mrs.cool

After reading your comments on the UBP thread with the issues you had with your statement, I'm very interested in your review!

I wrote one, and I had a notification on my phone that someone commented on it, but i can't find my review on here, unless I go into "Reviews" at the top of the page, and there are no comments there. :o

Sorry, can't help, even though we were on the Dawn for a week! We found ONE bartender in the Spinnaker who remembered what my husband drank, but that's as close as we got to a good bartender.

And it's not like we didn't try! We had the Ultimate Drink Package!

I have found that if a bad review is being written that they are generally written by passengers who have sailed other lines and are trying NCL for the first time and usually their complaints revolve around Freestyle (it took an hour and a half for dinner, on our line it only takes 90 minutes), the quality of the food as compared to "their" line, and the lack of friendliness in the staff (or a combination of the three).

This was our experience on the Dawn last week. I'm going to write a review shortly, if anyone is interested.

Thought I'd update this thread now that we're back and added up our receipts. :eek: They totaled $1073. As we paid $788 for the package, we came out ahead. For anyone who plans on doing this, my advice is to make SURE you know what the price of the drink is. They have to be under $10. We ordered Tequila Sunrises at the Bimini bar, which is the bar overlooking the pool, the day they were advertised in the daily as the poolside drink of the day, for $4.25. Well, apparently overlooking the pool is not the same as poolside, and they came out to $21.95 once the automatic tip was included. Well, this is NOT under $10 each, and our server didn't say a word about it not being included in the UBP, and charged our account. For both rounds. The day we disembarked and got our bill, we were too upset by our account saying we owed $1900, with $1400 of that being in the casino, which we never stepped foot in, AND the beverage package, which I had already paid for, AND the $12/day "Service charge" which I had already paid for, that we didn't even think to complain about the Bimini bar charges. That was the least of our worries at that point. :mad:

So, just beware that if a specific drink is NOT covered by the UBP, they are NOT going to tell you so. :mad:

We've always been on RCCL, and we LIKE the set dining times. We've met some great dinner partners, and ended up doing shore excursions with them even! We also like getting dressed up for dinner. The "free-style dining" is the main reason I have looked into NCL!

So why am I on the Dawn this Sunday? We liked the ports. We've done the Caribbean so many times we've "been there, done that" and were looking for someplace new, and this cruise has 3 out of 4 stops we've never been to.

So we figured the dining would be something we'd be willing to compromise on. Well...it sounds like it might be a bigger deal than we thought. The only hope I have is that we've always had "second seating" for dinner, which is 8:30. So hopefully that time will still work for our cruise next week.

Once, on a RCCL cruise, my brother in law asked for a brandy old-fashioned sweet. They looked at him like he had 3 heads! He got a Long Island Iced Tea instead. By THEIR choice, not his.

Well, earlier in this thread someone said there are photographers on board on this "Night out" or whatever you want to call it. I was just wondering if that's known ahead of time or what. I'd hate to wear my fancy cocktail dress one night, and then have the photographers there the NEXT night! :( The reason this is important to us is we are trying to re-create a picture we had done on a RCL cruise 12 years ago! The fact that I can get back into that dress again is one of the reasons we're even doing this cruise! When I started losing weight over a year ago, I told my husband if I EVER get back in that dress, he owed me a cruise! I did, and he's paying up!! :D

We ARE planning on dressing up for the one night when it's suggested you can. Does anyone know WHICH night this usually is? We've only been on Royal Caribbean and Princess, and their "formal nights" are usually on one of the "At Sea" days. Is this how NCL does it too? Or is it just random?

We're doing this trip next week. I have a question about tubing in Belize. I read elsewhere the river is really high, fast and a little scary. Was that your experience? also, they say to bring extra clothes, and you mentioned changing..where do you leave your clothes while you're tubing? In the van? Or...???

Oh great...We're going next week. My husband can't swim!

I was thinking about bringing my metal water bottle I carry everywhere along with me. Empty of course. Good idea? Of course I couldn't toss it then on shore like I could if I had plastic ones. Hmmmm.....

Agree blue water. No commitment but saved lounge chairs. Why not?

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happy to read all this ! We're on the Dawn January 26.

I've never cruised on NCL before, only RCCL or Princess, but on those cruises I have never seen anyone tip anyone for meal service. They too do the tips at the end of the cruise thing, so I guess no one, including us, feels the need to double tip.

Bartenders are different, you add the tip when you sign the slip. But on this cruise we both the UBP, and a 15% tip is built into that, so I'm planning on ALL my tips already taken care of. I'm saving my cash for my shore excursions.

No kidding!! Don't tell people!!!

There's actually a thread on this that I updated yesterday. You should be able to find it if you search Dawn Embarkation Problems.

Y'all are making me happy I have a blood sugar problem and don't EAT dessert!!

Thanks all!! Good to hear!

So...does anyone who got off the last two cruises have any information for those of us yet to sail on how this all went? Any improvement seen?

I hope you're right! We know how hard it is for the weather people to get it right even 3 days out. Looking forward to meeting you and everyone at the meet and greet!

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I shouldn't have read this!! Now I'm nervous! We sail the Dawn January 26, and fly into Tampa from Milwaukee via Atlanta on Saturday the 25th. Our weather right NOW is actually nice, but we had ice last Friday and travel was impossible.

good to know! Thanks! I don't own water shoes, and I have no desire to buy some to trek down a rocky path in!! I was trying to think of some sandals I own that are close backed and that I wouldn't mind if they got wet, and couldn't come up with anything. But I hunted last night and found a pair of Rocket Dogs that are rubber soled and closed, so I'm good to go! Hubby already owns a pair of canvas loafers he wears boating, so he's all set.

Just bought ours'! I figured it out and it comes out to 6.5 drinks per day. I may fall behind on days on shore but I think we'll make up for it on at sea days.

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AND...as you're putting it on a credit card, you may be "paying" it AFTER your cruise, depending on when your card cycles.