cdnmr

On 8/14/2023 at 9:43 AM, bejwee said:

NCL is very modestly priced, I don't find paying for some extras unreasonable at all. You could certainly pay 3x for a Silversea fare and not feel nickel and dimed 🤷

NCL's pricing has been getting out of hand.  They are not a premium liine but some of their pricing makes me think they believe they are premium. 

Oct 2023:

7 day balcony out of Boston to Canada/N.E. on Royal Serenade of the Seas-$3397 CAD/cabin
7 day balcony out of Boston to Canada/N.E. on Norwegian Pearl- $8299 CAD/cabin

I like NCL better than RCL but not at over double the price.
 

If you want secluded and zero crowds but no amenities go to Coopers Island Nature Preserve.
There are a half dozen beautiful beaches and you can probably have one of them all to yourself.  

Walking trails nearby and a great spot to spend a day.  

Last time we were there it was still on the bus route but required ferry to St George's from the ship.  

Gombey's Beach Bar was there on our last visit but I read it had closed down.  

Tobacco Bay had lost most of its appeal and seemed much more crowded after they added the big inflatable toys/structures in the water.  I used to enjoy it but giant inflatables ruined it for me.

The only Canadian whisky (that I am aware of) they carry other than Seamgrams is Crown Royal.  Carnival used to sell CC too but haven't in years.

It can be bought on board.  Call room service or log into carnival.com website (free on board) and order from there.
FYI-Order ahead or on the second day, dont be like me and order on the first night and get hit with an extra $9.50 in taxes.

I cant stand Seagrnms7 either.  🤢

Nice quiet, light breakfast can be had in Havana Bar.

Good coffee, a handful of "Cuban" quiche/egg/pastry/meat items available.

We ate their most mornings and maybe 2 or 3 couples in entire bar.

Havana area was great (except for incredibly loud horn player in the band warming up a couple of nights)

• Staff are great,
• dining room food is much better than the buffet,
• Guys burgers, burrito place good, deli is hit or miss and pizza is decent and consistent
• Red Frog bartenders were a lot of fun
• parts of the ship were in pretty rough shape cosmetically last month.  Steam room, sauna, hot tubs all out of order for part or all of our 14 day cruise.
• service in dining room for anytime dining was unbelievably slow.  We skipped desert most nights, and skipped the dining room completely on a couple of nights because we didnt want to spend 2 hours eating.  Believe they cut staffing levels but not sure.
• cabin stewards are normally great, make special requests on first/second day (ice buckets, extra pillows etc) and they will hopefully deliver for the rest of the cruise.  They have lots of cabins to do....our last guy looked so tired every day.
• comedians are usually pretty good, comedians change mid cruise
• hot tub in spa area is nice, if they are working there are free steam rooms and saunas in locker rooms

I could go on but its new years eve and off to party!

Enjoy.

we were on the Journeys cruise nov 4-18th in an aft cabin (above engines).  Not sure if related but the vibrations in the aft on the last 2 nights was very noticeable.

On the repair/drydock issue there were many items around the ship that appeared to be "waiting for drydock."  Rust was everywhere, windows were thick with dirt/grime, chunks of ornamental trim around elevator doors missing, steamroom out of order the entire cruise, sauna out of order for several days, gym equipment that didnt work back in September 2017 was STILL not working (either that or the exact same equipment broke on both of my most recent Pride cruises.. Steamroom was also out of order on our Sept 2017 cruise.)

We sailed the Pride just before a drydock once before and most agreed that things were being left un-repaired until drydock.

We were there 2 weeks ago and met our SilverMoon pick up at gate 2.

Ship was at furthest pier, walk was apparently 400yards according to staff.  We opted to walk instead of waiting.
We got 100 yards before 2 shuttle buses passed us....the walk in the heat was slow for me and my big belly.  We opted for the shuttle back....they run very frequently.

FYI- Gates 2 and 3 are simple parking spots, just outside of the building with shops that you'll walk through. 
Similar to a bus terminal with "gates" for each bus to park.  We went looking for what we assumed would be an entrance of some kind....nope.
The "gate" signs are overhead, above each bus/van parking lane.

My Wife and I did a private tour with GoneCaribe (2 weeks ago) and they took us to Shete Boka.  I chose a custom itinerary, saw some undershore caves where the tide/waves came in...rugged coastline and wave crashes/blowhole etc.

The vehicle we were in was a 4x4 SUV.   They were super friendly and knowledgeable tour guides, showed us what we wanted to see and even added a couple stops so we could see turtles etc.

Enjoy.

3 hours ago, bup1224 said:

Playa Piskado (Playa Grandi) the turtles are almost always there

Seconded. 

The tour my Wife and I just took a week ago made a stop there and we saw turtles from the dock, other folks snorkeled with them right from shore.  Fishermen's scraps keep the turtles coming in daily from what we were told.

Check in time or "show up" time?

Our recent, Nov 4th Journeys cruise, earliest check-in appointment we could select was 12:00-1230pm.

We arrived just before Noon and folks were already inside the terminal.  We were on board by 1230pm.  Was super smooth process.

10-15 mins initial lineup as priority line was long but moved pretty steady.
5 mins getting picture taken etc
10 mins in lounge (had enough time to pour cup of water, sit down and rink it and we were called to board)

Getting off the ship wasn't quite as simple...
 

Congrats! Thanks for sharing.

I requested a particular day and its been 2 days. I guess they email you a confirmation, but I have not received one yet. Thought

 

that was kind of strange, it's taking 2 days. That normal?

I wish I could tell you for certain how long my last reservation took but yeah, I think it was around 4-5 days, more than two for sure.

I made the request in February for an upcoming November cruise, not sure if it matters how far in advance.

Enjoy!

Later I did ask the maitre'd if he reserved the table and he said they do not reserve tables in the Luminae. He told the man he could/would not hold the table. He was always the 1st in line every day including the last morning for breakfast. The maitre'd tried to sit us next to them one evening and we politely asked for another table, staring at the man while asking;).

Good for you giving him a good staring. Bet he's learned his lesson.

You should have forced him to another table the first time. Those people will try to get away with crap as long as others put up with it.

Last edited by jma624; Yesterday at 11:27 AM Reason: Spelling

The only thing that sticks out to me here is he spelled "wow" wrong the first time?

Maybe he was originally going to type *** but decided against it....I know that was my first reaction.

Just curious if anyone had a different expectation about "priority reservations" in main dining room and specialty venues". I just tried to make a reservation in the steakhouse on the Sunshine for a Dec 2018

cruise at 7pm one evening. I received a note from the manager stating that they were unable to honor the reservation at 7pm and would book us for 5:30pm. I replied that we were Platinum cruisers and I thought one of the perks was priority reservations and asked for a 7pm reservation for any night.

 

Long story short, he replied "priority" is only for waiting lists purposes where you move ahead of other waiting list folks who are not Platinum. So, I guess the priority is not very much of a priority.

 

Before you jump on me, No, I didn't expect them to cancel someone else's reservation at 7pm in order to give me priority. My thinking is it's not very much of a "perk".

I called Carnival on your behalf.

They WERE going to give you the 7pm slot but apparently some DIAMOND folks wanted it so you being only platinum got booted.

Dont bring your platinum status to a diamond fight.

yes, definitely.

Bikini Beach Bar just posted on their social media page (FB) that they are open for business and place looks great.

Thanks for clarifying that you are elite plus and have been for years. Not knowing would have kept me up nights.

Had a Havana premium balcony on the Vista because I normally spend a lot of time on balconies. I found myself spending my nights in the hot tubs on Havana deck instead of my balcony.

We had 10 steps to the back stairwell, down one flight and another 10 steps to Havana pool area.

Really enjoyed that pool area, favourite part of the ship.

Mornings we'd go into the Havana bar for coffee and enjoy the Cuban breakfast items while eating outside...good (much different from regular breakfast items elsewhere) food, steps from our cabin and zero crowds.

Only downside was the trumpet player warming up between sets at night....wow, it was like he was in our cabin it was so loud.

I tried the co-ed spa on the Carnival Dream with my Wife once....not for me.

Never been in a louder, less relaxing "relaxation" environment in my life. Some people just can't shut up, no matter what the environment.

Many of us go to sauna/steam to relax, not carry on lengthy, loud conversations. The folks who use the facilities to catch up on conversations with friends/spouses are why I personally prefer single gender spaces.

A 14 day cruise, together 24/7.....I'd think many guys (and gals I assume) just appreciate having a spot to go relax ALONE for an hour. Not to mention, co-ed spaces usually cost $$$, single gender are often free of charge.

wow...thread full of busybodies

If the dog isnt crapping, barking or biting around you who gives a damn? Mind your business and enjoy your vacation.

No one if forcing anyone to buy it. So when you say this is the last straw, I say good riddens. You probably are the ones that cut in the buffet line because you just feel you are entitled.

 

Until I was Platinum, I sat in the lobby and waited with the rest. Or I would just wait to get to the port and stop at a local restaurant and take my time getting there. It wasn't so bad. When I finally got onboard, I sat with my luggage and waited to get to my room at 1:30 like most of the passengers.

 

People need to stop being in such a rush and enjoy their vacation.

EXACTLY! (y)

All of the people who were paying for this sillyness AND tripping over themselves to purchase FTTF, starting threads announcing how excited they were etc were just driving up the demand.

Carnival (or any company) sees a bunch of folks not only wiling to pay for a product but upset when they can't get it AND it sells out every time???

Economics 101 tells you the price will continue to increase until that magic number is reached, where demand falls to just enough to keep it selling out but at max price they can get.

Why sell 100@$70 when 90 people are willing to pay $100?

When I was on the Dream and wanted a quiet bite to eat I'd head up to the pasta bar. Decent food and was never busy when I was there.

We go Deck 7 or 6 on the Spirit Class ships.(cabins above and below)

We prefer aft section (not aft facing) so we are close to stairs up to serenity/buffet area. Deck 7 encourages stairs more than elevator. Deck 6 and I get lazy.

Enjoy the balcony!

Bottlenecks are bound to happen when buffalo stampede.

We eat breakfast before leaving for the dock, board, have 2 or 3 drinks after boarding and never had long lines. Some folks have probably eaten 3 on the ship times before the muster drill. I guess I'd rather they were lined up at Guys than at the bar I am trying to get a drink from.

Lineups at alternative venues also speak to how crappy the buffet has gotten (I like Carnival and the Pride, but buffet sucks). Last time on the Pride there were lineups at the Deli and Pizza an none at the buffet, on the night we witnessed it, folks would rather eat at the deli than the luke-warm, bland buffet food that was being offered.