neilmae_ko

1 hour ago, Janetonboard said:

I'm new to cruising and have booked our first NCL cruise that will disembark in New York. We have booked the free air perk, with transfer, so we will be heading to the airport from the ship on an NCL transfer. 

 

My question is about luggage. When they pick up our luggage from our room the night before disembarking, will it be waiting for us to pick up in the terminal before we head to the airport bus transfer, or will the luggage be taken directly to the bus transfer? 

 

I'll be sure to follow any disembarkation instructions from NCL while on board, but I'm just curious what others have experienced when disembarking in New York. 

 

Thanks

You can do 3 options:

1st Option - put luggage before midnight and your luggage will be in the terminal when you disembark.  

2nd Option - if you are able; you can carry your luggage when you disembark 

3rd Option - get airport transfer service that NCL is offering onboard and you can choose to have your luggage 

be delivered to the airport.  

18 hours ago, Sailaway Pat said:

If we book specialty dining the first night of our cruise are we expected to dress up if we don’t yet have our luggage or is the dress code relaxed?  Thinking of Teppanyaki.

Teppanyaki does not have suggested dress code.  Only Ocean Blue and Le Bistro does.  Ocean Blue and Le Bistro suggest men to have a collared shirt.  However - Slippers, Shorts, Sandos, Swimming Attires are not allowed during dinner time in any restaurants including the MDR except in the buffet. 

18 hours ago, travelling_txgal said:

I am considering booking the Norwegian Getaway for March 2020. My previous experiences have been with Carnival so I am looking for the pros and cons of Norwegian. Are there any priority boarding options? What are some dos and don'ts of booking with them? I am doing my research but also like to get first hand accounts. Any advice is welcomed. Thanks in advance. 

NCL is way far better than Carnival.  In the cruise industry; Carnival is considered in the low/middle end market while NCL is in the middle end market.  With this assumption; generally - NCL is better than Carnival.  You can also see that NCL has more awards in Cruise Critic Choice Awards than Carnival.

Its always better to pre-booked everything before joining the ship.  As a Haven guests; you have the flexibility to cancel or modify all your bookings.

20 hours ago, Mercury said:

I see you were in a Haven 2 bedroom.

Did anyone make use of the sofa bed? I have 2 tween children and I am wondering if the sofa bed will be comfortable to sleep 2?

The max number of person in a 2 bedroom is 6.  the main bedroom has a king size bed, sofa bed is a double, and the 

2nd bedroom has a single sofa bed plus a bunk bed.

12 hours ago, tanyaewa said:

I loved your review.  Thank you so much for taking the time to post it.

Theres lots of great information.

In  comparison to the Celebrity cruise was NCL more or less expensive ( I know it’s a general statement) 

NCL is less expensive in general.  But for me, the service and total cruise experience - Celebrity is better.

On 7/6/2019 at 9:32 AM, cruisegroupie said:

Thanks  for the detailed review. How was the weather?.I will be on the Sept 23 sailing and wondering what to pack.

During our time, it was still comfortable cold.  However, expect that it will be hot during September.

5 hours ago, Merrygirl88 said:

Who were the Haven Bartenders? Thanks for a great review.. doing same cruise in October 

Sorry, i didnt got their names. 

Deluxe Owner's Suite 

22 hours ago, drumming cruisers said:

Do you have pictures of the ship and your cabin? 

Sorry, I just have video and just screen shot the pics

2 Bedroom Family 

2nd Bedroom

1 hour ago, joejoe 59 said:

Thank you for your review, we do this  cruise next year on Escape. 

Did most places take Euro, or how did you pay for thing's  off the ship?

Almost all places take euro.  However, credit card is preferred in all the places.  Even small shops or food stalls accepts credit card.  If you opt to take euro, all change will be in their local currency.  

2 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

could you tell me if at the Terminal in Copenhagen, did you have to use an escalator to get onboard the Ship.  Or were you able to walk up the ramps to get onboard.  If you had to use an escalator, did you notice if elevators were an option?  Not in need of handicap services, but will be bringing on carry on luggage, and using an escalator always bothers me.

We did not use any escalators.  The gangway was just a little bit higher than the pier.  We just took a ramp. 

5 hours ago, MN'smom said:

Thank you for this review. Did you go inside Schwerin castle or just tour the grounds? If you went inside what did you think? On our tour we are viewing the outside and the grounds and then have a choice of free time (snack) or going inside the castle. 

Yes, we did go inside of the castle.  Depending on your interest, its really up to you if you wanna go in.  For us, normally, we go inside the sites just to see it if it is worth our time.  If it is, we spend a little bit more time, if not - we don't waste our time in wandering around.  Here's a pic on whats inside the castle:

2 minutes ago, LeesaB said:

Sounds like a great cruise!  What did you think about the main part of the ship?

I find it a bit crowded many times. Wait times at elevators is also a bit longer than we used to in Celebrity. This ship has more passengers with less elevators. I am not also a fan of the lay-out of the ship. Its not as open as other ships. 

1 hour ago, cruisinginmay said:

Following!  Thanks for the review!  We are on this cruise in September.

Ask me anytime if your have something to ask about your upcoming cruise

Day 10 - Embarkation Day:

Since our flight to London is at 10:30am, we opted to leave the ship at 7:30am.  Luckily, the ship arrived

early at Copenhagen and was cleared at 7:00am.  When the ship was cleared, we were one of the first to

be ushered to get off the ship.  The Concierge was able to meet us at the gangway and ushered us until

we exited the terminal.  Our bags were also at the terminal when we arrived.  Haven guests are given Gold

color lugagge tags which means that it will be the first bags off the ship.  We left the cruise port at 7:50am

using our pre-arranged service - we used Limos4.com.  We arrived at Copenhagen Airport 8:20am, giving

us plenty of time for our 10:30am flight.  

Summarized Review soon:

Day 9 - Sea Day:

A lazy day for us.  All we did was to sit around and eat.  We also took this day to packed our things since the 

next day will be embarkation day.  Had lunch at Haven Restaurant and also dinner.  However, at dinner - we

requested a day before that we be served Filipino Foods.  This was not a problem since most cooks in the 

ship is from our country.  This was also the time where we hand out additonal tips to ship crew who did a great

job.  We left our luggage outside our room before we slept.

Day 8 - Nynashamn / Stockholm:

The ship was docked at Nynashamn, a good 1 hour drive to Stockholm.  In this trip, we used 

www.stockholmguiding.com as our private transportation.  We left the cruise port at 8:30am

and arrived Stockholm around 9:30am.  During this day, Stockholm was very busy and roads

have slow traffic.  Apparently, Former Pres. Obama was there and also the President of 

South Korea was also in Stockholm.  Many road were blocked for security reasons.  Our stops

was - City Hall, Drive around the City, Royal Palace, Old Town.  The City Hall is where the Nobel

Peace Prize awarding are held each year.  A good place to have a tour.  The Old town of

Stockholm is also great.  We were not able to visit the Vasa Musuem because of the traffic.  

We left Stockholm around 4:30pm and arrive at the cruise port at 5:30pm.  The Ship departed

7:00pm.  This time; we had our dinner at Le Bistro - French Specialty Restaurant.

City Hall

Royal Palace

Old Town

Review:

stockholmguiding.com - I reserved a minivan with them and when we arrived - a brand new bus were waiting for us.  

Although the bus was very nice, it is hard to use it since the bus is very big for just 7 of us.  It would have

been easier to tour the city if it was a minivan.   The guide was a local, however, she cannot speak english 

very well.  I would not recommend this tour company.

Le Bistro - our 2nd favorite specialty restaurant.  Food was great including the service.  A bit crowded since 

it is a popular restaurant in the ship.  

Day 7 - Helsinki:

Ship arrived before 7:00am and we went down the ship around 8:15am.  We begun our private tour around

8:30am.  This time we again used Limos4.com for 6 hours tour.  During that day, 3 big cruise ships docked

at Helsinki, the roads were a bit busy than usual.  Our Stops was Sibelius Park, Upenski Cathedral, President's

Palace, Senado Square, Esplanade, Market Square and Old Market Building.  Helsinki is a small city which you

can easily walk around.  For us, this was our least favorite port.  We went back on the ship at 2:00pm as the 

ship is departing at 4:00pm.  We ate at Shanghai Noodle Bar at Deck 7.  Late that night, there was 

fog at sea and the visibility was poor, the whole night until early in the morning, the ship was keep

on honking its horn, as a additional navigational safety.  Kuddos to the bridge.

Sibelius Park

President's Palace

Senado Square

Old Market

Review:

Old Market - a small renovated old market, limited items to see, gets crowded

Shanghai Noodle Bar - worst restaurant in the ship, the food was not good.  Ended up ordering Pizza

in the room service and asked our butler to serve it in the Haven Lounge while having some drinks.

16 minutes ago, susan196222 said:

Could you please tell us who your Concierge was ??

 

Thank you

Virginia Brotherton (not sure if i got her family name correctly) - she's from the Philippines.  

Day 6 - St. Petersburg (Day 2):

We also left the ship 10:00am and when we arrived at the immigration, there was no line.  We quickly finished 

the immigration process. We were told by out Concierge that normally, day 2 in St. Petersburg is not busy 

since most of the passengers only take a 1 day tour.  Passengers who have their russian visa, they normally

dont take tours on the 2nd day and just tour independently.  Our 2nd day stops were - Hermitage Museum,

Catherine's Palace.  Hermitage Museum was awesome.  We are not a fan of arts or museum but we ourselves

were impressed.  We went to Louve in Paris and I can say that I find Hermitage Museum more impressive.  

Catherine Palace were also grand.  Went back on the ship around 5:00pm. We had our dinner at 

Teppanyaki - Japanese.  

Hermitage Museum

Catherine's Palace

Review:

SPB Tours - I would really recommend this tour company.  They are great in looking after us and is very much 

flexible in us on what our interest or what we wanted to see.  They have special access to almost all sites and 

we did not have to wait in long lines just to get in the sites.

Teppanyaki - our 3rd best specialty restaurant.  Teppanyaki Show was fun and the food was good.  

16 minutes ago, Lupush said:

Wow, that Opus had to be stored standing straight up for that cork to be cracked like that.  Did you say anything to the Sommelier on board?

Yes, apparently, NCL does not have a licensed Sommelier on board.  What they have are just wine stewards.  However, the wine was ok to drink, but maybe a few months more not storing it properly, the wine will not be drinkable. 

Day 5 - St. Petersburg:

Ship arrived earlier than 7:00am.  We were told by the Haven Concierge that if we are not in a hurry, leave the 

ship a little bit later than others.  Most passengers get off the ship early which makes the immigration process

slower.  They said that during rush hour, in order to clear the immigration, it will take you around 1 hour.  With

this in mind; we opted to depart the ship at 9:30am.  At the immigration area; there were already short lines by

that time.  We were able to meet our tour guide at 10:15am outside the cruise terminal.  In Our Russia tours;

we used SPB Tours and we got their private service with Driver and a english speaking driver.  Same driver,

vehicle and guide will be used for 2 days.  Our first day stops were - Peter & Paul's Fortress, Peterhof Palace 

and Gardens and Church on the Spilled Blood.  Our guide brought us to a local russian restaurant where they

serve russian dish where local Russian's dine.   We also go the Evening Option - Ballet.  It was very good and 

my daughter who is a ballet dancer really was amaze.  

Peterhof

Spilled Blood

Evening at Russian Ballet

Ocean Blue Desserts - Food was superb; we forgot to take pics of the food

Poor Wine Storage 

Day 4 - Tallinn: (My Favorite)

Ship arrived almost 8:30am.  We departed the ship around 9:30am.  The ship docked a little bit far from the

gate of the cruise port.  Private Transportation were not allowed to go inside the cruise port thus we have

to walked up to the gate of the cruise port - around 400meters away.  This time; we used Limos4.com as

our transportation.  Our First Stop Was Kadriog Palace.  It was great seeing the palace.  Our Driver / Guide

then toured us around Tallinn city before heading to the Old Town.  We passed thru Viru gate since my 

mother could not walk well.  Ended up taking our lunch at Olde Hansa Restaurant - serving medieval style 

foods.  I had their mushroom soup - the best mushroom soup I ever tasted.  I also had their sausages;

3 kinds of sausages which are made from bear, wild boar and elk.  We visited the square at the old city 

and it was awesome.  Had a chance to wander around the many small streets in the old town.  Plenty of

unique stuff which are very interesting.  Went back to the ship around 3:00pm since the ship will depart 

at 4:30pm.  During dinner; we ate at Ocean Blue - Seafood Specialty Restaurant.  

Kadriog Palace

Old Town

Review:

Ship Arrival in Tallinn - the ship should have arrived at Tallinn before its scheduled arrival at 

9:00am.  Around 6:00am, I saw in the TV from Navigation Channel that the ship is running at

9 knots only.  If the ship run around 18 knots, we could have arrived earlier and have more 

time at Tallinn.  I think 7.5 hours in Tallinn, which gives only around 6 hours for passengers

to enjoy the city, is not enough.  It would have been great if the ship arrived around 7am which

will give the passenger at least 8 hours of time to enjoy Tallinn.

Ocean Blue - This was the best specialty restaurant in the whole ship.  The food were superb

and as well as the service.  We even asked for the Executive Chef so that we can congratulate

him/her.  The Chef was from our country, and he is also the executive chef that handles the

Haven Restaurant.  

Wine - a ordered bottle of opus one; surprised that it was not stored properly.  I think the ship

does not have proper wine storage.