Live from NOLA and NCL Breakaway - 3/12 thru 3/19 😀⚓️🕖☘️🍸

[CTCruiser001]

Haven Courtyard snack menu and treats left out most of the day for guests to grab at their leisure. 

 

 

 

[Topdog52]

14 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

day 6 and 7 dailies if you still have them.

I am not sure you can answer this seeing you are in the Haven. Do you know if with all the changes happening with NCL, if you can still get a coffee maker put in your room if you are in a club balcony suite.  

Edited March 18, 2023 by Topdog52

[CTCruiser001]

8 minutes ago, Topdog52 said:

I am not sure you can answer this seeing you are in the Haven. Do you know if with all the changes happening with NCL, if you can still get a coffee maker put in your room if you are in a club balcony suite.  

 

I've seen others post that many cabins still have the coffee makers in the closet of the cabin. Of not, you can ask your room steward for one and they will set it up. Per my understanding and you may experience something different.  

[CTCruiser001]

The ship is rocking quite a bit today. Still stormy weather outside with wind and rain. 

 

The Captain made an announcement a little while ago but it was so soft one could barely hear what he said - Hope it wasn't important...🤷‍♂️

[KKB]

On 3/12/2023 at 10:09 PM, CTCruiser001 said:

Do not miss Syd Norman's! These guys are great!!!

 

Hailee is THE BEST--we got to know each other a bit last August on the Getaway.

Edited March 18, 2023 by KKB

[KKB]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:03 PM, CTCruiser001 said:

The band and singers in Syd Norman's were terrific!!! Don't miss them. 

 

Now we are rushing off the the 11pm 18+ Comedy show with Brandon.  Fun times ahead!

 

 

OMG almost the same band as last August. SUCH amazing female vocalists! (different male vocalists than on my cruise)

And the guitarist is the BEST I have seen on any cruise! (maybe anywhere!)

SOOOO wish they were still going to be on in August.

Edited March 18, 2023 by KKB

[msbrookelyn]

6 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I bought some Tequilla for a gift in Cozumel day six of seven day cruise.  They looked at the bottle and allowed me to bring it on board.

Same.. I waited on that long line to check my bottle and was told it's small enough that i can just keep it. Don't worry ncl. I'm not opening my precious tequila when I have unlimited drinks on board. 😆

[CTCruiser001]

We had planned on Lobster rolls for lunch since it is a seaday but the Waterfront window wasn't open. This makes me sad!!!

 

 

[CTCruiser001]

Just fought our way through the Golden Corral...This is why we avoid the buffet...F'ing madhouse. Some good Indian food options...

 

 

 

 

 

[CTCruiser001]

More from the Golden Corral...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CTCruiser001]

Well that was fun. We made our contribution to the casino.

 

Went about as expected. 🤣🤣🤣

[CTCruiser001]

 

 

[CTCruiser001]

[CTCruiser001]

[witchofthewastes]

1 hour ago, CTCruiser001 said:

We had planned on Lobster rolls for lunch since it is a seaday but the Waterfront window wasn't open. This makes me sad!!!

 

 

Bummer! It was even in your dailies! Shenanigans.

[freebirds80]

Is there a price sheet for the liquor bottles they sell on board in the store? If so, can you post a picture?

[CTCruiser001]

3 minutes ago, freebirds80 said:

Is there a price sheet for the liquor bottles they sell on board in the store? If so, can you post a picture?

 

I'll stop by and see what I can find out in a little bit. 

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, KKB said:

OMG almost the same band as last August. SUCH amazing female vocalists! (different male vocalists than on my cruise)

And the guitarist is the BEST I have seen on any cruise! (maybe anywhere!)

SOOOO wish they were still going to be on in August.

The Female leads are the same....maybe the lead guitarist, too.  And, I agree...they are outstanding!

[CTCruiser001]

19 hours ago, rjm11 said:

I would love to hear more about your experience with the bottles offered with PP beverage package. We plan to bring some of our own but will also want to try some new ones- I've heard a "rumor" that lately the only bottles you can get for free are the same wines as the glasses you can get for free (which was not the case previously). What has your experience been? Thanks!

 

Alright- Here is our experience with the Premium Plus bottles of wine...

 

Short version - They changed things and it sucks. 

 

Long version - On previous sailings there has been a menu which showed the included bottles you could get from the P+ package. This is now no more. Here is what they have at all the restaurants now. 

 

 

There is no longer any clarity on what's included (spelled out as included). When we asked a few different servers, it is clear there is a lot of confusion on what the right answer is. I wasn't able to get in touch with the F&B Manager, but a few different Maitre-d's we discussed this with had similar answers. 

 

On the 'Wine by the Glass' side of the menu, anything over $15 a glass, you can get the bottle for 40% off. If it is listed under $15 a glass, the bottle is free. In general, this makes some sense, but...

 

When we were in Ocean Blue for dinner the first night, I saw on the OB menu (below) that bottles of Pommery Brut Rose and Veuve Clicquot are included in the Premium Plus package.  These are $25 and $29 a glass respectively.  

 

 

At Ocean Blue we enjoyed the Pommery Brut Rose with dinner at no charge. When we went to Le Bistro a few days later, we had no other wine menu from there that indicated the Veuve Clicquot was included in the P+ package, but we ordered it anyway and weren't charged for it - So it must be included on some secret menu outside of Ocean Blue. 

 

Based on discussion with several Maitre-d's, these bottles should be charged for outside the OB restaurant. So...Confusion Abound. 

 

The thing that burns my butt more are the huge price increases of some of their premium bottle offerings. On our last cruise in July '22, we enjoyed an Opus One at Cagney's - Back then it was $375 a bottle, which we received 40% off...Now, they are asking for $999 a bottle!!! 🤯

 

I hope this helps clarify a few things. Honestly, at this point we might start bringing on some of our better wine preferences for future cruises. 😁

[rjm11]

Thank you for the update and I agree that totally sucks. I was hoping it was a "supply chain issue" but there is nothing on there worth drinking! We too enjoyed the Opus last  year- and smiled to ourselves that 40% off the list price was basically retail (or even a little less). I'm sad they figured that out. Same with the Mondavi M- we had that a couple times too and now the price increased $150 I think.

 

Did you try anything? It looks like a really bad list.

[CTCruiser001]

1 minute ago, rjm11 said:

Thank you for the update and I agree that totally sucks. I was hoping it was a "supply chain issue" but there is nothing on there worth drinking! We too enjoyed the Opus last  year- and smiled to ourselves that 40% off the list price was basically retail (or even a little less). I'm sad they figured that out. Same with the Mondavi M- we had that a couple times too and now the price increased $150 I think.

 

Did you try anything? It looks like a really bad list.

 

Not really. We were thinking about trying the Mondavi's M tonight at Cagney's. But I was really looking forward to a bottle of Opus. We'll find out in a few hours! 😆

[rjm11]

have you had the Amuse Bouche blend? I tried it at a tasting once and liked it (though they don't say what year here). Retail is around $225- list price here is $295 so with the discount it would be a nice price.

[CTCruiser001]

2 minutes ago, rjm11 said:

have you had the Amuse Bouche blend? I tried it at a tasting once and liked it (though they don't say what year here). Retail is around $225- list price here is $295 so with the discount it would be a nice price.

 

We haven't yet. We are partial to red blends...Another consideration for tonight. 

[luv2kroooz]

23 hours ago, CTCruiser001 said:

I will add this...In all of our 16 cruises, we've always tipped at least $1 cash to servers or bartenders when we get a drink. If we are both getting a drink, we tip at least $3 cash. Over the course of our cruises, we've seen less and less people tipping cash at this activity...

 

23 hours ago, CTCruiser001 said:

On this current sailing, this tipping for drinks seems way down - Which is very surprising for me. Perhaps inflation and the rising costs and cut backs have made people stop with small cash tips???

I think people are just tapped out with tips, gratuities, surcharges, and fees. You can add us to the list, by the way. We used to offer a cash tip of $1 or $2 when we received good bar service. But, a couple is now paying $40 per day service charges, plus $43.60 per day for beverage charges, plus more when we dine in specialty dining. At some point, the spigot runs out of water and, for us, we have reached our max. Candidly, we will be considering a reduction to the $40 per day service charge and intend to pay at the $32 per couple per day which is more accurately aligned with industry standards. We don't believe NCL is passing the recent service charge increase along to their crew, anyway.

[freebirds80]

55 minutes ago, CTCruiser001 said:

 

Alright- Here is our experience with the Premium Plus bottles of wine...

 

Short version - They changed things and it sucks. 

 

Long version - On previous sailings there has been a menu which showed the included bottles you could get from the P+ package. This is now no more. Here is what they have at all the restaurants now. 

 

 

There is no longer any clarity on what's included (spelled out as included). When we asked a few different servers, it is clear there is a lot of confusion on what the right answer is. I wasn't able to get in touch with the F&B Manager, but a few different Maitre-d's we discussed this with had similar answers. 

 

On the 'Wine by the Glass' side of the menu, anything over $15 a glass, you can get the bottle for 40% off. If it is listed under $15 a glass, the bottle is free. In general, this makes some sense, but...

 

When we were in Ocean Blue for dinner the first night, I saw on the OB menu (below) that bottles of Pommery Brut Rose and Veuve Clicquot are included in the Premium Plus package.  These are $25 and $29 a glass respectively.  

 

 

At Ocean Blue we enjoyed the Pommery Brut Rose with dinner at no charge. When we went to Le Bistro a few days later, we had no other wine menu from there that indicated the Veuve Clicquot was included in the P+ package, but we ordered it anyway and weren't charged for it - So it must be included on some secret menu outside of Ocean Blue. 

 

Based on discussion with several Maitre-d's, these bottles should be charged for outside the OB restaurant. So...Confusion Abound. 

 

The thing that burns my butt more are the huge price increases of some of their premium bottle offerings. On our last cruise in July '22, we enjoyed an Opus One at Cagney's - Back then it was $375 a bottle, which we received 40% off...Now, they are asking for $999 a bottle!!! 🤯

 

I hope this helps clarify a few things. Honestly, at this point we might start bringing on some of our better wine preferences for future cruises. 😁

Not a wine drinker, but I did a search at a local wine store and found this. Maybe they are selling you a 1.5L? Or selling a standard 750 ML at double the cost.