Mike_DeA

2 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

This is the default,  I recently found out that you make a note on the request form to have it applied only to your account.  I did that for the first time for my October trip that I’m doing with a friend.  It shows as a purchased OBC for me, as opposed to a straight OBC split between us.  I don’t know if it can be done after the fact.

Thank you, I didn't think about that at the time.  

2 minutes ago, verga said:

Mine shows the same - 50% to me and 50% to my cabin mate.

Thank you, it must the norm then.  

Does the shareholder OBC always get split between the passengers in the cabin? 

Mine is showing half to me and half to my cabin mate on the amenity confirmation.

Recommend the 10 day.  5 days is too short unless that's your only option, plus only in Bermuda for one night.

Canada/NE sailings typically have an older crowd, less kids.  

No smoking at the poker table, just like land based casinos.

Since the Jewell is a midsized ship, poker may be hit or miss, depends on how many players are onboard that particular cruise.  On the larger ships you're almost guaranteed a game ever night, but not on the smaller ships.  Often games don't get going until 9-10pm.  

You're getting your cabin for free plus the $20/night per person admin fee, vs paying retail for the cabin.  Every other charge mentioned above would be incurred if you paid retail for the cabin.  You don't have to select the beverage package or the specialty dining which would avoid the gratuities on those.

My recent cruise NY to Bermuda on the Joy was $1,800 pp retail for inside cabin.  I was solo so only paid the admin fee of $140 for the week.  Everyone pays port charges so that was $298.  My total was $438 for one vs $2,098 retail to get on the ship.  Everything else is a choice besides the daily hotel/surcharge of $20/night.  I upgrade the $150 min. Wifi and bought third party travel insurance. You van use CruiseNext certificates as well.

On 3/31/2023 at 6:30 AM, spenecer said:

 

NCL counts your seconds. 

If your cabin member has an NCL account and it is linked to your reservation before you sail then that person can use their own account. If the person does not have an NCL account then they use your account. NCL then counts the number of devices connected simultaneously on the account. I bought the unlimited through the Free at Sea Plus. I have both my device and my daughter’s device logged in simultaneously using my account (I get two devices).

 

Do not hotspot your phone. The router connectivity is already very slow. Turning your phone into a hotspot will slow it down even further. Also, you have to be in airplane mode on your phone which on most devices automatically turns off personal hotspots. If you want to hotspot, buy an external hotspot and take the hit in decreased speed. 

They do not count your seconds.  The countdown clock you show is for unlimited Wi-Fi til the end of your cruise, tho the number is often incorrect. 

The system rounds up to the next minute for the by minute packages.

Was on the Encore in Dec. 2022.

Los Lobos - good Mexican food, tableside guacamole.  Desserts aren't great unless you like Tres Leche.

Cagneys - pretty good steaks, ok sides, great desserts - caramel cheesecake is fantastic if you have a sweet tooth.

Teppanyaki - Good food and show, very loud though.  Desserts choices are terrible in my opinion.

Didn't try the others.

On 3/3/2022 at 9:23 AM, Mike_DeA said:

I'm sailing in 2 days, 3/5 on the Sky.  Two different Princess reps told me the new requirement was pushed to 3 days SO I took photos of those online chats.  I took a PCR test yesterday (3 days out) but am wondering if I should take a rapid test today just to be certain I don't run into trouble while checking in.....

Just to wrap up my story, I ended up getting a 2nd test, rapid antigen, 2 days out.  At the port I showed the 3 day out test results but the staff member barely looked at it (on my phone) and moved along with checking me in, so I didn't need the 2nd test results but had them if necessary.  But your results may vary.

Yes, we docked at about 4pm local time.

I'm sailing in 2 days, 3/5 on the Sky.  Two different Princess reps told me the new requirement was pushed to 3 days SO I took photos of those online chats.  I took a PCR test yesterday (3 days out) but am wondering if I should take a rapid test today just to be certain I don't run into trouble while checking in.....

On 8/27/2021 at 10:30 PM, barbatkins said:

Was there a casino at the Resorts World?  How far from the port area?

Yes, there is a small casino.  Maybe 50-75 slot machines and a handful of table games, only 2-3 of those were open in the early afternoon of my recent midweek visit.

There is a free shuttle and it was a 5-7 min. ride to the casino.  The entire loop of the tram is only 15-20 min. 

2 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I'm terrible with names but I don't think that is it. I don't think my guy has an American name plus I'min the odd hallway not even. Sounds like the same room amount though as he only has the front 6 cabins on this deck. Not as bad as it seemed when I thought he had all of deck 2.

 

Its a strange setup because I have only seen him one time. When i locked myself out of the room and the steward servicing my neighbors room called him down to let me in. If I didn't know the situation I would think I have a ninja steward who cleans my room but is never actually around. 

 

I moved my bed 90° so that it now directly faces the TV. I still have ton of floor space it just wouldn't work if someone were using the couch as a second bed.

 

The casino has been pretty tight for me too but not horribly so. I had 850 OBC last week so I played on their money. This week I'm not really playing.

 

Good catch I didn't even notice that. This duck just became even more special. 

I didn't see my room steward other than when he introduced himself and then on day 2 when he checked if I needed anything.  I think he spent most of his time on deck 3 where the majority of his cabins are.

It's nice you had so much obc on your first leg to use in the casino.  I lost so much I just got an offer for a comped suite and $1,000 in casino cash to use within 3 months.  I likely won't be able to indulge that soon.  

I actually won the ship on a stick, trivia session had only three teams and I was the only solo team.  Bucket list item...check... lol.

Btw - I see you like cake.  If you're a fan of chocolate you want to try the chocolate melting cake in the dining room which is less cake, but more gooey souffle. 

On 9/6/2021 at 11:39 AM, jam19872016 said:

I usually book with casino rates. I went to see about booking this cruise with a casino rate at the last minute. I was pretty happy with it, but then I saw the price with the cheers! included promo. I paid $140 more and lost $25 OBC. So for $33 a day I now have cheers!. I can make that profitable. I have already started with a milkshake. It was a nice treat!

 

Booking so last minute I did have to move rooms. I went from an inside on deck 3 to an inside on deck 2. I booked with no solo supplement so I can't be too picky about the room (it was the only room left with a solo rate available). I am very far forward, have a single bed (which doesn't face the tv 😱) and I expect it will likely be loud when the ship is in motion. But it was a pretty darn good rate especially as it was not a casino deal.

 

Despite the move to a different deck, I have the same cabin steward. That is insane that he has two decks assigned to him.

 

Going to play with my newly connected phone for a bit then think about some lunch and muster. I wasn't quick enough to avoid the crowds it is already jumping out there.

Is Patrick your room steward?  I had him the cruise prior to yours (8/28-9/2), I was in cabin 2202.  He said he handled 16 cabins on deck 3 and 6 on deck 2 if I remember correctly. 

I didn't love the single bed either, though I did bring my pillow from home which helped a little.  My tv was located off to the left at the foot of the bed, so watching it wasn't terrible.

Casino slots were very very tight.  Almost laughably so. 

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

There was bacon every other day in the buffet on the Sunrise last week 8/28-9/2.  Other venues seemed to have bacon available every day.

8 hours ago, AndyCapn said:

Yes. To clarify my comments, 8800 chips to qualify for the final table (i.e., top six). You can win your table with 3000, but it won't get you a seat for the prize game. 

 

I could have sworn it was six hands, with the dealer using a die to indicate which hand we were playing. But whether six or seven, it is a comically low number for a blackjack tournament. 

I have played in dozens of these tournaments and many times 3-4k will get you to the final table.  I did it with 2,600 once.  Every cruise is different.  If you have a few people who throw money at it like crazy and enter multiple times and/or go all in every hand, that can inflate the leaderboard scores.

On 8/7/2021 at 4:15 PM, AndyCapn said:

You're right, but NCL runs there's entirely different. It's only six hands, winning score gets added to the list, top six money leaders for the week get invited to final. Almost entirely eliminates all the strategy, as you are competing not only against your table, but about 30-40 other tables.

 

You start with 1000 chips and I think the lowest qualifying score I've seen is 8800. So even winning four straight all-ins wouldn't secure your spot

 

And when you consider it's $25 per entry with 200-or-so players for a $500 prize... That's $4500 (90%!) the casino keeps for itself. You might as well stick with Paradise Lotto. 

Blackjack tournament is 7 hands I believe.  I've seen leaderboard scores in the 3,000 range sometimes.  (You start with 1,000 or 1,500, I forget which).  Several timeframes  to enter preliminary rounds during the cruise but only one player from each table/round can make it to the leaderboard if their score is high enough.  Enter as many times as you like.  Top 6 scores make final table on the last full day.  

On 9/13/2020 at 9:47 AM, mafig said:

How did you find the crowds in Las Vegas,  Sand and Seas, Mike_DeA. and BirdTravels?

 

I keep reading reviews about the low class and trashy crowds.  Over on TripAdvisor that's all they post about, including videos about fights, even at Wynn. Also people who are not handicapped renting scooters and then terrorizing people by racing and running into them.  And, of course, the smell of pot everywhere.

 Supposedly they (Wynn) will be raising their rates to try to combat this.

 

 

Sorry, I haven't been on CC for a while.

LV was empty in early July.  I went again at end of Sept. and it was busier.  I didn't spend much time on the Strip at night, but there were definitely a number of lower class folks.  Never felt unsafe, and cops were visible.  Scooters were there but not too many. 

Thanks, yes I ppd til the next Poker Challenge since I had a package which included entry into the big poker tournament.

CAS is part of NCL.  NCL is notoriously slow with PR so I'm not surprised the cancellation of the poker event hasn't been announced publicly as far as I can see.

The Poker Challenge has been canceled.  I received a call from CAS yesterday with the option of moving my reservation to next year - November 6, 2021 on the Joy out of Miami.

As of right now the November 7, 2020 Joy cruise is still on the schedule, but that could change of course.  The only thing postponed right now is the Poker event.

I was in Las Vegas in early July, walked the strip and felt safe inside and outside casinos.  I will only play those with plexiglass at table games. 

Locally, I've been to Harrah's Chester/Philadelphia and fell safe there as well.

Plenty of wipes available to use before and after touching slots/tables.  Mask mandatory of course.

On 6/1/2020 at 7:08 PM, poffles said:

 

Very true,  even day road trips are a challenge right now ... consider if you had to use the washroom along the way, where do you go ... ugh.  The things we sadly took for granted.

Are you saying washrooms are not available or that they're dangerous?

I've sailed the Caribbean Princess 3x and loved it each time.  All larger ships will have crowded theaters, bars and possibly dining room waits if lots of folks want to eat dinner at the same time.  I recommend Fixed Dining time if you normally have dinner when everyone else does.

Unfortunately as was mentioned above, no Canada cruises this year.  It's possible Bermuda could substitute but their capacity is limited and the distance is an issue if trying to couple with New England ports.

11 hours ago, Newleno said:

it is called BK, probably within the next 90 days

Not likely unless the industry is shut down for an extended period of time.  Lenders will defer payments if the industry is shut down, otherwise they know they would get pennies on the dollar in bankruptcy.  This isn't an NCL problem, it's an industry/world problem.

7 minutes ago, tx121 said:

Imagine the prices of cruises after this is over? The cruise lines will need to make their money back somehow. 

Supply and demand.  High prices will not attract buyers