Grammymongi

Nice! Enjoy the balcony. 

Thank you!

57 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

I do not think that the Getaway offers "Haven Spa Cabins" any longer.  Last year, NCL seemed to eliminate all their "Spa" cabins across the fleet...Those were the cabin classes that INCLUDED access to the Thermal spas.

H9:  Haven Spa Suite

M9:  Club Balcony Spa Cabin

B9:  Balcony Spa Cabin

 

All those cabins were changed to standard Haven, Club Balcony, and Balcony cabins without the Thermal Spa access. Current deck plans on NCL's website are updated to reflect the changes.   You now need to purchase the Thermal Spa pass separately.  

 

I believe if you booked one of those category cabins prior to the "reclassification", then you still get the access, but if you are trying to book a new cruise on one the ships, these old classifications are not available any longer. 

I suppose it helps to know what ship…..The Getaway.

Anyone have recent pics or videos of the Haven spa cabins and what’s included

with them?
 

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

I remember back in 2009 that one of the biggest perks of a specialty restaurant was how tranquil it was compared to the MDR and buffet.  Tables were spaced apart and during your meal there would be empty tables around you.  Besides the increase in food quality it was worth the price just for the experience.  Once NCL started building Breakaway and beyond they started cramming more and more tables into the specialty dining.  The tables for 2 are so close together that you are literally sitting next to another couple inches apart.  Then came the "free" at sea promo which gives everyone access to specialty dining.  My last cruise on Encore, Cagneys was so crowded that they had to put about 8 tables outside the restaurant into the Mix bar area.  The experience has completely changed. Specialty dining is actually more crowded than the MDR at some times. 

Seems all good things come to an end. 😞

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Cool!  Looking seriously at the 9/10 sailing!  

Ohioan here! 😁 not sailing until November though.

Question about the Haven specialty dining. There are going to be 4 of us in a 2 bed villa but only two of us get the dining package, which I find odd for paying thousands of dollars but anyway…. Can the two of us that have the dining package have them swipe our card and we take the person in without the dining package. Do they have a way to track it? When my husband and I go to a specialty restaurant only one of us swipes our card.

5 minutes ago, Miss Ellsworth said:

I'm wondering if there's a shortcut to figuring out how many cabins of a certain type are open. I don't know of any way except to do dummy bookings for each cabin type and then check for open cabins for each type and on each deck one by one. Do you have an easier way?  Thx

I don’t know an easier way but would also love to know of a shortcut if there is one. 

We personally just started cruising NCL last year and have already been on the Getaway and the Epic. We have our third scheduled as well. We have a great time and get great service. We like the shows and the hangout spots. We feel the food is good other than the steaks, they  are terrible. LOL. So we just don’t get them. I  Just my two cents.

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

1st off, you won't know what type of service you'll get if you tip 1st.  once again, imho, a tip, is an acknowledgement for service performed. operative words here, SERVICE PERFORMED,

 

granny, if you arent going to tip your waiter or waitress, stay home.  if you feel the service offered was sub par, tell the manager. offering a tip upfront, is a request for a certain type of service or expectation that the person taking the money will perform for you. we go to the theater regularly  that has it's own parking. i give the valet an extra $10 to keep the car close so we can exit in a hurry after the play and avoid the crowd and confusion. i feel no shame doing so.

 

i also feel no shame giving the maitre'd an extra $20+ to take care of us during the cruise.

again, no shame whatsoever. Try it, it works.

 

if not, dont complain, 

 

if youre discussing tipping extra on a cruise, ok, youve paid into the DSC, and extra tipping is neither expected nor required. on the other hand, regardless of the restaurant, try giving your server and extra $5 or so, and see how much more attention you'll get from them

If you are referring to me when you say granny. I am not the one that posted that I just said good point. We tip everyone including the people that sweep the floors in the main areas. 

4 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

After reading through this whole thread imo I think people are tip crazy these days. I thought a tip was for service well done (notice, well done, not prepaid).

 

According to this thread if I go to a restaurant and get crappy service, the waitress is slow, doesn't get the orders right etc, we should tip her before we even order so she will give us good service. 🤦‍♀️

Good point.

We were on the Getaway last may and the food was great. Looking forward to going back to her again next March. We just got off the Epic Feb. 11th and I can't agree more the food was not so great. I didn't really care for the ship either. The staff was great just not the ship.

We usually find him as soon as we get to our room and give him $20 the first day and $10 every  day after included disembarkation day. 

56 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

That's great.

But I'd have to say you're beating the odds.

From what I've read on this board, the vast majority of bids, at any price point, are unsuccessful. That's particularly true for higher end cabins.

Curious - what categories are you usually going from/to with your bids?

 We always book an aft balcony and bid for the Haven. It’s never been accepted for me. 

11 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

The best part was that the minimum bid was 125pp and I only went $5 over that and won. So $260 got me from inside to club balcony. Frankly, I was stunned but pretty pleased. That bathroom in a club balcony is fantastic! 

11 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

The best part was that the minimum bid was 125pp and I only went $5 over that and won. So $260 got me from inside to club balcony. Frankly, I was stunned but pretty pleased. That bathroom in a club balcony is fantastic! 

That is unusual. Those bathrooms are very nice.

7 hours ago, Asawi said:

It has been reported here that you do get an extra dinner. It doesn't look like it on my reservation/eDocs. I will know for sure when I actually check in at the terminal March 8.

No. You only get the perks that come with the original cabin that you book

2 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

I won an upgrade bid from an inside cabin to a club balcony this past July on Joy and my FAS perks were not changed. My wife and I still only had 1 specialty meal each. 

That's the policy. 

That’s a nice upgrade! Congrats!

52 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Not on the Epic, done the Gem, BA and Escape. The Gem was the best, 3 hours long and 30 minutes on the Bridge

That sounds very in depth. Thanks

Just now, Grammymongi said:

po

Pp

51 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I have done the free one they offer to Sapphire Latitudes.  I love the behind the scenes tours.  Ours was the kitchen, the theater costuming and scene areas, the food/beverage receiving and storage areas. and the "I95" area where crew only traverses.

 

The pay tour is more comprehensive from my understanding.  I guess it depends how much the tour costs.  

It’s $125 po

Has anyone done the Behind the Scenes Tour on the Epic? Is it worth the price? It sounds interesting.

43 minutes ago, Sabbytravels said:

In Jamaica we ended up with a private guide & did Dunn river falls & also the blue hole which u climb & then jump ur way down the water falls. He was willing to take us more places but we had him take us to lunch & then back to port because the traffic was terrible with too many ships in port at once. In grand cayman we booked thru the boat knowing it would be a tender port with 5 mega ships in at the same time & we wanted a set time to get off ship. We booked island tour with turtle farm. The guide took us to a dolphin encounter & left us there. I had to show him the video of what we had booked. Even then the tour was nothing like what was shown on NCL site. I do not recommend it at all. Oh & the rum place was over packed & we only got 1 sample. Nothing on that tour was as described. I complained but nothing came of it. In cozumel we did a catamaran sail, snorkel & beach fun(in water slides etc at private beach) thru NCL. It should have been canceled due to conditions, all others after ours were & most other water based excursions were canceled. I think it could have been fun if the conditions had been right. 

Thank you. We appreciate the honest feedback.

25 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Just wondering, how much do they charge now for Priority? 

$199 per cabin 

36 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

Serious question. How does one get change in a closed casino?

 

It’s a bill breaker machine