tawcat

Well I guess than its been that long since we cruised.  Still very disappointing.  Has Celebrity adopted this policy as well?

I was quite disappointed when I went to purchase a drink package prior to our upcoming New England cruise.  Once when did RCCL start requiring both adults in a stateroom to purchase an alcoholic drink package?

In all the cruises we've taken, like 37 or so, neither of have ever bought a drink for someone else using our drink package.  Just really upsets me that those of us that are honest are being penalized for the those that have cheated.

Thank you for the review! What kind of day activities did you notice were missing? We look forward to the trivia and other little things throughout the days.

Trivia was alive and well, however a bit obscure. At least the questions weren't the normal ones we all know the answers to. One particular session the winners had 7 out 20!!!!!

Did not see any of the usual games, maybe missed them on the daily.

Not gonna write a huge review and will try to keep my comments positive where I can.

Our cabin 9098 was in an excellent location, right off the elevators. For the most part we had no issues with noise. I really don't understand why people have to let their cabin door slam. Obviously they do this at home as well.

The cabin was clean and tidy. Our cabin steward Komang was most attentive, surprised with a towel animal every night and kept our cabin spiffy.

Bar service was good as most bars. Maltings provided us Wini, she was most delightful. Took very care of us. Matter of fact, I caught a cold the third day, Wini prepared what she referred to as Jungle Tea. It contained orange slices, lemon and lime wedges that she mulled, added fresh mint leaves and poured in hot water. Took it to the cabin, let it steep a bit and slowly consumed it. Felt much better by morning.

Casino was not our friend we left a healthy contribution.

Indigo and Summer Place restaurants were just okay. Indigo very dark, Summer Place bright and lively. The menus have changed and me not being a fussy eater found it difficult to find something that sounded tasty. The carved beef and turkey were both disappointments.

Dined at La Cucina one night, menu looked fine, however I was not feeling well so I had soup and left. The other five in party said the food was good. Dined at Cagney's and have to admit the steak was great as was the service.

Both embarkation and disembarkation went fairly smoothly, no complaints.

Cozumel as usual was Cozumel. Did not get off the ship in Honduras been there many times. Costa Maya I stayed aboard due to illness. My wife and friends went ashore and had a good time. Belize was a big disappointment. There is nothing about Belize at Harvest Caye. This is a built up commercialized money provoking tourist trap. So if you have visions of visiting Belize, Harvest Caye is not it. The joint venture between, Norwegian, Oceania and Regents cruise lines has been opened for just over a year. Google it and read, I was amazed by the $499 per day villa rentals.

The ship was clean and very well kept. The crew and staff most friendly. Daytime activities were very limited. Seemed that many activities have either been discontinued or not advertised.

All in all it was an okay cruise. Very evident of the cutbacks to save bucks.

Thank you for all that info.

Just got an email from NCL saying something about "iConcierge." Anyone use this service, is it really free?

Thanks for the replies.

I've read and re-read NCL's dress code and am still confused. I think there are two main dining rooms? One for those desiring to dress up for dinner and one for those desiring to dress casual for dinner.

I'm wanting to pack very lightly and would rather just pack shorts, nice shorts no cutoffs etc. So I'm wondering if nice dressy shorts are permissible in the dining room at dinner?

Traveling with two other couples that I'm sure will want to eat in the dining room.

Just an after thought. When we boarded on 11/6, our luggage except for one bag was delivered to the cabin. We were informed by our cabin steward that security had held the last bag. Had to go down to deck 2 to retrieve it. There was a note on the bag that said "extension cord." The security guy placed the bag on the scanner so I could see where it was, I opened the bag found the culprit cord and was told it was a fire hazard. They kept it and told me we could claim upon return to the port.

Funny as this surge protector has been on most of our cruises and this was the first time it was ever stopped.

So heads up, if you're planning on packing an extension/surge protector cord you may want to think twice.

We arrived at the terminal about 11am, not sure how y'all were not in lines. From the time we got off the shuttle until we boarded the ship we were in lines. We did notice that once we got upstairs and through security the shortest lines to process were those that had no tier level in Captain's Club (first time cruisers line.)

I remember the days of a three page dinner menu, now you have one page, Starters and Entrees. The only menu item I had that wasn't up to par was the Swordfish. Several nights I ordered soup and salad starters and a shrimp cocktail as my entree.

Cruising is still better than any land vacation.

sorry to hear that you noticed some cutbacks. we are sailing on Dec. 9, 2017 and hope your experiences were temporary. were you in a suite, sky suite or regular cabin?

Did you have the "to go" pkgs for internet, liquor and tips?

Regular cabin, had all the perks.

Posted a review of the sailing. Will provide link once approved.

We were a bit disappointed for some reason. Celebrity has really cut back on those little things that made cruising enjoyable. Nit picking here, but every time we ordered at or from a bar staff we had to ask for napkins. I hate puddles on tables and to me its ridiculous not to provide a napkin.

Embarkation took forever. Recalling prior cruises we'd go to the appropriate line, process through and wait for maybe an hour before being allowed on ship. This process we stood in line for maybe 45 minutes, once we were done we immediately proceeded to board. This surely alleviated the big rush to the buffet.

Disembarkation in Miami was a breeze, no Customs or Immigration. The Immigration was conducted prior to going ashore in Key West.

We stayed at the Springhill Marriott next to the medical center the night before. Great place to stay, a bit remote, but the hotel restaurant was not bad. They did provide a shuttle service, $10 per person the pier and offered a post cruise shuttle for $10 per person. We opted to that to guarantee us a transportation to Miami airport. The post cruise shuttle was quite confusing. You called for pickup and waited. Never told on the front end where to wait etc. We ended up waiting for almost an hour. Can't blame the driver, he was just doing what the bosses told him to do.

Not sure what else I can say. I'll check the thread occasionally for the next few days, if you have a specific question I'll try to answer it.

Just received an email from the Port of New Orleans. They tell me there is plenty of parking at the Whale Wall (Julia Street) lot. Only oversized vehicles need to make reservations.

Thanks for the info. I think we will plan to park at the Fulton Place garage. Covered parking, security on site and about $8 cheaper a day than the Whale Wall.

It is the Julia Street lot (all lines except Carnival).

 

Carnival uses the parking garage at Erato Street.

Thank you. Do you possibly know if you can reserve a parking spot prior to the cruise?

Is this the Erato Street lot? Trying to reserve for Feb 10th. Thanks.

Kellie in Texas: We didn't do any excursions this cruise. I do recommend the Salsa and Salsa in Cozumel if you like cooking, Mexican food and margaritas.

Singer4Him: I wouldn't say the up sells are pushy, but as I stated I think I've figured out the drink package advantage for the cruise lines. They push the packages, make them sound so very enticing, but then limit how many bar staff are located about. Most times when poolside we went after our own drinks due to few or non-existent bar staff.

Here is the link to my review:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=576318&et_cid=2861228&et_rid=17179565&et_referrer=15thAnniversaryContest

I do want to add that we used Port Parking in Galveston. Opted for the indoor parking. Huge inside area, plenty of space between cars. Easy peasy, reserved several months ahead online. I think they provide a $5 off coupon on their website. Total for the week was $70.37. Shuttle to and from was a snap. We got off the ship about 9:30am, by the time we got through customs it was probably after 10. We were in the car on the way home at 10:30. Can't get much better than that.

Heres a tip: if you buy alcohol to take home, carry it with you. One idiot had a 3 liter bottle of Crown in a small gym bag, he let the porter take it out the terminal and to the shuttle. Needless to say the bottle broke. The driver of the shuttle smelled the alcohol, as did everyone on the shuttle. He shouted "anyone have alcohol in their bag?" No one answered. When we arrived at the parking terminal, the booze was pouring down the sides of several bags. When the guy grab his gym bag, he walked to the door of the parking garage, opened the bag and dumped the broken bottle, glass and all at the door and left. He gave me a dirty look when I yelled "you should have carried that on, ya just can't fix stupid." He paid like $80 for that bottle, serves him right.

I can't wait to read your review!

 

Do you remember what dinner menus were which nights in the MDR?

 

Which excursions did you do?

 

We are heading out in 16 days, but who is counting??

Did not do any excursions. Have been to all the ports several times. One excursion I would recommend is the Salsa and Salsa in Cozumel. We've done it 3-4 times and enjoyed it each time.

Sorry I can't remember menu, last formal night is lobster. I opted for two entries that night, lobster and prime rib;) We did notice that some of the menu items that were displayed at the kiosk outside the MDR's were not in sync with what was actually on the menu. Our server told us the menu had changed, but they've not updated the kiosks.

Overall the food was okay. The lamb chops were prepared to perfection, mho, and all the fish dishes seemed to be spot on.

I posted a review and am awaiting it to be published. I'll post a link as soon as its up.

If you have a specific question ask away I'll try to answer it.

Thanks for all the answers. I was asking (double checking) to be sure I gave the correct answer to the couple we are cruising with.

As for sharing, no. The individual is a photographer and likes to transfer her photos to a flash drive each day so she can view them (on what I do not know).

I told her that plugging anything into a ships computers was a no-no. Some years ago this could be accomplished until one day the photo department realized they could make a ton of cash by offering to transfer all your photos to a CD for a nominal fee.

killsport> you are correct, I just purchased 4 32gb micro SDs and 4 32gb flash drives for less than $50.

Thanks again for all the replies.

I believe we are on the Solstice to Alaska in August. I was wondering if I can transfer my photos from my SD to a flash drive using the ships PC's in the internet cafe?

Thanks

Thanks for posting your review.

 

How casual is the dress code?

 

Recommend anything?

 

Room Service?

 

Menu's, main or speciality? you like them?

 

Thank you.

Roosterhead: The dress code is very casual, I wore nice jeans to the dining room.

Room service was good. Only used them for morning coffee, they called before they knocked.

Dining room menus for us weren't earth shattering, as I stated in my review, we thought the Windjammer was just as good if not better in some cases.

Enjoyed Izumi and Chops.

My review has been published, you may find it here:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=514571

If you have questions ask away. I'll check the board for the next few days.

Can I reserve a parking slot? Seems last time we were able to reserve a slot. Can't find the option this time.

Thanks