mfic246

Just used http://qlstransportation.com/ and had a great experience.  Seven of us with six bags from Ft. Lauderdale to South Beach and then from the Carnival Conquest to Ft. Lauderdale.  They did a great job with communication and were on time and professional.

I'm traveling with a party of 7 with three staterooms, including my parents and my older children and checked us all in at the same time but two rooms got A01 Boarding Group and one got A02.  Does that mean we can't board together?

I'll be checking in 3 cabins, including my parents.  Will I need everyone's passport info right away or can I choose a boarding time without entering it and going back in later and doing it?

I'm booked on an Oct 2024 cruise and was able to cancel and rebook in a Sweet Aft Suite with the same room simply by calling.  Took a few minutes but worth $300 in bar tab (5 nighter).

Just confirming - the ship is docked at the Punta Langosta Terminal today?  Thanks for the review, will be doing this itinerary next year so it's super helpful!

Has anyone had any luck with a response from crownandanchor@rccl.com?  I sailed on several cruises as a teenager with my parents and trying to see if I can get credit for them but I never get a response.

I'm traveling with my family in October and we have three balcony rooms in a row.  Can we ask the staff to open the dividers between the rooms for the voyage?

Apologize - This is for Miami!

Looking to fly in the day before and stay relatively close to the port.  Any good recommendations of where to stay?  Wouldn't mind waking up and being able to see the ship docked and waiting for us if possible.

Is it true that the delivery fee is waived for all suite guests?

Sugarcane was great, had a cucumber/jalapeño mojito there that was tasty, just left the lips burning a bit!  The outdoor Syd Norman's on the other side was great too, saw an amazing sunset there, and, on the way back that's a great spot to see the Oil Platforms from!

On 12/21/2019 at 10:45 PM, Jasukkie said:

I'll be on next month. You mentioned the smoking areas being one side of the ship, is that one side of the waterfront or up top, or both? I wish they would give people a contained inside smoking lounge.

Just in Spice H20 is it one side of the ship.  Like others have said they have some contained areas and the casino.  Just seemed that the Spice H20 spot was the most popular as it was the nicest and out in the open.

15 hours ago, GettotheSun said:

Great review!  Thank you!

 

Where did you stay in New Orleans?  We are on the Getaway in March and thinking of staying at the Hilton.  Seems to be about a 10 to 15 min walk to the port,  but also walkable to French Quarter.  Although we are arriving a day early not sure we will have that much time to explore, as our flight won’t be in till about 3pm.

We are also staying in the aft, and really looking forward to the balcony as well!

 

re the construction, I heard it is supposed to be finished in March, but who knows if they will stay on schedule.

We stayed at the Intercontinental, walkable to both the Port and French Quarter as well.  Got a good deal on Priceline and they provided great service.

If you haven't stayed in an aft yet prepare to be blown away.  Definitely spoiled us for future cruises, can't imagine having anything else.

We traveled down on American leaving at 8:15 on Saturday through Philadelphia, flight arrived at 9:38 and hustled to our 10:19 connection to New Orleans arriving at 12:30.  On the way back we flew Delta leaving New Orleans at 11:19 arriving in Detroit at 2:45 and really hustling to our 3:18 arriving in Albany at 5:00.

Both flights to and from Albany were on smaller planes that we couldn't fit our carryons in the overhead bins but were fine.

It didn't look like construction would be complete any time soon.  I would definitely get dropped off/picked up a couple of blocks away from the port if you're mobile and able to walk a short distance.

My wife and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on the Getaway from December 8th - 13th. After reading many of the reviews on here and complaints on the message boards I was skeptical at best. However, the cruise blew us both away and was one of the best vacations we've ever had. It seems to me that people can always find something to complain about but if you have a good attitude and realize you are on vacation and relax you will have a great time.

We used the free air through NCL and paid the $25 deviation to come in to New Orleans a day early. Flights were great, a little close on the connection time, but we got to New Orleans by 1:00 and had the day to relax and explore. Next morning we woke up and walked over to the Port around 9:00. We had read reviews about the construction around the Port and the chaos and they were correct but we got right into the security line around 9:30 just before they opened it up, probably around 75th in line. Security was smooth (no you can't bring water through so just be prepared), and we checked in after a couple of minute wait. The lady checking us in informed us that we were Priority Check-in and pointed us over to a separate check in area. We did not sign up for this but NCL gave us the perk as an anniversary gift. Check in was smooth and we were pointed to the holding area around 9:45. The holding area is a bit chaotic but there is water and chairs for everyone. Boarding started just before 11:00 and we were called with Priority Check-in and were on the boat by 11:10. I understand people want to complain about the process and the waiting but NCL is moving 4,000 passengers off the boat and another 4,000 on. In my opinion they did everything as smoothly as possible. We explored the boat a bit, had lunch in Taste and were allowed into the rooms right about 2:00.

We had an Aft Balcony and it was AMAZING. The balcony was the highlight of the trip and we spent every morning out there watching amazing sun rises drinking room service coffee delivered for free. Our room attendant Noel introduced himself right away and was attentive to everything we could have needed. The room was decorated with balloons and a Happy Anniversary which was a nice surprise. We saw Noel every day and he greeted us with a smile and asked us how we were doing and if we needed anything. The room itself is small, but, hey you're on a cruise ship, what do you expect? The bathroom was fine and water pressure and temperature were great.

For the most part we were very happy with the food offered. We had two specialty restaurants as part of our package and ate at Moderno's and Cagney's. I left Moderno's feeling like there was no way I could eat another bite and at Cagney's had a very nice steak. Are they 5 start restaurants, no, but they were great and the service was perfect.

We ate in all three main dining rooms, Taste and Savor are the same just on opposite sides of the ship and in Tropicana which was definitely our favorite. The menu's are the same in all three but the atmosphere in Tropicana was much better with live music and dancing. The lunch menu's do not change and that would be one of my few minor complaints, it would be nice for some variety there. The dinner menu's also are pretty consistent with some entree's changing but most of the menu does not. The food was always excellent though. Appetizers were a bit small but we'd order three or four to share and the entree's were a good size. The deserts were always very tasty as well. We booked all of our dinner times well in advance and never had to wait for a table at all.

There have been a lot of complaints about the buffet but we loved it. Breakfast was always great and there were a lot of choices and we also ate lunch there a couple of times, along with some mid-afternoon snacking. Yes, it's a buffet so a lot of the food there is standard buffet food but it was all very good.

The Waterfront is a great place to hang out with a book or at one of the bars and relax. If we hadn't had a balcony I could see doing it even more often. We also rarely had to wait for a drink at any of the bars. Occasionally one would be crowded but we'd just move to another. That being said we did not spend a lot of time by the main pool so that may have been more crowded. We would get to Spice H20 early in the morning and hang out there for the sun. No pool but a nice little water feature to cool off in and a bar of it's own. They did have servers coming around but I always found it easier to walk to the bar and get what I wanted. Minor complaint number 2 however is the smoking area. One whole side of the area allows smoking. I understand NCL needs to cater to smokers but it's not great to have to walk through them all to get to the Men's room or the bar. Again, it didn't ruin anything at all for us, and I understand NCL needed the space to allow it, but I don't get the allure of chain smoking all day long.

We tried the water slides which were a lot of fun and the ropes course which was fun for about 10-15 minutes. Entertainment was great for what we got to, Howl at the Moon was really funny and they are so talented. Vincent the cruise director did a great job with the Newlywed/Not-so-Newlywed game and the Deal or No Deal game we caught the end of. As many people have said the Atrium gets very crowded for games along with Sheehan's but plan ahead and you'll be fine.

To celebrate our anniversary NCL gave us an invitation to meet the Captain at a reception in the Haven. We got a chance to peak around and it was gorgeous up there. Definitely seemed like a ship within a ship.

We booked the all-inclusive Del Mar Latino Beach Club in Cozumel for $29 a person and it was perfect. Short 5 minute walk from the pier and very small and intimate. They cap at 80 people a day but only three couples were there when we were. A nice little pool and access to the ocean that you can snorkel in. If you are looking for a quiet place to relax this is it.

We didn't get off the ship in Progresso. The pier was 4 miles long and not much that we wanted to do there. Spent the day in Spice H20 and on our balcony and it was perfect.

We chose to self disembark, ate breakfast at 6:00, got into line and were off the boat by 7:15 and through customs. Walked a couple of blocks and grabbed an Uber to the airport. Again, there is a lot of construction and traffic at the port so a short walk away does wonders. On our NCL flights and home in Albany NY by 5:00.

Just a great all around trip that I wouldn't hesitate to book again. As I said before, anyone can find things to complain about but if you're willing to relax and realize the world doesn't spin around you, then I think NCL, and the Getaway specifically is a great choice.

We had an amazing visit last week.  Only three couples were there all day and we had the place to ourselves for a while.  Great attentive service, cuban cigar shop next door.  Best day of our vacation.

Heading out on the Getaway on Sunday for a 5 night cruise.  Just wondering if anyone knows what themed events occur on what night?  Glow party, etc...

Thanks!

Had my PCC add the middle names and now my eDocs are unavailable for the last 48 hours.  Says there is nothing he can do, it's a system thing.  Still have three weeks until sailing but dislike not having up to date docs.

7 minutes ago, prbffd28 said:

Your post grabbed my attention as you are the closest to us that I have noticed so far and was wondering what number you called to speak with someone regarding changes to your flights prior to them being booked? This is the first time for me using this ncl option and reading a lot of posts I'm a bit nervous as we are flying out of Portland, Maine to Miami (February 2020) with one stop at LGA (both ways) currently showing in my summary. We are flying in a day early to make sure we get there on time but don't want to arrive late at night if I can avoid it. any info would be appreciated!! Thanks

I called the 1-866-625-1163 number and they were awesome

I'm on the same cruise and received my flights last Saturday and my edocs were available right away.  Not sure you're going to have luck changing already ticketed flights, I called last week before they were ticketed and got mine changed.

On 10/12/2019 at 12:27 PM, gentscruising said:

I'm curious about this. Since you didn't know what flight you were booked on when you called did you just request an early flight?

I saw that the airports that they had used as placeholders in my summary had changed so I called that day.  The agent told me the tentative flights and I asked if I could change.  She said yes since they hadn't been ticketed, gave me some other options that I liked and they were ticketed a couple of days later.  Have my seats picked and all set.

got it thanks - we're out of New Orleans so on the river for a while, not sure how long they charge the tax for.

I'm getting around $50 in OBC for a price drop after final payment and wondering if it can be used to pay for the taxes on the drinks purchased while still in Port.  Makes sense that it would but just checking.