Kfamilycruise

This thread was so helpful. Thanks to all. Has anyone that has been on Mariner recently eaten in the MDR? I've been hearing not great things about MDR recently -- we were on Odyssey in April and the MDR food was not great. Service, as always was great. Just weighing whether we should get the UDP. Any input would be great.

My boys really loved the Odyssey (haven't been on Wonder, but have been on Symphony). They loved the bumper cars, the sky diving simulation and all of the teen activities including that the teens had their own outside deck. 

They had a great time on Symphony as well, but said they like the Odyssey better. As others mentioned, if they want to do sports stuff, the Wonder would be better. My kids aren't sports kids. 

They were 18 and 13 on board if that helps. But honestly, can't go wrong either way!

On 3/3/2022 at 7:16 PM, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Activities

DH definitely took advantage of the Quantum class perks!  He did the iFLY skydiving simulator, bumper cars, Zone Zero virtual reality game and rock climbing wall. None of that was an option for me, but I did do the North Star without him. 😉

 

iFLY

This was what he was looking forward to the most, and it didn’t disappoint, although he did say that it’s an awful lot of prep time for one minute of flight! But it was lots of fun for him, and lots of fun for me to watch (and film!). The instructor also did a pretty cool acrobatics demonstration when everyone in the group had finished. The only bummer was that while they do have ship photographers taking pictures, they’re not included in the photo packages. DH decided that he really didn’t need to spend $50 on pictures of himself with wind tunnel cheeks. 😁  Reservations are required, and can go pretty quickly for the complimentary sessions on port days, so it should be one of the first things you do when you board.

 

Bumper cars

No reservations required, and while the line can get pretty long at times, it moves quickly since 10-15 people go at a time. Pretty typical age/height/weight restrictions.

 

Zone Zero

This was probably his favorite of the activities. Reservations also go SUPER fast for this. You work as a team, and it’s essentially being inside of a video game. The cost was $18, and the game itself lasts around 15 minutes.

 

Rock climbing wall

Since this is kind of “old news” with all the new bells & whistles, it wasn’t open all that often. Consequently there were sometimes longish lines, but three people can go at once so that line moves pretty fast too.

 

North Star

This was the only time I broke out the walker while on the ship, since standing in place is much harder than walking. Unfortunately, I discovered that you can’t bring your own devices into the pod—you have to transfer to a wheelchair that they strap into place. So while I got great views of the pool deck right in front of me, that was all I could really see since everyone else was lining the windows to the left and right. Oh well. It was still fun. And please enjoy the one picture I was able to get! 😊

 

 

Games

We only did two games: a Friends trivia contest, which had a good mix of difficulty in the questions, and had the typical keychain as the prize. 😁

 

The other was called the Royal Mystery Puzzle Challenge. The logo in the app was a jigsaw puzzle, so we probably would have skipped right over it if I didn’t already know that it was an escape room type of game. You had 45 minutes instead of an hour, and it was pretty tough. Only one group finished, in fact. So if you’re super competitive, you’ll definitely want to create your own group (up to ten people) and play to each member’s strengths. For example, DH is a suduko whiz, but the group “captain” (whom he had just met) randomly handed out the puzzles so he didn’t get that one. But if you just want to have some fun and enjoy the 270 view on a sea day, it’s a great way to spend an hour!

 

In the next installment: entertainment.

Thanks so much for your review. I've heard Zone Zero is very hard to reserve. Did you go to the location of the game itself on embarkation day to reserve?

I use a very small cross body vera Bradley bag -- I always have my phone for taking pictures, my mask, my sea pass and my hand sanitizer. I don't go anywhere without all four on the ship -- sometimes I even slip in our sunblock. Easy access to everything I need without the long haul back to the room. My cruise is after mask mandate is lifted, but I'm immunocompromised so will still be masking up inside. Scientific research shows you can wear N95 masks again but as others say don't put in plastic bags -- you can lay out on the desk in your room. 

22 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

A little blackjack Before lunch and then back to the pub for lunch. The poutine wasn’t as good this time. Not enough gravy or cheese curds. But the smoked cheddar soup was really good and made up for it. 
 

after that we took off to zone zero for the VR experience. It is an absolute hoot for young and old. Don’t miss out on it when you are aboard. 
 

Do you have to pay extra for this? How do you book? TIA

On 2/4/2022 at 4:13 PM, CruisinCrow said:

 

Have you used Resort for a Day before?  Were they good?

I don't know about "good," but all worked out fine the last time we did it. We just went to hotel, showed them our receipt, paid the rest and went about our day of fun!

Looking good. Can't wait to follow along. Thanks for taking us with you.

Hi all. Does anyone know if you have to put that everyone in your cabin will be using the casita? It seems to be a per person cost. We are sailing in April and with passenger numbers rising, we thought we'd reserve one since we have so many port days, but the cost is per person, which seems ridiculous. We don't have the drink package and we are in connecting rooms, so we don't have to put all of us -- we are just trying to make sense of what we have to do since that isn't clear in the cruise planner.

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

On 1/31/2022 at 10:14 PM, John&LaLa said:

 

Tokyo Tea, aka Green Tea, is a Long Island Tea with Midori instead of Coke

 

Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila, Triple Sec, sour mix, and Midori, I think

This sounds amazing. What bars can you get this at? Thanks for this amazing conversation to everyone! Can't wait until our turn in 60 days!

Where was the inclusion of the credit for food and drink? I booked on resort for a day and it did not include? Does anyone know?

Our April 9 Odyssey is the same as it's been all of January. Boo! Hoping for another price drop.

We just came back from Escape Haven and saw no difference from pre COVID times (other than everyone wearing masks of course). Our meals and service were excellent. We saw our butler every day. She always brought us special snacks and our steward was fantastic. The concierges also were great. 

On the Escape itself, the biggest difference were that splash academy was closed and all of the sports court stuff was closed for maintenance for the smoke stack.

We were on this sailing too. It was a great time. We had an issue at check in as my FIL didn't bring his passport (last time he sailed on closed loop you only needed driver's license) and after waiting 4 hours, we just got his suitcase once we were on the ship and brought it back afterward. Other than that, could definitely tell reduced capacity -- it didn't seem like masks were being enforced all of the time, but I definitely saw someone being admonished once or twice. 

Wearing a mask didn't diminish my experience at all. It was great. I hope we'll be able to go on our April one. Glad you had a good time too!

I second the Indian food rave on the Encore buffet! Pretzel rolls everywhere on NCL!

I think our favorites are: pork belly appetizer on Haven menu, Tahitian vanilla French toast (Haven breakfast), NY strip, lamp chops, and fries at Cagney's, The amazing offerings at Moderno and the lobster roll from the outside kiosk for ocean blue!

20 minutes ago, raitch said:

It’ll be the most kids Getaway has seen since 2020.  That said it’ll still be way less kids than in the old days, and absolutely no kids under 5. 

this absolutely. Motivated parents were able to get their kids fully vaccinated in time and schools will be out. 

1 hour ago, Ryesguy said:

We are travelling on the Escape out of Port Canaveral in January and was wondering if there are separate covid testing procedures at the port for Haven guests. This will be our first cruise since covid so would appreciate any insight on boarding/testing procedures.

Our understanding is that all groups go through COVID tents together and then you go to separate Haven check in after COVID process. If you are traveling before January 17. 

I've traveled on deck 17 and loved it -- I've heard others get lots of noise from the chairs on the sun decks. We are leaving Saturday in 2-BR on deck 17 (same cabin!) and will post pictures if you'd like.

Here's my review from last time: https://sktimelytravel.com/2018/06/10/heaven-on-the-norwegian-escape-june-2017/

Hi all. I seem to remember from old forum topics that you can go to customer service and sign a waiver and get a beer/wine package for your 18-year old and up. Does anyone know if that is still the case? Secondarily, since we are in the Haven, can that be done with the concierge? or still need to go to customer service?

Thanks in advance!

2 minutes ago, mjcatlvr said:

Yes, you can still set that up for a fee for the dining room or could host a dinner in your cabin.

Excellent! Thanks so much!

1 hour ago, mjcatlvr said:

855-625-4283  M-F 9-6. I called about 2 months out.

Thanks so much! Does anyone know if you can still invite a non haven guest to dinner for a fee?

1 hour ago, mjcatlvr said:

Great Spreadsheet. I hope that if anyone uses this as a checklist that they consider tipping very generously😉! I added my Unsweetened Iced Tea that is a simple must for me. As far as emptying out the "for sale" things in the fridge and "Pillow Menu", I call ahead to the Haven Concierge and put in those requests about two months out. My husband is a Vegetarian so we also request that the treats reflect that as best as possible. I prefer to pack and unpack myself. All of these folks work very long hours in many different capacities, so try not to be that person who consumes more than your share of their time.

What was the number to "call ahead" to Have Concierge? And how many days before sale date did you do so? I have the concierge email, but didn't know there was a number. Thanks!

NCL usually has kettles when sailing from UK, but I would say since you are sailing in the Haven, you can request from your concierge to have one in your stateroom. Send an email to norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com with your reservation number and cabin and ship in both quthe subject and in the body of the email and make as many requests as you want. I always request hypoallergenic pillows and the fridge to be emptied out.

Enjoy your cruise!

Hi all. I've searched but can't find the answer so hoping my CC friends can help. I'm finally (fingers crossed) getting to cruise again (on the Escape)  in December and I heard that NCL has new menus -- including in the Haven. Does anyone have the new menus or can point me to a link with them?

Thanks in advance and happy cruising!

6 hours ago, krittykat said:

We are going on a river cruise with Viking in August (in additional to our NCL cruise in April),  Just received an email from them saying we can cancel up to 24 hours prior to the cruise without penalties and reschedule within the next 2 years.  Pretty amazing to get that but I guess that is the sign of the times.  No intention of cancelling anything at this time, personally.

This is amazing. Go Viking!

We loved Harvest Caye -- was way nicer than I imagined. Loved the large pool area and the sand was nice and smooth. Water was way better than in Bahamas -- warmer, calmer and clearer.