terri910

Okay.....I am a bit confused.

When we booked our upcoming October cruises with NCL (Jade TA departing Barcelona Oct. 30th, and then it's western Caribbean on Nov. 13th), we got to choose between 4 or 5 special offers: the Drink Pkg., Credits for Shore Excursions, etc.....but ONE of the choices -- and the one we CHOSE -- was the Gratuities being taken care of by NCL.

Am I reading this right....now they DON'T charge gratuities, but an 18% Service Charge?? 18% of WHAT? Our cruise fare?

By the way, we booked this in April of 2015, if that makes a difference.

I am so excited! We are booked on the Jade for this October....and I would love to hear all about it: the good, the bad, and the ugly!

9 years ago we cruised the Med with a group of folks from around the world that called ourselves "The Mellow Yellows"....it was such a great group of people and we had such fun, we are still in touch with these people today! (Love social media, right?)

A little over 3 years ago, my husband and I retired to Ecuador -- on a cruise ship, I might add! -- and have found a wonderful, vibrant community of north American ex-pats living here. In 2014, we joined a group found on the internet, called EC Smooth Cruisers, which was mostly made of up expats. We did a trans-Atlantic on the NCL Epic and had so much fun! The Epic wasn't our favorite ship ever, but this group of folks know how to have fun!! *L*

Now, the same group (even larger, now that more people have learned about it and joined us) has put together another great cruise for the group. We are going to do another trans-Atlantic cruise out of Barcelona, this time on the Jade, for 14 nights, and then the Jade's 7-night western Caribbean cruise back-to-back with it! The pricing was great, we know the people are fantastic, we are going to have so much fun. One thing we've learned is that people who have a spirit of adventure enough to move to another continent, are people who make travel a blast!! I just wish every travel- and fun-loving cruiser would join the fun!

Have you sailed on the NCL Jade? What did you like the most/least? What would be on your don't-miss-this list?

I'm dying to hear back so I can share it with our other cruising friends on Facebook!

NCL's website is rarely up-to-date with current information.

Only the SDP can now be purchased, no more UDP except for those who got it with their booking last year.

I have heard something about a service charge on both the Drink pkg. and Dining pkg. Can anyone tell me how much it is and if it is per drink or per day or what? I was unable to find this info on NCLS website.

Thanks!

I kind of thought we would probably have to disembark for a while, for those reasons.

But I DIDN'T know that it would mean we don't have to do the muster drill again. That kind of deserves a "yay!" all its own!!

Hubby and I are booked on our first back-to-back cruise...we will be on the NCL Jade out of Barcelona, for the 14-night trans-Atlantic crossing on October 30th, which ends up in Tampa, Florida, and then going on her 7-night western Caribbean cruise on Nov. 13th.

My question is.....do we HAVE to get off the ship in Tampa between the two cruises? We are supposed to have the same stateroom on both legs.

Never having been to Tampa, we may want to disembark anyway, but if we want to stay aboard, is it allowed?

If it makes a difference, the ship will call in to the port of Miami on November 11th, two days before winding up in Tampa, so Tampa will not be our first US port.

Well, I hope it is as SuperMommy describes it, and I hope it IS open by the time we cruise. Although it will be the first time in Belize for some of our friends booked on the same cruise, we have been to Belize before. We enjoyed our shore excursion at that time (Shark/Ray alley), but I would just as soon chill out on the beach, now!

From what I can gather, it is a kind of private island that NCL will own or have exclusivity to....We are booked on the NCL Jade's Nov. 13, 2016 sailing, and so far, we are hearing that it will call into Harvest Caye for our Belize port.

But, we have never been on a cruise where the ship docks at a private island. What does that mean, exactly? Will we be able to disembark the ship and walk onto this.....this....well, what looks like a fabulous resort-style place with beaches and pools and cabanas, etc., etc.?

Or, do you have to pay a ship's short excursion price to DO anything (like sit on the beach or swim in the pool, etc.)?

It looks a bit too good to be true to have all that waiting for us by just walking off the ship, and not have to pay the ship for an excursion (which, at their prices, I figure is a major source of income for them).

If you have been to a similar stop, can you give a gal the 4-1-1?

Last time we were in Europe on a Carnival (Med) cruise....the pricing started out as usual...fairly high prices.

 

And, as usual lately, it was a new ship doing Med itineraries until late in the year when it came to the US.

 

Anyway, as time for our cruise drew near, the prices started to fall....my memory is faulty these days, but I am thinking the 16 day transatlantic fell to something like $699. (inside).

 

My point is that pricing this far out for any cruise line is a crap shoot. Prices will likely look very different by January of '16.

$699 would've been fantastic....but believe it or not, the 16-day TA we did on NCL's Epic last Oct/Nov....we got an inside stateroom and paid under $400 for it. Yeah, it was hard to resist that.

This is for a group, so we have to give people lots of time. But I swear, after this, I want to start trying for the last-minute deals!

It's all about supply, demand, loading factors, etc, etc. Fir the criteria you're looking at right now, NCL apparently is still trying to fill up the sailing. Nothing wrong with NCL BTW. Several aspects of NCL trump Carnival for me, but I bounce between HAL, NCL and Carnival freely :)

 

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This won't be our first NCL cruise....I think it's our 6th or 7th. Not one of those cruises were GREAT. We enjoyed them for the itineraries, but the NCL experience, especially on the cruise on the NCL Epic last October/November, we felt like we were nickled-and-dimed to death. Only LOTS of nickles and LOTS of dimes. *LOL*

The cruise we have booked is for October of NEXT YEAR. I imagine they'll get it filled. :) At least it isn't the Epic. I've checked out Member reviews for the Jade....at least Member reviews on that are like 79% positive, while on the Epic the reviews are only 66% positive....so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :)

Eyes wide open for NCL...

 

Lots and lots of changes, upcharges, new fees and service cuts...

Even if you read your T&C things are subject to change at the drop of the hat-sometimes even mid-cruise....

 

As a platinum NCL'er I've cancelled my next 2 cruises and am looking to book w/ CCL or RCCL

Yes, unfortunately, I am already having to kind of "hang out" on the NCL forums to keep up on stuff.....and there is a thread that says starting May 1st they will be charging for Room Service, any time of day. Either $4.95 or $7.95. Aaaargh!

I mean, don't get me wrong -- We will have a fun cruise, but it is as if the things we LOVE about cruising are being screwed around with.

Hubby and I spent weeks researching cruises....we wanted to find a nice long cruise for our group, preferably a Trans-Atlantic, at a really good price. We narrowed the list down to about 20 cruises, of which maybe only two were Carnival cruises. And when it came right down to it, Carnival's best prices were nowhere near NCL's. :(

So, yes, we are booked on a 21-night cruise for under $60/night pp, but it is on NCL! <insert crying smilie here>

This happened last year, too. We always used to be fairly certain to find great pricing on Carnival, but lately it seems they are getting beat out. And I wonder if Carnival is feeling too "comfortable" about their loyal customers.

It's true -- we DO love Carnival cruises. All things being equal, we will choose Carnival EVERY time. Even if things were ALMOST equal, we would choose Carnival. But it is difficult to justify $100/night vs. $60/night pp. Especially over 21 nights.

I hope this isn't a permanent trend.

Well, that will SUCK rotten eggs.

Hubby and I often (maybe not EVERY night, but almost every night), would order a midnight snack from Room Service. A little something sweet with a coffee or hot tea.

Looks like we'll have to plan ahead and make sure we take something sweet from the Buffet during the day, for later!

I surely hope this doesn't become an industry-wide trend.

Yes, but think about how much the free drinks package would have been worth!

I prefer Iced Tea to anything else....it wouldn't have been worth much to me. ;)

Thanks for the replies!

I thought that it might be the case that laundry rooms were going by the wayside on cruiseships....

That's okay.....My bathing suit is the item worn the most on a cruise, anyway! :)

Hubby and I are booked on a 21-day Trans-Atlantic cruise on the NCL Jade (Oct. 2016). Last Fall, we did a similar (but only 16 day) TA on the NCL Epic.

We are Platinum cruisers on Carnival which gives us one free laundry bag for every 7 days on a cruise, but we are only Gold with NCL -- and I am not sure what perks, if any, that brings. On our Epic cruise, we were not too concerned about laundry because up until that time, every cruise ship we'd been on that wasn't Carnival, had at least a few passenger-use laundry rooms. We were unpleasantly surprised to find that there were none on the Epic. (There is a humongous casino and a perfume store larger than our entire condo, but apparently no room for a couple of self-help laundry rooms! *L*).

What I am wondering, since we are unfamiliar with the NCL Jade, is whether it has a passenger-use laundry room.

It won't make a difference as to our enjoyment of the cruise; I just want to know up-front if we should expect to use the ship's laundry service at least once, and budget accordingly!

Choosing our Freestyle promotion was easy for us. We booked a 21-day Trans-Atlantic cruise for 2016....it only had 4 ports, total. We are not that big on the specialty dining spots, so we opted for the gratuities -- well over $500 value on this long cruise!

My husband and I recently disembarked from a 2-week trans Atlantic cruise on the Epic.

I haven't had time to write a review, yet.

You probably do not really want to read it. It won't be great. We were very disappointed in the ship. (We did not like the stateroom design, were disappointed in the service in the Dining Rooms, felt as though we were nickeled-and-dimed constantly)

But we did love the itinerary! I think it is hard to have an actual "bad" cruise. The vacation itself was wonderful! And, when you sail, you will also be on vacation, and on a cruise ship, so I'm sure you will have a good time!

another thing i suppose i want to add, is that although the 'carnival experience' has changed, a lot of them are net benefits in my opinion. and as you're concerned given the 'nickel and diming' on NCL, i think you may be pleasantly surprised that most of the 'changes' are 'included' on carnival...

 

just a few off the top of my head:

 

as mentioned - platinum can now go right to your room on boarding, with priority luggage delivery - included.

 

guys burgers - new specialty burger joint inspired by guy fieri - included.

 

upgraded pizza - included.

 

blue iguana cantina - mexican food, tacos and burritos, etc. - included.

 

taste bar - featuring 'hors d'oeuvres' representative of several of new branded spaces - included (though it did replace the sushi cart / bar)

 

dive in movies - the big screen, with semi-current movies, with popcorn - included

 

cucina del capitano - italian place with made to order pasta - free for lunch, nominal charge for dinner

 

seaday brunch - included (though it did replace breakfast AND lunch on sea days - but imo it's menu is upgraded including things like steak and eggs, and both breakfast and lunch items - you can go for both if you like...

 

ropes course on magic, breeze and sunshine - included...

 

upgraded waterworks on numerous ships - included...

 

so, some change is good, and unlike some of the competition, most of the 'new stuff' they've added is actually included

This is good to know. On the Epic, they had pizza 24/7.....but it cost you $5!!! We've always enjoyed that you could go up to Lido deck, on Carnival, and get pizza (or a Caesar salad) at any time! And free room service? Not after midnight on the Epic....after midnight there is a $3.95 "service charge." A "special" dining place? Definitely would cost you something. In addition to the 2 main dining rooms, and the Lido buffet, there was one other "complimentary" dining spot on the Epic...but once again, any drink other than water would cost you, and so would an ice cream for dessert!

You are definitely helping me feel better about the prospect of a nice long cruise on Carnival, again!

This comment caught me off guard. Is it really that big of a deal to talk to other people? I know if I were doing something to interfere with the vacation of others, I'd much much much prefer that they just tell me so I can correct whatever I was doing rather than have some authority figure wave their finger at me.

Actually, I spoke about confronting other guests, not just talking to them.

The issue, specifically, was the "saving" of deck chairs. 2000 deck chairs and 4000 passengers. And a supposed policy that says "saving" deck chairs is not allowed, and if one is away from a deck chair for 1 hour then staff will remove any items from the chair, which can be reclaimed at Guest Services. But, people would get up at 6:00 a.m., put out towels, etc., to "save" the chair and then maybe -- MAYBE -- show up by 10:00 a.m. to claim their chair. The staff were not enforcing NCL's stated policy, and so you would have people coming to the deck, looking for a chair, seeing dozens and dozens of chairs with no one in them, for HOURS, but apparently unavailable. You cannot confront OR talk to someone who isn't there. And there is no way I would take on the responsibility of removing someone else's items....would you? So, people would go to ship staff and were told "It is freestyle cruising and it is their vacation!" And I mean, lots of people. Going to Guest Services resulted in promises of someone contacting you about your concerns, but never an actual contact or phone call. Want to know when they finally started enforcing their deck chair policy? On the last full sea day! *LOL* We figured it out by the 3rd day. We, too, would go up and stake our deck chair claim. But unlike others, we would make sure we were never gone for more than 45 minutes at a time! ;)

Well....I'm almost -- but not exactly -- worried.

Hubby and I have been on a few cruises. Mostly with Carnival. Our first cruise, back in the early 80's, was on the Carnivale, and we are Platinum with Carnival. We have also cruised NCL and RCL, but have always found Carnival to be the best fit for our definition of "value for the money."

We just got off a trans-Atlantic cruise on NCL's Epic. And even though I think it almost impossible to have a really BAD cruise (short of the ship running aground or sinking), we both felt it was one of our least favorite cruises, as far as the ship was concerned (the itinerary was great, though). We felt as though we were nickeled-and-dimed at every turn. The service in both dining rooms was the worst we've ever experienced. It seemed as though all concerns (about other passengers not adhering to NCL's policies) taken to staff was ignored and answered with "Well, we are 'freestyle' and it is their vacation" (like it wasn't our vacation, too)...At the adults-only deck, they had a bar and small food buffet, but anything other than water (i.e., even iced tea or coffee) COST you and there was no self-service area. The rooms were tiny and poorly designed and the lighting was terrible!

We are thinking of putting together a cruise (for us and friends) on Carnival's cruise from Long Beach to the Hawaiian islands.

I read John Heald's blogs, and his Facebook posts, and I get the impression that there have been some changes made by Carnival that may make this proposed cruise feel pretty much the same. Have they really done away with the past-guest's party in the theatre or one of the lounges? And just the other day I read a post by John where he seemed to think that passengers should confront other passengers about problems rather than talk to Security or ship's staff first!

Are these kind of things happening industry wide?

*sigh*

I don't know. I imagine we will still do the cruise, but one couple that are friends of ours, this will be their FIRST cruise and we'd love for it to be the wonderful experience we found our first cruise to be. Is the service still as good in the Main Dining Rooms on Carnival ships? Do they enforce their policies? Heck, do they even still have "elegant night"?

We were disappointed in NCL. Not big fans of RCL, either. Should we be looking at Princess?

All the outlets I've seen (on Epic and other ships) have been above the surface of a desk or table. I've never seen outlets near the floor in a passenger cabin.

In this thread there is a post that talks about the two outlets in their balcony room that reads:

"...one inside a lower cabinet along the desk area."

That does not mean that a non-balcony room will be the same, but it doesn't mean it WON'T, either. And when I read "lower cabinet along the desk area" it sounds lower than the desk to me. Now, that could just be me not understanding the description, but it isn't like I'm totally off in left field thinking it's possible, whether I've seen one that low or not.

I'll be happy if it isn't too low -- we are accustomed to the outlets being on the wall right by the desk area (as they have been on the Carnival ships we've sailed), which is convenient, but does tend to make the desk area cluttered, IMO. If our outlet winds up inside a cabinet, it might be nice, but I wouldn't like it to be so low that we are bending down to plug or unplug this charger or that one.

to the OP - not sure why you would get an extension cord. Just plug in your stuff.

I just read it suggested somewhere on these boards (or some other place that discussed the Epic ship staterooms)....and I was under the impression the outlet was like UNDER a desk or counter area, or something. I assumed the extension cord was so you didn't have all your stuff on the floor, or down very low so you had to bend over to get to the things that you have charged.

We don't do kneeling on the floor all that well. :D

I have a feeling some of the comments in this thread would not relate to our party.

As I said, I am a bit unfamiliar with NCL.....but the concierge and butler sounds like it is a perk for those in suites. Am I correct?

We are in a regular inside stateroom, so assume we won't be assigned either a concierge or a butler. ;)

I have already read that the Epic (as in most cruise ships we've been on) only has one 110 outlet in each regular stateroom (there may be more in suites, but we're not booked in a suite). Advice was to bring an extension cord and power strip.

Yeah, we forgot to bring those. We're in Barcelona. We can get extension cords and power strips, but they are for the 2-pronged 220 electrical outlets here in Spain.

My question is: is there an outlet in the stateroom that will accept those 2-pronged 220 devices? We have already purchased adapters that have allowed us to use our US appliances (hair dryer, phone and computer chargers, etc.) in the Spanish outlets....and I was wondering if we bought a power strip and extension cord here, if we could then just use our adapters to adapt it BACK to our 110 US appliances?

Hope this question is clear. *LOL* And thanks in advance to anyone that knows the answer!

Thank you so much for your reply! Now, one less thing to think about -- other than having a great time here in Barcelona -- before our cruise!