Poipu04

One random piece of advice: we brought rain pants with us and Gortex rain jackets. We never have worn rain pants before and sort of thought it was a silly thing to bring, but all the travel blogs for Norway suggested them. It was the best advice. We wore them to walk around Skjolden in the pouring rain. We were dry and comfortable.

On 8/21/2023 at 12:17 AM, floridianny said:

Just curious, how far in advance did you book with them? We are going next July and it looks like no one is taking reservations for next summer yet.  

We booked the day before we docked on our iPhone with Olden Adventures for the Loen Lake and Glacier tour. We booked day of for the Olden Adventure RIB boat tour. I highly recommend both of them. The key is the weather. It was very cloudy when we were there so if you pre booked the sky lift, it was a waste as there was no view. On the Loen Lake tour, they offered tickets to the lift at the end of the tour but advised against it due to the lack of a view. Very honest tour guide!

Ship       Sky

Class     

Deck      10 Caribe

Cabin #   628

Category    BD

Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern     Port aft

Connects With Cabin # 630 (no noise heard)

Accessible No

Quiet    Surprisingly!

Balcony Size  Standard

View unobstructed

Privacy Issues  None

Wind ok

Soot ok 

Problems none, it is right across from crew area where they bring the luggage in and out but I heard nothing and I am a light sleeper.

2 hours ago, roxievegas said:

leave in 4 days.  My bid still shows pending.  Looking everyday.

 

currently in balcony, bid $150pp for mini suite.

Keep us posted on your outcome! Good luck!

If you have canned soda delivered to your room, can you drink it anywhere on the ship?

On 7/21/2023 at 11:18 PM, dreams_of_travel said:

I placed a bid eons ago to move from an Oceanview/midship, to a balcony on the Crown leaving on Tuesday.  Today I got an email about getting approved for a mini suite, not quit forward but not quite mid ship.  Bid was $300/person.   Very happy about this.  

Congratulations! Curious how many days is your cruise? 

Yes, I have had almond or soy mile at MDR on various NCL ships as I am lactose intolerant too. You can also ask for your meals to be made without dairy.

I just reviewed the Jade as well https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=591972&et_cid=2974649&et_rid=16706954&et_referrer=June%202008%20Boards%20Mailing

I prefer the Jewel class ships. I feel like the Breakaway is too crowded and chaotic.

I had an nice afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace two weeks ago. Three tiers of treats and a great atmosphere.

We had BBC, CNBC and SkyNews on the Jade from Southampton. People who needed info. about the hurricane in FL were very upset that there was hardly any coverage.

I brought fifty dollars worth of Norwegian kroner just to be safe. I found there was a small discount for paying for the hop on hop off bus in cash. I didn't need coins for the toilet but only used museum and restaurant toilets.

If you go to Rosenborg Castle, do not bring a large purse. I had to check mine at the gift shop. Also, I didn't realize that the tickets had a timed entrance, so we ate at the café first and were mildly scolded for our late entry.

I used my old 5 note as a tip. I apologized ahead of time that it was an old note, but the driver was ok with that.

I would choose Windsor. The Castle is breathtaking. The grandeur of the interior is something that as an American, you can't draw a comparison to. Henry VIII is buried at St. George Chapel with Jane Seymour, among many, many others. Avebury is pretty with sheep grazing around a very, very large stone circle. You can get some nice pictures but I recall the circle being so large that you can't fit it in a picture so you would take photos of sheep around a monolith or two. I liked Bath, but there was so much to see and do, it required a day or two to really enjoy. Just the Roman Bath itself can take up a lot of time if you want to read all the displays. I felt a bit rushed at Bath but there is plenty to see and do and nice shops as well.

In my opinion take the NCL Pearl. I like the smaller sized ships. I have been on the Pearl and it was lovely. I saw orcas from my balcony early one morning. Through my binoculars I saw whales doing backflips in the distance! There was always a quite corner to find alone time on the ship. The Pearl is older and smaller and the Bliss is larger and brand new. My only comparison is the Breakaway, which was a zoo, in my opinion. The lines were long for everything and disembarkation in ports was long and crazy.

Thanks so much for the replies. I really enjoyed your descriptions.

We will be on the Jade in September. What was the entertainment like? Did you have any favorite singers in the lounges/bars? Did you stop in Oslo?

I was literally pulled off of line at the port in Norfolk VA because my long hyphenated name did not fit on my booking papers. So my license and booking papers did not 100% match, but it was clear that the tickets cut off the last few letters of my name. I had to explain to security that the ticket was booked in the proper name but that it just didn't print out. I got an escort to the ticket desk to verify. So, in other words, make sure that everything matches 100 per cent.

What sort of toiletries are available in a mini suite?

 

 

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On the breakaway, we got a tube of lotion and a bar of soap, and a soap dispenser by the sink. The shower has shower gel and shampoo/conditioner (all in one) in a dispenser.

Dan Dan has the best singing voice of any singer I ever heard on a cruise ship and that includes guest entertainers.

Just got off of Breakaway on Sunday and it's Dan Dan, who I have had before on the Gem.

Thanks to all of you for your posts.

 

But what they should also do is anyone who was booked and paid for by Feb 3rd and who would have been the next level after their sailing, should be also grandfathered in.

Write to the customer service VP email that I posted above and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Write to V.P. of customer service Vivian Ewart: vewart@ncl.com I wrote to her about this issue and was very pleased with the resolution. They called me within 48 hours. Write a nice letter, explaining your situation, your loyalty and your disappointment. Keep the tone cordial. Fingers crossed.

I second going to Margaritaville for breakfast so you can eat outside. It is not crowded at all. By the same token, do not go there for lunch. It is a specialty menu for lunch, so you have to pay. The food is good but the service was very bad. It took us an hour and a half to have a taco served . . . and that was after we complained that I had a spa appointment. Go to the waterfront and hang out on the couches and chairs around sunset. It is quite empty then and the view is amazing.

Thank you!

Bump because I'm leaving tomorrow and need an answer, if anyone knows,