marelind

UGH! I feel so bad about the M&G.

I finally met Bonni and explained what happened. I put the time in my phone as 1pm and not 11am (not sure what I was thinking).

 

I even had snacks and drinks and such setup for the cabin crawl. I felt so bad. :(

In response to your original question, part of what I factor in to the tipping question are two questions: 1) was I happy to give what I did, or did I do it out of guilt, and 2) did I give more than I can afford to give? Of course, all the other questions that outweigh those two are: is it appropriate for the amount of assistance given, was I cheap, etc. But I do ask my two questions also.

About the time on the phone issue, when I travel to my son's house two time zones away, if I put an event onto my iPhone calendar, when I get home it is two hours off. I don't know how to adjust for the time difference, but I wonder if that is what happened to you. :confused:

Hi. We are leaving on the Jewel in a few weeks. If we go to the 7:15 show, will we have time to make 8:30 dinner reservations I the specialty restaurants? We will have our niece with us and don't really want to eat later if possible.

 

Thanks!

Melody

The shows are 7:00 and 9:00 pm. They last about an hour, so an 8:30 reservation should be just fine.

thank you all! i really hate room selection! lol although I know just being in the Haven will be great as well no matter what room :)

 

my gut says to change to 14012 as I like the starboard side a little better going in and out of ports but im most nervous about the possible blue light or deck below. but also heard that further back you are by the bathrooms and closer to the engines? is that a bother?

We just spent 2 weeks in 14012. There was no engine noise. I'm not sure what you mean by back by the bathrooms. If you mean by the bathrooms in the haven, there is a hallway between and we never heard any noise from the hallway at all. What is nice is that no one, except those going to 14014 will pass by your cabin and the doorway to the haven is away from your door. We also liked the fact that there is no canopy below the balcony, so you look right out onto the ocean.

The one issue we had in the cabin is that for some reason it took a looong time for the hot water to get to the master bath.

Here is the update to my original post. Just prior to our last 13-day cruise I called the NCL Access Desk and asked if the Medical Center on the ship would start an IV. The rep contacted the Medical Department who said that if we had all the supplies needed they would start the IV for us and then charge us the customary fee. DH opted not to do this for the 2 week cruise.

However, we just booked a 34-day cruise. DH has opted for me to learn how to start an IV. :eek: We shall see how this progresses! ;)

You cannot rely on the ship's oxygen unless you want to pay for hospital stay. However, you could probably get nebulizer treatments in the medical center. I do not remember what I (my insurance) paid for daily treatments. Yes, my POC died on a land and sea trip. Virtually all the ships have quality air. If you require oxygen 24 hours/day, I'd suggest that you rent a standard unit also.

 

If you are flying to and from the ship, be sure to contact the airline and advise them exactly what type of POC you are traveling with. Delta also wants to know your prescription and will tell you the minimum number of batteries you will have to have. None of the other airlines I have used asked for prescription.

 

Have a wonderful cruise,

Betty

I concur. DH travels with a POC. He is not dependent on it 24/7; he uses it to sleep, to fly and upon exertion. We had a situation where we were on a 17 day cruise through the Panama Canal. One hour before leaving the last US port (Miami) for 14 days the POC stopped working. We called the supplier who told us they could not ship a unit outside the country. DH would be without O2 for 14 days. Things got pretty intense. Fortunately we found out a breaker in the cabin had flipped. Once we fixed that we had no further problems. After that experience I am convinced that if it gets to the point where he needs oxygen 24/7 we will take the POC to fly and to move around the ship and rent a full concentrator for the cabin.

Does anyone know how special diets work in the suites? Specifically the butler taking care of in-suite dining and Cagney's breakfast & lunch service.

 

Typically we have someone in the main dining room who is our point person for ordering in advance. This is our first suite so I'm wondering how they handle the special diet issues. If anyone has experience I would appreciate any info.

TIA

 

 

-Ginger

 

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This may cover a lot of ground you don't need, but for those who might want the info I'm including an overview.

We were in the Haven on the Jewel in April. My mother needed a low/no salt diet. We met Felicitas, the server who handles special diets in Azura, the first night. She gave us her phone number and that of her counterpart in the other MDR; one or the other always picked up as they cover for each other. We worked with Felicitas on all dining rooms. She explained that some of the restaurants prepare everything "a la minute" or at the time of the order. They can adjust the meals on the spot and you don't need to pre-order. Other restaurants prepare sauces and marinade the meat ahead so it is best to pre-order with her.

Cagney's was one restaurant that was able to accommodate us without a preorder, so breakfast and lunch were easy if we were in Cagney's. As far as ordering from the butler, we did not do that, but if I were you I would preorder through Felicitas (or her equivalent) and then explain to the butler that you had preordered and ask him/her to coordinate with Felicitas to get the correct meal for you. I'm sure they do it all the time.

I have done both Alaska and Mexican Riviera cruises on NCL. I had a fantastic time on both cruises. The experiences are very different, but I would recommend trying the Mexican Riviera cruise for someone who has already done Alaska but not Mexico. On both Mexican Riviera cruises I took, we only went to Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. The cruise lines are again starting to make port calls in Mazatlan. Cabo is somewhat similiar to Orange or San Diego counties in California. There are plenty of adventure and beach activities and a great party atmosphere in Cabo. Puerto Vallarta provides a more authentic Mexican experience, although I concede in a somewhat touristy, Disneyland-like way. PV is very safe and clean. PV definitely has a more urban feel than Cabo. We had a great time on our excursion to Las Caletas during a port call in PV in November 2013. Las Caletas was the home of movie director John Huston, and is now a private beach resort. An excursion there includes a coastal cruise from the PV cruise pier, snacks on the way, an excellent buffet lunch, all activities such as kayaking, paddle boarding, snorkeling (scuba diving is an extra charge), open bar (no blender drinks-apparently they have no electricity). The snorkeling at Las Caletas was great, lots of colorful fish. I think a visit to the Mexican Riviera gives people an opportunity to see that Mexico is not all about drugs and violence. You will have a chance to see a different culture, one with a long and fascinating history. You also might get to practice speaking Spanish and to sample new foods. Mexican food is not Taco Bell. Language and a cuisine provide the greatest insight into another culture. Yes, you will see glimpses of poverty in both Cabo and PV, but this can be a learning experience for people with limited international travel experience who don't have first-hand experience seeing that life for a very large percentage of the world's population is not the same as their life in the suburbs of the American Midwest. It's one thing to see the world on TV from the comfort of your home in a detached way that doesn't touch you personally, and another to experience the sights and sounds of the world in person. People can come away with a greater appreciation not only for what they have at home, but also with a greater sensitivity to the daily struggles of people in other countries.

I couldn't have said it better. You'll have to decide what works best for your family, but Mexican Riviera provides a cultural experience you won't get on the Alaska cruise. It isn't always comfortable to be in a different culture, but it expands one's perspective that life does not always look, taste or feel the same in all parts of the world, and that different isn't necessarily bad.

One consideration is whether you lose any onboard credit or benefits from your original booking by rebooking. You can find that out by talking with whom ever you booked with, TA or NCL PCC.

If you lose nothing, by all means, rebook a balcony over a OV.

We were upsold to the Owner's Suite on the Pearl on the third leg of our first cruise. We have not been able to book anything but a suite since then. :o We have sailed the Star and the Sun which do not have the Haven and we have been perfectly happy, probably because we don't sun by the pool. As long as we have the suite perks and a nice cabin we are happy with or without the Haven.

We have told our PCC with varying results. Sometimes we get a card in our cabin upon embarkation which is to be presented in the MDR or specialty restaurant to receive a cake for dessert. Honestly, there are so many better choices for dessert and so much food to eat we rarely turn the card in for the cake.

I have brought wine onboard in the past and never paid corkage fee. If you open it yourself in your cabin you do not get charged. If you bring it to the dining room that is when they charge you. Atleast this is how it has always worked for me. If we want to have a glass of wine with our dinner we just pour it in our room and bring it with us to dinner. (Dont forget a corkscrew) Happy Cruising

This must not have been on Norwegian. Our last cruise in April we paid the corkage, and they gave me an NCL corkscrew and said it would be best if we opened it in our cabin and carried it to the restaurant. :confused: I said that we always carry it to the restaurant unopened, and again, they said we should open it in our room. Once on the ship we did as we always have, and the servers at the restaurants were always ready to open the wine and pour for us.

I do think the crowd is slightly older and fewer children on a longer cruise. One more observation about a "more than 7-day cruise" is that people seem much more relaxed from the very first day. It has always felt on a 7-day that people on embarkation day are hurrying up to get everything planned and settled with the steward (and butler in suites) and with reservations, excursions, etc. On the longer cruises it seems that people start out more relaxed and that the press to get reservations for the specialty restaurants is less because you can spread them out a little more.

DH is on oxygen and we have traveled with a POC several times. We have used Inogen, Sequel Eclipse, DeVilbiss Igo and Respironics Simply Go. They are all good and reliable. One is not better than another in terms of reliability. The biggest consideration is if your husband can use the oxygen on pulse mode or if he has to have it continuous. Along with that it is important to know how many liters per minute. The answers to these questions will rule out different machines.

There are various companies that rent the POCs. Lately, the company that supplies my husband's oxygen had POC's they would provide in place of the O2 at home.

I agree with the other posters that you need to look up on your airlines website their requirements for flying with a POC. Every airline has their own paperwork and method of contacting them. Usually the paper has to be signed by your doctor and communicated to them at some point. Some say within 10 days of flight and some as soon as possible. I don't think there are any airlines that supply oxygen any more. There are many POCs that now qualify with the FAA.

I, too, have been hesitant to post, but here goes. I agree with Fishbait that what works for one passenger doesn't work as well with someone else. I feel for the butler who is trying to figure out what the passenger really wants. Some passengers want very personal service, some very little.

With that said, we have had butlers we "meshed" with very well and others not so much. Was it us? Was it them? I can't say for sure, but hands down our favorite butler is Juremar (sorry to any other butler we've had that's reading this). We had him on the Pearl for a two week Panama Canal and again on the Sun last September. When we walked into the VIP lounge at boarding in September and saw him I hugged him! He "gets" us and is very good at communicating until he is clear on what we are thinking.

I would also say that I have met concierges that in the beginning of the cruise I thought was aloof and unfriendly, but by the end of the cruise I find I really like. I don't want to be their best friend, but to be a person to them. It seems to happen when we have a chance to talk a little as people, not on a professional level, about family and home. That seems to be the time I get a connection with them.

You never know what is going on inside them, they are people after all. One butler admitted they were so "done" with the cruise ship life. That conversation enlightened me as to the tiredness and lack of enthusiasm I had seen throughout our cruise. Was that butler a "bad" butler? No, just not our favorite.

So wait... Every time I order food while sitting in the Haven, I'll have to have cash on me? That ruins the experience somewhat.... Can someone verify?

 

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The way I handle it is to mentally keep track of how much I use the valet and then at the end of the cruise find them to give them a gratuity for the entire cruise.

My understanding is that a) all bar drinks have a gratuity added already, and b) the Haven/courtyard valets that bring food and drinks are not covered in the daily service charge. I don't know about the larger ships; my information is from the Jewel class ships.

IMHO, just skip over them if you aren't interested, just as you would the other subjects that are not of interest to you.

I thought your username looked familiar. We shall be on the Jewel together. I have not been out of New Orleans before, so I don't know if they have a ramp or not. Some ports, like Los Angeles, have elevators that take you up to the boarding deck.

First, call NCL Access desk (866-584-9756) about 6 weeks prior to embarkation to let them know you will need a wheelchair at embarkation.

As soon as you get to the port you may ask for a wheelchair. They will usher you through registration and on to the ship. You may dismiss the chair when you have gotten to where you need to be. (They do appreciate a tip. ;))

Will be sailing soon and we are platinum. First time being given the behind the scene tour. One of us is not as interested in doing it as the other one and are wondering if we could have someone that will be sailing with us replace the platinum person to join in on the tour?

 

How strict are they with regards to this does anyone know??

Last time the Hotel Manager checked me in asking my name. I'm not sure he would know who I was by sight, so it might work. Other times the concierge has checked me in and s/he would know. All you can do is ask.

On the ship tour on the Sun last September they took us to the special diet section of the galley. It is a specific area that handles all the special diets in such a way that there is no cross contamination. They said that those who request a special diet preorder their meals each day and their meals are served with the rest of their dining partners. I don't remember much else about it.

Thanks for the information on the Jewel!

I am booked in a 2 BR family villa in the Haven on the Gem in May. Does anybody know if any of the Haven area is off limits to children?

Children may be in the Haven area with adult supervision. (Actually, they can probably be in the Haven without supervision, but you won't make any friends, especially on this board, if you don't supervise them.) Prepare to be flamed for even asking the question. :rolleyes:

Any Jewel updates?

Ditto!

There will be a menu in your suite when you board. The Butler will gather your choices for you. I tried calling the pre-cruise concierge last time....indicated which bottles we wanted....and the only thing in the suite when we arrived was the menu!! :D

The butler can not access the liquor until they leave port and the bar manager can release it, so I was told it can't be in your cabin when you first arrive.