100th Meridian

Had same problem...family of 5 (w/ 9/7/2). We sailed before w/ 4 to a cabin, but a 5th was a challenge to find reasonable prices. Usually cruise an NCL, so some of the ships have ocean views that accommodate 5. Ended up booking a 2-bedroom balcony suite instead with a different ship. It didn’t cost that much more for the total trip (flights were cheaper since cruise was Fri. - Fri vs. Sun - Sun, received more OBC, received more perks). So I’d look it pricing suites as well.

I know Disney does 5 person balcony rooms, however not sure what your definition of reasonable cost is. FWIW, our suite was cheaper than booking through DCL.

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Found ours on a shelf above the tv while on the Spirit 🤷*♂️

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I wouldn’t say hooked, but originally 10 years ago choose NCL due to combo of price/freestyle. That uniqueness is gone now. If you have kids, the Kids Club is really good IMHO.

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You order your free meal off the menu. And it is free (so long as you only select one entree)

There’s a Tomahawk Rip Chop listed for $39 at Cagney’s...would that be included? If it is, I’m definitely going there for one of my specialty dinners and ordering it.

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I have only sailed on Carnival, and been loyal to them for over 13 years. Maybe its me getting older, but it seems that the unsupervised children running around and doing really disruptive and even dangerous stuff is just gotten completely out of control. The staff absolutely refuses to do anything about it. So I am thinking of changing lines and have been looking at NCL.

 

 

 

Can anyone that has sailed on both Carnival and NCL give me a comparison between the two when it comes to people keeping their kids under control? I'm not talking about kids just acting like kids and being loud or a little rammy I'm talking about completely unsupervised "packs" of young teens knocking elderly people down, throwing condiment bottles down ten decks in the atrium, invading the adults only area and refusing to leave. Are the kids allowed to run wild like this on NLC as well? Are there as MANY kids on NCL? Does the staff hold the adults accountable for the actions of the kids? Is there a curfew? Is there an adults only area like the serenity area on Carnival?

 

 

 

I don't really want to switch to new line just to come up against the same situation I see on Carnival now. Thanks.

If you have been loyal to Carnival, I’m surprised you don’t try one of their sister cruise lines like Princess or Holland.

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There are infrequent 8/9 day cruises. It may be a repo or a holiday cruise it occurs.

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The thing that separates booking though NCL and a third party is that there may be a fee associated with booking through the 3rd party and the 3rd Party may have different/additional cancellation penalties.

I book through a site that gives me hotel points. Costs an add’t $24.95 fee and there is a $100 cancellation fee in addition. However I value the Hotel points (in essence I get a free night for $24.95). Same perks as if I booked directly through NCL.

From what I can tell, I doubt NCL will sweeten the deal. Unfortunately you are not dealing with a street vendor who you can haggle the price/perks with. Read the fine print if you do book through a third party though.

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Just booked this cruise. Stops are Costa Maya, Harvest Caye, Belize and Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas with three days at sea. Not sure if itinerary originally had Key West though.

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Neither...this would be the cruise for him

https://www.ncl.com/pokerchallenge

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Myself I didn’t use a TA, but use Marriott’s “CruisesOnly” site to book. There’s is a fee ($24.95), however I recently booked a cruise where the promo was 9 Marriott points per dollar spent. On a $5,000 cruise that’s 45,000 points, more then enough to book a hotel room the night before the cruise when we fly down.

Got same promos being offered on NCL website, price was same too (not including $24.95 charge). In a Two Bedroom Family Suite, so I’m not getting an upgrade, so not concerned about that (plus more importantly get me to 2M lifetime points).

Doesn’t hurt to shop around though. One thing to watch for TA bookings is they may have their own cancellation fees in addition to NCL

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Just recently got off the Spirit. I've attached a current menu from my recent cruise for each day (found posted on hallway on deck 12) It runs sequential from Day 1 to Day 7. One note, On day 7 they substituted the prime rib with Whole Roasted Striploin (offered on Day 1).

Definitely go with nolatravelgirls recommendation and have a stay-at-home friend check you in! One less thing for you to worry about on your trip, plus chances are your friend will be using a truly high-speed connection, versus slow ship connection. And bring back a souvenir for the friend as a reward.

good call [emoji106][emoji106]

That storm that's hitting the east coast is going to be horrible. Definitely one of those times where you want to have planned to travel a day in advance.

 

http://www.intellicast.com/National/Radar/Current.aspx?animate=true

With this storm, some people would probably have needed 2-3 days of advance travel to make it.

Well A1 - A15 is reserved for business fares. Early bird still doesn't guarantee early A group. Generally early - mid B isn't bad position to find a spot on plane. Still the entire group on reservation would be charged early bird, fee, you can't cherry pick one person off reservation to pay it the fee. Can't justify paying early bird for 20 people, especially if a cheaper alternative is out there.

I was wondering if anyone has used their cell phone on GSC to check-in on Southwest. Our return flight is at 1pm the day following being at GSC and would prefer to check in this method then having an Internet package and being on the ship at 1pm to do it or doing early bird check-in (even with early bird, you still need to check-in).

Generally Jacks or Better has the best odds in most casinos. However, being a cruise casino, I highly doubt you get 9/6 payouts for full houses/flushes on NCL. Read forums of a different cruise line paying only 6/5 for full houses/flushes. Imagine NCL is probably on par with that.

Kinda surprised there isn't more selection of the soda's. Figure they should have a few more. At least some non soda options like lemonade or fruit punch

Okay...what kids really drink club soda and tonic water?

The post said that the burger was on the menu every night. It OBVIOUSLY not the only thing on the menu.

I know that the burger isn't the only thing on the menu. But for myself (and probably others) steak is my fallback if I find no other entrée to my liking. But replacing the daily steak offering with a burger is extremely disappointing. I wouldn't order a burger for dinner. One, I've may have had one for lunch. Two, I'm sure there are probably other places on the ship I can grab a burger for dinner.

Myself, I'm not one find seafood or a vegetarian option to my liking for dining, so I would probably order the steak a few times in the MDR, based on what was offered. I might be in a position now where I may not dine at the MDR and go to the buffet instead if there isn't an entrée that I am interested in the menu. The thing is I prefer a sit down meal over buffet.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I've been researching, and looks like the Galveston and San Juan (as well as repo) are cheaper then Port Canaveral. Unfortunately, they aren't as frequent as cruises out of Port Canaveral, so if you are looking for a specific date, you may be out of luck. Noticed that a 7 day cruise out of San Juan departing 1/23/2015 was priced a few weeks ago for only $3,000 for family of 4, for an inside stateroom.

Generally, if you are flexible and can hold off from booking until a few weeks out, you should have no problem getting a last "minute" deal on staterooms not selling well.

I'm traveling on the Spirit in a week, and would not expect to see prime rib on the MDR menu aside from a la carte for the $15. It would be counterproductive to offer the 16 oz. prime rib on the a la carte menu, while also offering a smaller version of it included on the featured entrées list on the menu.

On the Sky last week the "always available" didn't include a steak of any sort... just a burger and fries.

That's disappointing. I imagine most people dining in the MDR's (aside from maybe kids) wouldn't be going there wanting to order a burger. This might be only on the Sky (I hope). Would hate to be on a 7 day cruise and have a burger on the menu in lieu of a steak option.

I like the idea of a few premium charged dishes on the MDR menu. Particularly the Surf and Turf. I understand this might not be something everyone likes but for us it is perfect. My DH does not wish to go to speciality restaurants this time. But I so want my Filet mignon or even better Surf and Turf. Well previously I would have either missed that or my husband would have ok'd Cagney's but not very willingly. He would have been perfectly happy with the MDR selection but because DW (=me :D ) absolutely wanted a Surf and Turf he had to also pay for speciality restaurant meal. I would hear ages about that.

 

We usually visited Cagney's one time on a cruise but not any other speciality place. So the cost was for us around $60. Now with the a la carte we would pay of Cagney's much much more as we would never get SDP. With the "pay extra" Surf and Turf at MDR I get what I want and he too, a free meal for him. :D And also my appetizers and dessert are free.

 

It would be nice to hear though from someone who has ordered this from MDR if how it was like. The side dishes etc. No Cagney's fries for sure. :D

I'm curious too if someone has ordered a la carte from this new menu and what their opinion of it was.

I personally don't mind NCL adding the a la carte to the MDR menu. However, if I am spending an extra $15 for prime rib, it better be worth it, cooked properly to level of wellness I desired and better be nice and warm.

I'm going to hold the a la carte items to a higher standard, and expect it to be better than the regular entrees on the MDR menu.

I'm not one to generally complain about food at a restaurant, and don't recall any bad experiences at the MDR my two previous NCL cruises 7 and 8 years ago. I'd be more willing to let something slide (something slightly over cooked or food that isn't that warm) if I haven't paid an up charge for.

Do back the the original post, has anyone had an a la carte item off the MDR menu?

I've seen the new MDR menus, which made me curious if any has bothered with the a la carte. You can get what probably is an 8 ounce or so cut of sirloin off the menu for no additional cost, but maybe if you wanted a bigger and better cut, you may be willing to pay the up charge. If Cagney's is going to run you $30 or so, maybe it would be more worthwhile the spend just the $15 for prime rib (if the steak is something you would get at Cagney's) and regular apps/sides.

It's been 7 years since I was last on NCL, and am going back in a week. Generally steak is my fall back in case there wasn't something from the featured menu that I like. I had no issues with steak ordered on previous cruises on NCL, but it has been a while and I am curious if it there is that much of the difference between the two.

I don't have a Specialty Dining package, so will be hitting up the MDR's nightly. I might be willing to splurge one night for the prime rib, but only if it was worth it.