my3sonsnj

We do the B2B most often so we can have a 14 day cruise. (7 does not seem to cut it)

Totally Agree!!! :hearteyes::hearteyes:

You could schedule a back to back cruise with alternate itineraries.

Royals target market (families) is for the most part not interested in 14 day cruises.

 

You can make your own 14 day by being a B2B with an eastern or Western or do an 11 day southern Caribbean.

7 day Caribbeans out of NJ/NY/MD aren't possible and an 11-12 day is just too short, lol :D

I like to do long cruises in January/February, so not the typical "family" vacation time in the Northeast. However, it is a great time for empty nesters & retirees in the Northeast to cruise and break up the winter.

If I have to fly, it will be to a resort and not a cruise port. Flying to get to a cruise port just seems to be a waste of vacation days. I have 3 cruise ports (NJ, NY & MD) that I can drive to in a quarter of the time it would take to fly and with a whole lot less hassle than flying these days.

But thanks for the suggestions. I have already considered those options and ruled them out based on my preferences! ;)

Wondering if anyone knows why RCL doesn't have a 14 day itinerary to the Caribbean?

I have done a couple of 14 day southern Caribbean cruises on NCL's Breakaway out of NYC. Two week cruises are the perfect amount of time for me!!! However, I don't like the Escape that is now sailing out of NYC.

I prefer the larger ships, so I started looking at RCL since it does cruises out of Cape Liberty. I was surprised that most RCL itineraries are not the typical 1 week or 2 week cruises. Why is that???

:(

RCL could be a good alternative for me, if they offered 2 week itineraries.

Does anyone know if RCL has plans (i.e. rumors ;)) to do any 14 day cruises?

Unlimited "FREE' drinks ...PERK....over $250.00 SERVICE CHARGE....are you SERIOUS...how does free fit in here.....What a JOKE....I understand they have to charge the taxes but what is this....like 60% of the actual cost of the drink card? WOW

The Free at Sea beverage package choice actually costs about $125/pp (service charge, i.e. bartender tips). I don't know what other cruiselines are charging now for adult beverage packages. However, I did cruise on Princess a few years back and a similar package was about $600/pp.

The beverage package is a deal considering the fact that the fares, on every cabin category, are cheaper than practically every other cruiseline except Carnival. I keep looking at Carnival but it never works out to be less expensive once I factor in a drinks package so as to compare apples to apples.

the Bliss has 1 designated smoking area per 1335 passenger capacity (135 passengers per smoking area). Note: While in port, the Bliss will only have 1 open smoking area and only if the ship is not fueling.

Edit on this data. Upon further crowdsourcing, it appears the ratio on the Bliss is 1 designated smoking area per 2002 passenger capacity (200 passengers per smoking area: 1 indoor in the Casino - only available at sea and 1 uncovered outdoor - when the ship is not fueling). The Humidor is for cigar smoking only.

When the Bliss is in port & fueling, the ship is completely non-smoking except for cigar smokers in the Humidor.

Haven't been on breakaway. When I was on getaway the smoking area was on the starboard side between the bar and the railing and didn't go out much past the end of the bar into spice. On the escape the hightops to the left and in front of the bar had ashtrays on them and everyone was smoking there as well as the area between the bar and railing like on getaway. You couldn't smoke at the bar, but the bar was quite literally surrounded by smokers. Basically when you walked up the steps towards the bar everyone was smoking in that entire raised area except right at the bar itself.

Thanks so much!!! (y)The Breakaway is the same as the Escape and this is great information regarding the differences on the Getaway. Your information is very much appreciated!

Must vary by sailing. When I was on in Feb all the high tops surrounding the bar had ashtrays on them and smokers were abound. It was probably triple the space smokers had on the getaway there.

Interesting assessment. I was on the Breakaway in February and the Escape in May, both are “away” class ships and my understanding is that the Getaway is identical to the Breakaway. I did not see any difference in the H2O designated smoking area between the Breakaway and the Escape. The high tops and seating along the starboard side wall, but not at the bar, was the designated area.

Could you explain how the Getaway is different from the Breakaway and Escape, if you have been on them?

The fact that they advised that the port side on deck 8 was a smoking side when I booked the Escape thru CAS . Then to find out its not is very disappointing. This is a deal breaker for me also.

Sales over transparency seems to be the policy ;) We are fixing that, lol!

Well Carnival does have an outside COVERED area with chairs and couches for the smoking passengers. That is something we thought about when canceling the Bliss cruise in December 2018 for 12 days that we had booked.

 

And the other kicker is - that the Getaway allows smoking on the waterfront. What gives NCL?

 

I hope that they reconsider this area especially because it is not near FOOD! This actually is a deal breaker for us.

If you look at the spreadsheet in my signature, the Breakaway & Getaway are NCL's ships with the lowest ratio of passenger capacity to designated smoking areas at 567. If 10% smoke, that is about 60 passengers per smoking area ;)

The Escape has 1 designated smoking area per 1067 passenger capacity (110 passengers per smoking area) and the Bliss has 1 designated smoking area per 1335 passenger capacity (135 passengers per smoking area). Note: While in port, the Bliss will only have 1 open smoking area and only if the ship is not fueling.

However, NCL is not disclosing the fact that they are not providing a sufficient number of designated smoking areas, i.e. seats, for the anticipated number of passengers using those areas. :mad:

I wish NCL would just let people know or better yet take the plunge and market those ships as non-smoking! Letting smokers find out once they are onboard and can't do anything about the situation is not the way to do business, in my opinion. It also means there will be people smoking in non-smoking areas which is a real shame and entirely NCL's fault due to their lack of transparency.

It is my understanding that Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas out of Bayonne has covered designated smoking areas. The Anthem does similar itineraries to those NCL runs out of Manhattan.

There are plenty of alternatives out there!

Then there is no place outside to sit, have a drink with overhead coverage? I don’t get how one ship sailing out of NY did allow this area and the Escape doesn’t? So Stupid.

That is an accurate assessment of the situation on the Escape. The designated smoking areas are even more constrained on the Bliss which will be in NYC after the Escape leaves.

And I agree with you;p

Does anyone have pictures of the places you can smoke on the Escape and or perhaps let me know how crowded the areas get? Thanks![emoji1]

Yes, they are crowded and pretty much standing room only except early mornings.

Do they allow smoking on the waterfront outside on deck 8??

The answer to that question is No.

Not worth it at all. Boring, boring boring. Save your money and go to H20 for free.

I think it depends on the ship! :D I loved the Vibe on the Breakaway and had a great time hanging out with new cruise friends.

I agree that it is a very boring place on the Escape (for any age) and H2O is more fun for adults that want to socialize with each other. However, for those that just want to chill, the Escape Vibe may be perfect for them.

Good grief poster was asking a reasonable question, can't you just answer with out lecture not to smoke

(y)(y)(y)

:D:D:D

you start off with 10k points.

 

best use for them is cabin upgrades and not cash.

 

ideal levels:

10k- upgrade from family balcony (or connecting balcony, depending on ship) to aft balcony

30k- upgrade from inside to ov, or ov to balcony. (ov to balcony better since you get 2 free promos with ov.)

 

60k- upgrade from inside to balcony

 

if on breakaway or + class, get an angled balcony

 

super ideal: back to back cruises.

from the points standpoint, it will count just as 1 cruise. so your cabin upgrade will be for both cruises for same amount of points!

Great advice!!!!

I wasn't aware of the B2B use of points, so that is something I will definitely keep in the back of my mind.

Also, something that I was not specifically aware of when I first obtained my NCL Mastercard is that points can't be used to upgrade to a mini suite or suite/haven. However, using points may put you in a cabin category that allows you to bid on those upgrades in the last 90 days prior to sailing. :D

Thank you for the information. Wonder why they quit making 3 guests accessible cabins.

There are a lot of "build" decisions that I really don't have enough data to understand the logic.

The breakaway class ships don't have ADA balcony cabins for 3, it is inside or haven. Someone looking for a balcony wouldn't think either of those 2 choices were reasonable alternatives.;)

Another oddity is the aft ADA cabins (balcony & minisuite) because someone with significant mobility issues would find navigating to those cabins very difficult. FYI, they only accommodate 2 because there isn't a sofa, just a chair. The ADA cabins need to be closer to the elevators in my opinion.

I agree with another poster that the jewel class ships may be a better fit for your family both in accommodations and size. The "away" class ships have a lot more passengers (i.e. crowds) which makes them more difficult to navigate than the smaller ships with fewer passengers.

You are still far enough away from your cruise date that you could easily switch ships to one that will meet the needs of your whole family. I don't think every ship has to meet every passengers needs. As long as there are choices, it is up to the passenger to find the right fit for them. An "away" class ship is probably not the best fit for your family on this particular cruise.

Lots of luck to you and your family! :D

I took a quick look and quickly found that on the Gem class ships (i.e. Jewel & Pearl do Alaska cruises), the Balcony (BC category on deck 9) has accessible cabins for 3 guests.

Anyone with current information on the following ships so that I can get something filled in for them?

Joy

Sky

Pride of America

Star

Sun

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IwhHuxFGVf8GRxIe1V30Bj0elmkPLRuQUxOpmI8LiFE/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks. I have been looking for that chart. I am already almost to 40,000 after paying off our upcoming cruise. I thought I got TWO points for NCL purchases, but discovered I got THREE! Just got my new point statement yesterday. :D

Glad to be of help :D

Enjoy your rewards!!!

Without spending hours gleaning through this thread, can anyone here with experience in redeeming NCL Mastercard points tell me:

 

What sort of upgrade can I get using 30,000 points? I am thinking a 2 category upgrade, but I am not sure about that. BTW ~ what, exactly, is a Mega double-cross upgrade? Sounds like a voodoo spell! :cool:

 

Are there any specific upgrades available at 40,000 points? I know I could get a 30k upgrade and $100 in onboard credit, but that doesn't seem like the best way to use points.

 

I am currently at almost 30k points total for my card and have to make the decision to keep using it to get more points, or to switch back to using my Delta AmEx card and/or my United Visa card for point accumulation.

 

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and assistance! :)

link to the ncl worldpoints program: https://www.ncl.com/world-points

Jeanette....

Your assessment is absolutely correct....very good point.

If not provided with good options, they unfortunately make their own options.

For non-smokers, it would be much better to provide smokers with more options so they don't infringe on any areas that are for "NO Smoking."

Then everyone is happy.

 

Don:cool:

Your spreadsheet will eventually get lost in this thread. Considering it is valuable info, how do we get it to be a sticky?

I'm not sure . . .

I assume only moderators of cruise critic can pin information. As I update, I will repost the link to the spreadsheet, but that is all that I can do :D

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IwhHuxFGVf8GRxIe1V30Bj0elmkPLRuQUxOpmI8LiFE/edit?usp=sharing

Hopefully NCL will eventually see a need to have this type of information somewhere on their website so that guests don't have to do their work for them, lol.

Thank you SO MUCH for creating this spread sheet! I can confirm your information on the Dawn. Smoking on Deck 12/Pool allowed on Port side. Breakaway looks right but it's been a few years since I was on her. Will be on Pearl the first week of October and I'm greatful for your information!

Good to know that the information is correct :D

Hope when you get back you will help with Pearl information!

Enjoy your cruise

If NCL offered completely non-smoking cruises, would you book?

NO

I find the designated smoking areas on the ship more fun and the people hanging out there are friendlier than in the non-smoking areas.

JMO, so please don't quote me ;)

I've been on the Breakaway 4 times and the Escape once.

The crew are top notch and friendly on both ships, in my opinion. I don't understand others comments regarding crew.

That being said, I love the Breakaway because it accommodates my cruising style and personal preferences better than the Escape.

I won't be on the Escape again even though it is sailing out of NYC which is the port that I use.

Hoping the Escape goes back to Miami soon and the Breakaway returns to NYC!