mking8288

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For the visually impaired passengers ?? to help them find their stateroom ... since door decorations are disallowed, apparently, officially banned onboard NCL ships.

@CruisingSince1982 - You are most welcomed, others and I here just paying back on how we've benefited from the wisdoms of others on CC. It is always nice to get feedback and impressions of how things went. Sounded like no surprises and you had a smooth, safe & pleasant trip heading home. How was the new LGA airport, terminal and drop-off ... loved to hear an out-of-town traveler's latest experience. Again, glad that the details "pooled" together is useful. Enjoy the weekend.

Take a look at Deck 8 Fwd/Mid - depending on your budget and how much you are willing to spend extra, consider booking an obstructed oceanview, usually not much more than an Inside (that would be near the stairs & elevators) for the 2 teenage girls to sleep in (request ahead at the time of booking to have the beds separated) and get yourself one of the available balcony nearby. For booking purposes, an adult needs to be in each cabin, plus one of the teenager - once onboard, go to Guest Services to get a Room access key only ... (it's done all the time for families traveling & split into different cabins) Or, book an Inside on Deck 9 or Deck 10, etc. across the hallway with the Balcony ... during the day and while at sea, all 4 of you can spent "quality" time together on the balcony. **** Depending the cost of the Club Balcony (mini)Suite, you might want to use the savings from not having a 2nd balcony and spent it on the slightly bigger "club" balcony - double sink/shower-tub combo. Club Balcony will also get you one free bag of laundry done, at no extra charge with a MSRP bag special of $29. Plus, you'll have 2 bathrooms to share among the 4 of you ... and less money than 2 balconies. And, P.S. welcome to CC.

Concur, not a minor issue to the OP ... especially now that it is already on Day 2 (Dawn on an European cruise ... ). IMHO, that's below acceptable "standards" in our definition and we have extended families that work in hospitality including hotel departments ... Perhaps, s/he simply forgot about finishing up the cabin(s) while rushing to do the basics, hopefully, the room was sanitized and clean for embarkation, sheets & pillow cases changed (not simply refreshed) etc. Or, maybe s/he wasn't feeling well. From the stateroom's interactive TV screen, his/her name & contact method should be listed (a directly dialed extension #) or could just be routed to someone in housekeeping, kindly call to inform the person answering your cabin # and that it wasn't done since embarkation, and you need someone to attend to it, as soon as practical. Not serious enough to escalate higher & call up the head of housekeeping, yet but perhaps have a chat with the room attendant and/or his/her assist manager responsible for the deck/section. Housekeeping team members have a list and sheet to check-off up to 22 staterooms, and perhaps, just perhaps, not added or assigned ?? Last but not least, is your stateroom equipped with one of those "Do Not Disturb" button, dial or buttons set, double check & maybe you need to "flip" or change it to get it clean.

LOL, you should challenge the rep by asking what if you are in a Haven suite, could you possibly get a total of 5 points per night, i.e. 15 nights x 5 points per night = 75 points, practically an "instant" jump toward Platinum. Somewhere else, buried in the fine prints & disclosures, is that only pax #1 and #2 with Latitudes status will get these LatDLBX or LaTRIPLE promo points. SIL that just recently cruised with us as Silver ... only received 1 points per night. Our LatDBLX netted us a total of 3 points per nights or 45 points in total.

As end user, your choice and use of hardware (whether it's your "old" iPad, newest 2022 iPhone 14 Pro or 2023 Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus/Ultra, or recent Chromebook running the most current OS, security patches and apps, etc. - will be in "play" in optimizing that connectivity experience ... over WiFi 5, WiFi 6 (as in 802.11 ac and 802.11 ax, although WiFi 6E isn't likely to make any difference) vs. being "online" using much older WiFi 4 (802.11.n standards) - data traffic are generally less "congested" over 5 Ghz band, as long as you are within the operating range of those routers or hotspot locations. We've managed to pull, mostly, 5 to 6, sometimes 7 to 8 Mbps download speed lately (cruises in 2022 and 2 newest ones in 2023) on the Getaway, Joy and Epic - as always, YMMV. Others have reported getting much lower speed, however ... BTW, turn off & disable those background (apps) refresh & updates, backups ... and if you have VPN enabled by default, switched it off can make a big difference. Enjoy surfing the net and happy cruising ...

Just FYI to OP, if your ship is scheduled to be at Taino Bay at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic - you should find the port's duty-free shop to have the lowest prices for cigarette, better & lower than St. Thomas, USVI with its "preferred" or extra duty-free allowance for returning US citizens & residents - saving you a little extra over ship's onboard prices. Do check CBP's current guidelines & duty-free allowances, and whether what country it was made in ... not sure if that matter being a gift for someone (certainly, we did not felt it was necessary to check) - and, it is by no means, endorsing cigarette smoking & ignoring its adverse health effects.

This 👍 We would recognize and leave a reasonable cash tip to our room steward for her/his service, going above & beyond ... being the popular tagline used. Let's not give NCL more ideas to add 20% to these complimentary laundry services as part of the loyalty program for cruising.

We're able to check off the Breakfast Order form & get chocolate croissants delivered in the morning, along with other items listed ... no need to hand write them or as add-ons. However, the singing duo - junior pastry chefs (?? or dressed as) has been M.I.A. on our recent cruise, they used to come around the MDR tables at breakfast with their "yummy ... tummy" tune and freshly baked goodies of the day. Congees or rice porridge weren't offer in the buffet either, according to others onboard our recent cruise ... despite a substantial # of / percentage of Asian cruisers, apparently booked via a last minute TA partner from the embarkation port, filling up near all the remaining & unsold Insides on the TA.

When cruiselines, including NCL, began restarting their fleet and recalling "experienced & trained" crew members to return in 2022, from our indirect crew sources - FWIW (not "confirmed") those from India had a hard time getting visas & travel authorizations from US consulate/embassies abroad, with extensive backlog and appointments. Whereas those from other SE Asia countries apparently didn't have similar challenges. Some of them, regardless of their nationalities, however, choose to not return in pursuit of other opportunities elsewhere - some switched their loyalty with other "employers" - these came from headhunters and agencies recruiting overseas. We only sailed twice thus far in 2023 but frankly, didn't noticed any differences among the service members and crew mix onboard the 2 ships ... there is a risk in trying to generalize across the board. On the Getaway, our steward was on her 2nd contract and still a newbie, working regular cabins as well as Haven suites (outside the "proper") Our recent Epic steward has been with NCL for 24+ years, servicing only "regular" non-Haven suites. Both of them are part of the Filipino & Filipina staff onboard, also a good # of them from Indonesia ... and, the "older" ones are still on the job. Slightly off-topic, the pictorial and interactive tablet ordering system in FR has been there and we have no problems with it - easier to see what it looked like instead of "replying" on the fancy descriptive labels given to certain dishes in other dining venues ... which I shall call, barely short of deceptive at times "nicely as read and sounds good, but when presented - wow, oh mine" 😟 🤔 😉

Haven't run into you lately, I trust all is well with you posting goood stuff for us, everything going well - are you "working" hard to get close to reaching Ambassador status yet 😉 😉 😉 Anyway, is this new deal an official or unofficial, at the iCafe manager's discretion or what not. We have a 11 nighters coming up with sea days but the ship has a horrible reputation, as reported by others lately, of the worst among the worst within the NCL fleet. Not planning to "waste" those non-refundable OBC to upgrade to unlimited ... but for $100, I would consider doing it & keep DW happy. Any gossips about Starlink's rolling out ... anytime sooner than 2024 on ships, aside from being on the Breakaway (currently) Stay under the radar and maybe we'll run into each other soon this Fall. Take care and best regards - H

Ahhhh ... be nice & kind to him. Give one of our fellow CC and NCL mate a break, we're on one of the cruise together with others last year, as I recall. Whatever "older" mid-sized ship he's now on, they must've shut down the casino and he isn't occupied with the gaming action but apparently, okay with being on Deck 4 ... I'm going to make an informed guess, being port side Fwd/Mid ship 😁 🤣 👴 This unadvertised WiFi special for only $100 for 10 days is a good deal, IMHO, especially given how bad & slow the satellite connectivity has been for most, not worthy of - IMHO - spending or paying anything more or at a higher daily rate. If and when they bring on Starlink "Express" in 2024, then, we "shall" see.

Hahaha, as best as I can recall, no details on my/our end. We did 2 Fall cruises on the smaller & older Norwegian Crown and got tossed around good overnight leaving NY, 30+ waves & huge sea swell - Fall 2006 and Fall 2007 but was smooth sailing coming back. Timeline specifics that an AI buddy named Google came up with for the "Dawn" was for a little earlier - Norwegian Dawn - on April 16, 2005, while en-route from the Bahamas to NYC New York and sailing in rough weather, the vessel encountered off Georgia’s coast three consecutive 70 ft / 21 m rogue waves. The last wave caused the most serious damages, breaking windows on upper decks 9 and 10 (including at Navigation Bridge), also flooding several decks below. A total of 62 passenger staterooms were flooded. The hull was also damaged (bent) after the spare anchor hit the deck. The ship’s infirmary reported 4 passengers with minor injuries during the incident. The ship diverted its course to Charleston SC for repairs, from where continued to New York. It arrived late in NYC (by 1 day). Norwegian Spirit - on January 19, 2006, while returning from a Southern Caribbean cruise back to homeport NYC New York, the ship encountered heavy seas with rogue waves (some over 50 ft / 15 high). The ship reported listing, broken windows and 11 flooded passenger cabins. Affected passengers were relocated and given a free NCL cruise. (Mid) Feb. 2006 - NYC did get hit by a major winter storm/blizzard ... but I don't recall NCL ships being affected badly as a result, land side was another story. DW got the day off but I had to report for duty at work, drove in - most drivers stayed off the road, thankfully - city was paralyzed for the next 2 to 3 days, that I remembered.

Among the reasons for overpriced Specialty Dining meals, including those ridiculous sides, is that NCL can jack up, bump up the a la carte total ... as well as the "discounted" dining packages / add-ons, to levy that 20% extra charge on top. DSC per day per person now is $20 USD, suites & Havens at higher amount - Eat in SD like Cagney's and if you pay a la carte, the tab (ours, at least) come to $100 to $120 per person, excluding alcohol and/or premium coffee - that's an extra $20 to $24 p/p for the "privilege" of a fancier dining experience. Fine to enjoy those 3 or 4 pieces of onion rings, grilled zucchini slices, or single ice-cream scoop-ful of mashed potatoes for $9 each ... as part of the complimentary Latitudes perks or FAS dining package, not so much at full MSRP. As for those "signature" desserts, they seemed more "petite" these days but you can skip those & find other choices in the buffet. Blame these inflated prices as casualty of collateral stagflation. Portions served are surely shrinking and it's not just Cagney's or LeBistro, also we see that in the MDR and other venues onboard - it's not obvious if you haven't been sailing with NCL for over a decade plus. Those new to cruising and with NCL do not and will not care. Now, for MDR meals, easy to just order multiples and extra servings, no problems whatsoever - not true in Cagney's or other specialty revenues. DW felt strongly that Cagney's dessert last month was "slightly" smaller than before ... very subtle, I'm not 95% sure that's the case, but - whatever. NCL should just use smaller plates when serving these desserts and that should help in the presentation.

LOL, as I wrote earlier, maybe ... maybe, bring her back to NY this winter - the Getaway is lonely and all by herself from this December thru beginning the April. Epic isn't exactly popular and considered "attractive" for variety of reasons, but - winter/school breaks from February thru March ... reasonable pricing and she'll sail at 110% double occupancies. Oh, get some casino players onboard with land partners footing the subsidies, that might just be the magic needed.

Interesting, NCL will have to line up behind Royal Caribbean again as they've announced their re-entry to attract the affluent Chinese middle class. NCL pinned its hope when they launched the Joy back in 2018 and bailed a year later, without - IMHO, a careful market analysis of this unique market ... among the jokes then was the buffet madness. Meet the Alora Magic City, China's first domestic built 130,000 ton cruise ship, scheduled or planning to enter service next month ... June 2023, ahead of scheduled after 3 year's of shipyard construction. A 2nd and larger cruise ship said to be under construction also at the Shanghai shipyard - the staterooms looked remarkable similar to NCL's *Away class ships. It will most likely not dedicate a lot of space to pools and sundecks, LOL.

Between the corridors of the Dawn and home, where did the luggage or bags travel thu - the items could've been taken anywhere along the way, possible or not. Was the luggage open by airport security when it was x-rayed ? Does it have a TSA approved lock - security at other airports abroad (I stand corrected on this) do NOT necessary have the keys or tools to open them, and what some of us will do is - use a simple zip tie at the airpor at the check-in counter/bag drop, to secure the zippers on soft side bags, but this cannot be done with the hard shell with the fixed locks. If the zip tie(s) were cut, you'll know it was tampered with upon collecting the luggage on arrival at home. It might've been open for safety/security inspections while in transit, and removed for a visual & not returned before the bag was closed up - and being abroad, dealing not with TSA - no notice was placed inside. But, the magnets taken is something else ... When we flew home from Spain via Portugal to NY earlier this month, we got rid of all of our mini toiletry items, including "used" toothpaste, to slightly "lighten" our overall luggage weight, LOL. Apple AirTag, that's our newest addition when traveling and as much as not an iOS fan, it paired up with the mini iPhone SE to "mind" the belongings when on the go.

@JIMESOPUS LOL on the Freestyle Zone. Except, on our Epic TA, didn't work all that well, lines just about everywhere ... excluding the restrooms. Duty-free, gift shop, and photo center all under-perform from what we could see, all that premium 5-6-7 space wasted ... Starbucks did okay for those looking for their caffeine fix while parading with the fancy cup of Joe. We never once saw the singing pastry team at breakfast in the MDR and the washy washy duo stationed outside the buffet were just singing, didn't even show up for their assigned duty with that spray bottle of (diluted, most likely ... ) sanitizer spray and most pax never bothered with sanitizer dispenser near the host/ess station when checking in for dining. It was sheer luck that norovirus didn't break out ... that used to set off bells, alarms & lights and warnings, nada. I wish we're able to get seated in the same table(s) with the same server team on most days/evenings - but, even with a bit of discrete priority & not having MDR reservations, just happy to get a clean table quicker than most, and get our food on a timely basis. When the MDR was open for lunch on sea days, it was the worst as they only open Taste & kept the bigger Manhattan MDR closed - funneling the herd to the buffet, O'Sheehan's or Taste ... 3,825 was the stated "official" headcount for pax onboard. As a whole, most of the crew worked hard & were doing their best, as the ship was basically well staffed per the GM. Cosmetically, I agreed, these "older" ships do look good from a distance but look closely & listen, one can see, hear & feel the wear & tear ... in a funny way, the loud flushing sound from our toilet closet was positive affirmation that the lines were clogged. I figured that the slower shower floor drain wasn't a big deal & we had a pile of towels nearby, just in case. It sounded like the satellite WiFi was even worst than expected, at least ours were usable 95% of the time, not fast but it was able to connect most of the time. What NCL needs to do, is to push their "Starlink" Express on a faster track and not wait until 2024 ...

These recent screenshots should help further explain the credit for applying unused FAS minutes (300 x 2) on our 12 nights cruise, doing the upgrade via the App ourselves, after midnight or Day 2, for 11 days of unlimited basic WiFi. Latitudes Platinum/Sapphire discount do not apply or get stacked. The other pax's free minutes remained usable with the upgrade. You cannot combine them to get a higher allowance credit. Register as many devices as you desire or want to, but only one can connect to the inTERnet at any given time - other devices can stay connected to the ship's free inTRAnet, i.e. the Norwegian App, as long as it is on Airplane Mode with WiFi enabled ... (sounds complicated, but not really, stop at the iCafe Center or desk onboard, there should be a mini printed card available, the simplified instructions are also found within the Freestyle Daily)

@JIMESOPUS very nice pictures, thank you for sharing. Interesting that they are still doing the traditional farewell by officers & crew on stage ... Epic, like other mega ships, have been doing virtual goodbye using video projection screen in the atrium lobby, not quite the same, nowhere the same. Pix of the gallery were taken with your iPhone/smartphone's zoom/tele lens ? or while during BTS tour. Also, seemed like plumbing issues are common these days with just about every ship - ours were offline 1 late night for several hours, vacuum or suction turned off - perhaps clearing obstructions. Floor drain with our shower closet drained very slowly but thankfully, no backflow happened.

Sorry that this is happening to those of you that booked - at least it's outside final payment for NCL, but - those non-refundable airfares, ouch ! As others mentioned, take a look at the Spirt's Alaska season 2024 ... meanwhile, apparently, fire sale for Alaska 2023 with plenty of Oceanviews & Insides available on a last minute basis, sailing at 75% capacity at best with some of the "older" ships ?? Crazy prices for New England/Canada this Fall here in the N.E. and dirty cheap prices on select repo sailings in the Fall (not the Viva, however) Maybe, NCL might add another ship back to the NY for the winter runs ahead - just, saying ... I am afraid that the worst is yet to come with NCL. I rather be proven wrong but ...

Question for @YVRteacher is what was that supposed to be ?? Specially ordered meal (maybe, I missed that, speed reading on your live reporting ?? some sort of Indian or Vegan meal ??? Gosh, I would've smile and said, let's take a group photo with the officers having dinner, holding up that plate - and let them know, "live" soon on CruiseCritic, that's humor - LOL. @YVRteacher - over the past decade, I've meet some of the junior team members & leaders on different NCL ships, Alvin Oliva has risen to become CD before the Covid shutdown and he did the Breakaway BTS tour back in 2014 or 2015, nicely done & he has an excellent AV presentation in the atrium, fun & informative. JC Sanchez is another CD that comes to mind. Each one of them has their own style & manners, personality and doing things their way ... some are better than others. This "gentleman" that we had onboard the Epic, sorry to say - my little crystal ball don't see a bright future ahead for his upward path. Like you, I wasn't upset, mad but annoyed enough and should've written a note to Dear Amir, the GM ... but, never got around or made time for it. Other things kept me/us busy on the TA and certainly didn't let it affect our cruise. Didn't want to go off the positive nature of that Semi/Live report ... looking back at the notes, with 3,800+ souls sailing and hundreds of Platinums & higher onboard, hardly anyone else blew the whistles on it. Would've been interesting to read & see what someone else saw and experience ... now that the Epic is staying in Europe for a while. The Epic wasn't exactly a popular ship with its French design & features but we're determined to give it a go, with sedate expectations - given all the alarms & alerts going off lately all across the fleet's vessels with shows. Just read something about a possible re-deployment again ?? I was trying to keep up with other live reports, including yours, while we're at sea ... our plans are set for the rest of 2023 or else, or we would jump on the Jewel or one of the other "older" NCL ships doing the Alaska season in a heartbeat ... bargain fares with Oceanviews but sold-out Balconies. Finding good last minute airfares on legacy carriers (avoiding LCC, no if's and but's for us) and the hassles of air travel these days ... that's a different story as DW hates it, not directly related to NCL. Claims coming from NCL, previously, of engine control and bridge being off-limits for security reasons while at sea (with lengthy discussions then here on CC) ... LOL, myth busted as clearly, ANY guests willing to an extra $149 onboard last month will get to see those "restricted" area, and even get a "complimentary" souvenir photo taken.

Sapphire here, it was "insulting" - IMHO - last month on the Epic for the younger "mustache guy" at CruiseNext to ran the "free" Platinum/+ BTS tour in 45 minutes, not even 1 hour, and 5+ minutes was from being halted to stand & wait (for safety reasons) as we apparently were caught along I-95 while they're moving crates around - then, gave us a 2 minute look at their "provisioning" areas, not even a peek into those giant walk-in freezer & refrigeration rooms. It used to be 90+ minutes to 2 hours, even on the mid-sized ships like the Gem, Jewel & Dawn in the pre-Covid years. The stop at the bridge & engine room was discontinued, reasons given then, was for maritime security reasons ... like 10 years after 9/11, fine. Now, the paid tour includes both the engine control room & the bridge, plus a complimentary photo. If I'm not mistaken, the deluxe tour was selling for $149, not $89, not $99 or $129 USD - a whopping $149 for the promised 3 hour tour. BTW, to OP and others - be sure to wear a good pair of walking shoes with closed ends/toes covered, no sandals or flip-flops, for safety reasons or you will be not be allowed to be with the tour (unless they make exceptions for being a "paying" guests & going to those highly guarded & secured are ... as we had 2 ship security staff shadowing & following us & riding along the brief tour. CN fellow also instructed us that no photography or video allowed anywhere & at all times during the tour, period & end of his introduction on ground rules. Nice guy ! NOT. But, rant of the day is done & over - as one of our CC'er wrote this week, "it is what it is ..."

If you are referring to the complimentary BTS tour, it is for Latitudes members with Platinum status & higher. Go to the CruiseNext desk to sign up on Embarkation / Day 1 only once onboard - you do NOT "book" this in advance. Typically, it's on the morning of the first full sea day - specifics will be given to you at CN.