totalee

 If you are willing to spend teh extra bucks to stay in the haven, eat specialty every night, pay to see the cirque show,  Epic is OK  from what I have heard. However if you expect the level of service that most cruisers get with a basic fare you will not find that on the Epic.  I had fun on all 3 of my Epic Cruises. However the December cruise I definatly felt like a second class cruiser. I have also had an issue with a $12 charge added to my bill sometime the last morning of the cruise NCL said they would look into it and thay have not returned my calls which they said they would. In the past any issues with billing or ships service were resolved promptly with a letter to the hotel manager or a call to NCL the next day.e  My Epic cruise in Dec nothing was fixed and I have been totaly ignored. I have some cruise next credits that I will probably sell. Yes I had 12 great cruises on NCL and one so so, but my Epic Journey made me realiize that NCL doesn't give one hoot about keeping me as a customer.

I got off the epic on the 15th In addition to the service issues when I arrived home I discovered that I had been billed for a gratuity on top of the previous bill which had a gratutuity added for spa services. So I paid and 18% gratuity on the original bill of $90 then the added another 18% on top of the $116  for a total of charge of 1

$138 for a service that I was supposed receive a 30% platinum discount on.  I called 2 weeks ago they said they would call me back and I still have not heard from them. I had a billing issue in the past and they solved it and credited my money back within a day.

     I think they have just written off everyone not in the haven or who does not want to pay an extra $300 to receive a decent level of service. It is pretty obvious NCL doesn't want cruisers who expect decent service as part of the base fare.   If other folks had such  great service We have to wonder why they picked out a few of us to receive horrible service.  

This was my 3rd trip on the Epic. I did a T/A on 2013 and the food was good, I made some good freinds and had a great time though service was lacking and some things were just not well coordinated. I tried it again in 2015 and you can see my 5 star review of that trip on here. Given that positive experience 3 years ago I was extremely disappointed last week. O sheehans was always good food and service, but you can only have wings and turkey sandwiches so much. The MDR food service and food quality was exponentially worse than 3 years before. I know that in spite of the design issues they u and can do a good job, but they obviously are not trying. On previous cruises when I have had an issue I took it to the Maitre D and they issue never happened again. Here they heard you and said thanks for telling them but they made no effort to fix the issues. That is why I am screaming out to people to avoid this ship.    I have 20 reviews here on CC you can see that me being upset about a cruise is a definite outlier.

I just got off the epic, It was by far the worst cruise I have ever been on. The MDR food was so-so at best. And the service was horrible it generally took over 3 hours for dinner. Most of the people at the table left before desert, because if you sat all that time you missed every activity offered on the boat. At breakfast one day a man at my table asked for syrup for his pancakes or Wafles and the server said no you cant have syrup because she brought out a sauce, the other time I went to the MDR for breakfast I asked for butter for my toast, she said she was going to get it, then disappeared never to be seen again that morning, One evening at dinner after waiting 20 minutes starring at my empty appetizer plate and empty water cup I had to go to the server station to get water to refill everyone's glasses.  I am Platinum on NCL and the service in the MDR was exponentially worse than any service I have every had on a cruise ship.  The Entertainment on the ship was good however and I felt sorry for the for the cruise staff people who had deal with all the people fed up with the horrible dining room service. I am trying to figure how to take out the service charge for the dining room people and still tip the others who did a good job.

When I found out about the upgrade at the port I had taken a train for 20 hours and not updated my boarding pass, so it may have been approved 48 hours out, but I was not vigilently checking my emails so I didn't know until I was boarding.

I have heard rumors that there is no heat on the Carnival Ecstacy. I am scheduled to sail on her Saturday from Charleston. The temperture outside will be in the 30's. I can't imagine the cabins not being heated up. I seem to remember from a behind the scenes tour that it takes time to switch from AC to heat so if it is cold for 1 night they might not switch, since the next morning they would have to switch over the whole system. Does anyone know if this about there being no heat is true ?

I took the Gem in September and it was one of the poorer NCL cruises that I have taken. A lot of the crew especially wait staff was unmotivated and even unfriendly. I was not surprised to hear a broke down about a month later I think they had some crew issues. I was a huge NCL fan prior to that cruise and I can't believe I am saying this but my past 2 Carnival cruises were better than the cruise on the Gem. Again MDR service was very bad on that cruise.

On Carnival the comp criteria is not fixed. I have gotten free bouceback cruises with casino cash after getting 2,000 points on an 8 day cruise. I have gotten nothing and had to fight with the casino host to get my drink card on a 5 day cruise where I accumulated 8,000 points. I think the casino host decides id she likes how you look to see if she will comp you. I know one person who hardly gambled but gave the casino host $20 at the beginning of the cruise and she got wine at dinner every night, a steakhouse dinner and a bounceback for a free cruise and she earned less than 2,000 points during the cruise.

The casino can open as soon as the ship passes under the key bridge leaving Baltimore. There is a special state law allowing it or any other cruise ship that will be traveling more than 200 miles away to open as soon as it leaves Baltimore Harbor and enters the Chesapeake Bay.

In Halifax if you can get to Luninburg It has far more to do than Peggy's cove. It is a UN Heritage site I think it is 20 min past Peggy's cove, but well worth the extra time.

I did Fundy Fun race in St John. One of the best excursions I have done. It is not really a race and you can do it at your own pace. learned a lot doing it.

I have looked on maps and Penn station to the NCL port looks like a short distance. However I know nothing about traffic there on a Sunday. Would planning 15 min from Penn Station to the port on a Sunday be about right ?

I am hoping less than $20 for a cab ?

These laws were designed to protect Union workers working on US flagged ships. US flagged ships paying a living wage to their workers do not want to compete with foreign flagged ships paying their crews pennies on the dollar to what US flagged union crewed ships were paying their crews.

If you get a Casino rate of $0 they double it for a solo. but 0 X2 is still 0 so it is a good deal. It is almost a pain when you invite someone else because it only means you are sharing a cabin now at the same cost.

My past 8 Carnival cruises have been free or $100 with $100 onboard credit. They have been Casino comps. However the onboard perks vary depending on the casino host, sometimes I have spent very little and gotten bottles of wine every night free steakhouse and other goodies, However on one I got 4500 points on a 5 day and actually got cursed out by the Casino Host, and got nothing had to call casino services in Miami when in port to get my DOU card.

Sometimes they just don't like you for some reason.

I sailed on the Jade the second week of Feb and had a great time. I am puzzled by the reviews I read from folks on the same boat. I thought there was very little complaining onboard the ship everyone seemed to have a good time. I had the unlimited drinks package and never had a problem or long wait to get a drink. Most of the Cruise staff was good, but a few running events had very poor English and were hard to understand. The Eastern Carib ports are not the best to sail too, but the ship and its crew seemed to do a good job overall.

No, on a Carnival free cruise you will only pay port fees and tips. I prefer NCL to Carnival, but I just feel ripped off by the NCF fee so I have done 5 Carnival cruises this year and only 1 NCL and the NCL I booked through Casinos at sea which was less expensive than the "Free" cruise I received from Harrah's Cherokee Casino (Part of Caesar's entertainment).

I have done 6 of my 8 recent cruises solo. Carnival is OK 2 of the 4 cruises I was seated at a table with other solo travelers and usually became friends with them. I have had no problem getting a table for one at breakfast when requested, though usually they ask if I mind sitting with a group, if I say yes they will give me my own table, but usually I see the group as an opportunity to meet new folks. THe only times I have been questioned about going solo is at the hotel I stay at the nights before we sail. I always meet lots of folks on the cruise and have people that I hang with by the end of the cruise, and often it is not the other solo travelers. I like NCL as a solo traveler a little better. Their activities staff looks out for you and the entertainers (singers, performers etc) will hang out with you. However Carnival is so cheap I keep booking with them.

You may want to try a 3rd party casino host who organizes junkets. I have several who say they can get me free on any cruise, I havn't done that yet since I do not gamble that big and don't want to feel obligated to spend big to help my host.

If you call TR or CAS they will give you a free drink card as soon as you board, you receive no tier bonus, but free drinks is good, also on my first cruise TR sent a wine bottle to my room

$185 is the casino rate, that NCF is actually the fare you are paying $185 plus taxes. The land casino probably gets a payout from the boat if you reach a certain level of casino spending.

The "Free" cruise that they give out at Caesar's properties add a NCF charge of about $200 to the taxes and port charges, You will get a better total price by calling casinos at sea. However if you find a really cheap fare on NCL if you are a diamond and book it through Caesar's you will get 20% off the cheapest fare you can find. The NCF charge is usually higher than the casino rate for an inside room, someone is making a good amount of change off of this.

I just got off of Norweigian Sun and ended up over 1k ahead all on slots so NCL was good to me. I got the red card had two free dinners at restaurants each with a free bottle of wine, got chocolates to the room a few times A bottle of wine for my birthday too. The bar service in casino was excellent half the time, non existent the other times. At the end of the cruise they credited me $100 to my onboard spending account. So all in all a great experience. Unfortunately an NCL "Free" cruise still costs a few hundred after different fees.

Carnival though gives free cruises that are really much free er. they only charge port fees usually less than $100 they will send you chocolates once or twice and one bottle of wine, unless you win big then you may get an extra bottle that night. They will give you Casino Cash $100 for 5 day cruises and 2-500 on longer cruises the day you board the boat.

I have been splitting my trips between then lately, If I had stuck to just one I may have moved up to a better tier and get better offers from one, but maybe not from the other.

I have cashed in $1100 slot tickets at the casino cashier on Carnival several times. I have had a friend win 5K on a video poker machine and she was paid out cash by the attendant (with a W-2 also). I had a 2k accumulated slot win it would not print a ticket and it had to be hand paid by the attendant, since it was accumulated and not a single hit it did not receive a W-2. If you charge gambling to your S&S card and want to pay it off you have to pay it off at the guest services desk, you can't pay off the S&S card in the casino.

I canceled one with from a $25 offer 2 weeks out and only forfeited the $25 the port charges and prepaid tips were credited to my account for a future cruise which I will be using this week. I think that within a one week window you may still be liable for the port fees and some taxes, it has to do with being on the ship's manifest when it is cleared for departure.

The cruise company wants you to cone back. If the ship is not full it would not help them to charge you a full rate and then lose you as a customer. If you are traveling peak season they may be apt to charge since an empty cabin that could have been sold represents lots of lost revenue.