jack300s

With all the Ultimate Dinning Packages now has anyone noticed a change in the quality of restaurants like Cagneys and Le bistro?

I have a friend that recently returned from a cruise and felt the quality of the steaks and dishes has gone down.

Is it just me or do you feel a lack of interest in Roll Calls lately?

A couple of years ago the rolls calls for cruises were very active with people sharing info, hooking up for excursions, meet and greets, etc. There would be pages and pages of people chatting and getting ready for the cruise.

Our May Alaska cruise has very little interest so far. Even the other cruises to Alaska are showing very few posts. I thought maybe it was just the Alaska Roll Calls and checked a few others and it seems to be the same thing.

Anyone else seeing this trend?

My buddy and I are thinking about doing some fishing one day on the cruise. Our cruise is the first week in June. Which port would be better for fishing on a charter or excursion? Ketchikan or Skagway?

I've read somewhere that Skagway does not have any processing plants that will ship your catch home. Is that true?

Any advice about fishing or charters would be appreciated....

I have booked them in the past but got nervous about motion and changed back to mid-ship. I had a bad experience in the dining room at a table as aft as you could get, overlooking the wake. I actually had to leave dinner as I felt a bit dizzy. I've never had a problem since and hope it was a one time deal. And no, I hadn't been drinking (yet). I just booked the Dawn and decided to go for it!! I'm super excited but at the same time nervous. :o

I'm glad you're giving it a try....You may love it and want to do it again. I found the aft cabins to be very quiet and private.

We love trying different cabins. We just completed a 14 day Panama Canal Cruise in a forward AE Suite on the Pearl. Great location for a warm weather cruise. One night we sailed right into a spectacular lightening and thunder storm that lasted for 45 minutes. Lightening all around us was just amazing.

Keep in mind that people have different likes and dislikes about cabins. Please let us know how you liked your first cruise in an aft cabin...

Agreed. Second city is just not good, especially if you have seen the act two, three, four times etc. Same ole crap that wasn't really funny the first time. I suppose they are cheap and NCL saves a couple nickels booking them.

Agree, they need some new material. Just saw the blow up doll routine for about the 5th time recently..

Just returned from the Pearl 14 day Panama Canal Cruise.

We saw five different shows with comedians. 2nd City, three comedians and a ventriloquist. They also had a comedy hypnotist.

We had the chance to upgrade to an aft balcony on the Breakaway. We had to pass it down because I have a major medical hypersensitivity to fossil fuels. I read about soot and fumes, and was scared to chance it. Was I being smart, or did I just pass up the cabin of a lifetime?

Because of your condition I would play it safe and not book a aft bacony. Being sensitive you may smell fumes that some people may not.

I've been in one aft balcony and one aft suite.

The balcony was an Hawaii Cruise on POA and we never saw any soot or smelled any fumes.

The suite was a Canada/New England Cruise on the Gem. Once or twice we saw some soot on the chairs in the morning. Never smelled any fumes. However, we did see small pieces of food on our balcony in the mornings. I assumed this was from the cleaning of the Great Outdoors above.

We do love the aft area and the sound of the ships wake and lack of wind. As to motion I never felt any more or less than other parts of the ship.

Hope this helps....

Please, please, may I ask again: what do you consider average service? Just the basics that they provide without the guests asking, or inclusive of some additional requests?

I considered average the same as basic service. Bring the afternoon treats in a timely manner (not late in the day at 6 to 7 pm). Keep coffee and tea stocked. Serve one or two meals on a 7 day cruise. Also, honor requests on snacks, like bringing more fruit, extra grapes, some cookies, etc. Not bringing treats we say we don't care for.

Hope this helps. It's what I consider average or basic service as per the Ncl guideline for suite service performed by the butler.

I guess I'm an under tipper. For the butler we figure $10 per day for the 2 of us if we ask for nothing extra. We add accordingly if we get meals in the room. Concierge, $50 for the week unless we ask for something more than restaurant reservations. Steward might get anywhere from zero to $25.

I don't think you're a under tipper? Per Cruise Critics on tipping guidelines you tipped more.

I've read goggled many sites on tipping butlers on cruiseship and most say $5 per day per cabin.

I myself having taken the advice of the posters in this forum and tipped the $10 per person per day for average service. However, I'm rethinking that for the next cruise.

Here's CruiseCritics own tipping guideline...

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132

Thinking of cruising on my first NCL cruise ( except for the Norway like 33 years ago) and have cruised the other cruise ones and they allow 1 bottle per person, is this permissible on NCL?

 

 

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No limit on the number of bottles that I know of...

Our last cruise ended last Friday on the Pearl. We carried on five bottles of wine in a open wine carrier. Once past security you are escorted to a table and asked to pay a $15 corkage fee per bottle.

Sometimes early in the boarding process the corkage fee table is not set up. In that case you just board without paying the corkage fee. That happened to us in two of the last three cruises.

We've carried on 10, 6, and 5 bottles of wine.

We were pretty much used to the half (rock) lobster tail bolstered with some type of white fish fillet beneath it most times in the MDR. We were therefore surprised when they served real Maine lobster tails on the Jewel last May during out PC Transit and Repo (right before dry dock).

 

The lobster was not overcooked, nor dry. We each ordered two and I gave DH half of my second one. Which I shouldn't have done, as the first one was on the salty side while the second one was sweet, sweet, sweet :p

 

Not to change the subject, but addressing a few other NCL seafood, as a whole, comments. We first started out with 6 jumbo shrimp (prawns) with our Cagney's cocktail. Later it became 4 and most recently 3. I'm used to smaller amounts at lunch, but here I'm talking about dinner...

On our recent Pearl Panama Canal Cruise it was 4 medium sized shrimp in the cocktail for lunch in Cagneys.

I realize it is an additional 10.00 but is the lobster larger than what they use to serve in MDR. I never cared about the lobster but our grandson want be a happy cruiser if he doesn't have it. Since it seems no lobster in cagneys or MDR I gues LaBistro is only option.

We just returned from a 14 day cruise on the Pearl. No lobster tail dinner in Cagneys, MDR, or the Buffet.

LeBristo does have lobster tail for $10 extra. It's two tail cut up broiled and buttered and served in the shells. My wife had it and said it was very good. I tried a piece and it was excellent.

Hope this helps.....

Just a follow up about taking your own wine to the restaurants. All we did was take the cork out and then bring the bottle to dinner. After checking in they ask to carry the wine to the table. Nothing was said except very nice wine a couple of times.

We were talking to someone on the ship that had brought their own wine on board. One time at dinner they were asked if they paid a corkage fee. They said no, and then had to pay the corkage fee at dinner. It's just hit and miss on the corkage fee.

BTW, I have no problem paying a corkage fee when asked. And never try to hide wine I bring on board. It's always in plain sight in a wine carrier with bottle showing when boarding and going through security.

Thought I'd update everyone about how many points I'd get for upgrading to a suite two weeks before the cruise from my orignal booking.

Some said I'd get the extra points and some said no because I changed my original booking.

Just returned Friday from our 14 day Panama Canal Cruise. At the time we had 41 points and were silver.

We are now platinum (97 points). We picked up 56 points for this cruise bypassing gold. We recieved the following;

14 points - one for each night

14 points - booking 9 months in advance (original booking)

14 points - booking a suite

14 points - booking a lattitude inside offer

Wanted to update everyone and provide info for future cruisers.

We finished our 14 day Panama Canal Cruise on the Pearl this past Friday. Many have asked the status of lobster night.

On the Pearl we did not see any lobster tail night in the main dinning rooms or the buffet. One night in the buffet they did have a lobster/seafood pasta night. Which we did not attend.

The only lobster tail I found was in LeBristo for $10 dollars extra. It was roasted buttered cut up lobster tail (two tails). Very good.

I did not see Lobster tail as an extra in Cagneys.

Hope this helps...

Just returned Friday (Pearl) 14 day Panama Canal Cruise.

Checked in early. Brought five bottles of wine on board. Going thru security we had the five bottles in plain site. Nothing was said and we walked right on board with them and no corkage fee. We opened each bottle and took them with us to Cagneys, LeBristo (twice), and main dinning room. At no time did anyone say anything.

This is the third time we have brought wine on board;

Alaska (Pearl) - checked in early with 10 bottles of wine. No Corkage Fee.

Hawaii (POA) - checked in about noon with 4 bottles of wine. Had to pay corkage right after going thru security.

Panama Canal (Pearl) - checked in early with 5 bottles of wine. No Corkage Fee.

The key seems to be bringing wine on early before the Corkage Fee desk is set up.

Hope this helps..

Ship - Pearl

Deck - 10

Stateroom # - 10002

Stateroom Category – SE

Starboard or Port Side - Forward Facing Front

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – This cabin is right below the Bridge. In the early morning hours while sleeping we could hear people walking around a lot. At times it sounded like jumping. We were very surprised by this. The people next to us heard the same thing.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - Yes (To owners suite 10004)

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Fantastic view. This was a Panama Canal Cruise and the views were great.

Balcany Size? Normal or oversized for class? - The balcany is huge with two chairs, two recliners, and table.

Was wind a problem? - Not severe if the with was below 15 mph. We had very warn days on this cruise. I could see it being chilly if there was cold days.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - n/a

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Cabin was a little worn. Doors didn't close propery. One had to be removed and repaired. Cabin light colored vinyl had a tear. Someone had put blue tape on the tears.

Any other comments? - I would book this cabin again. The views were fantastic for this type of cruise. Another note; keep the cabin door shut. because of the warn outside temps, with the air conditioning on. Water would drip from the vents went door was left open.

We have always (done this at least three times) gotten the suite points even after upgrading to suite from original lower cabin category only weeks before the cruise. It depends on how the upgrade is handled.

Agree. This has been true for me in the past, too.

Thanks for the info. Our PCC tought we'd get credit for the Suite and put in for it? We'll wait and see. I'll follow-up after the cruise and let every know...

I guess you won't get the additional points for the suite, because you didn't book it at full fare when the reservation was originally made:

 

From NCL Latitudes Rewards

 

'Earn 1 additional point per night for reserving a Suite or in The Haven.*

.....

 

*Full fare suites booked when reservation was originally made. Does not include mini-suites'

Didn't think about that. Hoping we get credit for the suite since it wasn't a free upgrade and we paid extra.

Thanks for the info..

The answer depends on how the upgrade was handled. If it has the same booking # then it is likely, if you had to cancel your old reservation and create a new one then likely not.

Thanks. Just checked and the new invoice reservation number and the booking date remain the same as the original booking.

We booked our current 14 day cruise about a year before the cruise date.

About week ago we upgraded to a SE Suite on our cruise next week. Do we still get credit for booking the cruise 9 months in advance?

I'm hoping we will now receive;

14 points for 9 months in advance

14 points for 14 night cruise

14 points for a suite

Do you think its better to prebook Super Shuttle from LAX to the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro or just wait until we arrive, get our luggage and then get a shuttle?

Posted this on the California/Coastal forum but didn't get any responses so trying here.

 

We'll be in SF on Tuesday, Sep 30th from 1 pm to midnight, docking at Pier 35. We're planning to do Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square. We love to poke about shops. We have been to SF before, a long time ago, and saw Muir Woods, Sausalito and Napa but little of SF. We don't have any interest in seeing Alcatraz. Also, I'm travelling with my 78 year old mother who can really only do flat walking.

 

My thought was to have dinner off of the ship to either break up the sightseeing or end it before going back to the ship. However, we could also go to the restaurant for a late lunch and sightsee afterwards. Is there a nice, not too expensive, restaurant in the area that you can recommend to us? Not too expensive, to me, means $50 - $75 for 2 entrees only (we don't typically have alcohol, desserts or appies). DM loves fish, I love shellfish. We're not so much into Asian. We love French and German food, too, plus, of course, the typical North American standards.

 

Do you have any other recommendations for the time we have in SF? We're not night owls but I do want to be up for the sail away under the GGB so will have to stay up until after midnight. Is there an evening show/event for which we could try to get tickets?

 

Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated!

We found this to be a blast! Take a ride on the San Francisco Cable Car. We went through Nob Hill and spent a couple of hours walking around Chinatown. The shops are really interesting and carry things you don't see in other places. And fantastic food and soups. Here's a link with routes and history..

http://www.sfcablecar.com/

Cruise ship comes back to POM on a Friday. Our flight out of FLL leaves at 3:45pm.

Looking for some advice.

Should we just go to the airport and hang out? I'm thinking that we would get there about 11:00 or 12:00 after getting off the ship, shuttle to the airport, etc.

Is it possible to go to the airport check our luggage and leave for a couple of hours? Lunch, etc. any trolleys or light rail to and from the airport?

Thanks for any help...

We use SAS for 15 dollars per person. No problems !!!

 

http://www.ridesas.com

Any problem catching SAS from the miami port back to FLL? Is it easy to find with the crowds getting off the ship?