cadien

Cunard, Crystal, and Silversea still make it a priority but I don't know which of the more economical lines do.

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We're in the DOS next April. We have a toddler, so didn't want a balcony, but it's a significant thing to give up.

The various YouTube cabin tours are super helpful and you can review them as a group.

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The whole practice seems like In n Out's "secret" menu. Or last minute cheap upgrades to first class when the plane still has room. Available to anyone, as long as they know to ask.

Pretty harmless.

Unless you get the Animal Fries.

If you go to the Disabled Cruise Travel board, there are regular posts on the topic. My FIL has gone several cruises with oxygen and that's where MIL got much of her information.

I will admit one thing I'm apprehensive about re roll calls is the gift exchanges. How can there not be peer pressure to participate? Or does the exchange generally happen at some other venue/time than the meet & greet?

Where did I say that? So much for welcoming differing opinions on cruisecritic! :(

It's because you're digging your heels in on all the food on NCL being equivalent to chain restaurants (never a compliment), so anyone who really enjoyed their meal doesn't understand great food.

The quality of the food varies widely from ship to ship and even from day to day. Especially in Cagney's. The fact you received mediocre meals doesn't mean the other posters received the same quality food.

There's really no useful reason to try to tell them that it wasn't as good as they thought it was. They should be retroactively disappointed?

I have to briefly derail to tell IfishSitka I loved seeing that screen name this morning. I'm originally from Sitka and my grandfather was a commercial fisherman there.

Someone recently posted this list in their NCL Dawn review :

Channel 1 - Info

Channel 2 - Navigation

Channel 3 - Restaurant Info

Channel 4 - Safety

Channel 5 - Shopping

Channel 6 - Destinations

Channel 7 - Bow Camera

Channel 8 - Activities (I think this was the channel rerunning shows)

 

Channel 9 - Favorites - this was an interesting substitute for network channels, as it carried reruns of an odd assortment of cable and network shows. A lot of Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls, the Middle, Fringe, a lot of various Food Network shows, some Travel Channel and a lot of House Hunters International.

 

Channel 10 - Fox News (which I guess if you like it, is better than generic CNN Intl on Carnival)

Channel 11 - ESPN Intl which Carnival had, but only in the bars, not in your cabin.

Channel 12 - MSNBC

Channel 13 - CNBC

Channel 14 - BBC World News

 

Channel 15 - New Release Movies - This channel showed all movies that had just been released on DVD, in a rotation, all week.

Not one all day, but a constant rotation all week.

 

For example, the first day-

Frozen, Hunger Games-Catching Fire, Free Birds, Delivery Man, Thor:The Dark World, Gravity, The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug

Those 7 movies just played in a constant, yet shifting, rotation all day, every day, throughout the cruise.

Until the final night when a few new movies got added in for the next week I guess. Grudge Match, Jobs and another movie played in the wee hours debarkation morning.

 

Channel 16 - Feature movies - Movies released on DVD years ago.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hunger Games, Thor (anybody who hadn't seen the first 2 parts of these series could catch up) Captain America:The First Avenger, Iron Man 2, Meet the Fockers, A League of Their Own, Fifty First Dates, Skyfall, The Bourne Legacy, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Rock of Ages, Up, The Social Network, The Proposal, The Muppets, Sherlock Holmes, Pitch Perfect, Men In Black 3, Lincoln, Jurassic Park, The Big Miracle, the Artist, Crazy, Stupid Love, Rocky, Chicago, the Smurfs, etc..

 

Channel 18 - Engage

I wonder how long the strolling mimes lasted.

Does the same rules go for children? Could a twelve year old boy wear a pair of khaki shorts and a nice shirt to dinner in the main dining rooms on the nights that are not the formal night?

He just squeaks in: Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants.

http://www.ncl.com/faq#packing

The bigger question for me is this:

 

Why not cut all the bull**** with semi-forced gratuities; pay all the staff a more respectable wage and build that into the price?

 

This would take all the stigma / pressure away and still allow people (without any pressure) to tip extra should they so choose.

I think it's come up that this method saves the cruise lines (and restaurants etc) on payroll taxes.

My impression has been that there are so many more posts regarding suites because people who have chosen to pay the extra money, especially when it's not pocket change to them, want to be sure they're really going to get full value. So they really get into the details of what is included, what is possible, etc. Which makes sense.

When this question has come up before, there was also the good point made about people who only have the time to vacation every couple of years or even less frequently, so then it does make sense to pay more per trip. You're not getting a second cruise out the of the deal regardless.

I also know cruisers where one family member has mobility issues, so the extra service is important and also just having a nicer cabin with more space because they pretty much don't leave it.

They usually send a pre-concierge email about a month before your cruise. It's an opportunity to choose your pillows (!), submit special requests, etc.

The official information doesn't even cover out of contact parents. Which is odd. You'd think that would come up frequently: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/268/~/children---child-traveling-with-one-parent-or-someone-who-is-not-a-parent-or

You will also need special documentation regarding the father when you do apply for a passport : http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/under-16.html#consent

No one posting for a day may be a coincidence, but openly hoping for few kids on an NCL cruise seems unrealistic and a bit cranky. They cater to families.

Our son will be almost 4 when we all go on our first cruise and one thing I've found very helpful is people scanning and posting the daily schedules for the kids' club for his age group. It's jam packed! More artsy crafty than physically active though.

We're not traveling on a line you're considering, but I would think you can find scans for any ship. Not everyone posts in this forum. I actually found them by doing a general Google search. And there's not so much variety within a single line that really any ship/itinerary's club schedules won't give you a good general idea.

One of the things I disliked about our last cruise on Princess and one of the things that made it our last cruise on Princess was the MDR steward who would not honor my requests. All I asked was that he bring what I ordered (directly from the menu with no special requests - just exactly what was offererd) and nothing more.

 

Each and every night he placed three or more desserts in front of me despite my clearly stating I would not be having any dessert. As he took the orders at the table, each night I would say black coffee only for me, please.

Doesn't that also mean that all those desserts were then getting thrown away? That's a horrifying waste. (On their part.)

I guess that your daughter and son-in-law will be happy to get their own cabin. Hopefully they won't be disappointed that some of you have a suite and they don't!

I was wondering about that too. EmergencyPA: just to clarify. If your daughter and son-in-law are not listed in your suite but in their own balcony cabin they cannot use for example the VIP check-in, have suite breakfast and lunch at Cagney's, have VIP tendering, use of butler and concierge etc. They will have just the standard amenities while the rest of you will have all suite amenities and services available. This might (or might not) create some bad feelings for them. I know I would rather be at the small second bedroom with DH than a balcony cabin. I really think it could be wise to discuss which one they would want to be in if you are not 100% about their preference. The suite life is soooo good that I would not want to miss out on it.

EmergencyPA seems to be paying for their cruise. It would be kind of horrifying for them to object to "only" getting treated to a balcony.

The logistics of the different dining rooms, tendering, etc are good to be aware of, however.

I have to admit it wouldn't occur to me to acknowledge children from a Roll Call post. I may be misunderstanding what you mean.

I'd much prefer a note.

People can come across as more confrontational than intended face to face too.

And of course this thread may decrease the number of people who need to say anything in any medium, so I appreciate it being posted.

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I do think Teppanaki is good, but it is very loud and might scare a baby.

It scares mine. I'd try a local version before the trip as a test.

I'm from there. Even in winter those ports are really unlikely.

Supporting what others said, I ordered an on-board gift for someone two weeks ago via the 800 number. All they needed was the passenger's name. I didn't have the cabin number or reservation number.

sounds like most of you have communicative older children. i have a 15 month old and refuse to let her stay with any stranger - even with a cruise babysitter. i understand the worry about children disappearing from the clubs.. etc.. but what makes you think that they are safe with the cruise staff??? molestation/abuse can even happen with close family members..so i'm confused about why you would think they are safe with strangers?

If that's your overall policy, then the cruise programs wouldn't work once your child is old enough to use them. But you'll also have to homeschool. Most of us do not have those options and eventually reach a different comfort level.

When do roll calls tend to get going? Our cruise (our first) is basically still a year out and only three people have posted so far, and then only once apiece. I feel silly stalking it for updates this early but don't know when to start paying attention.