kwokpot

Problem meant to say aren't big drinkers. In other words it was obviously incorrect pricing and they were offered a 20% discount on the actual price of the classic package which was more than the OP wanted to pay so they got $100 OBC as compensation for the pricing mistake.

You will get the benefits of the new tier on that cruise.

Cast Iron Grill pan;Gas range. Ribeye steak,oiled and seasoned with fresh ground sea salt,pepper,garlic powder. Preheat grill pan;4 mins each side, rest for 5 and you have perfect ribeye steak with sear.

My other great panoramic shot from this cruise, Akaroa Harbor,NZ

Here's my panoramic shot when we did Milford Sound on the Solstice almost exactly seven years ago in December 2016. The captain did about three 360's spinarounds.

As the saying goes it is what it is. All the mainstream cruiselines have the same situation. I'll agree it seems kind of silly to avoid the MDR and eat at the buffet solely because tables for 2 are too close together? Having said that I can say from personal experience that I have on more than one occasion been annoyed at my husband for engaging in conversation with table mates when I didn't want to because the adjacent table started the conversation. I'm trying to give him the side eyes to end the conversation, lol. He says what can I do, they asked a question. I say just answer it but don't go on and focus back on just the 2 of us. I will agree it's not always easy. Which is why I said everyone needs to be more aware and not automatically assume everyone wants to engage in conversation with an adjacent table.

Rest of cruise – Latitudes Sapphire Tier Benefits Behind-the- Scenes Ship Tour, Wines Around the World Tasting, Free Laundry It’s always nice to take advantage of some of the perks that comes with a cruiseline’s loyalty program. We had signed up for the Dinner with Officers but when we were subsequently notified of the date it conflicted with our specialty restaurant reservation so we politely declined. Behind-the- Scenes Ship Tour It’s been years since we’ve taken a cruiseship BTS tour so I was excited we were able to get reservations. Unfortunately my husband had to skip the tour since it coincided with additional Press Your Luck Live auditions. The tour was 90 minutes and it started early at 8:20am on Day 3. We saw four areas of the ship: The kitchen for Onda, a props room for the theater, one of the laundry areas, and one of the Provisions/freezers. The best part of the tour was the Props Room for the Viva Theater mainly due to the enthusiasm of the Stage manager that conducted this part of the tour. We spent the most time of the four areas with him and he was a wealth of information and was honest and open to answering all our questions. It was also interesting to see all the back of the House areas of the ship. Our main guide, one of the Cruise Next hosts, gave us a lot of insight as to life at sea. Considering most other cruiselines a BTS Tour is a for fee activity this is a valuable and worthwhile benefit for Platinum and above Latitude members! Wines Around the World Tasting This was the first time I remember doing a wine tasting on NCL and it’s done differently than other cruiselines. I was expecting tables with glasses set up on a cardboard mat labeling what wine is in each glass. Then the host would go ahead and discuss each wine and participants would sample the same wine at the same time, listening as the hosts talks all about it. Then onto the next wine. At least that’s how other cruiselines run their wine tasting. So I was a bit surprised to see the setup here on the Viva as more of a wine sampling where there were six stations set up with a red and white each, with each station representing wines from different parts of the world. The benefit of this setup is you can drink and sample as many times as you like. I think the drawback is there was less discussion and background information about each wine, the varietal it represents, etc. The sommeliers at each station basically just poured the wines and had little to say about each of them. It was an OK event where I stayed about 20 minutes (the event started at 2:15) and sampled all the different wines. Laundry Many cruiselines offer free laundry as a benefit to higher tier members (Carnival offers unlimited laundry benefit to their highest tier) and we always take advantage of it. I remember that NCL always returned the clothes nicely folded and wrapped in tissue paper in a wicker basket and it was nice to see that this hasn’t changed. It was great to have the clothes returned the next day and there were no issues with the two separate laundries that we had done.

People seem to think that since one is on a cruise vacation that you automatically want to chat and meet other people, since that's one of the things that differentiate a cruise vacation vs a land-based vacation: being together with the same group of travelers for an extended time in a confined setting. There are times when I welcome chatting at dinnertime with my closeby tablemates, and other times I want a quiet dinner alone with my husband. I think cruisers need to 'read' the room so to speak and be intune whether the adjacent table/s are open to conversing. Pretending others aren't there when they are less than three feet away is a sign that they want to be left alone. PLEASE honor their wishes. Edit: This wasn't directed to you,doghog, but to support and further you comment.

Rest of cruise – Entertainment Shows: Icons, Press Your Luck Live, Beetlejuice Before I review the shows I just wanted to mention that we didn’t get to see any shows in the Improv or Syd Norman’s Pour House. We also didn’t specifically attend any other music performances but nonetheless enjoyed listening to music as background while doing other things so I won’t have any specific thoughts on the entertainment beyond my reviews for the three shows mentioned. Icons Icons in the Viva Theater is your run of the mill cruiseship musical review. Having said that we enjoyed the show and the performers were talented. It’s always nice to listen to performances of music you’re familiar with and enjoy, even more so when they are sung well by the entertainers. The stage looked good and the sound was crystal clear if not a bit too loud at times. Not much more to say about this show and I would recommend seeing it. Press Your Luck Live This is the first cruiseship game show we have ever attended and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband loves watching this show on TV so one of the first things we did when embarking was to have him audition to be a contestant on the show. Unfortunately he didn’t get picked so we did the next best thing and attended the show. The set design mimics the TV show and is very professional-looking. They play a long introduction video discussing the TV show and how the game is played. The three contestants that were chosen for the show we attended were entertaining and the winner won over $800 in cash and prizes. One thing slightly different from the TV show is the questions and potential answers asked of the contestants weren’t shown on the video screen but were only verbally communicated by the host. There are multiple chances for audience members to win small cash and prizes. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend attending this show. Beetlejuice I’m going to have to voice a contrarian view and say both my husband and I didn’t enjoy this show. We have seen other cruiseship productions of Broadway hits; Burn the Floor, We Will Rock You, Hairspray, Saturday Night fever, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert are a few that come to mind and that we have enjoyed seeing on a cruise. Beetlejuice just wasn’t as enjoyable as all these other shows I mentioned. First let me say what I did like. The production values for the show are Broadway quality and are indistinguishable from a touring company production. The theater has comfortable seats, great sightlines and top-notch sound (again at times it can be too loud). The issue I had with the show is twofold. The first third of the show seems as if it’s been put on fast forward. The dialog and events unfold at such a breakneck pace that quite frankly it’s hard to follow along the storyline. I’m a native NY’er and used to speaking fast but this became difficult to process and, in my opinion, greatly hindered the enjoyment of the show. It did get better as the show went on but by then I had already lost interest in the plot and was just watching the actors perform. The other issue I had was with the show itself. I didn’t find any of the music memorable, I didn't connect with any of the characters (the girl scout may be the only exception), and I especially didn’t find the title character, Beetlejuice to be likeable or have any positive feelings about the character. I found Beetlejuice’s profanity and crude sexual jokes forced and off-putting. I understand that’s supposed to be the character’s personality but for me it didn’t work. As an aside I have seen the Broadway show Book of Mormon and that’s about as over the top, vulgar, and inappropriate show you will ever see, but for me those elements worked for that show. Beetlejuice seemed it wanted to take the same route as Book of Mormon, and I don’t think it works. A few Photos of the various entertainment venues.

Despite having made pre-cruise fixed early dining reservations for my parents the Beyond was all anytime dining and no one was honored a set early or late seating times. Blu is also no reservations so just decided on the fly when we wanted to dine in Blu vs joining my parents in one of the MDRs.

Thank you for a concise and thorough review. As a prolific casino Comp cruiser (my husband is the gambler in the family) you nailed it on the head regarding Celebrity vs Carnival casinos and their respective casino programs.

One thing I would suggest is allowing this couple to at LEAST try Blu for dinner on their own one night. If they enjoy steak the Ribeye in Blu is delicious and isn't available in any MDR. They should checkout the nightly menus and decide which night they would enjoy the Blu entrees better. It would be ashame for them to pay for Aquaclass and not experience at least once dinner in Blu. So you all should make them feel it's OK to do that. In any case it isn't an issue for them to join you. When we were on the Beyond last year we were in Aqua and my parents traveling with us were not, and we had no problems switching back and forth. I think of the 9 nights we dined in Blu 3 times, the rest in the MDRS with my parents. Photos of the ribeye steak from Blu on the Beyond. .

I no longer order baked potatoes out anymore since they are never consistently hot and soft. I have now perfected making baked potatoes at home and will only have it at home, Here's the recipe and believe me, it's FOOLPROOF and a game changer.

This has been an on and off issue on Celebrity going back at least 10 years. They have MILK in the MDR but don't have half and half. As an aside Americans and Canadians are the only country that uses half and half in coffee. The product is non-existent in the rest of the world.

That's not how it works on Celebrity. It's unlimited drinks from a select menu ( in other words not any drink) from 5-7pm at most bars except for a handful and not on embarkation day, nor at any restaurant.

Rest of cruise – Venues Pool Deck; Observation Lounge; Fitness Center As has been discussed many times over the main pool deck on 17 is small and tight. It was difficult to find a lounger there on a sea day so I went up to deck 18 where it was easier to find a place to lay down. It’s not on the deck plans but there’s an outdoor staircase on deck 17 Starboard side to deck 18. Also depending on where the sun location is on deck 17 where the staircase is situated it can be a shady spot for those that want to be on the pool deck but want some shade. There are also numerous umbrellas scattered both on decks 17 and 18. On a port day it wasn’t an issue getting a lounger right on the pool deck. The Observation Lounge is a beautiful space with lots of different types of seating. It was always very busy but at least it was a quiet space without all the commotion of the Penrose Atrium. Having said that we only spent time there once. I did find the temperature in the Observation Lounge a bit on the cold side. Having a mini buffet there with a self-service beverage area is an added bonus as long as you’re there when there’s food. The Fitness Center is located on Deck 16. It’s located all the way forward and you must go through the upper level of the Spa to access it. You’ll walk past windows which look into the two story atrium down into the thermal suite hot tubs on the lower deck. The spa is nicely decorated but the hallway to the gym is quite narrow and I saw someone bang into one of the light sconces that protrude into the already narrow walkway. I used the fitness center six out of the seven days on the ship. In my opinion it’s too small and too tight a space for the number of passengers. NCL’s BEST Fitness Center of the entire fleet is on the Epic. It ranks as one of the best fitness centers at sea, along with Royal Caribbean’s Oasis and Quantum Class ships. There are no locker rooms associated with the fitness center but there are two individual toilets within the gym. A nice feature is a water bottle filler that has three types of water: room temperature, cold, and sparkling! The dispensers are like a beer tap and there are cups available if you don’t have your own bottle. With the gym being all the way forward the views are beautiful while you’re working out. The weight training area is to the right of the entrance hallway and as you go left you’ll pass the cardio equipment. The weight training area has the following equipment:dumbbells up to 70lbs, fixed weight barbells, two cable machines, a smith machine, leg machines (no leg press) ,a chest press machine, lat machine. The cardio area includes treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, assault bikes, ski pulls, rowers,TRX straps. The issue I have with the gym is there are too many treadmills, 27 to be exact! These machines are large and they take up too much space. The weight training area is all cramped together with no room to workout because of the number of treadmills. The weight training equipment is literally on top of each other. The weight training area was always busy, even on a port day. The gym is very poorly designed and not the correct mix of weight training vs cardio. I can see ongoing issues with the fitness center and crowding.

We did this trip on the Millennium ten years ago and it was one of the best cruises we have ever taken. All private tours, which I arranged. 03/6/2013-03/7/2013 Laem Chabang, Thailand Bangkok/Ayutthaya Overnight Tour Bangkok Day Tours 7 people $175/pp Thai Baht Day Of Tour 03/09/2013-03/10/2013 Phu My,Vietnam Saigon Overnight Tour 300/34/28 Nguyen Van Linh Street Binh Thuan Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 7 people $112/pp Local currency Day of Tour 3/12/2013 Chan May,Vietnam HoiAn Day Tour Tommy Dao Trung Xuan 9 people $50/pp US$ Day of Tour 03/13/2013-03/14/2013 Halong Bay,Vietnam Halong Bay/Hanoi 2 Day Tours Smile Tours 21 people $160/pp US$ Day of Tour Private Tour Cost Totals $497/pp

Please point to what you are referring to.

Correct. The outdoor deck in front of the spa isn't for all passengers and there was never any indications on any E-Class ship of access to that outdoor deck except for Thermal suite and aquaclass guests.

As I said on Deck 15 a nice pathway that ISN'T the jogging track is to walk aft towards the Sunset bar, around the very aft then towards the Garden Grill, cut through the rooftop garden and back around towards the Sunset Bar. Repeat as many times as needed.

You're stressing over nothing. on decks 15 & 16 there are walking areas BESIDES the jogging track.

Deck 5 has certain areas that you can access such as under the lifeboats, and a couple of areas aft both on the starboard and port sides. None of these areas are continuous, in other words you can't walk around the whole Deck 5. The outdoor areas start and stop. .

I'm 62 and lament how concerts have become crowd participation events. If I wanted to hear other people sing, I'll go to karaoke. I'm paying over $200/tkt to hear the ARTIST perform. I really dislike when an artist performs half the song and then turns the mike around for the audience to complete it. Call me old school, but that's my take on it. Just saw performances by Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross and they kept the audience participation to the bare minimum which was much appreciated.

Sweet Caroline is forever spoiled for me when people started adding the 'so good, so good' refrain. It's annoying as hell. It was never like that back in the day.

For others reading this thread: https://franklloydwright.org/frank-lloyd-wright-designed-usonian-automatic-house-on-the-market-for-the-first-time/