MNcruisingcouple

1 hour ago, indexcards said:

Thank you for such a fast response. I was concerned that we would need to upgrade to the plus level of beverage plan for dinner wine.

There are definitely options for wines by the glass in restaurants. Really depends on how picky you are whether you'll be happy with the options.  Personally, it wouldn't be worth it for me to upgrade just for wine with dinner.

If you search, you may be able to find a recent wine list from a dining room.  

1 minute ago, acct1975 said:

you should! It's a nice refreshing change after all the sweeter, cocktails I tend to favor on cruises

I tried it because I love a spritz but it was way too floral for me.

1 minute ago, indexcards said:

Is the beverage package valid at any bar or venue on the ship?

Is wine by the glass available in the dining rooms and/or buffet?

 

 

Yes, you can use it at any bar/restaurant.

Wines by the glass are available at dining rooms.  I believe there is a bar at the buffet on most ships, but I don't know if they have wine by the glass (we don't frequent the buffet).

2 hours ago, Luvmypups said:

We love Willa Jean for breakfast and there is a Rouse’s across the street. 

Another recommendation for Willa Jean!!  I'm trying to figure out how many times I can get there in February.

You may get a bad bottle of bubbly in your room but that's it.

My DH and I enjoy NCL but my recommendation if you're coming from Regent is, don't.

12 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I honestly found myself not wanting to drink as much this cruise, that's all. I drank almost no wine and stuck to cocktails, water, and soft drinks. I've written about this before, but paying for an upgraded beverage package was just an enticement to overdo it and I was sick of being sick. I got everything I wanted without paying anything extra (except for a couple of things), and I'm fine with that. 

Thanks for that honest response!  I'm glad you got what you wanted from your package.

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

Just came back Sunday from our trip, sailed the Epic from Dec 7 to 16. I'm glad I didn't opt for the Premium + package. It would have been a huge waste of money. I actually ended up drinking very lightly apart from one day. Everything I ordered was covered under the regular UBP,  apart from a glass of Veuve Clicquot and a Chandon. I paid an extra $20 for the Veuve and $5 for the Chandon. So I was out $25 + tax vs an extra $20 pppd for the upgrade. Oh and I did get a Starbucks espresso one day, so that was another $2. I saved a lot by not upgrading and I'm glad I didn't. YMMV, as always. 

So just curious if this was because you made the choice to drink what was included in the basic package or because the Premium Plus alcohols were not available?

I believe there is a Starbucks package.  That may be of interest in your situation.

35 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

That was the only bar we did not try as we had a couple of Scotch shots there while waiting for a meal. As the Beverage manager told us Champagne was not available at any bar we had given up asking at that point.
The bar between Taste and Savour were unable to serve Champagne so I think the beverage manager was probably correct and Prime Meridian would not have been able to serve Champagne either.

 

It's interesting your experience of a year ago was identical to ours.

Thanks for the reply.  I'll be checking the Prime Meridian bar in Feb but I don't have high hopes.  The only issue we had a year ago was the Champagne.  I think that will be on going on ships without a wine bar.

@ziggyuk Did you happen to check the Prime Meridian bar (between Cagney's and Moderno) for Champagne/wine?  I believe someone suggested to try that.  

Honestly, we ran into the champagne issue a year ago on the Breakaway.  Escalated the issue to the food and bev manager and was told it wasn't available outside of a dining room.  Never had an issue getting it in a specialty restaurant but Manhattan room was another story (slow and frustrating).

22 minutes ago, akny said:

Same complaints in this thread - "Life from Bliss LA to Mia Dec2". Bars dont have any FAS+ offerings. Only at dinner. That is bait and switch

Did you read the same review I just did???  Because that is NOT what the review says. 

Yes, it's challenging to get the Premium Plus wines outside of a dining room and it's challenging to get high end liquor at a pool or buffet bar.  BUT that is hardly the same as your claim of no Premium Plus offering at any bars.

1 hour ago, northwoodsmom said:

Hijacking for a moment, just saw your from Jackson, MN! Grew up partially in St. James!

Yes, we've lived in Jackson since 2008 and before that we were in Sleepy Eye, MN, so we are very familiar with St. James.

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Question:  When I called the pre-cruise concierge she suggested the crab salad.   How big is the crab salad would it do for an entree for someone  who has had weight loss surgery so I can't eat a lot.  I guess i could order two???

If you enjoy seafood, the Fruits de Mer entree at Le Bistro is small.    

Does anyone know what the issue is with using Taino Bay?  I thought NCL purpose built this port, why are they not using it?

1 hour ago, RadioPeri said:

 

Thank you. So, we'll need show reservations too?? Do you know where we do that? (We have only one previous NCL cruise several years ago on the Gem, so things are different now.) 

Thank you for the restaurant recommendations. I like your choices, and I think we'll also try others to figure out which our favorites are! Which entrees do you like the best in the places you mentioned?

If you want to be sure to get into the big theatre shows on specific days and times, you may want reservations.  But often, they have open seats if you just walk in.  And yes, you can make reservations from your TV and perhaps from the app but if you can't get into your room yet, it's just as easy to go to the box office.

Le Bistro- filet, Dover sole, mushroom soup.  Ocean Blue- ahi and avocado, filet, grouper, risotto, cheesecake, key lime pie. Cagney's- filet, seafood platter, mushrooms, cheesecake.

Very easy to change onboard.  Go to restaurant reservations right after making you show reservations.  I've done this on most cruises I've been on, with up to 9 people and always been able to get the reservations we wanted as long as we were a bit flexible.  

Personally, we'd pick Le Bistro, Ocean Blue and Cagney's; probably doubling up the first two because we know the other options aren't our preference.  

5 minutes ago, tzeb said:

Is there a way to make a reservation for 2 different cabins?  We are going with friends and want to eat together.

Just make reservations for the number of people.  They don't need to know about cabin numbers until you arrive at the restaurant.

@jdvmd Thanks so much for posting those dailies!!

12 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Just posted in another Encore thread:

 

From memory, Nov 13-20 Encore sailing:

 

Sunday was a Beatles show - can't remember if there was 1 or 2 shows

Monday was Kinky Boots  - 2 shows, 7-ish and 10-ish

Tuesday was Choir of Man  - 2 shows, 7-ish and 10-ish

Wednesday - ?

Thursday was Kinky Boots  - 2 shows, 7:30(?) and 10:30  

Friday was Choir of Man  - 2 shows, 7:30 and 10:00

Saturday - Beatles at 7-ish, some other music at 10-ish

Thank you!  Do you know if you can make reservations for the Beatles shows?

Do you know which days and time they have the large production shows?

I'd love the dailies also and to know about the music onboard. 

At what point were you told about the change to Amber Cove?  

You may be able to resolve the issue by calling or using the chat feature.

Or once you embark make you dining reservations immediately.  And unless you have a large group, you wouldn't even need MDR reservations.

37 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

FWIW, unlike some of their competition, NCL does not simply change the date and reuse Freestyle Dailies from one cruise to the next. Management feels that doing so would make the days routine and repetitive for the crew and that they perform best when their is somewhat of a variety.

 

If your interest is to find out the "types of activities" offered, then you can simply review any Dailies from any NCL ship as the activity types are similar fleet-wide.

I'm specifically looking for which nights the big production shows will be.  Do those change week to week?

I'd love to see these as well!

I've nearly always had the waiter ask how many glasses we wanted when I've ordered a bottle of wine.  I've never had an issue with sharing.