david_sobe

This thread reminded me that its the 40th anniversary of "Where's the beef?"

People steal the craziest things.  I was a store detective when I was in college and they would teach you there were 2 types of thieves:  The professional who goes to the store to purposely steal things and the spontaneous thief who just thinks no one will notice or care and takes something relatively small.  People steal the dumbest stuff.  In my first apartment I used to have a pair of flip flops outside my door to take the trash out.  Old, worn and just used to walk to the trash bin.  Someone stole them.  You would be amazed how many little lawn ornaments are stolen from people's yards all the time.  Someone drives by, admires it and then just takes it.  As they say: If its not locked down someone will steal it.  Sadly the same is for cruise magnets 🥺

16 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

Did I miss something here?  We cruised on the Bliss in December, and while the food was still pretty poor in the MDRs, they at least had a beef dish on the regular menu every night.  We just got off the Breakaway today, and there were no beef dishes on the MDR menu any of the five days I checked.  The only options were to pay the extra charge for a Cagney's steak or eat that sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass on the everyday menu that they call a strip steak.  Is this something new, and I've just missed any discussion of it, or did we catch an aberration?

Wow.  NCL is forcing us to become vegetarians.  No hash browns, no cookies, no beef 😲

18 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

I,too, have had the no bag on the carousel, more than once.  When it did happen, I found the airline representatives to be helpful…and empathetic.  Perhaps the empathy on behalf of those the OP dealt with was missing.  Unfortunately, many people are not emphathetic. 

Its nice if they show empathy but they have an entire section devoted to this.  You realize how many calls and bag issues they deal with on a daily basis?   We all look for empathy but I would rather they find my bag than hold my hand and cry with me.

On 3/8/2024 at 10:38 AM, davencl said:

And just like that Donna is back from the dead....  Showing up now for our April 5 sailing.

She works hard for the money so you better treat her right!

Keep us posted if your luggage is ever found.  They are not supposed to give you compassion but are enabled to find your bag.  This is not the first time they had to deal with such a situation and they have experience in locating lost bags.

This never happened to me on a cruise ship but has happened a few times at airports.  The worst feeling in the world is waiting for your luggage at the carousel and it stops and everyone from your flight is gone and you are standing there alone with no luggage.  The airline has always found my bag and delivered it to me the next day.  
Keep us posted. 

I applaud NCL for keeping it open on port days.

30 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 It's not on the prohibited list....yet.

If you can smuggle a lobster tail you could dine in your cabin and heat your tail while baking cookies!  I can see NCL having a naughty room for all the easy bake ovens smuggled on board.  As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures 😁

With the alleged shortage of cookies on NCL ships, you would be welcomed with open arms.  But I doubt NCL would let anyone sell anything on one of their ships.

But what would happen if you could make your own cookies on board 🤔

******smuggling the easy bake oven******

Both ships are almost identical so maybe the route or ports can be a deciding factor if there is any difference in those.  The only differences the Encore and Bliss have is that Encore has Onda, a slightly larger race track, and a much better, bigger laser tag area in the Aft.  I think Bliss has a Spice H20.

These are more like giant bathtubs and not hot tubs.  But this discussion brings up a good point what breeding grounds tubs are. Hot tubs are full of chemicals and checked daily. The tubs in the suites have no chemicals to kill bacteria and viruses.  They are like big bathtubs and the only way to properly clean them is to drain them and clean them like a bathtub.  If they were real hot tubs they would stay full and chemicals added daily.  Who wants to soak in a tub with no chemicals after another family has marinated in it right before your cruise. 🤮

If NCL ever put out such a policy this board would have lit up like a Christmas tree. I think this was discussed here and this was found out to be a rumor, correct?

14 hours ago, UKstages said:

watching so-called atrium "entertainment" featuring married couples, tweens and teens and trivia rockstar wannabes reminds me of when i'm asked to do self checkout at target or CVS. just exactly who are the professionals here?

 

if i wanted to see my fellow passengers embarrass themselves, i'd head to a casino bar at 1 AM or - literally - any karaoke event in any club onboard or onshore.

 

and watching the solos, duos and trios in the atrium makes me sad. if i wanted to see that, i'd go to youtube and watch nick the lounge singer sing the star wars theme song. 

 

and don't get me started about how it's impossible to enjoy a meal in the local (or o'sheehan's) on most ships without the clatter and din of whatever nonsense is being done in the atrium.

I want you and Bird to do the perfect couple game together.  Popping balloons on each other's lap would be the highlight of the cruise for me.  Possibly even worth an upcharge to see.  The Perfect Couple game is one of my favorites.

NCL has been cutting entertainment for years, even years before COVID.  Does anyone remember The Grammy experience on Getaway?  That did not last very long bringing aboard Grammy winners to perform in their club.  Even Fireworks were nixed.  This was when Burn the Floor was debuted.  Were they not doing double duty of performing in Legally Blonde too?  Even going back to 2013, I saw on Epic the Cirque Dream show was so watered down compared to how it was in 2010.  We are going back to 1 big show and a bunch of smaller filler stuff with game shows, etc.  Is not ICONS the same performers doing double duty from the main show?  We may all be playing Hungry Hungry Hippos in the main theater pretty soon. 🙈

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I had hoped to do a live from the Prima this past summer, but then I discovered that their internet cafe had no computers! (no phone)

OMG they got rid of the computers?  Then what is the use of an internet cafe?  

I am very old school.  The live trip reports I have done, I have went to the internet cafe and used one of their computers and my minutes to log in each day for a live report.  I don't post any photos until I get home. That's a really old school way of doing things since most use phones for everything.  I am even typing this on from a keyboard on a tower computer.   😁

The Goth cruise trailer

Thanks for the trip report.  I have  never take one but know the winter sailings from New York to Bermuda are brutal with weather and seas.  NCL closed the MDRs on port days for at least 10 years now.

That was an expensive cruise you took in 1992.  But cruise prices plummeted during the meltdown of 2008.  Around 2010 and 2013 you could sail in a balcony on a new ship on Epic for $800 for 7 nights and went as low as $699 at one point.  Haven prices in 2012 were $2300 per person in a 2 bedroom suite on Epic which was NCL's newest ship at that time.  Prices surged and continue to surge because demand is so high. 

I take cruises for the ship and not the itinerary.  I sailed Getaway when she was brand new.  I felt the ship was meh.... a total over correction from the Epic.  They went overboard in developing a sterile and traditional ship.  The waterfront is very nice though.  The use of space on Getaway seemed crammed.  The restaurants got smaller but the tables got closer together.  IMHO the Breakaway class is the first NCL design to cram as much as possible in smaller spaces.  Everything open to the walkways and casino compared to ships where restaurants have their own 4 walls and separate from the common areas.

15 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

Whoa!  What this? You can't bring food to your cabin??   (NCL 1st timer question...)

That's old.  It was a new NCL policy that they reversed almost as soon as it was issued.  It was a debate of maybe 9 years ago.

42 minutes ago, azappraiser said:

Because several people abused the privilege, NCL took notice & changed the rules... same thing that happened with some of the ultra-premium liquors that are suspiciously no longer on board...

What privilege?  I think people who run to the corner to defend NCL at every turn is a bit much.  While I think its reasonable to charge money for more lobster, I dont believe for a second that top shelf liquor and lobster charges have anything to do with customers trying to bilk NCL.  Its all a way to make bigger profits. 

Sort of reminds me of when NCL announced no more towel animals because of "environmental reasons" or not bringing food to the cabin for "safety reasons."   But many believe that. 
Its all enhancing the guest experience of course!

3 hours ago, dexddd said:

Maybe they source lobster out of Antarctica and with recent misses they could not get them?

From the Captain:  For your travel convenience, we wont be going to Paradise Bay but we will be having lobster in the main dining room and buffet.

(Stampede from the customer service desk to the buffet) 

Captain ***sighs**** relief, it worked

Dear cookie brigade.  Thank you for your search and discovery.  If you have any remaining resources, please locate any hash browns or towel animals and report back in code language.

Over and out

5 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

The renderings looks great. It’s definitely going to be “cozy” in the living room area as that appears to be tiny. But at least there is 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. 

I think its only 2 bathrooms.  But there is one cruise site that does show a third bathroom. I could be wrong but does not the NCL site say 2 bathrooms?  I think the bedrooms upstairs share a bathroom.  I like the use of space.  Many RCCL suites have a similar layout but its loft style which takes up space for a high ceiling in the living room.  I wish they were aft. I always like to sail port side but this time I picked starboard because no slides on that side. 

2 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

We booked the Aqua the day it was announced. Booked one of the 3 bedroom duplex Haven suites. Can’t wait!!!

Me too.  I will be excited to see it. They are less expensive than an owners suite.  Its either going to be out of this world or meh.

53 minutes ago, blue_water said:

@david_sobe, Just to eliminate any confusion, you are referring to Long Bay, Beef Island, correct? On the east end of the island?

 

“They will charge you for a chair and it includes wi-fi.  They have a bar and grill there.”

 

By “they”, are you referring to the cruise line excursion group? Or the separate area where there is a beach bar & grill? 

 

Thanks 😉

The beach the taxis drop you off at has chairs for rent and a bar and grill.  Its not affiliated with any cruise line. I think we paid $15 for a chair which was insanely a great deal plus the cost of the cab fare.  The drinks were so affordable and was floored they allowed people to drink from beer bottles on the beach.  I sat in this beach chair at a secluded beach with a bucket of Corona.  I was in a dream.