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They offered it on our sailing March 18th, Reflection. I ordered the dinner package

Got the same email for the 18th, but already had everything pre-ordered so it was sort of useless. The only good thing is that the pop-up shows your actual OBC not what your reservation page says, $300 on the reservation page vs. $450 on the pop-up

It sound like you're doing the Canadian Rockies from Vancouver to Calgary? Wonderful tour, you will love it. I did it with a different company but the scenery and the sights are amazing. I don't know you're itinerary but assuming these 3 tours are included/or available, IMHO they are not to be missed:

 

1. a tour of Vancouver with Butchart Gardens (it takes a full day when you factor in the ferry there and back)

2. Lake Louise in Banff.....absolutely stunning with the glacier in the background

3. Athabasca Sno Cat on the Glacier....this might be extra but it's worth every dime....one of the most unforgettable experiences ever!!

 

Scenery will take your breath away.

Lake Louise is very pretty but both my wife and I found Lake Moraine just down the road to be even more spectacular.

Walking on the Glacier was pretty awesome, try to get there early I know you are on a tour but if you are in Banff a couple of days I would consider renting a car just to get away from the tour buses. When my wife and I went we drove up and timed it so we got there pretty much when it opened and went up on the first snow cat, when we got back there were 5 or 6 buses there already and the guide said once the buses come in the place is a zoo and it really lessens the enjoyment for many.

Tuesday was St. Maarten day. We visited the island on our last cruise and had booked an off ship excursion with Captain Bob. It was a great tour, taking us around the island by boat, stopping in different places to snorkel and beach visit. Captain Bob was great and had helped set up for my son to propose to his then girlfriend, now wife and made it even more special for them. The problem with that tour is we saw nothing of the island itself. Although we did not plan a tour, last minute booked the Island Tour excursion and set off with a group to visit different spots. The tour included a stop in Marigold which was all too short, but our tour guide was great and gave us a good history of the island and it's people.

 

We returned to the ship and spent the bulk of the afternoon relaxing. DW had another spa visit while I caught up on my reading and enjoying the improved weather.

 

For dinner that night, we booked the Tuscan Grill. Really enjoyed it. Had their Bacon w/Pepper as a starter which is the one thing I did not enjoy. I love bacon in general, like most people, but this just felt like an undercooked piece of fat. DW had calamari which was good. It got a lot better though. For an entree, I went with the Grilled Bronzino and a half order side of Ricotta Gnocchi, both of which were delicious, the fish cooked perfectly, and DW Short rib Pappardelle Ragu which she didn't like, but I loved the bite or two I had. For dessert, had maybe my favorite thing to date on the cruise; a simple fig gelato that was divine. Service was excellent and I definitely would go back here, maybe go for a steak next time.

 

We were tired afterwards so skipped the show. Wandered around a bit to check out some music then called it a night. When we got back to the room, had a surprise. There was a form for luggage valet. I had heard through Cruise Critic that the Eclipse (I believe) was testing it out so had no expectations for it to be here. It is. $25 per guest, bags picked up and checked through to your airline. Sign me up! We filled out the registration and are set up for pickup. We have a late flight so dumping the bags sounds good to me.

We are on her on the 18th, yeah!!, and have Capt. Bob Cass booked as well, we were a little concerned with getting to his boat on time did you have a problem finding the place where his boat is ?

We did this exact cruise a few years ago and had some rough seas too, nothing like you experienced though !!

My wife and I cruised on the X Reflection the 1st year it sailed, it has a nice bar at the back called the Sunset Bar 1/2 is smoking the other 1/2 is not. So on day 2 or 3 we are sitting there and a guy we had been talking to while enjoying a few drinks tells us that security knocked on his door on the morning of the 2nd day and told him it was against ship rules to smoke on his balcony. He had no idea, not everyone reads cruise critic etc, he did not mind he just did not know. So I post this story on CC when I get back and there must of been 5 people telling me that he knew and was just trying to skirt the rules, he should of been fined etc etc. Mind you none of these people were on this cruise, just the militant non-smokers going crazy. Same cruise there was a really nice couple my wife and I talked to for about 3 hours in the same bar, after a while they said "I know you smoke but it is too bad that this bar is smoking because we love it back here" I told them the other 1/2 of the bar was non-smoking and they were shocked and delighted LOL

We received the offers for 30% off on our phone as well. But its the type of recorded message that doesn't cause the phone to ring. You just see a flashing light indicating you have a message.

 

 

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That's good, I like my naps !!! I don't want to be woken up for a sales pitch, I can get that at home.

I sincerely doubt the cruise line would allow ANY restaurant to be booked for 7 nights. Sounds like some B/S to me. If a rest. is booked for 1 night, big deal. I saw Qsine booked for an entire night. We ate in Murano instead. Check that website that's been mentioned prior. That way you can avoid gay groups or any other that offends you.

Well maybe you should go read the thread instead of just saying "I sincerely doubt the cruise line would allow ANY restaurant to be booked for 7 nights." I mean really. It was a Jewish Group they needed Le Bistro nightly ever night on a cruise for Kosher food prep. So everyone's reservations were cancelled, they were allowed to eat there after 9 or something on space available basis.

Also I did not say any group bothered me, what would bother me is if I paid 5 K for a cruise and found out that even though the Cruise company knew certain areas were going to be unavailable to me they did not tell me beforehand. Everyone's cruise habits are different and something that is important to me may not matter at all to someone else. For example if I got on board and found out that QSine would be closed till 9 PM every night it would not bother me, for someone else that may be a deal breaker, as in they planned 6 dinners at 6 PM in QSine now their cruise is ruined. For me if I get on the Reflection and find out that the Sunset Bar is closed everyday from 2PM-7PM for a group it will ruin my cruise as it is the only smoking area on the boat with drink service.

At least on an airline if I book first class and they stick me in economy because of an equipment swap they refund the difference and toss you a few air miles, on a cruise they just say too bad so sad just because the web site said Qsine was open at 6 PM nightly and we actually allowed you to make reservations it does not mean that it actually is. At least a flight only lasts 4-5 hours.

I don't even care who the group is at least tell me if something may be closed a good amount of time that may impact my cruise.

Keith I think you need to go over to the NCL board and call this person a liar :

Hello,

We were on the Getaway last week. After boarding, the Haven concierge announced that all LeBistro reservations before 9pm had been cancelled for the entire week to accomidate a last minute booking of 100 people.

No, this isn't about it being nice to inform you. You have no right at all to be told. None. Except in the aggregate for statistical purposes, the demographics of any particular cruise ship passenger list is confidential and should not be shared. To do so is to cater to and validate one's prejudices and biases. No company will or should do that.

There is a thread on the NCL board, passengers were not told in advance but a large religious group was on board and one of the restaurants Le Bistro was closed for much of the evening and a ton of reservations were cancelled. If I book a cruise and X knows in advance that a group is going to take over certain public areas or close down restaurants etc. I think I have a right to know before shelling out 5 or 7 K only to find out once on board that say you can't use this area or eat at this restaurant because a group has it booked for 7 nights. I book a cruise based on the information presented to me at the time of booking, dont allow me to purchase specialty dinners make reservations etc only to tell me on board that you can't eat there.

We booked a 4 night package prior to our cruise. We picked either "day 1" or "day 2" and a time. You cannot pick the restaurant, they assign it. Once you are on the ship there are people stationed on deck 5 where you walk on and also a couple were up by the Ocean View Cafe, and they can make all of your reservations for you. They actually changed the day of our first dinner and we asked to change it and the restaurant and had no issues at all. They were happy to accommodate us. We made a couple minor time changes and such during the week which they also took care of quickly. It seems strange but it all gets taken care of in two minutes once you're on the ship. Enjoy.

Thanks ! Do you think I can get this done when we board in Michaels Club or do I have to go find these people ?

Why is it that when you buy a dining package you can't make any reservations at all but if you just buy 1 dinner you can make reservations right online ?? We bought the 3 dinner package for our cruise that leaves on March 18th, so I called X the other day to get them to send me a receipt showing our OBC etc. and I asked on the phone if I could make a reservation for dinner since we had the 3 dinner package, they said no. Seems weird to me that you can't make at least 1 reservation.

Cheers everyone. Last night was bittersweet as with all last nights of the cruise. We had a nice dinner at Luminae with Dawn and Lisa. Said our goodbyes to Arlen and Jon and others we met on the cruise. It's always sad saying goodbye to the staff that you get to know so well. Thank goodness for Facebook allowing us to keep in touch.

 

I was surprised how late everything was open last nights. Shops were all open well past 11. The live music in the atrium was excellent and was going on well past 11. People were up drinking and dancing. The Martini bar was packed. It was a good way to end the night.

 

Today debarkation was fantastic. We had booked the first transfer through celebrity for FLL airport. By just after 7 luggage tag 1 was able to get off (that was us) and we were through customs in about 2 minutes once we had our bags. They were only checking passports. No more customs immigration forms to fill out! That was a bit confusing as some people on the cruise were getting them and others were not.

 

We're sitting at the airport now. Clearly early for our Noon flight. But it will give me time to start my final thoughts and reviews.

 

 

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Wow that week went by quickly !! Great review looking forward to your final review. Doesn't getting off the ship blow the big one ?

I think that if a group (regardless of their politics, sexual orientation, etc.) has the potential to be big enough to take over large sections of the MDR, main showroom, and close public places on a regular basis it would be nice to know...although NO cruise line does that. For example, we had a HAL cruise booked a couple of years ago and found out a gospel singing organization had a group booked. HAL would not tell us anything other than..."Oh it won't affect your cruise"...but when going to the group's website we found out it was about 1,000 strong. Now, we knew on a ship of 1,800 that if one group had 1,000 there is no way we would not be affected. We cancelled that cruise even though we have nothing against gospel singing.

I agree is a group is 1000 out of 1800 people you should be told. But in your particular case I might not of minded since the 2 places I frequent the most the bar and casino would probably be empty :)

I smoke but my DW does not, the non-smoking casino does not bother me in the least. The only downer is that on our upcoming cruise on the Reflection you have to actually go up a deck to get to a smoking area, I found that sort of weird why not have a smoking area outside close to the casino at least ? Our favorite bar on the Reflection is the sunset bar at the back of the ship, you can smoke on one side of it we love sitting there playing cards or dice and the service is great and there tons of people to socialize with. On our last NCL cruise on the Jewel the "same" bar had its smoking area up a set of stairs from the bar so there was no real service, it was more like a pit stop for people than a bar area. We are booked on the Escape next year I am hoping it has a smoking area with good bar service that people actually congregate at.

My wife and I were on the Reflection the 1st year it sailed we went to the Martini Bar and were chatting with another couple at the bar, a 3rd couple comes up, it was not busy and asks for the Martini flight. So the bartender does his magic, pours out all the drinks and the couple just leaves. They did not even touch a glass, I thought that was pretty weird. My wife and the other lady tried to drink them but most went to waste, I tipped the guy a couple of bucks even though we had not ordered it.

It's not called homophobia. It's called RESPECT ....for the people around you. Grow up and act like an adult

You are not going to win this one, this same poster derided lv2cruz in another thread basically saying because he or she is from NC they are homophobes.

Get a Marriott Chase CC spend the $2,000 or whatever you need to in the 1st 3 months to get the 75,000 Marriott Points on Wedding Expenses or whatever then use those points to book a nice hotel in Miami the night before, that way you are not stressing about missing your cruise. Or ask for Marriott Gift cards as wedding presents :)

Thanks everyone ! $450 is what we are supposed to have.

We had 300 OBC from X and then cashed in points for another 150 OBC via that X Credit Card, so I called X for my invoice to make sure it got added it looks like it totals 450 like it should but nothing is easy on X. Does the chart below mean we have the proper 450 in OBC ?

Onboard Credits - Currency Guest #1 Guest #2 Total

USD 75.00 75.00 150.00

150.00 150.00 300.00

Just a question, so if she only eats pizza and pasta with red or white sauce does that mean you cook that every day for her at home ? Is that even remotely healthy ? Does she even eat at school ?

I have a followup question, I watched a video and thought I saw a smoking area in the Haven in the outdoor area ?

Where and how far is the closest smoking area to the vibe on the Escape ? Thanks !

I would suggest getting some toonies for Timmy's coffee, way better than Starbucks IMO also cheaper.

Looking forward to your live review/blog. Which Cabin are you in ? We are in 9376 on Mar 18th also a S1.

Please post the Luminae dinner menus if you have a chance, my wife and I are trying to plan our Specialty Dinners for nights when Luminae does not have anything we see as must try.

We drove from NC to Miami and back on our last X cruise, we were in line for self-disembarkation super early so we could get on the road and get home that night. I think we were waiting at like 6:30 AM ? We were about 5th in line, sure enough between 7-7:30 around oh 50 or so groups came around the corner were shocked at how many people were waiting and tried the old "we have a early flight can we please get in front of you" excuse/reason. The 1st couple that asked me I said "sure as long as you ask the other 100 people behind me too, if they all say yes you can get in front of us". My wife and I have a 2 PM flight after our next cruise, we will just hang out in the AMEX Lounge at the airport, lots of free food, high speed internet. I agree with some others why be all stressy on your last day ?

For my wife and I it came down to 2 things really, we have sailed CC, NCL and X. Next month we are on X again, we like X better for 2 basic reasons:

1. The drink package is unlimited, if I want 17 beers on a sea day I can have them.

2. Suite perks on X are waaaay better than CCL.

OK maybe it is just me, but I do not see the attraction here ? You sit in a lounger with your SO or another couple and they bring you what a few drinks and a plate of food ? Can't you do this pretty much anywhere on the ship already on your own for free ?