bedfordmom

When I eat by myself in the buffet I often timed will ask a larger table with at least a couple of chairs open if I can eat with them and have met some really nice people that way

As a gym rat spending at least 2 hours in the gym on the elliptical and then free stretch classes. I couldn’t help but notice no free stretch or fab abs classes. Btw all that exercise doesn’t help with the weight gain. LOl

On the Getaway they had teatime treats on one side of the buffet 3:30-5pm every day. They were my favorite foods, quiche, scones etc but the timing wasn't great if we were doing an early dinner.

On the 2/26 Getaway our BTS tour was 2 hours but did not include the bridge.

Good to hear about the strawberries as they need to be consumed that day. Though I did save half in fridge in a zip lock as DH doesn’t like them ( can you imagine ) but they were a tap weepy the next day but still good. Sorry it’s rocky it’s absolutely miserable in the Boston area with big downpours so I’m not surprised.

Wow they are getting stingy with those chocolate covered strawberries. We were given six on our Feb cruise. It was a lifesaver when I was hungry late the first night and the buffet was closed LOL

Years ago, my family was flying to San Diego, our first flights were cancelled in MHT, we were sent the next day to Boston where we were delayed again and almost got stuck in ATL. My brother in law who is an elite Delta member helped us with rearranging flights. He told us that the elite members get first dibs on rebooking, then all the direct Delta customers and finally third party bookings like Expedia etc. I noticed that there were a large amount of folks that were unable to get on the California flight and had heard many of them were third party bookings. After that experience I always book my own flights and never go through third party.

Totally agree about those hamburger buns, need to start a petition for better buns. Seriously I love the Dawn, been on it 3x, probably the most of the ten plus cruises and would have done it again except for a covid cancellation. in 2020.

Thank you so much Clay for doing the semi live review. I was planning on joining you but couldn't imagine going six weeks later after my 2/26 Getaway (yes I know I should have waited). This week I am feeling sad about not going so your review will make me feel like am there. So right now seriously looking at a Fall TA and at worse the 2024 Escape though that one is insanely expensive. Have a great time!

Thanks did not realize that

Since the Star and Dawn do not have designated Haven space, their suite tends to be quite less than say a Haven ship, so its a nice way to initially experience the suite or sweet life. That is what I did twice with the Family Suites on the Dawn .and loved it each time

I took $950 cash for my 12 day Getaway and returned w/600$. One reason is that my private St Lucia cash only excursion was cancelled due to port change. So we save a couple of hundred there. I ended up putting my tips for the specialties on my room card instead of using cash. We also didn't play in the casino for the first time ever which saved a lot of cash. I also take $100 when I go ashore for just in case and usually returned w/most if not all of it. I actually take the left over money and put it away for the next cruise!!

Forgot the mention when I complained about skipped day of service and really late cleanings. to the Front Desk they blamed me for keeping my Do not disturb light on. I firmly told her how that was wrong and and an inappropriate response and then she apologized and took a report. Nothing changed and no trays of cookies or complimentary bottle of wine which was not what I was looking for. They probably would loose money with all the complaints with freebies then they were saving with all the irate people in line with same complaints lol.

Love the roll complaint so true. RCCL has occasional longer cruises out of Bayonne though not sure it’s happening next year

Actually contracting with an embarkation cleaning company ( not always US) is a brilliant but expensive idea. We got into our room at around 1.30ish. We heard an announcement that we could drop off our carryons went to the room seeing it cleaned ( there was a sign saying so) and stayed. Btw toilet was dirty and used my own Lysol wipes to clean. When we left we vacated at 7 am telling the steward we were leaving so he could get an early start. He seemed to hover for a tip but we did not ( usually do) because of the poor almost nonexistent service for the 12 days.

I would caution folks from cleaning their room. That is what NCL wants. Agree that twice a day isn’t needed but for our recent cruise it was barely once a day minimal cleaning. If indeed the change is due to lack of staff ( I hardly doubt) then within certain highly recruited populations ( like the large Phillipino community) word will get out about the harsh conditions and NCL ( among others) will have difficulty getting good hires. Cabin stewards also have additional responsibilities. The day my cabin got cleaned at 5 the steward said he was delayed due to weekly muster drill. I have a crazy suggestion. Have extra stewards do the morning cleaning and then utilize all of them later in the day for say bussing in the Garden cafe or other high use areas.

The pool band Zenhit for the 2/26 cruise actually disembarked with us. They were very good but not so great to play the theater, another way to cut costs on entertainment.

On last month's Getaway I was really glad that we arrived at 9:30am for my designated time. The reason being was that I got 1.5 hours to search out excursions for the port change from St Lucia to St. Martin. I tried to book America Cup which was not available and figured out that NCL must have taken their spots (they did). So when I boarded went directly to Shore Excursions to book, then got my ship tour and pins next at the next desk, booked my Cagneys and then shows at the box office. I still had time to be one of the first at the buffet as we boarded early with the platinum.

Hey they put the pool band in the Theater the last night on the 2/26 cruise. What happened to Burn the Floor, Million Dollar Quartet and Broadway Unplugged (those shows were repeated three times during my cruise-so it made for slim pickings the nights that they were repeated.) I thought that Rumours could have gone into a bigger venue

I remember when all room service was free with a tip. I would leave a stack of ones for my kids and they would always order responsibly and tip well (sometimes too well). I would kid with them to not automatically order room service in a hotel LOL. Boy have things changed.

I would also be concerned about a TA in January/February . I am looking at one for December and question the weather for the crossing. I didn't realize that they did them in Jan/Feb. Yes also I would be concerned about the delay w/drydock especially buying the one way flight for embarkation. I wouldn't be that concerned about getting from the port to London as they have a very good transportation system that I assume continues in the winter. Perhaps someone from that area can chime about transport to the port in the winter. I also assume that NCL will run shuttles for a price

Interesting that did not take long

Yes some excursions fail to meet minimum numbers. On my recent cruise we were thrilled to learn st Martin replaced St Lucia. Even happier to see the America’s Cup being offered. We were supposed to do that years ago but the port was cancelled due to Hurricane Maria. Only 3 signed up so it was cancelled. I thought the same with 4K passengers only 3 so only one other person including us signed up

My first cruise was also on my honeymoon on the Starward. We were in an outside with a tiny port hole and the entire room was metal and felt we were on a Navy ship. I also remembered if pulling right into town for both St Thomas St Martin. You can still see those ports today - very tiny and unused. I remember having to dress up for every dinner and didn’t have the right clothes.

Thoroughly enjoying your review. What did you do in St Thomas?