got4boys

Thank you for sharing. I had to grab the tissues. Carnival did a wonderful job.

I am sailing this weekend and I get the notice on the Beverage Policy for Carnival Vista in my gmail.

"Guests are not allowed to bring bottled beverages, i.e., water, sodas and other non-alcoholic drinks on board. Please review our beverage policy located in our FAQs at help.carnival.com."

I am trying to go to the link and I am getting an error.

Can I still bring on wine and a 12 pack of can soda?

Is there a Waiting Area at the Port of Miami NCL Cruise Terminal before Security?

We will have to drop off part of our party, drop a rental car and meet up later before checking in.

If so, does anybody have photos?

Where on the NCL Escape will have NFL football games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday?

What are my coffee options on the NCL Escape? I have UBP and I know that is not included.

Where can I get a decent cup of coffee? Of course I prefer free. I am a Folgers girl and McDonald's Coffee is fine.

My room is located in the forward portion of the ship.

What is the latest time that we can arrive if the ship departs at 7:00 p.m.?

Disney tried price gouging this past year and the theme parks are NOT as full now. It is over the news....maybe the price gouging will have less people on the NCL ships?

Our NCL Escape cruise in December will be our first with NCL on the biggest ship. For what I paid for last year before it was finished was a good deal, but not as good as the one we got on Celebrity for the 5 of us and got a Family Verandah Stateroom - oh my gosh am I going to miss that one. Those are the true hidden gems. 271 square foot room with a 242 sq foot balcony.

One of the only reasons that we wanted to try NCL was the activities on the ship for my boys. They thought Celebrity did not have enough to do for them, but they did love the food.

Okay, dumb question here but I'm contemplating booking a NCL cruise in the fall and was curious. I live off bottled water and since I'd have to remortgage my house to buy the cruiseline's water bottles, could I bring my own filtration bottle and use it to filter the tap water on the ship? Would this be gross for some reason I'm missing?

That is what I am doing. I purchased the Sawyer mini, and will be filtering the water on board. I got it for around $20. It filters 100,000 gallons. I will also bring our own Tervis cups too.

Good evening all.

 

Some of you will know that me and my DW are due to embark on our first "proper" cruise on the Epic in September. Obviously due to our lack of experience our knowledge of cruising is somewhat limited but I am finding that you guys are a wealth of knowledge and have helped no end with our preparations and I thank each and every one of you.

 

While I am very grateful, I am also very envious of you frequent cruisers; when I look at the number of cruises some of you have been on and are due to go on it makes wonder how you both get the time and how you can afford it. My annual works bonus has paid for our cruise and in the meantime we are saving like crazy to have enough funds to be able to get the most out of our time on the Epic. We will limit our excursions to probably two and at the other ports just wander around town. We will eat at the MDR and perhaps treat ourselves to one of the speciality restaurants throughout the week. Fortunately we have the UBP as part of our deal so thumbs up to that.

 

I am pretty sure that despite our limited resources we will have a ball but do you think that the experience will not be as grand as it could have been if money was no object?

 

Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

Nigel

Nigel:

I too have cruise envy of all the cruisers. We always somehow to make vacations work in our family. We too have limited funds.

I learned a lot about cruising on the boards, ins and outs. We wait for specials and then book and rebook, when it goes lower.

We look at the excursions and find the least expensive way to do them. When I went to Alaska, we rented a car at Skagway ($125) versus going the train ($200 per person). The car followed almost the same path as the train and we took our time. With the car, we found the gem of Skagway, which is the old settlement.

We do not pay for speciality dining and eat in the areas that are included as part of the price. NCL will be different for us, as we saved a lot for this family cruise and learning the ways to save money. Even with the new water policy (I am a bottled water drinker - one of my splurges at home - $2.99 for a 24 Kroger pack), I will not pay the $59.99 plus 18% gratuities and service charges. I did not realized until recently that bottle water and coffee was NOT included in the UBP. (It is in Celebrity's) To make it work, I will be ordering my instant coffee for my room (Nescafe 3 in 1) and take a Sawyer water filtration system ($20) to save on costs.

I do love the fact that I do NOT have to cook and clean as someone else does that for me. With my 4 boys, we rarely eat out. Our treats are Pizza Hut, Chick Fila, and Chiptole.

Thank you for making me laugh today...love the ATM where it spits out the money...

Thank you for making it so entertaining to read. I love the cube idea for storage.

I am going to be on the same ship end of this year with my boys and love the cube idea in the closet. Can you tell me how big they are? It will be our first cruise as the family together.

Once in a while I check the CDC list - Vessel Sanitation Program - to see what ships has had Outbreaks.

I was surprised that the Disney Wonder on the most recent trip - 4/27 - 5/1.

Of course - the press release is not out yet..

Here is the info from the cdc site.

Outbreak Updates for International Cruise Ships

Investigation Update on the Disney Wonder

Cruise Line: Disney Cruise Line

Cruise Ship: Disney Wonder

Voyage Dates: April 27 - May 1, 2016

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 92 of 2679 (3.43%)

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 5 of 991 (0.5%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting

Causative agent: Unknown

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Disney Cruise Line and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

Increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,

Collecting emesis and stool specimens from passenger and crew gastrointestinal illness cases for testing at CDC,

Making multiple daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to the VSP,

Preparing the infection control turnaround sanitation barrier for the disembarkation Sunday, May 1, 2016 in Miami, FL and submitting to the VSP for review,

Sent additional medical, hotel, and sanitation personnel to oversee and assist with implementation of the sanitation and outbreak response procedures.

A CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officer is making plans to board the ship upon arrival in the port of Miami on May 1, 2016 to conduct an environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities.

11710 is by the door. :)

Pictures? Please...

Vibe:

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Love your pics. Where is the bed located in your room? We are staying in the same room on a future trip

Is it by the entrance or by the balcony?