detroitlions

My son has a peanut, tree nut and egg allergy . We have been on many cruises and many with NCL. We always fill out the form. And like others have said you can tell them what he wants the day before and also they prepare his food separately. He is a adult now but he asks in the buffet and tells them his allergies. He can eat all the meats the pizza and the burgers and dogs. He stays away from all the saucy type stuff and the things he has never had. 1 time we went to Tepenyaki on the getaway and they brought him 2 fillets since he could not eat anything from the grill he loved it and his food defiantly looked better than ours. The specialty restaurants seemed easier to eat at same day with out a day heads up.

If this only happened to a few people NCL should of just let them have the passes.

21 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

Are you on the Encore now?

No sorry I was on the Escape when this happened

On 1/13/2024 at 8:14 PM, Rob_H said:

We mostly go on long cruises, and b2b (and b2b2b and beyond).  So for us the key metric is total cost per cabin per night.  Lower cost means more cruises.

 

During 2018 and 2019, our budget was a total cost (including port fees and service charges) of US$200 per cabin per night ($100 per person), inside.  Sometimes the service charges or a special cruise that worked just right would push it a little over, but most of the time we could keep to that.

 

In 2022 and 2023 we've had 25 cruises on Norwegian.  A few have been within our pre-Covid budget, but most have not.  We've had to increase our budget to $300 total price per cabin per night ($150 per person).  With this budget we've been able to get some fantastic cruises to exotic places, so it's still well worth it and a great deal.  But, yes, the prices are now higher.

 

The price of shore excursions on NCL is another issue, we've been fully priced out of that market, just not worth it.  And honestly we've had much more fun doing things more independently, so don't miss them.

 

 

We stopped doing the excursions a few years ago the prices are totally bad for what you get. In fact the last 4 cruises we would always have a stop or 2 we did not get off the ship. A lot of the stuff they advertise I would never do any way like swim with Dolphins and Sting rays. I see them all the time at home and I consider this cruel to dolphins. 

On 1/13/2024 at 4:46 PM, schmoopie17 said:

Imagine how expensive they would be if they were giant, instead.

I don't understand why they have to make that much profit on shrimp. Shrimp for the most part are cheap in Florida.

I had all my dining res get blown away and had to fix it at the desk. They gave me most of my stuff back and I paid for it. I told the rep that I was not too upset this happened but I explained that I got on the ship real early to try to get Vibe tickets for me and DW and now they are prob all gone. The lady was so nice she chased me down and handed me two passes with bracelet and I was only charged for one pass not 2. 

On 1/10/2024 at 1:05 AM, KeithJenner said:

Being confused is a very common result of phoning NCL.

 

If you want to increase your confusion further you could try calling again, asking the same question and comparing answers.

I have found that when you call they just say yes you can do what your asking. Last year they advertised the beer and wine package (I could not buy online) I called they said yes you can buy this on the ship for your son. On ship I asked they said they do not do that anymore.

23 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I always get a charge out of these types of posts.

 

It's like going to a land based restaurant and telling the manager you don't want to tip 20%.  It will probably go something like this....

 

"I only want to tip 10%"

"Sir/M'am was your server bad?"

"No"

"Was your food not to your liking?"

"It was fine"

"Then why did you even come here?"

 

If you don't see the value in the service charges...ON ANY CRUISE LINE....don't cruise them.  If you don't like the cruise lines' policies, don't cruise them.

 

You can whine about it, you can post here...but in the end, I question why you cruise knowing up front what the charges are and then whine enough to try to justify you punishing the crew by reducing their compensation?

 

You know the charges going into the cruise.  You want to change them after the fact for really no good reason other than you don't want to adhere to the cruise lines' policies.

 

These crew work hard...very hard....harder than probably anyone who is a guest ever worked.  So, is it a "power trip" thing?  Is it a "I have more money than you and I'll show you how to wield it" thing?

 

I have sailed NCL 15, soon to be 16, times.  Service issues have been very few and ver far in between. There was NEVER a service situation that I bought to the attention of management that wasn't rectified quickly and actually overcompensation for the small gaff was way over the top.

 

Further, I've seen people at the Customer Service desk removing/reducing tips.  They are without fail to be curmudgeons and people I try to avoid on board because of their overall attitude.  I don't want them brining my joy and happiness down even a smidgeon.

 

Finally, I HAVE NEVER seen any crew not offer to make whatever transgression (perceived or real) better.

 

 

Agree 100%.

On 1/10/2024 at 10:23 AM, Laszlo said:

BINGO... My wife and I go out to eat about twice a week and we go to 6-7 different restaurants a month. They all have waits, they all have open tables. They can't get enough staff

 

My wife and I have been on a dozen NCL cruise. I can count on one hand our service for a meal was less than great. Only one time did we have really lousy service 

I know of these issues with wait time and staff. But what I do not like is when folks say people don't want to work anymore and the folks serving them are busting there rear ends to serve you I think that is rude as heck. The real reason for the shortages are folks can not survive on the wages they are paid. Its a huge problem in Florida with houses that go from $500,000 to a Million folks that work at the restaurant your at cant afford housing in that neighborhood. 

18 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

The Asian restaurants are on some of the NCL ships, but not all:

• Spirit - Silk
• Dawn - Bamboo
• Star - Ginza
• Jewel - Chin Chin
• Jade - Jasmine Garden
• Pearl - Lotus Garden
• Gem - Orchid Garden
• Epic - Shanghai's
• Pride of America - East Meets West

 

We loved the one on the Dawn and Star. Even though the spirit class is my least favorite ships. The Getaway has a great noodle bar with similar options

If you opt for the free drink package you can bring wine aboard no charge. So its worth it. Not having it is a hassle if you drink at all. People think they save money but they do not and it restricts you.

The Epic is more smoker friendly than most of the newer ships.

There good at showing NFL games so they will not miss the super bowl it will be in the bars also and the big screens out side.

26 minutes ago, BarnCat1 said:

 

 

 

If I can remember correctly, on previous cruises on the Gem (Jewel Class), since smoking areas have been cutback, the smoking was on deck 13, port side, at the Bali Hai bar, which overlooked deck 12 pool area.

 

This would mean on the Jade it's at The Pit Stop, deck 13 overlooking deck 12 pool area as well. Both are right outside of Spinnakers. Also, in the casino and Cigar Bar.  

On my last 2 cruises they actually expanded the smoking areas due to congestion these were away plus ships. They added the area overlooking the main pool on one side of the ship and expanded the smoking area in the back of the ship in H20 on one side.

On 1/6/2024 at 1:17 PM, George C said:

We did book a junior suite with points 😁, there is a Italian restaurant that serves a very nice breakfast just a few feet from doubletree elevators, there are others also , we had a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant also in lobby area , the Italian restaurant has good food and pizza also and there is a bar area with pub food and I believe there is a steak restaurant. One time they upgraded us to a 3 bedroom two bath suite. I like that we can go to multiple restaurants and not walk outside. On weekends one of the restaurants had live music . Yes it’s the biscayne bay location. 

I have stayed at the Marriott next door and I did like that hotel sometimes those two get pricy. I did like the Italian restaurant 

16 hours ago, DMH15 said:

I have stayed quite a few times walking distance to Marketplace and free tram but then I switched to Brickell area as I like the restaurants there. 

One of the hotels I stayed was far from the market place and it made for a boring day. But if the Brickell area has nice Bars/ restaurants I will check it out.

18 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Are you implying that none of the above mentioned hotels weren't good?  

 

🙃

 

They were nice just wanted to hear others experiences and why they like certain hotels it may sway me into staying at said hotel.

19 hours ago, johnnyjay said:

Intercontinental Hotel Miami……….

I like this hotel but man the price when up here it was close to $400 a night.

19 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It all depends on what you want.  Are you looking for a fancy hotel, close to night-life and expensive restaurants?  Or, are you looking for a convenient cheap place to sleep with a free breakfast and easy transportation?  For me, it's the later.

I am a middle of the road person nothing expensive but not really cheap. I like being close to descent food or a good bar restaurant .

Its been a few years since I stayed in Miami. A few places I have stayed in the past were Miami Biscayne Marriott, Hilton downtown, court yard Marriott, and Holliday in Downtown. Any suggestions on a good hotel stay pre cruise I have a group of 7 of us going. 

Just like everything now adays the food in general on my last 2 cruises were on the decline quality and quantity. And I bet it is like that on all main cruise lines. I had hit or miss dinning all over the ship Cagney the folks that ordered Fillet liked there food my Porterhouse was probally the worse I ever had. In the Italian my sons food was not good some chicken hidden in a lot of sauce. The pizza sucked and deserts all over the ship were bad. But we all found some meals to be good but like I said hit and miss. 

On 1/5/2024 at 1:21 PM, The Traveling Man said:

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger.  I've been on more than three dozen NCL cruises and I can't recall that notice in fine print ever catching my eyeballs, either.

I too like it posted on the bottom highlighted. My last cruise I was annoyed with my self because I ate a lame Rueben in the local on the first day and I walked by the buffet later and seen the after math of the prime rib night  I missed out 

There was a huge line last year on the Escape so I skipped the comedians. Not a big loss for me.

So it looks like good news for my March sailing on the Joy. The last 5 cruises I went on they had prime rib on the first day. I usually do not do the special dinners on the first night and the last night.

After reading a few live reviews 2 of them did not have anything listed on the dailies .

NCL always has had a prime rib day or a BBQ or Seafood day in the buffet or the local. Do they still do this some of the dailies I have been seeing on here do not show this. I always do at least 4 specialty dinning nights but hoping they still have the prime rib day that is one of my favs.