Aprille

I can post on my tablet but not on my laptop. Emoji shrugs

Mom and her virgin ultimate bloody Mary. The waiter was shocked when we ordered the virgin version. LOL!

1 hour ago, rmandmm said:

I love hearing your Texas stories. My husband and I leave Wednesday for my first visit to Texas (San Antonio) and I am way excited!

Go to Mi Tierra for a meal. It is a bakery/restaurant open 24 hours and has been there since 1941. There is a strolling mariachi band in the evenings. Very romantic. Or annoying depending on your mood. Just don't let it ruin your vacation. LOL! It's a San Antonio institution with good food!

Of course, go to the Alamo, stroll the Riverwalk at night, but Mi Tierra is an oft-missed gem.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes! And thanks even more so for all the positive feedback to my mom's "brief" review. 

Picture of Marty at Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica. I love that he had his NCL tshirt on - "Let the Sea Set You Free". I think he had fun (as he always does!).

1 hour ago, ncklhaus said:

Thank you for writing this! I've been enjoying every post. 

If I read correctly, in 30 minutes (New York time) it will be Aprille's birthday. Happy Birthday Aprille!

I think I was born around 4:00 or 4:30am central time (Dallas). Maybe my mom remembers better than me. As she should! LOL! So we're still a few hours away but thank you for the birthday wishes.

I'm going to try to get her set up on a blog soon. Musings of a Nonagenarian. Or whatever she wants to call it.

I'm checking out cruises and leaning towards the Mexican Riveria cruises on the Bliss once the 2021 dates become available. 

Marty and I had laundry done late in the cruise. It wasn't until we got home that we discovered he apparently lost about 75lbs on a cruise! I feel sorry for the guy who got Marty's shorts. LOL!

So, he lost a pair of shorts. We didn't let it ruin our vacation. ☺️

Great review, Mom! I've been telling you what a great writer you have always been.

I've been meaning to be more active in this thread but I'm also having a tough time adjusting back to "real life". 😉

Funky Elephant:

And not to leave Marty out:

For those who like visual aids:

Me and Mom

Aprille's age will be 62 in 5 days. My husband Marty, will be 65 in October.

We had a great time on this cruise. Mom and I don't even get off the ship. Marty gets off at every port and usually snorkels or just walks around the port. He climbed Dunns River Falls this year and I think his age is finally catching up with him. He was whooped and man enough to admit.

Loving the review so far, Mom! Keep it comin' and I'll comment along the way.

Aprille (sunsetsoon's daughter)

P.S. I leave it to Mom to tell the "sisters" stories. 😲

Where did you go for muster drill? Not a big deal for most but we had a bad experience on the Bliss while staying in the Haven. Our muster drill was in The Local and it was packed like sardines. I'm in a wheelchair and my 90 year old mom will be with us so I'm hoping for a place where we can comfortably sit down and have room to breathe.

Also, how was the traffic around the cruise terminal? I recall reading a few months ago there was a lot of construction in the area causing some back-ups getting to the terminal drop-off.

Thanks!

Thanks so much for the info. We set sail on the Getaway on Feb 7th for a 9-nighter with my 90 year-old mom who is flying from Amarillo TX to NO by herself! Hubby and I are driving from Houston. We're in a 2BR family suite in the Haven. We've never sailed out of NO but glad to hear it seems to be as easy as the other ports we've sailed out of while staying in the Haven. I've read some conflicting posts on the ease of finding the Haven check-in at the NO port but I had assured my mom to just follow me. LOL!

Also glad to hear the complimentary lunch on embarkation day is still available at Margaritaville. Volcano nachos, here we come! Even the 3 of us can eat it all so it's certainly not worth $14.95 per person.

May I ask who the concierge is and if there is an assistant concierge?

55 minutes ago, LaCal said:

Have read most people are being able to get the extra Perk no problem and one girl even got $680  off her cruise as the price had went down....she would of never known 😃

It was a price drop for a total of $860. And you're right, I never would have known about it had I not been looking for the shore excursion promo. I also lost $100 OBC but with the price drop and an additional $50 shore excursion per port (5 ports) it was a no brainer. 

Thanks to tallnthensome for posting yesterday. And this thread should get more people the additional promo so thanks to LaCal too!

2 minutes ago, Slainte57 said:

Just got off phone with NCL again, they will not give me promotion because the price of my cruise has gone up. Have others who have gotten it have price increases?

They would gladly book me at today’s price to receive it😡

Bummer! I would try to call once again and hopefully get someone who will apply it to your existing reservation. 

I had a significant price drop on mine which I never would have seen had I not been looking for the extra excursion code. Both were applied to my existing reservation.

Saved $886!! Plus the additional $50 shore excursion promo. WOOT! 

Not on NCL but once on RCCL. We packed a few bottles of WATER in our luggage (which was allowed at the time). Hubby went down on embarkation night when we hadn't gotten that one piece of luggage. They didn't open the suitcase until he showed up. They checked the bottles to make sure they hadn't been opened and replaced with booze. Once it was determined it was just water he was able to take the suitcase and the bottles of water to our cabin. No biggie but makes a good story. And my parents were with us on this cruise. LOL!

Great review. Brought back happy memories. We stayed in the same DOS in September. Isn't it awesome?! It was me (60), hubby (63) and my mom (89). We had always stayed in the Haven 2br and mom LOVED her bed and bedroom in the DOS. 

Who was your concierge and butler? Our asst concierge was Elena Salgado. She definitely deserved to be promoted  to concierge. (I won't name the Concierge but I will say Elena did way more for us than he did!) We had Lanie Limjoco for our butler. I heard a few weeks ago that she was training for a promotion. It would be awesome if Elena was concierge and Lanie was her assistant. They both went above and beyond duty. Our steward was Randolf Infante. He was awesome too.

Glad you had such a great time. How can you not in the DOS on Bliss and going to Alaska?! LOL!

You might have better luck posting to the roll call thread:

Norwegian Getaway April 13, 2019!

Good luck either way!

On 1/2/2019 at 3:23 PM, LeesaB said:

So now for the Getaway.  There's not a non-Haven option for a 2br.  Haven rooms are EXPENSIVE - at least for when we need to sail.  Like twice as much OR MORE as the suite for the Pearl was.  WOMG.  Can we afford it?  Yes.  Could I spend that money on something else?  You betcha.  We're comfortable, but not 1 percenters or anything.

Haven! If you can afford it which it seems you can. The restaurant alone is worth it. Plus all the other perks - concierge, butler, courtyard, sun deck, lovely 2br suite. I say GO FOR IT!!

In your vacation summary on the website there are day by day tabs which will show your booked activities (dining, excursions, shows). It also shows things you can book for each date (shows and dining).

3 hours ago, papa B me said:

We are in the DOS and wondered if it helps having the butler to make the reservations when you get on board to get the times you want. 

The concierge can make dining reservations for you and you will likely get the times you want (or close to it). Best chance is to go and speak with the concierge on embarkation day. If you wait until later in the week you can probably still get reservations but maybe not the time you want.

If applied at time of booking it reduces your deposit. If applied after booking it counts as a payment on your cruise balance. Not OBC.

Depends on the concierge but you shouldn't have any problem with either of those requests.

Roatan, Honduras has the second largest barrier reef in the world next to Australia. Great snorkeling there.

Hubby has snorkeled in Roatan and will do so again on our next cruise. He's also thinking about snorkeling in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. They have a sunken US military ship that the top is only 5 feet underwater. Sounds cool but I don't snorkel. lol

So sorry to hear this. She will be missed.

We were on a cruise Thanksgiving week 2013 on RCCL's Navigator of the Seas. 900 kids on board. 3300 double occupancy, 3800 max. NEVER AGAIN!!

On our 19 night Panama Canal cruise on Jewel April 2015 we had less than 20 kids with 2400 double occupancy.

We found out from the concierge. If you have no access to the concierge I guess you could ask at Guest Services, CruiseNext desk or the loyalty ambassador's desk.

I don't see a large number of kids being an issue on a Jan 13th cruise.