lhsail

We've cruised extensively on Celebrity and Princess, with a few NCL and RCCL thrown in there. We find Celebrity and Princess very similar. Celebrity Solstice is probably the most beautiful ship I've ever been on, but we'll find out about the Regal Princess this fall.

Glad to see the comments regarding the space on the ship. We were on the Norwegian Epic in March in the Med and the weather was cool, therefore most people were inside most of the time. The public rooms on the ship seemed to have been designed with the anticipation that a certain percentage of individuals on board would be outside at all times as every venue was over crowded. We're far from anti-social, but it got to be too much. We are on the Regal in November and very much looking forward to it.

We went mid-March and I assume your weather will be warmer, but I did not take adequate outerwear. I managed with layers, but sure wish I had taken my long sweater coat. Was also surprised how cold it was inside some of the churches and other sights. Somehow I forgot a nail file. None available for purchase on the ship and our busy port days left little time to look for one. The pharmacies I managed to duck into didn't carry them.

Is anyone cruising out of Barcelona in the next few weeks staying at the Hotel Granvia or anywhere near there? The hotel is on Gran Via, less than a block from Passeig de Gracia. We left a Roku stick in the TV and the hotel staff has confirmed they have it. We have the remote and power cord, but didn't get the stick itself with us. To have the hotel send it back we would have to have a courier service pick it up, making that option cost prohibitive. If anyone would be kind enough to pick it up from the hotel and put it in an envelope back to us once you are back in the States we would be most appreciative and will reimburse all expenses.

If anyone is willing to do this please let me know and I'll communicate contact information. Thank you.

Yes, check the roll call. Much to my surprise ther are quite a few kids on board.

Agree, this list is out of date. We were very disappointed to find on the Jade in January that the list had been cut significantly.

Have been trying to keep up with this thread this afternoon in an effort to stay informed on the situation. It saddens me to see a thread started by those on the ship for the purpose sharing their experience is being used by others to make it about them and how they've been wronged in some way by the cruise line. Having sailed most of the major cruise lines I'd be surprised if you found one you had no fault with. I've been cruising since the early 80s and, yes, it's not the same as it used to be. However, in January we sailed in a balcony cabin with beverage package included for not much more than we spent per person for an outside cabin in 1985. So, I don't expect the same experience I had in 1985.

To those on the ship, I applaud your positive attitudes. Prayers for your safe travel back.

We visited with the future cruise rep about onboard upgrades when we were on the Jade a few weeks ago. She indicated that NCL's practice is to offer upsells/upgrades in the last few weeks before the cruise. As a result by sail date there generally aren't cabins available that people would want to upgrade to. Don't know that this is a fact for all cruises, but based on our experience and what I've read about upsells on CC it sounds reasonable.

What type of coffee is in the cabin?

Don't know the brand, but I thought it had a bit of a funky taste to it. Tasted similar to the cheap coffee often found in hotel rooms. I always take sugar free individual liquid flavored creamer to make it more tolerable. We're going to be on the Epic in March and I'm going to have to find an alternative. DH will have a fit if I try to take those to the Med.

I found mine by using a website that allows TAs to "compete" for your business. You enter the info re your cruise and it comes back with offers from TAs. I picked one, checked the company out via BBB and having been using that company ever since.

Same here. We cruise a few times a year and I have done some pricing with other TAs, direct, etc., but always come back to her due to pricing, OBC and service.

We were told on a recent Jade cruise that they could not be opened for fire safety reasons. We've frequently have had them open on Princess cruises.

I know they started handing out tickets at 7:30, but I don't know what time people started lining up. We had priority tendering due to gold status.

No ships port in Belize, it is all tenders due to the coral reef. On the 1/2 Jade sailing there were some real issues even though we were the only ship in port. It was after Noon before there was open tendering. They extended our port time an hour to try and make up for it.

Coxen Hole and Mahogany Bay are in Roatan Honduras not Belize

Oops, brain still on vacation.

We've been to Belize three times on NCL in the past year and always stopped at Coxen Hole. Weve stopped at Mahogany Bay twice on Carnival owned lines - HAL and Princess.

We were also on the January 2 cruise and I just read all the reviews that have been posted. Our experience was somewhere between the one that has nothing positive to say and the one that has nothing but glowing comments. We sailed on the Jewel out of Houston twice last year and our service was not nearly as good on the Jade overall. We had connecting cabins with two different stewards and two very different levels of service. One waitress in the Grand Pacific gave us excellent service with many smiles. One waiter couldn't have been more rude, tried to serve multiple courses at once, then when I requested he not do so he basically stood over my shoulder while I finished. The guys at Magnums were great, but with so many people having the UBP you just have to be patient at times. That was the case at all the bars. Food was really hit and miss. Really didn't understand the negative comments on the entertainment as that was one of the highlights. We got a very good price on this cruise and I kept telling myself you get what you pay for. We just returned to NCL last winter after many years of sailing other lines. We're on the Epic in March and that experience will probably determine if we continue with NCL or not.

Just there on the Jade last week and the Dawn was also in port. RCL had the dock, NCL tendered. Although they used the ship's life boats, which are smaller it seemed to go smoothly.

We had this cabin in April, also assigned as a guarantee. I admit to being disappointed when I first saw it, didn't know ahead of time, but I ended up having no issue with it. For the most part it did not impact our view and there where times we really appreciated how it kept our balcony from being too windy. I wouldn't be at all disappointed if we got that cabin again.

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in LaPorte. The area is very industrial but the hotel was fine.

Is it possible to find a zip line tour at the pier? My DH, DS and girlfriend want to zip line only, no cave tubing. Due to the tender issues with the NCL Jade right now they prefer to just arrange something at the pier as opposed to booking somethings in advance.

Thanks for the info. Guess we won't be buying a package.

We are cruising in January with our son and his girlfriend to celebrate their college graduations. My DH asked last night about sharing a SPD with them. The thought is that he and I would buy the three night package and use it two nights, and let them use it one night. Or could we all eat together one night using our package, basically my husband and I would use up two of our credits one night? It seems reasonable to me since we're using exactly what we paid for, just not all for ourselves, but...

Can you call this number if you booked through a TA, or this only for NCL direct bookings? Also, we tried to upgrade, pay for, a move from outside to balcony last week on our January cruise as the price has dropped significantly. Our TA was told we would have to pay the gratuities on the beverage package in addition to the room upgrade. We booked prior to the current promo, so we were not charged the grats at the time of booking. Is this common for an upgrade?

We have sailed out of San Juan a few times and have sailed as late as Midnight. I always assumed it was to accommodate those flying in the same day.

We were in 9012 on the Jewel last April. If memory serves me correctly it was the last enclosed balcony. We had booked a GTY to save considerable money. At first I was really bummed, but being that far forward on the ship there were times we were actually glad we had the enclosure and it really didn't impede our view.