We are on the Epic Med. sailing 23rd June from Barcelona. Question is ? Is the Haven restrurant open for lunch on port days. Other lines we have cruised on no longer open theirs. As we have many times cruised the Med.( so many I could become a tour guide ) we hope that on this cruise to miss some ports just to chill out.  Thanks in advance.😎

Guidance please. We have two theater shows booked for our upcoming cruise. Question, which floor and where are the reserved seats and are there wheelchair spaces in that area. DW  has spine problems where she can't  raise the angle of her head and look upwards. If the only reserved seating area is at the level of the stage, then  that would be a no-no for her. Thank you.

We booked a Mediterranean cruise sailing on the Epic 23rd June 2019. A 🙂part of the booking was an Adult Ultimate beverage package. Question is, I can find the "what's included" listing for The Premium package but no detail for the Ultimate one. Any enlightenment would be welcome or better still a link to a web site page for this. Thanks in advance to you who are hardened NCL people.🙂

2 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

They don't advertise it as an adult only area but "On top of that, complete privacy and tranquility are just steps away on a sundeck reserved exclusively for guests of The Haven" probably mean that the kids there shall not run and scream.

 

I don't mind children if they can behave but children running around and scream should not be welcome, I think.

Used to be able to eat two kids for breakfast, now it's only one. Should we try to get back to the op's subject -- How much would you pay for Haven ?.-- We booked very late on the Epic to the Med we could only book the supposed last of all the Haven cabins, that being a spa suite. Then low and behold we were invited to bid for a 2 bedroom and the owners suite. Question is, if the Haven cabins were all booked out  how come they were offering these to bid on ? Oh well we put in our bids and just hope that one is accepted £500 each extra for the 2 bedroom suit and £600 each for the owners suit. The £500 each plus the original cost of the spa cabin would have made the total cost the same as the 2 bedroom cabin if that had been offered in the first place. Our last cruise on NCL was about 4 years ago when I don't believe  the bidding system existed.

Trying to go to the early shows in the theater,  Can any one help with the opening time of the Haven restaurant  or would the time scale be too much of a rush ?

10 minutes ago, Yinster said:

Must point out that I was on the Epic couple of weeks ago and the maitre'd refused to allowed me to get something from Shanghai delivered to the Haven restaurant. Instead he did say ask your butler to deliver it to my room instead but as it is a spa suite then there's not enough room to eat anything in it unless I wanted to eat in bed. 

 

Previously on the Breakaway the maitre'd bend over backwards and I had meals from other restaurants deliver so I think it all depends on the maitre'd at the time. 

The only way is to name and shame the maitre'd

Many thanks KeithJenner

We are soon to travel to Barcelona airport where we will take a shuttle bus (organised by NCL) to the cruise port. Will there be porters curb side for baggage drop off ? Also as DW will be in a wheelchair will there be help to push it, as this old engine has huff and puff problems ?.

DW is wheelchair dependant. I have booked the NCL provided transit bus from Barcelona airport to the ships dock. Question, is the bus ok for wheelchairs. DW can climb bus steps with my help.

Many thanks for the pictures of the Dailies. We embark on 23rd June so with these we can do our homework.

Many thanks FLcruisegrl, guess I'll have to fire up my sat nav. We have put in a bid for an upgrade so here's hopeing.

We had a very late booking  and no choice of cabin except  Haven Spa, Deck 14 number 14147 close to the aft elevators. Question is do these elivators go up to decks 16,17 and18 where the Haven activity is or what way best with a wheelchair ?

My dear wife is wheelchair dependant so getting about the ship  is sometimes  quite a task. We did a very late booking on the Epic and the only Haven cabin available was a spa starboard side, about 5 cabins forward from the rear elevators, on deck 14. Does anyone have suggestions as to the best way to the Haven facilities on deck 18 and 19. We have to try to avoid too much travel along the corridors because of stewards trollys getting in the way. Secondly I'm most curious that as there are no longer any suits available to book on our sail date, on the web site, why have I been offered to "bid" on 2 of these suites ? 

New to NCL. DW is reliant on her wheelchair and I have to accompany her, so as to push it as she cannot self propel it. We are on a late booking on the Epic in the spa Haven suites and wonder what the situation is like in the theater.  Other tips for an easy life on board wheelchair wise would be very much appreciated.😉

On 4/30/2019 at 9:43 PM, weskelly said:

I was advised to tip our Steward on Day 1 and that's always gotten us fantastic service. We usually leave $20 on Day 1 and then another $20 the day we leave with a hand-written note/card of thanks.

Some would call that a bribe on day one, so as to get better service but there again that's what we do. Green back hand shake !!

10 hours ago, minabruuke said:

I've been taking the same 20 euro bill to Europe for years now and have not had to use it (it is still left over from when I lived in Finland in 2002/2003).  I do like to have a little cash just in case but credit cards are very widely accepted.  Though I love my American Express cards, I stick with Visa and Mastercard when I travel as they seem to be more widely accepted.  The only place that I could see you possibly needing coins in the local currency is at public bathrooms but if you are a customer at a store/restaurant you will be able to use their restrooms for free so these pay for use bathrooms can usually be avoided.  Perhaps you could come across farmer's markets, craft markets, etc. where cash is required but in my experience I've even been able to use my cards at the markets I've shopped.  

 

When paying at a restaurant or store, the credit card readers automatically recognize that the card is a chip and signature card and print out a receipt to sign instead of prompting for a pin.  At self service machines, either I've not been prompted to enter a pin or when the pin is requested I just hit enter (without inputing a pin).  This has worked every single time. Of course, I could just be lucky but I've not had a single issue.  Most Barclay cards now offer the chip and pin function at self service machines (it still prompts for a signature if the machine is not self-service) so I will likely carry a Barclay card as a backup on my next trip this summer but only because I have one of their cards already.  I'll be surprised if I need to use it! I would not open up a new credit card just to get a card that has the ability to functions as a chip and pin card.  Many US credit cards allow you to request a pin but for most of these cards this pin is only for ATM use, it will not allow your credit card to function as a chip and pin card.  

 

I looked at your itinerary and the only country I have not used my US credit cards in is Russia.

 

As others have stated, check to make sure that you have and use a credit card that waves foreign transaction fees.  There are travel credit cards with zero dollar annual fees that give you this valuable benefit. 

Hello minabruuke, Suggest you check your 20 euro note as the design has changed since that time and yours is probably invalid

9 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

In 2016 we did three consecutive cruises - leaving from Florida to London, Norway, then the Baltic.  We went to 12 countries.  I ordered a small denomination for each country - after looking at what we wanted to do at each port.  Some countries we decided to get off the ship and do our own "hop on hop off" bus - used local currency to pay for that - others we used ship excursion and used currency to pay for tips and small purchases - we used our credit card for major purchases only.  At the end of the cruise we used the left over "monies" to pay extra tips on board.

Good idea regarding left over money.

20 plus cruises near various elevators ( DW in a wheelchair so difficult  it's to negotiate corridors ).Noise " what noise" no problems. Have a marvelous cruise.

The first thing is to be kind to your steward and gently, but firmly, ask for what you expect in the way of service ( it's their job on the line) If, there is no satisfaction, then write a sealed note to the hotel manager and hand it into the customer services desk, noting who you are handing it to. The management skills of the hotel managerment will kick in ,without further distress to either yourself or you steward and peace will reign supreme. 

We have always managed to trade the contents of mini bars into ,all brandy and all dry ginger for our drink of preference, so the quality of the brandy is not a problem when drowned in ginger.

5 hours ago, PoohUnderstands said:

 No, not dinner, lunch.  There is no LUNCH in the MDR on port days which is a real bummer.  I understand why, but for someone who does not like the outdoor grille stuff or pizza or IC or the buffet, it really limits our lunches on port days.  I suffer through the buffet but really hate it!  Grin.  So no, they have breakfast and dinner in the MDR every day, it is just lunch that is affected by port days.

 

Pooh

There's always room service. Menu in the blue folder.

4 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

• I’ve never had a clothes brush or binoculars in a full suite on Princess, not even when we sailed in the Grand Suite on the Grand Princess this past December. 

The slippers are not very large. This is a picture of them next to my size 8 shoe and my husband’s size 11.5 shoe. They fit my foot fine but they barely fit his big toe. They do not have a larger slipper. 

One size fits all. You vill conform!

13 hours ago, capriccio said:

Be aware that the Gastropub (at least on the Crown and Ruby ) has only counter height seats.  If you have mobility constraints that can be a problem.

Yes it was denied to us for the same reason. Thinks ! must pack a hot air balloon next time.

9 hours ago, djzuz said:

I will be Sailing in a Club Class Mini Suite on the Royal Princess. Last cruise I was able to swap the two 1/2 bottles of Wine for 1 Coffee Card. I've read that people have been able to also swap for all White or All Red Wine as well.

 

My question is, has anyone had success in swapping it for anything else (Champagne, Cans of Soda, etc)?

 

I've done a pretty thorough search and haven't come across any clear answers. Thanks!

 

You got a very good deal swapping 2 half bottles of undrinkable 2 buck chuck for a coffee card. I wonder who smiled on you. We have sometimes swapped our mini bar set up for coffee cards, but the value of the mini bar is much more than the half bottles.

10 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

No they are still a banned item on Princess.

There have been 2 threads on your question over the last week with one about the Regal.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2641689-kettle-on-the-regal-princess/

 

They were put on the Sapphire out of Southampton last year for a time.

Yes Princess supplied them, along with the make-ings, on our last cruise out of Southampton. Perhaps it's a move to lessen the demand on room service !