DaisyGoldberg

Having sailed once in the Garden Villa, it's something we'd like to try again, but probably will only happen through bidding for the upgrade.

If after the cancellation date our family is in 2 separate cabins, and one of us wins the GV upgrade, am I right that the second cabin people would still be stuck with their costs for their cabin if they canceled it to join us in the GV? That would be the biggest reason not to bid for a GV upgrade as we'd have to figure the cost of that original cabin on top of the bid.

Only way around it I can think of is for the second family cabin not to be booked until the GV upgrade is unsuccessful, but that carries its own risks.

On 5/18/2022 at 8:56 PM, lepidoptera said:

I agree I wasn’t impressed with the sides at Cagney’s on my last cruise (September on the Encore). I had the truffle mashed potatoes and I thought they were horrible and even smelled unappetising. The appetisers (shrimp cocktail and tomato bisque), lamb and crème brûlée I had were all very good though. Next time I won’t order any sides I think. 

Just off the Pearl and the sides at Cagneys were shockingly bad. Steak was good, salad was good, soup was good.  The onion rings (all four tiny onion rings) were straight out of a frozen bag and completely unseasoned. The baked potato was virtually inedible - like it had been sitting in a chafing dish for hours. 

For the first time I can honestly say the main dining room outperformed Cagneys. I didn't have steak there, but I wasn't disappointed in a single entree or side or dessert. In future I don't think we'll eat at Cagneys more than once a trip, and maybe not that if they don't turn it around.

We boarded the Pearl a few weeks ago and were never asked for them. In the past I've handed them over with the passports  - man at desk just wanted the passports and pushed them back at me. 

But I'll always have hard copies just in case.

EDIT - WON'T LET ME DELETE - MY ERROR AS I WAS DESCRIBING THE PEARL BELOW. BUT MAYBE THE PEARL LOOK WILL CARRY OVER TO THE GEM EVENTUALLY?

Just got off a couple of weeks ago. The posts are now a calmer brown and the palm tree tops are gone, replaced with simple white bulbs that extend the column. Nothing remarkable. The green deck has been replaced with a light brown/gold as partially seen in the photos above - looks like maybe they had begun to transition the flooring by December? The bright blue inside the pools has been replaced by one that's a bit more caribbean in tone. The only bright blue pops are the umbrellas on some of the tables as seen above.

All in all much cleaner and less garish. They are definitely going for muted tones throughout the ship.

On 5/3/2022 at 6:31 PM, DaisyGoldberg said:

No, we had Budhi - he was great. I hope I don't come off as complaining. We loved it. The hot tub was always piping hot. I think the chill of Maine (it was 5 degrees that night) really soaked through the windows. 

I guess the ability to edit is time limited - I made a mistake - Budhi was our steward - Lazaro was our butler!

We went on the Pearl a few weeks ago with my mom in a wheelchair. First, be sure to contact the Accessibility department ahead of time to request the wheelchair assistance boarding (as well as any other aids you might need, like a shower chair, etc) This will then be reflected in your boarding documents. The ramp is quite steep in places, so you will appreciate the assistance.

• As the previous poster said, once you get through the "show your passport and vax info" line you'll be taken to the elevator and be in security immediately. A couple of people came and took my mom through a separate line where they frisked her, while we and the carry ons went through the metal detectors. She was done before the three of us were, and met us on the other side of the metal detectors. After that, there are lines sorting into different categories, but there are plenty of people to direct you. 
•  

Moving about the ship is pretty easy - there are some metal bars here and there on the carpet that you need to stop and boost the front wheels over before proceeding, but we found it very accessible. We were using a transport chair - if your mom has a regular wheelchair her experience may be different. In most restaurants we were able to tuck the chair beside us near an empty table as there was plenty of room. When room was tight they would move it out of the way after she moved to the table and return it when we were ready to leave. If she prefers to sit in the chair they will simply move the chair and she can roll up to the table.

Since the ships are not sailing at capacity, we nearly always had elevators to ourselves, so none of the jockeying to get on without running over people, or waiting as full elevator after full elevator went by. Very easy in and out.

On 4/5/2022 at 4:02 PM, rkacruiser said:

  I am very glad that I did not say "no, not ever, etc."  Now, that I have crossed another tech bridge and have a smartphone, given time, I hope to be able to learn how to make it a more useful tool than just make phone calls.  

I think one of the very best gifts I ever got just out of college was working with an older woman who would refuse to take 10 minutes to learn a computer task that would literally save her hours of work weekly (Merging a list with a WordPerfect document for sending a mass mailing she did every few days). She had just reached the point where she would rather do the difficult thing the difficult way it always had been done rather than try, and that amazed me when I knew I could show her in minutes.

Now in full middle age, I get it. But when I have that "i just don't FEEL like learning that whole stupid thing" I FORCE myself, because I know that if I don't keep up, eventually it WILL be beyond  my capacity to catch up. None of it is hard incrementally - children do it. But if you slack off staying current, boy do you need to scramble!

On 3/20/2022 at 11:06 PM, eileeshb said:

  If you want to play it safe pick a cruiseline that has a solos program like NCL, while it’s the largest ships in NCL have the solo-specific cabins they do (or did pre-covid) operate the solos host on the jewel-class ships as well. 

Just got off the Pearl a couple of weeks ago - per my dailies there was a Solos meet up in the afternoon of Day 1, and every evening at 6 pm in one of the bars - presumably this timing set up to facilitate dining/entertainment companionship if wanted, make plans for the next day, etc. These meetings were listed as unhosted, which may be a covid artifact - I seem to recall in the past they had a staff member involved, but maybe that's just the larger ships.  

My first cruise was the Seaward - I think she was 700 feet! 

I recall the dining aspect of old-style cruising fondly - the extravagance of having to choose between 5 soups, and 5 salads, 5 or 6 of every course. I do not miss putting on panty hose, full makeup and jewelry, nor do I miss the forced companionship. We never really lucked out and made friends - at best people were pleasant conversationalists that we'd wave to if spotted elsewhere. At worst... there was one couple that would spread all their vitamins/pills/supplements out on the table before each meal (before supplementation was particularly popular). Then we'd learn what each thing was *for*.  

I did like getting to know the servers over the course of the week, which despite the formality of the dining situation made for much more informal interactions with staff. And the baked alaska parade!

I was telling my family recently that those were the days where food wasn't available 24/7, hence the midnight buffet. If you didn't feel like going down to dinner, you were pretty much out of luck until breakfast, as best as I can recall.

Be sure to ask for your wine if you want it. I've probably done 20 Latitude dinners and not once been offered the wine. We don't drink it so don't care, but it's clearly one of those amenities you need to be proactive about.

I'm curious at all the folks saying they take a new picture at the port anyway. Just cruised last week and they didn't. I saw other people needing to reshoot theirs the old fashioned way at the check in desk, so it's obviously possible, but they didn't ask anybody in our party to. 

So if your picture is sufficient, that's one skip you will not NECESSARILY need to repeat. 

With masks you'd think it would not be quite as effective, especially as family members resemble each other. But I'm terrible at faces - others might be far more discerning.

8 hours ago, insidecabin said:

On the facial when doing behind the scenes tours(remember them?) you sometimes see a VIP mugs gallery in strategic locations usually any Ambassadors along with the top suite guests.

That could be it!  I wasn't surprised at being recognized after a few days in places we'd been (my mom has striking white hair and the wheelchair, of course), but that one really threw me. As a higher manager she probably had her own set of mug shots and maybe by glancing at ours she knew we were likely to dine outside the Haven!

My sister will die - she didn't care about her photo because who was going to see it - one guy for one second letting you board or get off the ship?  Heh heh heh.

19 hours ago, Artcricket said:

It’s great to read reviews from people that have realistic expectations and can note minor things that don’t affect their overall cruise. I was just joking to my son that I’d love to read the review from the “Buffett” lady.  

Thank you - I think we ALL know a buffet lady. It's a sad way to go through life.  

Maybe I should check the NCL/TripAdvisor ship reviews because she probably wrote one!

Yes, my sister smokes and I will ask her who got her the ashtray. She didn't go upstairs with it at all. The deck steward emptied it in the course of his rounds. She only used it a couple of times a day. No smoking indoors. It was quite sheltered at the dining table outside when weather was bad.

I think we told the butler 8 am but sometimes it arrived earlier. The coffee stayed hot in the carafe. He'd bring cups and saucers and creamer and a dish containing 4-5 pastries and 2-3 muffins, wrapped with saran wrap. He placed everything on the table which had a table cloth after the first couple of days when they saw we were using it. 

We also sometimes hit the buffet late at night and would leave the dishes/silverware on the bar. He'd pick them up in the same trip, I think. Ice was usually filled later in the morning. 

Don't be too concerned about the noise. The middle cabin is probably the quietest if you have a light sleeper, and it was not an issue the first couple of nights at all. It was a rough weather week (not terrible, but lots of intermittent driving rain). And it was April!  I think in June you will probably experience something much smoother. 

It truly is an amazing experience and a wonderful place for gathering together with family. We were only a group of 4 - with a larger party those big tables would have gotten a lot more use. You will have space to spread out but also gather together, while being able to close a door behind you in your room.

If you choose to have coffee/pastry dropped off in the morning, it's great not to have to leave the suite. Only two of us drank coffee, but my niece took the morning leftover coffee and made iced coffee. There's also fruit on the table and the butler will refill what he sees you are eating.

The Haven courtyard is steps away on the other side of the elevator bank, and you can just walk in and grab a cup of coffee and a snack to take back to the room, or sit down and order breakfast.

Here's the language from BDA after I submitted the initial information:

Bermuda Travel Authorisation (By Sea) (Cruise Passenger) Note

Dear Traveller,

You have successfully submitted your travel authorisation application.

If you have applied within 4 days of departure and uploaded your pre-travel test/vaccine certificate, your application will be reviewed between 9am and 8pm to ensure that the pre-arrival test/vaccine certificate you have uploaded meets Bermuda's valid test requirements as outlined here.

• If you have applied MORE than 4 days prior to depature - you will receive an REMINDER email 4 days prior to depature with a link to upload your documents - Pre-Test and Vaccine Certificate.
• Once your application is approved, you will receive an email with a link to your Travel Authorisation document.
• If your application is rejected, you will be notified as to why it was denied.

 There will be a link in the  reminder email allowing you to return to your application to complete the document uploads.

Bermuda appears to want you to do them separately, opening up the file in advance so that two days before all you need is the test result. NCL keeps contradicting them saying "do it at the same time!"

I did mine a week ahead of time, got the confirmation and case #, and multiple reminders to be sure to upload the results when they came in. Contrary to NCL's "it might be rejected if you submit separately" scare letters, the Bermuda folks seemed extremely organized and not the least bit discouraging about uploading the items separately. Each communication reminded me that I needed to upload the test results on that specific date, and provided the link to do so. It was all automated, so this is clearly the way they expect it done (or one way they expect it done)

My sister waited and did it all same day. Her covid test was 7 am. Mine was noon. I had my complete documents within a couple of hours and she got hers much later in the day even though her test was 5 hrs earlier than mine. I think they probably go in order of case number, since they can "move" cases faster if the only thing they're looking at is one item (the covid test result) as opposed to everything else.

12 hours ago, A1SusieQ said:

Great job with all the details. So useful as we will be staying in the Pearl GV in July. 😀

You're going to have a blast. It's a great ship and the crew are wonderful. 

14 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Just an FYI, we had the Map channel on our cruise, I love to leave that channel on as I get ready each day...

That's good to hear. My sister really missed it.  

13 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Did you have Amit as your Haven butler?  I was there with @Sailing12Away for the review you are speaking of.  I can tell you there were almost zero complaints about the room then.  The biggest thing I remember was the hot tub being not super hot the first day, but the Caribbean air fixed that quickly.  LOL

I ate breakfast at the table on the top deck every day, and it was amazing.  
 

No, we had Budhi - he was great. I hope I don't come off as complaining. We loved it. The hot tub was always piping hot. I think the chill of Maine (it was 5 degrees that night) really soaked through the windows. 

Facial recognition

I wonder if this is used in other parts of the ship than just embarkation/debarkation. For example, I went to the main dining room (Summer Palace) with my mother for lunch. Both were masked. We accessed on deck 6 because of the wheelchair, so we bypassed the check in area at the top of the stairs where they check your card. We waited at the foot of the stairs to be greeted, and the manager came running down the steps and greeted us by name and stage whispered our cabin number to a waiter and asked them to seat us in a specific window seat. We had never been to that dining room before. We had not told the butler or concierge we were planning on going there. So how did she know who we were and scurry over to help?

In some locations servers would perk up at the number of the cabin and deliver what appeared to be more attentive service, in others, no reaction whatsoever (and perfectly fine service, just not as obvious catering). Again, not complaining, just pointing out that you may encounter this sort of thing here and there.

We were very grateful for the additional GV personal attention because my mom used the wheelchair more than expected during this trip, so a personal escort to dinner and then across to the show came in very handy from time to time and certainly when boarding/disembarking. The concierge or butler personally took the chair to the dining room table when they knew we were going and helped her into her seat. Would I want a personal escort to dinner or the show if I was not with someone who required additional assistance? I think I probably would have declined it except on a huge ship where it might bypass some traffic on a night when I was cutting timing close.

Immigration

In Bar Harbor, Haven guests assembled in courtyard and were taken down together. We were given strict instructions to stay in our suite and ignore other Haven instructions and the concierge would personally collect us. This worked out well as the timing of these things starting is never clearcut and ended up being delayed. He arrived and handed us (the GVs and DOS) off to someone else who paraded us down to the front of the line holding up a HAVEN/VILLAS sign up in the air for us to follow which was a bit embarrassing, but probably a bit of advertising on NCL’s part to those waiting in line. My sister was the first one through, and we followed right after. They formed 3 lines so things moved very quickly behind us.

The only other time I’ve come back through immigration in Maine was on the Dawn, in an SJ suite, and the line of passengers stretched all through the ship – as if it were the last day trying to get off. Saw many fewer people this time, so a trifle less embarrassing. The Haven front of the line perk is priceless for saving time in that particular process.

Disembarkation

Met in suite, taken to Lotus Garden. Mom in wheelchair escorted in elevator, rest of us walked down 2 flights, taken off ship by NCL folks, then met by (nice) Massport woman who walked us to our luggage, got a porter and out to the car.

Hope this helps provide some background info for those considering a GV trip. You’ll have an amazing time!

Food

Most curious snack – a cheese plate consisting of 10-12 assorted cheese slices/wedges… and three saltines. Rest was the usual cookies, sandwiches/chips, canapes, chocolates, strawberries, and towards the end some bowls of nuts, M+Ms (off brand, but tasty – both the mini ones and peanut) and gummy bears (surprisingly good – I’ve always found them hard and flavorless but these were juicy and tasty). After a couple of days we asked for coffee and pastry to be delivered each morning, and this is certainly something we will continue in future suites as it removes the pressure of getting to breakfast if you have a slow moving family member. If you don’t, you don’t.

Buffet – seemed okay, but didn’t spend much time there. In the Great Outdoors late at night there were some good selections, and some appeared to be leftovers from the restaurants (eg a potato soup that we had had earlier that evening in one of the restaurants, cinnamon pineapple that probably originated in Moderno, etc.)  Who knows – your fave dish may make an appearance! 

Cagney’s waiter explaining meal plan: “one appetizer, one soup or salad, one entree and up to 2 sides. Let me repeat that for you so we are clear…” No other specialty waiter ever said anything (but then we only ever order one of anything anyway, so they’d have no reason to)

Teppanyaki – have done this on land before and never felt that inclined to try it on a ship, but figured we would give it a try. I don’t understand why there is no door separating that room from the Lotus Garden.  It really negatively impacted the experience as the chefs were working so hard to entertain us and we couldn’t hear them over the loud music coming from the lounge. I have hearing loss anyway, so combined with four chefs performing at once it was a bad situation for me and would be for anyone who has difficulty with background sound. Other presumably better hearing folks at our table had to ask servers to repeat themselves, too.

Indigo – Perfectly nice, had a great seat by the window. Food was good. Otherwise don’t remember a thing about it.

Summer Palace – I really liked this dining room, bright and cheerful. The “paintings” were nice to look at until you remembered everybody in them was brutally murdered not long after, at which point it became a bit unsettling.  Just me?

Cagneys - really downgraded in my opinion. We ate there twice and it was mediocre. The steak was good, but the baked potato and onion rings were buffet quality (not that I'd order either in a buffet). The wedge salad was good. My mom loved her soup. I was more satisfied with our dining room meals (non-steak) overall, so think we may keep to one Cagney and one Moderno dinner next time. 

La Cucina - we had pizzas in the suite one night. They were fine, but not great. I wouldn't waste a meal credit on them.

Moderno – very good as always, pineapple better than ever.

Butler Service

Butler service is a nice Haven perk, but a difference we noted in the GV is that other staff on the ship felt compelled to call the butler to do things for us without checking with us first. For example, we had lunch in Moderno, wanted to take dessert back to our room to enjoy it there. It’s one floor up, we are going directly there – can they wrap it and we will take it to go? Waiter says “sure.”  Manager then comes back and says “I called your butler and he will deliver them.” So now he’s pulled out of whatever he’s doing to go collect the desserts we were perfectly willing to carry ourselves, and we’re sitting there waiting for them to show up instead of already eating them in our private dining room. 

In the main dining room, finished meal, decided to go back to the room. Asked them to bring the wheelchair from wherever they had parked it. Waited. Nothing. Manager came over “we called your butler.” No need to bother him and had they asked we would have said no, we prefer to do it ourselves. So if this level of service is NOT what you want, best to be up front about it because they will definitely call in your butler before telling you they are going to do so! It became a running joke with one of the waiters who we asked to please not rat us out to the butler – when he’d see us in another restaurant he’d walk by and threaten “I’m going to call your BUTLER!”

Passengers

Most were great – people were happy to be sailing again, as were the staff. Saw some “happy” drunk people but nobody behaving badly. Hot tubs were always full, even in the very worst rain and high seas. Participation in ship games was good natured with good sportsmanship.

There was one lady we encountered several times who was noticeably miserable and intent on sharing that everywhere she went. At the buffet she was waiting for carved chicken and was badgering the poor man slicing it for her. “I want white meat. No, that’s dark meat. I want the breast.” [walking away in a loud huff] “I know what white meat is, you can’t fool me!” (as best I could tell he was slicing a well-seasoned breast) To a different buffet worker minutes later “I don’t know why you make all this awful weird food that nobody is going to eat!” (said in relation to a wild rice salad, apparently.) Days later in Spinnaker “This is NOT a Bahama Mama.” I felt for her traveling companion, but I have to assume she’s no better at home, so if that’s what he’s willing to put up with, it’s on him.

TV is a big letdown compared to bigger ships (and even the Gem) No daily videos from cruise director, no map channel, no rebroadcast of things like the Newlywed show that we always enjoyed if we missed it live. A handful of randomly timed movies and tv episodes, news stations (try to avoid on vacation). Kind of like sailing in the 90s again. Maybe they haven’t brought back the media team? Two NCL stations had permanent “No content on this station at this time” screens. I’ve heard rumors they’re switching to the newer smart tvs so maybe they’re just not sinking money into content/live media teams until the switchover takes place. There was a nice new feature of interviews with various crewmembers about themselves and their jobs.

Apparently there was a DVD player in the living room but we didn’t find that until near the end (and likely wouldn’t have used it anyway). Just goes to show how quickly you adjust to nicer things like movies on demand and seeing your bill and activities online (I realize in retrospect that stuff was probably all on the app which I downloaded prior to the trip but never opened)

These are minor quibbles – we don’t come on cruises to watch tv. Just a change from prior cruises that I thought worth noting.  

Handicap access

This is not an officially accessible suite, and we knew that (and were explicitly told that when making wheelchair boarding arrangements). You need to step over raised door frames to the courtyard, showers, etc.  The requested shower chair was in the master. My mom can walk, but we brought the wheelchair for long distances and her walker for short trips like down one flight to Moderno/Cagneys.

We also brought her snap on grab bars from home – they came in extremely useful to move from her walker into the toilet stall. There is a very narrow grab bar next to the toilet but relying on that would have made for 2-3 steps with nothing but the wall/glass door to hold onto. We placed one outside the door and one between the door and the ship’s grab bar and this provided much needed stability. They attached easily to the tile walls. I meant to try them on wallpapered walls while we were there to see if they would help in a different cabin set up, but I forgot. Highly recommend these if you or someone you travel with needs something sturdier to hold onto than what might be provided. I could have used one on the Breakaway in that bad tub setup where there’s nothing to hold onto but the sliding glass door.

We did end up taking turns spending  nights with her in the master because the ship’s movement and her reliance on the walker made us uneasy that she might fall unattended on the ceramic floor which got quite cold. Originally we thought the smallest bedroom might be the best fit for her but walker maneuverability and the step up into the toilet area worked against it.

Limo

On day four concierge asked if we had a ride set up post cruise, as if we needed one, it was one of our amenities. We had already booked with a local company and didn’t want to cancel on them for some unknown outfit, but had we known we would certainly have booked it. I had spoken with the pre cruise concierge about the other amenities and she did not offer it, not was it mentioned in any of our documents. (Basically, all our documents said "Dear Guest" so there was no red carpet rolling pre-cruise!) Definitely reach out and arrange limo service before going if this is something you would like. I think he said the radius was 20 miles but intimated it could be fudged a little. In many places this would encompass the airport.