poohdreaming
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Posts posted by poohdreaming
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The Choice Promotion Service Charge is gratuity for the choice of promotion you picked and it is for the total days of your cruise. If you chosen the drink package, it would be at least $100+ depending on the total day. The same for the specialty dining plan promotion for gratuity. I chosen the specialty dining plan for my 10-days cruise. The gratuity was around ~$15.12 added to the final charge.
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If your cruise is at least 7-days, you would get 3 meals in specialty dining & if your cruise is 10-days, you get 4 specialty dining.
Yes, there are Soda package/Water package to purchase on board.
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The cabin thermostat will shut off when you take your key card out and leave. Any card with a magnetic strip will keep the thermostat and power outlets on. We bring our old key cards from previous cruises with us to keep the room cool, and electronics charged.
I heard that this only works for newer NCL cruise ships & it would not work on NCL gem as one of their representative told me. Unless she provided me this wrong information and if you had cruised on NCL gem after the new changes.
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Your own cabin - it should have an adjustable control. I know my cabin does when I went on the NCL Breakaway. The only thing I know that NCL Breakaway have that NCL Gem does not have is the holder for the light to stay on in the cabin where a person can use a old plastic card to put into the slot so the light would stay on.
Public Rooms would be okay. If you are hot, you can wear like short sleeves or tank top shirts.
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Do it now or when you can asap as you can have this off your list of things to do and you can choose a time when you would like to check in.
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Since this is a vacation for your son, NCL Breakaway would be more fun in term of activities. Even though it is a big cruise ship compared to the NCL Gem, some activities are not that crowded. More crowded would be the water slide and the pool.
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Since it is a 15-day cruise and you are flexible in your dining times, you should be fine in walking up or doing a reservation for a restaurant the night before for the next day. Those with a 7 day cruise usually reserve in advance for their 3 free specialty dining meal as some of the popular restaurants are all booked up during the perk hour of dining.
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Check weather.com for the weather before you leave for your cruise.
I would bring/pack both kinds of clothing. It is usually around 50*+ in the morning around those months (Sept-Oct).
However, mother nature (weather can change) at anytime and if you are going to be walking a lot for your shore excursions - I would wear short sleeves with a light jacket (if it too warm, you can put it in your purse).
Remember to pack an umbrella in case it would rain. :)
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To help you as well as other viewers/cruisers:
Google Map of Portland:
What's in Port:
https://www.whatsinport.com/Portland-Maine.htm
https://www.whatsinport.com/Bar-Harbour.htm
https://www.whatsinport.com/Halifax.htm
https://www.whatsinport.com/Saint-John-New-Brunswick.htm
Portland Discovery Tours & Schedules: http://www.portlanddiscovery.com/charter-tours-portland-maine/#sthash.ZKditK9N.dpbs
Things to Do @ Bar Harbor:
http://www.barharborinfo.com/Things-to-do.aspx
https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=33
http://www.exploreacadia.com/index.htm
Bar Harbor Walking Map:
Saint John (New Brunswick) Cruise Port:
https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=125
Halifax Cruise Port:
https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=32
Things to do at Halifax:
Halifax Public Gardens
Halifax Farmers' Market
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Titanic Gravesites
Halifax Citadel
Peggy's Cove - the lighthouse (30 min drive) southwest of Halifax - rent a car or take a shore excursion with the cruise ship.
Map of Halifax:
http://www.cruisehalifax.ca/our-city/city-map/
Other sites:
http://beyondships.com/Ports-Halifax.html
http://beyondships.com/Ports-Bar-Harbor.html
http://beyondships.com/Ports-StJohn.html
http://www.beyondships3.com/cruise-destination---portland.html
http://www.destinationhalifax.com/travel-trade/cruise/shore-excursions
On Peggy's Cove:
http://www.peggyscoveregion.com/
Enjoy. :)
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It depends on the bartender / the bar where you go to pick up the drink. If you like one bar location and kept going back until they know you, it should be fine with one card and getting more than 1 drink.
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$500 On-Board Credit Certificate (amount purchased cannot exceed USD$1000 per reservation) This is from NCL site, the biggest on-board credit is $500 & I believe you can only purchase it if you already booked a cruise.
Couldn't you just buy something that would make you already spend $1,000 in 3 months?
Things that are costly like a TV or a high brand name purse.
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Thanks for that info. I just checked and we are just silver.
The Dawn doesn't have but 3 specialty restaurants and I'm not a big fan of the French restaurant so we could do the other 2 restaurants twice each .:)
Bill
Huh? There are more than 3. Here's the site: https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/dawn/whats-on-board/Specialty-Dining
Cagney's
La Cucina
Le Bistro
Los Lobos
Moderno Churrascaria
Sushi
Teppanyaki
Enjoy your cruise! :)
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To me, it sound like $200 credit total.
However, you can call NCL to ask them.
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Thank you. That's exactly what I was looking for.:o
hope everybody has a great day and the people of Texas be blessed!
Bill
Yes, 4 meals for the specialty dining package/promotion. And beside this, you might get another meal if you are a platinum with NCL (latitudes reward program).
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Weather toward the end of October and the start of November is kind of tricky. It can be cold or warm either ways and some storms for example, there was Hurricane Sandy toward the end of October. You would never know what to expect. So pack some warm clothes.
No one know if you are able to go outdoor on your cruise as it depends on the weather.
These few years, the weather a lot where I live (Eastern US, PA) - right now I already see some leaves changing their color.
This past Winter, we didn't have any bad snow storms.
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Under the Latitudes Reward Program Q&A:
https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program/faq
"If a cruise is missing in your cruise history, you have 12 months from the return date of the cruise to claim the missing points. Log in to My NCL and go to ‘Latitudes Rewards’ tab. Click on the 'Report a missing cruise' link on the 'Cruise History' tab and submit the information requested. To receive points for a missing cruise, you may be asked to provide your reservation number, a copy of your cruise ticket (eDocs), and/or key card. All inquiries will be addressed in the order they were received. We kindly ask that requests for missing cruise only be submitted if the required criteria have been met (i.e. within 12 months of end of cruise). We can only credit your Latitudes account with missing points for cruises taken within the last 12 months"
If you said you cruised with NCL before, do you still have that account with them? If you still have this account, you can call NCL to maybe change the name if there was credit to those cruises. If not, then no credits for those cruises.
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The drinking promotion as well as the dining promotion is the best to get. The least favorite one out of all the choices is the shore excursions of $50 per port. You would not get the $50 per port if NCL missed a port & most shore excursions are way over the $50. This mean you have to pay the rest. And the drinking & the dining package, of course the gratuity is added to the final bill.
But it is still worth it if you are a drinker as drinks on board as well as the dining in specialty restaurants are expensive.
For some cruisers, rather than the complimentary restaurants, they would like to have their meal like at Cagney's for steak. :)
If at first when you booked a cruise & you didnt want any promotions - then sometimes the best rate is the sail away rate.
Need to look into all the pricing between cabins.
I would still keep the dining promotion & not change it.
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Don't you think that on an NCL board you are will get mostly an NCL ship suggested?
I agree with your statement.
However to answer the OP question, please decide this on your own if possible.
We do not know enough about you - (What kinds of ship activities would you like to do?, Are you going on the cruise by yourself or with other?, etc.)
Did you do a research on what all these mega ship offering to cruisers?
NCL Bliss - race track, tag laser, amazing watersides and new restaurants on board this cruise ship.
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The best way to find out is to ask NCL Access Desk that question. You should also call or email them if you have food allergies.
"In order to make your cruise experience as enjoyable as possible and so that we can try to meet your specific needs, call 1-866-584-9756 (voice), fax (305) 468-2171, send an email to accessdesk@ncl.com or have your travel agent contact us."
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If you do not want any packages/promotions, the best & only way to book is the sail away rate.
The only site allowed to post on here is the NCL site which is to book directly with them.
Third party/Travel Agents sites - you would be able to find one when searching.
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We've been watching for the excursions to load on NCL's site so we can choose and book excursions for our 10 day Southern Caribbean sailing 11/6. There are some however this can't possibly be all of them, can it? There are zero listed for a couple of ports... tried to contact NCL but they say "either the excursions haven't loaded or they are all booked". Is this normal??
NCL probably changed things around. It is now less than 100-90 days when you would see all the shore excursions listed for your cruise. And each day up to your cruise, they would add more to the list. NCL would still keep some shore excursions open for cruisers to book on board.
Have you checked shore excursions not directly from NCL? Sometimes private shore excursions are less expensive.
The only reason I would go with NCL shore excursions is because of using the $50 shore excursions credit per each port on the cruise.
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thanks for all the responses, i myself will make do and be happy with anything because hey i will be on a ten day cruise. My husband tends to bitch and moan more than i do but i will just tell him to have another beer or glass of wine and all will be good in the world. :)
You will be on a cruise. Of course, make yourself happy. Do not worry about the selection of food. If you do not like the option of food in the Garden Cafe, you can eat at another place like the Osheehans. You would not go hungry and for most cruisers, they gained weight :eek:. You are not forced to finish all your food. :) Enjoy your cruise!
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It's official our group just booked our first NCL cruise. :D The special they're running w/ all the freebies tempted us to hop from Celebrity and give NCL a try!
I have a bunch of questions and figured it might be easier to just post them in one post vs. five or six separate threads :confused:
We got the Unlimited Beverage Package as well as the Specialty Dining Package when we booked...Are water bottles covered under this? (As other have already mentioned, the answer is No. However, I believe you can bring like a coffee mug to refill it with water/juices from the Garden Cafe. But since you have the beverage package, you will not have to worry about drinks. For the drinking package - any drinks under $15.00)
In regards to the Specialty Dining Package coming from Celebrity their Specialty Dining is an all inclusive (pay one price get pretty much anything on the menu) I notice that the pricing is a la carte at NCL restaurants how does that work w/ the package? (Since you have the dining package, you do not need to worry about the a la carte at some of the restaurants.) 1 entree, and then many appetizers & desserts under those restaurants with no cover charges. Cover charges are to those restaurants like sushi bar, ocean blue, etc.)
Also I've kinda skimmed through some reviews and there seems to be a familiar theme of the specialty restaurants being booked or booking up super quick...is it possible to book them in advance when you have the dining package? On Celebrity you could only book in advance if you paid the price up front... which was inconvenient especially if you had a free dinner coupon or obc. (There will still be some bookings available on board. Perk hours would be crowded, however you can reserve in advance to some restaurants if you would like to. You can reserve online through myncl or call the dining reservation desk. The number is: 1-866-234-7350. Some waited til they get on board in order to see what time the show are offered & then to plan when to eat. For those that are solo travelers, they can join other solo travelers to eat. NCL have a solo traveler group. And if there is a Meet & Greet on the second day of the cruise, go to it & join your roll call if there is one).
Can shows be booked in advance? Is that suggested? (As others already mentioned, certain shows can be booked in advance depending on the cruise ship and you can do so when your cruise is less than 90 days)
Can someone explain a little bit how the dining on NCL works? I know its freestyle but some of the reviews I've skimmed thru mentioned buffet closing at certain times (buffet on Celebrity pretty much had something on it 24/7), needing reservations or having to wait to get into certain venues (irish pub, free Chinese food place, etc) this will be a completely different cruising style for us. We're used to dining room or specialty restaurant for most meals otherwise it was the buffet. (For Haven cruisers, they have their own butler and luxuries. There is a separate pool as well as dining for them-the Haven restaurant) For all others, there is the main dining room including those specialty restaurants that you would have to wait to get in if it is during the perk dining time. The wait time shouldn't be too long.)
Where can I find info on Great Stirrup Cay? It will be one of the stops on our sailing, from what I understand it is NCL's private island which none of us have ever been too. (Yes, GSC is NCL's private island. However, it depends on the weather and if your cruise ship get to tender to the port. For the tender ticket, please reserve to get one in advance especially if you are on a newer NCL cruise ships. You can reserve doing it through the TV). They will also let those that have a shore excursion goes first. They will go by tendering A, B, C, etc.)
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Thanks Laszlo for providing these google maps. Google maps are the best to see what near the port and to calculate the walking distance from a port to a certain place you would like to see. :)
solo lounge info needed.
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
There will be a time listed for solo meeting printed on the NCL Freestyle Daily during your cruise.
You will have full access to the solo lounge during the meeting. They would let you into the lounge and some time, the lounge are not locked outside of solo meeting time. If you are able to get in there, there are juices/coffee as well as some snacks (cookies & cakes) available thru out the day. ;)
There are sign in sheets posted in the lounge as well as the host of the solo group would keep a copy and discuss with the group on what everyone would like to do (show that they wanted to see together/where to have dinner together, etc.)
Each solo cruise director is different in term of 'breaking the ice' of the solo group & doing the solo activities. If you did not reserve for a show in advance, the solo cruise director can have you join the group to see the show together. These seats are not regular seats, but like VIP seats. Usually behind Haven seats.
Make sure to join your roll call for your cruise & to join the meet & greet the second day of the cruise if there is one. Usually one of the members from the roll call would decide to host it. They might have other events like showing other cruisers cabin, and doing the slot pull.