Jac199

I loved your review, @Travelgrrl! I especially appreciated your thoughts regarding your first solo experience. 

On 5/17/2023 at 9:58 AM, BirdTravels said:

Welcome to Fantasy Island

 

An all inclusive escape to a private island beach resort. Grab a private palapa. Snorkel on the second largest reef in the world. Food and a limited open bar is included. 

@BirdTravels thank you for taking us along on your cruise! Is Fantasy Island done through a private tour company?

@Carolinabanker It may be worth taking a look at the difference between the Original and Vertuo. The machine in the Haven uses Original capsules. Vertuo gives you a few more drink-size options.

https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/choose-your-technology

I would also check out the different flavors offered. 

Last August on the Joy I asked my room steward for ice and was told I had to order it from room service. I didn't bother, but was wondering if I would have been charged the room service fee. 

47 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

It is kind of like working out, you know?

Glad to see you're taking this seriously and doing the work,@Travelicious. Enjoy your cruise! I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures.

I plan to take mine on my upcoming cruise on the Joy.

16 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Dad update: my dad is enjoying going through the Freestyle Daily each night and circling the typos.

I literally laughed out loud at this! 🤣

I'm sorry the day was kinda lousy, but I'm glad you didn't sugar coat it. Life is not all rainbows, lollipops, and unicorns. I want to hear about the good and the bad. It allows one to set realistic expectations.

Fantastic review! Thank you for taking us along. Love your Dad's complaints! 😆

21 hours ago, graphicguy said:

It is!

 

From memory…

 

-Buffalo Trace Bourbon

-Cherries Marinated in brandy, muddled on the glass

-cinnamon stick 

-orange peel 

-smoked with apple wood chips

This is only available in the Haven?

Have a great cruise. Looking forward to following along on your adventure.

18 hours ago, trivimp said:

We've had the M&G with officers on our last three cruises (Oct 2021, Dec 2021, and May 2022) -- wasn't much interest in the other events, so nothing was organized.  I know I wouldn't want people in my cabin for a crawl in these post-shutdown times.  Dinner with officers was still not happening, but the meet & greets certainly are.  

I was thinking the same thing about the cabin crawl.

5 hours ago, BklynBorn47 said:

 

Today is my 75^th Birthday.  Feeling introspective and fatalistic I suppose.
We will spend 3 hours kayaking this morning - our “on the water” alternative. 

Wishing you a very happy birthday!

23 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

Sounds like your TA has a lot of excuses. However, as long as you are happy...

 

All I know is that I don't have these issues. Which begs the question: why?

She is actually a great agent and responds immediately to my emails. The first time she tried to contact NCL, the hold was over 6 hours. The NCL rep told her all spa club balconies were sold out. She had to go back to them 3 times to get a straight answer.

Enjoying the "Live from" and loving the blog! Thanks for posting. I get to travel vicariously through you. 

On 6/15/2022 at 10:02 AM, SeaShark said:

The comments on "being on hold" and "waiting for a call back" would seem to indicate that someone is simply calling the 1-800 number looking for help from whatever random agent the call is routed to.

 

What everyone should be doing is calling the person who booked the cruise (whether that be your Travel Agent or your NCL PCC) directly. When I call my PCC, if my call isn't answered, it is because the PCC is on another call and they promptly call me back when available. The TA or PCC is invested in the booking and really should be your POC to get anything done.

I have been attempting to change my booking from a balcony to a spa club balcony since last Friday. My TA is experienced and extremely responsive but she has been having problems with NCL too. She spoke to 7 different people and twice NCL booked the wrong category. It takes days for them to get back to her. I finally got the correct category booked today.

I am very sorry for your loss.

Thank you for the review. We will be saiing on her in 77 days and I found your comments/insights helpful.

I love a good, detailed review. Great job bringing us along on your cruise! I look forward to your observations of GSC.

13 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Well...just had an entire 30 minute post disappear from CC.   No idea why.  This usually only happens if I'm posting live from a ship.  This time, it happened at home, using a wired internet connection.

 

Not feeling in the mood to retype it.

 

Except at the end of the post that disappeared, I gave my cruise line history ratings, in order....

 

1.  Celebrity

2.  NCL

3.  Royal

4.  MSC

5.  HAL

6.  Carnival

That's too bad. I understand why you wouldnt retype, but I was really enjoying your comparison. I have never considered a Celebrity cruise and probably won't for a while but you are a great storyteller. 🙂

It was heartbreaking for me to read your posts, knowing how worried you were for your daughter and how helpless you felt. I know how hard it is to be alone, so far from home when something like this happens. I am normally very level-headed and able to handle most situations but found myself turning circles because I didn't know what to do first. I'm glad you will be able to have breakfast with your daughter; I am sure she will be very happy to see you. I am thinking of you and your family and will be hoping everything turns out OK.

Great review so far, MaryBethV! Your writing is entertaining and I can't wait to read the rest.

-Janine

Great review, poncho1973! I enjoy reading reviews but read them with a grain of salt. What some view as a major issue might just be a bump in the road for me. It’s all about the persons perspective. That doesn't make it wrong; we just see things differently. No salt required for your review. You included a lot of detail and you tell a great story.

"She sells sea shells"

Sounds delicious, but probably one I should order early in the day. Either that or always order from the same bartender because I don't think I will be able to say the name correctly with one or two under my belt! :D

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this post! I can't wait to try some of these drinks.

Thoroughly enjoying your review, MacCruising! I really appreciate the pictures. :)

Great information! Thank you for starting the thread, bbryan5.(y)