cruizinwithkids

 

Buffet - no self service, staff served all food. No sauce or cutlery on tables,

you had to pickup plates and cutlery from staff on entry.

MDRs - no salt and pepper on tables, bread served by staff

Continual cleaning of common railings, lift buttons, stair railings, etc.

Continual reminders from staff to clean hands.

Sanitising of room cards, pens, etc every time one was exchanged with staff.

No ice in the rooms after the letter was issued.

Also, all menus were on paper without any kind of cover.

Receipts didn't come in folders.

In talking to a waiter, the crew buffet was the same as far as not being able to serve themselves. This is a bigger inconvenience for the crew as they wake up and try to grab something to eat and go to work. The waiter said the queue was very long.

My number one gripe is when people on the boards use the term, "first world problem."

Well no kidding!!!!! What other kind of problems do cruisers have?

I'm on the 11/26 Escape sailing. I never picked a boarding time. The standard language about boarding starting at noon and to not arrive more than an hour beforehand is on my docs.

 

Fine if they want to do staggered boarding, but what about Vibe? Not really fair to those that get a later boarding time.

 

 

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But I think the boarding times are also on a first come, first serve basis. I don't think this really changes the fairness factor. OP booked their cruise late so they got the late boarding time.

I'm not answering OP as far as whether the 4:30 arrival time is enforced, Just whether first come first serve is really any different if it is on-line or at the terminal. I don't know.

You could just be a procrastinator like I am. My house is a mess but I don't have time to clean it now. I leave tomorrow and I have laundry in!!!!

UGH!!!! How did this happen?!?!?!?!?

Actually, if I was really nice, I would post a picture of my house. That would be motivation for you to not procrastinate!!!

Exactly! In my opinion - this all started when they equally split the costs and expected equal accommodations and experiences.

 

I would never have agreed to that split. The second bedroom is nowhere near the space or level of the master.

 

 

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This brought to me what the issue might really be. Why is the second bedroom nowhere near the level? Why should they not expect equal experiences?

For years I thought the only difference between a suite and a "regular" room was the size of the room. I couldn't understand why someone would pay that much more for a bigger room.

If there are two bedrooms, why wouldn't the room steward and butler be expected to treat both the same? Why does the second bedroom have to ask for chocolates and daily freestyles or whatever? Yes, the OP should have asked rather than getting upset but why should she have had to?

Actually that's a big no no in the VISA AND MasterCard governing rules. The merchant is only supposed to verify that the signature on the back of the card is the same as the name on the front. (Was in bankcard training for over 10 years.)

Then what's the point of signing the receipt?

To Quote

 

BirdTravels

Blue Ribbon Cruiser

 

Join Date: Apr 2015

Location: USA

Posts: 3,174

 

Norwegian Dawn New England 9/9/16 metrics

Total Passengers: 1644

Non-US Passengers: 637

Passengers Under 21: 16

Average Age: 65.4

 

Older crowd. Better dressed than Caribbean passengers. No coat required unless you feel you need one. Lots of polo shirts at dinner. Some suits.

 

Dawn can take 2340 passengers .

 

 

 

.

How do you get this information? I always like statistics like this.

Years ago, a friend of mine worked for NCL, in a managment position on a ship. At the beginning of the cruise they were given the number that the ship needed to generate in revenue. Departments were assigned different amounts. There would be meetings during the week to see if departments were meeting their targets and targets would be adjusted. I assume that the on-board revenue needed today is significantly less than it used to be.

And oddly enough, when I try to book through the regular means to look at the different Haven rooms, it says they are all sold out except for H7. Can that be true if they sent me an upgrade offer?

That's an interesting twist. I don't think it's an upgrade offer. I think it's an offer to bid on an upgrade. If this same offer was sent to Haven guests, they could also bid for different rooms freeing up their Haven rooms.

I think you are sailing after the newly introduced bidding period. This thread might help.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2404812

Have any of you tried the North and South red blend wine? I ask because I really like it. However I am absolutely not a wine connoisseur or pretend to be one.

I recommended this wine to my SIL who is sailing next month on the Dawn. Do you think it's an OK recommendation?

I am sailing on the Escape 10/8 in a large balcony cabin. I have tried calling the upsell number the past couple of weeks and it seems that I get the same person every time. She always tells me firmly that the price will not go down any further before sailing and it is not negotiable. I want to get an H6 and she's telling me $1000pp. I know I've seen various other posts where cruisers have gotten this cabin for less but I can't seem to find the posts when I use the search function. Am I mistaken? Is this the normal upsell price for this category?

 

 

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I don't know if it's true but I have heard there are only two people who work in the upsell department - can't remember the official name of the department. If that's true I can understand why you would always get the same person.

It appears that there is only one H6 available on your sailing so there really isn't a need for NCL to negotiate at this point.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We figured it out and will keep it as is. The savings would not be worth the hassle. But I won't book this early again. Although, I booked our Bahamas cruise at same time because it was on 199 for 4 days.

I do think what is going on right now with the fire sales is more extreme than I have seen before.

I booked a Europe cruise early and go what I thought was a good deal. It has gone up 60%. So now I really think it was a great deal and glad I didn't wait.

Sorry for being so incredibly thick

 

My cruise price is £638, this includes a free drinks package

 

My Gratuities are $13.50 per day, will I also pay an extra 18% gratuities on $79 per day (so another $14.22 per day on top of the $13.50 per day) or is this included in the cruise price I am paying

 

Again apologies I just want to make sure I am giving everyone the correct information

Since you are quoting the price of the cruise in NON US currency, I am going to assume this is a NON US booking.

In the US, the 18% of $79 per person per day is added to the price of the cruise when it is booked. Similar to taxes and port fees.

In Europe/UK the additional 18% is not a separate charge. It is included in the cruise price.

The $599 price is a guaratee room that does not include promo items. So, I don't know about the 75% and how all of that would work but you would not have the beverage package and your gratuities would be additional.

I have no trouble with it.

Are you in the US? I know that some time back Europeans (I can't remember if others as well) had trouble. US customers didn't seem to have the same issue.

 

However, is there a way for my family of 7 to be linked to one credit card, and dd's friend linked to another?

Yes absolutely. You can even have the older kids use their own or you and DH, use different cards.

I love that the OP has been a member for 12 years, has 22 posts and this is one of them!!!

Actually carry out does incur tax...... by a meal at McDonald's or Dunkin Donuts or a pizza place or a coffee at Cumberland Farms ...... all charge tax

 

I think Massachusetts is actually a bit "cleaner" to figure out. There is no sales tax on food. Some states do have a sales tax on food at the super market. On restaurant/to go/prepared meals there is a meal tax.

 

While reading your review of your last day I felt the sadness I always feel when it is time to pack and go for our last drink and it was not even my trip!!

 

I couldn't agree more.

I really enjoyed this review so much. As you were sitting in the restaurant in Cozumel talking about the singer and the artist, I thought Uh, oh. And sure enough...

Thank you so much for this review. :):):)

In Europe the worst mistake you can make is going on ship excursions.

Not for ME.

I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth after booking a Caribbean island tour, that came highly recommended on cruise critic threads and highly recommended on other sites.

We were quite late getting back to the ship. About 5 miles out the tour vehicle stopped and gave a big speech about how hard they work and how little they get paid and how much they rely on tips. Then they passed a tip bucket around. Once they had collected their tips, we continued on.

Yes, I completely understand that I shouldn't base everything on that one bad experience. I do know myself and how nervous I would be the entire tour. So for ME, THAT would be the worst mistake I could make.

I'm taking my first ever European cruise next year. I have already decided that I am willing to pay more to go on NCL excursions because I only speak English. And since I'm also a nervous person by nature, the shore excursion is a very good option for me.

I haven't been on the Dawn in a very long time. If I remember correctly, the room we were in, had one bunk bed (in the ceiling), and a double bed that could be split into two twin beds. One of those beds had a "trundle" bed. The standard set up for the room was pretty much wall to wall beds for three and then one on the bunk.

An alternative set up for the room was to set the 3 twin beds into a "U-shape." I know people would bring a picture that could be found here on cruise critic for the room steward who wasn't familiar with the set up. I would assume at this point, the room stewards would be familiar with that set up. I think with your particular party this might be the way to go.

I booked my Spirit cruise a long time ago. The price has gone up more than 50%. Now I might have to cancel and I feel like I'm losing out on the deal of a lifetime. UGH!

Why would someone try to get reimbursed for something they didn't pay for????

 

 

That's kind of like getting the drink package free including gratuities, and then feeling like you didn't drink enough and now you want NCL to reimburse you for the drinks you didn't drink.

And I think even more so, getting a drink you didn't like and asking for a refund.

This Mai Tai is lousy. I demand money back.

My service is lousy. I demand money back.

I was wondering if it was the beer:)

I would have to think that was a big part of it but the guy really isn't much of a drinker.

The only thing I definitely remember is he asked for a second shrimp cocktail. When the waiter asked my husband if he wanted a second one as well, he started to say no, until he got kicked under the table. So...that was 4 shrimp cocktails.

Like I said, it was almost 30 years ago. I remember the numbers but not the details.