but I’m wondering now if we made the right decision. Either way I am sure we will have a good time for a very reasonable price. 

I have been in a Haven Courtyard Penthouse in the Haven proper and the aft facing penthouse as well. I would choose the aft penthouse every time over being in the Haven proper. I’m in my mid sixties and the walk to the Haven and back never bothered me. I love the space to spread out with the separate living room, the second bathroom and that wide aft balcony view. Some people prefer to be in the Haven bubble the whole cruise but I want to enjoy the whole ship. You will have a great time I hope.

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

Military bases may be included in requiring ReaL ID. I foresee a lot of confusion about what federal facilities require Real ID. I had to see someone at the Federal Building in Baltimore about 8 years ago and that was the most thorough search I ever had to go through. 

I know that at Pensacola NAS you have to have an EDL or passport to see the Blue Angles practice or go to the Naval Aviation Museum.

15 minutes ago, Grimix said:

*Dead* because this is not a *Live* review. That ship sailed (literally) a week and a half ago!

 

Our story begins a little less than a year ago when we (Family of 5: 11 boy, 13 girl, 16 boy) had returned from our first NCL cruise (a 5-day Mexican Riviera in the Deluxe Owners Suite.) On this cruise we took my father-in-law it was his big-80 birthday cruise. We had such a great time that we talked about taking an alaskan cruise (this time without grandpa) as I was imagining using that glorious front balcony for Glacier Bay. I found a cruise late in the season (Oct 8th) that still had the DOS available. The price was about $5k more than the 2 bedroom suite, and I figured I could get my (twin) brother to come with us and pony up the 5k for his own bedroom in the Haven. A few months later my brother decided he didn't want to go so I reluctantly downgraded my cabin (slumming it!) to a 2-bedroom Haven cabin leaving a week earlier (Oct 1st) as it was about $1K cheaper than the Oct 8th sailing. Don't know why, but we changed, and were surprised that the TA was also able to give us pre-paid gratuities on that sailing, so another score! This was done 1 day before final payment (let's hear it for us procrastinators!) so I missed the early window for booking dinner reservations in the Haven. My wife was busy, so she didn't want to sit down to discuss dinner reservations (we upgraded to the FAS+ so had 4 specialty choices to make) and so I decided I'd leave them until we boarded and see how well the concierge can do it. (My wife is normally the type-A planner so I was a little nervous that things might not work out, and I'd be in the dog house for not planning enough... she lets me plan the cruises for some reason.)

 

So still 120 days to go, and every day you stare at the cruise count-down clock watching it slowly tick down. 21 days come and I eagerly log in at 9pm (12am Eastern!) to do my check in as early as I can! I'm greeted by Sorry, our web site is undergoing maintenance, please come back later! Doh! We go to sleep unchecked-in. I wake up at 1am because the dog was moving around. I decided to check if I could get check-in working. Sure enough the site was up so I headed down stairs to do the check-in. After about an hour (and watching the safety video 5 times) I had managed to get the us all checked in (9:30 arrival time, figured I could always go later if the wife wanted to, but heard they sometimes (rarely?) enforce arrival times.) and the site reported 100% check-in. I couldn't wait to get my eDocs just because it's the next step! You have to wait around 24 hours or so before them to become available.

 

More watching the slow count-down clock. Through FB roll calls I read of people getting their luggage tags. Others saying don't worry if you don't get them just print them from your eDocs. I kept checking, and my eDocs still weren't available 6 days after the site reported 100%. I tried a chat on the website asking if there was a problem. After they got my details they said I would need to discuss the issue with my TA. Yes I know my TA owns the booking, but it would have been nice if they could have told me if there was a problem... I sent an email off to my TA who said don't worry sometimes they take over a week to get the eDocs. She said they had my luggage tags and planned to send them with my eDocs when they became available. I worried about this for another day, when I decided I wouldn't accept this answer from my TA as I needed to know if something was wrong because they say showing up without your eDocs can delay your check-in. If you read my last review we didn't have a smooth check-in so I was hoping this one would be perfect. I sent another email to my TA saying I'd really appreciate if she could find out if there is an issue because I really don't want to keep worrying about it. She replied about an hour later that she had contacted NCL and they had 'expedited' my eDocs and they'd be sending everything out fed-ex the next day. I suspect there was some issue on NCL's side that they fixed when she called. I don't really think my eDocs were waiting in some queue to be processed a week after I checked in.

 

The next Monday we got a box full of TA branded goodies (some ducks for the kids, a couple of bags maybe for underwear, lanyards, and what I assumed were suit-case straps.) and our printed eDocs (e no more I guess...) along with our luggage tags! Things are getting real!

 

The last of this pre-cruise post is the saddest part of any trip; leaving behind the fur-babies. We had just lost our beautiful and sweet Akita girl a few months earlier in the spring, and I thought we would wait until after the cruise to fill our lives with another. (We already have 4 cats, but I'm more of a dog person. 🙂 ) The wife kept looking at the SPCA site, and there was one dog that was there for 6 months (of its 1.5 year life) and had been returned twice. Had all these warnings about no-other dogs, and teens only scaring everyone away. We went to see him, and he was a hyper-sweetie. We couldn't resist and took him home after the (mandatory) second visit (yet another thing daunting people from adopting him.) He's a handful, but I've been working with him and he's definitely 1000% better now, but still has a way to go! We couldn't trust him yet to be loose around the cats (although he hasn't shown aggression to them) so I had decided to drive him the 2 hr drive to San Jose and drop him off with my brother the Thursday before the Saturday we left for the cruise. (I had driven down the week earlier so he could see where he was staying spending the night, and hopefully not think he was being abandoned again...) So sad leaving him after only a little over a month, but I just imagine how happy he'll be to see us when we return!

For the curious 50% Australian cattle dog, 20% the 'dreaded' Staffordshire Terrier (also probably a detractor from adoption.) I did the DNA test. They told us he was a German Shepherd mix, the DNA says nuh-uh to that. Not even listed.

I’m so sorry for the loss of your fur baby, but glad you offered a home to another dog that needed that love you had to give.

I am looking forward to your 💀 trip review😉

6 hours ago, McGarrett5oh said:

 

Last week......

You’re killing me smalls!!

20 hours ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

 

 

Great reflection!

 

 

Lined up to get back on the ship

 

 

 

Celebrity Millennium throwing lines from AJ Dock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to call it a night, because it was going to be an earlier day tomorrow. 

That food looked delicious! And the reindeer sausage corn dog sounded interesting to me.

 Loved the photos along the pier. You didn’t have a photo but did you visit Patsy Ann’s statue?

1 hour ago, bluestar1 said:

I know I won't make it the entire cruise, but I attempt to make what I can 🙂 I have adjusted to plain coffee with cream, and no sugar and will use those saved carbs for the almond croissants and banana banoff I keep hearing about. Oddly, every time I vacation I lose weight, probably because of the extra steps (darn desk job!), and when people cook for me I tend to choose and stick with meat and green veggie or salad combo. Something about being less stressed 😉. I can't wait! Having people serve me meals for 6 days and not have to cook or do dishes sounds delightful. 

The almond croissants and Banana Banoffe are worth every stinking carb for sure! Enjoy them for all of us 😃

Being a big fan of Captain Kate and watching her TikToks, it is required of any ship that can to give assistance to any other vessel at sea in an emergency situation like that. I believe it’s part of SOLAS.

4 minutes ago, InfrequentPNWCruiser said:

Just got off the Encore today and was in the Haven for the first time. Before we went the wife was looking forward towards priority boarding and the larger space (forward facing penthouse) . The room did not disappoint even with the complex lighting arrangement and the too bouncy self closing drawers that we fought all week. Boarding went smooth up to the Haven part when everyone in an aft or forward penthouse got their keycard rejected on the gangway followed by the whole computer system crashing. We were all sent back to the Haven Boarding room to await new keycards...and waited while the room filled up. Eventually we had to be taken manually across the gangway checkpoint and had new cards issued in the Haven. We had another non-Haven party with us who managed to board and eat lunch before we even touched the ship. 

 

The Haven restaurant was good but we only ate 3 breakfasts and 2 dinners there. We tended to sleep in late and go to lunch as the first meal or ate on shore or grabbed lighter fare in the Horizon observation lounge where we spent a lot of time. That's a great place to read , relax and watch the whales go by...with a few drinks along the way. 

I did use a butler letter with the preferences like pillows and snack types and a pitcher of cream for coffee and my keto shakes. That worked out well and we did not pre-tip. We had numerous room service orders and the only one we felt bad about he having to do was that delivery of the god-awful tasteless dried-out "anniversary" cake (NCL - why bother doing this if even you arent going to try and give things out that is probably the worst food item on board) from dinner at  Los Lobos . We ended up tipping $150 to the butler, $100 to the concierge and an extra $60 to the very helpful room steward. We weren't planning to use the concierge much but we had to enlist their help in dealing with a noise issue from an adjacent cabin who apparently was going to make everyone's life hell after they did not get their upgrade. We had a cabin between us and them and it was like a herd of elephants on Sunday afternoon/evening. So we had the power of the Haven to bring the hammer down. Luckily,  that solved it and we had the concierge and various officers check in periodically with us if all was well. 

 

Overall, the experience was good and may try again if we can get something reasonable and maybe within the complex next time. Being outside, you tend not to use it as much ( why go up 5 decks to just go down to deck 4 to get off). Since any other cruises will be at the Platinum level now, we may stick with club balconies and Vibe as a reasonable compromise.

Geez, you heard the ruckus from two cabins down?! Man I’d love to hear that story!

We were on the Encore August 27 and had friends staying in a forward facing penthouse, I know what you mean about the bouncy drawers, they were showing that to us!

And good grief about the room key fiasco.

48 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

@justhappy LOL, I will give you credit for that name from this point forward. I agree, raising prices and lowering amenities is not the way for great brands to go.  That is why we the consumer have choices.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Thanks, but I don’t want credit, you have given Haven Lite (hey, you need to trademark that😉) the recognition as an alternative to folks who don’t want to pay Haven prices🥂

And thanks for starting that Haven pricing thread, I’ll keep an eye on that one.

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

@justhappy Thanks for your comment.  Things they are a changing.  I have done Club Balcony Suites with the Vibe.  I call that Haven Lite.  I usually added in the "Free at Sea PLUS".  I enjoyed it very much.  However, it did not compare to the Haven Experience for me.  If was good, it was a value, it was different.  The point of my post was I can clearly see why some were disappointed with their butler experience.  I hope NCL will hear our thoughts.  I also look for a opportunity to stay in the Haven.  Those opportunities although rare, do exist.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Hey Gary, I think I’m the one who originally coined that Haven Lite, but you gave it a life of its own! Thank you!

Agree about adding the free at Sea plus, 

with that it definitely makes a cruise Haven Lite 😁

  I think part of my problem with the current valuation comes from knowing back in 2015 we got the Haven Courtyard Penthouse on the newest ship in the fleet for 5k total and that included $300 obc, a truly unlimited drink package and specialty dining package (no limits on number of dinners) with prepaid service fees and no gratuities charged on the Free at Sea packages! This was booking directly through NCL.

I know prices go up over the years but all those included perks went away too.

1 hour ago, psac said:

I think that would’ve been the quickest way to ensure a zero tip from us. 

I do believe they gave their butler a small tip and gave their stateroom attendant a lot of what would have gone to the butler.

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

@rattla I know @McGarrett5oh will address your question on a direct response.  I am share some thoughts on my own.  My career was based on the study of the "Luxury Client".  What makes them tick.  How are their needs different for other clients.  Is it all about money or having lots of it.  Is it all about something else.  Something that is available with or without great wealth.  What did these clients crave more than anything.  It was a very interesting part of my career and one that was eye opening. 

 

The simple answer was surprisingly, "Time". Luxury clients valued time over money.  Where I often say, my quest is to "Enhance my Cruising Experience". A true Luxury Client says, "My Cruising Experience will be Enhanced by the best use of my time."  A GREAT butler will uncover what is the most important thing they can do to provide you with the experience you are looking for.  My needs and your needs might be different so it takes more than a Tuxedo to be great as a Butler. 

 

If I pay a premium, for a suite, in a special exclusive area on a ship with a butler, I have different expectation focused on my maximum enjoyment of my time.  Example, when I leave me suite, I want my stateroom cleaned.  A good butler is on that.  To help them, sometimes I will give them my schedule which takes time create however I know it will enhance my experience.  If the butler does not utilize the tool I provided, it makes me say, "Why even have this premium benefit if it is so standardized that personalized service is not part of it."  The alternative is when I am in a regular stateroom, it seems every time I come back to the stateroom, the room steward is cleaning my room.  I rarely have an issue with that because it is just the way it is.  No premium paid so personalized service is not on the table. 

 

When the time spent creating assistance for your butler is not respected or utilized by that butler, you are disappointed.  If every request, even the simple ones are a "NO", vs let me find a way to work this out for you, you are disappointed.  If the butler is happy not to find ways to create personalized delight because they are just over worked, it is disappointment.  That is when folks say, "We had a butler but rarely used them."  What they should have said was, "We had a butler but they really did not uncovers ways to enhance our journey."

 

Training helps however one would expect that a Butler, in a VIP area of a cruise line, would have had all the training needed to effectively do their job.  So the need for training is an excuse to cut the brand some slack.  If you pay the premium, you expect the service.  Simple as that.  

 

This was my take and I still have faith that NCL and other brands can find a way to make the benefit of a real butler enhance their guest experience.  I look forward to the day when the "Butler Letter" is completely unneeded.   That would be a good day.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

 

 

You are right about the time factor, and a good butler should work to make your time onboard all about relaxing and enjoying your limited vacation time.

The huge difference I’ve seen between my very first Haven cruise in 2015 and my last in April of this year, I saw a huge difference in that feeling of the butler was doing everything they could to enhance my trip and I blame the cutbacks at NCL for part of it. More cabins per butler means less time to actually stop a minute and say hello, and ask if you have everything you need. That genuine sense that they were there to please.

   On our first Haven cruise our butler was constantly asking about our day whenever he saw us and doing special little things like filling our bathtub with water and rose petals. Taking my husband’s dinner jacket straight to the laundry to get it pressed and having it back in our room in 3 hours.

 The concierge saw us in the buffet one evening while I was getting a crepe and chided me about not letting the Haven staff get it for me (miss you Adrian!)

 On this last Haven cruise we never saw our butler until the second day and not till I had asked the concierge about that did they have her come to the Haven restaurant to meet us. Then we only saw her again on the final sea day of the cruise.

On this last cruise our friends also staying in the Haven had a butler that just ignored most of their requests and when they asked for half an half told them they could get some themselves in the buffet.

THAT would have never happened in 2015. That is an amenity you are paying extra for my opinion, and why I feel like the inflated prices for the Haven are no longer worth the the going price for the services received.

So like the candy bar that’s no longer a dollar, but now $1.25 and  5oz instead of 8oz, the Haven experience is no longer a good value to me. If a bargain comes along I would think about taking it, for the room size and Haven complex, but I’ll have much lower expectations of the service I’ll receive.

For now I’m happy with my club balcony suites and Vibe beach club passes.

At the price point I feel I’m getting more value for my money.

28 minutes ago, Clashed said:

 $200 credit was in my account this morning
 

Same for me.

2 hours ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

The US Coast Guard was doing some training flights over the Puget Sound as we were sailing out.

 

 

 

 

While I was out taking hundreds of photos of the beautiful weather and scenery, Susan was attending the Spa raffle.

 

 

 Unfortunately, se did not win anything.

 

 

 

 

Off they go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed the photos of Mt Rainer, it was so smoky in late August that we weren’t able to see it when we departed.

So yesterday I went ahead an purchased two $500 OBC vouchers.

I did receive the same email mentioned above above saying congratulations on using your offer.

 The purchases are still pending, so it might take a few days for the charges to be verified as qualifying. I’ll update as soon as I know.

Just now, laudergayle said:

See @Russiamomm post #29.  That might be your workaround as long as your onboard card on file is not your Amex.

It is a good option, it won’t be my Amex on file.

2 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

I’ll bounce it around with the CN Manager.  I have no intention of using the NROBC on anything other than the CNs.  Maybe the answer is to cash in the refundable credit the last day of the cruise and then buy the CNs.  
 

I thought about the Cruise First option, but really prefer the CNs as they have double and triple up offers regularly.  I was able to use three for our TA in December.

That’s why I prefer the Cruisenext to Cruise first.

16 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Just be careful using the OBC for cruise next certs due to the non-refundable OBC you will get…especially if you have prepaid your DSC.  I can’t quite wrap my brain around how it would work…but something is whispering to me that you could leave $$ on the table from that NR OBC from cruise next .  Wishing you good luck.

Definitely something to consider.