kitten3008

Both times we've had the UBP, everything I could think of that I would personally drink was included. I'm sure you could request specific cocktails with top shelf liquors that might bump you over the edge, but if I recall correctly, the only time we've paid the difference on a drink was the night my husband decided he'd enjoy some high end scotch, lol. The average person drinking vodka tonics, or rum and cokes, drinks like that with house liquor are well within the UBP limitations. You shouldn't have any problems!

My first cruise was on the Epic, so I think I have a different point of view than a lot of people. Both of my cruises have been with NCL, but I genuinely can't recommend the Epic enough. I LOVED it. Everything about it, honestly. I didn't mind the bathroom set up, though I can see the inconvenience if you were traveling with someone other than your spouse/immediate family. There was always something to do, to the point of having to skip some things just because there wasn't enough time in the day.

In comparison, our cruise on the Jade, while amazing in some ways, was underwhelming in others. I felt like the ship shut down at 11pm, ended up spending too much in the casino just for something to do, lol.

Seriously, give the Epic a try. I read a lot of negative things before sailing and had to make myself go into it with an open mind, and I was absolutely not disappointed!

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The iConcierge app is definitely worth the money for use on board - traveling with my family earlier this year, it was great to be able to easily find each other for whatever reason. We usually just make a point at one or two ports to tuck in somewhere with free WiFi to make a call - Facebook calling, for instance, won't end up costing you hundreds of dollars just to chit chat.

The first year I was with my husband, he went on a cruise without me. He called me every night for a minute or two. I can vouch that the phones in the rooms work fabulously, but that 15-20 minutes he spent on the phone over the length of the cruise was soooo not worth the bill at the end!

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I absolutely LOVE the Epic. It was my first cruise. DH was convinced I'd actually prefer the smaller ships, and we recently took a large family vacation on the Jade. I certainly had a wonderful time, but it honestly didn't compare to the Epic. I felt like the Jade shut down at 11pm, and while on the Epic, we literally never had downtime... and I was bored a few times, to be honest, on the Jade.

I'm super excited to try one of the -away ships, and even more excited to talk DH into the Escape! Honestly, nothing about the Epic bothered me, and I'd love to sail on her again!

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It was beautifully warm and humid in Belize, and my son wanted absolutely nothing to do with getting off the ship. I could relate - I was nervous about getting sick again, so he and I stayed on board while the rest of my family tendered to explore Belize City. They absolutely loved the port, and said they had no issues with tendering like others have complained about.

The kiddo and I had a lazy morning, hitting the buffet for a late breakfast and lounging around in the Atrium while I read for a bit and he played his Nintendo. After giving our room steward - one of the few staff members I don't have glowing reviews about, he was almost never available, couldn't seem to replace towels, and blatantly ignored several requests we made - time to make up our rooms, we headed down to get changed.

The best thing about staying on the ship on a port day is the beautifully uncrowded pool. We found our loungers for the day and played for a few hours. My family returned and joined us, but a surprise storm appeared to be moving in, so we headed to our rooms to change for dinner.

We had reservations for Cagney's that night, and honestly, it was worth the new pricing. I will say all of our steaks were just slightly under requested temps, but they were delicious. The baked potato soup was so good, and I loved the macaroni and cheese. The raspberry creme brulee wasn't perfect, but it was delicious, and we all left happy and stuffed.

We turned in early because we had an early excursion in Roatan the next day, but not before making a phone call.

Antonella, the ship's accessabilities officer, met with us at our request to see if there would be a way to get the kiddo off the ship without all the chaos of waiting in the theater, and she was absolutely amazing. The next morning, we met her at Tankards (where it was always quiet, we spent a few evenings playing cards there in the lounge), escorted us through crew access and straight on to our tender. My kiddo was a little anxious, but avoiding the worst of the noise and crowds allowed us to start the day without a melt down, which is always half the battle.

I am looking forward to the rest of your review. How nice to read about NCL Jade staff being caring with your son.

They were nothing short of wonderful. Crew members went out of their way to get to know him, and helped on multiple occasions with keeping him calm. They absolutely made the trip for us. My husband and I will be writing higher ups about a few people, specifically!

We woke up the next morning in the Gulf, and it was still chilly. We played Deal or No Deal, which was a huge hit with the kiddo. DH is usually pretty lucky, and win 50 bucks. It was fun. The day was pretty quiet, and my son was adjusting well. We ate breakfast and lunch in the buffet, which was a little over crowded, but the food was fine. We had an early dinner at the smaller dining room, and definitely saw first hand why people prefer the Grand Pacific. Service was incredibly slow, and we spent a lot of time correcting orders. The kiddo and my mom and sister went to bed, and DH, BIL and I hit the casino. And drink. Way too much. It was a long night, lol, but those white russians.... needless to say, day 3 was a dry day for me, lol.

The weather was finally warmer as we got into Cozumel on day 3; the kiddo LOVED watching us dock, he thought it was the coolest thing ever. We got off the ship and went shopping, and my land sickness made its first appearance. I don't get sea sick, but after a couple of days on seas that were a little rough, I was super sick on land. We picked up some WiFi and checked on things at home, then went back to the ship for lunch. I felt better as soon as we boarded, and my son chose to eat something other than a plate of French fries, so it was a success, lol.

We hit up the pool for awhile, where I did see staff making notes of how long people were leaving stuff on chairs. The chair hogs were in full force, that's for sure. My son wouldn't touch the slide, but liked splashing by the stairs, and discovered hot tubs for the first time!

Dinner that night was tacos in the buffet - yum! - and crepes for dessert. The lemon was amazing! We had an early night, and woke up the next morning in Belize.

As with any review, this is of course my experience. I had intended to write a review after my first cruise last year, but never got around to it. This one I feel is more important, because there's a lot of information for families like ours, and NCL deserves all the recognition I could give them! I'll throw some pictures in here and there, but I'm on mobile currently.

The first thing to note is that my family is a little different; traveling with my husband (34) and me (29) were my mother (52), my little sister (26), DH's twin brother, and my son, who is 8 and low-functioning autistic. Before we cruised, I contacted NCL regarding accommodations for my kiddo, and can I just tell you, they were AMAZING. We were back and forth on whether or not we would sail Norwegian again after several situations, but they won us back completely this trip.

We drove overnight from Kansas City to Houston -12ish hours - on Thursday. We stayed in the Springhill Suites in Webster. The hotel was perfectly nice, clean and the staff was friendly. We stayed in a suite meant for six and there was plenty of room for all of us, and all of our stuff. The hotel is right off the 45, which is a complete mess right now, but we got around okay. Visited the Boardwalk Friday evening after a trip to the minute clinic because my son was coughing up a lung. Just some very bad seasonal allergies, thankfully, and he was much better even the next day.

We got to the port early, and dropped our luggage. Once we were able to park our cars for the week ($75 for the week per vehicle, not bad at all!), we called the number we had been given to reach the accessabilities officer at the port. We were met by David Purcell, who was an incredibly kind, sweet young man who my son instantly took a liking to. We were escorted through security, where NCL quickly found out why we had asked for help, lol. My son was terrified of the entire process and had a complete meltdown. We managed to get through it, and we were checked in and waiting in a quiet area to board in under 20 minutes.

Once escorted on board, we dropped our carry ons in our rooms and made our way to the Grand Pacific for lunch. It was still very early, so it was wonderfully quiet and uncrowded. The food was perfectly fine, and we all had our first drinks on the ship and enjoyed a quiet lunch. My mom and sister went to the normal muster drill, and shortly after we met the security officer in the Rialto conference room for a private drill for my son.

It was so, so wonderful. Mike was so good with my kiddo, who was already very over stimulated and overwhelmed. He was patient, and took the time to explain everything as easily as possible, and even went into more detail about the things my son seemed interested in. Afterward, he came down to our stateroom just to give my son a lanyard for his ship card and to say hi - so far above expectations I can't even begin to describe.

The rest of the first day was spent wandering around and exploring, then back to the Grand Pacific for dinner, which was again, really good. I can't even tell you what we had, since between six of us there was usually ten plates on the table at any time, lol, but I do know I had the coffee cheesecake for dessert because it's one of my favorites! My son absolutely loved the chocolate volcano cake. We visited the Spinnaker for a game show, then turned in for the night. We were hoping to wake up to slightly warmer weather, which ultimately didn't happen, but we were too busy staring at the wake and enjoying the people watching to mind too much.

Day 2 when I get home from running a few errands!

I will say that my husband and I would never sail without the UBP as we absolutely come out ahead, but we both like to drink. A couple mimosas in the morning, a few frozen drinks at the pool, a couple glasses of wine at dinner, a few cocktails in the evening...

If that doesn't sound like your style, then you aren't likely to break even. And like the have said, the current promo doesn't cover the 18% gratuity, so it isn't free at all. Based on what you've said, I think that amount may be even more than you would actually drink, though of course everyone drinks more with the UBP. You got a great deal - enjoy it and have a blast!

Eh.. my frustration with NCL at this point is about many things. While I understand that Harvest Caye not opening is out of their control, I sail in three weeks - if they need another ten months, I am fairly sure they knew quite some time ago that there was no way they were opening in February. Had they changed it before final payment, I may have had the option to choose another cruise without losing what I've paid on this one.

I'm still going to go, I'll still have a great time, but between this and the huge mess they made when they suddenly cancelled all those cruises, which did affect me, and several other headaches... it's their customer service that I'm calling into question, and they do have control over that. I like what NCL offers as a product, I just can't always get behind the way they provide it. I never even considered another line for this cruise, and in the future, I'm much more likely to shop around.

I called to make the change and they didn't need any proof...It was one of my easier after marriage tasks!

Same here, though it may have been the only easy after marriage task - 11 months and I still haven't updated my driver's license, lol!

But like others said, easy as pie. Just email them and they will get it done for you! In my case, I had a cruise booked under my married name (so technically two latitudes accounts) and they merged them with no issue! Just make sure you update your ID stuff before sailing, since your identification has to match the name on the reservation!

21 days til vacation, 23 until we board the Jade! My only other cruise was on the Epic. I loved it, but my husband (who has been on far more cruises than I) says that's because I have nothing to compare it to, lol.

Definitely looking forward to checking out the Jade - I hear such good things about the Jewel class ships!

On NCL, the first two were in balcony and then I discovered the aft penthouse and it has been that cabin ever since.

Our aft balcony on the Epic was really nice - very roomy, and our room steward brought us a lounger. It was great to take in sights as we were pulling into ports.

Ultimately, we just didn't spend much time out there. We'd sneak out for a minute or two, but with our next cruise being a big family vacation, I couldn't justify the price difference for two balcony cabins vs two Oceanview cabins. I did watch suite prices, though. They never did come down or I would have considered paying the extra to put all six of us in one big room!

My only other cruise was in a balcony stateroom, and we'll be in an ocean view next month (mostly to take advantage of perks). Truthfully, while the aft balcony was beautiful, it didn't make or break the trip in any way. We spent very little time out there, except for in the mornings on port days, just taking in the view - which you can definitely do from other places on the ship. We're a young family and for us, we'd rather have the extra money for other things, and we don't mind that our room is just a place to sleep!

This is such a tricky subject, I'm definitely in the "just get the letter!" camp. It won't take much, and you can enjoy your vacation without any worries. Especially when in your case, it's so easy to obtain!

My son's biological father hasn't been around in years, and I wouldn't know where to find him. My husband is the man my son calls Daddy, so when asked, he would indicate that DH is his dad - only, they don't share a last name. To further complicate matters, my son is mentally handicapped and incapable of answering logic-minded questions. My ex's family is very violent and vindictive, and due to my own health issues, my MOM has sole legal and physical custody of my son on paper to protect him from his bio dad and family.

So who exactly are we supposed to get a letter from???? Lol!

Thankfully, we have all of the court paperwork and my mom is traveling with us, so there won't be a problem, but see how easy that dang letter looks now?? :D You'll be glad you got it!

We're driving from Kansas City to Houston in a couple weeks for a cruise. My 8 year old is autistic and has literally never fallen asleep in a car (including as an infant) and we're driving overnight - the other 5 people are all adults, and most of us are night owls so it's not a big deal. We are planning on going a day early, though, so anyone tired will have time to rest...

That might even include my kiddo, lol.

We sail in 24 days and still haven't received an email or anything of the sort, lol, despite our itinerary changing online. If it weren't for CC we would have noticed last minute. We definitely booked specifically for Harvest Caye so it's disappointing, but hey - it's a vacation and I know we'll still have a great time.

We really liked the show when we saw it last year, but of course it's not a CdS show with a ridiculous budget and a gigantic stage available. The performers are top notch, and dinner was alright - nothing to write home about, but certainly just fine. Not something we would be in a hurry to see and pay for again, but still a good time!

I guess I have a different ritual than most

 

1. Always have lunch on embankment day in the MDR

 

2. Every morning wake up walk to the waterfront grab a coffee from urn on the bar and have a couple of cigarettes and talk to the same people that I see out there every day.

 

3. On Sea days head to the casino.

 

4. Figure out where to have breakfast and then just let the day and night play out

My last cruise was just my hubby and I, and he doesn't smoke. I really appreciated the company of my morning cigarette buddies!

27 days!!!!! I'm starting to bounce off the walls!

How about things I'm looking forward to repeating next month, since I've only been on one other cruise? ;)

- that first shot of fireball in the morning to kill off the hangover (it hurts and it's hard, lol, but it became a silly thing with my husband last year!)

- a glass of wine at every possible opportunity

- people watching by the pool on sea days... especially as the day wears on and people have had a weeeeee bit too much. My mom's coming with us on this cruise and is my favorite people watching buddy, so this will be hilariously fun!

32 days!? Yikes! We are pretty go-with-the-flow too, but I'd like to at least get MDQ and AM booked.

It's a little aggravating just because I'd like to have my ducks in a row - there are 6 of us this trip, and 3 have never cruised - but....

Honestly, I do like NCL and I love the freestyle concept, but after the aggravation we've gone through with this cruise... our original cruise was cancelled, we were forced to rebook almost 10 months earlier or lose our perks and the excellent price we got, we've had some pretty awful customer service, so many of the things we loved about NCL (my husband has been on more cruises than I have, lol) have changed and not for the better, and now they've changed our itinerary and excluded the port we booked the whole cruise for... I'm not sure we will be cruising with them again next time.

I'm not even really that person, I'm positive and I know we'll still gave a great time, but there's a point where you have to kinda say enough is enough.

We're 32 days out and still have no entertainment options for reserving, but we're pretty go with the flow for the most part. I'm going to call NCL probably Wednesday to ask about excursions, because there really aren't many listed. Granted this is only my second cruise, but it seems strange to me that there aren't even half as many excursions for similar ports at the same time of year.

You are going to have a wonderful cruise! We had a great time on the Epic, but like your husband, prefer the smaller Jewel Class ships. All in all, no matter what ship, you will be away and letting someone else take care of you! :) Have a great time!

Thank you so much for the reassurance! It's so good to know other people feel the same way he does. I loved the Epic so much, but my DH likes to remind me that I also have nothing to compare it to, lol. I have some social anxiety, so he thinks I really will prefer the smaller, less crowded Jewel class ships.

And trust me, I cannot wait for frozen drinks, pool time, and someone else cleaning up after my messy husband and eight year old son, lol!

We're sailing on the Jade February 13th, and I'm finding myself a little anxious. Not even because of bad reviews; my only other cruise was on the Epic last March, and I absolutely LOVED it. I know that the Epic is huge and different than any other ship, so I am having anxiety wondering if I'll love the Jade half as much!

My husband, who has far more cruises under his belt, didn't care for the Epic (we had a wonderful vacation, he just much prefers the smaller ships), and tells me regularly that I'm going to absolutely love the smaller, more intimate Jade. I guess we will see!