Ktuluorion

On 10/26/2023 at 6:08 AM, richmke said:

First time NCL, and Haven on the Epic. I understand the room comes with a Nespresso maker.

 

My wife loves (needs) her morning coffee. On other cruise lines, I get the premium coffee package and bring her a wakeup coffee (buffet coffee won't do).

 

Thoughts on Starbucks vs Nespresso vs free room service coffee? Do they provide bottled water for the Nespresso?

 

Can you request heavy cream, not half-and-half, and keep it in the fridge?

 

Thanks

You can get French press coffee in the haven restaurant or delivered to your suite by butler.   you can thank me later 😀

1 hour ago, chill6x6 said:

The only time I have TRULY walked off the ship having paid no more than the cruise fare was with Celebrity in a suite.  They used to include gratuities, OBC, premium beverage, and premium internet.  OBC covered speciality dining and excursions.  

NCL used to be that way in the suites too.  Dining & drinks packages for FAS used to not have service charge, and at one point the grats were a perk.  

I've been wondering this as well.  On land I've been seeing minimums of 15 or 25, I'm hoping they are a little lower at sea.

Also curious..does anyone know if there is a fee to get casino chips billed to your room/ credit card?  Or should I just bring cash?

You are correct - it's 300 per passenger (my sailing is 16 nights).

7 minutes ago, hallux said:

 

If you use the 250 minutes you get no credit for that when upgrading.  Once you use the free minutes you pay full price for any internet you buy for the rest of the cruise.  Additionally - any discount for the unused (never activated) FAS internet minutes will only be available in the first couple days of the cruise.

so in order to qualify for the upgrade offer referenced earlier in the chain you can't use the 250 fas minutes at all?  why would you be logging in if you weren't using the minutes?

10 hours ago, davencl said:

I can relate my experience in August on the GEM for an 11 night Mediterranean sailing.  Once onboard and perhaps a day or two later there was an offer when logging in to upgrade for the remainder of the trip for $65.00. I did not upgrade since there was a port stop every day on that trip but price was certainly good.

was there an option to move from the free 250 minutes to the unlimited streaming package?  recall how much that was?

Hey all.  I'm on breakaway on a an upcoming TA.  Since it's a long trip,  internet is pricy.  I'd like to use free wifi during the port intensive first part of the cruise, then upgrade in the second half.  My question is-- will it be "pro- rated" if I wait and upgrade halfway through onboard?  i.e. 400$ instead of 800$?

1 hour ago, vswan said:

Early on in one of these threads - he/she has/had two, this one and one asking about taking bottles of liquor home off the ship - I decided that this person must be trolling to see what type of responses he received. Everything anyone tried to tell them was argued with and he blatantly insulted a number of responders. Since then, I've just been chuckling at the way he manages to stir things up and how people are responding. If he/she really isn't a troll, I wouldn't want to be on the same cruise either.

I've been laughing over here too.   I think it's brilliant 🤣

This is a very good informative thread.   I am a haven cruiser, but the step down from GV, which I enjoy but it's not GV.

not sure if they still have it but only haven used to have johnny blue and it was covered under p+

On 8/24/2023 at 12:33 PM, Scubadoc said:

Thanx. We booked and are on deck 10. SM aft penthouse with large balcony

We did an AFT penthouse on the pearl for a Panama canal cruise.  We loved it- balcony was big enough for 6 of us to enjoy the view of the canal with snacks that the butler provided.

Overall, the inside of the room was spacious and laid out well.

Enjoy!

2 hours ago, Sigyn said:

I'm serious about the Retreat v. Haven stuff. When we boarded last month on the Millennium, I asked our butler for afternoon snacks and he said, "Well, most people don't want snacks anymore since the pandemic. We have snacks in the Retreat lounge at 3 pm." I said, "I'd like for you to bring us snacks." I asked for a cheese plate, fruit and salted nuts each day at 3 pm. I received a plain bowl of unsalted pecans one day and a cheese plate and a fruit plate, but that was the only time I saw nuts. One day there was shrimp with cocktail sauce with a cheese plate and fruit. Another day there was a meat plate randomly added. It was so bizarre. I gave up. We were actually hungry at 3 pm/4 pm when we'd get back to our cabin because we were in Alaska and out on excursions every day and we wouldn't go to dinner until about 7 pm. I wanted my snack and I didn't want to go down several decks to the lounge to get it. 🤣

Celebrity has really gone downhill.  We were longtime NCL cruisers and switched to Celeb 5 or 6 years ago.  The last couple years prices have really gotten out of hand and quality has sufferer.  We found that we could sail the Haven for what we would pay for Aquaclass on Celebrity at this point.. so we are back on NCL!  A huge gripe for me was the lack of entertainment on Celebrity..   although it does look like NCL has taken a few steps back in that regard as well.  Back in the mid/late 2000s they had tons of amazing production shows, second city improv, and always had something to do!  now I see only 2 theater shows for our upcoming 16 night cruise!

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I wonder what they'd charge to have a Lobster Tail delivered daily as a snack?

shouldn't cost anything... you can have as many lobster tails as you want included at the haven restaurant....

53 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Yes, you can do this. My husband requested one. He received two! You should do your best to make your request at least a day in advance. 

 

I may try this!  I love steak & eggs, and a filet seems much nicer to go with it than the NY Strip.

16 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We have steak (used to be filet, now NY strip) and eggs brought in the morning. 
 

We’re in the Haven later this year. Not sure I would want to come back from an excursion to find a cold lobster and congealed butter on the table. 

I've "heard" somewhere on these forums that someone requested the filet (which I believe is available at dinner) and they were able to do it.

21 minutes ago, goldmom said:

My guess is that you can ask for it but it would only be available when the Haven restaurant is actually open for dinner.  I forget the exact hours, but doubt 3pm would work.

Enjoy!

I'm assuming someone has actually tried this! LOL -- or something like a shrimp cocktail every day.  I did read somewhere that someone was able to get them to accommodate giving him a lobster tail at lunch or breakfast.. so they may be available outside of dinner.

Anyone ever try asking the butler to bring you something like a lobster tail snack every day at 3pm?  I would think it's not a crazy request since they have them already at the haven restaurant.   

Anyone know where Concierge Suzana is nowadays?  had a great experience with her years ago on the Pearl.

Also, anyone know the current concierge on Breakaway/have any info on how good they are?

Can anyone confirm if haven bar (particularly on breakaway) has johnny blue?  how about any champagne by the glass?  any other beverage updates I'd want to know decide if p+ is worth it?  I've read a bit on cutbacks elsewhere in the ship, but didn't know if there is different availability in haven bar.

14 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

A max bid often is more than the cost of just paying for the room outright. Please check the cost of just paying for the room and see if, accepted, the max bid would be more than that.

 

The algorithm for selecting bids is a deep dark secret. No one knows how it works. I have won a $200 minimum bid to move from a suite to a bigger suite,,, when I am sure that there are bids for $1K+ from a balcony. 

Thanks - it is not in this case.  The straight upgrade would be about 15k, the highest bid was 5k.

So I just put in a bid for an upgrade around 100 days from sailing -- and actually put the max bid.  Anyone know if this could potentially cause an early upgrade acceptance?  Anyone have experience with whether a max bid generally gets you the upgrade you want?

Anyone have a recommendation of hotel for the night before cruise?  (preferably a hotel that has a shuttle to the cruise terminal).  Seems like this terminal is more remote than the other one in PR.

52 minutes ago, radarcruiser said:

I have a free casino cruise on Celebrity in October and another one on Royal in December.   Has anyone been able to L&S free casino cruises?

I'm in the same boat for a sailing in November.   I called up and they told me that they determine the options available when they cancel,  but did share that they have offered L&S even on casino comped cruises in the past.

I'm hoping this isn't true.   I'm bored for a late November cruise on Equinox.  I did call and confirm that the story from celebrity is still that they are sailing starting 9/15.

21 hours ago, zitsky said:

December 1st, 2020

 

Just a guess but I think September is too soon.  So I pick December. 

Can we roll that back a week, i'm booked for 11/27 🙂  Still holding out hope!