FamousD

Only the first two passengers have to have matching drink packages... thus if one adult and one child, you have to choose the UBP for the adult and the kids version for the kids. 3rd and 4th passengers don’t have to do anything.

 

 

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Apologies. I must be reading this incorrectly on the NCL website:

Enjoy a wide selection of soft drinks, beers, spirits, cocktails, wines by the glass and bottled or draft beer up to and including $15*USD*during your entire cruise.

Prepaid @ $89.00*USD*per person per day x Cruise Days plus 20% gratuity and beverage service charge.

Beverage packages must be purchased for all guests staying within the same stateroom, additional stateroom, adjoining stateroom or travel with.

Individuals under the age of 21 will be required to purchase the Soda Program

 

 

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Since it has been a few years since we have cruised, what are the current dress codes for NCL?

 

We will be cruising to Alaska on the Pearl.

 

I thought one MDR was more dressy than the other but what exactly are the "dress codes"? What about for LeBistro? LaCucina?

Anything goes except in specialty dining areas like Le Bistro, La Cucina, etc. Men must wear pants (any kind, no shorts) and a shirt with sleeves. Doesn't have to be a button down shirt with collar, just no tank tops. Closed toe shoes. Women can wear whatever. This is not super strict in my experience. My bro had a tank top on and hadn't received luggage by dinner so they let him in. He had a valid reason.

 

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my husband and I have the UBP, of course. So I purchased the kids’ packages for my kids. But I’m realizing, it’s not like I’ll be letting them have unlimited sodas, maybe 1 per day, 2 max. I wonder if it’s better to just not buy the package, and pay individually (assuming I can cancel it)?

 

9 night cruise so max of 18 sodas per kid, more likely less as we’ll be off the ship most days, so maybe 12 sodas each...how much are they if paid individually?

My understanding is that if you have the UBP, you must also purchase the kids UBP. Soda is not self serve. Order from the bar even in the buffet. Glasses are small so it is like a half a can of soda at best.

 

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Hi all,

 

Will there be enough outlets for 3 people to charge our devices in our H5 on the Breakaway or should I bring a power strip?

 

Thanks!

 

Lynne from Boston

You would risk blowing a fuse if you bring a power strip. In the Haven there are two electrical outlets. We took turns using them and used the hair dryer provided in the room rather than our own. My sister in law was in a non-Haven mini suite using her own hair dryer and blew a fuse. No lights and no power until it was serviced. Didn't take long but still a hassle if you have plans. She was asked to use the provided dryer to avoid doing this again. A power strip could likely cause the same ruckus.

 

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Just curious if there is a section for "my reviews" or something I can share with my travel agent.

 

Cliffnotes:

 

Great ship. Horrible ports for the most part through the Canal. Had some issues with all except PV and Mazatlan. 2 were cancelled last min by NCL. Not cool.

 

Cigar Lounge as advertised is full of cigarette smokers. This is an issue and highly uncool. They should take a lead from Celebrity or Princess on this one.

 

The Beatles show was unlistenable, bass player was always wasted. The rest of the entertainment was AWESOME.

 

Great food in the buffets. The sit down meals were average.

 

The ship itself was excellent. We liked it more than the Getaway but missed the Brazilian Steakhouse.

Download the cruise critic app and you will see a dropdown that shows all of your posts only.

 

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Thanks. Excited to have the ship excursions within a price point that I can justify. We’ve done mainly diy in the past but I’ve only heard great things from everyone who tells about their Ncl sponsored excursions in general. They don’t offer small group on all the excursions but I thought the pricing difference on the ones that had the option was a reasonable amount.

The NCL excursions are very well organized. Be aware that even if you choose the small group tours, you still end up touring along with the larger groups from several ships depending on how many ships are at a particular port. The small group part typically comes into play with the travel arrangements. For example you would travel in a 12 person van vs. a larger bus. Larger buses can be 15 passenger to 50 passenger. Most are air conditioned. Larger buses have a restroom. Once you get to the site, you're in the mix with everyone else. Your guide may be dedicated to your small group but there are dozens of other groups around you. We went on the regular tours, no small groups, and everything was just great. Our largest group was about 30 people at Chacchoben but we were not crowded and could wander off a bit. Chichen Itza was a group of 13 as that was the max capacity of the prop plane that took us there.

 

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On the Epic out of Barcelona on May 20, we ordered the 12 bottle water package and only received 11. We called and complained and were told we’d get the last bottle the next day.

 

That didn’t happen, so at the latitudes party when the beverage manager asked us how our cruise was, we asked him for our missing water. We did receive it after that.

 

But it makes me wonder, did Doug ever get his missing water on the Inaugural sailing? Does NCL short everyone a bottle or two and hope we won’t notice?

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

We actually received 8 extra bottles of water on our cruise. They were in our room along with the case of 12 that we paid for.

 

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Sounds great. Any 2 bedroom units? Have older kids.

 

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Yes they do! lots of options.

 

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Will be traveling with 3 small kids. Looking for a moderately priced hotel in Miami for the night before the cruise. Doesn't need to be ocean front but would like at least a shuttle to the beach. Trying to keep the cost around $200 since we're not the ones paying. Thanks!

 

We stayed at the grand beach hotel in north beach. The rooms are huge with a living room area with fold out bed and a bedroom. Two bathrooms. Yes two. One with shower only and the other with tub/shower. Two closets. Would work great with kids and plenty of room for all. Direct access to groomed beach with lounge chairs and towels provided a few steps right outside the pool grounds. Lifeguards on duty and drink/food service to your chair. Two pools and two hot tubs. Restaurant on site. Lyft to port costs around $30. Better location for kids than Ocean Drive. Quiet and away from Sobe mayhem but easy to Lyft to Sobe for around $6. Sounds like all this would cost fortune but prices are reasonable.

Chichen Itza is a flight from Cozumel for a day trip so that's why its such an expensive excursion. There are other excursions offered from Cozumel, Costa Maya and Belize and I was wondering which of these is the best option - Tulum, Nim Li Punit, Kohunlich and Chacchoben.

 

Just back from this exact cruise. We went to Chacchoben because this site looks like it has the largest actual ruins that people can still climb around on. Even so, you can only climb on some of them. Great tour. You can see monkeys in the trees at times as well as leaf cutter ants hard at work. Please don't step on them.

 

We also took the prop plane to Chichen Itza. You MUST do this even if only a couple of you go. There are only 13 seats available and our tour was sold out. Super well organized and it is the only way to go. You will arrive earlier than 90% of the other tour groups when the heat is less sweltering and there are significantly fewer crowds. On our way in down the walking path, only a few others. On our way out, the path was 100% packed with people coming in. Our guide was fantastic.

 

The only way to get there from Cozumel is by plane or at least ferry for a portion of it as you have to cross the water and go pretty far inland. Total travel time via plane is less than one hour including taxi to and from port and airport. Many people take a bus from Cancun to Chichen Itza. Seven hours one way.

Medicare WILL NOT cover health care services on the ship when the ship is more than 6 hours away from a US port.

Except in limited situations, Medicare does not pay for health care services you get outside the US.

See the facts sheet regarding this at, Medicare.gov.

Foreign hospitals are not required to file Medicare claims. You may have tp personally file those forms.

 

This is correct! We spoke with someone on our cruise 2018 who is on Medicare. Slip and fall on the ship required medical attention. $5,000 bill that Medicare does not cover as we were out at sea. Of course it would never happen to you? Get the additional insurance!

Do you have to have an Internet package to message others with the NCL app? or is it free if you have the app?

 

My buddy and I want to be able to message each other and don't want to buy more than one Internet package if we don't have too.

 

Just returned from the western Caribbean cruise. The iConcierge app costed $14.95 per device plus a $3.95 one time service fee. It seems like people's experiences vary. For us, messaging from the app was very sporadic and most often delayed. My brother and I were messaging each other but never received anything most of the time. Once in a while received a message a day or two later. Not quick or reliable. Often received notification that messaging was not available. Calling on the app worked well. Even so, best option ended up being calling each other using the cabin phone. Recommend getting least expensive internet package for all parties. Then use facebook messenger. Check your mobile service provider. Some have a cruise package. We have ATT and they have a package for two NCL ships but not the Getaway. Keep in mind you're out at sea with 4000 other peeps so internet might be slower than on land in any case. Ship internet works on the ship only. Not at port when you are off the ship.

 

For communicating at ports when you are off the ship, get your mobile service provider's $10 per day unlimited call text data international plan. ATT and Verizon offer this so I am sure others do as well. Four ports=$40. Catch up with peeps at home, upload to Facebook on port days.