rbird
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Posts posted by rbird
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Been there. Done that. Flight was delayed and we circled MIA waiting to land. Lost luggage and non english speaking baggage claim all delayed our plans. We were the last ones running onto the ship. I was very concerned about not having luggage, my husband was not. :rolleyes:
We now fly in a day prior as well as pack a swimsuit, maxidress and medication in our carryon:D
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Hi folks
because of the issues happened on our last cruise on X, I'm looking for other options
I've NCL in mind and seen good offers
I assume balcony and jun suites are comparable....
Key question: how is NCL compared to X, esp MDR and spec. food
Don't care on shows and entertainment....
thanks
Markus
As far as the 3 newest ships go, the food was good in all of the specialty venues and even the buffet was nice which was a surprise. The waterfront offers alfresco dining too. We had a deal for specialty dining ALL the nights last year. We didn't eat in the MDR at all.
The large balcony cat of cabin was great for 2 persons with lots of storage and great bathroom. Balcony was big (for minimal extra $) albeit not as private forward ship where the bridge hangs out above.
Only 2 gripes on NCL was the noise /loud music on the sun decks and the lack of decent complementary coffee.
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All previous posters - Thank you so much for the info.
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New to Celebrity.
Couple of questions:
1. How early do pax start arriving at Port Everglades for boarding?
2. Do you have to make reservations for evening shows or comedians or can you just show up?
3. Do ANY men still wear a tux on Evening Chic nights? And can men wear polos and slacks other nights?
4. We are booked in a Veranda deluxe ( not Aqua or Concierge class), is it possible to request 2 robes from the cabin steward?
5. We have a Premium Beverage plan, where can I get bottled water from? I drink a ton of water daily.
6. We have Select dining. Will the Dining room take a reservation for say
730 pm every night after the first night?
Thank you in advance for your time and answers. I appreciate all the helpful info I have gathered here in years past.
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There was more room to get around without the bed split. The bed was definately bigger than a standard queen not split. The amount of storage within the room was great. Giant drawers under the sofa, storage cube, closet night stands (small but open shelves). Nice closet with big upper shelf across entire closet. Cabinet storage by the TV and lots of storage inthe bathroom. Should be ample space for three people.
Have a great trip.
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The bed was split into twins. It was quite tight between the bed and closet. Maybe 10"between the bed and closet? One would have side step it in the small walk way beside the bed to get to the closet. Since my big teen boys were in there, I didn't care. I was just glad they put some clothing IN the closet:D
Hope this helps.
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Continued...
We found the food outstanding with the exception of one entrée during the entire week. We interacted with different staff every night and found them eager to please and engage in friendly conversations. We tried dining al fresco at LaCucina. Wow, what a great thing to eat outdoors on the waterfront! I was prepared to pay the 18% gratuity after each meal on the UDP. My son's tried Wasabi sushi and enjoyed it with the 25% discount from the UDP. My husband and I tried Ocean window during the sea day. The chief engineer officer was eating there as well. We tried three of the four items on the menu.
We ate breakfast in the MDR's a couple of times. But we found that the buffet offered an omelet chef. Most items found in the restaurants can be found at the Garden buffet with minimal waiting times.
My teens enjoyed the choices of hard scoop ice cream available at the buffet along with the soft serve.
We did indulge in a cocktail everyday. The best bargain for beer were the 20 oz beers at O'sheehans. The Martini tasting was also priced well. And my favorite Caipirinha was made properly in Moderno's.
We enjoyed the entertainment Burn the Floor, Howl at the Moon, the comedian and the live bands that played in the atrium.
I will note however that the music in the pool area is just to loud for my liking. We went to the pool area everyday. Yes, people reserve chairs. As long as we were out by 10am we were able to locate chairs. The adult pool area is small. I did research ahead of time so I wasn't disappointed. I booked beach/water excursions in every port to make up for our loss of swim time on board. You could enjoy the adult pool the early mornings or port days. It was simply wall to wall people other afternoons. Spice H2o offers waterfalls but no pool. I was impressed by the staff that monitored the adult pool area and kept it strictly for adults. Speaking on this the staff was trying to enforce rules during the week. We witnessed a staff member ask a women to cover her bikini top as she started through the buffet line.
There were tons of kid's on board during this summer cruise. The cruise demographic seemed to be young families and multi generation families traveling together. I loved the touch screens located throughout the ship as well as being able to view your account from the TV in your cabin. The My NCL website needs work in my opinion. It was difficult to navigate at times.
We used the Casino a few nights. Indeed, it was smoky but they do have a section of slot machines in a less smoky area.
I was however disappointed with the shopping on board. No NCL branded beach towels, robes or t shirts for sale early on during the sailing.
The GLOW party was an impressive production and party for the night.
My family was impressed with the chilled towel service, drinks, music, shaded seating and frozen pops upon return to the ship in some ports. It was a nice touch and we appreciated it.
The staff we encountered were all kind and greeted us when we spoke to them.
I booked excursions through NCL this time for convenience. Each outing was to short in my opinion. We booked Meghan's Bay, The Baths in Virgin Gorda and Blue Lagoon. All were fun but just to short.
Meghan's Bay was the shortest with about 75 minutes at the beach. It is supposed to be one of the best beaches but I think it was just average. Also there was an odor from the bathhouse/room that was unpleasant.
We had the best time on The Bath's excursion. It is true that you should be in good physical condition. The trail is not clearly marked through the boulders and at one point my husband and some swam in deep water around some rocks. I opted to trek back and find the easier way since I don't swim well. You can take a small backpack through the trail and just leave it on the beach at Devil's bay. No one bothers them other that the stray rooster roaming. Currents are strong in devils bay but it is beautiful. I recommend taking the entire trail starting with the harder one to Devils Bay and taking the easy one back to the parking lot. We enjoyed the long path back seeing the lizards, catus, plants and trees.
Blue Lagoon was a nice alternative to crowded Atlantis. The staff are fun and attentive. It is worth noting that the water is only knee deep in most of the lagoon. The beach and drinks were good though. They offer a simple lunch with the excursion.
Overall we liked the Norwegian product. We did not feel overcrowded on the ship and we experienced great service throughout our sailing.
Cabin notes
Our cabins 9714 and 9716 provided ample storage and closet space. These staterooms are in the same alcove in the hallway, meaning the doors are side by side. Both cabins had beds next to the closet. We had one room with split twin beds at our request and the other with the queen/king size. Each of the two balconies had a sun chaise, two chairs and a table. The bridge sticks out directly above these cabins. Others can look down on part of your balcony. The balconies always had some shade on them throughout some of the day. We experienced a good bit of motion being so far forward this cruise. But it also cut down on hall noise since it was near the end of the hallway. I must mention that you can hear some noise on occasion. A loud bang here or there. We could never tell what it was but it didn't bother us either as we expect ship noises and motion while underway. Robes were available upon request.
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Sorry for the duplicate. Never posted photos before with my posts...
Thank you in advance for your patience.
Just wanted to post a quick review with a few photos. I did a lot of research via CC prior to our cruise and gained a lot of valuable information. Hope this helps someone.
NCL Getaway 6/27-7/4
My travel crew consisted of my husband and our two son's ages 18 and 16.
We flew into FLL the day before and stayed one night at the Hampton Inn/ Brickell. This was a great pre cruise night for under 200$ a night with Queen Beds, Welcome Drink coupons, Welcome snack tote and free wifi for HH participants. Nice roof top pool and plenty of cabs waiting on Saturday morning right out front. It was cheaper for all 4 of us to grab a cab to the port on our own time. It cost about $25 bucks with tip from the Hampton to POM.
We arrived at POM at ~11:15 am. The check in agent was able to promptly and pleasantly correct some info on our booking right at check in. We were walking up the gangway at ~12:00 noon. We went against our plan of eating at Flamingos and stayed at the Garden Buffet. This was one of the best buffet areas we have encountered on our cruises.
Our Cabins were ready between 1:30-3pm. We had two large Balcony B6? cabins. The price was only 20$ (not per day, for the whole week!)higher than a regular balcony at the time of booking. These are a real bargain in my book. Cabins were side by side with no adjoining door. Each balcony came with 2 chairs, a dining table and one lounger.
Of note - the cabins are beneath the bridge and can be seen by the bridge. We noticed a security camera as well. You can see down on the Mini Suite balconies. However at sea and in port you can enjoy a sea view and a quiet retreat from the busy pool deck. You can hear your neighbors if they speak loudly.
Our cabin steward Morgan met us upon entry and explained how things worked. He told us about the two balcony door locks. One lower that locks the door from the inside and the upper that locks the door from the outside. He also provided us with a card to put in the electric slot since I could not remember to take my card out when I left. He probably got tired of me locking myself out. In any case, he showed us how to tip the card slightly to turn off the lights while leaving it in the slot. He offered us bathrobes which I happily accepted. He made up several towel animals which we enjoyed.
We also opted for the UDP as our free perk with booking. We ate in specialty dining all 7 nights. I booked in advance on-line for the same time most nights. That way the teens knew what time to meet up. I did not buy the iConcierge app as we made the teens go un-plugged for the week. We survived the old fashion way with either a face to face discussion or post it.
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Just wanted to post a quick review with a few photos. I did a lot of research via CC prior to our cruise and gained a lot of valuable information. Hope this helps someone.
NCL Getaway 6/27-7/4
My travel crew consisted of my husband and our two son's ages 18 and 16.
We flew into FLL the day before and stayed one night at the Hampton Inn/ Brickell. This was a great pre cruise night for under 200$ a night with Queen Beds, Welcome Drink coupons, Welcome snack tote and free wifi for HH participants. Nice roof top pool and plenty of cabs waiting on Saturday morning right out front. It was cheaper for all 4 of us to grab a cab to the port on our own time. It cost about $25 bucks with tip from the Hampton to POM.
We arrived at POM at ~11:15 am. The check in agent was able to promptly and pleasantly correct some info on our booking right at check in. We were walking up the gangway at ~12:00 noon. We went against our plan of eating at Flamingos and stayed at the Garden Buffet. This was one of the best buffet areas we have encountered on our cruises.
Our Cabins were ready between 1:30-3pm. We had two large Balcony B6? cabins. The price was only 20$ (not per day, for the whole week!)higher than a regular balcony at the time of booking. These are a real bargain in my book. Cabins were side by side with no adjoining door. Each balcony came with 2 chairs, a dining table and one lounger.
Of note - the cabins are beneath the bridge and can be seen by the bridge. We noticed a security camera as well. You can see down on the Mini Suite balconies. However at sea and in port you can enjoy a sea view and a quiet retreat from the busy pool deck. You can hear your neighbors if they speak loudly.
Our cabin steward Morgan met us upon entry and explained how things worked. He told us about the two balcony door locks. One lower that locks the door from the inside and the upper that locks the door from the outside. He also provided us with a card to put in the electric slot since I could not remember to take my card out when I left. He probably got tired of me locking myself out. In any case, he showed us how to tip the card slightly to turn off the lights while leaving it in the slot. He offered us bathrobes which I happily accepted. He made up several towel animals which we enjoyed.
We also opted for the UDP as our free perk with booking. We ate in specialty dining all 7 nights. I booked in advance on-line for the same time most nights. That way the teens knew what time to meet up. I did not buy the iConcierge app as we made the teens go un-plugged for the week. We survived the old fashion way with either a face to face discussion or post it.
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UDP was great for my family of 4 including a 16 and 18yr o!d boys (aka adventurous eating machines!) Simple accounting because we chose UDP as our choice of perks being offered for booking 2 cabins. We ate in all 5 specialty restaurants and repeated 2. It only cost us the 18% gratuity that was earned by our servers. We received excellent personalized service each night. Getting dressed after a tour wasn't a big deal for us as we pre booked reservations for later in the evenings. Also we were never charged the "up charges" for lobster. So the only OOP expense was the 18%. Totally worth it for some vacationers.
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No lugging carryon bags here. Last week I just tagged EVERY bag including the pink Vera Bradley makeup/toiletry bag, case of h2o and teens back pack. I plunked it on the cart that the porter was using at POM. Only thing I had left was a small daypack with the passports, docs, and wallet. I had on my bikini under a sundress and the teens were wearing board shorts and t-shirts. So no lugging stuff around waiting on our cabins. Hope this helps.
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Just stayed at Hampton Inn/ Brickell. #1 of tripadvisor recently. Queen beds, not doubles. free welcome drink coupons. free breakfast. Nice pool area. Walgreens within walking distance. Plenty of cabs out front at 1045 am to get to POM at your leisure for 25$ including tip.
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Sorry to hear of the OPs disappointment. I wasn't impressed with some of the bar and boutique staff either. Fortunately we experienced great customer service in other areas that made a lasting impression. The not so freestyle concept is one I picked up on early in my planning for our cruise we took last week. I am a WDW vetran and am trained to book certain things on premium vacations. I like the idea of not eating at one of two dinner seatings like traditional cruising. I booked dinners in specialty dining all 7 nights at the exact same time- 7pm. My family and teens knew that time and met up at that time for dinner. 6 of the 7 nights there were empty tables around us. Just like WDW free dining plans throw a wrinkle in others plans, I can see how UDP would take up ressies too. But on the same note knowing that UDP is popular, I did plan ahead and greatly enjoyed our UDP.
again sorry to hear of your disappointments and hope the next trip is more satisfying.
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You get what you pay for in my opinion. More money per pax = totally worth it for NCL vs CCL older ship.
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Mine did not show up on MyNCL vacation summary. I called NCL and the rep emailed it to me to print out at home.
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We were on this sailing and in the purple group. They made an announcement on the ship to hold debarkation until the terminal cleared up a bit. Was it a total nightmare? Nah, but then again I wasn't in a hurry to catch a plane. Our flight didn't depart until 3:30pm;)
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You are not foolish to being open to trying other cruise lines. As you can tell from my signature that I have just repeated a line for the first time last week. I have tried a variety of cruise lines. It's hard not to compare but you really have to go in with no expectations or open expectations in order to appreciate various things about other ships and lines. Just about any day cruising is better than a day at work I say. Doesn't matter if your cruising a big mega ship or older smaller ship. Good Luck in whatever you decide.
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I believe you must vacate the cabin no later than 0900hrs and disembark the ship no later than 0930hrs. There are places to wait in the public rooms after you leave your cabin. They do have breakfast at a restaurant(s) early on debarkation day as well as the buffet. The cabin stewards are usually out in the hallways and cabins in full force the last morning. I too will not be the first to debark as our flights are later on July 4 as well.
Make sure you mark your luggage with something noticeable so no one accidentally claims it from the "sea of luggage" since you will be among the later folks to debark.
Looking forward to cruising in 12 days
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Wondering the same. Hoping someone with recent experience comments on this post.
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subscribing to this thread:
I booked two forward B6's for GA in June. It does look like quite a walk to and from the stairs but I figured that would cut down on some hall noise and besides we will need as much walking as possible considering the 3 full meals a day. :D
I liked knowing we could retreat to our balcony should the loungers up on deck be full on a particular day. The forward location also gave me better chances of not being downwind from a smoking neighbor. (been there, done that on CCL) Now come to find out there is a no smoking policy on the Balconies. Whohoo, score for NCL.
I am glad to hear a request for different deck furniture will be granted with a gratuity of course.
The downside of the B6 forward is that the bridge hangs over above, albeit several decks up.
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OP - Your plan reminds me of our Disney Vacations. I have done the same and set dining times at 7pm with shows at 1015. I am new to the Freestyle concept. While I am not really winging it on dining times, I do like the idea of a Polo shirt and khaki shorts for dinner.
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Thanks for your thoughts OP.
Haven't been on NCL since S/S Norway either.
While I haven't cruised as much as you, we look forward to trying Celebrity by ourselves next time. We chose NCL Getaway as a gift to our son for graduation this year. I have enjoyed reading the variety or reviews.
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I booked two B6s forward. I booked the forward Balcony staterooms hoping to avoid drifting smoke from a smoker. (This has caused me issues in the past:rolleyes: Come to find out, NCL doesn't allow smoking on the Balcony. Other than some motion from the ocean forward, I expect minimal drawbacks. There are cabins above and below. They are away from stairs/elevators and kids play areas, so less foot traffic and noise. And they were only $20 more expensive on my sailing.
But of note, the bridge overhangs several decks above. It has a glass floor for docking and hopefully not viewing entertainment:p
Good Luck and do what's right for you.
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Has anyone hired a SUV from Miami Lux Limo? And experiences with this company?
Carnival Vista Press Release
in Carnival Cruise Lines
Posted
We really liked Getaway and look forward to trying Vista! Just booked today.
I share the same sentiments regarding the Havana cabins right on a public walkway- no thanks but to each his own. I love seeing the family suites with split washrooms and sleeping layouts.