jancl57

Good morning....

We will be sailing on the Epic next February...a whole year to go... Being from Boston and currently dealing with another snow storm in 3 days, we thought we should fly into Orlando a day or 2 early....just in case. Would appreciate any recommendations for hotels that don't break the bank!

thanks

I have been planning for 12 months for our cruise that is schedule for May/2017 on the Escape. Having planned for so long and I was so excited to come up on 90 days. It's when the fun starts as far as booking all your dining and entertainment. I had already booked flights, hotel, transfers, etc.

 

Then life threw me a curveball. My husband hurt his back and we are visiting a surgeon next week. That happened and my daughter called and had a conflict at work.

 

All of our plans had to change. I have moved our trip to February 2018 on the Epic. We will lose the money for the flights that were purchased.

 

I know there are worse things and we will still be able to cruise at a later date, but I am still sad about not being able to go.

 

Please don't be mean, just needed to vent to folks that understand.

I'm so sorry to about your husband. Hopefully all will be well with your husband...we are booked on the Epic in February too. What dates are you going? Maybe you won't loose all the $$ from your airfare....maybe they will apply it to your flights in Feb... Good luck..

You book Nachi directly through their website, which I can't think of off the top of my head. Just google Nachi Cocom and you'll find it. You pay them 20% ahead of time, with the balance due when you arrive.

 

 

 

I'm sure you'll have an amazing time.

 

 

 

Cheers.

Thanks! Did you have any trouble getting a tender from the ship? And did you just take a cab over to Nashi?

Thanks again

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The so called secret stairs go up to deck 18 at the front of the ship

 

The easiest way to get up to deck 18 and nice quiet are for sunbathing with comfy loungers is get in the glass lift (left one facing aft) on deck 15 outside dining area of the garden café buffet this will take you up to deck 18 (same deck as Haven) but a different area, fantastic for sea days to catch the rays.

How many loungers are there in this area?

Thanks

Yes...A cruise on a bad ship is better than no cruise at all.

 

Although...It's just as easy to book a cruise on a good ship as it is a bad ship to make a cruise even better.

 

But...I will cruise on a bad ship like the Epic if the price is right because...

I'm curious as to why you consider the Epic a bad ship? Could you elaborate?

Thanks

Day 7 (Cruise Day 6): Paradise

 

Knowing we had a delicious day ahead, we grabbed a light breakfast at Garden Café as the ship pulled in to Cozumel. Wanting as much time in port as possible, we were off the ship only a few minutes after passengers were cleared to leave.

 

Of all the wonderful suggestions I’ve found here on CC, perhaps the best was to visit Nachi Cocom in Cozumel. We went to Nachi on our Serenade cruise back in 2014, and it was the highlight of our trip. So, we’d been looking forward to going back for quite some time.

 

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Nachi, it’s an all-inclusive resort, which only allows 100 people in per day to maintain a low-key atmosphere. Nachi sports a beautiful beach, a pool with swim-up bar, a hot tub, and fantastic food and drinks. At only $55 per person, it’s a great place to spend a relaxing beach day.

Hi Paul... I have thoroughly enjoyed your review! We cruised on the Dawn back in 2012 from Boston to Bermuda and loved her. We will be back on her this coming June for another Boston/Bermuda cruise. We also have a cruise booked for next February on the Epic. One of the ports is Cozumel. Did you book your excursion through NCL to Nachi or did you book through another excursion company(or directly through Nachi)?

thank you again for your amazing review!

Thank you everyone! We'll stay put!

We recently booked a balcony stateroom on deck 12 (12132) on The Epic for the February 3, 2018 sailing to the Wester Caribbean. I have been reading quite a lot about the odd bathroom configuration on the Epic Balcony rooms. On Deck 8, the beds are closer to the balcony door whereas on Deck 12 they are closer to the entrance, so also closer to the toilet. If you could choose between Deck 8 and Deck 12 (same price), which would you choose?

Thanks!

This may sound like a crazy question, but I'm throwing it out there. We just booked a western Caribbean cruise on the Epic, Feb 3, 2018 sailing. We are big football fans. Does

Anyone know if they will stream the super bowl

In the ship? I know my husband will not be happy if they don't. Especially if the Patriots

Are in it again. It will be a deal breaker. If we know ahead of time that they won't show it,

We will change our date.

Thanks

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153.... seems so far away!

I think NCL's $79+gratuity is outrageous. We did select this as one of our "perks" on our BTB cruise in June, but only because it was offered. If it weren't, we would not have purchased it on board. We cruised on RCI last June. Their beverage package cost $49pp + gratuity included frozen drinks AND bottled water. A much better deal. The 7 night UBP on NCL costs $652.54 pp. The 9 night RCI charge was $520 pp. Just saying......

There are entrees at Le Bistro and Cagney's that are an additional upcharge over and above the SDP. I believe those are what the poorly written verbiage is about.

 

punkincc is also correct that ordering more than one entree will incur an additional charge.

Thanks! So it wasn't just me... it is confusing. Another question... if I didn't choose a dining package, what is the up charge at Cagney's?

Trying to figure out if it is worth buying the package or just making reservations at 3 different restaurants when we board.

I have a question about the dining package. For $81.40 pp we can purchase specialty dining for 3 nights. It says it includes Cagney's steakhouse... but under the Q&A it says: No, all items listed on the menus are included in the package. Additional entrée charges also apply for dining at Cagney’s Steakhouse and Le Bistro.

So does this mean when we go to Cagney's we have to pay an additional amount for our entree or just specific entrees? A bit confusing.

Thanks!

I can pretty much say I have been happy with each cruise I have been on. They are all different, and I have liked different aspects of each. Really the staff, ports of call all make each vacation unique. I too just like being away from work, no cooking, no cleaning, etc. I have had small bumps on each cruise, though often many things had nothing to do with the cruise line and others were. I really can't say I have any major negatives for a cruise, though again each had something I liked more than others. Personally I find them to be more alike than different.

 

 

 

I like the specialty restaurants on NCL, though I wish they would just make all dining part of the cruise. Truly if they raised the fare $100 and included all restaurants would just seem better to most people. We have had good dining in them and not in others.

 

 

 

We like the set dining on Carnival and the rotation of staff on Disney. Truly our best dining experiences were on those two - mostly our 10 day on the Pride and the 14 day on Disney Magic. I would have to say it really was our dining staff (and the entertainment staff on the Pride), that really made those trips enjoyable and more memorable than others.

 

 

 

Entertainment shows - I think Carnival has better Comedians, Disney does the best Broadway style shows, I don't care for the comedians on NCL - Second City I just don't find funny - but others enjoy it. I did like Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages. I also enjoyed the Cirque dinner show.

 

 

 

I am really looking forward to our Breakaway trip in October, will be nice to sail the ship again since we did the first TA when the ship came over. Will be nice to see how it has improved over that first trip. Though we realize they were new and learning and they always have kinks to work out, which has had plenty of time. Not to mention Bermuda will also be new for us. Overall most of the changes don't really affect me anyway. I will be happy just to use my drink package that I only paid the gratuity on (I would have spent more than the gratuity on drinks, but not the $79 a day).

That's the way I look at it too. I would not drink $79 a day of alcohol, but will definitely drink more then the $14 and change for the gratuity! To me that is a huge positive. I've only been on 4 cruises, 4 different cruise lines, and enjoyed each one. We are booked on the Dawn next June. It will be our 2nd NCL cruise. I've never had a free beverage package so really looking forward to that.

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Thanks!

Does anyone know the dates of the Cup next June? We are booked on the June 9 Boston/Bermuda on the Dawn. Wondering if we'll get to see any of it.

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I would have to say we cruise for the itinerary. We've only been on 4 cruises (a 5th is booked) and they were all on mid size, with the Crown Princess being the largest (3k pax). We had an amazing time on all 4 of our cruises.

Being a mega ship would not deter us from booking if it was an itinerary we were interested in. In all honesty, we would like to cruise on a mega ship and compare which we like best.

Ship - Jewel

Deck - 8

Stateroom # - 8062

Stateroom Category –

Starboard or Port Side -

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes, quiet. No issues with noise from above or in the hall.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - Yes, but never used.

Balcony View - View was perfect looking out straight and to the left. The Cabin next to us, must have had a partial obstructed view as the window cleaning apparatus was docked to the side of their balcony. So when we looked to the right, we saw that. A little disappointed at first, but wasn't really a big deal.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal size balcony.

Was wind a problem? - No, wind was not a problem.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - No problems with this cabin.

Any other comments? - I thought the location of this cabin was perfect. It was forward-mid. Fairly close to the Atrium but never heard the music once we were inside our cabin. I would book this stateroom again.

How was embarking in civitevecchia? We r planning on being there 11:00.

We were on the June 1, 9 night cruise on the Jewel. We got to Civitevecchia around 11:15 and were on board by 11:45. Easy Peasy..... Loved everything about this cruise....would love to do it again!

Thank you both for your responses.....for the time being I will keep things as they are!

I am torn between an obstructed view on deck 8 of the Dawn or an inside mid ship cabin on deck 9. We are currently booked in category IB on deck 9, inside mid. Is it worth the $$$ to have an obstructed view? I know the obstruction is from the life boats. Is there any view at all? I should add that on all 4 of our previous cruises on other cruise lines, we have always had a balcony. But the cost on NCL has gone up quite a bit since we last sailed on the Dawn.

Thanks!

I have only cruised NCL once and that was 4 years ago, Boston/Bermuda on the Dawn. We will be taking this same cruise next June. The prices have skyrocketed since we went 4 years ago. We are paying more for an mid-inside cabin on deck 5 then we paid for a mid balcony on deck 10 (I think it was 10) Anyhow, I've seen a couple of posts regarding upsell/upgrades and wonder how they work. An upsell is paying for an upgrade at a reduced rate as opposed to an upgrade which would be complimentary. Is that correct? Thanks!

Thank you for you review. I enjoyed reading every word! We cruised on the Dawn 4 years ago. We had a balcony stateroom on the 10th deck. No UBP of SDP. Total cost of cruise, with tips and bar bill was $2,900. We just booked for next June. The balcony stateroom cost is $3,900 w/o tips so add another $189 to that. so close to $4,100. So we opted for an inside cabin. Cost is $2,776 w/o tips, so about $3k with tips. More then the balcony stateroom 4 years ago! But, we like the fact that don't have to fly anywhere and live just 20 minutes outside of Boston. We loved the cruise 4 years ago and am pretty sure we will enjoy it again next year, despite going from a balcony to an inside cabin.

Thank you again for your review....we can't wait to go back to Horseshoe bay again!

Jewel OTS - Dennis Charles July 17 for 3 months. John Blair expects to return from his break in mid-October.

If Dennis Charles starts July 17 for 3 months.... who is the CD currently?

18 days till Jewel of the Seas out of Rome! woohoo....first time on RCI.....Getting so very excited!