marelind

On 3/19/2024 at 9:23 AM, Noggins said:

Hello Maggie - this feels like a question where the answer is loaded with responsibility.....

We were in 6054. We weren't using the terrace all that much but we certainly witnessed / heard the water coming down on at least 3/4 occasions. The last occasion was the sound of quite a lot of water landing on 6052 terrace and coming through to us under the partition. (the neighbours  were out when it happened) The first time we heard it I would say it affected 4/5 rooms in the opposite direction. A lot of water was coming down - it made us wonder what on earth was going on. ('sprinkles' certainly do not describe it)

What eventually bothered me most was when moments after my wife had been looking over the rail a considerable amount of water came down. If it had hit her on the back of the neck it could have been a lot worse than just an unexpected dousing in water. It would, at the very least, knock glasses off.

As to the cause, it is harder to speculate as we never used the jacuzzis (dreadful, unhygienic things!). But my hunch is that the problem is twofold - movement of the ship (we had very little movement but it was still enough to send water down at seemingly random moments. It happened at night too) but also, probably, by displacement of water from people using the jacuzzis. They hold quite a number of people and, who knows, perhaps just two people could displace quite a bit depending upon ...... 🤭😳😬.

To keep this in context the terrace furniture is placed under the covered part of the terrace so only the foot end of the lounger is at risk of getting wet. We never got hit directly and didn't sit there in trepidation of an unwelcome alfresco shower.

The room host was well aware of the problem and he warned us early on. Furthermore, one day when we mentioned it had happened he said he would be reporting it again. (we didn't ask him to).

I've gone into quite some detail here as I understand why you are a bit worried. If I were you and I was told it wasn't possible to change room I would go ahead and just use the knowledge that you now have to avoid any possibility of a surprise or a disappointment - maybe you'll never experience it. If there is a room available that you'd be equally happy with that is not under the deck 11 jacuzzis then I would move. 

Does that help at all ....?

 

NB I still intend to go into a bit more detail on the room in general. 

Thank you for the warning. We just booked Explora II in September and I will be in GOT 6053. It would be nice if they solved the problem, but I'm grateful to be forewarned. 

I loved your reports and am looking forward to our cruise.

Following

Thank you for the quick answers!

I will be traveling with my son, daughter-in-law, and 12 yo grandson. Do all have to be Plus if one or two are?

so I know no one can answer this based on the particular ship, since it’s the bliss. But I just booked a deck 17 port side cabin only to realize the haven restaurant will be right above us. I usually like port side, but guess I should have looked. Also, the garden cafe is immediately below. So maybe there will be noise no matter what?

 

My question is should I move the cabin to the other side. Is it really noise to have the haven restaurant, or any restaurant, above you? Or is it potentially less noisy since the restaurant isn’t open all the time and when it’s closed, no one is above you?

 

Thanks for any answers.

My understanding is that the Haven Restaurant is on the starboard side (on the right when facing the front of the ship). If your cabin number starts with 171 then you are not on the same side as the Restaurant. If your cabin is 17716-17726 then you are under the restaurant.

I don't know if it will be noisy, but I hope not because we will be in cabin 17718 in October.

Sounds like the Maria I had 2x on the Escape...she is awesome! I wasn't aware she did night "butlering". Maybe she fills in sometimes?!

I was told by a couple of butlers that when they are ending or beginning a contract they are given the night shift.

Our absolute favorite was Juremar, but I've heard he's left Norwegian. Then Made, Walter and Mary Jane.

We do not drink sparkling wine. We have made requests to the pre-concierge, concierge and butler for the last few years to have the sparkling wine/champagne replaced with a regular wine and each time we were told those exchanges are no longer being made. Prior to the last few years we were able to get the exchange made. Possibly they would substitute a non-alcoholic beverage.

A few months after my 5 year old DGS's first cruise the family took a driving vacation. At the motel, DGS asked his mom where the towel animals were.

One lady, who was travelling solo, had gotten pulled in customs in SF. She has dark hair and an olive complexion, and they pulled her into the Customs room on the ship, asking her all kinds of questions and even googling her place of work. She was told, "People like you don't travel alone"

 

WTH?!?!

 

After it was all over, another official told her it was because she looked Phillipino and that someitmes crew try to slip past Customs into the US and "get lost" so they can stay illegally. (WTH?!?!). Aside from being horribly racist/profiling, has anybody ever heard about anything like that happening before???

Not saying what Customs did was right, but one of the times we were in San Francisco on a Pacific Coastal we were waiting for sailaway, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally the captain got on the PA and said there was a crew member who had not returned to the ship. What we were told in the ensuing days was that this crew member had been a relatively new hire and just disappeared into the city. Other crew members I spoke to said that it happens every so often that someone either signs a contract to get to the US or decides after signing a contract they would rather stay illegally in the US with family or friends. The captain was pi**ed off!! ICE would not let us leave until they were sure s/he was not coming back. We left a couple hours late.

We were on the Star the first week of April 2015 and there were 1000 children of the Splash Academy ages. My DIL received a letter a week or two before we sailed letting them know that with that large number of children space would be limited. My grandson was in the youngest group (3-5) and they were not as limited, but the older groups were often cut off. My DS and DIL spent quite a bit of time standing in line 2 or 3 times a day to check him in. I believe you sign them up on the first day.

Since we have the UBP we don't need the wine for dinner but we would have the bottle sent back to our cabin. Just curious to if we have any options. Not a big deal either way But like to understand possibilities. Probably not many with the old promos anymore.

There is no problem with taking the bottle with you to your cabin yourself. If you are in a suite it would also be easy to have the butler pick up the bottle and deliver it to your cabin, or since you are platinum the concierge should be able to arrange it.

Personally, I would not. We have been in and out of the World Cruise Port in San Pedro several times. It is very unpredictable as to the customs situation. We have had times when it has gone smoothly and you can walk off at 8:30, which would give you time to get to SNA in plenty of time.

Other times debarkation has been delayed or the Customs process is very slow. So if that is delayed you will be nervous and stressed about making it to the airport and through TSA.

Seems like a lot of work, but if you are willing to do it, I don't see why you shouldn't.

 

My question, is the Ensure a liquid form or is it powdered? If it's liquid, you can't bring it on. You could argue it's for health reasons but I'm not sure how that is going these days.

We received a "Liquid Policy Exemption" to bring Ensure on the ship in October by contacting the Access Desk ahead of time. We had already filled out the paperwork with them to explain the medical conditions and then requested exemption due to medical reason. We ran into a little hiccup when we got to the port in San Pedro. The security screener didn't want to let the Ensure through. They misunderstood the Liquid Exemption to be for water only. Fortunately, there was a NCL executive that had just gone through security that the screener could check with who said it was approved for all liquids.

When we checked in for the Haven in San Pedro in October the cards were not held in the VIP suites lounge/area, they were behind the check-in counter. It might be difficult unless you handed the person at the counter a note that explained the situation, and then they could go get the cards from the suites card holder.

If it was my spouse who made me stand in the long, long, long check-in line for 45 minutes when we could have walked up to the suites check-in, and then didn't let me enjoy the VIP suites area and lunch in the suites restaurant, just so I could be surprised at the room, I'd be :mad: Just sayin'....

Do you have an idea of what itinerary you are interested in? We have cruised in April/May. Our favorite itinerary is the full-transit Panama Canal because it is a warm weather cruise and has an almost equal number of sea days and port days. The problem is it is a 2 week cruise and most people don't have that much time.

We have also taken a Mexican Riviera cruise around that time. It is a warm weather cruise for the most part: warm in Mexico, but can get cool going in and out of LA. You will miss the Spring Break crowd which means it will be a quieter crowd with less children. We have also done the Pacific Coastal cruise LA to Vancouver around that time. Not quite as warm, but San Francisco and Victoria are great sightseeing ports.

We sail in suites on the Jewel and Dawn class ships. Our butler usually helps us set up my CPAP and DH's oxygen the first day and one meal a day in the cabin and 1 or 2 dinners in cabin during the week, in addition to the usual canapés, Lavazza, etc. We start the butler at $150 for the week for the two of us and adjust up if we ask for more or find s/he impresses us or down if we feel they leave us wanting.

We use the concierge for making 3-4 restaurant reservations, maybe book an excursion during the week. We start at $70 for the week and adjust up or down depending on their willingness to help or our increased requests.

DH likes to sleep in, so we plan on giving the steward $35 for the week and adjust up or down depending on their willingness to adjust to DH's schedule and their service.

We were disappointed in the choices. DH likes red wines: zinfandels, merlots, pinot noir and syrahs. The only one we liked was the pinot. We could buy a bottle of the Blackstone Merlot at home for about the price of a glass on the ship, so it's a very inexpensive wine. It would have been nice to have other choices. It didn't affect our cruise and the UBP was included as a perk, so it wasn't the end of the world, but it seemed a little chintzy on NCL's part.

Thank you! I assumed they had to have the elevators, I just couldn't see them the way they are usually shown.

The Escape Deck Plans on NCL.com do not show elevators going to deck 18 or 19. I would assume they do, but the plans don't show them, so help me out.

Thanks!

It should be on your account when you get on board. You may or may not have an amenities statement in your cabin when you board confirming your pre-purchased OBC. Bring whatever you have that shows you paid for the OBC. Most of the time the system works, but you would want to be prepared in the event it doesn't.

Be sure to turn off the cellular service once you leave the dock. I then turn on the wifi separately to connect to iConcierge or to the internet (with purchased minutes). Once I get to a US port I then turn on my cellular service and when I get AT&T showing I know I am on their cellular system.

I was on the Jewel for two weeks in October. We thought it was in good shape and the crew was great. What was unusual was that they were replacing the carpeting near the midship elevators on the cruise. I think they are trying to make sure that the ship is in good condition for it's journey to Australia.

Did you happen to get a copy/picture of the room service menu?

So sorry, I didn't.

Hi, you'll probably want to go to the Roll Call section of the boards to connect with your group of passengers. Here is an easy link to that page: http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2358875