justhappy

I have yet to do the White Pass, that’s in August weather and RockSlide willing, but I’ll have to agree with you, I don’t think anything can rival the Durango and Silverton route. I did read an article a while back that when a train route from Silverton to Animas City built by Otto Mears closed in the 1930s, parts of the train were sent to the White Pass RR. I’d love to find out if that’s true.

If you’re talking about the free at sea package that sale is a standard sale that has been running for as long as I can remember. It’s ‘free’ but you do have to pay gratitudes on the value of the drink package and dining package.

My thoughts on this cruise.. Staff were routinely hard working, friendly and respectful. Service outside of the Haven was as good as in the Haven. I get the feeling that crew are overworked, either due to cutbacks or understaffing due to visa issues as several I have talked to mentioned the US government is woefully slow to issue visas right now. After only meeting our Butler on day 2 after we mentioning to the Concierge that we hadn’t yet seen her, we only saw her another two times, once when she delivered a meal to our room and once when we were leaving the ship this morning and she heard us talking to our stateroom attendant in the hall. She popped her head out of a Haven room across the other side of the ship and said goodbye. No contact other than that. I assume she was the one who delivered the daily afternoon snacks. I assume the limited contact is from having to deal with 11 other aft Haven cabins. No calls to see if she could be of any assistance as was our experience in the past. Our friends staying in a Haven Courtyard stateroom had a butler who was downright unhelpful in that he never brought requested snacks or other items and was aggressive in pointing out he was not in the tipping pool. Their stateroom attendant on the other hand was excellent and received most of the tip they had planned to give to the butler. The ship is in great condition in all areas I visited. We didn’t have an issue with soot on our aft balcony as I’ve heard some mention. Maybe the new scrubber the installed a few months back help with that. All the entertainment we saw was very well done. Although we didn’t see every thing available we enjoyed what we did see and thought the variety was good. Food overall was very good this cruise, after some not great meals on other ships at Cagneys, we though our meal there was excellent. Embarkation was very well done and I greatly appreciated that the muster drill involved only checking in your room key at your muster station. Debarkation was a little backed up by the time we got off using the Haven escort. Using a porter is well worth the tip as it gets you in a special line which moves soooo much faster. Out of 15 cruises on NCL ships, 5 have been in the Haven. I am not the type to only sail in a Haven. The value has to be there for me to justify the price. This cruise hit that price point and was worth the price paid. Thanks again to all who followed along and special thanks to Amy who added her perspective.

If it were me I’d pick the Escape for the Haven as it has a bigger restaurant and an outdoor dining area. The sundeck area is nicer too. I’ve been on the Escape 5 times, both in and outside the Haven and will be on her in January 2024 hopefully. We own DVC at BWV and Boulder Ridge. Like you we love the Epcot festivals. We are actually back at Saratoga Springs for the night before driving home in the morning.

Thank you Amy for filling in great information on this trip report, I feel that at times I was too boring. Your input and photos have been helpful. And I will probably do a trip report for the Encore to Alaska too, although it won’t be from the Haven.

I’m so glad you’re adding this information since I’ve been incommunicado for the last few hours, thank you and Amy too!

I just need to learn to say no 😛 I did stop eating once I was full and left behind half my entrees a lot of the time. I had been to Great Stirrup Cay in early February on the Escape so I wasn’t too bummed about. We got $25 pp port fees back in refundable onboard credit for missing it. Atlantis was great when we went but that was probably 15 years ago.

After a lovely meal at Le Bistro we headed to the buffet so we could get crepes. I love these fresh made beauties. our server might have been a tad miffed that we didn’t want any desserts from Le Bistro though. We then headed to the Atrium to see the Movies Scenes trivia show. It is hysterical funny due to the entertainment staff! We then headed to the theater to see the two comedians onboard in one last show. Mike Head is especially funny! We had to hoof it back to room to get our suitcases out in the hall . Mission accomplished at 10:50pm. Then to bed and quickly feel asleep to to the rocking of the ship. We woke up just as we were approaching Port Canaveral and saw the harbor pilot boat after they dropped off the pilot. It’s going to be a beautiful day for the next set of cruisers! It’s been a wonderful cruise, I’ll post my final thoughts later today. Thanks again for following along I hope it brought some enjoyment and information.

😳😳😳

21 minutes past all aboard time and so far 2 pier runners showed up a minute ago to be cheered on the ship. Several names were called but we are now being cast off so hopefully everyone made it back.

It is Alex Nikolic and his assistant Lourdes.

For lunch today we decided to go to OSheehans for a change. We split an order of nachos and I had the fish and chips while Mr D had the Ruben sandwich and our friends had chicken salad sandwiches. Mr D and I had the Glacier Blue drink. The drinks were great and the food hot and delicious. Service was very good too, it was busier than I expected being in port but everyone was working hard. Full from the entrees we opted out of dessert and headed back to the Haven Sundeck. I’m not sure if someone from NCL is reading along on this live review, but so far in the past hour there have been a few crew up here checking the sundeck, then sweeping the sundeck and then checking the sundeck again. Either way they are being very responsive to issues that come up. I hadn’t said anything about the paint flakes to anyone on the ship. Sadly all too soon we have to do some packing up before tonight’s dinner at Le Bistro and our plan to the see the comedians in the theater tonight.

I don’t have the streaming just the regular unlimited internet and it’s been working perfectly with all the photos uploading quickly. I haven’t tested download speeds.

Our friends wanted to walk to the Straw Market so we tagged along. Big mistake. 3 more ships have arrived and between the crowds and construction and heat we quickly walked there and back. I don’t do the Straw Market, it’s just not my idea of fun haggling over crap made in China that is way overpriced. Just my opinion people. Here is todays escort schedule for the shows Midday snack and tea selection in the Haven courtyard Crew is working on scraping and preparing the electronic tower forward of the Haven sun deck and as a result lots of noise this morning at breakfast. I got pancakes again, finished half and shared with Mr D. Paint chips from the previously mentioned work. Not surprisingly with the wind blowing around. For now it’s reading and drinking on the sun deck in the only shaded loungers right now. I’m going to have a Bushwhacker in honor of all my Cruise Critic friends. Cheers!

I can see why Great Stirrup Cay was a no go. Docked here in Nassau the winds are from the SSW at 20mph, gusting to 30mph. Over in east central to southern Florida from Brevard county to Miami-Dade county there is a tornado watch and wind advisory. That’s a large system for sure. out here on our aft balcony it’s still ok but gusts are coming around the corner and messing with my ‘do! With my hairstyle it always looks messy though Some port area photos. A lot has been added since I was here in 2016. We are joined by the Carnival Conquest and the Disney Wish All this area is new since the last time I was here

After a lovely meal at Ocean Blue, if you don’t consider the full on meltdown a grown ass adult man had in front of his family and stormed out cussing right after being seated, that is. His poor family followed him out (I would have stayed and ignored him), only to return with him in tow about 8 minutes later. No more tantrums that night thank goodness. The only problem with Ocean Blue’s location is the noise from the Atrium. It sounded like Karaoke gone horribly wrong was the entertainment. Maybe it came from Syd Normans?! I’m at that point on the cruise where eating has become a challenge. I don’t eat 3 large meals a day at home and I’ve reached a level of over fullness. Try telling a Haven waiter that you don’t want dessert or an appetizer. “But we don’t have nothing!” “Just try a bite” And I don’t want to disappoint anyone 😛 Its as if they weigh you on your way off the ship and if you haven’t gained 10 lbs they feel like they’re failed you! NCL customer satisfaction team- “Guest only gained 2 lbs, we must do better!” 😂 So what I’m really saying is I have overindulged and it’s no one’s fault but mine.

Hello fellow DVCer! We don’t own at SS but love staying there for the reasons you stated. The renovations are beautiful! We bought in 22 years ago and have zero regrets.

Where was I? And what day is it?? We seem to be fully in vacation mode and have gone from lazy to almost sloth like behavior. After heading up to the Haven for a very windy breakfast in the Courtyard (a sign of things to come) we spent most of the day on the loungers on the Haven sun deck. Lots of napping and reading and adult drinking with a break for lunch, of course in the Haven restaurant. Around 2:30pm the Captain announced that due to high winds and heavy waves it was not safe to tender at Great Stirrup Cay so we are headed to Nassau Bahamas tomorrow instead. I can only imagine the pandemonium happening down at Guest Services. So luckily we had nothing booked and nothing planned so no big deal for us, but I do feel for those who are disappointed. We’ve been to Nassau at least 16 times before so we will stay on the ship tomorrow and hopefully enjoy a somewhat empty ship. Tonight’s dinner is at Ocean Blue and late show of Million Dollar Quartet if we can manage to crawl our sloth like bodies there. Thanks for coming along and staying this long!

Here you go, I had to go back to my room for a charging cord. This was handed out at the Meet and Greet.

It may be a few hours but I’ll get it for you!

Here’s today list. I hope it helps you on your cruise.

So I asked the bartender in the Haven, not Francis as he wasn’t there yet, and he said as far as he knows it’s true that for now the Veuve will not be there as of May 1. He did say that NCL will often reverse decisions based on guest feedback. Please folks it’s not the bartenders decision and fault so direct your outrage to guest services or better yet NCL corporate!

I’ll ask Francis the Haven bartender if it’s true that the Veuve will still be available by the glass.

We had planned to go to Howl at the Moon in Headliners but feeling totally lazy we headed back to our stateroom to read a bit before falling asleep. We had to give back that hour we gained so set our watches ahead. This morning (Saturday) we were woken at 6am by a code Alpha to a passenger stateroom. Here’s hoping they will be ok. So far there’s been no diversion of our course. We are currently at 7:50 am eastern time off the coast of Cuba. We could see Cuba very well on our way south on Thursday. I don’t ever remember being able to see the coastline so clearly in the past. Havana Cuba….

Friday dawned warm and sunny. We woke up in time to watch us docking at Cozumel, we were at a different pier than in the past that was farther north than downtown. After docking we headed up to the Haven for breakfast and dined again tin the courtyard.After our friends were ready to head out about 10am we were escorted down to the dock via a service elevator to the dock. We were making a trip to the Mega store to pick up requested items for our stateroom attendants and a favorite server in the Haven restaurant. And since we arrived at the pier farther away from downtown we took a taxi which was $10 for the four of us. If you’ve never been to the Mega Store in Cozumel think of it as a cross between a Target or Walmart on steroids. it sells everything from gas scooters to food. It is a crew favorite and you’ll always see lots of them stocking up, especially in the snack isles. There is also a pharmica inside the store. After getting the requested items and just having fun looking around we got a taxi ride back to the pier. The 2.5 mile taxi ride took 11 minutes and google maps said the walk was 1 hour but if you could probably walk it in less time. when we got back to the ship we just enjoyed a relaxing day in the Haven sun deck reading and snoozing. The ship was very quiet with most passengers going ashore. Dinner was in the Haven restaurant and I totally forgot to take any food pics except for the Steak Tartare.