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5Stringer

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    First NCL cruise - Jade January 25-Feb 6

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    We just returned from the 12 Day NCL Caribbean January25-Feb 6th cruise. After a dozen cruises on Celebrity, we found this itinerary and decided to give NCL a try. We have always chosen the longer itineraries and this one seemed perfect for us, and it gave me the chance to leave the suit at home and try Freestyle dining.

     

    Embarkation: Well, this wasn’t the best start of the cruise as we showed up at Tampa pier around 11:30, which seemed to be peak time. It was rather chaotic and the lineup to pass our bags to the porters disintegrated into a mass mob of people clamoring to dump their luggage. The fact that there apparently were not enough porters for the volume did not help. Anyways, not NCL’s fault and in total it took us about one hour from curbside to board the ship.

     

    Like most recent cruises from Tampa, we were also informed that our departure would be delayed until 10:00 PM for what they called “diving operations”. I also noticed that the crane on the loading dock was lifting goods (dry-dock related??) onto the higher decks until late in the night. It would have been nice to experience sailaway during daylight, but again it just wasn’t meant to be. I was dinged on taxes for any drinks we ordered while spending our extended time in Tampa, which I’ve never experienced before.

     

    Cabin – we had a balcony room mid-ship on the 9th floor. By comparison, our past similar cabins on X were a bit larger, and I feel X had a bit more storage places available. Our cabin steward was excellent, took the time to learn our names, and was always very friendly and efficient at his job.

     

    Pool- Past experience with X told us to hit the pool area early on our first sea day to claim our chairs, so we were pleasantly surprised to find a fair selection still available at 9:00 am. Of course, there were still chair hogs who claim a chair (or six!) and we didn’t see them return for hours. As with X, nothing was done to deter this from happening. Sea days later in the cruise saw the pool level area fill up faster. There seemed to be a limited availability of chairs on the level overlooking the pool at most times. We really enjoyed listening to the daily vibes of the reggae band that played.

     

    On the second last day of the cruise we were surprised to see the larger pool drained and netted over. I’m not sure why this happened, but it caused some tension on the deck due to the lack of communication as to why this was happening and also the fact that there were now kids in the main pool which was supposed to be adults only.

     

    Food – OK, first, I found the food options on Celebrity to be a bit better, but secondly, we didn’t starve. I was happy with the breakfast selections from the Garden Café (two trays of bacon selections- soft and crispy!!) It was challenging at times to find a table even for two of us. The staff were excellent and diligent clearing off plates and tables, though. Most dinner meals we ate in the Alazhar Dining Room were OK. This was our first experience with Freestyle Dining after past cruises with set times/tables and we both really enjoyed this. The fact that I didn’t have to put on a suit to eat a meal was fine by me. We ate at around 7:00 each night and never had to wait for a table for two. My only beef (no pun intended) with our nightly meals in the Alazhar was that depending on what section we sat in, service from start to finish ranged from 45 to 90 minutes. A couple of times we skipped out on dessert in order to make the 8:30 entertainment in the Spinnaker. the self-serve soft ice cream was great, and late night snacks at the Great Outdoors (pizza, nachos, cookies) were good.

     

    No issues with bar service. We had the UBP and visited a fair number of locations during our cruise and never had too lengthy of a wait and found the service to be friendly.

     

    Casino- I really enjoyed the fact the X casinos are non-smoking, and personally the Jade casino was too smoky for me to visit. On the other hand, I probably saved a few bucks. Too bad NCL couldn’t have offered 1 or 2 non-smoking nights in the casino.

     

    Entertainment – We took in some of the theatre shows. “Elements” was probably one of the best I’ve seen- fascinating from beginning to end. The acrobatic couple were also excellent. “Showdown” and the juggler were also good. Personally, I found the illusionist and comedian more “meh”.

     

    On most nights we caught the 8:30 entertainment in the Spinnaker Lounge, which was standard cruise fare- Newlywed/Not so Newlywed game, Jeopardy, etc, nevertheless a good way to pass time before the 9:30 theatre show. The White Hot party in the Spinnaker was a blast, though rather crowded. Barry in the piano bar was also a fun venture.

     

    Disembarking: - This went painfully slow. The self-disembarking group took a long time to complete, so that delayed the process down the line. We were only ½ hour late getting our color called, but it was another mass exodus when they called our color plus another at the same time, and then another color shortly thereafter.

     

    If there were one main reason I’d cruise NCL again I’d say it would be for the people. I found my fellow passengers that much more relaxed, talkative and friendly than previous cruises. Our table for two in the dining room quite often resulted in great conversations with other couples seated on either side of us, and it was easy to strike up a conversation whether in the elevator, by the pool or most anywhere on the ship.

    "Come Back New" promo - how good?

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    As a long-time Celebrity Cruiser I'm looking at my first Caribbean cruise next February with Princess.

    I'm used to the perks with X (1,2,3 promo etc) with pre-paid gratuities, beverage package ... and was wondering how this "Come Back New" promo looks for you seasoned Princess cruisers.

    Is this a pretty decent promo compared to past Princess offerings?

    Another question, the OBC looks appealing- can it be applied to paying the gratuities?

    Thanks,

    S-Class Cabin Information Compilation - PLEASE - DO NOT POST CABIN QUESTIONS HERE!!!

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    SHIP: Eclipse

    CABIN #: 7241 Hump

    DECK #: 7

    CLASS: 1A

    AREA: Mid-Ship Hump, close to Planet Earth/Elevators.

    BED NEAR: Bathroom

    QUIET?: Yes

    BALCONY VIEW: Great view

    BALCONY SIZE: Being a hump cabin, the balcony is huge. That said, it's size is in the depth, not the width, so the back part of the balcony is almost always in shade.

    WIND A PROBLEM?: No

    SOOT A PROBLEM?: No

    PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Great location. I had concerns as I found out one of the smoking areas is two floors below on 5, but this wasn't an issue with second hand smoke. One time I smelled a cigar from below, which is not allowed in that area.

    Uber at fort lauderdale and miami

    in Florida Departures

    Posted

    I'd like to use UBER next week to get from FLL Airport to a downtown Miami Hotel. What's the best meeting spot to get a ride at the airport?

     

    We used uber in Miami in January for pickup from MIA for transport to the Intercontinental hotel. Our driver had a nice car, not beat up or anything. It was some sort of Chevy, maybe a Cruise? The driver was very polite and even asked us if we had a preferred route to get there. We laughed and said we had no idea so whatever he thought was fastest. We was talkative and asked us if the temperature in the car was comfortable.

    I would use Uber again and I would recommend to a friend as well!

    B2b

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    We just did our first B2B on the Silhouette in FLL. There was an excursion offer for the turnaround day to go to Sawgrass Mall, but we chose to stay on board.

    All the B2B's met in the MDR at 10:15 with passports and we were the led off the ship where a Customs Officer checked out passports (and DIDN'T take the customs forms we were asked to fill out) and twenty minutes later we were back on the ship. Of course the rooms were still not accessable so we went to the pool and pretty much had it to ourselves until regular boarding started. The pool bar opened at 11:00 and the Oceanview Cafe by 11:30.

    All in all, pretty seamless I thought.

    Doctor's Cave Beach

    in Jamaica

    Posted

    So do you get a choice of coming back at 12 or 2, or is it one or the other?

    I'd like to have a bit of flexibility when I can return to Falmouth.

    Thanks,

     

    They give you up to 5 hours at the beach & depending on what time your ship gets into port will be when the pick-up time will be. We got in port at 8:00. They pick you up a 1/2 hr. after your ship docks & then on our voucher the return pick-up times were listed as 12:00 & 2:00.

    Time & Place Falmouth, Jamaica

    in Jamaica

    Posted

    Yeah, we pre-booked the cab ride and had it refunded also due to the regulation change. Any updates on the shuttle or safe alternate ways to get there?

     

    We met Harvel at Scotia Bank, boarded his van and he got out to talk with a policeman. After about 5 minutes we were told that he had to take us back to the port entrance since the policeman wanted him to have a special license (something like that!)

     

    When we got back to port entrance, a policeman was there and we were told we had to go to the taxi entrance to take a regular taxi to TNP. After seeing the local area which looked pretty dangerous, I really was skeptical about taking a regular taxi and having to get a taxi back to the ship. So we went shopping. Hervel did refund our deposit as promised...very nice guy.

     

    Cruisers on our ship did take the cabs, but had to pay a hefty tip to get the driver to take them that short distance to TNP. They had a wonderful time and mentioned that TNP offered to pay their cab fare due to problem.

    They renegged on the offer since they had such a great time.

     

    Hopefully, TNP transportation issues will be taken care of in the future...We really would like to visit their beach!

     

    I'd also like to mention an incident in town...We wanted to buy coconuts from a street vendor...Was told $4.00 each....Said no and then agreed on a $4.00 price for two, gave him $5.00 which included a $1.00 tip. He started getting nasty, saying we owed him more money!

     

    We walked away, but it was very unpleasant!

    non-alcoholic beer- which package?

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Which drink package would the non-alcoholic beer be in? (O'douls ...) I kind of thought it would be in the Premium Non-alcoholic package but the website only includes the following:

    "including all canned and fountain soft drinks from Coca Cola, Premium Bottled Water from Evian, Perrier and San Pellegrino, Specialty Coffees and Teas, Non-Alcoholic Frozen Drinks and Smoothies, Red Bull Energy Drink and Specialty Waters from Vitamin Water."

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