CactusFlower527

Right On ... FB is the work of satan .:D

 

Also a reformed FB'er ..

 

HooRay to the new upgrades ..

why the facebook bashing? I love it.

Thank you so much for posting this. We are departing 12/7 staying just above where you were in 13004.

Please take photos.

I'm still looking for someone staying in 13502 to take pics! ;-)

Anticipating hearing all about your cruise/suite, etc.. we're going in May :D

Just off the Epic yesterday, and the syrup was fine :)

 

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I am wondering if the "nasty syrup" rumor just got started by people who are used to using the "expensive" real maple syrup (something I don't do) . We just use the cheap Aunt Jemima style (at home) or boil our own sugar water and use maple extract. I think I've had real maple syrup maybe twice in my lifetime .... it was good, but not worth the price, and no restaurants use it... not around here anyhow.

Why did you book this cruise?

 

Because we want to see several of the Hawaiian Islands - our goal is the Islands. This was the cheapest way for 4 people to do it.

My expectation of buffet food is not any higher on POA than any other place that has a buffet (however I am looking forward to the fresh pineapple). I don't gamble, and I am not on the ship to see shows, swim in pools etc. I want to sit out on my lanai in the evenings and morning and enjoy the scenery.

Many people that have sailed POA have done so numerous times, some appear to go almost every year. Can't be all that bad, right?

Anyone know why NCL doesn't offer the UBP on POA? [2 weeks ago this question would have been complete gobbledygook to me :D]

Hawaiian laws don't allow it.. same reason there is no casino on POA. Gambling isn't legal in Hawaii

Ok, I've been reading the horror stories of ccr's buying one thing on POA and ending up with another. The description for the Family Suite with Obstructed view is:

 

Family Suite with Obstructed View

 

These suites include two lower beds that convert to a queen and a double sofa bed; extra bedroom that includes two lower beds that convert to a queen and additional bedding to accommodate two guests; two bathrooms with showers and two TVs. Butler and concierge service available.

 

Does anyone have first hand knowledge if this is actually correct? While I would love a balcony, this would fit our family perfectly. There isn't a floor plan so I have no idea except for the stock picture what it really looks like. Also, it says 356 sq. ft. that is small...

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated. :)

I'm pretty sure that 99% of the discrepancy and confusion revolves around the suites on Deck 13... honestly I would call NCL at their 1-800# and give them the suite # and verify what you'll be getting. I plan to do that EVERY TIME now. Because .. well.. that was the description that we were given on our suite up on Deck 13 (that hadn't even been "built" yet.... when we reserved it on October 2012). What we got was a great big open room basically with a curtain that goes around the king bed (NO BEDROOM@ ALL!) 1 double Murphy bed.. and double sleeper sofa (hide-a-bed). There is only 1 bathroom instead of the 2 that our reservation stated. The upside is that suite (13502) + lanai (Balcony) is almost 1000 square feet. The whole ship went under renovation and I am not sure if any of it involved 'tearing out walls'..but you never know.

BTW, if I run across any deck 13 new suites pics, I'll let you know here. Thanks again!

yes please. I'll be taking lots of pics and some video of our suite on deck 13 (13502) and 500' square foot lanai (balcony) - but we aren't sailing til middle part of May.

Glad that it worked out, seems like a fair resolution.

 

I'm in a suite on deck 13 and my cousin is in a studio across the hall.

 

I wrote to NCL concierge to request that they extend suite benefits to him so he could join us in Cagneys. The response was:

 

"Unfortunately, breakfast and lunch in Cagney’s will not be extended to none suite guest. This is an exclusive perk granted to those whom are in suites only."

 

 

So...I guess its an exclusive perk except when its not.

 

 

Not a big deal, but I've read how the concierge will on occasion extend VIP status in this type of situation so didn't think it would hurt to make the request.

back when one of our parties had booked one of the studios across the hall from our suite.. I asked the same thing and was told no, also. Subsequently one person in our suite cancelled over the summer - so we had space to move my friend in with us - so that's what we did and she cancelled her studio.

I think they are making an exception now because of the circumstances surrounding our reservations and what we "thought" we were booking and what we actually got (believe it or not, the 2 br/2 bath suite is STILL shown on our vacation summary when you click the drop-down!) They still haven't fixed it.

They could not put one guest on 2 cabins, so they had to move 1 of us over within their computer system, but they are still being considered a suite guest, and the inside cabin is being billed as that 4th person (not the full rate of the cabin).

Now what happens when we go to check in? is anyone's guess, but I'll have the printouts.

Yes you are correct...they are "now" there....where did they come from??? Oh well, hope the trip is good for you all. This might work out better for all of you...more of everything!

I have no idea where those extra family inside cabins came from, but it does answer the question we've had all along, there was a big empty space behind the studios - we just figured it was a housekeeping closet or something.. now there are 4 more cabins there. There are also updated photos and descriptions for the cabins ... (wonder how many people are freaking over there not being hot tubs on the deck ? says NONE of the suites on Deck 13 have them.. pretty sure that is another 'discrepancy') Honestly, I am not sure 'who' needs a hot tub when you are in Hawaii... but it's the principle.

After all this, I'm sure they're wishing they had just built those cabins the way they should have...like every other suite on the ship!

btw, I did confirm our cabin has the hospital curtain around the king bed..:( I asked the woman how this constituted being a bedroom? she really did not have an answer for me!

Now I'm trying to figure out if they will move the bed out of the "extra" inside cabin into our suite for the week, so no one has to do the sleeper sofa...

CactusFlower 527 ... so you must not be on deck 13 anymore?????

As I see there are no inside cabins on deck 13 ... only the studio type rooms.

 

 

Also, there are no inside rooms on deck 12....

 

Where did you end up at?

we are indeed still on Deck 13.. we have 13502 (Suite) and 13505 (family inside).. I'm thinking they must have added those family inside cabins fairly recently? (there are 4 of them right next to where the studios are). They were not on any previous deck plans. I was confused also ! I just assumed what she was giving me WAS a studio..

see Link..

http://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/pride_amer/decks/2/13#tab_detail

according to the legend, those 4 cabins next to the 4 studios are family inside.. correct?

Upon further inspection of the actual deck plans, it appears the stateroom we've been given, as our extra, is an family inside cabin... not a studio. Looks like it has the 2 twin/queen combo, and 2 pullman beds. Anyone else want to come along? (J/K)

That is wonderful news.

 

What remains so puzzling is why it took NCL so long to come up with an offer such as this to solve their own problem.

(The same solution might not work for everyone affected by this, but there are certainly things that NCL *could* have tried sooner, and SHOULD have tried immediately upon realizing their errors.)

 

We hope that the others affected have been offered similarly satisfactory solutions, and/or partial refunds due to the lesser accommodations (compared with what was advertised), whichever works best for each passenger.

 

Thanks for reporting back.

 

GeezerCouple

Thanks.. it works for us in this case.. we're all independent adults, no children so the extra studio cabin fulfills that need for that extra bathroom/bedroom that we were 'expecting' and being across the hall is not a big deal. I think they had several offers in the wings, but did not hear what they all were.... the first one they offered, seemed to be the best in terms of solving our 'problem'. We weren't looking for something for nothing, we only wanted what we thought we paid for. What a mess for them to clean up..

I really would have to say that if anyone has complained through that email address .. please let us know how that worked. Our concerns were voiced in a letter sent to the CEO .. CMMR (through the mail) with copies going to the Atty general of both FL and AZ , the FTC etc etc... we pulled out all of the stops. The idea was to let them know we were serious. We were. We only wanted what we paid for...

So..it's November 21st (Thursday) and I sit here at my desk waiting for a call-back from NCL executive offices re: the letter they received last week..... did not find their message on my cell phone until it was too late to call them back yesterday. Offices only open 9-5 Monday through Friday .............a challenge when you live on the West coast and work a full time job. Stay tuned.;)

UPDATE............................. just got off of the phone with NCL's executive office's escalation team.

Resolution: we got a gratis studio cabin across from our Suite on Deck 13. Will carry all of the same amenities as the SUITE :) it gives us our extra bed and bathroom for the 1 guy that's traveling with us 3 gals................. :D yes I am happy !!!! Thanks NCL for doing the "right" thing!

PS- since the studios were sold out, there's probably a guest about to be visited by the Upgrade Fairy.;)

So..it's November 21st (Thursday) and I sit here at my desk waiting for a call-back from NCL executive offices re: the letter they received last week..... did not find their message on my cell phone until it was too late to call them back yesterday. Offices only open 9-5 Monday through Friday .............a challenge when you live on the West coast and work a full time job. Stay tuned.;)

Not on a cruise have I seen, but it's an EPIDEMIC here at the Denny's restaurants.. people showing up for breakfast in PJ's... and it's SUPER common on Christmas morning :eek: .. can't imagine !

We are DIY-ers and just rent cars on Kauai and Maui (overnight ports for POA)... the other days we'll likely do shore excursions (offered by NCL) so we don't miss the ship...

the first day in Kauai we've hired a private tour guide (Jay Dorrance/Tread Lightly Kauai)... it was around $500 for 4 people .. all day tour. He provides transportation, too.

check out some travel books @ the library or B&N.... talk to others who have been. Read reviews (take some with a grain of salt though)...............

I am looking for a excursion on embarkation day. I need some one to pick me up at the Aston Waikki early that day, store my luggage and get me to the cruise ship terminal by 4:30. I haven't been able to find someone who will commit to all those requests! Any suggestions? What have you done on embarkation day in Honululu, dealt with luggage and got to ship on time? Just want to maximize my time and not waste the whole day just getting on the ship.

we're just renting a car in Honolulu and the rental car agency will get us to the pier after we drop the car off..................;) we are DIY-er's though - and we're flying in on Thursday.

FYI-

We got another 5X the points offer on our NCL card today. It is good through Dec. 31, 2013 on purchases at toy, book, sporting goods, electronics, and department stores this time. Watch for it in the mail in a white unmarked envelope.

I never get any offers from them - only BT offers. I'm not opted out on anything so I don't know why some are getting the offers and others aren't. Right now I am tapping the 5% from Discover online shopping through Dec 31st. Maybe I just don't use the card enough.

Please let us know if you receive a response. I guess we were fortunate to find a resolution that would work for us . We only have 3 in our group so it was not as difficult to work out . We could manage with one bedroom although not ideal I didn't want to move out of a suite on deck 13. We too wanted to experience the suite life at least this one time .

Keep us posted please.

Cindy

I think we're more worried about 4 people jockeying for the 1 bathroom (when we thought we'd have 2)... I'm sure after running around on the Island(s) all day, we'll be too pooped to care WHERE we sleep. Maybe we are just looking for some sort of an adjustment to the cost because I feel the suite we're getting is really a lower priced room than what we booked a year ago. :eek:

Thank you Laura for getting a note to Erica.this cabin looks a lot like my studio on the epic,even though the dimensions are not the same.I wonder if they have the same funky color changing moodlights,or what type of amenities are offered in the studio lounge?what about this area of the ship,is it keycard access only or open to all?

The only ones I saw were up on Deck 13 with all of the new suites.... and accessible to all.............

I completely understand your worries. I have two daughters and although one is now 19 and the other 22, I still worry and guess I will for the rest of my life.

 

.

Okay - now I don't feel so DUMB. I was going to mention that I have a son who's almost 23 and when he goes to Alaska with us in 2015/16 - yes he will be 24/25 by then, but I may still worry about him off by himself. No matter their age, they are still your kid! ;-)

I sent my mom with letters and stamps and she is headed to the post office as we speak. The letter to NCL is going CMRR - the ones to gov't officials and agencies (various) just regular mail.

As it stands, there are no 2 bedroom/2 bath suites left on our sailing date to even move us into. I would not want them throwing someone else out of their cabin to accommodate us! It will be interesting to see if anything gets resolved...or how they will keep us happy. Yes we will still make it work, YES we will still have fun ........ and yes HAWAII is the goal. But now there's been an extra stress point put on us, because we will be 4 adults sharing 1 bathroom.. only have 1 bedroom (not 2).. for privacy reasons we will have to work something out. It's not a deal breaker, but it's disappointing and we are NOT getting what we thought we were paying for. Maybe it was our mistake to choose the 13th deck a year ago when we booked? If we didn't have the $450 OBC it would be tempting to move into 2 balcony cabins and just ditch the suite, except we are looking forward to experiencing the "suite life" just this one time. Thank you all for putting up with my rambling... :( We're not so mad as we are disappointed and feeling gypped.

I really don't think you are going to do that in 1 Suite.

We are putting 4 adults in a deluxe penthouse suite that "says" you can put 5-6 in it ..

however there is one bathroom.

1 King Bed in a bedroom

1 murphy wall bed and 1 sleeper sofa (both DOUBLES) - out in the main living area.

We are paying - $10,000 for this... there is nothing unusual about this cost.

Suites on POA aren't cheap. :(

I can't imagine cramming 6 people in there.

Just make sure you understand EXACTLY what you're getting, especially if you are booking a suite on Deck 13 as there is MAJOR confusion surrounding those suites.

When we booked Suite 13502 in October 2012, it was classed as a 2 bedroom deluxe family suite with 2 bathrooms. Imagine our shock when NCL called to tell us we only had 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom. No price reduction either. Of course, back when we booked, the cabins were just a gleam in someone's eye. -sigh-

You won't get on a plane without it. Go direct to your DMV and pay extra if you have to for a faster response if you have to.

This.

Not sure how DMV works everywhere, but we can get a duplicate driver's license on-demand at the DMV for $12. (Arizona)