PederLin

PS . We're from the UK and it was a big deal for us to do this.

 

We just made the wrong call. I guess. 

 

Hindsight's a wonderful thing but we really should have done a B2B on the Edge which had more or less the same itinerary - BUT  it didn't have the shows -Kinky Boots and the Choir of Men. That was the thing that grabbed us about this cruise and we we have no regrets in that department. Nor the food. Nor the bar staff - who were the best we've ever encountered.

 

Can't win 'em all. 

 

Apologies to the original poster for the digression...

Hey. No problem. At all.

 

Unlike the one we have with NCL. 

 

I mean. Like. So If you're a big shot you can take over the whole ship and basically ruin everyone else's vacation simply because you have more  "money"? 

 

Something not right about that.

 

 

22 minutes ago, novanoto said:

t was the owner/developer of the Port of Miami who booked Le Bistro the entire week, morning, noon and night.

 

Hmm. No Shizzle.  We did wonder. Many thanks for the clarification.

 

San Juan was the only night we had to re-visit the old haunts so that just wasn't an option..  Hope you enjoyed your meal. 

 

We did try every day afterwards but there was nothing available.

 

Money talks I guess. 

We were also on this sailing. First time on NCL and possibly the last. 

 

We loved the brand new decor but our stateroom bed was shot already and I'm so  glad someone else has commented on the noise in the room.

 

Something hasn't been bolted together right on this ship.  Creak groan bang thump - all night long. We were in a mini suite on deck 10 midship. Worst week ever spent. I'm a light sleeper. It affects me.

 

We'd been on a short 2 nighter on Celebrity Equinox prior to boarding this cruise and the difference was quite tangible.

 

The Encore was a massive fail.  More like a Disney / Carnival cruise. Kids running around out of control all day and night. Everywhere you went. Not what we expected at all.

 

However, there are some good things to note.

 

The staff were mostly great.

 

The entertainment - Kinky Boots , Choir of Man , The Yesterday Beatles (saw them 4 times) was the best.

 

The Food. - Better than Celebrity, especially the buffet. However. We were so annoyed that the Bistro had been taken over and block booked for the whole week by a group of people.

 

We were celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary and re visiting our Honeymoon destination ( Monarch of the Seas out of Puerto Rico in Jan 1995) and we really liked the idea of celebrating that in the Bistro (the best food on the ship)

 

How NCL could allow someone to just remove that as an option for everyone else is just absurd.

 

Never again.

 

 

 

PS.  It's not that difficult but can anyone else spot the "Social Media Influencers" here?

Hmm. The more I see the more I'm glad we pulled the plug on our  early deposit.

I really wanted to like this ship. Been a big fan of the Virgin brand ever since I worked at the Virgin Megastore in Tottenham Court Road back in 1980 ( I was working the till.  Sold an Adam and the Ants LP to Michael Caine one day (not a lot people know that) Good times. 

 

But cruising ? We did our first cruise back in 1995. Our Honeymoon. It was quite a thing to do back then. Flying to Puerto Rico from the UK. We have a lot of fond memories of that time and we've loved cruising ever since.

 

But our 25th anniversary next year will not be spent with Virgin. The whole concept of what they're doing is just wrong and alien to us.  Can't tell you how disappointed we are with that.

 

Anyways.  Good luck to all those that sail on her. 

 

 

Well we got our refund 4 days later after opting out , so that was nice.

Just like to add.  We love the Virgin brand and have been quite loyal to it over the years.

Which is why we had such high hopes for something a little bit different.

A tattoo studio on a cruise ship in the Caribbean though is, quite frankly, a ridiculous proposition. As trendy as it may be, it's just stupid. Bleeding stupid. Infected bleeding stupid. 

We're not fuddy duddy people by any stretch. We've done the Jam Cruise thing (in 2004)

We like freaky people and we really wanted this to be great. 

But the design of the ship turned out to be horrendous and the whole concept is trying way too hard to be hip.

Like an embarrassing dad dancing. The Last Waltz .

 

Got the email yesterday and immediately cancelled our deposit reservation. Boxing Punchbags and Tattoos are really not our thing at all. The whole design of the ship is pretty much awful too.  

 

We requested a refund of the $500 deposit by replying to the original Email from the deposit last year and they answered within an hour. Apparently it will take upto 3 weeks to process.

Maybe they are a bit busy with refunding people?

We've just taken our very last cruise with RCCL.

 

After 22 years it's now just an all round unpleasant experience. In every respect.

9CDs067081E

Cool.

Sorry for going on. But one of the things I remember from that evening was the captain - Erik - addressing the table with a little speech and mentioning one of his pet hates- like when someone says to him "Nice Boat you have here!" - and him saying "Ladies and Gentlemen - the vessel you are currently residing on is a Ship!

A "Boat" is something to use when your "Ship is Sinking"!

Will never forget that speech. Good times.

We're the "slightly less older" couple ( everyone is sat opposite their partner)

PS the youngster at the bottom had pushed his chair back from the table opposite to be included. An early example of photo bombing.

We got an invite on the Freedom in November 2006. Was our second ever cruise. Everyone else round the table had done over 50 (or something like that)

To this day I have no idea why they invited us. Was a fun evening though.

 

Ah. So. Several years ago is like a lifetime in how things may have changed with regards to how things are , like, now?

 

Dance music generation. People like to dance. Early in the morning. After the club has closed they go out on the pool deck for a smoke or whatever. And when they bust some moves in those heels they're wearing? THey wake you up.

 

I'd like to think that they don't mean anyone any ill but, personally, I'd rather see that area closed off at a certain time of night.

 

At least then you could blame the crew for being somewhat inconsiderate if they were making that kind of a racket at 4am.

Guess you were. Could I ask which itinerary and when?

 

We had more than a few rowdy groups on this cruise. Apparently they were told to cool their behaviour.

Please. This thread is about just one cabin on Navigator. I did not intend to scare anyone who may have booked any other cabin on deck 10. If you need to know about a particular cabin please could you ask elsewhere?

 

Would be interested to hear from anyone who has actually stayed in 1610 or in the Royal Suite. ie do they ask you not use your Jaccuzzi in the Royal Suite after a certain time of day?

Glad we're not alone. This noise was definitely human footsteps though - sounded like a bunch of people in stilletto heels. You could hear them going down the midship stairwell afterwards too, shouting and screaming with laughter. One night, after they'd finished their wild dance party above us they opened up their balcony door - then slammed it it shut again at 4.30 am.

I didn't start this thread to moan (well, maybe a little bit ) I just wanted to warn anyone else that you might encounter this racket overnight.

As a caveat , I'll be 60 years old next year, and have an acute sense of hearing. My wife slept through it all every night so I guess some people may not be affected.

One thing that you "would" certainly hear is the racket from that jaccuzzi from the Royal Suite though. If you had a bunch of wild party animals going in there at night I can guarantee that you would be woken up by it.

I should have taken a video.

I can only hope it was quieter elsewhere. I'm not exaggerating any. It was seriously loud.1610 is the closest you can get and directly underneath the first available smoking area on 11.

Just off Navigators 31/3 sailing and feeling the need to share / warn others about this cabin.

 

1610 is a standard balcony cabin on Deck 10 right next door to the Royal Suite. Good location right?

 

Wrong.

 

I'm not sure what all the sailings are like on this ship but, for some reason , every single night we had someone clattering around with clompy footwear - every single night between 2 and 4 AM - directly above our heads.

 

The smoking area is there - directly above on deck 11. Can only think it was the dregs finding something to do after the nightclub closed. Loud stampy feet early morning is not good if you're a light sleeper. If we'd known about the racket from above on this deck we would never have given this cabin a thought. But we didn't know.

 

It is seriously noisy.

 

Also. Did you know the Royal Suite has a Jaccuzzi? Did you know that when that thing is working it sounds like someone is using an Industrial Strength vaccuum cleaner? The Royal Suites bathroom is located behind the wardrobe in 1610 but it sounds like it's right in there with you - On full tilt. Man. That thing is NOISY!

 

Thankfully the people occupying the |Royal Suite / 1620 only used it before 6pm but if you had someone a little less considerate? that noise could be really really annoying.

 

Just giving a shout out - wished we'd known about that deck noise from above - it was bad. Really really bad.

When I first started cruising, there were flags you could flip up on the pool loungers to show you needed a waiter!

 

How cool is that?

 

Awesome. If only it still happened. Maybe you'd need to launch a firework rocket in this day and age though...

Hey. I got an email. Basically, yes, we CAN upgrade our Select package to the new Deluxe package for $10 plus grats plus (if there are any) taxes.

 

Just to confirm. We had a complimentary Select package included when we booked - back in May 2016, not sure if this applies to all.

 

Anyways. We will most certainly be taking a printed copy with us , as well as a printed copy of our ESTA.

 

Immigration was always a nightmare into Miami before Trump at the best of times. Lord knows what it's gonna be like now.

 

TSA? Thousands Standing Around.

BTW. I really don't think we'll bother booking a RC internet package to use on board after this experience.

Julesbeara + roysue . Hallelujah! So Good to know we are not alone. Many thanks for that reassurance.

I wouldn't email, you will wait ages. Ring them and make your reservations.

Thanks. I know we'll have to wait a while but at least I can add a couple of screenshots to the message for them to have a look at. TBH after 3 days of trying It's getting to the point where I think we'll most probably just wait till we board before booking a dining package. It's not that much more expensive to do this onboard is it? Looking to take just the 3. I doubt that we'd actually book any RCCL shore excursions either.

 

Have you tried private browsing mode in safari?

Thanks but yes we have already tried that. On 2 separate ipad's and an iphone6. No joy though.

 

Try logging in on a computer or phone that you have never used on the Royal site.

Yup. Gonna try that tomorrow, and on a different network too - just in case it's an IP address issue.