ew101

We just got off the Breakaway yesterday and were pleasantly surprised how well she handled the seas. Looking at the photos these new ships from all the lines seem impossibly tall. But somehow a combination of length, ballast, beam and stabilizers seems to do the trick. Also these ships are not very fast (21.5 knots maximum) and that seems to help. We were in 14.8 foot beam to quartering seas for a while and the ride was very smooth. The advice for midship cabins, and lower decks is always good- we were on deck 10 way forward. We found our balcony cabin (10126) to be quite large and comfortable. The couch makes into a bed we think somehow :) You will get a lot of steps- one of the crew told us she stopped wearing a step counter- with 25000-40000 steps a day every day it was not something she needed to stress about.

The Yellow Cab driver ($15 fare from our Midtown hotel the low cost Hilton Garden Inn ($120)) had no idea where this was so we had the address, cross street and turn by turn directions at the ready. 711 12th Avenue, 55th Street and 12th Avenue. It is the next pier down from the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier which is a landmark (in a city with a lot of landmarks). Get there after 10, boarding starts 11:30 ish.

https://www.nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/directions/

The picnic table dining pavilions offer shade. There are a few palm trees and a few spots at the bars. But you should not plan on a lot of natural shade. NCL does need to invest in one more large tender for the island - the math on getting 3500 people to shore with around three, 300 ish passengers tenders does not compute. If the next tender(s) were longer, it might let them run shuttles in a higher sea state as well. It was sweet to see the Little Norway tenders still in service, these brought back happy memories.

Don't bring an electric kettle. Ours, a tiny 250v veteran of many cruises, was confiscated recently on the Breakaway- I kept the pre printed form letter which mentions a fire hazard. HD Mario asked us to please bring things to their attention on board before taking pen to paper - the explanation at the front desk was they were blowing circuit breakers in staterooms. They need to update the what not to bring FAQ on the website which calls out irons and steamers.

You can take out the plastic filter cup on the Hamilton Beach Commercial HDC-200S-CE coffee maker unit - it splashes a bit but the coffee oil taste is gone. The water is still luke warm. Your best bet might be O'Sheehan's - which is open long hours. Maybe they can issue approved boilers aboard if you sign a liability release form.

This is the latest media statement:

The technical issues relating to Norwegian Star’s azipod propulsion system have been repaired and the ship was cleared for sailing by the classification society and the local authorities. Norwegian Star departed from Melbourne on February 14 at 2:00 p.m. local time and will proceed directly to Auckland, after completing a short sea trial period. The ship is expected to arrive in Auckland on the morning of February 18.

Guests embarking on Norwegian Star’s February 18 cruise will be contacted in the next 48 hours to confirm the ship’s embarkation time on February 18.

Norwegian Cruise Line would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to our guests for their patience and understanding during this cruise and to the ship’s crew for ensuring that all guests were able to make the most of their amended journey.

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I like an IPA. I think the Craft Beer segment is up to maybe 12% market share in the USA. The Jade recently did have if I remember an ok Lagunitas Ale on hand, which the brewery web site says is "good for IPA drinkers" and it is. I gently mentioned this issue to the Bar Manager, who said it was tricky with their supply chain to get too complicated on beer choices. (I bet he does not get a vote- the menus come from HQ). I do think economics on the UBP is involved - if they can keep most of the people happy with fifty cent Coors Light from the weekly container from Miami, they do not have to issue 1$ IPAs. On the other hand it is annoying to be deprived of decent beer (or even better, local beer) on vacation.

Provisions are normally taken once per cruise, as others have said, usually at turn-around, but sometimes at at port like Canaveral during the cruise as the price/delivery is less than in Northern ports.

 

For longer cruises (more than 14 days), some lines will utilize the local products at ports of call, some will have staged containers of products to those foreign ports from their trusted suppliers in the US, in order to maintain their quality as evenly as possible. Under the various sanitation regimes; USPH for ships calling in the US, ShipSan for ships in the EU, and the WHO regulations for passenger vessels everywhere else, all food must be from verifiable sources, and in proper condition and at proper temperature when delivered to the ship.

We had it explained that each sailing is met by a staged container with the dry goods and frozen items for that trip from headquarters (and or trusted local suppliers as above). This way needed other supplies for the ship etc. can go out as well. They need to order 4 weeks in advance :) We were baffled on Europe sailings by the steady supply of US beer but not local beer aboard.

Oh, and before I sign off, completely forgot to mention the cruisecritic group on this sailing. It's huge. Completely filled up le bistro for the meet and greet. Also went on a pub crawl they organized which was awesome. Kudos to the organizers for doing such a great job.

 

 

One gets the distinct impression NCL pays attention to Cruise Critic - if we read it was a question on the after cruise survey

They were excellent! We would even sit in the atrium to hear the leader play guitar in the afternoons. The other band is really good too. The singer does a great impression of Louis Armstrong! The duo is terrible - I think called Soul Waves.

The Bandmaster is I think Vaughn- he's friendly and from New Zealand. He stays with the ship and the musicians rotate in and out based on their contracts. I think from now on we will try to track down the Bandmaster early in our trips and ask he or she what they would recommend for the type of music we like. He said they adjust as they can based on passenger preferences and it varies from cruise to cruise. We had Showtime all to ourselves one night in Medusa for a few ballroom dances - it was memorable :)

Thank you for the great information- we have this trip on our bucket list. Did you have to mail your passports away for any visas before this trip?

I think it was $30 per day for one device/account. I think if you log off, another device in your party can use it.

We became major groupies of the Showtime Band who would appear as a whole or in parts in various lounges.

On the Jade recently we could take the 250 minute credit and apply it for five days against the unlimited plan. Do this right away as they have limited "slots." That was pure luxury and avoids the stress of remembering to log off.

Yes they have two nice dance venues and probably still will post drydock. For many years there was a trio in Medusa that played a lot of ballroom type music. They have retired and the ship has the Showtime Band who plays nice Dixieland and other variety music in both lounges when they are not (as a whole or in parts) in the main theater. They also have a rock/soul band that tends to play more in Spinnaker. There is a DJ who takes over in Spinnaker after 11 or so. There is a piano player and a guitar/singer duo. We had some brief chats aboard recently (12/16) and got the sense demand for actual ballroom is maybe down slightly vs variety music. The amount of actual ballroom/Latin dance music seems also to vary by cruise- less on shorter trips more on longer. This is likely related to demographics. We just learned after many cruises there is a job on the ship called "Bandmaster" - if you want to talk about music and dancing (or have preferences) track them down. Note the actual musicians in Showtime and some entire groups come and go with contracts.

Spinnaker will be for Haven guests.

I asked NCL PR just now about the comment above - Spinnaker is fine :)

"There are no plans to that effect at this time. I can tell you that the ship will look fantastic after dry dock and we will be sharing details and renderings of the new staterooms soon, so stay tuned!"

I will say where there are no details speculation is normal. On the other hand, they did probably need to wait until the parts were on order as this drydock plan sounds like it may have shifted a little in the early stages. Under US law, if you advertise a product feature - it has to be there, so you want to not change your mind.

Based on visiting about 50 ports by ship or sailboat, I would say restaurant/bar/taverna prices for food and beverage on beaches and near waterfront tourist areas are pretty much the same worldwide.

We loved how clean Harvest Caye was, and the fact that the beach loungers were free and with no obligation to buy anything. In fact, the waiters were a bit timid on our visit and we did not have one stop by. They could be flagged down- but it was 7:30AM when we got there and settled in.

Thinking of booking the Adriatic, Greece, turkey cruise and was wondering if anyone heard of NCL canceling the turkey stops like holland and princess has. ?

I just checked- Princess is still marketing trips to Turkey - we just got a brochure in the mail. I know I want to go back, preferably by ship. I can understand the concerns, but there are few places in the world 100% safe from any kind of crime.

Medusa Lounge (+ the ex-karaoke/"whatever" rooms).

Good thinking. This is also consistent with what I heard on board in a Yoda like conversation I had. I was telling one of the officers last week that we had this transatlantic booked and I was worried bad things would happen in the drydock to two favorite activities on the Jade. He asked what those were- I said dancing in Medusa and having fish and chips in Blue Lagoon. The officer thought a minute and said I was going to be fine.

Based on several reliable reports and informal Q&A on board that sadly ended today I think the full remodel bill was a bit too high so we will have a refurbish but not a rebuild. She is a great ship- no harm no foul.

In many companies there is a very firm "all press releases come from headquarters" rule - I think we are seeing this in play here - I don't blame the on board team for this at all

For me the only thing better than three weeks aboard the Jade is four weeks :)

We just stepped off the Jade and they did credit the 250 free minutes (=$125) to the unlimited package plan. Note do this right after boarding as they have limited "slots" for unlimited users. We got four full days - they even threw in a credit for the roughly $5 difference. So we just paid for three days. We loved the unlimited- there was no stressing about failing to logout properly which is a huge nuisance.

Even some public rooms being repurposed, i.e. Spinnaker will be for Haven guests, Brazilian restaurant is being moved to area near Cagneys, area where shop is currently located will be turned into a lounge, etc.

I asked one of the most senior officers briefly about this exact report just now as we got off the ship- he said "don't worry it is mostly carpet" - all week the top officers were not saying much about the drydock but the impression I got after questioning several was it was about decorating and public area updating (see the press release) and not to expect a lot of extensive steel work or any moving of lounges. I heard a rumor aboard a few years back about moving the shops to where Medusa is but I was told that was also a no.

Everyone confirmed the Aloha theme is certainly going away. After almost three weeks aboard I am not sure I will miss it. I wonder if any of the prints or molded flowers will end up on ebay.

We got there about 12:00 last week- plenty of porters, the line kept moving. I would not get there super early as they are not open yet. The paperwork said not before 11:30 I think.

We had a James Bond experience returning a Hertz car at the Tampa Waterside Marriott. There are no signs we could see. You go to valet, drop the car then check in in the back of the lobby. They ask if the car is at valet. The correct answer is yes :) The valet will hold your bag a second and the Blue One shuttle will take you the few blocks to the pier for around $4 or $5. They sold us a return ticket to the airport for $10 more. They pick up across from Cruise Terminal 2 in the back of the parking structure in a shuttle pickup area.

We like to dance a bit (Foxtrot, Rumba etc.) in the early evenings. There was a lovely three piece combo in Medusa on the Jade for that, peeking at some older dailies I did not see any such arrangement on the Spirit. Even a duo can work. Jazz singers, piano players etc. are not enough.

I like to do some relaxing reading on a cruise, such as early in the morning while my DH is sleeping. Nearly every square inch of every indoor and outdoor public area on every ship in my experience has piped in elevator music. This includes the library :( One thing I have not tried is asking a staff member to turn the volume down. Does anyone have any tips here?

[A passenger told us that other lines (such as RCL) has formally abandoned ballroom music. Keeping my fingers crossed that Cunard will not follow this trend. ]

This is good news on the QM2.

It is not completely hopeless on some other lines. On the HAL Veendam in 5/2014 they had a combo in Oceans, and we also had a combo in Medusa on the NCL Jade 12/14. It was mostly Latin but nice in Boleros on the Navigator of the Seas in 2013 And we just got off the Constellation (10/15) where they had a small dance floor but a nice combo (Saints) who would play a lot of ballroom. Hopefully we can take our business to ships where you can still dance. Lousy DJs playing at earsplitting volume don't count.