spanishguy1970

Is been my experience that because people pay for their cruise some feel entitled for the ship to wait for them. We are all required to be on time, plan accordingly. IMO

20 minutes ago, amp-qld said:

One way to solve this problem would be for cruise lines to stop charging extortionate prices for ship's excursions. It seems to me that their markups are typically about 200% on top of the operators prices.

I completely agree. Our private excursion to go to Rome was half the price NCL was going to charge. The company got us to the ship on time and gave each of us ( 10 of us) a bottle of wine and treats once we arrived back to the terminal.

interesting. We experienced sewage odor on the NCL Jewel. the Whole deck 9 had problems, back in 2017 it was really unfortunate and almost ruined our trip, they couldn't get us a new stateroom and we were in an inside cabin.

I went to my travel agent to add the Cruise next Certificate to my reservation in October she specifically told us cannot be used for current reservations, only new bookings..She wanted us to cancel and rebook so she could add the 3 certificates but then we would lose our free gratuities plus other perks. We passed

cruise first you can use towards the payment of the cruise. For instance, you buy 250 and they give you 500 dollars and you apply it to the payment. Cruise next you buy onboard and you use it as a deposit for a future cruise. We asked our PCC and she told us that when you buy cruise first but your cruise goes down in price substantially before the final payment you can't request the lower price. We don't buy cruise first.

We are diamond also and we were just upgraded from Balcony to Club suite balcony on the Pearl next November. Remember is only a one time upgrade. No, you don't go to the Haven.

so inside to oceanview

Ocean view to Balcony

Balcony to Club suite Balcony.

I wouldn't say we are loyalists, but we have only done NCL because of the freestyle and itineraries that interest us. We would consider Celebrity as another option, this said, in all the years we have done NCL we definitely have seen the decline on their services. The entertainment is either all magic shows, hypnotists or stuff that really don't interest us. On our last cruise for 16 days, we definitely experienced the quality and variety in the MDR menu questionable not to mention repetitive. We definitely see NCL more for less approach now. I particularly liked Kevin Sheehan approach on customer service better than Del Rio, but that's us.  

On 2/16/2024 at 8:48 PM, LloydJr said:

That only applies to 2.3% of cruisers.  The rest are nice people who couldn't care less about flashing around "special status."  I wish there were more, because they amuse me greatly.  

sometimes for fun i stick my humble Diamond color card ( whatever it is LOL) in the elevator to take me to the HAVEN but darn it doesn't work. Oh well 😁

19 minutes ago, UKstages said:

they will print "bronze" or "silver" or "gold" etc. on your keycard, so you can proudly flaunt your status when you whip your card out.

 

it's a meaningless "benefit," especially since, when you swipe at a restaurant or retail outlet or bar, they can tell your latitudes status anyway.

 

 

I completely agree. We are Diamond and color means nothing. give us more benefits LOL

4 hours ago, brad0576 said:

Currently on the Epic - hello from Amber Cove 

 

compared to my last ship (Joy) the epic is a few steps below in service and food quality - the buffet just seems repetitive and limited - the dining room service has been spotty - and the food quality seems lacking.

 

for a cruise line that was trying to be known for its culinary - it has taken a step backwards 

 

on a side note the crowd on this cruise seems off to me - I have never seen more orange cards on a cruise.

on our last cruise on the NCL Spirit 16 days we did notice the MDR menu was very repetitive we opted to go to paid restaurants. I remember the days when you can count on NCL to have new items on their menu.

20 hours ago, Mrearl said:

I was checking on a 14 day cruise with a drink package included.  They then state we have to pay gratuities which is $690 in  gratuities. It makes the initial price look good until they add the gratuities. This is the first cruise line I have been on that makes you pay gratuities for the drink package.  

well if you look at their new Special offer the 2nd person cruises for free but when you do the final tally that is not true either. We never take the drinking package because we are not drinkers, we buy a drink here and there, use our onboard credit given to us by our travel agent 🙂

Just now, dmwnc1959 said:

 
I’ve seen that in a couple of YouTube videos, it really looks very small and antiquated. 😳

 and they charge too much for what it is.

On 2/2/2024 at 3:16 PM, yakcruiser said:

Every time I think I might want to take a cruise on HAL that Twilight Zone episode "Passage on the Lady Anne" starts playing in my head.

someone i know only likes Holland always told us that the ships were noisy, the metal cracking sound constantly in her stateroom, all i could think was when will the Iceberg hit. lol

On 2/15/2024 at 9:08 AM, dmwnc1959 said:

Still hemming and hawing between two ships doing a long (16-25 nights) Panama Canal cruise: Coral Princess and/or Norwegian Jade.

 

For those that have done extended cruises (3-4 weeks) on the Norwegian Jade in the past year, using the Free at Sea promotions with drinks and dining, what were some of the things you DIDN'T like or thought could be better? What were some of the features and amenities of the ship that just didn’t work with crowds and onboard reservations (restaurants, atrium, shows, bars, promenade decks, etc.). 
 

I’m hoping to get some insight as to how the ship handles the onboard passenger experience when operating on longer repositioning  cruises. 
 

THANK YOU! 

didn't like the Thermal Spa suite.

Just now, UKstages said:

 

first cookies, now chicken tenders are being removed?

 

stop the madness!

 

and just exactly who are these tender defenders?

LOL no i meant ship tenders (boats), I was being sarcastic. I was talking about NCL enthusiasts that defend NCL no matter what.

On 2/11/2024 at 5:14 PM, ready2cruzagain said:

We sailed on the Epic last month for 3 weeks. We both can't believe the decline in the food on the Epic. We usually gain at least 7 lbs each on a 3 week cruise, we both lost a couple of pounds. I understand that food is subjective but the cuts and types of meats offered was shocking. Below is a few examples:

 

La Bistro - fillet was so tough you could not even chew it, portions seem to be half the size, I have never seen pureed Pasta Fagioli soup but it sure was pureed with 2 macaroni noodles (tasted and looked like white bean soup with 2 macaroni noodles floating in it)!

 

Moderno - meats were tough, hard to get someone to come to the table with meat, lamb chops is now lamb sirloin and it was very fatty and had a really bad wild smell, the sausage was the size of cocktail sausages and burned (no longer the large sausage that you would put on a bun), etc. We had booked Moderno's twice but cancelled the second booking since it was so bad the first time.

 

Shanghai's - portions were about half the size they use to be. 

 

Main Dining Room - I must say the menu's were really bad. I understand the menus repeat each week but out of 7 days, the main items were turkey twice, brats twice and pork several times. The New York Strip on the classic menu had a good taste but too tough to chew. We ordered pasta several times for it to be really dry and not much sauce on it. They use to serve Swordfish, Cod, Grouper, or trout. The fish they offered this time was Coalfish (Pollock), Tilapia, Hake, Flounder. They did have Red Snapper in an Asian Dish but there was one 1 inch square piece of Snapper and no more fish!

 

O'Sheehan's - not a fan of the wings anymore. They were so soggy! We use to eat them all the time, not this time. 

 

Just a question, do all the ships puree every soup? Every soup on the Epic was pureed, corn chowder, bean soup, pasta fagioli, even the French Onion soup had no onion in it, just broth.

 

Cagney's, La Cucina and Teppanyaki's were the best. We don't eat rice and asked for Udon noodles at Teppanyaki's and they were awesome!

 

Don't get me wrong, we didn't starve but was shocked at the decline in the food quality. We have the Jewel booked next, hoping it is better than the Epic. Will probably be going back to MSC after that if the food remains as bad as it was on the Epic.

 

Otherwise had a great 3 weeks!

 

We have never been on an MSC cruise but heard from people who have and they say food on those ships are mainly pastas, and not as good. We are going on the Epic in April, i hope it does get better.

43 minutes ago, JennKach said:

I would normally laugh at people who have to have specific food on cruises, but my husband absolutely loves cookies and would choose them for dessert over most other things.  Baking fresh cookies for him is the ultimate gift.  He searches for cookies onboard to save for his evening snack in the cabin.  He found them in the casino on the Jade TA in November '23, and I believe they were on the buffet at lunch a few times as well.  You would think he is a hoarder when you see his plate, but he really does finish them by the end of the cruise.  We had an unmemorable Carnival cruise a few years back but he still raves about the peanut butter cookies on that ship.  NCL shouldn't underestimate the impact of having cookies available.

 

As a side note, my husband grabbed a plate of cookies in the casino to graciously share with our group of four sitting in the bar area just outside Le Bistro.  A bartender came and said we weren't allowed to have cookies here and he has to take them. I'm still not sure if they didn't want them removed from the casino (like they're only for active casino players) of if they don't allow food to be eaten in the bar area.  Either way, we all looked at each other and simultaneously grabbed a final cookie before he took the plate away. Cookies are serious business to some people.

My companion is a diabetic and he likes to take cookies to the stateroom and have a snack at night time specially if his sugar levels are too low. He looks for them, is just the easiest snack. I have to admit the last two cruises they have been hard to find, but when we asked we were told to find them around 3 o'clock to 5 in the buffet, tea time they said.

On 2/8/2024 at 9:23 PM, IAcruising said:

 

Of course, and the Vibe isn't worth it for anyone at any price. We know, we know. If the Bird doesn't like it, it shouldn't exist.

 

there will be a time when NCL will get rid of tenders and NCL defenders will excuses why that is a good thing 🤣🙂 🙂  

21 hours ago, MajSteve said:

I am booked for the Epic's transatlantic cruise in April. Several people with whom I have spoken have said that numerous restaurants, shows, services are closed or severely limited on this type of cruise. Has anyone experienced this situation? Thanks for your assistance!

We are booked on that same cruise. I just hope we have a smooth crossing. 🙂

On 2/4/2024 at 6:57 AM, ready2cruzagain said:

Anyone know what the current cost for the Jewel Thermal Spa is? I wouldn't think it would be as much as the newer ships but guessing.

prices usually range from $309 to $359 depending on length of cruise and which ship.

On 2/2/2024 at 8:51 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

Exactly.  That other post was just plain silly.  

 

That said, I would likely just leave the $10 in my pocket.😎  A few years of that and I have "happy pockets."

you have been busy with posts 🙂 since 2021. I have been here since 2010 and i just don't have the time. Well done.

9 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

My pocket allows $10.  The service was crap.  What do I tip?

🥱🥱🥱

On 1/11/2024 at 3:20 PM, junieh said:

Having read the heated discussions on another post, I was curious as to how much people usually tip on a cruise and when. Do you tip at the start, at the end or daily? And how much?

 

Also, with the freestyle dining and not having assigned tables and therefore servers for the duration of the cruise, do people tip the servers at MDR every night or not bother with tipping except for speciality restaurants?

 

We are relatively new to cruising and in our country tipping is not compulsory so I am genuinely curious. We do pay the full DSC, I wouldn't even dream of having it removed or reduced as the way I see it, it is a part of the cost of the cruise. But tipping on top of paying the gratuities is not a concept that we are very much used to 🙂 We tip because we know it is expected (and sometimes because we really do receive an excellent service so we want to show our appreciation). We don't want to tip more than we need to but at the same time, we don't want to offend anyone. So this is meant as just genuine research, not a debate on tipping 🙂

my answer will always be Tip what your pocket allows, no one needs to know how much you tip, is nobody business. IMO. Happy cruising.

10 minutes ago, rdmyrick said:

I did get the 10% military discount and like KSS2013 stated you get an invitation for the veterans gathering.  The gathering was an informal event that had drinks and snacks.  My wife and I (both veterans) enjoyed talking with other brothers and sisters of the armed forces.  Also, NCL asked if anyone wanted to discuss their experiences.  We would see some of the group around the ship and give a small salute to each other.  We will go to the gathering on our next cruise in March.

the gathering is a one time thing. Some people think that gathering is on every cruise well is not, but you do get 10% off the base fare on every cruise you book.

Our gathering was on the NCL Spirit, it was well planned out and really nice. Enjoy your cruise

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

I love the laundry service on NCL, that's one of the nicest perks about sailing in a Club Balcony suite. One thing I *don't* like about it is that you have no control over how it gets washed. When we were on Oceania last year, they had a self-service launderette, which was complimentary. I was able to sort delicate items from other ones, so the things that needed to be done in cold and tumbled dry low, were done that way as opposed to everything lumped in together. Having said that, I can't remember anything on NCL coming back discolored or shrunken, but it was still nice having a bit more control over the water and drying temperatures.

We have gotten items back from NCL that have come back tore, with holes or discolored, and these were new underwear, shirts etc but hey free laundry wash is great 🙂