Bonobochick

2 hours ago, stinkyharriet said:

I was just on the Getaway and saw a YouTube video that said during her next dry dock they will be converting the Imaginarium into Q.  I wish they’d come up something new.

I'd rather it be a Los Lobos

The strawberry margaritas I had at Q were good. Otherwise, I thought everything else I ordered was terrible. 

I went to Moderno's on my Breakaway cruise a month ago on the second night.

Moderno's has always been a fave of mine but it was SO disappointing this time around. The salad bar is still very good as is the grilled pineapple. All of the meat choices, which has really been whittled down the last couple of years regarding a strong variety for guests, were so absolutely flavorless. 😐  I actually spoke with the restaurant manager about it and he said there'd been a bunch of feedback that the meats were "too salty" or "too spicy" so the result of that feedback has been them basically grilling almost all that meat with no seasoning. There was one meat (I can't recall which at the moment) that was seasoned with lemon & supposedly rosemary and all I could kind of taste was lemon. Even the parmesan drummettes were flat.

You can't cook meat without seasoning. My next cruise, if I go to Moderno at all, it'll just be for the salad bar, black bean stew, and pineapple until they start seasoning the meat before cooking it.

Has anyone done this excursion? 🤔

I don't see any reviews for it on NCL's website and a few other cruise lines that have similarly titled excursions, the reviews have been very mixed.

I haven't had any issues and I've sent them pretty much every type of garment to wash at some point except for knickers. 

I also write LOW HEAT on my laundry slips, so while I don't know if they do abide by that request, I've not gotten back any item feeling hot or having shrunk. 🤷‍♀️

40 minutes ago, psuboater said:

We've done Bermuda 4 times- twice in June and twice in May and crazily enough it's been better in May.

Co-sign. I had one year where I went in early May, mid-June, and early September. Mid-June had the most inconsistent + rainy weather of the three cruises. 

I will say last week was the windiest I recall it ever being with any of my Bermuda trips. Friday was definitely the overall best weather day although I did get some beach time in on Thursday before the rain. 

40 minutes ago, psuboater said:

My only major gripe of this cruise was disembarkation- which was highly disorganized (which makes sense of why rooms are so delayed). 

That was an absolute mess. I was off the Getaway in January in like 15 minutes as I always do easy walk-off disembarkation. The Joy disembarkation, there were barely employees helping with the aft exit line (there was one employee, I think Megg, who I saw bouncing around but it was chaotic with no clear organization) nor once we were off the ship in the long line to get in to the terminal to go through customs. 😐

13 minutes ago, vadersprincess12 said:

Seemed like the Asian station and the Indian station had pretty much the same stuff all the time. 

I was on this sailing too and i was VERY disappointed here. I don't eat in the buffet much but the Asian station is usually my go-to when I do. the options were extremely limited and unimpressive unlike in the past. 

13 minutes ago, vadersprincess12 said:

What was disturbing is that we couldn’t get into our staterooms until 3:30 p.m.  That’s the latest we have ever had to wait. 

I didn't board til around 3p yet I did notice more folks than usual with luggage around the ship even then. I was around for a few of the rooms on this deck are ready announcements. My initial keycard didn't work on my door so I was also delayed in getting new one. 

I enjoyed the cruise... more positives then negatives. I will say disembarkation was a mess, though. I did easy walk-off and it still an hour due to questionable logistics. 

On 6/14/2023 at 6:54 PM, knscruiser322 said:

So you don't even hear the chimes of the elevator?

I got off the Joy yesterday. I had an inside cabin near the aft elevators (13641). I could hear the chimes. If you have a balcony cabin, you are a bit farther away and won't hear them. 

58 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

that Irish stew (soup) is gone

Which displeases me as that was one of my go-to items along with the nachos.

2 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

but the menu for the Local was paired down significantly

I have noticed that. I feel like with each cruise I've taken in the last year or so that there is less and less variety. 😣

52 minutes ago, Red-Sol said:

Some ships still have "O'Sheehans" many now have "The Local"....my question is are the menus the same for both?

Pretty similar. IIRC, O'Sheehans still has a few "Irish Classics" that I don't recall seeing on menus for The Local.

On 5/11/2023 at 8:22 PM, jbcallender said:

Yes, on Spirit, we loved our suite, loved the bedding, loved the shower, but NCL is not the gastronomic experience pat excellence some of the time.  My expectations in the MDR and buffet are tempered as they should be, Cagney's should be great and Teppanyaki should be great, but for us, Cagneys was about a 6 and Teppanyali about a 5 on a 10 point scale.  The staff and entertainment for us was excellent. 

I haven't been back at Teppanyaki since they switched from filet (my go-to meat choice there) to sirloin. I've seen a few posts that folks haven't been able to notice a difference so that's promising. My fear is by the time I cruise again and go, the beef option with all the cost cuts will be chuck. 

19 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

more significantly also continued marketing and selling the cruise to people as visiting the Dominican Republic after it was cancelled.  People who booked directly through NCL after the port had been dropped weren't told the itinerary had changed, and only found out on facebook.  

I was on the Jan 8th cruise and booked it maybe 8 days before departure and it was being marketed as a cruise to DR when I bought it until at least right before sail date (I was logging in to check if my guarantee room had been assigned then for edocs). I never did get an email with not only NCL updating with the news about dropping DR for another sea day but also the change in Antigua port hours that ended up putting the kibosh on my NCL prepaid excursion. I found out on here going through roll call the like a few days later after booking that some people got an alert about DR port day being canceled despite it still being marketed as a cruise to DR. 

3 hours ago, mking8288 said:

It used to be, especially when the restaurants aren't too busy or overwhelmed, that they will go around and say hi, greet us and ask how are things, etc. - not, wasn't happening - not in MDR and not in specialty.  Am I the only one to notice this ??   

I still got this a few times on the Jan 8th cruise but it was definitely quick "how's everything?" with no lingering at all after answering. I am one that tends to eat later so usually the restaurant was emptier (lots of times I end up watching servers switch up the tables for breakfast service). I did notice things seemed to be more hectic in general in the restaurants and guest services. I mostly ate in Savor in the same area so the servers "got to know me" quickly so I feel like I didn't have as much of a waiting issue tho there were times, especially during lunch, where that water or iced tea refill took a very long time. Worse in O'Sheehan's IMO. I was also surprised by Moderno service being much slower in bringing out the meats plus fewer salad bar options since my Sept 2022 cruise. 

I have seen the posts about Shanghai being particularly busy the last couple of cruises but I skipped even trying this time (Shanghai is only ok to me). I went on my Sept 2022 cruise and it wasn't that crowded but that was a quieter cruise is general. I never got the numbers for the Jan 8th cruise but I would guess it was maybe 85% capacity. It certainly felt it despite my ease of getting off the ship once we got back to NYC. My biggest complaint truly were the bad logistics exacerbated by delays for the first several ports. I was fine about missing DR cause we got a longer stay in St. Thomas, which was nice. TLDR: there's definitely a decline in service which has been made worse by the full ships. 

I attended dinner with the officers on a September 2022 cruise. My first since I hit sapphire. Now granted our officers were one of the stage managers & an assistant art gallery manager but my table had a good time as the two ladies were very fun to chat with. It was 10 total at my table in the Tropicana.

I skipped attending the dinner on my cruise last month cause they scheduled it for 6pm while we were in St Kitts and I knew I wasn't going to be back in time to the ship since all aboard was 6:30p after a 12p pm arrival (with delayed port clearance). I would definitely do it again if the scheduling doesn't conflict with afternoon / evening port. Now the wine tasting I've missed twice but I've read mixed reviews on that event. 

19 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Bargain sales, used to be $10, now up 50% to $15.  

I noticed that too on the Jan 8th cruise that the mega-sale is now $15. I wasn't planning to buy anything either way but it raised my eyebrows a bit.

As you've posted, there are definitely little changes... with many not necessarily for the better... and if you're a frequent cruiser, they're noticeable. Not enough for me to say "never again" to NCL but with the increase in daily charges, has me side-eyeing a bit a few times. Didn't get the unwrapped butter, though. And you got tea options in the buffet unlike on my cruise. 😊 

17 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I see that it’s in a place called the  Illusionarium which I don’t see anywhere on the deck plans. Do you know where it’s located?

 

Thanks for your suggestion. 
 

Tom😀

Deck 6.  https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/getaway/deck-plans

Dominica is not a usual NCL port stop so I am enjoying the pics ☺

40 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

12 noon, the rush started as ship has been cleared.  Deck 4 Fwd gangway used to go ashore, photo ID and ship key card only plus cash / credit cards.

 

Lucky you with docking near to the terminal. the prior cruise was the long walk to the terminal with buses if needed.

Enjoy your Barbados day!

1 hour ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Not happy that they did away with late night snack. We will have to plan ahead and keep some banana bread and cookies in the room for a late snack. Will have to pick up a few things at the buffet in the afternoon.

This is what I ended up doing... going to the buffet and picking up some pastry goodies to have in my stateroom each night in case I got the munchies. 🍰 

I definitely noticed some cutbacks / changes on the Jan 8th Getaway cruise (I'd also just been on the Getaway in early Sept 2022 so it's not been that long between cruises for me), not enough for me to say sayonara to NCL, but most of the changes I've come across aren't beneficial to passengers. 

1 hour ago, nmuller328 said:

So no late night snacks- I thought there were cookies- and some food  in the Buffet area till 11:30 pm ?    I know the Getaway doesn't have the Great Outdoors like the Jewel line- but I thought I remembered stopping for cookies & ice cream later than 10 pm

 

Not anymore. ☹️ I was on the Jan 8th sailing and got late night snacks the second night in the buffet then that was it for the late night snacks. I ended up asking about it and they said it was no longer going to be offered. I was bummed as I usually like to grab a couple of cookies and/or poundcake slices for in-room late night noshing. I enjoyed my cruise but I saw some cutbacks that had me eyebrow raise over paying more for less not enough to never cruise NCL but definitely noticeable. 

Hope you guys have more than Lipton black tea in the buffet on this cruise cause there were no flavored teas on my cruising (I had to ask and even then there was very limited availability). 

Also hope your Puerto Rico disembarkation goes more smoothly than ours did. 

On 1/16/2023 at 7:25 AM, registrar said:

How was Antigua? Any beach recommendations?

I did the NCL beach excursion, which went to runaway beach this time. It's a really lovely beach. 

(We got rained out, though, after a few hours)

11 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Unfortunately, no more filet at Teppanyaki. It's a NY Strip. 

 

Source: https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Teppanyaki_Dinner-Dessert_Mobile-Menu_122022.pdf

I was on this cruise but didn't hit up Teppanyaki this time. I am disappointed to see the filet is gone as that is my go-to for this restaurant as it's so good, esp with extra garlic. 

The self-assist disembarkation was a breeze this morning. I appreciated that. I was off the ship and out of customs by 7:40a.

Good cruise for the most part. No real issues other than some logistics in getting on / off the ship in a few ports (Puerto Rico was particularly a mess) cause only forward was open in every port. I usually like to grab flavored tea to make in my cabin for late night but the buffet only had Lipton. Thankfully my attendant was able to find some chamomile and lemon tea for me. 🫖 

Food was mostly fine IMO, no truly bad meals. I didn't do much specialty dining this time around since I got a sailaway deal, just my latitudes meal at Moderno & Le Bistro. Mostly ate in Savor and its dining crew was really good. The 90s Throwback party was a highlight for me. 

8 hours ago, Kristall said:

According to the booking text, we get 2 hours, but according to our taxi driver they only pay him one. 

So after a hasty walk through the downtown, we were back at the ship, after short 4 hours

Let the Shore Excursions desk know about the time discrepancy so the they can credit you and/or fix that 4 hours vs 5 hours description for future cruises

6 minutes ago, shof515 said:

originally that space never had a fee. it was always a free space. back when the breakaway was new that area was called uptown grill and had a small buffet of food for free. since margariaville came, they rebranded the space and started charging a fee

I remember Uptown Grill. And on the Getaway it was Flamingo Grill. I really enjoyed the Flamingo Grill cause they had cuban food in their buffet. 

I will be on the Joy in the near future, but doubt I'll hit up American Diner. 

Thanks for your post and pics of your trip. I will be on the Joy in the near future and wondered if you could post the spa prices (more so the massage / scrub stuff). If not, no biggie. I wanted to get an idea of the range. I wish they would list prices on the NCL site.