Meachjg1963

Not sure this is big, but 3 weeks ago on our Sea of Cortez cruise on the Koningsdam I won $964 on a $0.60 bet. I was pleased.

We had this exact same experience when we boarded the Escape in October in NYC. As soon as on the ship the crew was screaming “go down, go down, go down” and finally we caught on that they wanted us to go our muster stations. We simply followed the green signage and once checked in we also went to Taste & Savour to wait the chaos out. I love idea but it needs a tad better execution/communication.

We are just off of the NCL Escape where we purchased a Vibe pass for $279pp and The Retreat wins hands down for atmosphere, service and amenities. We have The Retreat booked for our upcoming Baja peninsula cruise in January and paid the old pricing of $399 when we booked. At $530 we would still book it. The pampering…

Thank you. Choir of Man was on the main stage along with Company Man and Wheel of Fortune.

We are safely on our Amtrak train in CT already so just some final thoughts. The embarkation and disembarkation process were very different and less passenger friendly than what we are used to. I say this fully recognizing HAL ships carry far fewer passengers. From when they called our color (last off the ship) to when we got into a taxi…20-25 mins. The arrivals hall with facial recognition (everyone has global entry!) was WOW! We approve! Earlier colors did not fair as well I assume based on the lines and having to stop the process due to congestion There is one thing I have been hesitant to say as I’m not sure how I want to say it but here goes. We’re gay and we did not hold hands, kiss goodbye when we split up like couples do or dance together which we have freely done on Celebrity and Holland America. I was never uncomfortable or felt threatened. I just felt like we had to be more aware. My husband said he never felt anything other than acceptance when we talked and when I explained he said he understood my feelings. Overall a solid product. We very much enjoyed ourselves and that’s a good thing because on August 14, 2024 we will be re-boarding the NCL Escape in Civitavecchia Italy for a 7 day Mediterranean cruise, which was booked four months ago. Whew! We are doing a private group tour so it will be a different experience yet again. The trend in cruise lines to move away from production shows and do game shows and trivia is really disappointing. The movies shown were old and shown at odd times. You know my feeling about Vibe. Entertainment has taken a serious hit as they claw-back after the shut-down. I want to thank you all that followed along and who’ve we interacted with. It was fun to do. And thus, another cruise comes to an end for us but don’t feel sad, because in 66 days we fly to San Diego for a couple of days and then board HAL’s Koningsdam for a 7 day Baja peninsula cruise. But who’s counting…

Is it true you must vacate your cabin by 830A and wait in one of the limited open public spaces? Is this how NCL does it?

Day 7 - Final Full Day at Sea (as I write this we are comfortably waiting in our cabin for our group to be called to disembark) Day 7 started the same a previous days. In room coffee, b’fast in the garden cafe and a leisurely stroll thru the shops to see if anything needed to go home with us. Not today. DH (he asked me today what DH means. I told him dysfunctional husband. 🤫) headed up to Vibe and I went to make my final and largest donation to NCL’s bottom line in the casino. Trust me, I’m sure there are people who place more in a single bet in that private room than I lost the entire cruise. I then joined him in the Vibe for 2 hours in the sun. We’ve made a slow northerly turn as the air is not as warm as it has been but still very comfortable. Lunch was back in the Garden Cafe. Then we walked around some more and ended up back in Vibe for the afternoon. At 4ish we said our goodbyes and went down to shower, dress and pack. 15 mins start to finish to pack. At about 515p we headed down to deck 6 as we had 630p Le Bistro reservations and we wanted a cruise pic on the stairs. No photographer yet so we grabbed 2 seats in Mixx and each had two cocktails each. That Chopin potato vodka is really smooth. Pics snapped we walked the 10 feet to Le Bistro where we were seated promptly. I ordered the escargots, goat cheese salad, Dover sole and the cheese plate with a port to top it all off. The La Crema was our wine. DH had the onion soup, endive salad, Dover sole and the warm poached pear chocolate thing. Dinner was very very enjoyable. But again, for a specialty restaurant, busy and noisy. A final walk around the public areas and back to our cabins to put out bags and chill. The clocks turned back an hour overnight. The first restless night sleep onboard. Once onboard the train, i will wrap up with how disembarkation went and some final overall thoughts. Cheers.

Thank you. We booked everything online ahead of time, including Vibe. I used the app for everything. You can find it under entertainment.

Day 6 Our 2nd sea day back started the same as our first. Coffee in the room. Breakfast in the garden cafe where I tried the Indian offering and really enjoyed it. Though if I had it prior to my eggs, bangers and fruit, I might’ve eaten more of it. 😏 We again split up and I made a slightly larger donation in the casino to help the Norwegian shareholders. You’re welcome. And then we reconnected in Vibe and spent 90 mins soaking up warmth and sun while we can. Back in the room our laundry had arrived and no complaints with it. We feel the folks in the laundry are unsung heroes on cruise ships. We always ensure an extra gratuity gets to them to let them know how much we appreciate them. Lunch was in Taste with the couple we had met earlier in the cruise and passed two hours talking and laughing. DH ordered the BLT and it looked like he was being served canapés instead of a sandwich. I had the roasted Cuban chicken which was good. Back in Vibe for 3 hours and then went and cleaned up for dinner which was back in The Manhattan dining room. I really enjoyed the paella and the beau customized two entrees to make one very nice one and the kitchen did it no problem. Our server Randy was really fun, 2nd time we’ve had him. He knows how to read his customers. Again nothing of real interest for us so back to the room and watched Mrs Doubtfire. We are sleeping so well on board. I forgot to mention somewhere this past week we got our two plates of treats. One was assorted deserts and the other cookies. Eh…

Of course. Think of those coffee machines in hotel rooms. Single cup at a time and it has the little coffeemate creamers and sugar and sugar substitute packets. He gave us enough for six cups of coffee I think.

Day 5 —Supplemental post I’ve realized I’ve left out some key things in my posts after rereading them. I mentioned the swan display. Monday was our 2nd wedding anniversary and we had brought small things to exchange and cards. On Tuesday when we returned to our cabin at some point, and the cabin attendant had made a towel swan display on our bed. Two swans and their heads and necks in the shape of a heart and he had arranged our cards all around them. Love his effort and it will not go unnoticed. ❤️ Tuesday afternoon when we returned from our stroll around the dockyard, our toilet wouldn’t flush. A quick call to guest services to learn this little snafu was affecting the entire ship! While we were watching for pier runners, someone must’ve flipped the switch back to on, as it had flushed itself when we came back in. More and more crew members are remembering us and all seem more engaged than the first couple of days. Not sure what has changed in them or us? We sent our free bag of laundry out yesterday. That husband of mine is a master at filling a bag. Not a tear and we got EVERYTHING into it. And finally, those extra charges everywhere. Delivery fee for room service. Cupcakes in the coffee shop. Room charge for the casino, service fee. On Holland America, there is no additional fee for all three of these things. I waffle on the daily service charge of $20. Just my meandering thoughts.

Day 5…I think. First full sea day. Used our in cabin coffee set up. Not bad. Breakfast and lunch were in the Garden Cafe. We both ate relatively balanced meals and light as we knew we were dining in Cagney’s. We like the variety and quality of the offerings in the buffet. All outdoor decks above 16 were closed due to the wind. So an inside morning planned on the fly. We split up and I made another small donation to the casino and then about 30 mins later reconnected in the atrium where we stayed for two trivia sessions and creating an origami fox. After lunch (all decks reopened as we are moving at just 8 knots) we made our way up to Vibe and spent the next 4 hours in the sun, reading, napping and drinking. Back in the cabin we caught up on the days events with BBC World News as we showered and dressed. Back to Prime Meridian where we had that pistachio martini and then our reservations at Cagneys. We each ordered an app, salad, main and desert. I started with oysters Rockefeller. The first was tasty. The second one I started to chew and hit shells. Discreetly tried to get them out but they just seemed to keep coming and I had to spit the whole thing out into the napkin. Trying to get someone’s attention to get a napkin was much more difficult than it should have been. Finally one of the suits slowed down his walk to hear my complaint. Took my old napkin, brought me new and took the remaining oyster. No attempt at any service recovery. Shells happen, I accept that, him making me feel like I was bothering him with something trivial, I do not accept. The rest of meal had a different feel though the salad and steak were very good. I ordered the caramel cheesecake and the DH the 7-layer chocolate cake. We finished each others deserts. 😂. We signed our check and left around 815p and the line into the place was almost back to the stair/elevator lobby. Again there was no entertainment that intrigued us so back to the cabin for some TV and reading. Thoughts… Really missing the decline of entertainment on cruise lines. Cagney’s is so busy, loud and crowded it feels more like an Outback Steakhouse than a fine dining experience. I’m not sure I would return if there are future cruises on NCL. There are many more kids than we are accustomed to and quite honestly, they are all so well behaved we have enjoyed watching them enjoying themselves. We are pleasantly surprised. The multigenerational experience for them is amazing. It really does take a village.🌬️

Thanks to a tip from Assistant Maitre’d Aida last night in The Manhattan Dining Room, we’ve discovered pistachio martini’s in the Prime Meridian bar. We can affirm quite tasty. A quick google search will let you know that expresso martini’s are a thing of the past and this is the break away cocktail of 2023.

🙄 I have tasted plenty of wine. 🙄 Just haven’t done a formal, organized tasting. We’ve discovered the La Crema Chardonnay that we really like. Disappointed with the limited Rose selection. My husband sticks to whites and I like big, bold red blends, cabs and Malbecs but haven’t had any yet. My remaining two days I will be dedicate to tasting those.

Thank you we appreciate that. It is a team effort. The only place I’ve found it so far is Tobacco Road and The Vibe. I may or may not be sipping on one now as I type these responses in The Vibe. 🙄

Yes exactly. You feel pampered in The Retreat. We don’t have that same vibe in The Vibe. (I couldn’t resist)

That’s easy. On HAL you get a private cabana that is yours for the week if purchased that way. As soon as you arrive the attendants bring you and ice and water set up that they stay on top of all day. They take your drink, breakfast and lunch orders (they provide the lido and Dive-In menus to select from) if you wish and deliver it to you. Afternoon champagne and frozen fruit treats, similar to the fruit sticks they serve here. There is a flavored water/tea/coffee station up all day. You feel pampered in The Retreat. The cost of The Retreat, for 2, for our upcoming 7 day cruise is $399. You will find us in Cabana #5. The HAL Retreat wins hands down. Please don’t misunderstand, we see the crowded, overrun decks and are very happy we get to wave our card and enter a much more relaxed environment especially now that we are floating here in the warm beautiful sunshine for two days.

Sorry, not fans. 😬

Day 3 Waking up in Bermuda to a very windy and constantly passing showers day. Today is our only excursion that wasn’t canceled due to our itinerary change. Side note: all excursions were refunded to our account by Monday night, Tuesday a $12 credit appeared for each which I assume is port taxes and then an add’l $25 each. Goodwill perhaps? Regardless, appreciated. We spoke with our cabin attendant thanking him for the amazing swan display in our room and to request that coffee set-up. All aboard time changed again to 3:30PM now, which they informed us as we disembarked. Our excursion was a 5 hour mini-bus, small group tour of the entire island. Our original thought process was see the island then next two days go back and see/explore what interested us. We skipped our walk-about in Hamilton due to pouring rain and had an hour in St George’s where we visited the oldest Anglican Church in the western hemisphere and had a bowl of soup each in a pub. We then made our way back to Escape passing the beaches of the south side of the island. Back onboard a light and quick snack from the buffet and up to Vibe for some liquid nourishment. Look what I found: It was so windy in the Vibe we went down to our cabin to watch for pier runners from our balcony, but everyone followed instructions and with a couple of toots of the horn, we pushed away from the pier and began our three days at sea. We all enjoyed a fun ride well into the overnight due to swells and the wind. Sea sickness bags out on every stair/elevator lobby. A live post a couple of weeks ago recommended the Prime Meridian bar as a hidden treasure so we went there for a couple of cocktails. Fun ride back there! Some people were not handling it well. Dinner was in the main dining room where the featured selections did not excite so we both had an every day favorite selection. The soup I ordered was cold when it arrived so didn’t even eat it. We really like the Caesar salad, with anchovies of course. Entertainment was not thrilling so back to the cabin we went and watched TV for a bit and fell asleep as this ship continues to rock and roll. Thoughts… The Retreat on HAL is a much better value and experience than the Vibe on NCL. We do not need to return to Bermuda. Today three crew members really shone through with service that made us feel special. And I know what I am about to say is very controversial, and is my opinion only, the snack mix ain’t all that. 😂😂😂 Till tomorrow…

Yes 3 sea days. We are heading straight to the NC/VA coast and float there well out of harms way. We are not traveling too fast and the stabilizers are deployed to make it as comfortable and safe as possible. We are rocking a bit and the Escape is groaning some as we roll. And as we sit on our balcony, Mother Nature is showing us some of her beauty.

Day 3 We ordered room service coffee this AM because I would’ve sworn I read that continental breakfast room service was complimentary. Oops. Then off to the Garden Cafe for breakfast where my husband had quite the conversation with the infant seated at the table next to us. She loved him! We then split up and DH went up to Vibe for some sun and I made the requisite donation at the casino for about 30 mins. I joined him in Vibe for 3 hours or so as it turned beautiful as we slowed for our approach to Bermuda. And again we may or may not have had bloody Mary’s, screwdrivers and peanut butter whiskey shots. Lunch in Taste was really good (again, we are really impressed with the food) where we met some fellow travelers and shared laughs and a pleasant meal. One of the great parts of cruising is talking with others as you already have something in common with every fellow guest. Finally cleared to go ashore around 230p we hung back about 30 mins assuming the crowd would thin. Silly us. Between everyone wanting off and a lot of folks forgetting their IDs it was confusion on the forward stairs and lower decks. We spent about 90 mins walking the dockyard ending up in Clocktower mall. Bought a couple of must have treasures and made our way back to ship. Dinner was in La Cucina which was nice but the first meal where we didn’t say it was “really good.” The deserts didn’t even excite us so we passed. We went to the Escape Theater and saw a juggling comic who filled 45 mins. A couple of funny moments but that was about it. Went back to our cabin were my husband reads about “ask your attendant for a coffee set up if want one.” So dumbass here probably read that and translated it into free b’fast delivery. 🤦🏼‍♂️ Some more overall thoughts: NCL please clean the windows. This lady needs a bath. Only two banks of elevators and stairs seems odd when used to three on the HAL ships. We continue to be impressed with the food, despite our experience in La Cucina. We have not experienced any problem getting a cocktail or service anywhere. Something we have experienced on HAL recently. Still no snack mix…

Thank you Kay, a great photo. You enjoy your cruise as well. We are having a great time and really enjoying our first experience on NCL.

Where can one find this yummy snack mix you speak of? We have yet to see anything resembling any bar snack on any bar. I will caveat that we are not frequenters of the bar areas at night. Anyone can drink at night, we’re day drinkers! 😂😂😂

Day 2 What is it about sleeping on ship? Almost 10 hours of very restful sleep. Seas were rough and it was raining when we woke up and realized we didn’t put out the room service card so we slowly got ready and headed off to the Garden Cafe. We met the Washy-Washy man. Love him. Arrived around 730A and no problem grabbing a window seat. We found the buffet food to be quite good and still hot. We then spent the next 90 mins walking up, down and all around the public area of the ship. All the open decks and their features, including Vibe (where we are writing this from now). We may or may not have had a couple of Bloody Mary’s along the way. Ended up in the Atrium, Deck 6 where the beau got his Starbucks and we ended up sitting watching country line dancing and a sushi demo.whil trying another cocktail we saw go by. The Captain made his announcement regarding our itinerary change and Hurricane Tammy. We were aware of the storm prior to leaving and knew we may be affected. All part of the travel experience. Others did not take it as well based on comments around us. Lunch was in O’Sheehans. Was fine. I enjoyed the Lechon Asado. We tried the carrot cake based on reviews here, not true carrot cake, the frosting was yummy. It was around this time we learned of some drama at home that we continue to deal with which has snapped us out of vacation mode. The sun came out and we found a table on the Waterfront and spent an hour there before making our way to Tobacco Road and a double shot of peanut butter whiskey. Nice space. Dinner was in the Manhattan Dining Room. A nice meal in a very nice environment. Then, The Choir of Man. What fun. We echo all previous comments. Highly recommend. After being onboard a little over 24 hours, here are some initial impressions: The staff is not as friendly or outgoing as we experience on Holland America. No one has been rude, some are just not engaged and it shows. Our cabin lacks convenient storage. It’s the layout. Everything we brought has a home but we just feel crowded when trying to get dressed, etc. The food and portions are on par or better than our recent experiences on HAL. We like the food a lot. The smoke from the casino permeates those areas of decks 6, 7 and 8. I know it is discussed incessantly on here but yikes, it is a not pleasant. And why have all cruise lines removed peanuts from bar areas? Our first world problems. Till tomorrow…

I did not realize I would have home worked assigned with this undertaking, but happy to do it. Thanks for guiding me to it.