Aprille

When I mentioned to the NCL agent that I was celebrating my birthday on an upcoming cruise, she noted that (not the date or the fact that I was born before the wheel was invented) event and said there would be a card in our stateroom for a cake. And that I should take that card to the restaurant of my choice on the voyage and I would have a cake. And presumably have a fuss made over me.

I kept forgetting to bring the birthday card for hubby's birthday on our recent Bliss cruise. The day before the last night of the cruise I asked about it at the Haven Restaurant and they typed it in the computer and said no need to bring the card for dinner the next night. It was 3 weeks after his birthday. A big fuss was made and it was a yummy cream cake.

Just off the Bliss in the Haven (H2). We had the Bvlgari products - separate shampoo and conditioner. And bar soap. Your cabin steward will replenish as needed.

Sorry but no, you can't bring bottled water on board in carry-on or checked bags.

Hubby has 4 pairs of shorts packed for the 9/22 Bliss cruise. We're leaving tomorrow to stay 4 nights pre-cruise in Seattle. Even the highs there are going to be mid-60's. Being from hot, humid Houston he says he wants to soak it all up. No shorts for me! I figure I can soak it up with long pants on. ;p

Does anyone know if Food Republic is half price on day 1? I cannot recall if this was for Haven guest or everyone on the Escape.

FR is 1/2 price dinner on embarkation day for Haven guests. Margaritaville is complementary lunch on embarkation day for Haven guests.

Any recommendation for a reasonable limo service from FLL to Miami cruise port?

I have no personal experience with this but if you haven't already, you might want to check out the Florida Departure forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

Nice review. Thanks for sharing your experiences. :)

I see the menu for Margaritaville. But I don't see prices for the food, Just for the drinks. is this complementary?

Complementary to Haven guests on embarkation day.

Otherwise, $15 p/p charge.

Still unsure since phissy says Tues and Thurs, and Aprille says Weds and Thurs. Guess I'll log in at 120 days and see what MyNCL says. As a follow up, I'm aware (I believe) I can make dining reservations for all 6 of us sailing together under a single res, but can I do the same for Jersey Boys? Can I reserve for 6 on my account? Thanks for the help.

Jersey Boys is currently Wed and Thur. 7:30p and 10:30p. Look at BirdTravels' screen shot of the Entertainment Reservation Reminder.

I don't know about booking 6 for dining or entertainment reservations. I know on RCCL you can book everyone if you have all the reservations linked. I've never done it on NCL. You might have to call and have everyone's reservation numbers.

I thought show and dinner reservations were available 90 days out (100 for suites). It looks like September 21 (20 days from now) is 120 days prior to 1/19.

 

I am on that same cruise on the Bliss and am waiting to book 90 days out. Or am I?

Dining and show reservations are available 120 days out. 130 days out for Haven and I think suites.

Currently the show schedule is:

Havana on Sun and Mon - 7:30p and 10:00p (1hr 15min)

Jersey Boys on Wed and Thur - 7:30p and 10:30p (1hr 45min)

It would be the Breakaway - and we are looking at Haven suites. The issue is that we are two single woman and do not want to share a king bed. Apparently, unlike in normal rooms, the king beds in haven do not split into twins - so one of us would have the king, the other the sofa bed. My question is whether any adult has actually slept in a haven sofa bed to know if it would be comfortable - sometimes sofa beds are, but other times they are not.... Since the haven is so expensive, we hate to have one of us uncomfortable.... Thanks for any insight.

The king beds in the Haven are really big so very easy to share and extremely comfortable. I can't imagine a sofa bed would be nearly as comfortable. I have no personal experience though. If you insist on sleeping separately, take turns. Do a coin flip to see who gets first and last nights in the king. And be sure to request an egg crate foam mattress cover for the sofa bed. I get one for the king too.

Another thought is to split the cost 60/40 with the person getting the king paying the most. We did that at Disney World once with my brother-in-law and his wife. We got a 2 bedroom villa at the Boardwalk so we agreed they would pay less for the smaller second bedroom.

I got the same email. I just checked the edocs I printed out a couple of weeks ago, checked both sections mentioned and the departure times matched so figured I'm fine. I didn't bother trying to reprint them. I'm not really sure why you would have to reprint them even if the times didn't match. I feel sure you could check in regardless. After reading your post I'm kind of glad I didn't give it quite as much thought as you did. :D

Since "official" boarding is scheduled to begin at noon, I would imagine Haven and priority boarding begins sometime between 11:00 and 11:30.

To the OP: I see you're sailing 9/15. Current itineraries have Bliss in Juneau (day 4) from 7am-1:30pm. Your itinerary (and mine, 9/22) has us in Juneau from 2pm-10pm. So the day 4 time for Canva by U will likely be earlier.

Earlier sailings had a Canvas by U class on day 3 at 2:30pm (instead of day 4). My 88 year old mom wants to do all the classes if she can and day 3 would work better for us but we'll just have to wait and see what's available. The other days/times line up with what I have.

We sailed south from Seward to Seattle in late Aug 2005 (on RCCL). We experienced 20' seas in the Gulf of Alaska. Enough to slam our balcony door shut on my hand. OUCH!

It was my second cruise and it wasn't that bad (except for the door slamming on my hand!) so I considered myself a seasoned cruiser from then on out. :cool:

We did a land cruisetour before the cruise and it was AWESOME! We had such a great time we did a northbound cruise the next year, cruise only.

How bad are the lines for using the weekly pass? DH is considering, if ther is a long wait for passholders not sure if he will get his $99 out of it.

I seem to recall you are in the Haven. Someone posted a review (forget who) and had a picture of the waiting line at the go karts. There was a separate line for Haven guests which was empty. The regular line was full.

Did you really have to post this 5 times?

Mods will clean it up. Just a mistake.

I don't think it was a mistake. She quoted a different post each time before the reply she repeated over and over and over and over and over. :loudcry: Apparently she doesn't know how to multi-quote. ;p

I always request egg crate foam toppers for all beds in the cabin when I make my reservation. Call and add your request. They do run out so best to request it *before* you get on the ship.

Lunch at Margaritaville is complimentary for Haven guests on embarkation day.

I don't know much about Moderno for lunch. From what I've read they do themed lunch buffets (Mexican, Indian, etc) on certain days and it is complimentary for all guests. Not sure they're open for lunch on embarkation day.

I guess I need to give them a call, I am still charged $36 on my account and it is supposed to be a freebie for being Platinum since they don't have the brazilian steakhouse on board. They said they would reverse the charge but haven't yet.

The 2 options for the Platinum meal on Bliss instead of Moderno are Los Lobos and Q. You would still have to pay the upcharge for Ocean Blue.

Yep, with volcano nachos and conch fritters that will become my embarkation day lunch - but they have a bunch of margaritas on their menu too. I have to plan my first meal!

Anyone can hit the bar there, no need to order food.

True. But the OP is talking about eating lunch there also.

Last Mango in Paris! Also, Margaritaville doesn’t have an a la carte menu any more. It’s a per person cover charge now. So if you just want nachos for lunch, and there’s 2 if you, that’s going to be a $35 plate of nachos. It’s the one thing NCL has done that I’m truly ticked off about. Nachos and margaritas was always my embarkation day tradition. The cover charge does include a starter, main course and dessert per person, but I never want or need that much food.

I could be wrong but I believe the OP is in the Haven. No charge for Haven guests for lunch at Margaritaville on embarkation day.

Something changing - old school to a new or former method ?

My guess would be (and this is only a guess) is that since the Seattle port is still under construction where the Bliss docks that it speeds up the baggage drop off area. I've read from other posters it gets a little chaotic at drop off. :::shrugs:::

It should be noted only guests in Suite classed staterooms get the (sticky) mailed out tags.

Don’t

We were on the Bliss July 14-21(6 in our group' date=' 1 new to NCL) and we all got sticky mailed out bag tags, a 1st for me. We all had ID rooms. I had already printed mine out as I always had, don’t know if this is a new or 1 time occurrence.[/quote']

 

It seems everyone sailing Bliss is getting luggage tags mailed to them, suite or not. I don't know if this is just for the inaugural season, just Alaska or what. But for now, everyone gets the mailed tags.