SoCA6ft5

I have since deleted the app now that I am back on land because of the "you are connected to the Ship's wifi" pop up. Happy Sailing....

About that confusing message about being connected to the ship's wi-fi. The iconcierge app really doesn't know the source of the wifi, so it will state "you're now connected to the ship's wifi" any time you connect to any wifi. Once you open the iconcierge app, it continues to run on your phone until you quit (not just close) the app. To do this, you need to double-click the menu button on your iPhone to see all the programs that are running, then drag the programs you want to quit to the top of your screen. BTW: this is a good trick to find all the programs that are running in the background and draining your phone's battery.

I booked during the UDP promotion. Since the promotion ended the price has dropped by $100 for my cabin. I have not reached the final payment date. Can I receive the price drop without losing the UDP promotion?

Generally, when you take advantage of a price drop, it's like cancelling and rebooking at the new rate and current perks. So, most likely you would not retain the UDP. You can call your TA (or NCL if you booked through them) and ask. But make sure to confirm whether you retain the UDP if you get the lower price.

Anyone else having trouble with the website? When I log in I can see my booked (and paid for) cruise but when I try to view the reservation I get a message that it can't be accessed and gives a # to call. I called they said my reservation is fine and attempted to put me through to web site support, after being oh hold for about 20 minutes I gave up. I have some friends traveling on the same cruise and they are having the same issue.

Don't know why it happened the first time, but if you keep getting the same error message, try clearing your browser cache. In order to save time, your browser will not always download a fresh page, but instead will pull from your computer's memory a recent version. Unfortunately in your case that will be the error page that says your reservation can't be accessed. Try this: Hold down the "control (Ctrl) key and the hit F5 to force refresh the page. Hope this helps.

My husband and I are booked for an upcoming cruise on the Getaway on March 22nd. This will be our first cruise ever and we are really excited, but also nervous. We are currently booked in a Haven Spa Suite. I like this room because it is on the 14th floor very close to the Spa and Exercise room. It has a hot tub in the room along with access to the Haven and the Spa.

 

I noticed that there is a Haven forward facing Penthouse available on floor 9 and a Penthouse with balcony on floor 15. These rooms are technically upgrades, but because the prices have decreased, I could change rooms for less than I have already paid. It wouldn't include Spa access, but we could buy weekly or daily passes.

 

Any advice? Should we go for it or keep our room?

Just personal opinions here: keep in mind the forward facing penthouse on deck 9 has somewhat of a restricted view out of the bedroom window (more deck than sea) and your balcony will be directly above an extended balcony/crew area on deck 8.

If it's important to you, the Haven Penthouse would mean the loss of the "spa" shower (shower/tub only in the bathroom).

Whatever you choose, have a great cruise! Were on the week after you, and traded up to a Haven Spa (S9). I too pondered the Haven Penthouse & Forward Facing Penthouses, but am happy with the S9. ....Now if NCL wants to offer me a deal on a Two-Bedroom Villa....:D

So I installed the ncl iconcienge on my iPhone so I would have it ready to go once I'm on the ship next week. My phone is connected to my home Wi-Fi and my phone was laying on the table and all of a sudden I see something pop up and say you're now connected to ncl Wi-Fi what??????? Lol. Thought that was very weird.

Caught me by surprise the first time too. Here's the scoop. If you open the app at home it looks for any wifi signal (has no way of knowing if it is NCL's or not). It gets stranger. Like many apps, it runs in the background, so unless you quit the program (not just close), you'll find yourself getting, "You're now connected to NCL wifi" & "You're now disconnected from NCL wifi" messages all the time!

I'm currently in a mini-suite with a large balcony. The Spa mini suite is only 200 bucks more currently.

 

Does anyone know how much a weekly spa pass is on the Getaway? Should I just buy a weekly spa pass on the ship and keep the large balcony or call to see if I can upgrade to a spa balcony?

 

Thanks

$199 per person. Keep in mind you may also forfit any perks (such as OBC) from your original booking.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dfv3c80KfjUepIk3AGKg31_1ufthn_f_i9QhdgetfJA/pub?start=false&loop=true&delayms=3000#slide=id.p

Bear, I can't tell you how helpful I have found your spreadsheet! I've been using it throughout my planning for a trip on the Getaway. Thanks again!

In the fall I will be on a 14-day trip on the Star out and back into Copenhagen. I've never been to Copenhagen so I have no idea of the distance from the port to the airport, or the traffic on a Monday morning (October 6th). We have a flight at noon. The ship is due to dock at 7:00am. If we carry our luggage off, are we okay to make that flight?

Thanks for the help.

Here's a helpful thread in the Ports of Call section: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1898429&highlight=copenhagen+port+to+airport

We didn't have too much luggage, so we did the not-too-long-but-long-none-the-less walk to the train.

Normally a taxi ride to the airport takes about 30 minutes. I think its about 8 miles.

Well, they certainly look like identical twins! For both cabin descriptions (mid ship balcony) it says they will sleep up to 4, but there is no mention of an upper or lower. Does that mean the sofa folds out and both sleep on that? If that is the case my kids are going to drive me nuts! It also looks tight between the sofa out in a bed and walking past.

I'm assuming that they'll be like the ones here: http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1842171

Although these photos are from a so-called family balcony cabins, I believe the sleeping areas are the same. So it looks like you'll have a pull down bed plus the sofa bed.

Bumping myself :) in hopes of getting an answer to the above. Does anyone know what the blank area is across from cabin 13770 on the Getaway?

Most likely a crew area. These usually store the service carts, have electrical breakers, crew accessable ice machines, equipment, etc.

I'm quoting from the 2/8/14 & Freestyle daily (Embarkation Day)"Tradewinds Tax & Duty Free Shop 5:45pm-11:00pm.

 

Still looking for the luggage info

Luggage should be out of your room by 11:00pm. Don't forget to leave yourself cloths for the next morning.;)

Im sailing on the Getaway in just a little over a month! Easter week, to be exact. I have (for now) 2 questions...

 

1) Do the shops open on the first night? If so, until what time? I want to get a few NCL items to fill the easter baskets to be left out that night. I also have booked Illusionarium, so hoping to have time, if the shops are open.

 

2) When do you suggest packing and leaving your bags out at the end of the trip? Just realized we are in Nassua until 7pm the last night.

 

Thanks

I'm quoting from the 2/8/14 & Freestyle daily (Embarkation Day)"Tradewinds Tax & Duty Free Shop 5:45pm-11:00pm.

Still looking for the luggage info

We are going to be in category MB. We have not been assigned a room yet. This will be the first time I have ever booked the guaranteed cabin and not been able to pick our own location and room. It kinda worries me just for the fact that we have 2 rooms and could possibly be on 2 separate floors. :(

 

I do find it weird that our category (MB) is only 239 sq ft and the cheaper category I WAS going to book (MX) is 310 sq ft. :eek: I'm now kinda kicking myself for not going the other route and getting the bigger cabin. :o

Don't kick yourself too hard. If the MX was on the Breakaway class, technically there are only two of them, and they are mini-suites with large balconies. The extra square footage comes from the balcony. As there are only two, most likely you would have been "upgraded" to an MB anyway.

I hope you are as lucky as we were when we booked our first guarantee. Booked inside, got balcony. Here's hoping you go from MB to a true suite. :)

Tough, tough choice. We did the Oasis last year and were very impressed. All the shows were top notch, and the ship was very impressive. This year it will be the Getaway.

The specialty dining on the Oasis was on par, and in some instances better than NCL. I would say the activity choices on the Getaway/Breakaway is better than the Oasis/Allure.

The Oasis class ships also seem oddly detached from the sea. Much of the public space is indoors, with even the upper decks inward focused.

That being said, I think you'll be happy no matter which you choose. Choose the one that has the most of what you want.

I think a lot of things play into this. For the balcony cabins, for 2 passengers the UDP is like a $382 cabin credit (cc)... not much more than the $300 cc you sometimes see. For the spring months, as someone mentioned, Florida has a lot of cabin inventory. Most of the ships that normally sail in other locations like Alaska, New England, Europe, etc. sail out of Florida in the spring, so it's harder to fill the big ships. Finally, changing the "perks" doesn't have the currently booked passengers clamoring as much for refunds as a price drop does.

Hi:

Also, for any forward facing cabins, are the balconies enclosed or open? Are they windy?

 

T.

For the forward facing Haven Suites, the balconies are actually on the side. The bedroom has a "picture window" that faces forward. With the exception of deck 13, the balconies have a slight overhead cut accross the balcony. Deck 13 balconies are more enclosed.

CC Member Bear 3412 put together a great speadsheet on the Breakaway, which has similar cabins, here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AkRUeqCmOMnGdFZWTVVzZndrc0NkN1N0TGpZb2ZYU2c&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Make sure you click on the visual aid link to see photos of the cabin and balcony photos.

Unfortunately the name is misleading. Mini-suite is a glorified balcony. No suite perks.

As stated, the mini-suite on NCL just is a larger balcony room. The only "perks" are a somewhat nicer room.

I've also found saying a nice, "I'm not going to need any products today." before or just after the treatment works.

I've enjoyed most any cruise line I've been on. Sometimes the ship is much of the "destination" like the Oasis, and other times the itinerary is more important like the eastern mediterranean. In our Med cruises we really haven't experienced much in the way of rough seas. We have been fortunate to get aft cabins a couple of times (Australia/NZ & Norway/Iceland), both with rough water crossings and didn't notice anything worse than we experienced mid-ship on other cruises.

Just some minor corrections to the great answers mzlorinj gave you. I recently did my pre-booking for the Getaway. There was no online reservations for the Levity comedy shows (which took the place of 2nd City for the Getaway). The Illusionarium Dinner Show can be pre-booked ($29 premium, $24 regular). Dinner reservations are made in just one passenger's name (you state how many are in your party. If you make the reservations online, you will have to pay at the time of reservation. I believe others have stated that you need to see the purser for a refund, so it might be better to wait until you're onboard to make your dining reservations.

There are no formal nights?? I thought I read there was one but I am on overload so maybe I am wrong! :)

No formal nights. But some like to dress up for some occasions (others don't).

Thank you for all the responses!! I really appreciate it!

 

Miataman- Thanks for the website, it looks very helpful.

 

SoCA6ft5- That is a great idea. I will think about it and decide if it is worth it.

 

Alliezona & LrgPizza- Thanks for the help!

I think you'll have a great time. Some of the things you'll find different are:

-Making reservations for dinner, or if you're spontaneous, checking the video boards to see how busy each dining venue is.

-Keep in mind if you make dining reservations online you do need to pay in advance too.

-Not having to pack formal wear unless you want to.

I know they are rolling out new menus, but don't know when (if) they hit the Pearl. When considering the UDP it helps to write down the specialty restaurants you think you'll want to visit, then add up the cost. Here's the prices for the Pearl: Cagney's $30/15 (Adult/Child), Teppanyaki: $25/12.50, Moderno & Le Bistro $20/10, La Cucina & Lotus Garden: $15/7.50. See if the UDP represents a savings vs your plans.

Everyones tastes in cruiselines is different, but I've always felt NCL seemed more of a class act compared to Carnival. The boarding seems less like a cattle call, with nice touches like a welcome glass of sparkling wine (do they still do that?), and the ships a little nicer.

I started this thread under a Norwegian forum, I forgot to mention it was the Epic. We were in a B4 Balcony #13134?. But now in a S9 Spa Balcony #14143. I went to NCL website to check categories, it's not a suite, it just get's some spa access, whatever that means. PS: I don't know why I said Princess :what:

I checked the deck plans for the Epic and Cabin 14143 is indeed a B9 (unfortunately not an S9) Spa Balcony Suite. "This stateroom gives you exclusive keycard entry to the Mandara Spa experience and fitness center, as well as complimentary 24-hour access to the Thermal Spa Suites." The last I read, a weekly spa pass on the Epic was $147pp.

I hope your camera turns up somewhere.

Definitely stay in touch with NCL. It's possible someone found it at the end of the trip and will turn it in.

Glad you had a great cruise though!!

 

Good luck :)

 

 

 

Robin

If I find a camera on our 3/29 Getaway cruise, I'll make sure it gets turned in.