jenifferf00

We are sailing August 23rd to Bermuda on the Gem booked in a OK obstructed ocean view, 4 to the room, booked over a year ago when this sailing still has 3rd and 4th guest free. Was able to bid on balcony and mini suite. We had a low bid of $25 for the balcony and $50 for the mini suite. I offered $50 for the balcony (considered a bad bid) and $100 for the mini suite (also a poor bid). Just received our email today that our bid for a mini suite was accepted! Looks like we'll be under La Cucina, which doesn't seem too bad. 

My brother and his girl friend were also upgraded from ok to a balcony today. I am not sure what they bid. 

4 hours ago, esm54687 said:

There is a lot immediately at the bow that is not the cruise one.... the one you want is the next lot (look on Google Maps for 5 Terminal St - if you do the Google Street View there's an Old Town Trolley booth on the corner). I absolutely recommend that lot!!    The secret is to proceed down Drydock Ave then loop around where it changes to Black Falcon Ave. Stop and drop your luggage to the porter (don't forget to tip) and then head straight to the parking lot..... pay and then casually walk back and miss the madness with people dropping of luggage and head up the escalator. 

Thank you for this! Any chance you remember the cost for parking for the week? 

Following along. We’re coming from RI and will be driving, the only lot I could find info on was the one originally mentioned and the shuttle was something I was concerned about as well.

6 hours ago, jethrojam said:

they have balls and small little nets on a hardcourt area that you roast in the sun as your kid kicks the supplied balls around among others trying to shoot basketball etc.   There really is not a whole lot of formality to it.   However, the kids club does go down there around 2 every other day to play sports (mostly basketball) for an hour and half, in which they take over the entire court.  

Thank you! We're used to the roasting, we play an August tournament in Gillette every year. Good to know about the kids club too. 

Quick question, we are sailing the Gem to Bermuda in August. The description of the sports area states play tennis, basketball, or volleyball; however, the picture shows some soccer nets. 

My 11 year old is an avid soccer player and wants to play while on board. Is this available? Should we bring a ball or do they have them on board? 

Our last Norwegian cruise was kid free so I never paid attention to the sports deck. Thanks for your help!

A z pack should not be taken just because you think you need one. Antibiotic overuse and misuse can lead to major problems down the road.

That's not an issue, he can play while I read. I download my books in advance. Plus we want to be able to FaceTime our kiddos since this will be our first vacation without them. From what I've read we won't be able to do video FaceTime, but voice FaceTime should work.

Good to hear. My husband likes to relax while playing some game online. I like to relax and read. Unlimited internet means we both get to relax the way we like while soaking up the sun.

Thanks for the recommendations. My husband's a wing guy so he'll be happy! I did see the menu on the beyond ship site, but it's a couple years old so wasn't sure if it changed. By what people say they have eaten I would say it's the same. :)

We are sailing on the Jade which has the Blue Lagoon vs. O'Sheehans. I know he menus are similar, but I'm wondering if anyone has a copy of Blue Lagoons' menu. I've searched and can find some menu items, but no list of everything. Thanks!

Another person chiming in to say great review. While rainbows and sunshine are great, you need a few rain clouds in order to make rainbows happen.

Like you I like to know the good and not so good to make educated decisions about my vacation. I gravitate toward things I know I'll like, and can go in with an open mind on things I've heard that may miss the mark.

Kudos to you for an honest well written review. As a side note my family sailed Disney wonder this past January and loved it. It's a different vibe from other cruises I've done, but absolutely wonderful. Disney knows how to make magic!

just curious' date=' what ship and which rooms were offered?[/quote']

 

Jade rooms 8555 and 8550.

I booked a GTY and was able to select one of 2 rooms. I called and it was a special discount applied to those two rooms only.

We will likely get gift cards from family before our cruise. We will use them for excursions and tips, but anything above and beyond we would like to use in the casino.

Would we just apply the gift cards when we get there? Would we be able to use additional funds in the casino? I've seen something about a 3% convenience fee, is that charged when it's not coming off a cc?

Just wondering if maybe family should stick to plain old visa gift cards vs the NCL specific ones. We are not big shoppers, and already have the UBP, so there's not much above excursions and gratuities that we would spend, beyond the casino. So if we can't use it there we might as well be able to use it at home.

We have sailed in 8550. I remember being surprised, since we booked it super last minute and this cabin was still available, so we snapped it up! (With an oceanview GTY on the Jade, you usually end up on Deck 4 or 5, and we very much prefer Deck 8.)

 

The cabin is perfectly fine. However, it is right above the Medusa lounge, so you will hear the music in the cabin (quite faintly). Only until around midnight. You might consider asking to be switched to 8050, which would not have this problem.

 

Here is a photo of the view from 8550.

 

Thank you everyone for your insight! And thank you especially for this picture! :) We are going on our first trip without kids, and plan to be up late, also we sleep with the tv on, so the music would likely be a non issue, but I will talk to my husband about switching to 8050.

I am just so excited about this. We were originally booked on a similar itinerary with CCL, but with the UBP this was a much better bang for our buck. We are paying only $100 more than we were on CCL for their inside porthole room for this OX with UBP, maybe $200 more because the flight to Houston vs. Fort Lauderdale looks to be a bit more. For us it is so worth it to not have to think about our bar bill!

I have been pricing our cruise out pretty regularly. We had booked an obstructed ocean (OK) view on the Jade for the January 2016 sailing. The other day I was looking and they had a guaranteed ocean view (OX) for $60 less. I figured since we were already booking the lowest category, why not go for guaranteed and see what we get. I called and they switched my reservation and told me the OX was for only 2 rooms, 8550 or 8050. So we were booked into 8550.

I have my confirmation, we have UBP, and OX in room 8550. Anyone experience this? I kind of like that I know where our room is, but I also wonder if this is subject to change as we're almost a year away.

Just booked today for next January with UBP.We'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary, and it's our first vacation sans kids. I plan on having my fair share of drinks!

We have a carnival cruise booked for january 2016, and I think we're changing to NCL. The promo make the within $200 of each other, but I will get the drink package included with NCL. Since this will be our first cruise away from the kiddos, basically our first vacation alone in 9 years by that point, we're going to want the booze! Lol

We have sailed Carnival and most recently just finished a Disney cruise. I sailed NCL years ago when I was just out of highschool. I remember it being more of the middle ground.

So my husband and I are all booked on a Splendor cruise for next January, 2 sea days with 4 port days. However I've been looking around and found a Breeze cruise, 2 sea days with 3 port days. Price wise they are within $50 of each other, so price really isn't an issue, and we could book basically the same room on either ship. The big difference is what the ships have to offer.

The Breeze seems to have a lot more to do with the ropes course and bigger Serenity area. The ports are Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We would likely get off at all 3 and do a beach tour, a snorkel tour, and a 4 wheel tour.

The Splendor has less to do, but an additional day. The ports are Cozumel, Belize, Grand Cayman, and Roatan Bay. We would likely get off at 3 of the 4 and do a four wheel tour, ruins tour, and beach day or snorkel. This would allow for an extra day of relaxation, but with less to do on the ship.

The restaurants aren't a huge deal as we plan on just doing the dining room. This is will be our first child free vacation in about 9 years so we want to take advantage of the night life and adult areas.

Any recommendations? Any experiences? Our last Carnival cruise was on the Valor, and while we liked it my husband was a bit bored. We just did a 5 day Disney Cruise, and felt as soon as we were truly in vacation mode it was already over.

We can't look for a longer Breeze cruise because time wise we have to go in January, I will still be off from college, but my kids will be in school. Making it easier on the person watching our kids.

Thanks for any input!

If you don't mind me asking, how much is the transfer from Houston International to the Pier offered by NCL. How much is super Shuttle?

 

Thanks,

They are doing a hotel and transfer. Price break down was

NCL:

Hotel w/ transfer to port $85 pp

Transfer from port to airport $45 pp

Super shuttle:

$85 for 3 adults from pier to airport or from airport to hotel. (Shared shuttle)

How it worked for them

Stand alone hotel $120 + $85 transfer + $85 transfer = $290 total

NCL hotel and transfer to port $255 + $135 transfer = $390 total

they could have also done $255 + 1 way super shuttle $85 = $340

But the idea of being in NCL's hands the whole way was appealing and less stressful to them. Which I totally understand.

The extra $100 split 3 ways was worth it for less "what if" aspect.

ETA: Hotel is Mariott at Houston International Airport. Hotel at Houston Hobby was $65 pp with transfer.

Thanks everyone for your help. We priced it out with Super Shuttle and Best Western from Houston International with round trip and via NCL for hotel and round trip. NCL was $30 more PP, however it was much more convenient so they went with the NCL transfer. Thans all!

Thank you! I swear I chcked their site before posting this! I saw many other ports, but could not find Houston. This will make life easier. :)

Asking this to help my mom out. She and her sisters are flying into Houston and staying overnight before they cruise out of Port of Houston. They need to book a hotel and transportation to port. Does NCL have any hotel/transfer programs for Houston?

I'm trying to find an easy and cost effective way for them to get to the ship and back to the airport. It looks like renting a car and doing a shuttle van are about the same price, however I think a shuttle would be easier. Also which would be better. A hotel near the airport and a longer shuttle ride the day of the cruise. Or a shuttle ride to a hotel closer to port, and a short cab ride the day of.

Thanks for the help!

My husband got West Nile last year, we live in Rhode Island, he works outdoors. Mosquito born illnesses are unfortunately everywhere. While this one is contained to the Caribbean at the moment it won't be long until it's here. Use a spray with DEET, the longer you will be out in an area the stronger the spray you should use. You should only spray yourself once, but it needs to be a high enough concentration of DEET to last the entire time.

My husband was extremely ill from West Nile, but it was in combination with 2 tick born illnesses and the combination of all turned into meningitis to boot. He was hospitalized for 4 days and out of work for 6 weeks. Often times people who contract West Nile are ill and feel like they have the flu for a week, but are never sick enough to be tested for it.

After all we went through we still plan on vacationing to the Caribbean, just taking proper precautions.

I recently booked a cruise for my husband and myself for all the way in 2016. I booked a past guest rate, which was $80 total more than the early saver. Reason being is that the rate is 100% refundable, we have 2 kids who will not be sailing with us this trip, and this far out anything can happen. I know as we get closer if the rate goes down and we become comfortable with a non refundable deposit we can cancel and rebook at the new rate as long as it's before our PIF date.

So I just want to make sure I am understanding all of this, and that I haven't just heard what I want to. Also do prices tend to trend up or down when booking this early? Thanks!

Jen