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We just booked on the May transpacific and we're wondering if anyone can tell me when they start setting the clocks forward (or back?) and how the crossing of the international date line worked? Thanks!

We were on the Reflection last year in a RS. The bed is adjustable in that the head raises and lowers and so do the feet. Made it easier to watch TV, but not what I was thinking it was (like a sleep number bed).

Here is the main dining room menu uncharges currently on the Infinity.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=398532&stc=1&d=1479508617

MDR.pdf

This is probably deserving of a new thread, but we're on the Infinity now, all afternoon tea service is in Michaels Club on all days. We're in one of the Penthouses and have not received anything resembling delectable delights, only the small sandwiches in Michaels Club that we have requested from our butler when we didn't make it to Michaels and wanted an afternoon snack.

We're on the Infinity now, there are a few upcharge items on the MDR menu. We haven't eaten in the MDR, so can't comment on the food quality, but I'll try to take a picture of the upcharge items tomorrow.

I am sitting in the Casino waiting fir a drawing :)

 

1. They have to add a fee if you take a Cash out if the Casino because it could be going against a credit card and they pay fees for those, sometimes significantly especially for cash advances. If you have OBC the "Rule" has always been no cash in exchange for OBC so the fact they give you promo chips and the opportunity to win / get cash is a bonus.

 

2. You can do a a huge withdrawal if you do not have OBC. You will not get promo chips if you don't have OBC. At least on Connie right now.

 

3. The 5% fee is still waived for upper suites. At least it is for my cabin. I'm registered for Blue Chip but at at a very, very low level as I don't play the minimum $50/ hand average fir 2 hours per day and have only evervreveived one offer. I think it's the cabin and not blue chip in my case.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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Great, thanks for the update. So I can ask for a cash withdrawal and not have the 5% fee if OBC is exhausted?

That's right, 5%. Thanks for correcting

I know this fee was waived last year on our cruise, just wondering if they still waive the 3% transaction fee for a cash advance in the casino if you are staying in a higher end suite? Also, if you have OBC do you have to use that up before you take a cash advance? Thanks!

I'm pretty sure children 12 and under eat for free in the speciality restaurants. They'll offer the children menu in the speciality restaurants as well as the main dining room.

It's perhaps still an exception, but for the shoreside concierge to put it in writing, I'm assuming that it's becoming more common than not. Our last cruise in Royal Suite the butler told us to just order whatever we want from any restaurant, but I just thought he was going a little above and beyond and perhaps he was. It's nice to know that our dining options have extended to any restaurant that we can have delivered though.

I didn't realize this was a benefit, but I thought I'd share since I didn't see this published anywhere. Long story short, the shoreside concierge asked us about dining reservations at the speciality restaurants. Having 2 young children and not wanting to ruin others dining experience if they started to get restless, I told her we'd have to pass. She responded that as Penthouse guests, we could have any of the speciality restaurants delivered to our room instead.

Also, as stated above, since we have 2 young kids and are on a 15 day cruise, I asked if there was any way I could ship some toys to the ship so we didn't have to travel with as much. She said I could send them to the Corporate office and they'd be hand delivered the day of our cruise.

We've traveled in Royal Suites before, but it never seemed as accommodating. Really looking forward to our trip in a few weeks now!

Unfortunately, due to work restrictions, we are taking a red eye and getting in early the morning of the cruise, so the hotel option and UPS probably won't work. Thanks for the suggestions though!

Is it possible to send a package to the ship or port to get there by the time we get on? Long story short, with 4 people and 2 of them are kids, we are trying to cut down on how much we are traveling with. There are a few things we want to order on Amazon for the kids, but that would need almost a whole suitcase on their own.

It's a Panama Canal cruise, so we end up back home (San Diego) when the trip ends, so we don't need to worry as much about it when the ship gets to CA. Is it possible to buy and send it to the port, ship, or somewhere we can pick it up before boarding?

Just an update, and as expected the shoreside concierge was not able to get any exercise equipment into the PH. She checked to see if they carry any spare treadmills or ellipticals, and they don't. She also said the machine would need to be bolted down for safety reasons...oh well.

Yeah, I agree it does seem a little unreasonable to request it. I asked and not thinking it will happen, but it was nice when those suites actually had the gym equipment already in them.

If you don't get the response you want pre cruise or no response at all follow up your request on boarding with the Michael's Club conceirge....If it is important to you it should be to them...

Thank you, I will. Our last cruise in a Royal Suite we asked the concierge for a few simple things, like a certain type of beer and soda. Of course when we got to our room, none of the requests were done, so I don't have a ton of confidence in the shoreside concierge.

I made the request via email to the shoreside concierge. Our sailing is 8 weeks away, so not sure if this will even get any attention yet, but I will let you know what happens when and if I get a response.

I remember a long time ago the Penthouse suites on the M class used to have a treadmill or elliptical glider, but no longer do. I think this is a bit of a stretch, but can I request this from the shore concierge to have one in our Penthouse? We have 2 young kids and one is too young to be in the kids club, so having one in the room would be a lot easier than trying to get to the gym and one of us having to stay back. Thanks!

No I'm not. Something could happen to someone at any time, there are no guarantees. I believe you're still more likely to die in a flight to France than in a terror attack.

Thanks again for all the replies. I'm starting to look forward to our cruise now. Much appreciated.

I understand we get 2 or 3 bottles of liquor for an Owners Suite and this can be switched out for wine. Is this accurate? We're not big liquor drinkers so we'd like to switch it out for wine, as long as the wine they offer is decent. Does anyone know what the wine options are? Thanks!

How many kids and what ages are the kids?

2 kids, Ages 4 and 1. It doesn't take much to entertain them, they both like music and the shows so if there aren't many other kids they'll be fine onboard.

Thank you for the reassurance, it sounds like I could be overthinking this trip.

Ok, I'll contact Celebrity and see if they can get all 4 of us in the room. Thanks for the responses!

I haven't been on NCL since 2005 and I didn't really enjoy their product back then (NCL Spirit), but figured I'd give them another shot. We have a 14 day Panama Canal trip with them in November. Since 2005 we've been on Disney, Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and Silversea (expedition, so not a fair comparison). I booked this trip on NCL because the suite was really a lot less expensive than any of the other lines, they seem like they have a decent kids program, and I wanted to try out the Haven (on the Jewel).

However, I see a lot of cutbacks mentioned and obviously the no beverage onboard policy. Since it's been 11 years since we've been on them, I was hoping the product has improved, but now I'm second guessing this trip. Is it a much inferior product to Celebrity (our mass market favorite)? I could cancel and switch to Celebrity, but for a comparable suite, Celebrity is about $5,000 more, which I don't think that additional cost would be worth it. But I also don't want to spend so much money on a Haven Owners suite and regret the trip.

Can anyone offer insights or comparisons or should I cancel and stick with what I know (Celebrity for thousands more)?

Is this correct? I was trying to get 4 people in a Celebrity Suite, but it seems like the only suites that allow 4 are Royal and Penthouse on the M class. Is this correct? Thanks!