1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Have had L 202 and it was nice and quiet.

Thank you for the reply.  We are looking at this room for Alaska.  I saw a review of the room and it said it had a solid white balcony, not clear glass so the view is obstructed (not a full view of your surroundings).  Can you confirm this?  

@newfielover Did you stay in one of those rooms?

I was just looking at Room L201 or other room in that area.  They are across from the thermal spa (access from the deck above).  L201 is under the fitness area, L202 looks like it is under the massage rooms.  We actually have an ocean view booked already, but can upgrade for less than $400 and are wondering if it's worth it.

19 hours ago, ClevelandCruisin said:

My group with the large F is a newly created group, more laid back than the other. Hoping we will grow larger than the other one!

I'm a member of yours and the other one too 😉.

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. Cash works fine (US Dollars). Machines accept $1 to $100 bills. Play as much or as little as you want. If  you want to play more, there are ATM machines in the casino. 

 

The 3% service charge for charging  your room for cash is outrageous (although Royal charge 5%). 

Thanks @BirdTravels

This is going to be our first cruise in 15 years with a casino (we usually sail Disney). 

I like the penny and nickel slots - can I just bring cash?  Can I put a $20 bill into the machine?  Or is there another way to limit it to the cash I want to spend? 

I would really prefer it not be charged to my room.

15 hours ago, MrsKC08 said:

Thanks, but I don't think the PM portion of the website works anymore. I'm sailing on Getaway, and I've searched for the Dailies for NCL, not even ship specific to try and find them. I'm in a few NCL groups, and did look under files but most of what I saw was packing lists, menus, etc.  So...I'll just keep looking I guess. I sail in 4 weeks.

You are correct - no PM. Sorry.  The private groups I have found the most information on

• Norwegian freestyle Daily under Files (seem to be the most organized of the 2 I belong to)  (note the small f)
• Norwegian (NCL) Freestyle is one too, but a smaller group so not as much info

Some are pictures in posts, but I think the most are under Files

1 hour ago, MrsKC08 said:

Thanks. I tried...and still no luck.

Maybe the one you are going to doesn't do that?  The one I went to was specifically for Dailies for NCL.  I can PM you the information about where exactly I found it if you like

2 hours ago, MrsKC08 said:

I went to the site I believe you speak of, the book of faces...and didn't find anything doing that search. Am I missing something?

I finally found something.  I joined a couple Freestyle Dailies "groups".  Then found out today when not seeing anything they have a "file" option (look to the options on the left) - BINGO I found the one  I was needing.

Hope that helps 

Checking back  in to see if anyone has the  Freestyle Dailies from the Breakaway January 4th Western they can share? Or for the current cruise that left 2/1/20. 

The Western that hit those 3 islands is our favorite cruise itinerary.  

3 hours ago, mjonis said:

 

Sorry to "hijack" the thread, but I had a question about booking "part" of the group.  Well, a few questions.

So we're all newbies, except for ONE person who had ONE prior Disney Cruise.

 

Party1 - dad & wife (wife is silver Castaway)

Party 2 - sister, husband, 2 kids

Party 3 - me and buddy

 

Party 2 would like to schedule one of those character breakfast/lunches for each child.  Given that we're traveling on Fantasy in January, it's high season with bigger ship.

 

How would one go about trying to book at the 90 days out for the kids to do the breakfast/lunch thingy?

 

I've only ever done bookings like when we were at Disney last year so I could book for others, so not sure if I can book for the Silver person, or if she has to login and book as herself to get the 90-day part?

 

Thanks in advance!

Sorry, I am not sure.  I have only ever booked for me and DH.

@BarbinMich  Thank you for telling me this.  I pulled the deck plans for both ships and see what you mean.  We chose the  trip on the Emerald.  You are right it has so many more outdoor areas.  That was something I hadn't thought to look at when comparing the 2 itineraries.

I'd love to hear some recent comparisons/opinions of the 2 ships.  We are looking a Alaska cruises out of Seattle and these are our 2 choices.

15 hours ago, ClevelandCruisin said:

I have some in my Live review from mid 2019.

Thanks, I'll search for it.

41 minutes ago, Pat.D said:

I scanned and posted my Dailies from my cruise on the Breakaway last sept.  Here is the post.

 

 

 

I did find your post and it is very helpful.  Thank you for posting it to the boards.  

@ready2cruzagain Thank you. I found 2 of those groups so I joined both.  

DH and I are taking our first NCL cruise this spring on the Breakaway out of Port Canaveral.  We will be doing a Western Caribbean cruise and we are very familiar with the ports and already know where we are going and what we will do when we get to each port.  We are Platinum with Disney and know the ships routine and what they offer while at sea, the activities, shows and restaurants.  

I would love to see some of the dailies for the Breakaway WC itinerary to get an idea of what might be offered on our cruise so I can have a better idea of things that we can do and what we should be looking for once we get on the ship.  Things like tastings, crafts, trivia and I have seen mention in posts for other ships painting classes (which I would LOVE to try).  

I appreciate any copies that could be posted, or suggestions of what to look for, or where to go to find out a list of things to do.  

Thanks... we are very excited to try the new ship/line and we want to make the most of it.  

Will they open the bottles for you at any bar or should I pack a cork screw in my checked bag?  I wouldn't want to bring it to dinner, but have it in my room to enjoy.

20 hours ago, bostonfred said:

Had a great summer ale at Soggy Dollar..thought it was locally brewed....several years ago at the same bar had one and it was from New Hampshire....didn’t care for Leatherback Lager...

Was the summer ale the one in my picture above?   

If it is it was good - it is a beer from the islands, but it is brewed by a contract brewer in Florida. You can't buy it in bottles in the US, but if you go to the tap room as the contract brewer you can enjoy it on top according the Virgin Island brewers.  

9 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

You can get a cork screw from your room host. 

I normally don't drink wine so that's good to know.  My friend packed her own.

DH and I drink beer.  Last cruise we started the cruise with 2-6packs. When we got off we had almost 2 cases (western Caribbean) because we hit Mega for unique European beers and in Grand Cayman we always hit CayBrew and we usually bring a case back on the ship with us.  And no security does not stop us.

We also found out in St. Thomas  this past cruise that you can bring filled Growlers back onto the ship with you which was great because the brewery in the port ran out of cans.

40 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

I'd say OP has already departed.  She said they were less than 51 days out on Oct 17.  That would be Dec 6th.

The information is still helpful if someone else reads it.

To clarify the wifi further - you do not need to purchase a package to use the Navigator app, the wifi for the app is free. Load it onto your phone at home in advance.  You can now book excursions and dinners on the app and it has a cool countdown clock.  You need to purchase (and sign up for your free 50mb) to check emails, facebook etc.   Personally I bring an older laptop that I can shut down all updates and only check email.  I can usually get by with the 50 free.  Once you exhaust the free 50 you will need to choose a package and pay for it (it gets charged to your room).

The beer mugs are great and yes we have seen people bring them back on board.  When you are on the pool deck you get plastic mugs, and glass at the other bars.  The addition of the token system a few years ago was great and saves you from having to carry the mug all over the place.

We have been on the Fantasy 8 times, 6 in the last 3.5 years and I have never seen a 2 for 1 at the Cove.  I have heard rumors of a happy hour special on Castaway Cay but again have never experienced it for myself.

I will also warn you that Schmoo's picture of Serenity bay may not be accurate for what you'll see.  Since the hurricane the beach has suffered erosion.  I am sorry I forgot to take a photo of it when we were there a few weeks ago but they lost a lot of sand.  We were there as the tide was coming in and I had to walk in the water because the beach was completely taken up by chairs.  If you don't mind walking down the beach there was more room further out.  Everyone seemed to want to crowd closer to the entrance which made it seem crowded.   If you are there during low tied it may be better.

The TVs have on demand movies that are included for no additional charge.  They are of course Disney movies but they have Cartoons, Pixar, Live action which includes a few Marvel movies and more adult movies - it is not all kid stuff. 

in April we cruised with friends and tried to keep in touch with the wave phones.  We gave up after 2 days and just made prearranged  times/locations to meet. 

Last thing I want to mention is you can bring your own beer and wine on board.  One 6 pack of beer per person or 2 750ml bottles of wine per person.  And this is at every port, not just embarkation day.  There is no fee or charge.  The only charge will be if you bring the wine to dinner they charge a corkage fee of $25 (and I believe if you take it to a bar to open it)  So if you bring wine, put a cork screw in your checked luggage.

On 10/18/2019 at 1:00 AM, KuffMUp said:

Thanks for your replies.  Still trying but no luck yet.  We really wanted to take the grandsons to the character breakfast.  We are less at 51 days out (tickers on my signature isn't working).  So, I will keep checking online but I doubt at this point anyone is going to be cancelling.  Probably will have to wait till on board.  Do they keep a waitlist so we don't have to check incessantly on board?

Try booking the character breakfast for only part of your party.  DH and I wanted to go and try it  (no kids) and I had to book it at 9:40 and then I had to book him at 9:50.  When we showed up we told them we would like to sit together. LOL  You may only be able to book it for one of you and one grand child, then when you get on board you can see if they might be able to accommodate the rest of the party. 

1 hour ago, kpjb said:

I don't know of any LOCAL craft breweries in that area, but in addition to the two "faux local" beers above, the Virgin Islands Island Hopper IPA was very good (and they have it at the bar at the bottom of the baths).  You can also find some craft brews from St Croix in the area.  Leatherback Brewing Island Life Lager and Beach Life Ale were pretty good, and I found them near the port.

 

 

Thanks for the info.  I'll make a note so I remember on our next cruise next year.

There are Florida Resident Rates, Military rates and Canadian Resident Discounts.

Book a Guaranteed room rather than picking your room.  That can save you several hundred dollars.

Book early.  Disney cruises tend to only go up in price with the exception of the discounts I listed, but most of those are offered closer to sailing time.  Some cruises don't have much of a price difference from opening day to sailing week, but more popular, or unique cruises (different itineraries than normal) can do up dramatically.  We have a cruise booked for next year that we book a couple months after opening day.  We paid $200 more than the price was on opening day, and currently with over to go for the cruise the price of our room has gone up another $500.  

The PP said don't drink on board.  You can BYO beer and wine with Disney.  And this is not just at embarkation day, but every port.  You can bring two 750 ml bottles of wine or one six pack of beer (12 oz) per person in your cabin.  This is to consume in your room, they do not want you bringing your personal drinks around the ship.  However if you bring a Yeti style cup...

Also look at the Cash Back sites for ways to buy discounted Gift cards.  I was able to buy DGC  at 12%+ off by combing my CC cash back, buying Walmart gift cards on  Raise and got cash cash back to apply to future purchases (and I used it to buy another walmart gift card at a discount), getting cash back for the transaction through Retailmenot, then bought discounted Disney gift cards at Sams online, paid with the Walmart Gift card and used a link through Rakuten.  I bought $1000 worth of Disney Gift Cards for $970 and then had over $125 in cash back on top of that discount. 

15 minutes ago, blue_water said:

“We stayed within the port for the day...”

What a shame, Tortola is a gorgeous island if even to see on a short tour. Hope you can return and see the real beauty!

If we go back we will do some more exploring.  We both thought we wo  DH was looking for a watch so that took up a good portion of the day.

Our server told us about a woman who makes fabulous Jamaican food so we found her and enjoyed some great Jerk chicken and we found the liquors we were searching for so all was not lost.