Aldeya

Glad to see another review from Radio.

I followed all your reviews and they are always detailed with great pictures and videos. AND tons of information about the ship and cruising. Keep cruising and those reviews coming! 🙂

Game changer for us, ONE show in the theatre on our last 10-day cruise didn't work for us. The entertainment choices are important and lately NCL really disappointed.

Some like casino, some like comedy, etc.. we like singers, dancers, orchestra. Obviously cruisers like us are no longer taking into consideration by NCL. Too bad, we really liked the line and kept coming back over and over again, Time for a change,,,

27 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

Could you do me a favor and explain the drastic changes in entertainment choices on Getaway?

 

There are no more full-production shows NCL was so famous for. It's applied to the whole NCL fleet. After Getaway we went on Escape, only one show for 11-days cruise The Choir Man , and we were told that after their contract is ended they will not be called back. The main entertainment choices are singing duos in the Atrium, a lot of trivia, music performers in the bars and lounges,. Maybe for some it's enough, we missed the shows in the theatre. 

I'm sure you'll be fine on your cruise,  go with open mind and have fun 🙂

We sailed with NCL most exclusively for the last 10 years.It was a good fit for us. The last 2 cruises on Getaway made us switch to other cruselines. The reduced level of services, Drastic changes in entertainment choices, the whole experience was just  not up to par

The crew is overworked, they do try very hard but with the amount of work and lack of adequate staff it's just not working. There were many unhappy people especially on our last Getaway cruise in December.

Everything that made cruising with  Norwegian special is gone, not worth it for us. 

17 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Tirrinia is the brand. We bought them on eBay. Can absolutely say they do not leak and the ice is lasting.

Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for the review! Taking notes for our upcoming cruise.

What is the brand for the packable ice coolers you use? We'd like to have something like this with us. Thanks!

On 8/25/2023 at 5:53 PM, jameslee said:

Does this work if we prepay our internet and purchase cruise cash thru carnival.com? 

I'd like to know this too. We want to pre-pay for the Internet using this offer but I'm not sure if this would work...

Also while checking out on the Carnival website there is an option to apply OBCs to the purchase. We don't want to use OBC for this so we can take advantage of $35 cash back from Chase. If we didn't click Apply I hope the site will not add our OBCs as payment automatically. The Chase offer wouldn't work then....

Anyone tried it?

The OP is talking about the UPGRADE on day 2. Can you just BUY a premium package on day 2 to save some money or it works only if you buy the package pre-cruise and then upgrade onboard?

Thank you so much for such a great review! Much appreciated because of our upcoming Escape cruise. Not in the Haven, just a balcony but seeing there pictures and dailies help tremendously to plan our days!

I will need to have Internet to check on work a few times. I don't want to pay $279 for the whole cruise. I wonder if there are some promotions for the day purchase. I didn't see any in dailies.

6 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

 

Those of us who can cruise are very fortunate no matter what line we sail because the vast majority of the population in this world won't cruise.  And when we are so fortunate to sail a luxury line and have the money and the health to do it I just want to enjoy the experience as much as possible. There will come a day when this is no longer possible for each of us due to health and then what comes after that.

 

 

This is so true.  I follow your cruises for quite a while now (through Cruise Critic posts and then through your wonderful blog) and really appreciate that you take time from your vacation to share your adventures. Thank you. Will you update your blog as well? 

We'd like to book thermal suite passes for our upcoming Escape cruise. It is expensive ($299 pp) but worth to us.

Usually we pre-book a thermal suite before the cruise but this time we have a lot of OBCs that we'd love to use for the passes. 

The Breakaway class Thermal suites are very popular, my concern is that even at this price the passes can sell out.

I know, first world problem 🙂 but it's a splurge for us when we cruise. It would be nice to use those OBCs for something we need.

Did anyone have the situation when you were not able to get thermal suite passes while trying to book them onboard?

51 minutes ago, julig22 said:

If you book online, the $50 discount is applied to guest #1 and any latitudes discounts are also applied at that time.  If you book onboard, you are charged the full amount and the $50 discount is applied to your account after you have taken the excursion.

Thank you very much!

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Also note that if you book onboard any Latitudes discounts are not automatically applied to your excursions - you have to let them know.  Sometimes they will notice what's on your card if you show it but if you use the app or a kiosk you will have to get the price adjusted.

Is there a way to apply our Latitudes discount while booking online? what about $50 discount per cabin that comes with the booking?

I think that on our previous Norwegian cruises we got a discount when we pre-booked excursions, packages, thermal spa, etc online before cruise. When I go to out upcoming Escape planner I don't see any discounts. Everything is full-price.

Did it change?

48 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

I agree. Start with contacting the waiter and then go to your slot machine. They will find you from then on.

Speaking of free drinks in casino... What kind of drinks are considered "house brands" which as I understand are covered under the "free drinks in the casino while playing"? What non-alcoholic drinks can I order? And yes, we always tip per drink :)

2 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

I agree that Celebrity's Elite perk rules are absurd.  You need to walk back and forth to the nearest bar while you are eating dinner.  Royal's Diamond drinks system makes so much more sense--four drinks a day.  All day long.  Anywhere including the MDR and specialty restaurants.

 

Agree completely! Much better at Royal. At Celebrity it would feel like you are sneaking a drink in against the rules!  Ridiculous rule for grown ups who earned this perk by cruising with this line...

We have Elite complimentary drinks from 5-7 pm. 

Usually we have a dining time around 8 pm but this upcoming Summit cruise we have  a dining time set at 5:45. Can't use this in the dining room (which makes no sense ). We plan to get two glasses of wine at the bar before going to dinner but would like to get a cocktail or two as well. 

Can I get  another drink in a nearest bar and bring to the dining room after we start our dinner? We are not big drinkers at all but would like to use this Elite perk more than just once.

I know..first world problem but would like to know if it's possible or it's  a big no during the dinner....

18 minutes ago, KarenGretz said:

$44 each way

Thank you!

22 hours ago, garkar87 said:

The transfer shuttle with MSC is available from JFK airport. We booked thru the travel agent but you can call MSC directly to book.

Karen 

How much is the transfer shuttle per person?

I was trying to submit my information for a status match but the Booking Reference # field is marked as mandatory. We do plan to book a cruise , just want to have a status match done beforehand.

Do you need to have a current booking with VV to submit a status match? Other lines do not require this.

Thank you!  I wouldn't think to check our card but we got it too!

Now,,we need to buy something $100 on the Carnival website using Chase card, correct?

We booked the cabana for our stay in the Ocean Cay. We need to get to the cabana rental place on the island. Is it far away from the main entrance? My husband has difficulty walking. Do we need to take a shuttle or it's somewhere close?

(I did try to post this on the Private Islands forum but not many people are active there).

3 hours ago, ddlb said:

You probably know this, but you can use your OBC in the casino unlike NCL. 

Didn't know this. Is there a fee to transfer money/OBC from your onboard account to play in the casino?

What a great review! Thank you so much for the pictures and the bar menu! We are going on Mera in a few months so every detail is very helpful. Your cabin and THE balcony look amazing. What is the cabin#? (I might look into booking cabin like this for a special occasion).

We have 10% Gold discount for booking Thermal Spa passes.  Is there a way to apply this discount when booking them online before boarding? I'm logged in so our Voyager's club numbers are attached to the cruise booking already but when I go to checkout no Gold discount is applied to the purchase.

Any suggestions?