takevtr1

16 hours ago, rjack22 said:

I have had no problem with the MD on the first night.  We had a reservation.

I will be sailing on Enchanted Princess for the first time shortly, but sailed many other cruise lines before.

I have reservations in the MDR for each night.

My question is is there a line for people with reservations and a separate line for walk-ups? 

I just watched some videos on youtube, and from what I can tell, looks like there is only one line which kind of defeats the purpose for having a reservation. 

Thanks very much!!

On 5/4/2024 at 11:59 AM, mistyPA said:

We were in the same position, a good amount of obc and wanted to book the restaurants and were unable to. We did upgrade to Premier once onboard, so we had 2 specialty restaurants included, so we wanted to take advantage of the package. We were a party of 7, so we went to Rudi's Catch the first night and had no problem getting a table. Then we went around to see if we could book another restaurant and did get a table at Sabatini's but never went. The maitre d wasn't great. He was the only negative for us on the cruise. We stopped by, he said he could give us a table at 5:00 on the day we were in St. Thomas, however, they put the reservation on San Juan day(we did the food tour so wouldn't be hungry enough for a big meal). When we stopped by to make the change he was very confrontational. At the end, he said he would give us whatever we wanted, but we canceled the reservation. We did stop by the Crown Grill and was told by maitre d to return the next day and he could get us a table and lo and behold he did. Giovanni, Alexa and assistant were all great in the Crown.

 

So, they will likely be able to accommodate you, but you may have to be flexible in dining times. We dined around 6 in both restaurants.

 

Also, you are able to use the credits in the casino. When you sign in the machine asks if you want to charge to your account, if you say yes, it asks how much, they transfer the funds to the machine you are on and you play. If you have obc, it just deletes from the amount. 

thank you so much for all this information. Greatly appreciated!!

4 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

You will board in deck 5, but you can't use it prior to boarding for specialty dining.  It's a hook, if you will. You should be able to use OBC in the casino, but I'm not certain.

thanks for the information.

Can't understand why they won't allow you to reserve dining in advance using OBC - oh well we will just have to take our chances and hope for the best. We are a party of 6, so hopefully they can accommodate us.

Thanks!!

4 hours ago, 20165 said:

To answer your first bullet, i believe we boarded on deck 5 and there were two different entrances open that we relatively close. One on each side the atrium. 

 

Cant answer question 2, we didnt have any on board credit, but the money we used in the casino did go on our onboard account so i assume your credit would go toward that.

 

Not sure what cabin category you are in, but if you have a suite, i would just have the concierge do all of your reservations.  We had no problems getting in wherever whenever we wanted.  We did book one restaurant online prior to the cruise, but if we had it to do over, we would have just had the concierge do it all for us once we boarded and will do that next time.  There was no reason to stress about it pre cruise if you have access to the concierge.

 

Hi 20165, 

thanks for all your responses. Very helpful.

we booked a dlx balcony, but put in a bid for upgrade to a D4 balcony and won!! Very Happy with that.

Can I please jump in with a few questions.

Quick background - first time on Princess - sailing Enchanted Princess soon (keeping the actual sail date private) - but have sailed most other cruise lines before.

• Regarding the Enchanted Princess out of FLL, any idea what deck we board on? And the location? (mid-ship, aft, forward etc.)
• I have some nice OBC from my travel agent. Can this be used in the casino? If so, how?
• I have the plus pkg, so no free specialty dining. I want to reserve in advance of sailing but it wants to charge me for the dinner, BUT we want to sue some of our OBC to pay. I heard you can get a refund once on the ship and they will remove the charge and then use the OBC, BUT, they won't refund the dining charge but only give it back as OBC which I don't want/need. Any way around this?

Thanks very much - I may have follow-up questions.

Mitch

On 4/7/2024 at 8:55 AM, talkorpi said:

Good morning from Princess Cays! Had an early breakfast (photo not attaching again) at the buffet and waiting for the water shuttle now. I was going to use the elite lounge priority water shuttle thing, but we got boarding group #1 so we are just going the normal route. They finally came over the PA this morning with tendering information. Hid a couple of ducks while we wait to go ashore - looks like a beautiful day outside. 

Hi - really enjoy your trip report. I will be on Enchanted May 25. My question is about the tender process to Princess Cay. Do you have to have tickets/reservation in advance? If so, how do you get them or is it just show up/first come first serve? Thanks very much. 

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

If you go thru my "Live" from Nov/Dec on the Enchanted, I posted the menus daily.  You can find a link to the "Live" below by expanding my signature.

ok, I checked it out and it blew me away with all your detail to attention.

thank you for sharing this.

I found it to be very informative.

following!!

28 minutes ago, trbarton said:

If I’m using a T/A will they accept it? 
 

Tom😀

Yes, I just did it for my upcoming cruise. I have 3 cabins booked and handed my TA a total of 18 gift cards. While it is a bit more work for the TA, they should/will take them. They can apply it to your final payment via the travel agent portal that they use.

8 hours ago, amypintx said:

@takevtr1 Was there drink service from the resort on the beach or did you have to walk up to the pool area to get drinks?

I don't remember 100%, but there was a bar right behind the beach, maybe a 2 min walk if that much.

This hotel was on a huge beach. 

Don't think there was wait service on the beach itself though.

Unfortunately we did not get to spend a lot of time on the beach due to the local vendors being very aggressive and the sand being just way too hot for us.

The pool was excellent though and did have a swim up bar. 

Hi Sudoku,

Sorry but I have no info on the Wyndham.

Honestly, I don't remember if the beach was too windy or not. It really does not bring up any bad memories, so I would say the wind was not an issue.

While my group liked the Sunscape, it is considered a mid-of the road property. Granted we olny stayed there for a few hours, so it worked out good for my group - other than the issues I noted above.

We did like the very big pool with a great swim up bar. My wife loves the beach/ocean and was disappointed when we had to move from beach to the pool due to the vendors. If you can work around that issue, the Sunscape is a great place for a few hours.

Hi Denie,

I have done this just last year.

I used "Resort For A Day" (not sure if same company as yours)

We did go to Sunscape.

We were 3 married couples age 35 - 70.

The Good: very nice property, very friendly staff, no issues getting chairs or umbrellas on the beach or around the pool, no issues getting drinks at the swim up bar (best part of the day), check-in at front desk was fast and easy and they gave us a welcome drink (and maybe a cookie), no issues  getting lunch at the buffet (more on this later), beach was clean and huge with soft but VERY HOT sand.

The (semi-) bad: The food at the buffet was mediocre at best (no one got sick though), somewhat limited food choices, beautiful setting though for the buffet (outdoors overlooking pool, but covered), good drink service at buffet, it was a bit crowded when we went (May 2022), resort is pretty big and a nice (long) walk from lobby to the beach.

The biggest issue was the beach vendors. They hound you all the time to the point we had to leave the beach and go to the pool. My wife actually bought 2 beach towels from them thinking they would leave us alone, but it just made it worse with many more approaching us. They were in the shaded spot on the beach, but if you stay in the full sun it probably would not be too bad - I like/need shade. 

At the end of the day, for the $59pp we paid, I would probably go back in the future, just avoid staying on the beach - again no issues around the pool. I drank more than the $59 fee we paid to get in.

Don't remember how far from the port (but it was fairly close) since we took a private city tour first, then the driver took us to Sunscape and came back later to pick us up. I would have probably cut down the tour by about an hour and spend the extra hour at the resort (but that was a little poor planning on my part).

Any questions just let me know.

Mitch

6 hours ago, TenForward said:

 

Thanks, this is helpful to me.  I want to be able to check in with my mom who will be at home while husband and I are on our cruise.  I can login to ship's wifi, send/receive texts with her, then log off again.  A daily check or two is fine, we don't need to be in constant contact.  DH and I will have the NCL app for keeping in touch with the rest of onboard family throughout the cruise.

while my phone is too old for the NCL app., my wife just today got a new phone and I hope I will be able to install the app on her phone.

18 hours ago, Mike A said:

Hi takevtr1…I have lived in Wantagh for the last 28 years on the north end near MacArthur High School. Grew up in Massapequa Park. It’s a small world🙂. 
Happy Crusing.

OMG - while I grew up in Wantagh (moved there in 1973 and moved out in 1987 to Patchogue), my wife grew up in Masspaequa (not the Park - but close enough. Her family still lives there on Clark Ave). Yes, small world....

18 hours ago, Mike A said:

If you purchase the unlimited Wi-Fi plan, and have an iPhone, all you need to do is toggle on Wi-Fi Calling in settings on the phone. We have Verizon and on cruise ships made many phone calls and text messages at no charge from Verizon. In order to FaceTime you may need Premium Unlimited Wi-Fi. Please remember to turn off cellular service and go on airplane mode. 

Mike A. Are you from Wantagh??? I grew up there and now live in Suffolk County... I  was in the Forest Lake area near the Forest Lake Elementary school.

17 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You need to understand exactly what the package includes. Most packages provide calling and SMS text messages. Some limited minutes. Some unlimited minutes. Most include a very small amount of data, so you should avoid emailing or surfing using the ship’s cell tower. 
 

As others have suggested, if your carrier and phone supports Wi-Fi calling, getting the ships’s unlimited Wi-Fi is a better choice. 

ok BirdTravels - thanks for this information. Our goal would be to only use it for texting.

Would it help my situation if I got an international (for cruise ship sailing) plan via my phone provider (Verizon)??

If so, would it be through the ships WiFi  or I think cellular service with their satellite??

I saw something on the NCL site that mentions a company that you can connect thru to get service. 

9 hours ago, UKstages said:

not to make anybody's brain explode, but my experience has been - on every NCL ship - that iMessaging will work from apple device to apple device, provided you're connected to the ships wifi network. you do not have to be using internet minutes! and you should be able to exchange messages with apple devices onboard as well as those not on the ship. (those on board would also have to be connected to the ship's wifi, of course.)

 

bear in mind, if sending photo texts, it could take a minute or two for the data to upload or download. send each image separately, or your message may not go through.

 

again, this is from apple device to apple device... does not apply to android.

 

YMMV.

Thanks for that info. Unfortunately all my family members have android device, but thanks again.  When I first posted this thread, I never thought would turn into this. I thought it would be an easy task to just send/recv text messages using ships WiFi. Oh Boy.... I think my group will just have to be more alert to where everyone is and when we are supposed to meet up for dinner etc.  

1 hour ago, hallux said:

Enable airplane mode then turn WiFi back and try again.  That's the most accurate test.

 

$10 per device, everyone installs the NCL app and communicates through the messaging capability in there.  Install the NCL app before boarding.  That's the best way to communicate on the ship if you're sharing internet minutes.

First, the problem with my cell phone is apparently it is too old for the ncl app. I tried to upgrade the version but it won't go higher than Andriod 8.0. I was told it has to be the higher version. Not sure what the rest of the family has. This is a big disappointment as I wanted the app for all the things it offers not just communicating. Ok, I turned ON airplane mode, disabled mobile data and then turned WiFi on and I was able to send a text. I really appreciate all your advice on this...

On 4/20/2022 at 8:07 AM, hallux said:

As long as your carrier supports, and you have enabled, WiFi texting you shouldn't have a problem texting while connected to the internet, even from a ship.  Some don't allow picture messaging unless you're on the cellular network.

 

Now, with RCS coming (being championed by Google and supported by most modern Android devices and messaging apps) this may change.

 

The on-board messaging is done through the NCL app itself, not separate app.

So we have verizon. I just turned off my mobile data on my phone and while connected to my home WiFi, I was able to send a text. So I assume that means it would work on the ship using our 250 free WiFi mins. So now the problem is, since we only get a share of the 250 min (125pp min.) we would not be able to stay logged in most of the time to be able to communicate back and forth via text only. Which was my goal in the first place. I just wanted texting to keep in touch with all my traveling mates. Don't need access to social media etc.

On 4/18/2022 at 3:48 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

Regarding your minutes.....

You will not get any texts or be able to send unless you are logged in, thus burning your 250 minutes. Anyone else, unless they have internet will not be able to text out or receive.

You will need to buy the $9.95 for each person. You need the texting app to accomplish it. 

 

On a side note...great answers mking...

OK, makes a little more sense now. Not happy though. I was hoping to just use our free minutes for texting purposes. Oh well, I guess we will just have to send smoke signals to stay in touch with each other. 

The texting app you reference, it that an NCL app? I know my phone is too old to download the NCL app. It is from 2017. I did not think that would be a problem. But when I go to the google play store, the NCL app does not even show up so I was told my phone is too old. 

6 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

This is just my personal experience...but I have never been able to text while onboard with my Android phone.  That is one clear advantage that iPhones have over Androids!  iPhones use an internet based server system for texting and Android uses the regular cell data system... which doesn't exist on a ship (unless you are using Cellular at Sea...BAD IDEA! Crazy expensive)  WhatsApp is a good alternative for Androids...but as mentioned above you would really need the unlimited plan in place.  And...anybody that you want to communicate with (even back home) would need to have WhatsApp installed.

 

I generally just wait until I'm in port and use the AT&T International Day Pass to do texting and such.  Email and surfing the web, of course, works just fine onboard.

thanks so much. Of course all my family members have androids. All I want to do is to be able to keep in touch with all my family members on the ship with me and really have no need to text people at home (unless of an emergency then I will deal with it at the time).

1 hour ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Put in a TIME respect 250 minutes =s 4 hours and 10 minutes - USE IT WISELY !

Suggest that you do your internet tinkering while in port - find a coffee shop or

other free source to do the serious stuff.

 

Forget to LOG-OFF and fleeting time is gone in a poof - - -

And YES the Internet Cafe people MAY at their discretion reset your time - - -

Did you perchance read the NCL Internet for Dummies Ver. 101 ?

Consider conversion of the free 250 minutes to Unlimited.

 

If necessary need a paper copy document - it will costa-ya $0.50 a page - - -

Do this printing while at the Internet Cafe for security reasons.

 

Text maybe OK but if you are used to fiber optic light speed - your NCL Wi-Fi

will be like the seahorse pony express rotary dial on the slow boat from Yokohama !

 

 

thanks for the info. Where can I find NCL Internet for Dummies Ver. 101??

45 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

You can register as many devices as you need/wanted to use onboard with the 250 free minutes (that's under the older/previous Free At Seas promo plan choices - now, it's 150 free minutes per person, passenger #1 and #2 only) while connected AND logged into the satellite inTERnet onboard the ship.  Ship's WiFi signal also enabled & support the free iNTRAnet coverage, i.e. access digital Dining Menu, review onboard charges & make reservations, etc. - which does NOT count or reduce your free inTERnet airtime minutes.  There is a "meter" feature displayed via the browser that show minutes used & remaining, and follow the steps to log-in and log-out each time, to stop the "clock" or your usable airtime will run out very fast, by the end of mid/late evening on embarkation day (#1) if you forget.  

 

iCafe manager will usually, do a one-time reset to restore your accidental minutest lost if you ask, at his/her discretion upon review.  

 

If you go to my Getaway link above, there are sample screenshots of what & how, what you should be looking at & be careful with - there should be a printed quick guide at the iCafe to pickup, with instructions on how to ... most seasoned cruisers figure it out on the fly.  

ok, I will check out your post. I appreciate all your detailed information. I agree that it would be easy to blow through the 150 very quickly. So it really does not solve the issue of being able to text other family members on the ship. Texting is really all we want to do just so we can set up meeting places or just to see where others are. I guess if I have them all use Whatsapp, it won't help since we would need WiFi to use that service. I guess we might have to upgrade our pkg.

OK, so I did not think it was going to be this confusing - LOL

Thanks to both of you for all the information you provided.

I know my group will not be looking to upgrade to any additional WiFi plans - so that option is mostly out of the question.

Can you elaborate a little more on the free WiFi that we get.

Is the 250 min for just being logged into the Wifi network or 250 min of actual usage? I can't  imagine a text message would take up much time. I my issue would be having 2 people in the same cabin logged in at the same time which I don't think is possible.

Thanks...