RosieRoo

Sailed the Breakaway out of NYC to Bermuda in the fall. I thought it was a fabulous ship, lots of different dining venues and not all of them cost extra. They have outdoor eating on the promenade which I thought was a really cool idea. You can be dining outside while at sea. They also had a lot of small entertainment venues, so lots to choose from. And, they had fireworks! It wasn't just a small display either. I thought they were pretty impressive. My husband also thought the water slides were fun. The only negatives would be that the cabins are tight, probably the smallest balcony cabin I have ever been in and the other thing I would mention is that I could see it being very crowded during school breaks. We went in the fall so there were very few children on the ship, but at full capacity I think it would be very crowded.

cle-guy

Thanks for the info. It's a booking on an itinerary for 2015 that just opened so there wouldn't be any cancellation fees. As of right now I only have an OBC on my booking. If there aren't any prices changes, I think I would do better with the onboard booking as they are now giving OBC and the beverage package.

Should I assume that if I already have a cruise booked for 2015, that I can't get an onboard price quoted for the same cruise (or a similar cruise a week earlier or later) and if it's a better deal just cancel the previously existing reservation?

 

Seems that would just be Celebrity competing against themselves, so I assume they have some way to prevent it. But, if you booked it a week earlier or later than your current reservation, maybe you could get away with it?

I would also like to know the answer to this question as I just booked a 2015 sailing but I am sailing on the Explorer next month. I didn't see anywhere in the fine print that said you couldn't cancel and rebook. Does anyone know if you could just book the same sailing onboard and cancel the original booking when you get home?

I have sailed in suites on almost every cruise line and I think NCL's suite benefits are the best out there. Just being able to eat in the specialty restaurant for breakfast and lunch is a big perk for us as my husband doesn't like buffets. I am not sure why people say they nickel and dime you. There are several pay restaurants but there are also restaurants you can eat at that charge no fees. Usually if you book a suite on an NCL ship 9 months out they give you a $300 OBC so you could really eat in pay restaurants all week if you wanted to and it wouldn't cost you anything out of pocket.

We also love RCL and are Diamond Plus, which gives us great perks, but I think the suite benefits on NCL are the best out there at the moment.

I have no status with NCL. This will be my first cruise with them. My question to all who have responded to this thread, would you sail NCL again; regardless if you book a suite or regular cabin? Do you feel that for overall they deliver on the promise of providing you with a great vacation experience? I ask this because I really have no preset notions of what to expect with NCL; and I will be cruising Europe which is a little different than cruising the Caribbean. Thanks for any all all responses

I have sailed on almost all the major lines in suites and not in suites and to me NCL has the best suite perks of any of them. I sailed on my first NCL cruise in May of 2013 and again in January 2014 and I have two more booked, so obviously I think they have a good product. Don't worry about NCL, you'll be fine. I think the problems discussed here were more about what NCL advertises and what they actually deliver, which varies from ship to ship, sail date to sail date.

So sorry this happened to you and hope she is all well now!

 

Fwiw from what I have read and heard even if your daughter was not part of your travel party you still may have been able to cancel and be covered as she is an immediate relative.

 

All policies are different if course

Thank you for the kind thoughts. She is in remission now and doing well. My point was that you just never know. You may think you don't need the insurance but life can throw you a curveball at any time.

You are correct. We would have been covered whether she was booked or not as she is immediate family.

I have always been a firm believer in travel insurance, but even more so now. We had a family cruise to the Baltics planned in 2011 including cruise, airfare to Amsterdam, hotels etc. We were set to leave on Friday and that Tuesday my 21 year old daughter who was traveling with us got diagnosed with leukemia. Our whole lives were turned upside down. Thank goodness we had insurance. They were incredibly kind and we had a check for the full amount of our trip, almost $13,000. within 3 weeks. I hope no one ever has to cancel their trip for any such reason, but please don't consider traveling without insurance. You never know when you may really need it.

As noted by everyone... the suite experience varies from ship to ship. Who the butler and concierge is also a major part. I have sailed and met the butler immediately at boarding. Our last Epic trip, I never met the butler for 2 days. Eventually I asked the concierge to tell the butler to stop by and introduce himself. I have had the concierge give us free bottles of wine and visit us at breakfast and dinner every day. And I also have had a concierge that would not even say hello if you walked past the desk. She only responded to things you asked. She was not proactive.

 

So you cant lump the suite experience in on category. Each cruise and each passenger experience is different.

 

I have yet to experience the bubble bath with the butler feeding me grapes and flossing my teeth. But maybe someday ;)

I totally agree with what you've said, however I'd draw the line at the bubble bath :eek:

On my recent Dawn sailing we weren't escorted onto the ship, rather pushed into the line of other passengers who were boarding and disembarkation was an absolute nightmare, but that in part was due to the fact the we arrived hours late due to fog. As you say, every experience is different and it could change from week to week, not just from ship to ship.

I have only sailed in suites on NCL and not knowing what to expect, all my experiences have been great. We do it for the extra space of the staterooms and the ability to eat in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch (my husband dislikes the buffet). Anything over and above that is a bonus. All our butlers have been great, including Roland who someone mentioned they didn't like. We have sailed with different concierges each time and all had their own different style. We loved Virginia on the Dawn, but didn't care for Patrick. I know others have said they liked him, but frankly we saw him when we boarded and again when we disembarked and not much in between. He never made the rounds in Cagney's and I felt he never made any effort to speak to us. I guess everyone can have a different experience.

Europe sailings are getting loaded onto the Celebrity website now. I just saw all of the 2015 Europe sailings for Eclipse on their website.

We booked the British Isles cruise last week and I was surprised to see it was r/t Amsterdam. We have been to Amsterdam prior to a Baltics sailing, but have never been to the UK. Although Amsterdam is a non stop flight for us, I would have liked to spend some time in the UK prior to the cruise rather than Amsterdam since we've already been there.

I booked the British Isles cruise last week. I was hoping it would sail from the UK, but for some reason it's r/t Amsterdam. Not that I have a problem with Amsterdam, but I've been there before prior to a Baltics cruise. We have never had the pleasure to visit the UK.

I heard they will be on the website and open to the public on Tuesday.

What's really odd is that there is no Eclipse cruise from May 16th thru the 30th. I questioned Celebrity about this and got two totally different answers from two different people at Captains Club. One said it was a charter and the other said it was a dry dock?

That's not true!! My PCC just combined it for me, and also with the suite OBC. I got an OBC for the dash sale, one for 9 months out on the suite, and one for the lattitudes offer.

This is interesting because I have two bookings, both in suites and I was told by my PCC that the dash offer and the Suite OBC could not be combined. I wish I had your PCC since he seems to be better than mine.

I know I must be in the minority, but I called this morning to book one of the new Europe sailings for 2015 that just opened up and I wasn't on hold at all. I got a very nice man named Charles who was super helpful. He even held a cabin for me and let me call back after I spoke to my husband. Booked my cabin and had an email confirmation as soon as I hung up. Maybe it was my lucky day.

Just a bit of info I just learned. If you book a cruise within 45 days of returning from an NCL cruise they will let you buy the $250 credit for your deposit and give you $75 OBC towards the cruise you are booking, so $75 net savings. Still a good deal if you want to book something and forgot to get the FCC onboard.

Trying to decide whether or not to get the dinner package. This is our first cruise on NCL so naturally we've never tried their MDR. I have read a lot of posts saying the MDR food is not very good. It sounds like the specialty restaurants are quite a step up and would suit us.

 

Could anyone tell me if any of these restaurants are open at lunch?

 

Does anyone know for sure that Teppanyaki is included in the package? (In blurbs I read from NCL where they have listed which restaurants are included they do not include this one.)

 

Does anyone know which specialty restaurants will include a bottle of wine when you book the first night, or do they all?

 

Does anyone know if you have to make all your dining reservations online before sailing (I read that you do but it sounds odd.)?

 

Does anyone know where I can find a list of the wines included in the different wine packages? Can I order a wine package ahead of time? How?

 

Is the evening entertainment nearly always scheduled for 7:30 and 9:30 so if we have to make a reservation before seeing the daily prog. we can be fairly certain of these times? I heard the entertainment on board is superior to Carnival and RCI which we've usually sailed.

(And FYI if anyone cares, the specialty restaurants on both Carnival and RCI are excellent but not the choice of venues that NCL has.)

 

Any of my questions anyone can answer would be appreciated.

We were on the Dawn in January. None of the restaurants were open for lunch except for Cagney's which is for suite guests only. I do remember there being a special lunch one day that you had to pay for in one of the specialty restaurants but I cannot comment as I didn't go.

Yes on Teppanyaki. We ate there on the package. The thing that wasn't included was the a la carte sushi.

We ate at Cagney's the first night and no free wine. I think this may vary by ship as we did get it the first night on the Breakaway.

We didn't make any reservations online ahead of time as we had onboard credit that we wanted to use to pay for the UDP. We purchased it on the ship the first day with no problem. Never had any trouble getting reservations anywhere. The only place that was ever full was Teppanyaki.

I am not sure of the timing of the shows, but I will say we ate every night at 7:30 and we never made it to a show after dinner that hadn't already started.

As far as it being worth it, we ate at a specialty restaurant every night. The package was $119. We ate at Cagney's 3x total $90 La Cucina 2x total $30 Teppanyaki 1x total $25 Le Bistro 1x total $20 so all together $165 in meals for $119. I think it was definitely worth it. If you had any free meals or were going to eat in the MDR then maybe not.

Hope this helps.

I believe the 60 day rule came into effect at the end of August 2013. I think if your booking was made before that rule came into effect you can still transfer to a TA with no problem. Speak to NCL about this because I was able to transfer a reservation beyond the 60 day window because it was booked before that rule came into effect.

We will be cruising with RCCL for the first time. Will we be considered for upgrades possibly or does that mainly happen for people who have cruised before? I read a post about unchecking the automatic upgrade button in your c&a account or keeping it checked if you wanted an upgrade. I didn't know if we would have that option it not. Thanks!

We are D+ on RCCL and the only time we have ever gotten a free upgrade was on our very first RCCL cruise. We were upgraded from a JS to a GS. So, yes it can happen.

 

Think they are doing this because people are going to NCL because of their suite set up which having been on their ships is really a nice deal. The suites on NCL also have their own restaurant for breakfast and lunch, Cagneys which is the night time Steak restaurant.

I absolutely agree. This is one of the best suite perks on NCL and the biggest reason we book suites on that line.

I don't see how Celebrity had a choice but to make some changes to compete with other lines. People have mentioned NCL's Haven, but anyone sailing in a suite on NCL has access to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch free of charge. On Holland America suite guests are allowed to have breakfast in the specialty restaurant for free. It seems most now have an alternative restaurant for suite guests whether it be for one meal or all three.

Celebrity has to change things to compete with all the other companies out there, just like they did with the recent Captains Club changes. I guess time will tell how this change will affect everyone. There are so many great lines out there, Celebrity being one, and I just feel blessed to be able to get on a ship and travel several times a year whether it be in a suite or a balcony. If they want to add nice perks like free drinks or internet or priority boarding, etc that's just a bonus.

12026 and 12526 are exactly the same. The only difference is one is port and the other is starboard, but the cabin and balcony are exactly the same.

I booked a suite on the Dawn for this August last week. I checked today and the price had dropped by $100pp and I noticed the Valentines package. I called NCL this morning and rebooked at the lower fare, kept my $300 AmEx credit and got the new promo. I know it's all set because I have the new confirmation with the $300 OBC showing plus an amenities sheet showing the package amenities.

I did this through the toll free number on the website. I used to have a PCC but he was useless so I just call the general number now when I want to book. Some of the agents are more knowledgable or more willing to go the extra mile than others. It's like all the cruise lines, ask three different people and you'll get three different answers. All I know is that I am less than 9 months from sailing but have an OBC of $300 and the Valentines promo. I don't know if it was because I rebooked due to the price decrease or not. Keep trying and good luck.

Under the circumstances you described I would say no because you would lose some of your OBC. I am assuming the $300 OBC you have is for booking a suite 9 months in advance? Well my cruise is for August 2014 and I had a $300 OBC for booking a suite with my AmEx. This promo is still active. I was able to rebook and keep the AmEx OBC and combine with the new promo and I didn't lose my cabin. Would you be able to rebook with an AmEx and do the same? If your PCC says no I would question it as I just did it a couple of hours ago.