MissJessicaB

Ocean Blue, hands down. The others are great, but OB just seems like a class above the rest and even after we exhausted our dining package we booked an extra night there after enjoying it so much.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

Could a travel agent work? I imagine they might be willing to check periodically for you in order to secure the booking.

Full disclosure, I've never used a TA so I'm not sure if this is something they'd do.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

As a consumer: Yes, it creates more transparency.

As a cruise worker: Yes, it creates a stable reliable wage.

As a cruise company: No, it makes your fares appear higher than other lines who don't do it, and a % of people will book elsewhere not realizing they will pay the difference later.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

They are on the ITV hub, you might need a UK VPN to access them.

I tried this but it seems only a few recent episodes are available. It was a shame because I wanted to watch from season 1.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

It usually takes me a couple days to remember the room number perfectly. Having it on the card is handy.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

Life is too short to get upset about an elevator. If they won't let you off, ride past your floor and go back to it. Like the impatient people who cram into the elevator thinking that their life will end if they have to wait another minute, people can stay in the elevator a minute if it is too hard to get out.

I'm all for not being uptight about every little thing, but riding to the wrong floor to placate rude idiots seems a little doormat-like to me, lol. I deal with the NYC subway every day. We just shove past.

Your comments are completely out of line telling the OP the kids will be fine. The OP and the kids have NEVER cruised before. So your experience, while it turned out ok for you, also may have been because you and your cousin had "sailed many times before".

This seems a little melodramatic for something that was a pretty simple difference of opinion lol.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

Personally at 14 I was pretty reliable and mature, trusted to be home alone etc., but I know not all kids are like that (including some of my siblings). I think this is up to how much you trust your kids really, although I'd call the cruise line and ask about switching at the 120/90 day marks to get something closer since that makes it much less of a headache.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

In all reality, you don't need to spend extra money on food. The vast majority of people eat their meals in the main dining rooms. Don't buy into the hype about spending money on specialty dining.

I think this varies from person to person and is very personal. We're foodies who can enjoy anything from a burger to a tasting menu as long as it's cooked well. We personally find the MDR hit & miss and generally just okay. We generally find the specialty restaurants to be more than worth the upcharge and if they didn't offer the specialty dining we would possibly cruise on a more expensive cruise line.

As always YMMV depending on your desires!

Sent from my LG-H918 using Forums mobile app

Looking for clarification on main room dining on NCL. This is our first time on NCL, and will be on the Bliss in August. Are you assigned a “main dining”room? Do they all have the same menu each night? If they serve the same menu, why would you chose one room over another? Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

To answer your last question, largely just for a change of scenery. On the Gem, we favored the Grand Pacific restaurant because it was, well, grand and purdy 🙂

For me there's just not much I care to do on the last day. My bags are packed and there's not much in the way of entertainment or activities available. We usually have a nice breakfast in the MDR and then we're off to our comfortable home and kitties :)

The link for anyone interested: http://www.cosol-tours.com/tours.html

We did the Cosol St. Lucia Tour at the end of 2016 and really enjoyed it. It was island #7 out of 8 for us, and it was a really nice relaxing treat to just let someone else plan and execute the whole day for us, including some good food and a good overview of the island. We enjoyed getting to know the various people on our bus too.

It could be that island tours just aren't your thing. I tend not to enjoy the research/planning portion of vacations, so they're perfect for me :)

The Gem was our first cruise back in 2015. We loved it, and it's what got us hooked on cruising. Now that we've had some more cruising experience we can look back and fondly remember: (1) the outdoor buffet, (2) the grand pacific dining room - it's really pretty, (3) the live music around the ship, (4) the slightly more intimate vibe than some of the mega ships out there.

Based on your requirements, I would go with NCL and plan to eat most nights in their specialty restaurants. Both RCCL and NCL have pretty average food in their MDRs, similar to banquet food at home. There are lines that concentrate more on food, but they don't offer as much for your kids. We like the variety of specialties on NCL, and just include the cost as part of our budget. You'll find better food quality and service there than you get in the MDR. But keep your expectations realistic, a family oriented cruise line doesn't offer a real "foodie" experience.

THIS ^

In all honesty, MDR cruise food is generally just meh from an objective point of view. Sure there are people who love it, but if you're the type of people who describe themselves as foodies, MDR food isn't really going to tickle that itch. We're foodies too, and while we don't eat at Michelin Star restaurants every night (maybe 1-3 times per year), we like to think we have good taste in affordable food (of the $15-25 entree price variety mostly).

The above post is accurate - For us, the best way to get good food on an affordable cruise is to go NCL and get a specialty dining package that gives you as many nights as you can swing in their specialty restaurants.

We tend to go to bed relatively early for younger people (10-12 depending on what we did that day) so we generally like being away from the noise more than being close to the elevators just so we're not disturbed as often by loud drunk people. We don't tend to have mobility issues though, so if I did, I imagine I would favor being a little closer to the elevators.

Why are Americans so opposed to "eating with strangers?" It wouldn't kill you to chat with other passengers. It's actually quite interesting, you've got people from all walks of life on cruise ships. Makes for good conversation.

Like others have said, there are good and bad strangers. It's a roll of dice, and sometimes you just don't want to take the chance. I'll happily strike up conversations with strangers in all sorts of situations, but always in places where I can just get up and walk away rather than being stuck for so long.

Re the question about favorite specialty dining restaurants - I don't think you can go wrong with either Cagney's or Moderno. Both are yummy, particularly if you're a big meat eater. Personally I think NCL does specialty dining wonderfully and would get a package and try multiple ones :)

That's actually encouraging.

 

 

 

I would be totally okay with paying, say, 8-9$ for a 12 pack of water that I'd pay 5 for at the grocery store on my way to the port. I would consider that a reasonable fee, especially considering I would have given the porter 2$ anyway. Heck, I'd be grateful for the convenience, at that price.

 

 

 

I agree with what you've written. I understand cabins are typically a loss leader and that they make money back later. I'm happy to pay a markup, but not happy to be priced out or gouged. I want to be able to look at the price and say "screw it, I'm on vacation" rather than "ouch, should we still be here?"

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I got a phone call from NCL today in response to my email to the VP. The person was polite and friendly and answered my questions about the quality of the water. He also let me know that they are looking into the price of the bottled water but that no decision had been made yet.

Regardless of whether they change the policy or the price in the end, I appreciated the personal response. I certainly encourage other people to write to senior people about this if they feel strongly.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I got a phone call from NCL today in response to my email to the VP. The person was polite and friendly and answered my questions about the quality of the water. He also let me know that they are looking into the price of the bottled water but that no decision had been made yet.

I really appreciate the personal response I got from NCL and I'm glad they are looking into it. Multi million dollar corporations don't usually change policies on a dime, but it's good to know they are reviewing it.

I encourage more people to write. I've seen some extremely eloquent letters posted.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

So ? I'm sure you are correct but at what price ?

 

Not including Disney , NCL remained the last of the big brands for us to sail on . Our cruise leaves 2 days after the policy comes into effect and it will be just a minor irritant . The reason we hadn't sailed them before was my perception that they nickle and dime you . And yet this cruise was sooo much cheaper then the competition we said what the hell .

 

So yes our cruise and most other NCL's will sail full but perhaps only with great big discounts . Is their marketing strategy to try and compensate for low prices by abusing passengers after they board ? Seems so . We may sail NCL again if they drop their booking prices sooo low that no matter what trickery they use, we should be just fine .

 

Not a great business model but I hope you pay all and more that you think Norwegian is worth .

It's actually a great business model and is seen across a lot of industries. Printers are cheap, but ink is expensive. Clubs are cheap, but drinks are expensive. Flights are cheap but a packet of pretzels are expensive.

As Cruise Critic members we are more savvy than the average consumer. Most cruisers who are only taking a cruise every once in a while are looking at the initial price and then then once they are in, NCL starts chipping away to make up their losses.

Loyal customers are savvy customers and savvy customers don't like this kinda thing. But 90% of the boat won't be cruise critic members and probably barely know we exist. That's how it works, how the ships are still full and how the shareholders make money.

Edit to add:

Flip side is that the savvy customers tend to cruise more often and are often the ones booking the suites, the havens and Vibe. We spend quite a bit of money so it's worth not pissing us off.

Jessica, I think we're on the same cruise! The pass for the uninterrupted 14 day itineraries is for the full cruise. Same with the spa pass. It's more expensive than the 7 day cruises but that makes sense. Hope this helps!

 

~Lisa

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

We are indeed! Ive talked your husband's ear off a little about the cruise already :)

I wanted to find out how much more expensive it would be so I called them. Alas the rep was pretty clueless and gave me a guess that it was "probably double." I emailed customer service to ask after that and I'm waiting to hear back.

If it turns out to be four or five hundred dollars for the two weeks we will definitely skip it but I'd rather know now so I can spend the 300 Cabana earmarked dollars on something else like a cool excursion or three, or a parasol lol.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

It's a full 14 day cruise, so I'm definitely unsure whether they would try to limit the passes to the first or the second week. That might be the deciding factor on whether we try to get it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I've seen a lot of information about Vibe passes on the forum but they all seem to describe the pass as a week pass. We're going on a 14 day cruise though so I'm wondering, do the passes last the full length of the cruise or just one week?

Thanks in advance!

Tried to send email to Vivian. Received auto response that she was out of office. She left a message to contact Amoris@ncl.com.

I got the same thing but bizarrely it was only sent to me many many hours after I sent my email. It made me wonder whether it was activated to avoid responding individually to people.

My point was to the poster that there is "gouging" everywhere here in the United States, not just on cruise ships. To me, it doesn't matter if you are somewhere for 5 minutes or 1 month, if $5 for a bottle of water is gouging on NCL, it is gouging at Disneyland, as they are both making a huge profit from selling the water at that price.

I totaly agree. I detest getting gouged just because I'm a captive audience whether it's one day or 14. But for one day, I can live with it even if I'm not happy.

I don't have too much skin in the game, because I'll be drinking fountain soda and frozen alcoholic drinks to be fair. I'm not cancelling. But if we have fun next month on the Anthem, then I could be come a Royal Caribbean girl instead of an NCL one in future.