bluecartakesacruise

We were on the Koningsdam last week and had a great time.  GF stayed on in San Diego for an extra week, because well you know how retired people are. Anyway she just messaged me that she heard you ships horn getting underway.  Have a great trip!

Since you have plenty of sea days you might want to check out the spa pass.  We're big fans.

Beer selection is always one of the least enjoyable aspects of cruising to me.  The only exception to this for me was on the NCL Escape which has a pretty nicely stocked draft bar.  Alaska cruises usually put on some decent bottled beers from Alaska brewing.  Other than that it's just the lame selection the major distributor supplies.   Like Thrak we always seek out brew pubs in port.

Done the thermal spa every time we've gone on NCL.  Usually they are open 8am-10pm or so.  Totally worth the money (and we're kinda cheap).  Alcohol? Not sure-never tried, Maybe they wouldn't stop you if it wasn't in glass but the hot water is intoxicating enough for me.

6 hours ago, martinchem said:

Not if they handle this like they did for our Bermuda cruise last September on the Escape with the threat of a hurricane,  we got nothing. No cancellation refund, no obc, nothing. We just had a 7 day trip to nowhere,  but that's all the contract guaranteed. Royal offered 50% refundable obc or cancel no fees, Carnival offered $100pp obc or cancel no fees.  

We were on that same sailing which is why we don't book with NCL anymore.  

So I'm surprised and glad to see that NCL is going to do right by their Cuba customers this time.  Good on them!

Just off the Ovation.  There was no smoking in the casino, or anywhere else indoors so far as I could tell.  I smoke, but I liked that about this ship.

2 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

Wow, I thought I got up early.

Thanks RDC1. We've enjoyed CCL and and have our first Princess sailing booked for May.

I got denied due to booking with another discount offer. I made this investment with the understanding that the OBC would help cushion any short comings in the share price and that would add up over future cruises to come. I was pretty jazzed about owning some RCL.

My mistake I guess.  Silly me for believing the offer page without digging into the fine print.  It they don't intend to honor it, why do they bother to offer it at all?

Wow, I was curious where that cruise ended up. Did you guys stop in any ports? It's crazy, because we had our phones off the entire cruise, we didn't even know about the storm until the day we got back. I'm sure that must have been less than ideal, but hopefully you guys still enjoyed the trip. That's the nice thing about sailing one of the larger ships; there's enough onboard to keep you occupied for a week. I'd hate to be in that situation on one of the smaller ship with fewer onboard options.

Not wishing to hijack your excellent review, but as you asked the captain booked it down to FL and we stopped at Pt. Canaveral which is essentially a bus station for those wishing to visit Orlando. Next day we visited GSC (Norwegian's Island stop) which we enjoyed. Then we sailed east and north behind the storm back to NYC. It was mostly all good.

Didn't get to Bermuda so I'm looking forward to visiting vicariously through your upcoming installments.

Inside the thermal suite, with the weird heated torture loungers.

Agree with you 100%, but my GF loves them. They make her happy which makes me happy. Thermal spa pass is the best.

Enjoying your review, we were on the sailing right after yours which landed up being a cruise to pretty much nowhere except away from Florence. I spent a lot of time in those padded loungers. :cool:

We were on this cruise and we had a great time. We had no complaints about the service, our cabin steward was just fantastic and all the other crew we interacted with were upbeat, cheerful and fun. The ship itself is great, and the food pretty good overall. We were very appreciative of the nice ride and sunny weather that captain provided. The entertainment was also terrific especially Choir of Men and Howl at the Moon. That said it was a disappointing to miss our 3 days in Bermuda which was the reason we chose this sailing.

I don't think anyone is asking for a refund but a little discount or OBC on a future booking would be nice. What strikes me as odd is NCL's attitude. A career in business has taught me the value of customer retention. It's a 10 to 1 ratio in the cost of luring a new customer vs. retaining a loyal one. So crossing their arms and telling us "good day sir" just seems like bad business.

The thermal spa passes on NCL are a nice enhancement to a cruise. We loved having the pass on the Escape even at a borderline ridiculous price, it saved out attitudes last week on our cruise to nowhere.

Day 7 - Good night from the Norwegian Sun

 

And here are the saddest pictures of our trip.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...psrj9bsyb7.jpg

 

 

Aww, sad indeed. Thanks for the terrific review, it took me back to our trip in May. Nice to see you guys are still living the dream. :)

 

John (from the Jewel)

I'm really enjoying your review. We were also on your sailing (wonderful cruise), but saw and did different things. It's fun to see your photos of Juneau for a new perspective. Looking forward to your next installment! :D

-RonieG- gotta agree on Cagney's, best meals of our cruise (well that and breakfast at the buffet.)

We prefer making our own coffee in the room, and usually order just a pot of hot water. I have always tipped the attendant a few bucks, but I won't be paying $80 over a 10 night cruise for hot water. Guess we'll be packing a tea kettle this time.

"Thanks gardiner for the review. I agree with you - it was a very nice and relaxing place. I am hoping others will share their experiences in Cozumel."

Since you asked, we made our way to the taxi stand and hopped in with some folks bound for Paradise Beach. It was about a twenty minute trip zipping along a nicely made highway, just as fast as that 20 year old Datsun could go. (I guess the cabbies have to make as many runs as the can cram in when ships are in port.)

There's an entry fee of $3 each, which gets you the lovely beach, loungers, clean facilities, a very large and popular pool behind the beach area with no outside vendors wandering about. They also offer a wide variety of water toys for the kids to play on and a nice pier where you can climb down a ladder into deeper water to snorkel thus avoiding any rocky spots in the shallows.

For our entry fee, plus a $35 tab for a bucket of beer and some nice guacamole, we spent some wonderful warm hours basking under the coconut fronds.

Later we walked around and found the main plaza in Cozumel. Some local kids came by to break dance for tips. Quite enterprising of them I thought.

Loving this review, jmele999. Can't wait for more! :D