paharfme

We sailed out of Miami earlier this month. When we got to the top of the elevator the guy handing out the group cards was looking at key cards, when he saw we were Platinum he didn't give us a group and passed us through to a small area they have set aside for the Platinum and above folks. We were there about 5 minutes when they lead the group of us onboard, well before general boarding started. Easiest boarding experience ever!

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We took this excursion a few weeks ago and enjoyed it very much, although we fall into your casual time category. I can share that they did 2 groups, experienced and first timers. They left the inflation (or not) of the vest up to us. There were some folks diving down with the staff in the experienced group.

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Am I allowed to ask where you folks purchase your insurance? We usually book 9-12 months out and you never know what life will bring in between so the insurance is always a good idea, I didn't know you could book 'third party' insurance! I'd love to look into that, just wondering if it's ok to inquire who you all have used for consideration on my next trip. Thanks!

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Really great review, thank you! Will be sailing this Saturday and loved some of the tips, especially the St Thomas info, I was undecided and going to wing it but your experience sounds about perfect and right up my alley so it's now my plan, thanks again!

I was so sad when I got to the bottom and thought I could flip pages to keep on reading and it said end! I'll be eagerly following along as I'll be sailing next Sarurday. Thank you for taking the time to post such an easy to read but informative review, looking forward to the next installments!

If there aren't any there when you get to your cabin, just ask your room steward and he should be able to get you some. :)

Agree, that's exactly what we did, in our aft on the Gem only 1 would fit, so he left 1 chair and we had the 1 lounger at an angle.

This is a lovely, well written and refreshing review! Your positive outlook on life shines through, thank you for sharing your experience with us.

This thread sold me! Been going back and forth on this decision but that link sounded like heaven so decision made!

Awesome thanks! That makes getting the unexpected comp offer and sailing twice in three months even sweeter!!

Apologies for going off topic here but you guys are so knowledgable about the CAS program I know you'll know this! (I searched older boards with conflicting info). After getting off the Getaway in March I am 1 measly point away from Platinum and am heading off on my first CAS comp cruise in June. Will I get my 1 point? I'm trying to catch up with my mom who is my cruise buddy and cheated on me by taking my aunt in her first cruise last year, so she went Platinum after the GA, I'm hoping I'll catch up? Thank you!

He sure was there last month when we were on the Getaway!

Getting lots of great tips, can't wait for the next installment! Thank you for taking the time to do this! :)

I have absolutely zero to add to this, I just have to say that I had to take a few minutes away from work in the interest of reducing my stress level and this entire post wiped out all the crabbies and some of the responses made me laugh out loud, there are some witty folks on this board!

Last March we were on the Gem and this March on the Getaway - I am by no means a high dollar player, I play only slots and my comfort zone is the $1- $1.20 a spin ... I never really paid any attention to the CAS program as i figured it was for high rollers only. I did manage to scrape up enough points (1500) to get the free drink card basically for the last day. I think i ended this cruise on the Getaway right around 2K points. Two days after i got off the ship i received an email from CAS offering me a free inside cabin for May or June of this year. Certainly not peak time but a free cabin sounded nice to me! I've since read that the CAS year is March to March so all i can assume is that between the last 2 i managed enough points to receive the offer. I never had a 'big win', but i had a decent comeback last cruise and left the boat with slightly more than i stepped on, with the accumulation of the points to boot. I'm jumping on the Escape in June due to this offer from CAS I received, fully expecting to give back what the Getaway gave me the last 2 days, and will just be pleasantly surprised if i dont! :)

All great info, thanks! I also like to play my games with coffee in the morning so unlimited was my preference to ensure I could keep in touch as well, I may explore swapping and applying that savings, that's good logic Cecil. :)

Has anyone ever inquired on the possibility or cost of upgrading the promo 250 minutes free Wifi to unlimited once on the ship? I need to keep in contact with family who will be traveling overseas while I am cruising and don't want to be worrying about minutes, thought unlimited would be much easier. If anyone has any insight on this I'd appreciate your thoughts, thanks!

Thank you! We are staying at the Comfort Suites on Tonnelle Ave as it was reasonable priced and appeared to be in semi close proximity to the pier but not one of took the tunnel or Monday morning traffic into consideration... So that is why we were trying to decide if going before rush hour or waiting until after would be the best, just worried about missing out on a parking spot at the pier if we go in later.

Such a helpful thread, thank you! One question, we are staying in NJ right next to the Lincoln Tunnel, the front desk suggested we leave about 6am to avoid the madness of the tunnel but if the lot doesn't open until 9 does anyone know if they will let you queue up in line until they open? Or is tackling the tunnel 800-830 not as daunting as it sounds and we should just do that? Any suggestions are appreciated!!

We were also on this cruise, our 2nd on the Epic and we loved it. We always book aft facing balconies so we can enjoy the beautiful scenery without going to the public areas. As always we enjoyed the entertainment and the choices for food are plentiful. Not a big fan of the amount of time it takes to eat in the main dining rooms, it seemed very excessive to me and we avoided them after the night it was 1 1/2 hours plus to eat. No need to get annoyed while you are on vacation with so many other options available. The night of the big rescue I woke up feeling like I was in a washing machine! But I like the motion of the ocean so to speak so I just went right back to sleep and heard the next day what had happened. After watching Captain Phillips the day before we boarded I was just glad that we didn't pick up pirates! :)

Love Norwegian, we are off the boat less than a week and I just booked our 2015 adventure, the Gem for 9 Days out of NY.

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YAY! Thank you all so much! Been stalking this thread for weeks now ... and it's confirmed, first stop Guest Services! Thanks everyone. :)

Oh THANK you for letting us know after you get back, we're booked on the 03/17 sailing and Posh pass was built into the 'budget' (ha like we ever actually stick to THAT) early on, those chairs look like heaven. Well they'll look like heaven when my fanny is in one, with a book in one hand and a drink that has an umbrella in the other! :)