Planmaam

This is the post I'm referring to: the first menu has prices, and the second one does not. Is the second one a lunch menu?

We enjoyed another sunset from our suite

 

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I had my martini before dinner

 

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We had the best restaurant service this night in Cagney's. Our waiter and another waitress took time to talk with us and we really enjoyed that. Maybe it was because we had such late reservations' date=' 9:00 pm.

 

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Oh, no, it's over :( , not only your cruise, but the review. I've loved living it through your pictures and narrative.

I had a question about the menu you showed from Cagney's. Some items had prices, others didn't. Can you explain? How did it work now that they have a la carte pricing?

So now the closest port to catch an NCL ship from Houston will be New Orleans? Too bad they didn't stay in Houston longer. I wonder what the problem was. It definitely wasn't fog on your return. Sounds like they used it for an excuse though.

Thanks again for the wonderful review!

Just wondering why you were so glad to see a lot of treats when you got back to the ship. Long time between lunch and dinner? To soak up the liquor? ;):D

I can't believe all the changes to LFK since we were there!! They've been busy.

The other island across the little stretch of water wasn't occupied when we were there, either. Wonder if they ever have guests. Did you hear anything about it? It looks like they have done more since we saw it "across the way" when we were last there, but it's still nothing compared to LFK!

Wow, you have been really busy with this review since I last checked in to Cruise Critic!

By the way, Happy Birthday, Medicalma'am!!!!

Enjoying your review so much, decided I needed a chocolate martini! LOL

 

dolita22' date=' aren't I just the greatest MIL??? lol I was actually thinking of using that in the name of this review, but Medicalma'am (my sister) came up with this one and that was it!

 

 

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So you have a sister with the screen name Medicalma'am????:eek::p:D

Yes! Pictures of your suite on the Jade; can't wait to learn everything about your wonderful, relaxing week!

Charlie4 do you actually know of a time they offered one?

At the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet during our September 25th cruise, the Hotel Director told us that NCL had tried a coffee card on one of its ships already, but he had not heard any results of the trial or anything about future plans for it.

I'd like to hear from those of you who were able to buy a coffee card, which ship and when it was offered, and what you thought about it. Was it well advertised? Do you know if many bought it?

I have been a proponent of the NCL Coffee Card, but haven't seen or heard anything about this except the once at the M & G, so just want to research this.

Thanks in advance for the information!

WooHoo!

I love good upsell stories!

Bon Voyage!

Hi, Donna.

I am going on the Dawn for the first time in less than 6 weeks, and have been on the Star twice and the Pearl twice, and Jewel once.

In my opinion, the Pearl's spa is the best in the fleet! No comparrison on any of the other ships I've been on. That being said, I bought a spa pass for our upcoming Dawn cruise. We just love spending relaxing time in the spa, and it was a reduced cost if purchased pre-cruise, so made the decision easy.

We did not get a spa pass on all of our Caribbean cruises since they were warm-weather cruises to ports where we did water/beach excursions. So that is another consideration if you do a Caribbean cruise. But from the deck plans, it looks like the spa on the Dawn is the same as the spa on the Star, which I liked more than the spa on the Jewel.

We have only sailed in suites lately (yes, it's true: once in a suite, always in a suite!), and love the breakfast/lunch perk. Dawn has not yet had drydock to change Cagney's/Star Bar to Moderno/Mojito's, so they will still be in Cagney's.

Hope this helps.

Now I want to ask you a question, Patti. I see this will be your second fall-color cruise; what did you enjoy the most about your previous cruise? Did you visit some of the same ports as on this next itinerary? Were there some things you consider not-to-miss?

Hi, Patti.

I'll chime in here and answer some of your questions, but I am not the expert at all there is to do on board because I usually travel with family, and we have our likes and dislikes for activities onboard, and usually stick to them.

But I can pass on information from reading all the Freestyle Dailies. By the way, reading the Freestyle Daily, the first one of which they give you as you board the ship, is the best way to find out all the activities; they have all the day's activities listed with the time/place. That is why a lot of people pack markers, to highlight the ones they choose.

They start early in the morning with some fitness classes, some free, some with an upcharge, then there's trivia, bingo, shuffleboard, basketball, golf swing netted areas, pools, hot tubs, art auctions, bingo, martini tastings, wine tastings, beer tastings, liquour tastings, bingo, murder-mystery lunch (limited attendance, so must sign up), bingo, shows every evening (NCL is known for their good shows), live music throughout the ship, bingo, ship tours, bingo, bingo, and more bingo! Just to name a few off the top of my head. They also have a library with books and games to check out if you wish. NCL offers the Chef's Table dining experience for an additional cost, and you can sign up to dine with a ship's officer. There are spa treatment specials in the Daily daily, in fact they have good specials running for port days.

DH is still sleeping, so I don't want to go get one of my latest cruise Freestyle Dailies to post more.

I see in your signature that you are a veteran cruiser, so I think you will find activities on NCL similar to other cruise lines.

Just ask questions if you have something you always look forward to doing; I should be able to check my Freestyle Daily in a bit!

Got my luggage tags in the mail!!!! WOOHOO!! Ready for this party to get started!

Ah, Norwegian, take me away!

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YES! It's worth getting the spa pass! IMHO, the Pearl's spa is the best I have been on in the fleet!!!!!

As TrumpyNor said, the lockers, changing rooms and bathroom/shower areas, as well as the sauna, steam room, small hot tub and cold plunge pool are separated for the sexes, then the common area includes a large thelosotherapy pool, heated tile loungers, and cushioned lounge chairs facing the floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the ship. (Great place for viewing Glacier Bay, by the way).

Go for it, I don't think you'll regret it! Especially if you buy the passes online prior to boarding and get the discounted price.

A copy of your passport can help you get a new passport issued through the embassy if there is one available but won't get you through US customs.

We carry our passport cards when leaving the ship. I don't want to find out first-hand, but I would hope this would work to get in or out of a country in an emergency situation.

A copy of necessary documents in the cloud or on a phone is a great suggestion, thanks!

smellytoes, who is the captain right now? Do you know any of the other officers on board? Did you have a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet? If so, did they say they would arrange a bridge tour later in the week? Inquiring minds want to know!!

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me.

@ planma'am: which suite were you in on the SUN? I'll be cruising Alaska for my honeymoon next summer and an afternoon cappuccino on our balcony is a favorite past time of ours.

But I do want to add that someone on a cruise sometime after ours said they asked the butler, and he brought them a coffeemaker. Don't know what kind, but at least they had one in their room.

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We were in one of the two awesome penthouse suites facing the aft of the ship with the huge wrap balcony.

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Thank you all for your responses. I have not yet called the pre-cruise concierge, so will do that in the next day or so, thank you for the heads up!

OK all you recent suite cruisers, does NCL still mail out luggage tags if you're in a suite? I've always looked forward to them arriving, and need to know if I have to print some out if I'm going to be in a suite.

Thanks in advance.

Got the same email for our September 25th. Sailing on the Dawn. Too late to change any plans.........

"Nutrasweet" is the brand but rest assured the pink, blue, and yellow all correspond to the "accepted" ingredient color-coding. Pink is saccharin, blue aspartame, and yellow is sucralose.

I was going to post the same thing, Medtech2. I noticed this on our last cruise, and picked up all three colored packets to take a picture to post in a review. Then I read the fine print, and realized they were "true to their color"! (We always ask for "the yellow sweetener" in restaurants. Servers all seem to know what you're talking about then, haha.)

About the liquid coffee, DH and I went to AutoDesk University in Las Vegas in Decemberr, and went to one of the restaurants in the hotel for breakfast the first day. We ordered coffee, each fixed our cups to our liking, and after taking our first sips, looked at each other and commented how good it was. Smooth, not over-roasted flavor! We asked our waitress about it, and she told us it was a concentrated liquid, told us the name, but I've since forgotten the brand. It is cold-pressed, not in contact with hot water until you are about to serve it. We loved it VERY much! Now I know some people like their over-roasted, french-roasted beans, but we prefer a strong but smooth cup. I'd never turn down a cup of liquid-type coffee.

I'm going to also take this opportunity to once again (I know I'm sounding like a broken record about this) try to convince NCL to sell coffee cards. With the specialty coffee bars in the atriums, this would be a great option for getting a good cup of coffee, prepaid. Say $25.00 increments of cards, each worth a certain number of specialty coffees. I know i'd buy one or more. Our last cruise in a suite was on the SUN where they didn't have a place for the Lavazza machine I know and love, so went down to the atrium to buy a good coffee several mornings.