bruadhin

There are no microwaves for passenger use.

 

I don't know why people think they get so dirty if they are wiped out after use....my microwave was 26 years old, and looked like new...the button to open the door broke, so it was replaced. I've never understood dirty microwaves!

Is there a microwave in the break room at your workplace? Has it been cleaned since it was purchased? Probably looking pretty nasty by now I bet.

It is easy to clean, the problem is most don't get cleaned. And the USPH is pretty strict, so I suspect they would require very frequent cleanings, if not cleaning between each use, of any microwave that passengers could use at their leisure.

It's not quite the same thing, but I know that stores here have to buy from a distributor. There's a beer up in Minnesota that my wife likes, and that you can buy at Total Wine up there, so I asked the local Total Wine to order it and they said they can't, because it isn't carried by their distributor. When I pointed out that the Total Wine stores in Minnesota carry it, he said that didn't matter, because it's illegal for them to ship alcohol across state lines, only distributors can do that.

You are more right than you give yourself credit for. In most states, retailers have to buy from a distributor. As a retailer, NCL would need to buy from a distributor. Now the duty free thing may throw it off, not sure if they are serving duty free alcohol and if so are they still required to buy from a distributor and not the manufacturer/importer.

So true!!! On a cruise several years back my sister and I opted to NOT get the drink package and guess what... at the of the cruise we owed literally more than the cruise itself cost! ;p Our cruise fare was under $1,000pp and our drink bill was over $1,200pp! :evilsmile: We have since always opted for the drink package.

I know quite a few people that happened to when we started cruising. Personally we almost never drank on the ship until we got the UBP for free on our first NCL cruise, but a lot of our friends cruised Carnival and came home with drink bills that were more than the cruise fare.

Can you imagine the inside of said microwave if they did have one? Nasty...uncleanable...

Ehh.. its not that hard to clean a microwave.

That said, I doubt it would ever be acceptable to USPH. I suspect if passengers had access to it and it was in a shared area, they'd probably want it completely cleaned between each and every use to avoid any cross contamination. Also everything would probably have to be heated to over 140 F to be outside the danger zone.

Only 4 days to your next cruise....I'm so envious. Enjoy

Thanks, I plan to.

And I'll probably forget to even look for tax stamps on the bottles. Although I am thinking of posting while I am on board. Gotta get the internet this time for work.

Two dollars more per person per day isn't huge, but when you see a fare that includes a beverage plan nearly $1,000 more than a sail away fare, that IS huge. And then it's another $20 a day on top of that. If someone only wanted a few drinks, they certainly would do better by taking a sail away fare and paying for drinks a la carte. Only issue is not being able to pick a cabin.

When I booked mine, Free at Sea was cheaper than Sailaway. Also, I was comparing against Carnival and I could find nothing remotely comparable that was cheaper, in fact most were more and I would have had to purchase alcohol or the Cheers Package too.

It really just depends upon when you can sail, where from, what itinerary and what promotions are being run.

There cannot be more than a handful of people who buy this outright. I never would. Only take the perk. When I do, I understand that what I'm buying is unlimited drinks for 18 dollars a day per person (20 now). That I can live with (ignore the slightly elevated room price...I'm going to drink anyway). So assuming that 70% of a ships bookings have the UBP as one of the perks a mid sized ship like the Jade will now make an extra 47, 000 per week in fees on the increase. Since these ships pay duty free prices for their booze and charge nightclub or higher fees for their drinks the profit margin is astronomical.

 

But as NCL knows that the perk of getting the UBP is very popular. No one is going to turn it down due to a 2 dollar a day per person (4 per day per room) increase.

 

AND don't forget, oil is climbing higher, they'll be nailing us with the fuel surcharge soon. MMMM...can't wait to pay more.

I'm glad you mentioned that, duty free prices for their alcohol. I'm going to have to look and see if any of the bottles have a tax stamp on them.

Also, with the volume they buy, they have to get rock bottom pricing too. Does anyone know in Florida if you have to buy from a distributor or if you can buy direct from the manufacturer/importer?

Not available on any NCL ship.

 

... unless you have been reading the other thread about microwaving thousands of TV dinners and serving them in the MDRs...

I was thinking the same thing. They probably had to collect them from all the guest staterooms for dinner service.

Take Beef for instance, it’s PRIME or CHOICE and neither of those are low quality

Actually...

There are plenty of lower cuts of meat, although you rarely if ever see them served in a restaurant. I don't think even cheap chains serve lower than choice as a steak or anything other than ground or stewed, braised, etc.. Its possible that NCL is buying Select or even lower cuts, but unlikely.

Have you consulted the passenger contract that you signed?

I'll probably regret saying this, but...

What the passenger contract says, and what is advertised aren't even in the same universe. I get passenger safety is paramount and sometimes adjustments must be made to ports. In fact, not only do I get it, I appreciate it and I'm glad this is the case. However, no line should say, "Yeah well, contract merely says we have to transport you and feed you, everything else is optional."

Well, again, there will be only a couple of pans of an entree on the steam table, and the remainder are in the warming carts, when the steam table runs out, a new pan is brought from the warming cart, and goes on time control at that moment. Not very much is wasted due to time control, even the buffet items are kept in warming carts until needed directly on the food line, so these can be kept almost indefinitely, as long as they are 140* and above. (though it does dry out the product the longer its in the warming cart).

I love how everyone seemed to move to smaller and shallower pans a few years ago. It seems better on so many levels, the food stays warmer and fresher and there is less waste.

All of NCL's marketing muscle goes toward reaching first time rubes, not repeat customers.

Depending upon your perspective it makes perfect sense. Marketing's job is to get people to try the product. Once operations delivers, they should be hooked and continue to come back time and time again. Considering how many people hit the higher loyalty levels, it seems that this works across the board in the cruising industry.

Then the promotions have to be just good enough to keep people abandoning en mass for a competing line's promotions.

I am also surprised they did not have the curtain down. Was that Bingo going on in the theater or a staff meeting?

Seems like bingo, but poorly attended. Maybe it is a staff meeting and she just happened to have a bingo card in hand for some reason?

But yeah, you'd think the curtain would be down if it was bingo.

Very interesting! Following along. Interesting that the MDQ set was up on the first day because that show is normally on Thursday and Friday. Burn the Floor is the first part of the week. I have no idea how long it takes to change out the sets. I like the behind the scenes info. I am going to try and book that tour on our upcoming cruise.

Isn't Burn the Floor Monday and Tuesday? It looks like it really takes a day to swap out sets. I guess they leave it alone on Saturday and Sunday with the effort directed towards embarking and disembarking guests.

I find it surprising it takes NCL so long to change sets.

I read a post on CC a while ago, several months at least, about this topic but I don't think it was in the NCL thread. Maybe Royal? Not sure. But a person claimed to have knowledge from ship staff that it was becoming more and more prevalent for the cruise ships to take on prepared meals that are heated on board, as opposed to absolutely everything being scratch made. It sounded credible and apparently was saving them money. Perhaps fewer kitchen staff would be needed if more foods were prepared on land? Who knows, but this is not the first I've heard of it, for those of you who think it sounds preposterous.

Staff on land gets paid American wages with American taxes and benefits, plus a profit for the caterer. It would be extremely difficult to get the cost lower.

People saying this just do not realize the economies of scale you get in a large kitchen. It is just like at home, unless you are completely willing to sacrifice quality, you can't buy prepared food for less than it costs to prepare. A large kitchen just takes this further. All those difficult sauces, etc. that need special ingredients and are kind of expensive to prepare at home aren't in a large kitchen because you will use an entire container, as in a 5 gallon container.

 

Something I found interesting, the galley makes as much as they can from scratch. For example, salad dressing....all made from scratch every day in the galley.

Thanks for your review, we're just a few days away now.

That isn't surprising and is a good thing. For an operation of any size, it is often cheaper to do it from scratch and the quality is better as well. Plus you aren't serving the same thing as someone else.

Final thoughts:

Overall, the trip met or exceeded our expectations in almost every way. The food was excellent, except for Tropicana and Shanghai's. The entertainment was outstanding, truly a world-class experience. My DW and I felt we definitely received our money's worth out of both the UBP and the SDP. Our excursions were very good, with Harvest Caye being the highlight of this trip. The staff we dealt with were all attentive, friendly and very efficient. The Haven was an outstanding experience. My DW and I have already starting planning our next Haven adventure, preferring to take a trip in the Haven every other year than a regular cruise more often.

As with all vacations, there were a few minor issues. We will learn from these for our future cruises:

Having read so many complaints on CC about lounger hogs around the main pool, I never expected to find this in the Haven. Unfortunately, we did. There are some people that simply do not understand common courtesy and will place their "clips" on the limited number of loungers and then go to breakfast, go to naps, etc. I guess the Haven is not immune to rude, inconsiderate people as well.

The remote controls for the televisions on the Getaway are very frustrating. They can only be used within a few feet of the TV and only when directly in front.

The TP in the restrooms is not good. Quite a challenge. We plan to bring our own in the future.

 

Overall, I give this trip a big thumbs up.

Thank you for your wonderful review and all the pictures. We will be getting on in just a few days and it was nice to see it all.

I think you're right Jamie, I think of a ship's plumbing system as being similar to a boat, trailer or home using a septic system. I know that many pax put things down the toilet that they shouldn't which could, very well, be the reason for some of the plumbing problems on the ships.

 

The paper used in situations like this are very different and quite expensive too but, to keep a system like this working correctly, it pays to use the right product.

 

Hope I'm correct but if not... oh well... :')

Sorry, but that would be wrong. They buy it because it is cheap, any ol' TP will do. As Chengkp75 has commented so many times, its a vacuum system and then is processed as waste water.

Same as many businesses on land, some get the better stuff, most just get the cheapest thing their supplier offers.

I made this same comment about my last Escape cruise... I actually brought it up with the Hotel Director and the Guest Services manager as anytime there was a show it was impossible to navigate through the atrium.

I have a strong feeling that the sets for Burn the Floor and Million Dollar Quartet are not easily broken down and assembled. The stage setup may not allow hosting of other shows during the day. Remember, Wednesday is dark so they can set up for MDQ.

Which I find interesting. We didn't see many shows on Carnival, but of the few we did they seemed great and had nice sets as well. Perhaps NCL should spend a bit more on sets or stage staff so they can use the theater for more than 8 a week.

Agree about the Atrium, way to crowded for the more popular (and very very funny) shows.

 

About Cagney's I wasn't overly impressed last time. We are going on Sunday, should we maybe change Cagney's for Moderno? Anyone been on both on the GA recently?

BirdTravels recent review included both. Bird is Platinum and received both as a Platinum reward.

Thank you for your thoughts. We'll be on her in just over a month.

That is very disappointing about the buffet. I find it surprising as food out of temp at a buffet is one of the fastest ways to an outbreak of food poisoning. In fact, one of the things I loved about the Carnival Breeze and Norwegian Getaway were the smaller serving trays on the buffet. I realize it is more work for the crew, but it helps everything stay fresher and at temp.

Did you bring it to anyone's attention? They are supposed to be temping the food regularly, however the person doing it may not have been very good at it or was missing the areas that weren't holding temp very well. I'm sure the senior staff in the Food and Beverage department would have loved to know that.

I would definitely agree with you about how friendly the staff is. We had cruised Carnival several times prior to NCL. We definitely noticed that while the NCL staff is very polite and attentive, they are far from engaging and gregarious. I can only assume it is a different corporate philosophy. Does Carnival still say "The Funship"? While NCL's branding seems about adventure and choice.

. Unless you are strictly serving bottle/can beer or have some measuring device on the liquor bottles/kegs then it is impossible to keep a completely accurate drink count.

 

Don't some RCL ships have a robo type bar?

I seem to recall something about that, but is that every bar? Plus I suspect it is more of a novelty than a reality. Labor on a cruise line is so cheap, it is probably one of the few places where automation doesn't save money.

And no way I'm giving a robot 15, 18 or 20%. I'd really complain about a gratuity or service fee by a robot bartender.

Normally it works in a different way. Someone without a drink package pays for their drinks, later in the cruise when you hang out at the same bar the bartenders just grab the UBP cards and all is good. The last cruises I got the feeling the staff is even caring less as long as they get one card for every two drinks regardless if the people even know each other.

Is long as you don't insult them by acting like you trick the staff they are cool about it.

Been a couple of years since our last cruise, but I would agree with this 100%. We tended to hang out near one of the pool bars. As long as they weren't getting in trouble, they couldn't have cared less. And people who tip extra will always get taken care of.

While I truly believe the person who posted earlier they saw someone's UBP taken away, I have to believe they really went out of their way to abuse it. Despite what we may think, no one is really watching the Security cameras all the time. Otherwise they would be immediately taking action when someone went overboard, and we know that sadly it is not the case. I have to assume the people were real jerks to the staff and probably to Security when something was said about it. Plus, NCL isn't stupid. They know there are some free drinks getting poured, it happens at every bar on the planet that has draft beer and liquor bottles. Unless you are strictly serving bottle/can beer or have some measuring device on the liquor bottles/kegs then it is impossible to keep a completely accurate drink count.

It was mentioned that they try to steer you to the buffet and that has been our experience as well. We still find the MDR that is open. Another mentioned the hassle of dragging around the carry-ons. All ships we have sailed have a bar area that has a checked bag service. For free, tagged and staffed. We find that area first, check our carry-ons and head for lunch or a quick walk of the ship. Pick them up once room availability is announced.

Wow, never knew that!

You can ask, the worst they can do is say no. But please don't take it out on the cabin steward if he says no, or the more likely scenario when he passes along the no from someone else.