dos equis

I did some searching and couldn't find an answer to this question. If we book a signature spa service (couples massage) on the Escape, will we be given a half hour before or after the treatment to use the thermal suite? I know this is the case at other land/cruise spas, but I remember reading about someone not being able to do this on a recent cruise. Any current info is much appreciated!

Thanks!

We had the UDP on the Breakaway and tried most of the restaurants. Cagneys was by far the favorite of the group (went there twice). Everyone loved Le Bistro for dessert and coffee (went twice just for dessert).

Although I agree with most that La Cucina isn't the best, food-wise, my favorite meal of the cruise was here, sitting outside on the waterfront when the sun was setting. NCL really did something right with the waterfront concept. It surely turn a mediocre meal into an *experience*.

Someone I'm cruising with ordered a bottle today and was charged a 15% fee in addition to the $3 fee. If this is the new policy, that stinks.

Hoping to read more!

When I was on the Jade in Europe in 2009 my favorite part about the buffet was the GIANT platter of avocado the had on the salad bar every night. I know this doesn't help you now, but just recalling a fun memory. I think I ate my cruise fare in avocado over those 2 weeks!

Usually out until 1 or 2am, then back up around 9am. There is always one day on every cruise where I just pass out at like 9pm though. That's what vacation is all about!

32 days out and just assigned. Booked an IX on the Breakaway and was assigned an ID.

Just wanted to share a quick update with my experience in upgrading from a gty. We booked an IX gty and were assigned an ID (very far forward, sooo far from the stairs) so I was looking to upgrade if possible. I know people have reported NCL not letting them pay for an upgrade after final payment. Thankfully this wasn't the case for us and our TA worked out an upgrade to a B2 Family Balcony for $130 pp. We did lose our $100 OBC from our original booking. But now we're right by the aft stairwell, so I'm really happy.

32 days out and just assigned. Booked an IX on the Breakaway and was assigned an ID.

Can anyone confirm if your mixers get replenished if you use what is originally given but still have liquor left? Would like to know if I should plan on needing to buy soda halfway through the week. Thanks!!

Wow! Great review!

Thanks for the great review! Happy to hear about the possibility of getting a pitcher of beer, that was something that I couldn't ever get on the Epic. I'm wondering about your troubles with UDP reservations. In the descriptive copy for the package it says reservations would be guaranteed for UDP guests if booked 24 hours or further out. Did you mention that when they couldn't seem to fit you in when you wanted? I was going to leave all my reservations until I'm on board because of this statement. It sounds like you didn't have this experience, which is a bummer. I don't really want to book all my dining online now... Maybe I should though and just cancel/change once on board. Not happy to hear about your less than stellar experience with the reservations!

On my Jade cruise I watched a woman on our Granada excursion pull an apple from her bag, (she had to have brought it from the ship since we hadn't made any stops where food could be purchased) ate it, and then threw core on the ground. It boiled my blood after hearing and reading all the announcements to not take any fruit or dairy off the ship. I was 24 at the time and she was in her 60s. If the world ends in my lifetime, I'm going on the record in blaming her. But seriously people, follow the rules.

They had coconut ice cream at the buffet on the Epic. So good. Hoping it's available on our Breakaway cruise in October.

If it included access to the spa then it just might be worth it.

Thanks! I didn't realize there was a "private islands" board, I'll have to check it out.

I'm going to reserve one first thing once on board. Thanks again!

Hi all,

I did some searching on this board and also in the Bahamas port-of-call board, but I can't find the answer to my question. I've heard you can rent a clam shell for Great Strirrup Cay (for $30, from what I've seen). Can anyone tell me how to do this? It's not available in my excursion options on ncl.com, although cabanas are. Is it something you can do only once on board? Does anyone have a picture of what they look like? Thanks so much! We're going to spend the whole day on the beach so I want to have a home base.

Thanks again,

Jamie

I've been on the Breeze and the Epic (twice). I'm booked for the Breakaway later this year. I don't know if this will be helpful because it's not exactly the two ships you are talking about, but there are a lot of similarities between the Epic and Getaway... so here goes.

Hands down, NCL beats Carnival for me. The Breeze had a few things that we really liked, the Steakhouse was much better than all of my experiences at Cagneys, we were able to get a balcony room for about the price of an inside on the Epic (but you're saying the prices are the same for your sailing), and the Red Frog Pub was great. We loved the trivia offered on the Breeze (much better than NCL) and there were two musicians on board that I enjoyed more than any other cruise (although I've always liked NCL's live music too).

Here are the bad things: The Breeze totally falls apart for food at lunch time. Every day we struggled to find something to eat between 12-3pm. The buffet was open in one tiny area with about 7 different trays of things. Guy's burgers was open, but having one of the first day was enough for me, forever. There was pizza in the back of the ship, but the line was always a half hour or more long. We ordered room service the first day that we realized we just could not find any food that we liked, and it took over 45 minutes to arrive. One day we just bit the bullet and paid around $25 to eat lunch at Red Frog Pub (they have small bar bites, which were admittedly very good). It was a nightmare coming back from ports and trying to find something to eat before dinner options opened up. The Guy's line consistently wrapped around the entire middle pool deck area. It was just terrible. I've never had a hard time finding food on a cruise ship until that cruise. Same thing happened for late-night food. I really missed the ease of going to something like O'Sheehans on the Breeze. There was hardly anything to eat late except waiting a half hour for pizza. Other things that weren't great-- the entertainment options. NCL's new ships blow the Breeze out of the water (PUN INTENDED). The night life was only ok. The piano bar was fun, but only for one night, whereas on the Epic I went to Howl at the Moon every chance I could get. The water slides on the Epic (and I'm assuming Getaway, which have more than the Epic) are much more fun than the Breeze. We loved the water area on the Epic and it was one of the reasons we booked the Breeze, but it just didn't compare. Slides were shorter and slower and they closed down while we were waiting in line too many times for us to keep wanting to make the time commitment. The casino was very small and not as fun as the Epics. Additionally, I have always preferred NCL's staff over Carnivals, and the Breeze was no exception. NCL staff is always smiling and saying hello, and the Carnival staff basically ignored us unless we specifically asked a question or said hello first. It was just a different vibe. Thank goodness we had our balcony... we spent most of our time in our cabin just talking and looking at the water and spending time together. If we had had an inside cabin I think I would been really disappointed in the trip.

Sorry, that was a long rant. Long story short = NCL. NCL. NCL.

When I logged into MyNCL and looked at my upcoming Breakaway booking (October 2014), "Pub Crawl" was listed under onboard activities. Here's what it says:

Pub Crawls

They're almost legendary. Sign up and join us for our shipboard Pub Crawl and you'll not only meet fellow pub-lovers, you'll experience new tastes, learn a few drinking games, play some trivia, laugh uncontrollably, and only be an elevator ride away from home.

I did one on the Epic in 2010 and on the Spirit in 2011 but then I heard (as many of you, I'm sure) that all pub crawls were cancelled indefinitely. I'm wondering if this listing is just really old or maybe new? Can anyone confirm if pub crawls are back? I hope so. The one on the Epic was really fun and a great way to meet other guests.

Looking forward to your review

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk

Thanks for the input everyone. Hopefully NCL updates their benefits listing to reflect what's actually happening on board. I always enjoy the latitudes party, just was wishing that our friend would be able to join us!

I asked this on another thread but it went unanswered. According to the benefits list on the NCL site, only the Epic and Sky are excluded from the Bronze level cocktail party. Can anyone confirm this? I'm traveling on the Breakaway with 2 others who are Silver (I'm also Silver) and another one is Bronze. I already told him there would be be a cocktail party for him to attend with us, but now I feel like I might be made into a liar...

Thanks to any recent Breakaway cruisers that can speak to this.

http://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards...s-and-benefits

According to the benefits list on the NCL site today, only the Epic and Sky are excluded from the Bronze level cocktail party. Can anyone confirm this? I'm traveling on the Breakaway with 2 others who are Silver (I'm also Silver) and another one is Bronze. I already told him there would be be a cocktail party for him to attend with us, but now I feel like I might be made into a liar...

http://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards/rewards-points-and-benefits

You can use the NCL iConcierge app on your smart phone. Just turn it to airplane mode so you don't get data charges, and connect to the ship's wifi. Then you'll be able to send messages to other people who have the app on the ship just like texting. I tried it while I was on the Epic last time and the app definitely worked.. I just didn't have anyone to try out the messaging with so I can't speak to if that worked or not. Maybe someone else has.

I liked the app because you can also easily check your account balance and show tickets and most of the other things that you can check on your TV when on board.

One of the perks for Latitudes members is:

Member Discount on Spa Signature Services during port days;

15% Silver members, 20% Gold members, 25% Platinum members

I'm wondering if anyone has taken advantage of this. I wonder if it can be used in combination with some of the port day specials that are advertised in the Freestyle Daily or if it can only be used on certain full-price services. I'm not really sure what's meant by "signature service." Anyone have any insight?

Thanks!