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Eh. It might or might not offer more value when you look at all in cost. But there was a trending thread for awhile about Oceania being a nursing home. No thanks.

 

I do agree with the OP about celebrity, however. We also cruise them and they are nicely in the middle.

 

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I’ve heard nice things about celebrity too. And also crystal.

I used to like princess. Still do, but more out of long time loyalty. Truth be told, my first cruise was only the love boat in 1976. Then another princess cruise in the early 90’s. I’ve watched it change tremendously over the years. Even from the first cruise I took with my husband in the late 90’s.

I actually prefer the way it used to be. I like dressing up. So does my husband. He owns a tuxedo and likes to wear it. And I have numerous cocktail dresses as we belong to a local club that requires them.

I also liked when wait staff knew you and you could tip per service given as opposed to a reuired amount. Things have changed a lot.

I am looking forward to checking out the haven though. And it’s an easy cruise for me. I will probably also do a disney one next. But when my son is okder, yea. We’ll probably switch to a different cruise line. Shame in a way as we are princess platinum. But they’ve just lost their touch over the years.

Again, thanks for the suggestions re the Access Desk--very helpful. And as for which line charges for what--NCL charges to eat in "specialty dining rooms". On Oceania, no extra charge and the specialty rooms have 3Star Michelin quality food and service. Gratuities--included. Booze-- bring whatever you want on board--hard liquor included and as long as you do not consume it in public areas, it is perfectly acceptable and encouraged. Wine--buy some on land that is so much better than the plonk in the dining rooms. They will charge you a minimal corkage fee but the quality of the wine makes it worthwhile. And if you don't finish the bottle, they label it and will bring it to you wherever you are eating -- maybe even days later. Your bottle of great Italian or French wine which

you purchased on land will last until it is empty and it will find you everytime you want it. Oh, by the way, if you have a higher class of cabin, everyday a steward will bring you a tray of hors d\oeuvres and the mixes and ice for your pre-dinner cocktail--made of course with your own premium vodka or gin. . We will take it all on our veranda, enjoy the sun and sea and be grateful for every minute that we are being pampered. Like having bottled water (at no extra charge). To some it is a small thing, to me it says everything about the quality of a ship and whether it is just a money grabbing venture or whether it wants you to enjoy every minute of your trip.

 

 

I got what I paid for--a kid friendly boat that will make my grandchildren happy. But when I travel with my husband, I will go on Oceania, Azamara, Celebrity and not have somebody picking my pocket all the time..

You sold me. As soon as my child is grown, Oceania all the way.

I hate being nickled and dimed too. I’d rather just pay more up front so I know the true cost and can just enjoy everything. Before we had a child, I had been considering the smaller ships that were all inclusive. But I do like a bigger ship in general, so I will definitely try Oceania now. And thanks!

:')

wow I paid only 9.00 for a 24 pack on Carnival. I will not be paying $72 for a case of water that's robbery!

Check out their $99 bath. :')

Meant to say, walk the walk. As in the walk of stars. Although, I do see them on the way to the pantages when we go there.

You'll be fine at Venice on a Saturday afternoon. There's just a big homeless population. My office is down the street and I regularly walk to my car alone at night.

 

Check out the South Bay cities: Hermosa, Manhattan, Redondo. Santa Monica is a nightmare to drive on Saturdays. If you're staying near the ship in Long Beach, check out the Pike area. Touristy but fun. Get some Mexican food from a divey place. And of course, In-n-out.

 

The thing is, most people think of Hollywood when they think of LA. It's just a dirty tourist trap that's away from the beautiful areas. My friends came into town and insisted on going to the walk of fame. It was too crowded to really enjoy and we wasted most of the day fighting crowds. I wish I could have taken them to the south bay instead.

 

Anyway - feel free to message me with any specific questions!!!

I don’t know. I love hollywood. Go there and surrounding areas a lot. But I wouldn’t necessarily walk to walk.

I love the arclight there. It’s the best of all of them, and much better than the beach cities. Then there are the fun restaurants like musso and frank or dresden. And the hollywood bowl for a concert. Or the magic castle for a night out. Yup, love hollywood.

But I agree most people visiting first time expect to see the walk of fame with the beach cities in the background. And that’s not the case.

we arrive late Friday night, have the entire day Saturday, ship sails Sunday.

 

no kids.

 

i thought about checking out Venice, but isnt it very high crime at the pier?

 

also, can anyone tell me about the TMZ Tour? worth it?

I’d want to stay by the ship. Terrenea is one of the most beautiful resorts in the world. Not worth it though if you are out sight seeing. I’d probably stay at the doubletree hilton in san pedro on saturday night. Friday night I’d just stay by lax.

Venice is high crime. But so are a lot of areas. I never go there, but it’s worth seeing. You just use normal precautions.

Or you could do hollywood area and see the sites there.

I live here and would never do a tmz tour. If you want to see hollywood people, go hang out at the gelsons in Los Feliz. Lol.

The current prices are lower than they used to be. NCL used to charge more.

 

I don't think that people necessarily like the NCL policy (we used to slap a luggage tag on a case and it would be delivered to the stateroom) but it is what it is. If NCL approves the OP's request, that will lead to "...I prefer Coke to Pepsi so NCL should allow me to bring it...." threads.

 

Certain topics such as bottled water, Coke vs. Pepsi, smoking, chair hogs, VIBE passes for Haven guests, 20 year-olds drinking, elevator etiquette, child on a leash, etc. lead to endless (but entertaining :D) forum banter that is usually deleted by the Mods. Whether that is a good or bad thing is a matter of opinion.

“VIBE passes for Haven guests”. Say what? Do haven passengers get special passes to the beach club?

Also, how’s this one: is it ok for my three year old to bring a remote control police car (siren sounds included) on to drive through the non haven hallways. It’s his favorite toy. :') Can I get some of past posters cabin numbers. ;p

haha, my sister always mixed bottles of formula using tap water. i see people do it all the time. formula exisited long before bottled water.

People do LOTS of things all the time. I’m sure my mother gave me tap water with formula too. She also never used a car seat or a seat belt for that matter. I was crawling all over that car from birth forward.

I could employ a list of things not recommended that people used to do, and still do. Personally, I prefer to do a little research and do a little better. But to each their own.

Of course there is, new parents will buy anything! I bottle fed 5 babies, always used tap waster with the blessing of my pediatricians. Our city water is tested regularly and fine.

I have zero idea how many years ago you raised your children. I posted the most recent recommendations by doctors. It does say tap water can be acceptable if it is adequately tested and approved to meet certain recommended standards. That is still special requirements for water, as I wrote. Something ncl is not going to bother doing, and therefore it IS specifically listed as one of their exceptions.

I suggest anyone reading this consult with their doctor. But ftr, bottled water for formula is definitely allowed by ncl. I guess they feel like comforting the insanity of us new mothers. :rolleyes:

Not formula here in the US.

I’m in the US, and what you wrote is simply not true. I breastfed, but every time I went to the baby aisle, there was formula and special water right next to it. Probably one of the reasons why NCL specifically lists it as an exception to their water policy as well.

https://www.babycenter.com/404_what-kind-of-water-should-i-use-to-prepare-baby-formula_9139.bc

Carnival and NCL seem to ban carry on water, from a quick google search. You know why, right? Folks empty out the water bottles and add Vodka or clear Tequila...or any other clear alcoholic beverage. Most rules like this exist because people abused a privilege at some point.

No, I didn’t know that. Geez, if I wanted to sneak that on, I’d be more creative. Wow.

Ok, well then if they need to limit inspection of water bottles to save time, they should make those allowances. I still don’t care if someone with diabetes is allowed to bring water on.

That is annoying that they are charging that much for bottled water though for those that prefer it. If they don’t want to supply the man power to inspect passenger water bottles to make sure they are sealed, they should charge at a slightly more reasonable rate for water.

Then again, I just saw recently where they had a bath menu for $99 for the butler to draw a bath with some pleasant smelling bubbles and a beverage. What is that crap? Seriously?! Next thing you know, I cannot bring bath bubbles either so they can charge me $99 for my bath. :confused:

Bottled water is a waste of money and scourge on the environment that marketing departments have convinced people that they "need".

 

Anyone who can't go a week with simply drinking the ship's water has a problem.

There's no "diabetic requirement" to have bottled water. That's not a medical need, it's a personal preference.

I believe baby formula requires certain special waters, so not true.

Preferring bottled water and being diabetic does not in any way mean you require bottled water for medical reasons. It just means you like it better.

I’m not a doctor. I’ll leave that between the op and his doctor. But ship policy says, ‘special needs’ and ‘medical requirements’. So it sounds like they make exceptions for certain people based on their medical conditions.

I have zero, I mean zero problems with someone being allowed to bring their own water onto a cruise ship. I also don’t know of any other boat that disallows this, although there could be some. But in the past, I never had a problem on other cruise lines.

I’m honestly shocked and confused as to why any one cares or feels that a person with diabetes who prefers to bring bottled water on with him shouldn’t be allowed to. I mean, who cares for crying out loud?!

First world problems if I ever saw them.

we will be in LA next month and have rented a car for the day. can anyone share with me the must see areas? we were thinking of driving up to Malibu - worth it?

Totally depends. What do you want to see? Have you ever been to LA before?

Personally, I wouldn’t drive all the way to Malibu. If I wanted to see beautiful coastal scenery, I’d get off the ship, and drive around the beautiful peninsula you can see from on board. I’d stop and eat at Terrenea resort, either Nelsons or Marsel. Then I’d drive the rest of the way around the peninsula and continue up the coast to check out the beach cities from Redondo up to venice. I’d stop in venice to see the show. Lol. Then continue up to the getty museum.

Now it depends on if you have to board a plane and when. Theoretically you could continue on to malibu for sunset and dinner.

LA is worth a few days though. There’s a lot to do.

I agree 100%. And the threat of a lawsuit over water is just plain stupidity. The water on ships is very good filtered water. Dasani is just filtered city water.

 

How can you compare Oceania to NCL? Ncl cost a lot more then Oceania.

 

 

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It’s not stupidity, I beg your pardon. They are allowing it specifically for baby formula. If someone with a medical condition requires bottled water and has a doctor’s note for it, it should be allowed.

Also, I prefer bottled water. Not filtered. I can taste the difference. And not all bottled water, or filtered water is the same. I’m willing to pay for it. It’s fine. But yea, if it’s for medical reasons, then it should be allowed.

Also, your post was offensive to me.

Honestly, I’m disgusted by the current water policy. But, what can you do. It’s a nice ship and convenient for me. So I’m sucking it up.

With everything even, it could deter me.

Personally, since you’re diabetic, I’d make my doctor write a prescription and threaten to sue at embarkation for discrimination since they allow it more (arguably) medical reasons for formula for babies. Lol. Worth a shot. Bet they back down.

I don’t see a separate exercise room in the haven on the ship diagrams. I’ve read other ships have them. Did they make space for more pool deck instead?

Well this is disappointing to hear. I had planned on ordering their guacamole through our butler to enjoy in the cabin, but sounds like this won’t be possible if you can no oinger order ala carte.

That’s ok. I figure they would be similar to the other ships in the breakaway class. Or with a have restaurant. Doesn’t have to be exact. Just looking for what is on others. And also the bar times.

does anyone have a picture of the wine menu in the haven restaurant? And also a picture of the beverage menu in the haven bar?

Also, I heard the bar in the haven closes at 10, but what time does it open?

Thanks.

It makes sense cause they don’t know who you are dining with. We will be taking my then four year old to some specialty restaurants with us, but we will utilize their free childrens menu for his dinner.

Ocean Blue and Cagney's in that order.

 

Our link provides menus and some food pics (specialty and Haven) from the Breakaway. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2504449

Oh hell yes! Thank you!!!

Just got off the BA, in the Haven.

 

For wine - be aware the Haven restaurant has a much better wine list than anywhere else, and they can bring you food from other restaurants (as long as it isn't sushi). I didn't learn about the wine list until the last night.

 

For specialty restaurants, we dined at Cagney's, La Cucina, Teppanyaki, and Wasabi; plus the Cirque Dinner Show. The service at Cagney's was poor - getting a glass of wine was difficult - and the food was not very different from what is found in the Haven restaurant. La Cucina was excellent, as were Teppanyaki and Wasabi. We paid Wasabi out of pocket and for three people it was under $30 - so that's a good lunch option. I'm the only sushi eater in the family but my DH and DD loved the other options on that menu.

 

You don't go to the Cirque show for the food, but the show was great.

Will they even bring you food from the specialty restaurants a la carte? Paid of course.

Also, can anyone tell me if any of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch?

We are sailing with our friends who are booked in the Haven. We're booked in the room right next door to them( its NOT Haven). Are they allowed to bring us with them to the Haven dining room or pool?

Yes, of course. I just paid thousands and thousands of dollars so you and other people could come and use it for free. (Sarcasm font added).

I just honestly don’t know why people think they can come and use the facilities (paid restaurant guests excluded). I see people keep asking this question, and it’s odd at best.

We've actually never had a meal in the MDRs. We tend to have breakfast in the Haven around 9:00am and then go about our day. We usually skip lunch and just snack on whatever the butler brings that day. Most nights we have dinner in the Haven as well, after we grab a few drinks in the Haven lounge of course. We have even cancelled some reservations at the specialities to just stay in the Haven. Like others, on occasion we've asked the Conceirge to move around our dinner reservations and we've never had a problem. I really is a very flexible and relaxing way to cruise.

Wow. You found the haven restaurant that good?