kdawg954

15 hours ago, JustAPilot said:

What about on the Epic? I’m not seeing any nicer bathroom in the club rooms. 

Upgraded from Inside to Club in December on the Epic.  It was 100% worth it.  In fact I believe the upgrade is most noticeable on the Epic as the shower was huge, separate and opposite of the toilet.

Was a fantastic upgrade for $200 total over 7 days.

15 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I’ve yet to test when it wasn’t required for a cruise…

 

 

I only tested because I was going to work the next day and was coming back from international travel.  My cruise in December I flew to San Juan and when I got back I didn't even bother testing because I was WFH.  I just sort of quarantined for a week and stayed away from people.

Also got Covid after my 9 day cruise on the Celebrity Equinox earlier this month.  DW had it worse than I did, her first time catching it.  This was my second, and both times it was a slight cough for 2 days (which is noticeable because I don't cough at all unless I'm sick)

The reason why I'm headed back to NCL for my next cruise is because the RCCL brands love to do indoor events and pack the inside entertainment areas . . . where NCL embraces the deck parties more, which obviously is open air.  That was the biggest thing I saw wrong with this last cruise I was on.  Like they had servers at the buffet to pick out your food, but I wish they focused more on activities that limited crowds and were outside more.  You can do an 80s party on the pool deck when its 80 degrees outside (southern caribbean) . . . why on earth would you do that inside the grand foyer?  I dunno.

Either way if you get on a cruise and are planning to be in high traffic areas indoors and staying at bars to talk to people, just be prepared to catch it.  Just too many pre cruise obstacles that allow it to get on the ship.

11 hours ago, phillygwm said:

 

 

As an aside, now that you can test beforehand, I'd never show up at the pier -- or even get on a flight to the port -- without results in hand.  When I last cruised in December the pier tests were mandatory and it was a stressful 15 minutes.

To put this in more perspective, we flew to San Juan for a 12-26 cruise and we dropped our bags off and THEN got bused to a hotel that was doing the testing and THEN waited 15/20 minutes with the other cruisers for resultd and during that time we watched folks in white protective gear pull people out the room to "retest" due to positive/Inconclusive tests.  All that travel to get there and you can't even rent a car and drive home because you flew to this island. Mandatory 10 day quarantine at that same hotel.

We did test on a rapid at home test prior to leaving but man the peace of mind to be able to know 2 days in advance if you are gonna be able to board is just such a big relief and saves a bunch of travel if u do test positive. 

Left on Celebrity out of Port Everglades earlier this month and before we walked in the building their was a person that only checked the negative test, which was a pdf i saved on my phone from the test I took at Walgreens 2 days earlier.

I'll be honest, you could of easily messed with that document and changed the results and I highly doubt it would of been a noticeable thing.   They looked for name and result and my phone was a smaller screened one at 5.7".

Never was asked for Vaccine card as it was already in the system and fully verified.

That said, you are spending all this money on a cruise, have your affairs in order and have exactly what they request on you and don't depend on other experiences or what other people have done to shortcut the process.  

40 minutes ago, rams1976 said:

I've ordered drinks plenty of times on a package and let other people drink them. I've never had any problems.

 Ironically, Its probably much easier to accomplish when everybody in the cabin has the package but you are cruising with friends, or meet new friends on board, that are in a different cabin and don't have the package, and share with them.  Literally there is no real way to trace where the drinks are going unless you are being brazen and doing it right in front of bartenders/staff and talking about it.

I'm pretty certain both of you have to upgrade to the Premium Plus for the exact reason of what you are proposing.  Obviously there could be some medical exceptions to this, but in general that is the rule.

That aside, Premium Plus gives you some power and notability amongst the bar tenders, so once they get to know you, bringing 2 of anything you want on Plus is just not an issue.  I have done it with Starbucks, water, energy drinks, etc.  The caveat being, the bartenders knew that it was me and my wife and that we both had the Premium Plus.  It is possible they police it more if they recognize only one person in the cabin has the package.  Remember "sharing" is not allowed, even though I'm sure people get away with it.  

So technically, if you are able to only get 1 person on Plus in the cabin, that one person "should" have the ability to order 2 unopened drinks and bring them back to the room.

1 hour ago, giselle083031 said:

Hi everyone maybe this has been discussed already being a very lengthy thread I haven’t had a chance to read everyone responses. Last year me and my husband went on Encore to Alaska we did the upgrade to the Premium Plus and even though I love my wine at dinner, Starbucks, bottled water and freshly squeezed juice, for me is too much to upgrade, on the other hand my husband always drinks Zacapa 23 so for him is worth it, we agreed to not upgrade anymore because I couldn’t drink that much as to excuse the price, but on our upcoming trip we have 2 cabins because we will be traveling with our 3 kids so my question is… Can he upgrade without me having to do it? Even though were traveling together but our names are in different cabins? Also while at dinner can he order the bottle of wine without any issue? 

If the cabins are attached to the same name they will likely require any adults attached to the staterooms to upgrade to the PP.  You'd have to really go to the lengths of having both cabins completely separated from each other with each adult basically having their booking and utilize different payment info with no attachments to each other whatsoever.

The hassle doesn't seem worth it.

Zacapa 23 is easily the best rum they have and nothing really compares to it, and with it being $8 over the $15 max I can see your dilemma as Pay as you go seems like a waste if that's gonna be his main drink of choice.

Tough call

2 minutes ago, jennjess said:

It would have been enormously comforting if nothing else to know someone cared about the situation we were in.  Since we had paid for their services I do feel they had some duty of care.

Its a bigger issue in the broader scope of things.  Customer Service isn't what it used to be, anywhere, and people are now normalized to this and also now lack sympathy for people who expect it to be different.

Things didn't always used to be a business interaction in life, companies used to follow up in situations like this and most of these companies built their name and rep off their customer relations.

It really does suck, but its less of an NCL issue and more of a "way of life" issue.

Feel like folks are giving the OP a hard time.  Crap situation and I agree the OP made the wrong decision to board the ship prior to receiving medical treatment but I also can understand where the OP would feel safer/better seeking help with the cruise line vs. in a foreign country.

NCL could of been better at communicating, absolutely, but communication in general has went to ***** across the industry, heck industries outside of cruising.

Just be thankful you did have insurance.  No brainer when traveling that far but some people still roll the dice.  Hopefully you will be able to attempt that cruise another time.

13 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

Walgreens only does drive-thru testing...and  not just in San Juan, but everywhere per their website.

So unless the OP has a car or can find an Uber or taxi willing to take them for a test Walgreens isn't a reasonable option.

 

Good point, a rental would be best, but there is success being reported on Reddit with folks using Uber to go to the drive thru for their appointment.  Obviously you wanna explain your intentions to your Uber driver (testing as a pre cruise requirement . . . not that you think you have Covid) and give him a nice tip and I think he certainly would have no issues obliging.  Heck maybe you get the driver to pick you up and take you to the port as well when its time to cruise.

I did the test in May at Walgreens, I think it literally took 3 minutes for the entire process and results back in 90 minutes. 

Best option IMO if the process remains the same by the time the OP cruises.

Barrachina's has an insane vibe with outside dining.  We loved it.  Heard about it being a tourist trap . . . definitely not.  Lots of tourist visit here but its great, reasonably priced and worth it.  We beat the rush but while inside we saw that line grow for seating.

Pina Coladas were a bit overrated but still tasty.  Had the manager make me a Coquito (seasonal) and enjoyed that much more.

Food was good.  Would be a great birthday celebration spot.

I believe most cruise lines now accept the proctored Antigen tests that you can do yourself.  Having this knowledge, feel comfortable this far out knowing you have an obvious option in case testing is a challenge that time of year or drastically changes.  I believe a 2 pack is like $70 and a 3 pack is $100.  You can do this in your hotel room in San Juan if you want to.

But like someone else mentioned, these rules will more than likely change by the time you cruise, either for better or worse, depending on changes in the pandemic.  When I cruised out of San Juan Xmas 2021, it was mandatory testing on embarkation day and we only needed to test pre cruise if we wanted to know our status prior to flying out and to help get funds back if we tested positive the day of.

Currently Walgreens still does Covid testing in San Juan, and there are tons of them, but again availability and cost could definitely change by the time you cruise.

Either way, I highly suggest testing before you fly.  That is a very long trip to take just to show up in San Juan and then test positive.  Good to have a heads up before you leave, just in case.

Just booked another NYE cruise, this time on the Bliss, and while the Bliss doesn't have a dedicated Martini Bar like Shakers (Epic Shakers bartenders were some of the best ever), I am looking forward to having this package and frequenting Cellars for the more personalized wine experience vs. being put on the spot a bit in the restaurant. 

This package really shines when it comes to the wine/champagne selections.  Gonna attempt to order 2 bottles of Moet at dinner the first night to take back to the cabin since NYE is the embarkation night.

I Have $400 in OBC with prepaid gratuities included so I'm likely going to wait until I get onboard to use that on this package unless the travel agent can apply that OBC in advance.  Would be nice to skip a visit to the bar/guest relations to process but also not a big deal as you can basically go to any bar and upgrade and get your first drink and mingle with your first bartender of many.

Its my new new big thing to look forward on a cruise, especially New Years Eve cruises.  Had the Celebrity Premium Beverage package earlier this month and while it is great to have all that value included (don't have to pay for gratuities, upgrade to Premium was free and they had a really good selection of high end liquors included along with coffee/water/juice) . . . . the wine/champagne selection was awful, even on Premium, plus no bottles obviously . . . and the Coffee bar just wasn't as good as Starbucks, not even close.

The only thing having all that value for Celebrity included did for me is realize that this package on Norwegian is a splurge that I am willing to do, vs. booking elsewhere and not getting my splurge in full.

Like others have said, virtually all port calls are in Old San Juan. 

Carnival brands typically used Old San Juan as an embarkation port (could have changed post Covid once Carnivals resume sailing out of there, if they resume from there in the future) while the NCL and Celebrity brands use the Pan American port as the embarkation port.

So we did Old San Juan precruise for 2 nights and Isla Verde 2 nights post cruise over Xmas/new years.

Was extremely worried about cost but man it worked out very well.

Highly encourage an AirBnB from a highly reviewed host in Old San Juan.  We ended up on San Cristobal street in the thick of everything for $99 a night for a 2 person apartment.  Previously we stayed in the Ocean Park area for under $100 as well.  The key is booking early and again a highly reviewed host (although that Old San Juan get was rare as the host literally had his room booked for like 2 months except for those 2 nights, but there were others).

Post cruise we got our favorite hotel in San Juan, the Hampton Inn by Isla Verde, for $150 a night, plus the resort fee . . . so yea it was like $200 a night after taxes/fees.  Worth every penny as the service is as good as I've ever had in any hotel, with free breakfast, free happy hour and use of beach amenities (chairs/cooler/umbrella/towels/etc).  We had a late flight check out night (11 pm) and they allowed us to stay in our room until 2 p.m for free and then held our luggage while we used the pool area, happy hour and shower area until we were ready to leave.  My second visit here and both times service was outstanding.  They even weighed our bags that night lol.  Great dining options right next door.

Book something reasonable and refundable early (both hotel and or airbnb) and just keep your eyes open as deals come up.  

Did Marmalade on Xmas day the night before my cruise. It was excellent and expensive . . . but excellent none the less and I'm very happy I did it.  

Best thing I did was skip the wine pairing and go for their specialty cocktails.  They have this one tequila based drink, "global warming" I think it was called and we first sipped it and it was very average.  The waiter suggested allowing the craft ice to melt for like 7 minutes as the flavors got a chance to marinate.  We laughed and said "well ok" . . . 7 minutes later and it was arguably one of the best cocktails I've ever tasted.  Left a great impression.  The wine pairing is reasonably priced all things considered but people seemed to regret their decisions a bit as our cocktails looked so interesting.  

They really know their flavors here. White Bean soup was the absolute star but truly it was all good.  Chef came out and added an extra course with Lobster and Risotto.  U basically can ask for more food if you are still hungry or want more of a non entree course, but you won't be (and I definitely can eat).  Was happy to take a slow walk around Old San Juan after while continuing to savor the meal and watch the Christmas celebration/decorations.

The only negative really is that you are gonna spend a bunch of money for a meal that you really don't classify as "Puerto Rican" but there is so much quality cheaper local cuisine options that its nice to make this your one "splurge" foodie fusion experience.

Truly one of the best dining experience I ever had.  The ambiance was perfect.  The service was perfect.  I was expecting some stuffiness and it was very modern and chic.  Dress comfortably nice and enjoy.

Local guide on Google Reviews said it isn't expected to reopen until 2023.  This isn't a confirmation by the company but its about as legit as I've seen from anybody so figure I post it here.

This cruise really put things into perspective on just what is happening with Covid and what you should expect:

1.  People are absolutely transmitting Covid, from day 1, on the ship.  That 2 day window of testing, though short, is enough time to just miss virus from showing up on the test and being highly contagious as soon as you board.  Most folks are flying in after the test, and there are no masks on planes and people go out with the comfort of testing negative pre cruise.  There was a person that was isolated on day 2 with Covid.  Cruise line didn't make an announcement until like day 6/7 trying to deflect it on the "port days".  We had 4 ports and while certainly you can catch it there . . . you can't sell me on 4 outside spaced out days being more of a reason than all the crowded indoor stuff we did on the ship.

2.  Celebrity absolutely did a poor job with sanitation and "healthy at sea" measures.  There were a handful of times where there was no soap in the bathrooms for people to wash their hands after using the bathroom, including right next to Oceanview.  Unacceptable.  

3.  I'd like to see masking made permanent in crowded areas like the Theater, Casino and Celebrity Central.  Just not smart to pack those areas in that inside setting.  One night we came 10 minutes early to a Celebrity Central show and it was completely packed and people were shoulder to shoulder waiting for the show.  

4.  I'd like to see more of an effort to do events outside at night.  One 1 hour night time event on a 9 night cruise just seems stupid.  They have the room and the lighting to do comedy shows, music and other things . . . make the effort.

5.  Fully expect staff shortages, Room attendant being replaced mid cruise and staff that aren't used to being in the area they are assigned due to these shortages.  We had a sommelier who had no clue about wine, she would just bring out any bottle. We had a bartender on the pool deck who needed instruction on how to make a Paloma.  

6.  Just know unless you plan on KN95 the entire cruise and eating isolated and outside, you are vulnerable.  Older demographic was coughing consistently at dinner and blaming it on "allergies", with less of an effort to cover their mouths.  Many don't hear as well and want to come up in your face to hear what you are saying.  The negative test and vaccine provide them a sense of shielding, and trust me it is a great thing that we have both, but I'd like people to be more aware of it not being pre Covid just yet and stop acting like things are normal.  Yes its your vacation and yes you are tired of Covid, but cruising shouldn't be your outlet to drop everything.  Be mindful.

7.  My second cruise this year and NCL did a better job, but in fairness to Celebrity that cruise happened over Xmas and New years out of San Juan when protocols were stronger, masks were enforced inside, we tested day we boarded and I just feel NCL did a better job with outside activities and Puerto Ricans (which was over 50% of the cruise) were much more used to indoor mask wearing and being respectful of space.  The party was every night on the pool deck and it made sense to do that.  Celebrity can definitely learn a few things from NCL.

8.  No regrets, just hope cruise lines aren't stuck up and actually listen to people and consider more things to keep everybody as safe as possible on the ship.  We understand the risks but don't double down on them because they exist.

Was on this cruise and tested positive when I got home and many others did as well on the FB group.  So that number is significantly higher.

Only tested due to having typical wake up sniffles and was gonna go around family today and wanted to make sure I was good after hearing about the high rate.

They definitely could do more outside night activities for a Caribbean cruise.

Service lacked but crew generally was a good group.  Lost our room attendant midweek, who knows if that's how I contracted it.  Celebrity does a poor job disclosing info and doesn't do enough to encourage safe measures.

No regrets though, hopefully this stays mild and can serve as my second booster.

Did this in December with the first booster.

Boosted on 12-9, flew to Puerto Rico on 12-24 and on the NCL cruise 12-26.  Wanted to time it perfectly.

Won't be pursuing the second booster until the booster gets more variant specific but that hasn't stopped the cruising as I am on the Equinox now.

1 hour ago, babs21 said:

Will be cruising next month on Equinox. We have previously sailed on equinox and dined at Sushi on 5. Pricing was ala carte. Does Sushi on 5 offer ala carte prices or just flat fee?

I dined there and used one of my Dining package nights.  This was in 2017 though, so maybe things changed, but I just don't think its known that you can do this.

It was great as I was able to try so much stuff on the menu.

2 hours ago, JustAPilot said:

Do you find you excessively force yourself to drink knowing you spent an extra $500 on the drink package? Knowing I spent the extra I would go out of my way to drink more and customize my Starbucks even though I don’t care for any of those moca latte fappo whatever’s. 

Not at all.  

I mean you have to remember, you get a drink package no matter what so the amount you drink on the standard vs. The premium won't change much from an alcoholic perspective.

The standard is very solid for alcohol. U can do very well on it.

This premium program shines in 4 areas: Unlimited Non alcoholic drinks, unlimited higher end alcoholic drinks that allow you to see why they are more expensive, higher end wines/champagnes/dinner bottles, and the 40% off extra cost items.

That last one was amazing as we did a Macallan tasting flight for $12 that included generous pours of the included Quest, and two of the not included higher end Macallens.  Can get plenty drunk off just the Quest but my intent wasn't to get drunk, it was to experience, and this program allows you to do this.

Honestly the biggest negative to the program is when it comes to port days you are less interested in doing stuff on shore that Includes say a rum punch, for example, because you know you have access to high end rum and experiment ability on the ship for no cost.

Also the bartenders eyes light up when they see your card and it has the plus designation.  They definitely remember you more than others during the week.

Can't stress enough just save up the extra $500 for 2 and do this.

Yes u can easily go to the lido deck and fill up water bottles or got to a bar and ask for tap water or drink regular coffee and drink lower tier wine and spirits.

But for $250 a person u are treated differently.  And if you are like me, your tolerance is just better when u drink higher end *****.

My drink of choice by the pool?  Patron Anejo with La Croix club soda and a splash of pineapple with a lime.  

My drink at dinner?  A bottle of Isabelle Mondavi and we would take a bottle of Moet Chandon to the room

Fully customized Starbucks drinks every morning . . . $9 customizations.

During the day it was Hendricks, Macallen Quest often and countless glasses of Veuve Cliquet.

Probably ran through 60+ cartons of water between the 2 of us between port days and on the ship.  Plenty of San Pellegrino.

Again could I have potentially saved by tweaking a few things, sure . . . But the fact that I just got what I wanted at any time made it worth the investment.

Yep at the Sheraton near Pan American.

Up the escalator, take the Uber directly there if you don't mind keeping your luggage with you.