jasbo49

19 minutes ago, azdmelani said:

...  If I can avoid it I would gladly never cruise NCL again.

 

That about sums it up for me. The only thing we liked was the entertainment. 

Jim

We were on deck 12, one deck below the decks skynight warned about. I would agree decks 14 and 15 on starboard side present privacy issues, but 12 was fine with me.

Jim

Sounds to me like two cruises sold as one. In other words I think people will be embarking and disembarking, so I'd plan on Brooklyn. 

Jim

8 hours ago, JjC81 said:

An additional beverage pkg for husband and I were purchased. But canceling it could likely cover price of an excursion..we originally thought it was promotion but was not 🙂

From what I'm reading, I can't see any reason for any of you to have a beverage package. 

Jim

On Regal earlier this month the steward had already filled the slot with  his own filler card. 

We always tried to pull it when we went away for awhile, but we would return to find it plugged in again. 

Jim

2 hours ago, h-sar said:

I did wonder about that as we are not booked as the 14 day cruise (was sold out as such for our cabin category a year out), but rather b2b seven day bookings.

Last time I tried to book it we got there at 12 noon on embarkation day only to find out the entire 10-day cruise was booked up. I asked whether some of those bookings were from the previous cruise and was told no, they don't allow that.

So go as soon as you possibly can with your fingers crossed.

Jim

Looks like a great cabin to me. I don't know whether you're pool people, but you're just steps from the adults only Terrace Pool.

And I'd call $99 each for 10 days a real steal of an upsell.

Jim

42 minutes ago, Eagleeye said:

We ordered French Toast once. What we got was not the French Toast we are used to having. It was a deep fried bread of some kind. So you really have to be careful on what you order and make sure they know what it is.

 

Roger

Yes. My wife and I actually prefer the MDR French toast to what Sabatini's serves. MDR's is much thicker. 

Jim

Actually very few Princess cabins have couches. Just Deluxe balconies, mini-suites and suites.

Only exception I can think of is the Pacific Princess, smallest ship in the fleet, has a sofa in the standard balcony cabins.

Jim

I feel like a real amateur after seeing the other responses, but i like to ask for a Mexican omelet and see what that chef comes up with.

Jim

I've been on 17 Princess cruises, and I can count on zero hands the number of days I've ordered 7-8 alcoholic drinks. It's not that I don't like to have a few drinks. I do, but sea day or port day, there's a lot of stuff to do, and I don't want to spend the day zoned out in our cabin.

So we'll book the occasional Sip & Sail promo for the fun and convenience of not having to think about the bill, but buying the beverage package for 70-some dollars a day just makes no sense to us.

P.S.: Side note to OP. I note that you say you're picky about coffee. Probably the best you can do on board is the brewed coffee at the International Cafe, but even that won't compare with the stuff you can make at home. We got off the Regal on Saturday. I got up on Sunday and just could not believe what a great pot of coffee I'd made with bulk beans from Winco (discount grocery store on the West Coast).

Jim

26 minutes ago, leck57 said:

You will have a card in your room if you pre-order and you just ring Room Service to have your beers delivered. They are delivered cold in a bucket with ice....

Important note here: Room service is super busy the day you board. You might wind up on hold for a half hour trying to redeem your voucher.

If you want cold beer when you board, go to a bar and get it. The only drawback to this is that you'll likely be charged a tax for whatever port you embark in. 

Jim

In Brooklyn last week we just flashed our medallions on the way in. No need for paper.

Jim

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

What if you had more than 1 card? Would they have treated it similar? 

Don't know, but I think we would have gotten 15 specialty coffees on account. No idea whether you'd get the unlimited brewed or not. I was just happy to get something out of the partial card I  had.

Jim

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Island has patisserie whereas Crown has IC but that's comparable on paper.

Not comparable in reality. International Cafe is 24/7 with much greater selection.

We've sailed Crown 3 or 4 times and have another booked. With Island, it was one and done. Aft section is a muddled mess. Worst gym I've seen, dark and dreary.

Jim

We're on Regal now and were allowed to trade in our partly used card (6 punches left) for credit on this cruise.

Unfortunately, since then it's been kind of a pain. For some reason, their bookkeeping system called for them to charge me for a full coffee package. Then later they were to apply credit to cancel the charge. That took two days and two visits to passenger services to straighten out.

Then this morning they charged us for a coffee that should have been covered by the package. So, you might get credit only to wonder if it was worth the trouble. 

Jim 

1 hour ago, Anubi said:

Thanks to all.   I have been checking daily but its frustrating to see the prices going up. 

I'm in a similar situation, except instead of feeling frustrated, I pat myself on the back for getting a great deal.

Jim

31 minutes ago, nukesubsailor said:

We enjoyed all the entertainers that performed in the atrium and Crooners.  In particular, the brother & sister violin duo were great.  We did not attend any entertainment in the theater other than a performance by a large group of children from Halifax who did traditional Scottish dances.  That was fun to watch. 

We're on board now and have found the live music scene pretty dreary. Dwight Blake in Crooners is good, but I hate that most of the music is on a backing track. I'd much rather have just a guy and his piano (or girl and her guitar) than all this pre-recorded music.

Most everything else sounds like elevator music. It wasn't that long ago that Princess had bands and performers with personality. The last three cruises, going back about a year, we haven't found much to like musically. 

Nothing wrong with the string duo nuke mentioned, but just not something we'd build an evening around.

I'm trying to talk my wife into another Mexico cruise. I love mariachi music. 

Jim

I think it makes more sense to the first-time cruiser. I sure didn't know what a tender was the first time I heard the word.

Water shuttle? Pretty easy to figure out.

Jim

If your budget can handle it, I'd say go for it. I love Princess mini-suites and am not crazy about their balcony cabins. 

Jim

Congrats on a good deal. The thing that's hard to place a value on is that CC dining gives you the ability to plan each night based on what you want to do without fear of dinner taking forever.

Not only do you save the pre dinner wait, you also know that things will move more smoothly with little waiting between courses.

And you can actually plan dinner for 6 or 6:30, which is almost a joke with Anytime Dining. 

Jim

Wouldn't it be nice to have an ongoing list of MUTS movies? It shouldn't be that hard.

Jim

5 hours ago, Potstech said:

How many birds on a cruise ship?  Wildlife?

Does the wildlife have to be on your ship to matter?

Jim

I'm for anything they can do to reduce plastics.

Jim

Maybe if we all keep trying it we can drive it over the edge!

Jim