beckzay

LOL shouldn't have taken a phone call while I was typing my response

 

think the NCL site is having some glitches - probably getting slammed today

thank you kjquilts, I really appreciate you taking the time to look at it too :)

Yes, it was a glitch, because now I'm able to book it with the UDP for 5 of us at that price (which is an AMAZING deal!)

Nevermind :) It works now

You don't select the UDP, you select the code for the UDP. Same for UBP etc.

For example, CHOOD is the code for UDP and CHOOB is the code for UBP.

Yes, I know. I did that. It's still giving me a much higher price if I put in the CHOOB code. Maybe a glitch? I'm looking at the 5/16/15 sailing of the getaway.

I'm looking at the Getaway for 5 of us with the new promo today. I'd like to choose the UDP but when I do the price jumps from $364 pp to $903 pp. So, this isn't really a deal afterall? I thought the price stayed the same and that you just get this as a promo?

Can someone help explain? Thank you!!!

Can the pull down bed accommodate someone who is 5'5" and 150 lbs? Just trying to get a feel if this could be an option for us. We have twins (a boy and a girl age 21) and another girl (14) so the two girls would share the sofa bed and my son would be in the pull down.

So much helpful information here, thank you very much everyone.

Now to just cross my fingers that the KSF promo comes out and our desired sailing date is included....

Otherwise, we'll be on the Gem (which is also fine :) )

This is a good advice. There was very recently a very poor review where the reviewer thought that NCL should have refunded several hundred dollars back to their onboard account after their kids "explored" a little in the arcade.

 

Unless the kids absolutely need charging privileges, it is recommended either to not to allow charging at all or set up separate cash accounts for each and deposit only how much they are allowed to spend (with NCL the cash deposits are handled only after boarding in Guest Services, not in terminal at check-in counter like some other lines).

Yes, VERY good advice, thank you. And you can set up separate cash accounts for each kid? Wow, that's perfect!

What "extras" do you think you'd be paying for?

I'm not really sure RuthlessBoss, lol. I'm a NCL newbie so as I was initially looking at the overview of the BA it seemed like everything was extra. Thanks to a little more research on my part and the help here at CC I now know differently :D

My family of four was just on the Breakaway in November and we did not spend a lot on extras at all! We had a blast! The only extras we paid for was alcohol, one specialty dinner, the arcade and cupcakes at Carlos. We did not have any interest in Cirque and we aren't spa people. Our dinners were mostly at O'Sheehans and lunches were at the buffet or Uptown Grille (the burgers are the BEST). I don't seem to understand why everyone feels "nickle and dimed" on NCL. Other mass market cruise lines charge for alcohol, spa, specialty dining, arcade, etc. On the Breakaway, the rope course, pools, slides, mini-golf, shows (cirque and wine lunch musical excluded), waterfront, kids club before 10:30pm, sunshine and happiness are FREE! No worries, you'll have a blast.

Thank you! This was really helpful. We're aren't hard to please :) Our "kids" (all are really adults/teens) have never cruised before so this would be their first time. I really just didn't want their first experience to be discouraging and don't want them to feel like they can't do anything because it's extra.

I think we would definitely do one specialty dining but I think we'd be happy with the MDR and buffet too. And Carlos Bakery would be a "must do" also :D

What cabin (besides a full suite) fits 5 on the Breakaway? There is actually more free stuff on the Breakaway than Gem.

The family ocean view sleeps 5. It would be tight but we don't spend time in the cabin anyway. We only have 1 bathroom at home and manage so I don't think that's a deal breaker for us :)

We've only cruised Carnival in the past and on smaller ships. We were looking at the gem for April but then noticed that we could all fit in one cabin on the Breakaway for about the same amount of money (a little more, but if the KSF promo comes up it will be much cheaper).

Anyway, the size of the BA makes me a little nervous. I'm a traditionalist I guess in the fact that I don't want to get onboard and have to pay extra for everything. I'm not against paying for a specialty restaurant one time, but I don't want to do that every night.

Do you think a family of 5 could still have a stress free, enjoyable time on a ship of this size without paying extra for everything? Is the experience still the same as on a more traditional style cruise or will we feel like we are missing out on everything because we don't want to pay extra? This is a last minute decision in addition to another vacation we're taking this year so I'm looking for this trip to be as least expensive as possible.

So cool!

 

We also live in NH, by the way. :D (I just watched Mike Haddad give the yucky forecast for tomorrow. Blech...more snow/sleet/freezing rain tonight.)

Really? Where? We're central NH, right near the "big lake" :)

Baltimore is not a quick drive for us and my husband hates road trips so I just have to convince him this is the better choice!

Although I have not been on the Victory, I have been on the Pride (and its sister the Miracle). I'll share my opinion on a couple of your questions.

 

My husband and I have sailed on the Miracle and loved the size and layout. It's actually the biggest ship we have been on and I think it's a great size for a "first" cruise...not too big and not too small. Thank you!

We are also in the process of trying to decide if we should book a cruise that we can drive to (NYC or Baltimore) or to cruise out of Florida and fly. There are 5 of us and we're looking at late April. We can fly for about $1500, arriving a day early, but then we have to consider hotel (two rooms), transfers, eating out, etc.

Today I plan on putting it all on paper to weigh our options and see what will be most cost effective. I don't think I would ever drive to Florida from NH to cruise. The ride down might be okay but coming home would be torture.

Thinking about booking the Grandeur out of Baltimore, since we can get a really good price on it right now for our family of 5 with the sale going on right now. Our 3 "kids" (14, 21, 21) have never cruised before and this will be their first time. Looking at the deck plans, I'm concerned that there isn't much to do for them. It's an itinerary that has a lot of sea days.

My other options are the Carnival Pride and NCL Gem...both of which seem to have a lot of "stuff" to do on deck.

I just posted something similar earlier this week. It really is such a bummer we can't cruise out of New York in the spring :( We, also, will be forced to either drive to Baltimore or cruise with NCL or RCI.

The Splendor is only in NYC from late May to early October next year. :(

I know, it's such a bummer! New York is so convenient. We're trying to plan a cruise for the last week of April '15 and I was really hoping to be able to sail out of NYC for the kid's first cruise. We have to go all the way to Baltimore in order to sail carnival and not pay airfare.

I wish Carnival would have a ship leaving out of NYC in the spring :( Us new englanders are forced to choose NCL if we want to cruise in the spring or fall out of New York. There's Baltimore, but it's an additional 3 hr drive.

Ok, venting over.

Thank you so much everyone for your advice! We were leaning more towards the Pride anyway, but I just needed to get other opinions :)

I too like the Pride (4th trip already planned for next May). Depending on how far up you are in NH it is probably about an 8 hour drive. With 4 drivers it would be a piece of cake. We tend to go the day before and even with a night in a hotel it is far less than the airfare. My kids (16, 20, 21) really enjoyed the Pride and we too cant wait for the 2.0 upgrades. I would rather spend the $ on extra days on a ship than the airfare. All 3 ports you can do really cheap. I would try to get a cabana in HMC if there are any available. We got one back in June and LOVED. We booked the Villa for next May already. In Freeport, my kids totally enjoyed Senior Frogs :rolleyes:. Right off the boat and works great because the ship leaves at 2 :( In GT we brought a beach ball and they had a blast in the pool. So you don't really have to spend a lot, if any, in the ports.

 

p.s. I would go with the 2 cabins if possible. You are not going to want to be disturbed when the 21 yo's come in late. You didn't say whether they were boys or girls but the extra bathroom would come in handy too, especially if they are girls. I have boys but I still get 2 cabins.

Yes, another reason why we like these specific ports, plus I think it's a great introduction to the Caribbean/Bahamas for them since they have never been. We're central NH so it's about an 8.5 hr drive and we would absolutely drive down the day before. I wish there were Carnival ships going out of NYC in the spring :(

I think we have to book 2 cabins on the Pride since there aren't any rooms that accommodate 5 on the Spirit class. Which is fine, because we could probably handle a 5 night all in 1 cabin, but 7 nights is another story :)

 

we went out of baltimore this past april and it was actually quite nice outside the day we left. I'm pretty sure we sat out in our suits sunbathing each day of the cruise.

We'll be coming from freezing temps in New Hampshire, so anything over 40 degrees will probably feel great to us :)

That's awesome!!! She'll be so happy!

I know so many people here ask..."Which ship would you choose?" questions. I know the answers are always people's personal opinions and a vacation is what you make of it. But, now, I'm finding myself wanting to ask this very same question to all you experts :)

A little background. My husband and I have cruised 5 times (4 carnival and 1 royal caribbean). We have three "kids" and have never taken them on a cruise. The kids are 21, 21 and 13. We're going to take them this spring because we have a little extra $...and, yes, we will be paying the fare of the 21 year olds.

These are our options for the end of April so far:

Victory out of Miami. 5 nights to either Eastern or Western...we're leaning more towards western because the date works better for us but it's not a deal breaker. We can book a balcony cabin to share (all 5 of us!) or two inside rooms (which is about $100 more expensive than just the one balcony). Airfare from NH to FL is looking to be just under $2000 for our dates right now. Just about the same as the cruise is going to cost!

OR....

Pride out of Baltimore. It's about an 8 hour drive for us. This itinerary is the same as the Eastern on the Victory almost (HMC, GT and Freeport). These are my ideal ports for taking the kids on their first cruise...lots of beautiful beaches :) No airfare, but the cost of 2 inside cabins will be just over $4000 for all of us. A longer cruise means more money spent onboard (although we would have the older kids pay their own alcohol tab). And, April is still not that warm, so we run the risk of having 2 cold sea days.

Pride is smaller, but by that time they will both have 2.0 upgrades. I REALLY like the layout of the pride much more than the victory. Victory seems a bit "enclosed" on the outdoor decks. Sounds silly, but I like the fact that pride has a "sports deck" for our son.

So, as you can see, there are a lot of pros and cons for each ship/itinerary. Those who have sailed on both, or even anyone who has made the decision either way to drive or fly to port, what do you recommend?

Any other things I should consider before we decide?

Can anyone tell me if all of these activities are included in the price, or is there an additional fee? Thanks!