Cruiser1862

Yes, it was full but did not “feel” full. There weren’t too many kids on board and the ones that were onboard were very disciplined and well behaved. Enjoy your cruise!!

I will start by saying…it was PHENOMENAL! This was our 10th cruise, 7 with Princess. We recently tried RC and Norwegian. Nothing came close to this ship or this cruise. Embarkation was a breeze. Pulled up to terminal. Dropped off bags. Parked in lot and was on ship 25 minutes later (10:15) I’m going to touch on some items that I read complaints or dissatisfaction with in posts leading up to the cruise. First, I never waited long at any bar for a drink. The waiters came by regularly at the pools and in the piazza. Received drinks within 10 minutes the longest after placing orders. Waiters/waitresses/staff were very attentive and helpful at all times. I felt very appreciated. So not sure what all the complaints about long waits were about. I did not order from the Medallion though. Just never needed to. We stayed on the ship instead of going to Princess Cays. Been there every other time and we wanted to have the ship to ourselves and just relax. On sea days we got up early, walked the track, had coffee and went to grab our lounge chairs. We stayed on them all day. We went separately to get breakfast and lunch and bring it out by the pool. Half the lounges were taken early (by 8-9:00) and never sat in. We stayed until 3-4pm and watched certain chairs that no one came back to from early morning. The staff needs to do better monitoring these. We took an excursion to a beach club in Puerto Rico. It was blah. Kind of dirty sand, horrible lounge chairs were my tush sunk in and was so uncomfortable. The buses were comfortable and on time. But not worth the price and really not a great beach. in Puerto Playa and Grand Turks we went to the pools by the ports and had a nice time. This trip was all about relaxing for us. Food: We loved the casual meals. No wait at O’Malleys and Gigis and a short wait for Ocean Terrace. We were told by waitress that we didn’t have to order the 3 course meal at Ocean Terrace and could just order 3 rolls instead. They were huge and 3 was enough for us. At Gigis we shared one meal. The pizzas are large and we never even ate the dessert. Speaking of dessert we got the ice cream dessert one night. Shared that too. It’s filling! Loved the International Cafe for an almond croissant in the morning and a specialty coffee in the afternoons. We ate in the buffet for breakfast and were extremely pleased with the vast selection. Room: We selected a deluxe guaranteed balcony and didn’t find out until 3 days prior to sailing where it was. Well worth the wait. It was on the Mariner deck 15 aft facing extended balcony, next to a penthouse suite. There was a covering above us for shade and privacy. It was wonderful. Shows: Our favorite production was the Rock Opera and comedians. Duval Gamble, the cruise director, had a show. He was great! The Irish singers at O’Malleys were really good and we loved the evening entertainment at the piazza. Disembarkation was just as easy. In our car in the parking garage and on our way at 6:45 am. All in all, a beautiful ship, great staff, delicious food and good entertainment. BTW, never encountered anyone coughing or seemingly sick. On a scale,of 1-10, this was an 11 ,

Charles is correct, I don’t have a disease and I don’t have to stop cruising or traveling. I was merely explaining my situation, that I have a greater than average chance of a detachment in my other eye. Which means I’m more alert to signs and want to make sure every precaution is taken. Which means I will be making sure I have he proper insurance (thank you to all who suggested what I look for). But I can keep traveling and living a normal life.

Thank you all very much. I will definitely contact Steve. We are driving to the port, about a 10 hour trip. No flights so don’t have that issue. such a scary experience first time around I just want to be prepared. again, thank you all.

I will clarify. I am aware that the evacuation would only be from land. I was wondering if the evacuation would take place if in a foreign port (like Amber Cove) and they did have a medical facility, however they are not well versed in repairing a detached retina. From what the answers here seem to state I’m at their mercy and that’s the chance I take going out of our country.

I have insurance for my next Caribbean cruise (I always get it) with Leisure Care and it does include emergency medical evacuation. Cruise goes to following ports: Private Island Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Amber Cove, Turks and Caicos. I am concerned about a possible retina detachment. I had one 2 years ago and have been told the possibility is good (I’m the perfect candidate for) another in the other eye. Anyone experience this? Do you get to be air lifted to the US? Or just taken to nearest hospital? Time is of essence to have the repair or blindness will most likely occur. Also, cannot find any info on whether this is pre-existing. I might never have this happen. The only pre-existing is that I had cataract surgery which could exacerbate this last month. Thank you.

We’re planning 4 days in Rome plus arrival day. We’ll be there 10 days.

Thank you. Never considered it but just went and looked it up. Definitely on our list now. Looks like an easy direct train. Great suggestion!

Thank you so much for quickly responding. Interesting that you suggest getting a ride ourselves to the sites and getting tours from there. I’ll start looking into it. And maybe staying overnight. We can pack a change of clothes and basic toiletries in our backpack for ease. I have the Rick Steves book in my Amazon cart! Was planning on ordering it this week. We do plan on the typical sites but my husband is more looking forward to walking, stopping to experience the various cafes and just being in Rome. We don’t have to “do it all” but do want to “experience” it all, if that makes sense. I know I’ll have questions and appreciate the generousity of people here in answering our questions.

Hello, been reading on this site for quite a while. Prior to Covid we planned a Med cruise. We now decided to just do a land tour in Italy. We’d like to stay in Rome (thank you to all that posted on the hotel thread as we found our hotel that way). We thought we’d take 2 bus tours out of the city, each for the day. One tour would be Pompeii, Amalfi and Positano. The other is Tuscany. We plan on April 30th-May 8th Arrive 30th AM, easy day due to jet lag May 1 & 2 explore Rome May 3 Bus trip Pompeii- not sure which tour yet May 4 Rome (5pm pasta class w/dinner) May 5 Bus trip Tuscany (wine tasting and lunch) May 6-7 Rome May 8 home Thoughts?

Thank you. That’s perfect!

Can someone please educate me on the water that is included with the premium plus package. Are they bottles? Thank you

If you’re Platinum and have the drink package it’s free then?

Thank you so much. I’ve informed her. She’s going to call them

Hello. I remember this issue being discussed before, but I can’t find the answer. a friend of mine is going on a cruise and is thinking of the drink package. However, her husband does not drink as he is a recovering alcoholic. She knows he has to get the package as well if she does, but is very concerned that it would tempt him. Does RCI make exceptions? She said she could get a drs note if necessary. Who would she contact? Thanking you in advance for any help or direction with this issue.

Dawn was out of Tampa. Never, ever saw an attendant remove towels. The entertainer was so bad there’s actually a Facebook page discussing it. One of his “jokes” was so awful he got booed. And the amount of people walking out… This was my take on the cruise. I had a great time. But, it wasn’t the best cruise for reasons cited. I do agree that it could have been the old, small ship vs a newer larger ship. I went on 3 cruises in the past 9 months, so we do have recent cruises to compare it to. Happy cruising to all….

First, this is MY review. Others might have a different opinion. I love reading reviews but never write them. This time I decided I should. I’m not sure it would’ve made a difference once I booked the cruise, but it might have prior while deciding to book this cruise. We’ve been on 10 cruises. Mostly Princess and a few RCI. This was our first NCL. We’ve been on mostly small ships with the exception of one Royal cruise on their very large ship with all the bells and whistles. Let me start with embarkation. We had an arrival time of 9-9:30. There was no place to drop a passenger off with the luggage while the other parked. It was chaotic and disorganized. We were put on a long line by one of the attendants and came to realize after 20 minutes it was a line for buses to go to the airport. They didn’t have a line started yet for embarking. Finally they did and informed us until all passengers were off ship we couldn’t go inside. It was really cold out too. Finally after an hour they let us in and from there it was very organized and quick to get onboard. Advice: Don’t go before 11am. Our friends who had an 11am arrival time got right on. Rooms: They were the smallest we’ve ever been in. We had a balcony. Bathroom though was good. Shower was a nice size and another perk was a magnifying mirror right on the bathroom mirror. Also, hair dryers were very good, not the small cheap hotel ones. But, closet shelves were very hard to get to. Balcony had the worlds smallest table on it and was downright filthy. Rusty, dirty, ugh. Time for the ship to repaint. Windows all over the ship were disgusting. Never saw anyone cleaning them either. Entertainment: We saw an absolutely amazing pianist/comedian named Tom Franek. He performed 2 nights with 2 different routines. Best entertainment ever on a cruise. There was also another comedian named Anthony LeDonne that was so awful it was painful to listen to him. Worst ever and people were leaving left and right. Rest of entertainment was unremarkable. There was a good singer in the lounge and the atrium had music but overall with the exception of Tom Franek entertainment was lacking. Food: We really enjoyed Tepanyaki. Bamboo was good. Venetian ok. O’Sheehans was good as well. We went to Los Lobos for guacamole and excellent Margaritas. Garden Grill, what can I say. If you like buffets I guess it was good. Missed the smoked salmon but didn’t want to go to the dining room just for that. The free style dining needs some work. Everyone wants to go same time and there’s a long wait. 45 minutes to a hour. Once you know this you plan accordingly. Bamboo only has a certain amount of tables so once they fill up at 5:30 you get a beeper until first group starts to leave Go early and wait. As night goes on it’s over an hour wait. Same with Venetian. Speaking of Venetian the wait staff took about 10-15 minutes the few times we went to even come over to our table They never introduced themselves and were literally “cold fish”. Very odd for cruise staff. Food was meh. Bruschetta appetizer and Caesar Salad good. That’s it. Main dishes were just ok. Nothing special. WiFi: we each had the free 150 minutes. It was very easy to get on and connected. I called home for a few minutes almost everyday and didn’t come close to using up minutes. Very easy. Also, I have an I-phone. Connected to NCL WiFi, turned on airplane mode and turned off cellular data. I could text others with an I-phone on ship or back home. Sometimes the phones go off the ships WiFi and you have to routinely check that you’re connected. Staff in general were very pleasant. It’s obvious they’ve cut back. Sitting on pool deck waiting for someone to take a drink order took a long time. We spoke to a lot of guests who both sailed many times with NCL and newbies like us. Almost all felt like we did and will be trying other lines in the future. One thing that truly frustrated us. On RCL last year we used our Starbucks gift cards. I checked a couple of time with NCL directly and they assured me we can use gift cards at the Starbucks onboard. Well, you can’t. They are independently licensed. Annoyed me because we enjoy cappuccinos and family members gifted us cards to use on our trip. Yes, we bought some anyway, but it’s the principle that I called 2x to ask. Another thing that frustrated many cruisers, including us. We were told we were getting six 1 liter containers of water. Then, that disappeared and NCL lied and said it was a promotion. It was not. I wish I saved the information but didn’t think I had to. My TA was even frustrated by this and she said she gave all of her clients a gift of the six bottles. Pool lounge hogging is very much alive. We saw a group of people come early, place towels down and not come back for hours! Not enough attendants to take care of this. There are sofa/deep seats along perimeter of pool area in shade. People would hog these laying across a 3 person seat and nap or read. I once nicely asked a woman stretched out reading over 3 seats if she’d mind if I sat down. She sat up of course but I can tell she was annoyed. Would I go back on NCL? Maybe in the distant future when things hopefully improve fleet wide. But right now, absolutely not. Sorry NCL, I tried you and can honestly say it was our least favorite cruise to date. Overly rating: C/C+

Thank you very much for the answers🙂

And if so, do we pay full price for it or difference after $15? I guess I should also ask what is alternative to this liquor? My husband likes it in the evenings. Thank you!

After a lot of digging I found my answer. I believe it’s only in the MDR that you can get a bagel and lox (smoked salmon)

I am not a foodie and am generally pleased with cruise food. We enjoy breakfast and an afternoon snack then dinner. By breakfast I should clarify we don’t like formal sit down eggs/bacon etc. What we do like are muffins, croissants, bagels, smoked salmon and fresh fruits. I read somewhere yesterday where they complained that the ships (specified Dawn and Jewel) disappointedly did not have bagels and smoked salmon. This is our first NCL cruise. RCI, which we are more familiar with do have these items. Can anyone who has sailed recently verify this for me? Thank you

Ok maybe I need to reword this to get someone to respond! I am worried I won’t have enough of the “free” WiFi because I read horrible stories that it takes people many wasted minutes to get “on”. I was wondering if 1) is this true? Any hints to help me? 2) is going to the pros at the Internet cafe worthwhile? Thank you

I have the free 150 minute package for an 11 night cruise. Several sea days and foreign ports. Only 2 days out of those 11 can I use my phone to call home. (American ports) I have a family member that I have to check in on daily for a 10 minute maximum call. We usually do it through FT Messenger or can use WhatsApp. I keep reading that it takes time to load and your minutes are being wasted. If I go down to the computer help desk (Internet Cafe) will they help me? Will that save some of my minutes being wasted? I’m definitely needy when it comes to electronics. in your honest opinion, will I have enough minutes? I have no need to use WiFi for any other purpose. Thank you!

What are the airlines that qualify for the 2 points? I can’t find anything specific. Every article just keeps stating “eligible airlines”

I have Verizon. They informed me that I can get an international plan for $20 for the month and use that for calling home. I’m curious why everyone gets SIM cards? Is it for data? Would I be able to get free WiFi places? Thanks for educating me. I’m not as savvy electronically as some others!