jakeil7

Then unsubscribe from the email or send them to spam. I don’t think I have seen a useful email ad in 10 years

4 hours ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Why not do a meal in Wonderland? It's a great experience.

I totally agree with this. For me, I did not find the dessert that great - it was the appetizers that were amazing. 

Keep in mind the price is per day.  Just for lunch is not worth it. If you want to avoid the crowds, go to lunch on shore and then board. 

Based on this, will you meet the 24 hour requirement?

Because dinner in CK is open to JS (mini suites in NCL terms) on an as-available basis, the dinner time is usually full at peak meal times.

I did not see any advance menus for CK, but I was not looking 🙂

53 minutes ago, rusty nut said:

The only way to be 100% safe is to never, ever enter a personal/financial user name and password while connected to ANY public wifi. You'd just be asking for trouble.

But is RCI *public* WiFi? This isn’t like a cafe where someone could set a malicious hot spot up and transfer data to a different pipe. RCI controls the only way off the ship for data.  Now, you could have a MITM attack but that could happen with any network, not just public ones.  and this one would be especially hard. 
 

Yes, a VPN would be the best approach, but as others have said there are reports of some not working.

If you are truly that worried, fix it on the other end: setup an independent bank account that would limit any damage from a hacker. 

Yeah.....but....

I don’t think so (and keep in mind that it changes with time). However, you could ask on the roll call for the sailing. Assuming you are not looking at a trip in the far future. 

10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

The big balconies are fun

Is this on all Oasis ships?  I don’t recall seeing these on Symphony 

9 hours ago, MississippiMom said:

A rolling carry on is super easy to take along while exploring.

Just for others in this thread That might be newbies - I, personally, have found that exploring with a rollable suitcase is troublesome. They cause issues in crowds and can be a pain when moving up and down stairs. However, exploring has many different definitions so, as always, YMMV

2 minutes ago, biomedbob said:

I think they should offer a new class of benefits for those of us who've been called down there as a kinda awkward badge of something.   I'm proud of the distinction.

Maybe t shirts?  “Follow me to the naughty room!” or something 😁

Oh my yes.  You have covered two big items:  tips and booze. Just remember that if you like fancy pants booze it will cost additional. 
 

Shore excursions are another big one. Where are you cruising?

The last is speciality dining. You may want to buy the 3 night package depending on your tastes. 
 

other items would be shopping, arcades,  the casino, spa, and room service. But those depend on what you like. 

I got called down for soda in my bag on a cruise about 10 years ago. We were very nice about it and started chatting with security (no other passengers were there). They showed us some of the things they confiscated. The bubble bath was the best...we got a wiff- pure moonshine I think 😝

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

All depends on the carry-ons. 

Why I asked. I can’t imagine exploring with anymore than a backpack. Do I overpack?! 😝

9 minutes ago, Drock20J said:

eat lunch and explore, by then the room are open and we are IN BUSINESS!

Do you find that you can explore while carrying your carry ons around?

It really depends on your group, you carry on size, and your setup.

if you are a easy going, slow morning group, 1pm. You get there and by the time you are on the ship, rooms are open so you can toss your bags directly in your stateroom. This also applies if you are driving in or have tourist type plans in the departure port.  For standard rooms, this is my suggestion. 

If you have a full suite or the Key, 11am. You are there after check in starts, typically board directly, and you can go directly to the suite/concierge lounge/key drop off to stash your bags (not sure if this applies to non-SL ships). Have lunch at CK or similar. When you are done with lunch, go to your room. 
 

if you have a large group, meet for brunch and then head for the ship

if you have kids, hang out at the hotel pool, and head to the ship to arrive by 1. 
 

If you HAVE to be the first person on (helpful to get exact times for reservations), 10am. 
 

As for the first part about Uber/Lyft:  this isn’t a big deal as the app tells you the license plate of the car along with the color, make, and model. It also gives you a photo of the driver. A little better than a taxi in that regard. 
 

There are so major issues with ridesharing  but the stranger thing isn’t one of them. 

11 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

There are some ports where a Captain turns over command of the ship to a pilot.  I strongly doubt this is one of them.  I have a high degree of certainty this will fall onto the Captain.  Even if the Staff Captain was bringing her in this time the Master would have been on the bridge and ultimately is responsible.  

When I was there on Symphony, an officer was telling the group what he thought about the pilots in Cozumel. Something along the lines of good work if you can get it.  He also said other ports had pilots that were much more involved. 

37 minutes ago, jk04 said:

 

Last week was the Pentair cruise, which was about a third of the passengers.  I don't think there were very many Diamond or Pinnacle guests.  We got to the port around 1100 and boarding had already started.  There was no one in the Suite and Pinnacle waiting area and we just walked on the ship.  Quickest embarkation we have every done.

That was my experience in September as well. Once they open the doors, they move people through fast. 

33 minutes ago, Pratique said:

SL/CK was quiet last week on Allure. Must be the time of year. It's a good thing. 👍

well...it won’t be empty next week 😝

Any idea why they are empty aside from the time of year?

@Andy C that suite sun deck was awesome, especially right around sunset I thought. Was a bit windy though 😝

Are the ports different for the Quantum class ships?

On 12/8/2019 at 3:22 PM, B-52 said:

We've been to Barefoot Beach  many times....long before there was a pier....

We rented a Cabana once. It was Ok, but we did not like it. I felt "detached"

Much more pleased with chairs...early enough you can get one under a tree

But that's just us...the cabanas sell out fast!

Being detached is what I really liked. It felt like I had the island to myself. With the exception of the cabana attendant - but they brought me booze on demand so I can make an exception for that 🙃

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Well, in this case, stands to reason that NCL's should at least strive to improve the service provided for them/in their name.

They may not be able to if they are locked into the port’s preferred vendor.