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Epic Review 9/4 - 9/11/10. The good, the bad and the ugly....Part 1

LWcalif

By LWcalif,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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LWcalif

LWcalif

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A bit about us. Girls trip this time. Me 52 and my DD 32. My 1st NCL cruise. 2 on RCI. 3 on Carnival.

 

9/3 - Arrived at SFO Friday night to find long term parking full. Bad.

Directed to daily parking for the price of long term. Parked right by the elevator, minutes away from terminal. Good.

Able to switch our seats to bulk head exit row. Good.

Red eye flight delayed for 1 1/2 hrs. Bad.

 

9/4 - Arrived at Miami airport 6:30 am. Shuttle to Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon was right there. We booked this hotel due to it's close proximity to stores. Off to hotel for naps and showers. Upon arrival, clerk asked if we had just called about a day room. Nope, had booked 1 night with AAA rate and had called last night to let them know we would be later than our original 5 am arrival time. I had originally inquired about a day rate, but they said they didn't have one. Not a problem. They adjusted our rate down by $20. Good.

 

Had the free breakfast, then headed across the street to Publix to buy water, soda, sunscreen, lotion, etc. as we did only carry-on bags. Also a CVS and Walgreens nearby. Good.

 

Left hotel on the shuttle ($10 pp) at 1:15 pm and were in our cabin and on our balcony by 2 pm. Way to go NCL! Very quick and efficient check-in. Good.

 

Cabin - Deluxe Family Balcony #12074. Loved this cabin! Bed by the balcony & tub/shower combo. It was great being near the forward stairs/elevators. Only a quick 3 flights up the stairs to the buffet and pool deck. Good.

 

Liked the separate toilet & shower. Tip for the ladies: This cabin type is great for shaving legs. Easy to prop your leg on the tub. Next to the hot/cold lever is a knob which turns the water to shower, tub or off. Turn the lever to where it comes out the spout in the tub. This way you can rinse off your razor easily and not have to deal with the shower spraying. Good.

 

The sink was OK if you are only using it for hand washing. Washing your face at night was a challenge. Water went everywhere. Also, it wasn't big enough to hand wash swimsuits (which I did every night). It took me a couple of nights to figure out the best way to do it. We wiped up around the sink after each use, but I could tell from the plastic de-laminating around the bottom of the shelves, that others probably didn't. I think it's just a matter of time before this area is changed. Bad.

 

I don't know if it was because of the itinerary changes, but we docked on the port side at every stop. Enjoyed each sail-away on the comfort of our balcony instead of having to find a spot on the ship. Good.

 

We unpacked everything upon arrival, and still had unused storage space. There is a place for everything! Good.

 

There was much talk about what the plastic bin under the sink is for. We used ours for used/wet towels. This kept all of our used towels tucked away and off the floor. Good.

 

And the little metal covered box inside the bin we used for trash. The only other trash container was in the toilet area.

 

Not enough hangers in the cabin. Bad.

But, just ask your cabin steward, and they will bring you as many plastic hangars as you need. Good.

 

On the way back on the plane, we were discussing that we didn't think there was a peep hole on the cabin door. Maybe someone else can clarify that.

 

Cabin Steward - Leo. If you are lucky enough to get Leo, you will not be disappointed. He was very personable and helpful. Always called us by name, and made sure we had everything we needed. New towel animal in our room each night. And if there was a time change for the next day, the animal held a card telling which way to turn the clocks. (The phone also displays the current time, if you forget). Good.

 

Tip for using fridge for your own stuff - We asked Leo to empty it for us on the first night. He just opened an empty cabinet and put everything in it. I told him I could have done that. I thought he would be taking it out of the cabin. So you can empty it yourself and then tell your steward where you put everything. They are so busy that first night, I didn't need to bother him for that.

 

Tip for hanging long dresses, etc: The floor to ceiling length mirrored cabinet to the left of the tub had an upper closet bar and one mid way, so you could hang twice as many clothes in one closet. However, if you need more space for long items, the middle rack can be removed.

 

Tip for overly wrinkled clothes: Since we did carry-ons, our clothes were really crammed in our luggage. Asked for an iron and ironing board from our cabin steward the first night. Spent that time ironing, hanging and re-folding everything for the entire cruise. Took a little over an hour. They will pick up the iron/board when you are done.

 

Tip for beach days: We had 3 beach days planned. While we were unpacking, I kept saying "I hope I remember to take this with us on our beach day". I always seem to forget something when I leave the ship. So we designated the shelf above the safe as our beach shelf. So as we unpacked, everything we wanted to bring to the beach was in one spot.

 

Tip for charging electronics: Electrical outlet was in the cabinet to the left of the vanity seat. We didn't bring a power strip. We use a small extension cord that has 3 outlets on one end. We put all of our power cords and chargers inside this cabinet. Then when we plugged something in to charge, we placed the items on the counter above the cabinet and closed the door. This way we wouldn't forget what was charging in case we wanted to take the items with us when we went to the pool or off ship.

 

Are you all seeing a pattern here? The older I get, the more I forget. Spent too many years forgetting important things while traveling, so now I over-compensate. Bad :( and Good? :)

 

More to follow......sea days, port days, and food, food, food!

 

Laura

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LWcalif

LWcalif

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9/4 cont'd - Forgot to mention:

 

How much I liked the reading lights above the bed. I'm an avid reader & brought my Kindle and reading light. Didn't use my light at all. The snake neck type lights in the cabin can be moved to whatever angle you need. Good.

 

Did I mention how much I loved my cabin?

 

After dumping our bags in the cabin at 2:00, we headed to O'Sheehans for a late lunch. Based on CC reviewers, we ordered the wings, pot pie, and shepherds pie (special of the day). All were very good.

 

Peeked over at the bowlers. All were having a great time. No kids with us, so we didn't find time to bowl. Way too much to do on this ship in one week!

 

Also, went to the buffet for a late snack (ice cream). Good.

 

Tip for ice cream lovers: If both sides of the buffet are open, they serve different flavors on each side. So if you are on one side and don't see what you want, go over to the other side.

 

DD sacked out early and I went to the Casino. Rumor has it that more people win on the first night on a ship, so they can tell everyone how well they did througout the cruise. Not me. Lost my daily allocation in no time. Bad.

 

Headed back to the cabin for a really good night's sleep. The beds are really comfortable. Good.

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LWcalif

LWcalif

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9/5 Sea Day

 

DD, my born and raised Calif. girl was heading to the pool for a day in the sun. What, you're not going to the Meet & Greet, cabin crawl and slot pull with me? Nope. Bad.

 

We had so many scheduled for our M & G, it was moved from LeBistro to Bliss. A special thank you to Tracy for organizing everything. Many of the ship's officers were there and they handed out cards with their names and numbers for us to call if we had any problems. RCI didn't have any officers at our M & G's. So this was a plus. Good.

 

RCI had lanyards with clear pockets for us to write our screen names. So you could move about the group and know who everyone was. NCL did not have name tags for us, so it was difficult to know who everyone was. Bad.

 

Tip for M & G: Have someone from your group bring stick-on cheapie labels to use as name tags.

 

Then on to the cabin crawl. I think we had all cabin categories on our cabin crawl. Really enjoyed seeing the different cabin types. From courtyard to studio. Good.

 

Then on to the slot pull. We did pretty good on the dollar Wheel of Fortune. Then we moved to the $5 slots. Didn't do so well there. But we had fun. Good.

 

DD only lasted 2 hrs. at aft pool. WHAT???? Said it was way too hot.

 

Pool tip: If the weather is on the cool side, head to the aft adult pool. But if it is hot, there is a raised area up a few steps, on the right side at the main pool that holds approx. 12 chairs. You can feel the extra breeze & mist from the fountains that keeps you a little cooler.

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LWcalif

LWcalif

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Hi all

 

I'm glad you're enjoying my review.

 

I'm at work today, and I'm busy, busy, busy. So not sure if I will get to my next installment until tonight.

 

To answer your questions, ate in Manhattan one night. We thought the food was really good, and the service was good, too.

 

Not sure about the parking at the hotel. Their website would probably have it.

 

Will go into detail about food, entertainment and ports in my next posts.

 

Nothing ugly on day one or two.

 

Laura

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RTR08

RTR08

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Hi all

 

I'm glad you're enjoying my review.

 

I'm at work today, and I'm busy, busy, busy. So not sure if I will get to my next installment until tonight.

 

To answer your questions, ate in Manhattan one night. We thought the food was really good, and the service was good, too.

 

Not sure about the parking at the hotel. Their website would probably have it.

 

Will go into detail about food, entertainment and ports in my next posts.

 

Nothing ugly on day one or two.

 

Laura

 

Laura,

 

I could hardly wait to get on the computer this morning to read more of your review. I love it!

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