firstcarib

Yes. Not just on the Dawn. Every NCL ship provides coffee pots and coffee in balcony cabin category and higher. Different kinds of pots for different cabin categories.

We -being English- prefer tea! It's impossible to make a decent cuppa from a coffee maker-the water always has a nasty taint of coffee-yeuck

I wonder if we can get an electric kettle instead on our Epic balcony cruise soon? We had one on our inside on Jade recently-but it took a lot of asking!!! Begging in fact!!

All cruises departing U.K. put kettles in staterooms I am told-we certainly got one on our t/a from Southampton on Eclipse . Fingers crossed -I do need my cuppa in the morning & it's a pain to call room service every day.;p

It's always a big shock when people find out about the restaurant prices in Australia. But everything there costs a lot more.

 

I guess you have not visited these relatives in Australia before so here are some tips on the etiquette of staying with family there. When visiting other people's homes in Australia, you are expected to pay for and bring your own groceries. They will take you to the grocery store (but considering the emergency situation - they may not have time to do that, so you might want to take a taxi) and provide you with towels and a bed, but you should bring your own shampoo and soap and other personal items as well as food. I usually wind up buying a hair dryer and leaving it with my hosts when I leave. Also bring gifts for your host and hostess. What I typically do is preplan what I will make them to eat and then bring some of what is needed with me. Since I live in Texas, I make Tex Mex for my Aussie relatives. So I will bring tortillas and the spices and salsa for fajitas in their original sealed bags/containers then grab chicken, peppers, onions, avocado, cheese, sour cream and oil at the grocery store. Simple to make since it only requires 1 pan and then a bowl to make guacamole.

 

If you take a taxi, sit in the front seat with the driver - otherwise they will think that you think you are better than them. Tip Sydney taxi drivers no more than 10%.

 

In addition, to cooking or providing a meal for them during your stay. Always offer to help with the dishes and cleanup.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

 

 

As as Australian, I find these comments most insulting. I hope it is related to the first of April. K

We are not Aussies, but Brits( Poms) who go to Australia often & always enjoy fantastic hospitality there. We always take wine or beers f invited out, but never our own food! So we hope its a joke too...seriously DO NOT pack food in your luggage or else you could end up in an Aussie prison or face a large fine! Its definitely forbidden to take any kind of food stuffs into Australia...inc fruit, veggies, honey...even salsa I guess!! For goodness sake, this is not a backward country, they know about salsa!

In fact the food in Aus is some of the best Ive had, a real mix of Asian style, English style & Aussie burgers & pies...all of high quality. Yes it is expensive, yes Aussies are well paid, but if everyone was well paid the world would be a better place!

I think you'll find it is good value. I spent a lot more time there than I had anticipated.

We found it nowhere near as good as other ships, even Dawn. Its very segregated, no hot tubs or saunas etc for us both to use together, only ones available were in male or female areas. Just a small "hydrotherapy" pool, with 4 bubble beds in the mixed area, so of course that got crowded quickly! Only 5(or6??) heated relaxation loungers by this pool, so if they were full, plus the pool was occupied, there was nowhere to go except back to the male or female segregated ares.😩 I seriously doubt this will change much in the refit. We felt we had wasted our money, even though we were on a T/A crossing in November 2016 when we could ..or should....have had lots of time to enjoy the facilites.

I didn't think the water in the cabins was really very nice to drink...presumably it was safe but tasted strange, whilst the filtered water at the dining room or buffet tasted fine. We never had a problem filling our wide necked water bottles at the dining table , the waiters were more than happy to refill the glasses, then we just tipped them into our bottles. Still feel ncl have a seriously stupid ubp which lets you drink yourself stupid on spirits, beer, wine cocktails but will not include even a small bottle of water from any of the bars...madness!:mad:

Jasmine is an Asian restaurant and the general dining area is complimentary. There is a sushi counter that is a la carte and Teppenyaki is just a small connected room also. We never ate there, but I heard it was good.

 

Oh yeah, not a restaurant you can reserve.

 

 

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We liked the teppanyaki, good fun albeit an extra charge. But we didnt like the ordinary non-fee Jasmine, it was not like any Chinese food we've ever had anywhere! Starters were just about passable, but our mains were horrid. Tasteless & gloopy. Portions small...luckily! "Panda salad "dessert was like canteen /school food, tinned fruit & ice cream. Guess the chefs onboard are not Chinese!!! But Le Bistro was good, even if chefs not French, however the only pay restaurant we thought was worth the up charge. Actually both MDRs were fine, no need to pay more anywhere( unless you want teppanyaki of course!)

The concern is only more people clearly drunk around the ship.

Just off the Sky, it was very good. Never saw any drunks at all, (in fact I did wonder if there was actually alcohol in the drinks)....I suppose it all depends on who is sailing!!! The wines served in the MDRs were good, I can recommend Matua NZ sauvignon & also Estancia Pinot Noir. Wasnt the same in the bars tho. My fav cocktail was Rebellious Fish, or Mimosas....no yeucckky pre mixed gloop. My husband tried a Mudslide but it gave him brain freeze, like a McDs frozen slushy.:rolleyes:

I am looking at proposing on an upcoming sky cruise :) We will have a group there to surprise the Bride to be. As we are staying in a group our rooms are close together and will have to attend the same Drill so I am planning on proposing not long after boarding. For past Sky cruisers could you help with the following?

 

1. Can anyone suggest a semi private nice location to propose on boarding day.

2. What bars are open prior to the drill and which would be the best for a group of approx 20 people to gather in for the big reveal?

3. Is any priority given to balcony rooms being ready?

 

Thanks so much for your help in advance!

Good luck with your proposed proposal!!! Assuming it is accepted(:eek::D) why dont you save money on a honeymoon & ask the Captain to marry you there & then!!! Or get married in Nassau....your guests and witnesses will already be there with you. There were 2 couples getting married in the Bahamas on our recent Sky trip.

little trivia: if you look at the carpeting outside your stateroom..... the blue fish swim forward while that one red "rebellious fish" swims aft

 

Ok, I admitted it was "little" but I found it fun

 

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Just off the Sky, we had great short cruise! Didnrt see the Rebellious Red Fish swimming the wrong way on the carpet( we did see them on the Jade!!) but loved the Rebellious Fish cocktail! Best one, not made with mixes like others. By the way, food was good, not great, but good & all inc drinks were plentiful, good bar/pool drink service, never saw any drunks. Shows good too, male lead singer deserves a sparkling career away fom cruise ships, he was excellent. Cruise director Tom( a fellow Brit) was soooo energetic he deserves a bigger ship! Well Done NCL Sky. A great cruise for a small price.

I guess from what you say that you are American. If so, I understand your comments as you have a lot more freedom of movement than folk from outside the US. As was pointed out by another poster, you can travel without a passport to the Caribbean and Mexico amongst others. That is probably one reason why the majority of Americans reportedly do not have a passport.

 

For the majority of the rest of us we need to show a passport whenever we move between countries. So to answer the point that you raised, whether we are travelling with luggage or not, we have to pass through a control point and at a minimum, show a passport. There is an exception which is similar to your own situation in the US. A group of European countries are in what is known as the Schengen area. These people can move freely around the Schengen area with only their own country's ID card. As a resident of Portugal, I carry such a card so can move freely around most of mainland Europe. However, if I want to travel back to my own country of England, I have to show my passport as i leave Portugal and dnter England, as the United Kingdom is not a member of Schengen. Crazy eh?

No, not crazy at all! Best thing we (UK) as a country NEVER did...ie we used our right not to sgn up to the Schengen agreement. A passport is a much safer means of ID still, although obviously even these can get forged! In thse sad terrorist -ridden times, its getting more & more necessary to have stringent border checks, but I really do feel extremely sorry for the passengers denoed boading their cruise by NCL....it seems officialdom at its worst to me! And at its most ignoran!!:rolleyes:

Makes sense...in a bubble. However, while we know that the ESTAs allowed them to enter the US, do we know for a fact that the ESTAs were written to allow them to enter the other countries that the ship would be stopping at during the cruise??

 

Just because they had documents which allowed travel between their home country and the US does not mean that those documents allowed travel to other countries.[/

 

Hello fellow sailors....

I just want to let you lnow that an ESTA is only a American legislation. It is not applicable to any other countries than the USA, so an ESTA would not be necessary to enter other countries on the ships voyage. Other countries make their own rules of entry, visas etc. They do not care about ESTAs.

 

FYI, The ESTA website states the following....

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is an automated system that assists in determining eligibility of an individual to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Any individual wishing to travel to the United States visa free must first apply for permission on-line using ESTA.

Even a couple of years for transatlantics starting in Barcelona people without printed ESTA were guided to a different counter to log in the ESTA website and print the confirmation there.

Yes, I agree! Even though it actually states on the ESTA that it it not necessary to have a printed copy( it is an Electronic Visa!!!) we were asked very rudely for ours on boarding a transatlantic cruise recently. When I said it actually states that a copy is unnecessary, the NCL emplyee was even ruder, but eventually we got a copy from a screen somewhere! Its just their bad training , ignorance & dire customer service attitude. Its the only time we experienced this bad attitude, once on board everyone was great! So....my advice is...print out your ESTAs!!!

Ask for a Baileys coffee. They will make it like an Americano. Included in UBP. And if want to be really cheeky ask for the Baileys on the side nudge nudge wink wink.

 

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When we were on the Jade recently we could order Irish coffees on our UBP. They were great...a shot of Jamesons whisky then a coffee from the coffee bar added, then cream...yum yum.

I called NCL to ask about the Couples Pass for the Spa pass on the Jade and she told me once on board to go the spa and buy the couples pass I just want to confirm with anyone here that, that is true...I don't need to buy a regular spa pass and then upgrade on board to the couple's pass....I normally just board and head to the spa and order the couple's pass. Thanks for clarifying!!!

We were on the transatlantic on Jade end of Oct to Tampa & bought 2 spa passes on website pre embarkation, saving 20%???We were somewhat disappointed in the Jade soa. Its very segregated into male & female sides. All saunas/steam rooms/jacuzzis are either in male or female sides, so you cant go in them together. The only mixed area has a thalasso therapy pool, quite small, only 4 underwater bubble beds in it so got very crowded, plus about 5 or 6 heated reclining beds, again once people were on them they didnt move off for ages so often you would go into this mixed area & there would be no room. Then you would have to separate to return to the single sex area to use steam room etc. Not a good spa for couples who wish to stay together!!!:mad:

Just so all fellow sailors from UK realise that the free gratuities was never one of the Free at Sea offers available to us Brits. :(

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Thanks everyone, I will see what happens onboard & post again. A friend of mine was on a RCCL cruise that left from Barcelona & returned there & she was charged this extra tax on a spa purchase she made whilst at a port in Italy!! I did call ncl to ask, but got the impression the guy I spoke to didnt really know the answer!:eek: He said the tax would apply on the whole cruise, even though it goes across the Pond to Tampa!! I am really hoping he is wrong!!:D

Hi, does anyone please have up to date info on whether there is extra 10% or even extra 21% tax paid on all on board purchases if the cruise departs from a Spanish port? Ive been told this will apply even once we leave Spanish waters! As we are on a Trans Atlantic from Barcelona to Tampa this could work out to be a real issue:eek:

Hi, I've just booked all my family on Epic next May half term from Barcelona😝 There will be 10 of us, so to help with my budget, my son & family( wife & 2 teenagers) will be in an inside family room, on deck 13. Does anyone out there have any info on these cabins please? I just wondered about the configuration of the beds as the 2 teenagers( boy 17, girl 13) are quite tall & I cant imagine they will be happy to have to share a bed!!!:eek::eek:

Hi, I've just booked all my family on Epic next May half term from Barcelona😝 There will be 10 of us, so to help with my budget, my son & family( wife & 2 teenagers) will be in an inside family room, on deck 13. Does anyone out there have any info on these cabins please? I just wondered about the configuration of the beds as the 2 teenagers( boy 17, girl 13) are quite tall & I cant imagine they will be happy to have to share a bed!!!:eek::eek:

Was on the "Jade" over New Years last year. We LOVED the spa. Very quiet never many people some evening not a sole was in the spa except for my husband and myself. They did NOT offer day passes on our cruise. Was one of the best part of our cruise. Would not hesitate to book it again!!!

Thanks! Have now booked spa passes for both of us on our T/A crossing to Tampa, looking forward to lots of R & R.:cool:

Your cabin type governs how far ahead you can book. In our case it was 100 days.

Reason you have to book. .. The theatre only holds 800 so with 4000+ on board it's the only way. . People who haven't booked can wait in the standby line.

Thanks for the info, I will be checking regularly, I now realise the theatre will not take all the passengers from such a huge behemoth of a ship! Rather hesitant about booking Epic at first, we've never sailed on such a big one!!!

Our first cruise was Silversea with 250 pax, now we are gradually working our way up( or is it down!!:D:D)

Saw the show on the Epic on 28th August cruise, thoroughly enjoyed it, now would like to see the land based show

I really want to see this, loved the movie, but how do I book it? On my NCL latitudes page? How many days before sailing is it available please? ( never knew you had to book shows, but never been on such a big ship before!!:eek:)

There are announcements before the show starts stating that Priscilla is not suitable for children. I don't think they enforce this in any way and leave it up to parents to decide if they want their children to watch the show. As yours are all teenagers I don't suppose it will be a difficult decision.

 

 

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Thanks, I agree, teenagers now are more worldlywise than parents...certainly than grandparents.

Do we have to book the shows onboard, or even before we board online on ncl??

Hi

 

Other than Burn the Floor and Priscilla whatare some of the entertainment options available on Epic .On our last transat cruise on Epic ..they had a very good Jazz band in Fat Cats along with a group of Flamenco singers and dancers ....wonderful ..comedians ..Beatles show etcetc

What is onnowadays ..we are going end of October for Med and Transat

Anybody know

Hi, not been on Epic before but just booked for all family(10 inc 4 teenagers) Really keen to see Priscilla show but do we jave to book it & is it ok for 13, 15 & 16 year old grandkids. Loved the movie, not seen the live show. Thanks for any info. Jane

The beverage package on NCL does NOT include water.

That is sooooo bizarre! You can drink yourself stupid on cocktails, beer, wine , spirits, but cannot get a bottle of water:eek::eek::mad: I know you can get water at table in MDR but really, the cost of a bottle of basic water(Cristalle??) is so small I really cant see why its not included in UBP. From a health point of view it is totally necessary to keep hydrated, especially after the alcohol & the salty food served.

Recognizing that you may already have firmly decided re Pompeii, I would just mention that Pompeii is only about 1/2 hour from port, so even if something went awry, you could take a taxi back reasonably inexpensively. It is one of the ports we feel very comfortable booking on our own (unlike,. for example, Florence.....which is much further away and creates a much bigger risk for a problem). In any event, we have done "Cant be Missed Tours" twice now, and both times it was completely filled with cruise ship passengers, and both times was absolutely excellent. Sorrento, Amalfi Coast and Pompeii -- Pompeii last stop so the closest to port last stop. Very reasonably priced compared to NCL. 69E pp

http://cantbemissedtours.com/naples-to-pompeii-sorrento-the-amalfi-coast

Meet you and drop you off right where you get off the ship. Was the best tour we took (other than ultra expensive private tours).

Ta for info on cant be missed tours, look good.

Anyone taken train from Livorno to Pisa?? I think its not too far. Where does the ship dock in Livorno, does it depend on time of year or dies Epic always use same port...I understand there are 2 in Livorno? :o Jane