bsblindab

for refundable..is the fare more $$?

I wish Anthem didn't do 5 day cruises. 9 and 12 day cruises on Anthem are much better. Like night & day.

 

Did you reserve the 3 main shows in advance?

'Spectra Cabaret' in 270.

'We Will Rock You' in the theater.

'The Gift' in the theater.

 

Did you arrive at the shows 45 minutes prior to show start times?

 

Did you make reservations or use the stand by line for Northstar? RipCord? Escape Room?

 

Did you eat in Wonderland? Did you use the Seaplex? Bumper Cars, Rollerskating, Hot Dog stand, etc..

 

Tip:

Next time you disembark a ship, use porter service, porters bypass the long lines at customs, they have a separate line at customs, and you are out of the terminal extremely fast.

 

5 days on Anthem is simply not enough. Passengers are rushing to cram in activities & shows.

 

 

:cool:

We did a 7day NCL cruise to Bermuda out of NYC and had 3 days in Bermuda on a Balcony. My next cruise in Jan will be on RCL..so it will be interesting. I would have liked to go out of NJ (for me much easier to navigate than NYC) but I've heard Balimore isn't to bad

If you are someone that would get the soda package, you more than likely drink more that $9 worth of sodas at per soda ship cost.

My husband is the soda junkie..I'll take Iced Tea :) and you're right per soda can that's pricey too :p

Because it's significantly cheaper you book in advance.

 

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WOW cheaper?? this is our first RCL cruises. and they are $9.99 per day for soda!

We LOVED LOVED LOVED our Hawaii cruise. We had a balcony..and faced the coast as we went past. My most favorite Island was kauaii. My son and his Fiance' were with us and said they would love to go back and get married on the beach..all for it :) We did Cagneys, Japenese, and LeBistro. Cagneys and Japenese was great!! LeBistro we sat for 2hrs..almost an hour before the first course was served..and my future DIL is diabetic..she had to eat..I was so upset I put in a courtesy card..but never heard anything. Loved eating out on the fantail for breakfast..I could go on and on..and the Luau!! Would definitly go again!!

Our August 2019 cruise has full dining options available but no drinks packages.

 

I was wondering if there was a set time out when they become available or are they released in batches.

 

 

 

 

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HA..my Jan 2019 cruise I see the beverage package..but no dining...as of yet..WOW..9.99 a day for soda..for 12 days that is awfully pricey

There is no cost to join, so why wait? You get a few coupons at the gold level. When you do sign up, make sure they give you credit for the cruises you have already taken.

you sign up after your first cruise right?

I don't even see one being offered for my cruise..which is in Jan. so wasn't sure if it was to soon or not

You never know, but those sound pretty good to me.

 

Here's how it works: Buy now. If the price decreases later, cancel and rebook at the lower price.

 

No harm, no foul.

When can you pay for those packages? do you have to have final payment made? or a month or so before cruising? first time RCL

what is the earliest you can eat dinner on MTD

NCL doesn't have much in the way of TV either..Our first cruise on Carnival back in 2008..I believe they had satellite TV..didn't want to miss my Survivor back then :)

I think you may be referring to something like Playmakers which is a new concept on Symphony of the Seas. It's not complimentary, however.

this will be our first RCL cruise on Grandeur ... We've always liked what was the Blue Lagoon on NCL

we LOVE LOVE LOVE MTD!. Have done MTD since it was first introduced and will never go back to traditional. Love going to eat when we feel like it. We rarely make reservations, but you can if you want. I don't think we have ever waited more than 5 minutes to get a table. Just love the flexibility of going to dinner when we want vs when we have to.

What would be the advantage of Late/early dining over MTD?

Personally, I love MTD...you can make reservations for the same or different times each day. There are two lines, one for people with reservations and one for those without. I have never waited more than 10 minutes in either line!

so with MTD I could make a reservation for "late night" dining or early..and as long as I have a reservation for a specific time I should be good? I didn't want to do late night as that's to late..but you never know

24 hour pub much better than Cafe Promenade.

 

On ships without a CP if there is a Park Cafe they have some late night snacks.

 

Royal buffet closes 9pm. NCL has late night hours w fresh offerings.

 

Debarkation morning we have a full MDR menu on NCL, not case on Royal. Also MDR open for lunch on NCL on embark day, not on Royal. Royal sea day salad bar in MDR is a winner.

After hitting the buffet on one of our NCL embark day..it was a pleasure to do the dining room for lunch on our next cruise.

Does RCL have anything comparable to what was the Blue Lagoon on NCL? fish and chips/chicken wings etc

We did a cruise in 2015. We had a balcony and felt it was roomy enough for us. While I would have liked the Marriott..we did a Acqua hotel instead across from the Hawaian Hilton..(Still didn't get to see Steve McGarrett) Would LOVE to go back again. However, this time would like to spend a few days either pre/post cruise as the food can be very pricey. We did a luau on Kauai..which was probably my favorite. didn't do any NCL excursions..did some research and booked a few with the locals. My son/girlfriend did however and they enjoyed them. They said next time they would rent a car..especially when you spend more than one day on an island. My only gripe was the French restaurant..We had one of the first reservations and it took 1.5hrs to be fully served. They had a large group they had to prepare for was their excuse..not an excuse in my book especially when we had a diabetic that needed to eat..But honestly I would do this cruise again and again..the plane ride is what kills me :)

Thanks, just cancelled W and booked the Marriott Waterfront. Went with Marriott because of rewards account!

We stayed at the Marriott back in 2010 when we went to Alaska..Was up at 3am..had a sorta ocean front view..so saw the ship come in sitting on the balcony. Our room was very nice and if we were able to go again for a cruise I would definitly do Marriott again. very convienient.. We had scheduled a ride from the ship to the airport..did early depart and I believe our plane was around 1pm...we had no problem.

would be nice. I have a Jan 2018 cruise booked with prepaid gratutiies that I need to cancel unfortunately..and would like to rebook..but those gratuties makes it super sweet

Everyone has their likes and dislikes as well as what is more important to them.

 

Me...I like open decks and being able to lean on the rail and look into the ocean feel the breeze on my face and watch the flying fish and sometimes dolphins or even a whale (on Transatlantics). Good luck doing that on the Epic.

 

The Gem and the Pearl (which you have sailed on) are at the top of my list of favorite ships of the 40+ I've sailed on. Besides their open decks, their Garden Café is the best designed buffet in the entire cruise industry. I spent 30+ years in the restaurant industry and promise you those two ships are probably the only ships in the cruise industry that their buffet was actually designed by restaurant professionals and not the architect. It has a natural flow of traffic, space and it's not massive cluster**** of people going everywhich direction, kitchen staff carrying hot food crossing through the crowd as well as bussers carrying dirty dishes through the crowd like you find on the Epic.

 

And then from the Garden Café you can go right out to the Great Outdoors. What a wonderful part of the ship to sit as you are sailing out of a port in the evening. On the Epic they call a few tables next to the pool area The Great Outdoors. What a joke.

 

And then there are the bathrooms...Or in the case of the Epic, the nonexistent bathroom. There's just something about standing in the middle of the cabin trying to shave from a tiny sink as water splashes everywhere including onto the desk/vanity. I guess it's a man thing women don't quite comprehend.

LOVED the Great Outdoors on the Pearl. One reason why we booked a balcony on the Star when we did our Bermuda cruise..no Great Outdoors :(

We did the Hawaii cruise November 2015 as my 60th birthday present. I LOVED it and if I could do it again I would I would I would

Yes. the epic has two Broadway shows that play on two nights each (total of 4 shows per show). There are over 4000 passengers and a 800 seat theater. To allow people to see the two main shows without crowding, they take reservations. Same is true of Breakaway, Getaway, and Eacape.

do you reserve a specific seat..like the movie theaters do now..or just a seat?

That's great to know. We've sailed NCL before and only reserved specialty restaurants but never shows (we always got there plenty of time so we knew we'd get in) nice to know that you can "reserve" but are not required to. Whew..

we've sailed NCL before and never had to reserve for a show. Is this something new with the bigger ships? the EPIC is the first "bigger" ship that we will be going on

We were on the Star to Bermuda in 2012 and enjoyed it immensely. that being said, we also did the GEM from NYC to Bahamas,,it was the first cruise after a trans back in 2010..After being on the Pearl a few months prior,,I was not very thrilled with the Gem..It had a new crew,,health inspections, delays etc. So possibly your issue with the Star was due to it being in the States first time