rgruenhaus

We always bring a bottle of champagne onboard and we've never had a problem. Our tradition is to take the champagne up on deck when we sail away from the last island on our cruise when we start the homeward bound leg of the trip. Our most memorable sailaway was when we did our first transatlantic and sailed away from the Azores on our way to Ft. Lauderdale, watching the lights fade away into the darkness, so amazing, so memorable!!

With the exception of wine and champagne, all guests are prohibited from bringing alcohol on board our ships. If you purchase any alcohol at one of our ports-of-call or in our onboard shops, we will safely store your purchase(s) and either on the final night of the cruise or the morning of debarkation it will be available for pick up in a designated area.

Wine & Champagne Policy: Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes. 750 ml bottle is $15.00 and 1,500 ml Magnum is $30.00. Wine or champagne sent directly to the ship by travel agents, friends, family, etc. or from another retail source, are subject to the same fees. Box wines are not allowed on board.

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I booked a cruise through CAS for Jan 21st 2017 and went on the Breakaway last Nov out of Manhattan and it wasn't till we got past carry-on bag check that they separated us to CAS CHECK-IN. Not sure why we were told that there was a VIP line for CAS boarders. I haven't been to Port Canaveral yet, but I expect that they will do the same and handle CAS people after a certain point in check-in. I will call the CAS phone line tomorrow to see if they are aware of any special lines or handling.

Single male in Pensacola

My friend ordered it when we were on the Escape in January. She enjoyed it very much and said it was well worth the upcharge!

I was on the Breakaway last Nov and at Cagney's with a specialty dinning package I ordered a Porterhouse steak and got a lobster tail as well and the extra entree was charged $10, but the way it was billed I never got charged the extra. I enjoyed every bite and even more when I saw I wasn't charged extra! Woo-hoo!

The OBC from my travel agent showed up like this, that's why I'm hoping the NCL Mastercard credit just gets loaded on my account.

 

When I got the 10000 points from my first purchase with my NCL card I contacted the bank and they submitted the certificate for the $100 to my on-board credit.

Priscilla is a must

Howl at the moon is superb

Cagneys is a must.

Watch out for Chinese/Indian lunch buffets in Moderno on sea days.

 

 

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What do you mean about watching out for the Chinese Indian lunch buffets?

I noticed that you mentioned a balcony seating for the cirque dreams show dinner. On the Breakaway there was only one level and it was a very small room. Does the Epic have this show in a theater? How is dinner served? On the Breakaway they never had any audience participation. When I have seen Cirque du Soleil shows there was some participation but only with the close up expensive seats. Any added fees for this show? I have a four night specialty dinning package.

My last cruise was on the Breakaway and they had smoking allowed on the outside of the ship and in the casino as well as in a cigar and Malt whiskey lounge. So the Epic should have designated areas.

My last cruise was on the Breakaway and their elevators opened in a center hallway with passageways to the outer walkways where the rooms are on the right and left forward and rear of that on port and stbd sides.

Done off the info here is a little dated so I wondered about quickest and cheapest method of getting from airport nearest NCL cruise terminal. I will be parking my car at the airport if Enterprise RAC is there.

Hi... I have read through the boards, but my question was answered about 4 years ago.. When I charge and than see pending points earned, Do I have to wait for that statment to either come to me or Pay it off in order to get the points. And When I call in to redeem them Do you still need a good month to make sure you get the paper work and resend it back...so it can get sent to on boardaccount. (with Carnival, you make a call to redeem, you get a email saying what you did and it's put right on your onboard account)

on mine the points were on as soon as the next statement is generated. Whether you make a payment or not.

The charge on my card does not state NCL anywhere as the bill is coming from my travel agent. But I told them I can forward bill from TA that clearly shows the NCL cruise and charges etc. / Said it doesn't matter and I only got 1 point per dollar because charge didn't come directly from NCL!:mad:

Maybe your travel agent backed out the original transaction with NCL and put the whole transaction through the travel agent to get all the commission so it was no longer a two point transaction on your NCL MasterCard! I guess this can happen by accident or by TA desire for max commission. If it is before your final payment date maybe the TA can correct it for you to get your correct two points per dollar.

The casino drink card also includes a $5 credit towards any drink not covered by the card. So if you want to call brands, etc. ("Absolut and cranberry vs. "vodka and cranberry") you will get a $5 discount on that drink.

And that's a one time $5 off one drink or any drink you use it for during your time in the casino?

You can earn the card on the ship with a certain amount of points or table play (not sure the number any longer). Other than that, if you book a cruise through CAS or with a land based casino voucher, any adults in your cabin should get the drink card. Keep in mind these guidelines are for the Base level drink on us (House) level. There are higher tiers with higher levels of play.

Thank you. I read recently with their cruise price increases the covered drinks on the UBP are up to $15! Don't know if the pay as you go drink prices have risen too.

Yes, you can use your UBP in the casino (I believe CAS actually prefers it, so they don't have to "pay" NCL for your comped drinks). There are usually a few things that the CAS drink card covers that the UBP does not (think bottle of water, latte, and energy drinks).

 

All the NCL ships I have been on have a casino bar with bartenders and also have servers making the rounds, so you don't have to go get your own drinks. I have been on a few, but expect the remaining ones to be like the ones I have been on.

 

As for tipping, I follow every drink with $1 cash. I do this whether in the casino or just using the UBP anywhere on the ship.....it works for us....the bartenders get to know us, the servers get to know us, and we don't have issues getting a drink when we want one. Just our philosophy, but hope it helps.

Good to know! Thank you. I have heard some say that the casino drink card is something a player is given after a certain amount of play and then others say it is given when you get a casino at sea account/players card. Any idea which? Thanks again. I sail on breakaway on 01 Nov 15

You should get a drink card for the casino bar only as Casino guest

What is required to get the casino drink card? Is the UBP useable in the casino? When you mention a casino bar does that mean they don't have servers and you have to go get your own drinks? What would the tipping process be like. Cash?

That reason actually makes a little more sense.

Unless the room service took way too long to get to the room and that's why they fell asleep. But wouldn't there be a call to the stateroom if no answer at the door? Should be like Dominos! LOL free if you wait longer than a half hour.

If one wants to talk noise on this ship, put aside the music for a moment, which being on deck 14 we did not hear at all ---- but the flush of the toilets from other rooms (particularly those above) was extremely loud.

I can imagine. I dread not having someplace onboard to have quiet time. Earplugs aren't effective enough. I won't have a balcony on my next cruise, but wonder about how quiet it would be out there.

The charges add up quickly and while you think that your fare gives you an "all inclusive" trip, there are still expenditures you need to budget for.

I just wanted to ask you a question about this part of your very thorough and excellent review.

Could you please recall what added charges might we encounter? I got the four day specialty dinning pkg and paid the upcharges so I can't think of anything that could be added. Thanks

Has anyone received any of the mail offers from Harrahs or Casinos at Sea lately???

I have not! The year before I had gotten one in the mail and by email but none so far this year and my brother and I played at the Horseshoe again this year as the year before the offer. Maybe they wanted more play or they aren't connected with NCL like they were last year. I might check with my host there.

The tip has always been mandatory, but most cruise lines roll it up into the cost of the specialty charge. NCL adds it to the cost of the specialty charge. If, for example, Princess says their steakhouse is $25 per person, then its $25 per person, tip included. If NCL says their restaurant is $25 per person, the actual cost is $29.50 per person.

 

 

 

I agree with you on that one. I think it was obvious they were trying to insult Carnival passengers. It makes no sense though because the 2 cruise lines attract the exact same demographic.

Yes, I saw that. Sometimes you even have to call the NCL phone line to get the full price. The site is always trying to make it look like a lesser price. As soon as you go to book it then the real added fees show up. I was going to book the Cirque Dreams show dinner without the specialty pkg and it was about $100/person without the upcharge. The same show dinner with it as one of my specialty pkg dinners was just the upcharge. A four day specialty pkg was about $80/person. Price wrangling can be tough on a budget.

No - not an option.

I read that the UBP on NCL Breakaway has a new max price for any drink of $15!

Like paying taxes to the government and they send it for foreign aid and can't provide health-care for Americans. Yeah who cares. Arguing between ourselves solves nothing though. Have great future cruises.

I would never pay extra for room service.

 

I would never pay extra to eat in a dining room when a dining room meal is already included in the cruise price.

 

I would never pay to bring a bottle of wine on the ship when every single other cruise line permits one bottle per passenger for no extra charge.

 

I would not pay extra for the gouge restaurants to get lobster when all the other cruise lines include it in the dining room that is included in the cruise fare.

 

I would never pay $45 per say for the spa so i can use an indoor hottub on a sailing out of the northeast when every other cruise line does not charge for this.

 

In other words, I would never ever ever let myself be ripped off by NCL when there are many other cruise lines that treat their guests with a lot more respect.

 

You can have your FEE STYLE CRUISING. I am out and enjoying more 40-something cruises giving my money to someone else.

I'm with you, I don't pay for what I think is more than it should be. I have no experience with other than NCL so I will see what value the dinning and extras are and on my next cruise I can nice to another cruise line to get those things that are included or not charged more for.

I got the specialty dinning for four days because I wanted to dine there for less and I was told that without this package the Cirque Dreams show with dinner was going to be over $100 per person. Cirque du Soleil shows in Disney World are $110 each for the best seats. Cirque Dreams I have seen in Palm Springs and they are like the minor league team of performers for Cirque du Soleil. Not that it's a bad show. The four dinner specialty pkg was around $100 each person.

If I go on a cruise line that has no extra fees for what I believe should be what a cruise should include then I say goodbye to NCL.

Wherever a person lives a living wage has been determined. That's why the military pays more or less at each duty station based on what it cost to have the same standard of living. They even know that to live in the civilian towns we may need added money four quarters. I have experienced this in my 16 years of Navy service. Most of these crew members cone from outside America because they are not used to having the need for income like we used to get here until corporations decided to equalize the world income for their profits.