BostonGal35

3 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

When you had them make the spa appointment, did you receive any type of confirmation beforehand?   I made two this morning by phone call and thought I would receive a confirmation.   Now I am questioning if it was done.

no, but when i arrived at the Haven i checked in at the spa counter and they had me down and had me confirm date and time was ok.  i also had a card in my stateroom.    

if this is a sail to bermuda, save your money on excursions.  the island is very easy to navigate (and safe) on your own with the bus and ferry system.  passes can be purchased mere steps from teh ship when you get off at the Dockyard.  We have bought unlimited 2 day passes as well as zone tokens depending upon how much you want to see and do.   NCL will also provide a FREE ferry to and from St. George.

you can book jetskis and other water activities right at the pier as well, again for a fraction of the cost.

i emailed my requests and did not get a response.  that said, they did do what i asked which was to have my fridge emptied and i requested a spa appointment without me having to ask again on board.  so i think simple stuff they are just taking care of and maybe dont have time to reply.  

5pm

5pm dinner.

the regular coffee in the haven is french press style, i assume wiht starbucks beans.  its really good.

My review is up if anyone is interested!  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=696700&et_cid=3672465&et_rid=85219982&et_referrer=Boards_Million_Member_Newsub&address=aDuafTc%2bGqcxtkw1SQs1iTE4g952a1eMVMsVnZGISGg%3d

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We cruise a half dozen times a year and have never used a canvas bag or any other bag. The NCL paper bags are of various sizes. Maybe you could use a standard hotel plastic laundry bag. 4 days into your cruise, you don't really generate that much laundry. 

you can if you spend 2-3 days precruise somewhere.  Luckily for us, we each get the benefit so when this happens we send out a bag on day 2 and then usually on day 5.

FWIW, if you are in the Haven, you still get the nice gigantic nylon drawstring bag.

but yes, rolling as tightly as possible really maximizes what you can get in there.   

i just today FINALLY wrote my Breakaway review which talks mostly about Haven since we didnt really leave it LOL - ill circle back and post the link when its published!

3 hours ago, CruisingSince1982 said:

Did you hotel have good a/c? We are booked there in June. 

no issues.  rooms are small, but that's pretty much everywhere in Europe.  we are only there to sleep anyway.   i believe it includes breakfast too, if i remember correctly.  you cannot and i mean cannot beat the location of this hotel and it was Rick Steves recommended!  (as was San Giorgio in Civitavecchia).

i read on another thread that NYC was a disaster with regard to this and people that paid for it didnt get it.  we are always usually group 1 or 2 boarding after the VIPs around 1130am.  we love to be on as soon as possible.   

funny though, on disembark especially in NYC where we can drive, we aim to be first off so we can get home.  we always do easy walk off, saves time and aggravation except for those who attempt to do it and really have no business doing it.

we are sapphire and the only line we've considered trying is MSC (until i read subpar reviews) and Virgin as this would allow us to sail at times we normally avoid as we HATE being on board when kids are out of school

my first cruise ever was Carnival, never again (although some say the larger ships are better i was on Sensation which was scrapped i think last year?) and fiance has done Disney which he said is great, but its like 2x the cost and kids and mickey mouse in your face everywhere isnt my speed. 

if you are willing to get to port early (930-10) you can get on the ship fairly quickly and save yourself the money.  youll need to check in right on day 20 in order to secure this time.  the early slots go fast.

Haven Suites and Non-Haven suites are all eligible for pre-board.

Assuming all 5 of you are in suites you shouldnt be separated.  

FWIW, Breakway was one of our best Haven experiences.  The restaurant was far superior to any of the specialties.   we ended up canceling our cagneys reservation which is typically our last night routine.

we stayed at the Hotel Smeraldo, downtown Rome.  walking distance to all of the sites including the vatican.

we did a food and wine tour at night.  we arrived in the morning, explored for a few hours, took a 2 hour power nap, then headed out for teh tour.  it was amazing, as Rome looks so different at night!  we spent 2 nights here, then the 3 night we stayed at the Hotel San Giorgio in Civitavecchia.  We used, if i remember correctly, Rome in Limo for our transportation.   The port itself is cute and we found no shortage of restaurants there. 

we sailed last month from NOLA, in the Haven.  we arrived at the pier around 930am, no wait in line, were escorted right away to the lounge.  it is small, but everyone had a seat.  the usual stuff was out (coffee, juice, tea, pastries, etc.)

22 hours ago, MKESail said:

I am on the same cruise in April, also inside, LITERALLY IN THE SAME BOAT 😜 but I am hesitant to upgrade because my room while inside, has an ok location. If I upgrade to a balcony thats under a pool deck or some other noisy venue - is that really an upgrade? 😏 I am new to NCL, so I may not know everything, any input is appreciated here. 

Being picky about our room location, we only bid on haven/suites as those are generally all im good locations.  

we are both latitudes sapphire, we each get the 150 minutes.

to access it you go to the NCL app, and the first tiem you key in your name and i believe birthday to verify its you.  then its there for the cruise.

probably wont know until the ships start that run again.

On 3/1/2023 at 7:04 PM, slpm1 said:

I recently booked a cruise on Norwegian. I'm new to NCL and really have only been on one other cruise. I tried to make a payment online and keep getting declined. I called in and they were not able to get my payment to go through. I was using prepaid cards I received as a gift (which worked for the deposit) but also attempted with my regular credit card which was also declined (although I use it on a weekly basis). Has anyone noted issues with their payment platform? My final payment is in May so it's not a crisis. I also never get responses when I email the personal cruise consultant. They called me once but I have reached out three times in the last week wanting to upgrade my room but no response. If the date and itinerary weren't exactly what I wanted, I would consider another cruise line. Getting frustrated!

for whatever reason, our Marriott Credit Card never works.  YOu have to call the 800 number, and tell them you need to have someone in "RD" (which is basically the supervisors) process the payment as the issue with our card is the 3 digit code.  Norwegian's system for some reason scrambles the number.  The card gets declined, but our bank never even gets the notice taht teh card was attempted to be used.  The supervisor's have a different system which allows them to key only the credit card and expiration date, no 3 digit code.  Works every time.  The only thing that sucks is sometimes we are on hold for 30 minutes to get someone.

On 2/28/2023 at 11:03 PM, uneamie said:

Is there a way to have it "noted" before you board to have the bed separated? Once we board and our room is ready it is sometimes hard to find the room steward to request this. And, I don't really care about the twice a day service. My goodness they are really over worked with little down time.....shame on NC. How about letting us get our own ICE??? I hate bothering them when they are sooo busy. I can easily get my own. ugh! 

they will usually make an educated guess.   for example, the beds are always together when i travel with my fiance.  when ive sailed with my mom, they are separated.   they were also separated when i traveled with my sister which of course could have gone either way (we could have been friends wanting them separate or a same sex couple wanting them together).   

its always been a sailing of 3 sea days.  so now its a sailing of 2 sea days.  no lost time.

you do get slightly more time in bermuda and the fun of Harbor Nights in Hamilton held on Wednesdays if you do the bermuda run from NYC.

weve sailed breakaway multiple times, we love her.

for some reason she (and Epic) seem to the ship that people love to hate.

I never liked the old.onea because they were breaded.  Wings where i come from are not breaded.  Will have to try the new ones in a few weeks.