JohnM65

newlondon:

 

I'll have to remember your phrase about some people look for "fly poop in pepper":D

In terms of Easter on board, if you are at port, Regent will give addresses for the nearest churches. The time of the year that you will be sailing is perfect (in my humble opinion).

Agree about the long walk from the aft suites. When we were on the Riviera (significantly larger than the Mariner) we had a forward suite. This was before my knee replacement and I had one heck of a time walking from one end of the ship to the other. I like your idea of staying longer in the Observation Lounge to rest up for the trip back to the suite!

Stay well!

Jackie

Thank you Jackie If you liked my fly analogy my father had another Italian saying: "To wash the head of a donkey is a waste of soap and water".

It seems CC does not like the term Jack... :(

Easter 2017 we would be at sea and yes they do provide church address and service times.

And, you and your DH stay well!

John

Ha ha - great comment abut elevator music:D

 

Hi Jackie, we chatted a few times during the cruise and I was setting next to the women who was having a tough time during the disembarkation . Victoria and I are first time cruisers with Regent and it will not be our last. We booked the Singapore to Istanbul and will add the sailing to Venice and probably Barcelona. The only issue I may have is on Easter we are at sea and I doubt seriously there will be a Catholic priest on board. That has nothing to do with my comments... my hands will not stop moving.

Our experience with the Mariner was A+. Now that does not mean that everything was perfect there were some anomalies but nothing that degraded the experience we enjoyed. Our suite was very nice and we were aft in 8102. That is the last time I will book an aft suite.:(. I have some mobility issues (just slow) and I got my exercise just getting to the elevators and back for everything. Of course when I was in the Observation Bar I stayed longer just to rest up for the trip back to our suite:).

My wife and I attended more shows than we have ever attended on our other cruise experiences.

If I thought the bar drinks were lacking in volume I ordered another, no big deal. On rare occasions if my dinner order was not as I expected they brought me another.

The biggest delight was I only used my room key to get off and on the ship and obviously to get into our suite.

One more thought this is the only cruise line we have sailed that awards you sailing points when you come aboard. You do not need to wait until the cruise is finished.

It never ceases to amaze me that some people look for "fly poop in pepper":D

Hope to cruise with you again.

John & Victoria

My DW and I have gained ‘Elite’ on Princess and Diamond on RCCL. Princess provides any time dining which we like and we prefer large tables because of the travelers we meet. We like long cruises and since Princess has launder mats on many decks my wife does some of our laundry on sea days. Dress attire is always sent out. We like the beverage package not just for the alcohol but the coffees and bottled water. Also, we have Carnival stock and receiving cabin credit and our TA is also generous with additional cabin credit, plus what Princess includes.

The entertainment on Princess is mostly very good and we enjoy the shows and the deck activities are also enjoyable. We have been able to attend the ‘Chef’s Table’ which is a culinary experience not to be forgotten and to us well worth the additional expense.

Yes, there have been some issues but each one has been address satisfactorily on the ship or post cruise. We always send two letters to Princess. One about the crew almost always praises. And one about the non crew issues on board. We have either received a letter or a call from an assistant to apologize or provide an alternate solution. We have never been disappointed with their solutions.

Princess also has more long cruises (30 + days) than some of the other lines which we enjoy, since where we live in the Midwest air travel in not inexpensive to a major airport. So to get the best bang for the buck we look for the longest cruises. Being retired is also a benefit and getting away from the cold is not a bad idea:).

Princess has always been good to us.

John

JohnM65: In the case of the internet, IMO, the General Manager would have no difficulty taking care of the problem.

Travelcat2 You are right about adding the minutes. They do it all the time either that or make an adjustment. I just could not believe what I was told.

This will be our first cruise with Regent (Mariner, Lisbon to Cape Town). I think we are seasoned cruisers, although, this will be our first luxury cruise and we are planning more. I always read the comments made by cruisers on the various cruise lines and ships and weigh their statements in light of what my wife and I have experienced and what the responses are. Sometimes I think people ‘look for fly poop in pepper’. That one is for you UUNetBill!

As far as customer service not being available (on weekends). We did a B2B (Princess) in January and on the second sailing I was not able to receive the internet minutes I was entitled to (I had them on the first sailing). I talk with the customer representative (CS) (can’t remember what they are called on ship). It was a Friday when I reported the issue the CS e-mailed the home office to find out what to do! Ah it was the weekend (CS does not work the weekend) so I could not get a resolution until Monday! I had all the documentation necessary to prove my case! But they needed authorization from the home office to add the minutes, which was done on the ship! It was resolved on Monday. I hope the Captain does not need to wait over the weekend to resolve an issue!

My point is it is interesting to note no matter what class of cruising you select; you are subject to poor customer service over a weekend. I know that I have made a generalization (I have had an experience with NCL) but for what a person pays they should be able to achieve resolution for simple matters without waiting an inordinate amount of time. Let me point out we have had great service on most cruises with the exception of Carnival and the last 2 NCL’s.

On most sailings I send a letter to the company acknowledging the special crew members for their excellence. If a complaint is warranted, crew or policy, it is sent under a separate cover.

We currently are on the Mariner and are happy to report that what we have experienced over the past 2 days has .

That is good to hear we are on the Mariner in October and are first timers with Regent.

The "All Inclusive Drink Sticker " is an extremely good value for us ... but may not be for everyone. :D

 

LuLu

I will drink to that... it was a very good package for my wife and I.:D:D

John

Any drink under $10.

Also, 40% off of bottles of wine under a $100.00.:D

I received the e-mail response (below) from NCL on an issue we encountered with service, see post #1. I was surprised to receive an e-mail as their communication vehicle. This seems to me to show a little less concerned for the issue I raised. All in all they did respond.

In the past I have written to Royal and Princess on issues and commendations. Royal and Princess have responded either with telephone call or letter addressing my query/issue.

Right now NCL leaves a little to be desired in customer relations department.

Mr. John Messano

US

Re: Norwegian Getaway Voyage of 1/17/2015

Dear Mr. Messano:

Thank you for taking the time to write to us about your recent cruise onboard the Norwegian Getaway. We appreciate that you chose Norwegian Cruise Line for your vacation at sea.

Your letter to Andy Stuart has been forwarded to us for response as the Guest Relations department was established to represent senior managements' views on customer-related matters.

We regret to learn of the incident that occurred with you and your family while onboard. We sympathize with your discomfort and understand how this can have a negative impact on an otherwise enjoyable cruise vacation. In a service-orientated industry such as ours, feedback from our guests is vital to our continued success and provides us with important insight in approving our services to you. The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority and we wish to assure you and your family that any onboard incident is taken very seriously. Therefore, we appreciate that you have taken the time to inform us of your experience.

Thank you for this opportunity to respond. We do hope that despite this situation you found your overall cruise enjoyable and will consider Norwegian Cruise Line in your future vacation plans.

When your plans to sail again with Norwegian Cruise Line are firm, please contact our Guest Relations department at 1 (866) 625-1164, so we may arrange special "Welcome Aboard" amenities for your enjoyment. We value your patronage and hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you and your family back onboard a Norwegian Cruise Line voyage in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Frank Lazo de la Vega

Coordinator

Guest Relations

Case: 00314796

I will try to cover most of the responses in this thread. I attributed my comments specifically to the individuals who wrote them. Since there were three of you I decided in the interest brevity to omit the author(s) posts, I think you can figure it out.

A big OOPS when I was typing I looked at the first ‘…way’ I saw and entered Breakaway instead of Getaway in the thread title.

My grandson is eleven and has about twenty cruises under his belt. He is a Platinum Cruiser according to latitudes and he has 172 points. Under current rules his points will be credited to him when he becomes eighteen. His card is the same color and contains the same information as his mother’s with the exception of his name. They clip the corner of his card to indicate he is under 21. I am sure there is additional information encoded on the magnetic strip. His latitude enrollment originated about six+ years ago and it is possible the rules have changed; he is grandfathered under the current rules.

My daughter has about fifty cruises to her credit, and sails exclusively with NCL. In addition she and my grandson have made Transatlantic, European, Caribbean and Alaskan cruises. Obviously many of them exceeded seven days. The comment about ‘How much laundry can one have on a 7 day cruise?’ is totally superfluous to the issue and is totally inane.

I realize what NCL’s rules state but I do not agree with their policy. He is a full paying passenger and with the exception of alcohol he should be accorded the same privileges as other paying passengers. Do they not charge him for the specialty restaurants?

The comment(s) about parenting are insightful I am glad both of you were raised perfectly and your children as well. Well as for myself, my daughter and grandson were not as fortunate as you.

Notice the term children, is it possible he was so engrossed in his games or may have been subject to peer pressure i.e. trying to beat another child. Yes, he made a mistake and over stepped his bounds but remember he is eleven. And after his mother took him to task I think it will be some time before he attempts this again. Because of your perfect up bringing you may not have experienced the child’s ability to test the limits! I wonder how much NCL makes on this by not putting a daily limit on a child’s card. Ok I won’t say ‘nickel and dime-ing’! I am sure other cruise lines find some way to do the same thing.

Also, your comment about not contacting the manager or assistant manager of the Teppanyaki restaurant, well the woman that was directing the efforts of the wait staff is the manager or the Maître’d of the dining room and if she was not competent to correct the situation I wonder how competent her manager is.

The comment about ‘Took almost 10 minutes to do a simple OLCI for our airline flight home…’ is interesting. Yes, I understand the limitations satellite communications as purchased by the cruise lines. Would it have been possible to connect to the airline via a ‘free Wi-Fi’ in port? Another suggestion; I find using the Internet early morning or late evening to be much less tedious. I would rather spend my OBC on a nice bottle of wine, specialty restaurants, maybe even the casino but that is a matter of choice.

I always like it when someone ends a discussion with ‘move on to another line’ or something like that. In my mind it means the person cannot articulate his opinion clearly and succinctly!

NCL is not the only cruise line I have taken to task, first I commend the staff that has done a good job; second I address those issues which I feel are not following good customer service practices. What I have stated above is what I believe to be not good customer practices.

I am happy that you all enjoy NCL and defend them...Enjoy cruising.

Nice review, Congrats on your daughter kicking cancer! Don't sweat the laundry, it might be nice but its not NCL's responsibility to parent your grandson

I do not understand your comment about 'Parent your grandson'. Is not an issue of parenting. Brandon is a Platinum Cruiser, his mother pays for his half of the cabin rate. I don't understand why because of his age he cannot have his laundry done as his mother does. She gets one free laundry a week, I think. Why does NCL discriminate against him? He a paying customer. He packs most of his bags (mother does check) and he gathers his clothes for cleaning and he must pay for his laundry. Another nickel and dime issue for NCL!:(

January 17, 2015 my wife and I sailed on NCL’s Getaway. We were celebrating our daughter’s 50th birthday. Deborah also kicked cancer’s butt so we had a lot to celebrate. While we were plotting and planning my wife and I decided to book the Haven. Sometime after Deborah had booked her cabins NCL announced a special price for the Haven’s two bedroom suite. So they moved to the Haven on deck 16. Now before I go any further I take full responsibility for our cabin selection, deck 13 forward. At the time I did not realize the Getaway only had 2 elevator banks, one mid ship and one aft. I had mistaken the crew elevator for a passenger elevator, my bad. It normally would not be an issue but I have a minor mobility issue although I did get a lot of exercise between our suite and the Haven.

I did not realize that our daughter knew so many of the staff including the senior officers. Both daughters have cruised extensively on NCL and have the opportunity to meet many of NCL’s crew and officers.

We did like the coffee maker in our suite as we did not need to prep ourselves or the room before room service brought coffee.

My first complaint is the balcony was more the size of bathroom in an RV :(. I cannot believe it was so small especially for a suite. This kept us from entertaining our family on balcony; there was no way five could sit in our balcony. Three would be crowded. Also, I was surprised that we did not receive complementary Wi-Fi minutes. NCL was a little cheap for someone staying in the Haven.

Next, Deborah wanted to celebrate her birthday dinner at the Teppanyaki restaurant this was a great choice since we all enjoy Teppanyaki. We were seated at a table with another couple. The chef began his routine flipping spatulas and putting on a nice show. Then the mischance happened! The spatula slipped out of the chef’s hand and slid across the grill and hit a water glass in front of our grandson, breaking the glass and sending pieces towards him. Fortunately the glass bounced off Brandon and me.:eek: We did get a little wet but no cuts. The Maître’D moved us to another table. As dinner was progressing the 12+ of the hotel staff including the manager came to sing Happy Birthday to Deborah. That was great! I was really impressed with the staff for taking the time for our daughter.:D It made her day.

Now during the time we were in the restaurant after the mishap, neither the Maître’D nor any of the restaurant staff apologized for the incident. In addition, although the food tray was behind and to the left of the chef and the probability of glass flying back that far was slim, I would have expected the food tray to be replaced. That action would have improved my appreciation of NCL’s commitment to providing the preeminent food security. The least they could have done was to offer Deborah a bottle of wine or an after dinner drink for the table. No class!:rolleyes:

Prior to the January 20 celebration the staff of the Haven gave a happy birthday salute to Deborah at breakfast and at dinner on the nineteen. Now that was a show class which was always exhibited by the staff in the Haven.

We were very pleased with the Havens concierge:D he provided great seats for both the Magicians Show and the Wine Tasting. Although a musical wine tasting was a little over the top, it was interesting. The tables at the wine tasting would have been more comfortable if they seated 4 per table rather than 5! We were not the only attendees that moved one of the chairs from the table.

The lunch provided was non-descript and not worth what we paid for the tasting.

Let’s not forget our butler she was very attentive very prompt when we called. I n addition she was patient in showing me how to operate the coffee machine after I pushed too many buttons.:o

I would have sent this evaluation directly to NCL about our issues but the last time I pointed out deficiencies, coincidently about the Teppanyaki restaurant they responded with a $100 room credit if I sailed within a year. It seems that the Teppanyaki has not improved much in 5 years.

Both our daughters and grandson are platinum cruisers with NCL. I am somewhat disappointed that NCL does provide free laundry service for our grandson. It is understandable that he does not get a bottle of champagne. But I cannot understand why my daughter must pay for his laundry, although she packs as much of his clothes with hers as she can. Another pet peeve is NCL will not restrict Brandon’s key card when in the arcade. He has been known to spend a little too much on the games; then the restrictions go into effect! This is another example of NCL’s nickel and dime-ing of their guests.

Sorry this was so long but I tried to give the good and the bad!

John M.

I subscribe to the services you pay for model. If I am paying for something I expect to get my dollar's worth for it. I don't find it offensive if you pay for first class on an airline, a cruise ship, a golf club. Even Regent has it if you want to take a on of the upsell excursions with fewer people.

One of the best meals I have ever had on board a ship was on Princess at the Chef's Table. It was $75 per person. I could have eaten at the buffet or one of the main dining rooms but I paid for an up-sell with exceptional service and received it. That's not a class system. It's free enterprise.

I agree with you Chatkat the Chef's Table was exceptional. It was one of the best dining experiences we have had on board ship. I Also agree with you on Ruth's Chris, they are (IMHO) the best franchised restaurants my wife and I have dined. She was raised in the Midwest and we lived in the DC area and she would only eat, on special occasions (i.e. the sun came up) at Ruth's Chris.

This will be our first cruise with Regent and we are looking forward to the experience.

Won $1100 playing craps from the don`t side on our last cruise. Table opens at 9PM.

Good luck.

Mike

I bet the all players liked you.:(

john

If you review the odds/payouts, available on line, you will find that Craps has the best odds! Not that you cannot lose you @#!, but I seem to hold my own. That is until I start to play odds and a lot of other combinations and forget what I am doing.

But the kids are not getting it!:D

John

Hello,I am a past RCCL traveler. My husband and I have been on 4 cruises with them and loved them. We have always traveled as a couple but this coming year we are looking at taking a cruise with our three children(10, 8, and 6).

Thanks,

Nikki

Hi Nikki, you will probably get a very knowledgeable responses from both sides. First we are Diamond on RCCl and after January we will be Elite on Princess. that being said my DW and I agree that if the cruise is less than 10 days it is a tossup. you can probably pack enough clothes for 10 days and use the Laundry on the ship without too much expense. That being said my DW does not like anyone washing he underwear :o. We enjoy long cruises and Princess has a laundry room on each deck, with 5/6 machines (bring lots of quarters you probably can get 4 to 1 if you sell them:eek:). On Princess the Elite passengers get free laundry, however on the ships we have sailed on about 1//3 of the passengers are Elite and 24 hour turnaround is problematic... at least that is what we understand from fellow passengers.

Hopefully you will get a lot of responses (I am sure) some may say they are on vacation an/or retired and do not want to do laundry. It is all up to you. In my opinion the cabins are a tossup depending on class. I am sure the hard core cruisers will have more discrete observations.

Depending on the ages of your children, NCL has a better facilities, this is according to our daughter.

Enjoy

John

The fax number I have for sending proof of CCL stock ownership does not seem to be working. Can anyone confirm the correct number for me?

I just Faxed my request (about 1 hour ago) to 661-753-0180, the number is on the form.

John