wcook

At our auction, small prints were given away to everyone who stuck it out to the end. They came in a nice cardstock envelope and you just took it with you. You could win larger prints; those are the ones you get shipped to your house for $35 infrared.

I find 20% of $100+/day to be a very nice price for a drink package, but outrageous for gratuity of a free package. Ridiculous marketing, IMO. But I will say in practice the package works very smoothly. For sodas they just glance as the card and serve. For alcohols a quick swipe of the card. You never see a bill, have to write in $0 for an additional gratuity etc.

Others have reported that, per UK law, the gratuities are baked into the UK price. The price you see is the price you pay. Such a crazy concepts to us Americans /s.

Anyone know if there’s a listing for Ship’s Captain, no experience required.

Sorry I didn’t have the sense to screenshot the daily program. MainStage entertainment was Pricilla, the Dance show, some singer and the Christmas show. Specific nights kept changing. I thought the ship felt near full, but it probably wasn’t. The 1/3 full post Covid sailings have spoiled me. Pool deck was happening, but people were able to find chairs - I didn’t see people circling. Same at the buffet. Looked full, but there was always at least one open table.

NCL is absolutely not charging an 18% gratuity. 20% sure, but not 18 🙂

There were several kinds shifty guys in the port area with tiny monkeys. I heard they were asking $10 for three pictures holding the monkeys.

All right, now I’m <peeved> Now that I’m home, is there any way for me to officially complain? Not that I expect anything in return. But this is sooo wrong.

That was super weird. They moved up the all aboard two two hours. Maybe I missed it, but there was zero announcement of the change. You had to read the daily newsletter and notice that it was 3:30 instead of 5:30. I would have expected signs upon leaving the boat and have crew remind every single person leaving. But that didn’t seem to be the NCL way. At least not this cruise.

Games are shown in multiple locations.

The main thing that would help is to have lots of 16 year old boys on the cruise. But I’m not sure how much control you have over that 🙂

I noticed both Martini and Mojito tastings. There might have even been more. Here’s a shot I took of the mojito glasses

My first NCL cruise comes to an end. Overall, it agrees with my general philosophy that the mainstream cruise lines are much more similar than different. Given the right itinerary and price I’d sail NCL again. But I won’t go out of my way. If anyone has any questions about the Epic or Southern Caribbean out of San Juan, ask away. The Ugly: Boarding in San Juan was a disaster. Three plus hours in lines, mostly outdoors and worst of all, absolutely nobody from NCL around to reassure people, hand out water, take care of the elderly, etc. and zero acknowledgment or apology afterward The Bad: Not a big deal, but I don’t like the 24 hour food source being a sit down restaurant. Who thinks this is a good idea? And there was just an overall sense of disorganization. Show times would change from published times, with the daily letter being wrong. All aboard times at a port changed without any announcement other than in the small print. That sort of thing. The good: Fantastic group of fellow passengers. Friendly, helpful, and a great crew in the solo suites. The solo lounge in general was a really nice touch. And finally, breakfast in the Taste dining room. Such a better way to start the day than the chaos in the buffet.

I’ve been sailing MSC lately and really like it. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the Yacht club as they don’t let riffraff like me in the place. I will say the thermal spa areas on the new ships are wonderful.

/checks waist/ Nope, not everywhere.

On the Epic, there is N informal hang out session from 5-7 each night when the studio bar is open. It’s completely separate from the single’s meet up scheduled for the whole ship.

Somehow, we all get in cars every day and drive around. From an actuarial standpoint, that’s effing dangerous*. Many of us eat grilled and or processed meat every day, despite it being a known carcinogen. Volcanos sound scary, but in the grand scheme of things they are nothing. * as a former actuary, that’s the technical term.

Just curious, if someone does a bid upgrade into the Haven, are they entitled to all the benefits of staying in the Haven? I know at least one line *cough*MSC*cough* allows you to bid for a room in their ship-within-a-ship, but doesn’t give you all the services.

Duh. You’d look like an idiot. Now a Buccaneers Brady Jersey, that’s a different story.

Baby, won't you help me to understand? Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

So you are saying…. There’s no such thing as a free lunch?

20 minutes to JFK??? I take it you don’t have to get on the Van Wyke.

But I think it clear NCL is playing games. Jacking the drink package price to over $100/day and then setting a tip rate of 20%. No sane person would pay that, would they? Don’t get me wrong, $20+/day is a nice price for drink package. But Im allowed a few eye rolls at calling it free.

Throw a nice shirt in you bag at the last minute just in case. Importantly, do not check to see if shirt has shrunk during Covid (as so many clothes seem to have done.) Fill rest of bag with t-shirts and beach ware. Reserve a restaurant when you get on board, but don’t bother unpacking shirt. About 10 minutes before dinner, remember you need to dress. Find shirt at bottom of suitcase. Dig pants you wore onto the ship out of dirty clothes pile. Dress. Tell yourself “you look fabulous” but do not look in mirror to confirm. Have a wonderful dinner.

These are the requirements for online check in. If you don’t do online check in, they can do everything for you at the dock.