SMerritt

My stomach hurts, eyes watering, just spewed coffee on my monitor

Thank you ALL for the laughs

We were on the Breakaway in September, I am a "syrupy" person on ships at breakfast, the syrup served in the Haven was good old Log Cabin or something similar.

Leaving on the Epic in 2 weeks, and I am now living in fear of molasses-based pancake and waffle toppings. Will update on my return

Packing syrup is just out of the question - I would have to unpack one of my pairs of shoes.

Sounds like its pretty good on most lines so I will definitely have to do at least one night to check it out. Saw Allure has a Chops, that got my mouth watering.

Did not find one good steak on RCL Oasis

The Grille on Princess is Amazing! A REAL STEAKHOUSE! Check it out on the Princess website and on the Cruise Critic Princess boards. Ate at the Grill 4 out of 7 days.

Cagney's Steakhouse on NCL ships has good steak selections

Never skipped a drill and never will. Honestly don't find anything humorous or fun about this thread. :confused:

Agree.......we never miss the drills

NCL now scans your sea pass

It is for your safety to know where you are going, and if there was an emergency, not to be impeded by lost souls that skipped the drill.

Last summer DHS and I cruised NCL around Hawaiian islands. We were told to take Sail cards and photo ID. At one port when coming back to ship, bus stopped at gate, checked drivers ID the. Boarded to check all passengers on the bus. One person did. to have his Photo ID. They were escorted off the bus --- wife/girl friend went off with him. Would guess she had to go in through the "walk in" gate, showing the ID then bring back his photo ID so he could walk through.

Some ports in Hawaii are "working ports" and require a photo ID. You also need a photo ID and ship card to re-enter the port in Nassau

Many of the NCL ships now have special Solo Cabins with a private Studio Lounge for Solo Cabin guests only

I toured this area on the Epic and almost booked myself a solo cruise :D

I am not cleaning the house, I am not cooking, I am not washing clothes and ironing, I am not driving, and the list goes on.

The crew is pampering me.

Unpack once but still experience numerous destinations

Not wandering around resorts or other strange places, looking at menu's on restaurant doors for meals

Surrounded by other happy cruisers

A ton of activity options or, just relax and do nothing.........

Arghhhhhh! Three more weeks!:cool:

The Loft suite on the Oasis was amazing......

Service, entertainment, etc.on the Oasis was abismal - Back to NCL

Thank you all.

 

I have developed this irrational fear of missing the ship. It gets worse every time. I wouldn't even consider not cruising. My husband loves it so much and once I get there, so do I.

 

He has offered to start going to the port several days early, bless his heart. He tolerates my stupidity, thank heavens.

 

I think when we return from this trip I'm going to see what my doctor says about it.

If it will save you a Dr. visit.....

I actually start checking the weather weeks before our flight.

Due to a multitude of reasons, we have to fly in the day of the cruise, if you can go a day or two early do it! I do book non-stop flights.

Sailing in 3 weeks - I am totally obsessed with getting to MIA and on the ship.

Wish I could move to Florida! :D

Does anyone know if the BMG show has changed in the last year?

We are leaving for cruise #3 on the Epic in a few weeks, #1 and #2 the show was exactly the same, still fun but no surprises.

I saw in your signature that your staying in the Haven on BA. Tell the concierge all the reservations and shore excursions you want. The concierge will take care of it. I booked my clam shell and Disney excursion thro the concierge. You will have priority disembark and when you get to GSC you will be on the first tender to GSC and can get a clam shell in the first row.

Your Haven concierge will book everything for you, reserve your clam shell(s) early. If you do not like the location of your reserved clam shell(s), do not be shy, the beach staff will let you choose your preferred location.

Have a great cruise, GSC has become one of our favorite days!

Western Caribbean, Cozumel - We live in Califonia, I can go to a touristy city in Mexico anytime, bad beached

And certainly Jamaica never again, happy we saw the falls, but, so happy to get back on the ship! Thank you CC members for the advice to do a ship tour.

Southern - Tobago, worse than Jamaica for feeling safe. It was new when we sailed, possibly things have changed?

Puerto Rico is amazing, sad to see it getting bad reviews

If your cruise is only a couple weeks away (not that the op mentioned that), you can go to a processing site and get it in a couple hours.

 

Also, you can sign up for notifications via email with where it is in the process and what the tracking number from the USPS is.

 

Ruthie

The processing sites just fill out the forms for you and mail them, the same as doing it yourself

I would not feel comfortable sharing all of my personal information online with just any website, and trusting the site to send correct information and/or the time it would take for a "second party" to correct anything the passport officials might not like.

Fortunately, our P.O. has passport assistance - they checked ALL of our forms and documentation - mailed them for us, new passports arrived in 3 weeks. Beware, if your cruise is getting close, you DO have to include your ORIGINAL birth certificate with the application - our birth certs were returned/arrived about a week after our passports

Looks like we are booking RCL Navigator if the Seas June 28, 2014. I have no idea about Cozumel, Belize City, and Roatan. We are beach lovers and want to make the right choice for our one or two beach days. If someone with experience can advise me I would be SO grateful!

 

We are a family of four w/two boys 12 & 13 + Auntie and Uncle--very cool 60somethings. Auntie likes shade. Uncle likes a good martini. We only get to see them once a year, so a disappointing excursion distracts from our time together. (Horrible experience on Grandeur of the Seas [Aug '13 caused us to be at guest services more than the bar:(... That's for another post)

 

:DOur Profile: We love cabanas (up for a rental$), white sand, crystal water, tiki bars, lounge chairs (waiter service a +), bathrooms/showers, live music. **Half Moon Cay (a la Carnival) was an absolute dream.:)**

 

DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH: coral beaches, tourist traps, aggressive cabbies (like in Nassau :mad:), coves (aka stagnant toilet basins Coco Cay:(), bartenders who are "drunker" than me (again Coco Cay :rolleyes:), unappealing amenities.

 

Love Ziplines, snorkeling, water sports, yada yada...

 

Also love eateries/pubs, live music, art, shopping off the beaten path...

 

Thanks in advance!

Research resorts on the islands you are visiting and inquire about day passes - we have spent the day at five star resorts on many other islands for about $25.00 each for the day. All amenities included except for food and drink, some do include lunch.

I am 66.........

Sparkly tops and fancy capris for evenings.

My FAV item is Tennis Skorts! (Golf skorts are longer and usually cotton)

I got so tired of boring, usually wrinkled, shorts.......and after checking out fellow passengers that looked so nice - I saw the light!

I have found brand names (Addidas, Nike, etc.) on ebay for a fraction of the cost of sporting good stores.

The knit, all-in-one Skorts, stay looking nice, comfy in humid weather, and I feel a little more "dressed" scooting around the ship during the day.

They can be hand washed and dry FAST! I even went swimming in one when we happened upon an un-planned beach stop.

Take a 3 dollar land taxi to Atlantis. You can tour the Aquarium for a fee or walk around the grounds for free. We have been to Nassau three times, first trip was to Atlantis, second trip was a walk to the straw market, a quick turnaround and back to the ship, the third visit we stayed onboard and enjoyed the peace and quiet.. happy cruising

We take the $3:00 (or $4?) ferry to Atlantis, it is a fun "tour". The Ferry boats are a short walk from the ship.

Check out the fancy shops and yachts, have some great conch fritters outside by the water at Atlantis. I Get all of our shopping done (right by the port), TONS of stores and an insane indoor straw market, then an easy walk back on the ship to enjoy the peace and quiet.

We usually self-disembark and are one of those "first-one-off-the ship" people due to limited flight schedules to get home to our doggies, business, etc.

Most early-birds are on a tight schedule and we are all stressed and bummed the cruise is over, some people can get down-right ugly.

We self-disembark, but to make life easier, we found, that placing our luggage out the night before and grabbing it "down stars" on our way to customs has made disembarking 50% easier. We can squeeze into elevators that would be too full with luggage, and there are usually steep stairs and escalators on the way out.

Has anyone ever flown from the West Coast to the Florida on a red eye flight? If you did, did you have any problems....would you have rather arrived the day before rather than the morning of? We will be taking a cruise the end of March out of POM.

Thanks :confused:

 

We have always flown the Red Eye to MIA and FLL from SFO. We are the same distance to SAC and closer to Oakland but we insist on Non-Stop flights when we fly in on the day of the cruise. Scheduling flights between central California and Florida is challenging. Jet Blue and AA have had the best schedules. I do check both MIA and FLL.

Then we take a cab to the Hyatt Regency on Second Street, have breakfast and hang out in a quiet place in the lobby for a while since there is absolutely no place to even sit at the port. There are always other cruisers at the Marriott, the staff is wonderful even though we are just "hanging-out", (closed bar by the windows-nice sofas), the head valet even hugs me on arrival.

If we could fly in the day before departure - we would definitely do it....

Before we even left port, a lady on the balcony next door would be talking to someone inside the cabin.

"Johnny why is the water blue?"

"Johnny why is there air?"

"Johnny we can not see land"!

Johnny.....Johnny......Johnny.....

THEN the second day out - "Johnny, your father would have loved cruising, thank you for bringing me, I am so happy right now"........

Bless Johnny & Mom.......

Sorry you had to learn the hard way. All the problems you encountered, plus many others, are mentioned over and over in many reviews. I guess sometimes you have to touch the hot stove to really believe it is hot.

 

We have very low expectations for our next Epic cruise, hopefully the burns will only be 2nd degree this time.

Opinions Vary......Please come back and report on your Epic Cruise

We have sailed on a few lines now - NCL is still our favorite, we will be sailing on the Epic for the third time in a few weeks. I am excited!

Possibly Epic service has changed? We sailed on the Breakaway in September and found an abundance of the Epic Crew is now on the Breakaway .......time will tell

We will be traveling on ncl during all the college bowl games....will we be able to watch the games while on the cruise? What is the tv/cable situation?

A major Bowl Game will possibly be available in O'Sheehan's or another venue on your ship.

Check with the bartenders in O'Sheehan's when you board - they might just plan a party around some of the Collegiate Games

After many NCL Cruises, we decided to try RCL Oasis - we are now back to NCL

Our main disappointment with RCL was the daily activities and entertainment was just "not there" and even the burger place was a "specialty restaurant", the ship looked great on the website but in person, nada Compared to NCL, there was no Atrium with music etc. No "Pub" entertainment or pub crawl.

Possibly NCL does not advertise sea day activities much, I am sure there are posts with daily activities or, just ask, and a CC member will be happy to post some old listings.

Our September cruise on the Breakaway (Getaways sister ship) was OVER THE TOP! We actually could not fit in everything we wanted to do!

As posted above, check out the NCL Cruise Critic boards....I CAN NOT wait until our GETAWAY!

Have a great time!

Thank God that I made it to the ship without any mishaps. For some reason, I'm always a little anxious until my feet are firmly onboard. :D

Me too!.........then hit the Lavazza machine in the suite, and change the clothes that I have been wearing forever - flying overnight from CA to the East Coast usually.

I have self-disembarked and I have had the bags taken off by the crew after leaving them outside the door. The second way is much much easier.

Agree........

We tried "Plan #1" once - haul our own bags - Never Again!

Back to "Plan #2" - We now leave our luggage out the night before, self disembark at our leisure, or hurry to catch a flight, faster and less stress.

Luggage, Disembarking Passengers, and Elevators do not mix well

My belt buckle will work in a pinch and if she is sleeping so will my wife's false teeth :)

Spewing coffee on my monitor!

Yeah, no more steel car bumpers at sea or on land:D Hit the kitchen magnet department at your first port. You will have a new souvenir bottle opener for $3-$4 ;)

I left a small pile of clothes at home last cruise - Never missed them, almost to the point of doing a 7-Day cruise with a carry-on.

I do now sail with hi-liter pens, and a few shoe bags - hang them in the closet, no clutter on vanity's or or junk drawers.

I am 65, hence the car bumper. Shoe bags = CRS I can spend an hour looking for my shoes on my feet!

On Embarkation day, at lunch in the Haven Restaurant, A charming couple sailing with their daughter that has food allergies were seated at an adjoining table.

They had barely just sat down, when a crew member (dietitian?) immediately came over and introduced herself.

During the whole cruise, this crew member hovered over the sweet young lady like a mother-hen. She was always served "special foods" that were fun and fancy, even her meal in the Cirque Show arrived along with everyone else.

We love NCL, and seeing the TLC for this family will never be forgotten, and made us even bigger NCL fans.