cdnsteelman

1 hour ago, CruisingNole said:

I can't believe waiting 10-15 minutes for a drink was the norm.

On the Dec 5-15 sailing this was definitely not the case... even when slammed o sea days the pool bar was providing my drinks in 2-3 minus regularly. I was at Shakers on a regular basis - always a very busy place with complicated orders - and never once waited more that 3-4 minutes of a drink. Think I waiting ~5 minutes once at Matings for a draught beer but it was during one of the scheduled events - the LBGT group was meeting there nightly I believe.

Manhattan was very busy for dinner for the first ~90 minutes after opening each night as people lined up to get in to try to eat before one show or another. The one time I ate there was later in the evening (~8:15 pm) with a large group including a b-day celebration and the food came at a reasonable pace and was of high quality. Libations were served quickly and plentifully throughout that meal.

Everyone has different experiences but I enjoyed excellent service and food quality throughout this 10 day sailing on the Epic and the large group I socialized with all have similar feelings.

Jeff

4 hours ago, cheersforbeers said:

i might be wrong but I think they we referring to 4 as 2 per person in a cabin..IMHO

That makes sense... sorry LOL

2 hours ago, bob brown said:

I much prefer the four free specialty dinners

Under the strict interpretation of the latest Plat / Plat Plus Ts & Cs the dinner benefits are per stateroom not per member. If you have been getting two full packages (each with two dining certs) in your room at embarkation that is a definite added bonus. You would also then have a free bag of laundry x2.

26 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

So based on what I’m reading, many people found Epic to be the worst cruise they’ve ever taken and no one has found it to be the best. April’s TA is really starting to become questionable.

I'm literally just off the Epic's 10 day Dec 5-15 sailing and had an amazing time. The Epic is a bit of a quirky ship and those quirks have been discussed ad nauseam on these forums so there's no need to rehash. I did speak to a number of people who were on the recent Epic TA sailing who said they had an outstanding cruise. For me the service and food were both excellent. There was major embarkation issue on our sailing and while there were all kinds of reasons put forth for it the reality is that, after speaking to senior ship staff, the faultiest lies somewhere between NCL and the port authority. It was a bit of a perfect storm and for those left standing outside on a windy and cool-for-Florida morning I have total empathy. I just don't get t hose who were still complaining about it throughout the cruise but that's just me.

I can't say this was my all-time favourite cruise (tough to top sailing around Cape Horn or 21 days through Europe from an itinerary perspective) nor my all-time favourite ship (I'm decidedly a smaller ship guy) but I'll just put out there that it was a great and memorable cruise and that you should go with an open mind. I'm a firm believer that any vacation will mostly be what you make it.

If you have specific questions I'm happy to take the time to answer what I can while it's fresh in my mind.

Jeff

Hello all - just a quick note form the Epic live to report that the classic Cagney's ribeye is alive and well on the Epic (just ate one). attached are photos of the current Epic Cagney's menu as well as the platinum / platinum plus list from which  to choose that free bottle of wine .

I'll check back in from time to time so happy to try to answer any questions about the current state of the epic.

Jeff

Here's an inadvertent work around - last cruise one of us was Plat Plus and the other Plat (in the same cabin) so they had to give us complete, individual welcome packages including two meals each, one laundry each, etc. Admittedly hard to plan for but...

27 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

Exactly right, where 86% of the population are christian.

Not that it matters, lots of people celebrate Christmas without any religious connotations.

 

If a muslim friend asked me to join in an end of ramadan celebration meal, should I refuse as it's not my religion or do I attend and have a good time?

Not to mention the fact that the ships are absolutely DECKED OUT for Christmas... NCL hasn't felt the need to eschew Christmas for fear of offending people. 

23 minutes ago, Seminole1975 said:

Call me Scrooge, but since many of the crew members are not Christian, I would not worry about Christmas gifts. A good tip will suffice and be much appreciated. 

So while I strongly agree with the cash only sentiment... Christmas long ago ceased being just a celebration of the birth of Christ despite that being its roots. More people that I know celebrate a secular version of the holiday with the gathering of family being the core of the tradition than a true religious version. Most of the staff I've met and interacted with in my cruise history come from countries where Christmas would be observed in some way. Further, I lived in Istanbul for three years and locals went out of their way to wish me a Merry Christmas just like we would participate in celebrating EID post Ramadan... we were routinely invited to Ramadan "breakfasts" despite not being Muslim. Being offended because someone wishes you a happy or merry whatever wether you celebrate or not is quite silly if you ask me. My Jewish friends wish me Merry Christmas and I wish them Happy Hanukkah... I have been wished Happy Hanukkah in these interactions literally hundreds of times - I smile and say thank you with happiness at the great diversity and inclusiveness in my world.

Heck, why not. I'm 51, I often forget my name, and am told I act like a baby all the time. Maybe sign me up for that cruise too 😉

14 hours ago, cksv said:

On my Carnival Vista cruise I was getting pizza on Lido around 10pm. I walked all the way aft to watch the ship's wake and when I looked down I saw a lady bent over the railing of an aft balcony and a guy with a beer in one hand just going at it. 🤣

At least post the video we know you shot 😉

So people who want to give little gifts have hearts in the right place but just consider... these staff members will do a number of sailings during the holiday period and they will interact with countless guests on each sailing. If even a small percentage want to mark the season by handing out little gifts or stockings filled with candy, etc... these staff members will end up with a small mountain of "nice gestures" and "good intentions" that they have zero space for in their cramped shared accommodations. Almost all of them are woking these crazy hours every day away from loved ones because its the one opportunity they have to make a living to support families in the predominantly poorer countries from which they come. So put some currency in a card and write something nice in the card and give it to them in a non-tipping time and place... don't use the "gift" as a proxy for any tip you would otherwise give. And, like other posters have said, get a stack of hero cards from reception and be generous with those as well.

1 hour ago, judytata11 said:

To each their own,  the itinerary was available on other cruise lines, many have cheaper supplements for solos but this sailing I am paying double, there are no studios on this ship. I think if I am paying full price for  2 people I should at least get points for 2. I certainly won’t eat for two so NCL is making a huge profit on me without a single tiny benefit to me.

I hear your point... it's just not NCLs policy. I'm not sure you'll get much leverage from your argument on CC but I would call NCL to "negotiate"... you may just get the right person on the right day and get a little something added to your cruise... I would hold your breath, however, for the extra daily loyalty point.

7 minutes ago, StolidCruiser said:

If you think they are making a “huge profit” from you sailing solo, you know very little about the profit  structure of a cruiseline.

This is the most true statement I think I've read all day.

Keep in mind this thread opened THREE YEARS AGO! Times have changed 🙂

Would have to be a pretty robust system to understand if two (or four!) people in one stateroom, each with her or his own personal room card, booking different restaurants at the same time were intending on dining together. Now they should be able to penalize repeat offenders on the back end by tracking cancellations and charging a flat rate for them. I'm not talking about the odd honest cancelation here by the way.

People will always game the system and it's sad. 

4 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

you ran really well.

Indeed - far better than on previous cruises... one biggish win made the losses more manageable. My preset $2,500 limit would typically get me about ~4,000 points so that aligns with your math. But I think what's most relevant for this thread is that CAS discounts aren't a loophole to cheap cruising unless you enjoy and frequent the casino otherwise, then it's just like any other Vegas-style comp meant to make you feel special to earn your loyalty and keep you coming back. As they say, the house ALWAYS wins!

28 minutes ago, bbnjcruiser said:

How much do you actually have to gamble to get a cruise?

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/why-cruise-norwegian/casino-cruise/players-club

The link above will take you the the CAS webpage that describes the tier levels and how points are accumulated.

Essentially at Pearl Level (5,000 points in a 12-month evaluation period) you start getting discounts offers. If you play exclusively slots you would have to run $25,000 through the machines @ $5 / point to get 5,000 points. Video poker is $10 / point and table games have a more complex formula based on bet amount and frequency. As a real-life example I earned points exclusively through slots on my last 7 night cruise and my "donation" at the end of the week was ~$2,500 and I had earned about 8,500 points from that.

My Pearl-level offers have come in the form of direct CAS mailers on specific sailings. I was offered an Inside Stateroom "free" except for a $20 per person / per day admin fee plus taxes and port fees. My "free" inside cost $400 for a 10 day cruise on the epic for me traveling solo (no single supplement through CAS which is nice). I was able to upgrade to a balcony (still solo) for a further $400.

I've recently received some helpful guidance from more experienced CAS cruisers here on CC that I shouldn't feel restricted to those mailers and that I should call on any itinerary in which I have interest to see what kind of an offer CAS will make me.

Long story short - CAS is a great perq if you're going to be making casino contributions regardless. Otherwise its an expensive way to get a "free" cruise.

Hope this helps

9 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Outside deck drains, such as drains from the pool deck, and all balconies are not connected to either black water or gray water drain systems. 

Thanks Chief Engineer, that makes even more sense. So those are essentially rainwater drains is that correct? The soap and other stuff would just be what gets squeegeed in when deck crews are cleaning outside public decks like the pool, is that about right?

40 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Chengkp would be better at this

Agreed that the Chief Engineer will likely confirm but it almost certainly would not be blackwater tied to a balcony drain. Regardless I agree that the OP should not have been subjected to this. The further runaround by the ship staff on how to formally file a complaint is likewise unacceptable.

To the OP - what compensation are you hoping for / do you think would be fair?

2 hours ago, 2NOLAcruisers said:

How did you get an offer directly from NCL? Did you call and ask for one? 

If you look at my first post you'll see the two side of a direct mailer I received from NCL CAS. That's how I get my offers. The one pictured is a more recent one and the one I booked off of came a couple of months ago. I get these NCL CAS mailers every couple of months or so and I also receive non-CAS NCL direct mailers fairly frequently too but they aren't necessarily for special offers, more just direct marketing of what's on the website at a given time.

I assume the mailers come to me as a rated player in the actual ships casinos (could also be influenced by my Platinum Plus Latitudes status)... I am a lower rated player (Pearl... the second tier). I don't play in land-based casinos... it's a cruise ship extravagance for me... mostly poker and slots.

While I recognize there are many different offer sources, it is these kinds of NCL CAS direct mailers I'm particularly interested in hearing about from others as I'd like to learn if they ever feature a variety of itineraries. I've had some much-appreciated and helpful guidance through this thread to just call CAS and ask about specific sailings, which I will absolutely do.

I appreciate you all taking the time to read and comment.

Best,

Jeff

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

how did you find out you got a free cruise on the Epic for dec 5?

and when did you receive your jan/feb/march mailer?

The Epic 10 day was booked off a mailer I received in Sept / Oct and the mailer above arrived ~10 days ago.

Thank you both for the insight - when I was on the phone booking my Dec 5 sailing with CAS I did ask what else was available to me and they said just the upcoming mailer. Perhaps I'll call back and try again with a different agent.

Cheers,

Jeff

3 hours ago, lindseylu8 said:

We book through CAS & the paperwork/ cruise voucher says the person who is comped the cruise must be on the cruise.

To add to that the Ts & Cs also state that if the comped person is a no show then those who do show will be charged the full rate for the cruise at check in. So - simply put - your mom will be able to board but she'll not only pay the difference between the comp and the full rate for the stateroom, she'll likely have to pay the single supplement as well as a solo cruiser (unless that sailing has a reduced or waived single supplement).

I recognize there are a number of ways people earn CAS booking opportunities. This question is specific to the mailers NCL CAS sends out from time to time for specific sailings only... I assume these are targeted primarily at those (like me) who play a fair amount on one or two sailings a year but not enough to move beyond ~Pearl status annually. I'll be taking advantage of my first of these mailer offers on an upcoming Dec 5 Epic sailing.

All of the mailers I receive seem to be for specific Caribbean sailings - more specifically Western Caribbean. Has anyone received these mailers with itineraries in other regions (i.e. Europe, Mexican coast, Panama Canal, etc)? I suspect not as my guess is they use these mailers to fill undersubscribed sailings but I'd appreciate any insight as I'd LOVE to score a CAS deal that goes to some ports I've only done once or twice. Guess I could just gamble more but then I wouldn't have the money to pay for the next cruise 😉 Such a fine balance LOL

Thanks in advance for your help.

On 11/16/2018 at 9:22 AM, Robinsilver said:

Also, on Princess, a woman fell overboard and died after being choked by a man.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6400977/American-man-NOT-considered-suspect-death-wife-fell-cruise-ship-deck.html

4 minutes ago, MNJones said:

I must say the changes are all improvements.

Especially the lounge... it was dizzying to walk in there.