jinteso

(We have great seafood restaurants in Alabama too!) .

Where are these great seafood restaurants in Alabama? I live in Huntsville and we don't even have a decent seafood restaurant, never mind a great one.

Great review Bella! Thank you! I am booked on this cruise on the Breakaway for next summer. I have a few questions.

1. I am currently have an Aft Penthouse. Would you recommend being in the "Haven proper" or doesn't it really matter?

2. Would you recommend a port side cabin or a starboard side cabin for the best views, especially of the Archipelago?

3. Looking at the excursions that are offered on this years cruises, there is one exclusively for Haven guests that appears to go to all the ports. Do you have any information about this that I can research?

And that is all relative to your "income". Not everyone has a huge paycheck to enjoy both saving and spending. Some people live paycheck to paycheck some don't. So balancing work with play can be a chore in some cases. I get what you are saying...it's about adjusting your own lifestyle and finances without giving up everything to do it. That is what we do....but we can only afford one maybe 2 vacations a year at this point....and I feel blessed to be able to do even that.

Yes it is relative to your income. But it also comes from hard work and in my case, a bit of luck. Early in my career, I found myself homeless with my car, my clothes and a few hundred dollars. I worked hard and made sacrifices early on to improve my life. I did live paycheck to paycheck for at least a decade. Back then, I could not afford more than 1 vacation per year. The luck part came in because I eventually was able to buy a townhouse. Later on, I wanted a single family house. If I sold the townhouse, I would have lost money on it. I was underwater in it (owed more than it was worth). So I kept it and rented it out. I was lucky that it paid off in the end. I can sympathize with where you are today. I am very blessed to have been able to take the journey that I have. I am now able to retire after a 31 year career and enjoy life. I hope that you will be able to do the same.

Thanks for that! I hadn't found that on the site but had been looking because I thought she may be in need of some repairs and they may want to add some additional newer features since she hasn't moved since her inaugural sailings awhile ago.

 

 

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My question is, how much refurbishment can they do in a two week period and get from Southampton to Copenhagen?

I have friends who own lots of properties for investment but live in the tiniest of house so that they can save for their retirement. I say to them how do you even know you will last until your retirement? I say enjoy life when you are still able to!!

You can actually do both. I own several rental properties and live in a 3000 sf house. We went on vacation a minimum of 5 weeks per year, mostly to the Caribbean. However, we also did save and become debt free for retirement. Retirement is now only 6 months away and I can afford to go on 2 cruises (Dawn OS and Breakaway Aft PH) and fly first class to both destinations. You don't need to sacrifice everything to retire comfortably.

I have to give davidk credit though. At least he did look for an answer rather than just start a new thread like most people do (including me).

And I did have room service on the Norway in 1996. My very first cruise.

Cozumel over Nassau & an extra day...no brainer for me....5 day all the way ;p

I agree! It is a no brainer. Especially with the UDP.

This is why I use my Kyss totebag on cruises. It can be easily locked to your chair and the lock keeps the zipper from being unzipped. Uses a 3 digit lock. The fabric is resistant to being cut also. I keep my kindle, ipad and phone in it. I have used it a lot in public places where I might have to leave my stuff to use the pool or beach.

 

 

Mary Ann

We were looking at getting one of those since we do a lot of beach vacations and are planning/booked multiple cruises. I guess that you like it? Any other information you would share?

We are going on an NCL cruise. This is one of the only islands that we have not been to previously. We would like to do a tour of the island. I have read that two popular places are Nelsons Dockyard and Shirley Heights. Are they worth visiting? We would like to get a feel for the island because we are interested in trading a timeshare to get there for a week. We would rather not just spend this port on the beach. Any and all suggestions and potential excursion companies are welcome. Thank you!

We are coming in on a cruise ship for a day. We have been to St. Maarten many times and have always had a car. We have been to most of the beaches and done many of the "tours". We were looking to take a taxi to Simpson Bay (we like that bay) and have lunch/drinks at the Greenhouse restaurant. I do have several questions though.

1. The Greenhouse used to have Happy Hour from opening (11:00?) for an hour or two. Do they still have that?

2. Would anyone know the cost for 2 chairs and an umbrella or is the big "tent" still there? I vaguely remember not having to pay for chairs if you ordered food at the Buccaneer grill.

3. About what would a taxi run each way from the cruise ship terminal?

4. Are there any other closer beaches to the cruise ships to kill a few hours, have lunch and a few drinks?

Thank you!

Great Review!!! We are booked in the Haven on BA for a June, 2018 Baltic cruise. We are in an Aft Penthouse. With the Baltic cruise being so port intensive (and long excursions), is it actually worth the Haven? This will be our first Haven cruise. We have a DOS booked in January but the Dawn has no Haven. These will be our first 2 cruises in 20 years. Any advice would be helpful. TIA.

For instance, we were comped an OceanView and that category was almost sold out a couple of months after I booked but there were lots of balconies left.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I appreciate it. How do find out how many cabins are left? I noticed that the NCL website will only list 15 or however many are left, whichever is fewer.

Great review! I could only dream of getting one. I have a DOS on the Dawn early next year but both GVs are full. How far out do you have to book one to get it? Every cruise that I look at has them booked.

My wife and I are both at least Diamond with Harrah's/Caesar's. We haven't been on a cruise in 20 years and are now getting back into it. We have 3 NCL cruises booked over the next 17 months. Three questions:

1. Do they mail you the comp after the completion of the cruise?

2. Is there a time limit for taking it?

3. Can you pay the difference and upgrade? For example if we were offered a balcony room and wanted to upgrade to a suite or the Haven, could we do that for the difference?

Teach to fish and they won't go hungry....... feed them and they will always be dependent on others.... this forum is not about just getting answers to questions but to learn information

 

Took them more keystrokes to ask then one click to get answer.....

I did not see the link at first when I posted since I was on my phone. I have since read the entire FAQ, have completed my due diligence and have purchased 500 shares. Not that 500 shares gets me anything extra, but I still believe that it is a good value.

Is the $100 OBC only good for a 7 day cruise? Can I get it for the 9 day and 10 day cruises that I have booked?

Just did a mock booking for our Dawn 1/7/18 cruise out of San Juan

 

 

 

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You got me excited. I am on the same cruise but the gratuities are still there.

However, something is wrong with the website. If you try to book a DOS it shows them available. But when you click on it, it comes up unavailable.

Thank you.

Thank you for the information. What if you upgrade (outside the bidding process)? Do you cancel and rebook the higher room and lose your promos? Or do they just take the difference, if any, and you keep what you had?

We are on the Dawn in January. It is about 6 1/2 months from now. When will they put excursions on the website? So far they only have about a dozen for St. Maarten and none for any of the other 5 ports. I want to at least consider them before booking private since I have the excursion credit.

Yes, the deadline is based on final payment due date for your sailing and has nothing to do with the date you choose to pay it in full.

I'm sorry. I meant to say if the price goes down, can I get a refund of the difference or move to a higher category?

I just booked a cruise for January. Final payment is due on Sept. 7th. However, I chose to just pay it in full already. Since I have paid in full, could I get a refund prior to Sept. 7th or a larger suite?

What is CAS?

 

MSC matches cruise line and hotel loyalty status. So if your Hilton Honors, Marriott rewards, etc, are higher, it's better to use those.

Does anyone know if it would be better to provide Hilton Diamond status or Marriott Platinum status? I have both. Does anyone have any experience matching a hotel program and what they will match to?

Glad to hear that not everyone is abandoning ship. We are just starting again. I have not been given a CAS offer yet since we haven't been on a cruise in 20 years. But NCL has a partnership with Caesars that gave me a nice discount. So we booked 2 cruises in 3 days. I wanted to wait and see after they added the service charge in for drinks and dining. I got overruled by DW. So we have a DOS in January on the Dawn and a Haven Aft Penthouse on the Breakaway for next June. Now waiting to see if NCL stays in Australia next December.

I am about to book a cruise to the Baltic next summer. I was going to book with NCL (Haven room). But I was reading a lot about MSC on the NCL board and decided to look into them. I actually prefer the MSC itinerary and price! However I do have some questions.

1. How is this cruise line for Americans? Language issues? Treatment?

2. Was looking to get a balcony room with the Aurea experience. What exactly does the Aurea experience entitle you to and is it worth it? I wanted to book a suite but they are sold out.

3. Is there any list of drinks that is included because it looks like they have about 4 different all inclusive drink packages (Classic, Premium etc.) and I am confused.

Any help or other thoughts would be welcome!