nycteacher

I've used OBC to pay for laundry, bingo and Deal or No Deal.  

I'll be on the Jade at the end of August. I can't wait. I grew up in nearby Geneva, so I can appreciate a fine Finger Lakes riesling 🍷

Yay! This review makes me happy. I board the Jade in August. This will be my first time sailing this ship, so the positive review is well received. 🙂 

Bidding for an upgrade became available for my itinerary today, and I'm 110 days out from departure.  

Hi everyone,

I just upgraded to the Free at Sea Plus package for my Greek Isles/Israel cruise in August on the Jade.  I can't wait! I'm curious if others know how strong the wifi is on the Jade.  I realize that it may depend on the ship's geography as the wifi may be satellite based. I did a similar itinerary last year on the Gem and I had zero problems with the wifi signal.  I'm hoping for a similar experience this year.

Thanks!

I was in a Gem mini-suite in September and they still had the tubs. There wasn't a walk-in shower.  

Yay! Thanks for the good news!  I'll be less cranky with my trenta iced coffee in hand each morning.  🙂

Hi everyone. I just booked an August 2023 trip on the Jade. I'm curious if anyone knows if/when they'll install a Starbucks.  I was on the Gem last August, and was surprised by how much I frequented the Starbucks onboard.   Thanks! ☕

I was notified yesterday that I was upgraded from a balcony to a mini suite/club balcony on my Gem cruise leaving tomorrow for $75/pp.  This was the lowest bid allowed. I'm looking forward to being on the higher deck. 🙂 

Thank you everyone for your feedback! I'll be sure to get a bunch of 2 euro coins in Italy before I embark.  

Hi everyone,

I leave in a few weeks for a Med cruise on the Gem, and I'm super excited.  I have a rookie question about room service.  For the free continental breakfast room service, is it customary to tip?  If so, how much does one typically give?  Is $3-$5 enough, too much?  Thanks in advance for your insight! ☕🥐

I live across the street from the Manhattan cruise port. I generally prefer flying into/out of Newark.  Depending on the size of your party, it may be cheaper to take the NJ Transit train from EWR to Penn Station ($14/pp) then a taxi from Penn Station to the cruise port (about $10 to go about 20 blocks). Otherwise, you'd be looking at about a $70 taxi ride. Plus,  taking the train, you reduce the risk of having to deal with traffic in the Lincoln Tunnel, which can add hours to your trip depending on time of day. 

I was just looking to share a bit of good news. Cheers  🍻

I just wanted to share some good news. I've noticed that the price of my upcoming Mediterranean cruise on the Gem has dropped significantly since final payment. I also noticed that with the upgrade advantage program, they were offering me the chance to bid and move from an inside cabin to a balcony for a minimum of $100pp.  For the heck of it, I gave NCL a call today to price out how much it would be just to pay for the upgrade to a balcony.   Lo and behold, I went from an inside stateroom to a balcony stateroom for $28. I've since cancelled my upgrade bid.  :-) Morning coffee will taste much better now out on the Gem!

Thanks for the updates. I'm glad to hear there won't be any venue closures.  Fingers crossed I won't be on a full capacity sailing.  

Hi everyone.  I've been reading how NCL is challenged to get Pride of America properly staffed for Hawaii itineraries.  As a result, restaurants and other service points are being closed, and guest capacity is being limited.  Is anyone noticing any staffing shortages on other NCL ships/itineraries?  I'm sailing on the Gem in August and wondering if I should expect venues to be closed, or to wait a bit longer in bars/restaurants because of staffing.  On the flip side, I wouldn't necessarily mind if my itinerary had limited guest capacity.    Thanks for your insight!

Hi there. I've sailed Disney several times, and am familiar with what you're looking for when you mention Palo and Remy.  On NCL, I think the closest you'll find is Ocean Blue, especially in terms of quality of food/presentation and service.  I've eaten at Ocean Blue on the Getaway and Breakaway and the one thing that disappoints me is the ambiance.  It seems very out in the open, IMHO,  where Remy and Palo are a bit more tucked away/exclusive.  Regardless, the food is very good. Enjoy!

It's a different take on a typical cruise ship wine tasting.  If you like trying different wines it's fun, but don't expect to try any exclusive/rare vintages.  The show is fun, and light-hearted like everyone has said.  The meal is a set menu, that I thought was a bit lackluster. You're really paying for the wine and the show.  The food is more of an afterthought.  I saw it on the Getaway, and would go again.  

7 minutes ago, leblais said:

out of curiosity, how much is a taxi from airport to that hotel and from hotel to port?  I guess it doesnt really matter, but I am curious

 

From the airport, assuming low traffic, I'd say about $35-$45.  To the cruise terminal, it'll be less than that, $25-$30?  It's been a few years since I've been so prices may have changed. 

I've stayed at Hotel Cram. It's pretty central,  about a 10 minute walk from La Rambla, Casa Mila and Casa Batllo (2 of the famous Gaudi buildings). There's also a metro station about a block away so exploring the city from here is super easy.  It's a clean, safe hotel/neighborhood, plus the prices are very reasonable considering it also houses a Michelin star restaurant.  Like others have said, it's easy to grab a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and then a taxi from the hotel to the cruise terminal.  

I'm doing a 7 night Greek isles in August 2022 out of Venice on the Gem.  I've sailed out of Venice before, and while pricey, is utterly gorgeous.  In looking at Greek isle itineraries I also paid attention to the size of the ships on offer.  The bigger the ship could mean more ports that require tendering, and longer waits to disembark.  With the Gem being on the smaller side, my only tender port will be Santorini.  I hope this helps.  

Thanks for the feedback. I'm curious to see what kind of social distancing restrictions they'll have in place, if any at all, come August 2021.  I'd expect that would impede much of any solo traveler programming.  We shall see. :-)

5 minutes ago, NSnJW said:

Well I was almost 69 then and there were younger and older.  I have been on 5 solos now and the longer the cruises tend to get more retired folk.  I will say that on my last solo in late February we had people from 25 to 80 and we all got along fine.  The solo host or hostess have been very good at getting all to participate.  Over the 5 solos women from 45 to 80 tend to outnumber the men but I have found fascinating conversations from women from the whole spectrum.

The Epic crowd was huge the first night but got smaller and more manageable.  Also we kinda made our own groups at times.

I would think that there will be fewer older people until there is a vaccine but I could be wrong.

Thanks. It sounds like I should expect a little bit of everybody, which is what I prefer.  I was a bit apprehensive that I'd find myself in a room full of seniors, and me.  Or, a room full of spring breakers, and me.  I wasn't sure if there was a typical "solo cruiser" on NCL.  

Thank you so much for your response!   I don't think the small cabin will bother me.  I already live in a pretty tiny apartment as it is. Plus, I'll be on a very port-intensive itinerary.  I won't be in my room, too much.

It's also interesting to hear that 100+ people came to the initial solo meeting. I wasn't expecting there to be so many solo travelers on board.  

I guess I'm curious, what the typical solo demographic is going to be.  I'm a male in my early 40s.  Am I going to be surrounded by 80-something year old widows en masse?  Which isn't a horrible thing. I just like to know what I'm walking into. :-)

Hi everyone. I'm booked to sail on a 7 night Med cruise out of Barcelona on the NCL Epic in August 2021.  I'm staying in a studio cabin.  This is my first time cruising solo, and not sure what to expect with the studio and studio lounge experience.  I'd appreciate hearing about other people's experiences in a studio, and what the studio lounge experience was like (how many organized activities were there and their variety, number of folks that participated, demographic make up of other solos, etc)  I look forward to hearing back!  Thanks!