getaway4fun

On 6/5/2019 at 6:06 PM, Kfeldmar said:

Ok so based on the responses-removing the elevators lol and adding the included on demand movies to the list. 

There is a slot above the elevator call button on most of the ships.  If you insert your Haven key card into the slot and push the button, the elevator is summoned immediately. Once in the elevator, there may or may not be a slot for your key card, and once again it gives that elevator priority to the Haven floors.  On the Epic only, there is a dedicated elevator from the Epic Lounge to the pool deck.  Only the Haven guests have access to this elevator.  

Love this thread! Have a few of my own to add and hoping that they will make someone chuckle or at least say "oh my":

1) In the Haven on our last cruise on NCL, watched a little boy go up to the cookie platter, pick up every cookie, inspect it, lick it and place it back on the platter. The Haven Butler quickly rushed over and asked the little boy why he had just did that. The little boy responded "if I lick it, my sister won't eat any of them". Butler responded that he was going to have to remove the platter and reminded the little boy to use the tongs and only take what he wanted to eat. Mother of the little boy came over and I thought it was going to be fireworks over the fact that the Butler had chastised her child. Instead, she politely told the Butler thank you and proceeded to reprimand her son. Little boy was not allowed cookies from the Haven for the rest of the cruise, but his sister was. Gotta say, though, I did kinda smile at his response!

2) Same cruise, different little boy-very sweet child with special needs. I am a Special Needs teacher so had no problem with him coming over and talking to me. This particular day I just really wanted some peace and quiet with my book so I told him I was going to read and enjoy the sun. An hour or so later, I noticed that his parents are no longer in the Haven and he is just kinda milling around talking to everyone. I motioned for him to come over and he told me that his parents had left him with the kind lady and that they would be back after their spa treatments. Haven Butler was alerted and the parents were summoned out of their spa treatments to come back and get their son. The father actually had the nerve to come up to me the next day and say he didn't think I would "mind" watching their son because I did that as a job. Wow!

3) Very first cruise on NCL and DH and I decided to check out Carlos and Charlie's in Cozumel with some of the other folks that we had met on board. Had a great time drinking and dancing. When we got back to the ship and headed to dinner, we saw the couple in the room next to ours. The Mom said that their 16 year old son had gone ashore, went to Carlos and Charlie's and got completely smashed. He told her that he had seen us there and she wanted to know why we had not stopped him from drinking?

4) DH and I were seated with a family of 6 on our second cruise. They were great fun and seemed to be up for anything. One of our ports was Jamaica and the teens/young adult children were joking with the parents that they were going to get some "local cigarettes" for them all to try. Well, at least we thought they were joking! Saw them at dinner that night and the entire family were so high they couldn't see straight. The Mom fell asleep at the table and had to be escorted out. The rest of the week we did not see them at all. When we arrived back in Miami, they were all being escorted off the ship by the Miami PD.

5) On our last cruise, there was a family with a toddler about 18 months old. On the first day, they came to the Haven area, stripped the child down and allowed him to wander the deck. If he had to pee, he just did in on deck. Lots of people complained, but they continued. On the 3rd day, we were walking past the casino and there in the corner was this family allowing their toddler to throw up - literally right next to a bathroom. Another lady went and reported this and the family were quarantined to their room for the rest of the cruise. Problem of the naked toddler - solved!

:D

We booked on a black Friday sale and saved $700 PP over the posted rate. The rate has never dropped to that great price again. Our friends decided to book too! That being said, I love any cruise...am not a Foodie and like the vacation casual atmosphere of NCL. We will book on any cruise line that has an itinerary and a price that meets our goals. We love to find a great booking bargain which are harder to find now.

Love me a good sale! Well done - $700 is a worthy "push to book" kinda deal. Until I am an empty nester, I am stuck with school holiday cruising so deals are not very plentiful. Looking forward to doing other cruise lines at off times and snagging a bargain or two. I have no doubt that we will end up on another NCL cruise when the price (and itinerary) are right. :)

I was actually responding to another poster's queries about the cabanas:

No worries! Subject that I originally posted about kinda got lost with their post. Still all good info for when we cruise to Coco Bay.:)

My DD18 Foodie loves Murano table side prep of food[/quote

 

If your daughter is a serious foodie, avoid Qsine. Very unsophisticated dishes. Go for Murano.

 

I hope you enjoy the Celebrity suite experience. This past fall we spent 30+ nights in a suite on the Solstice and felt very pampered indeed.

 

But regarding the DD's birthday dinner the specialty restaurant menus are available in several locations on the ship, including in Michael's Club. She may find one menu particularly appealing.

 

Thank you all for your wonderful information! Going to wait until we are onboard and able to see all of the menus before deciding on the venue for her celebration. Although she would probably not mind celebrating at every meal - LOL! :D

We are platinum on NCL and 2 of our 3 booked cruises are in suites on X. We have sailed exclusively in suites for the past 15 years but are disappointed in the overall NCL experience (dining, etc) and decided the time is now to try X. We have a corner AFT suite for our next 2 cruises and looking forward to it! We also booked Alcove for 2 days

 

 

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Hope you have a fabulous cruise! Please come back and let us know how it went and if you have any inside tips that you care to share. It is a real shame to hear that you too have jumped ship from NCL. We were so happy with them up until our last two cruises and have just felt the food has suffered. We are big foodies and that is such a treasured part of our holiday. We are looking forward to seeing what Celebrity has to offer. I did take the tip from another kind post to my initial question and booked the Alcove for the week. I think it will be a nice respite when we want to just relax and escape some of the Spring Break crowds.

Be sure to avail yourself to Michael's Club dedicated to suite passengers. You will find the bartender and concierge most accommodating, and a peaceful atmosphere if it suits you, or should I say if it suites you?

Sounds like a great place to meet people and to partake in a cocktail or two (maybe three!) Thanks for the tip!:)

We're platinum on NCL, as well. All cruises in the Haven. Unfortunately, our last couple of cruises on NCL were not up to par and have also moved on. We've sailed X five times in suites and love it. The RS is our preferred category and has a much larger balcony than most Haven rooms. The only downside is no reserved outside area for suites. We book an Alcove for the entire cruise and it has worked well for us. It provides a guaranteed spot for us to hang out every day without the noise around the pool deck. However, if quick access to the pool is important to you, the Alcoves will not be a good choice. They're located a deck above the pool surrounding the Lawn Club.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise. We have found the restaurants and overall feel of X a notch nicer than the Haven on NCL and haven't looked back.

Fantastic tip- thank you! I booked the Alcove for the week as a nice little respite from the pool area. Sorry to hear that your experience with NCL was on par with ours. I hate to lose the Platinum perks, but sometimes change is a good thing. The food looks amazing and I have already warned our friends that there will be lots of food pics being posted to social media.:D

Our first Celebrity cruise will happen in September of 2017. We have found that the price gap (the gap, not the affordability) between cruise lines has lessened making sailing on different cruise lines an viable option for us. We generally sail NCL but have been on Princess and Disney and now waiting to try Celebrity. We found a great price on an Alaskan cruise in September in a sweet 16 cabin so grabbed it. We will be sailing with friends on this cruise and can't wait to experience this cruise line.

Hope you have a fabulous cruise! We priced an equivalent suite on NCL to the one that we booked on Celebrity and it was $4000 more which I think is crazy. Having not been thrilled with our Owners' Suite or food in general on our last cruise, plus the price difference, we felt it was time to branch out and try something new. :)

Here are some photos of the cabanas at Coco Cay for suite guests:

 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/128581486@N04/pR43W0

 

The cabanas look wonderful, but unfortunately we aren't going to Coco Cay. Maybe next cruise with Celebrity!!:D

All restaurants will make you a free cake if you mention its your birthday or anniversary

 

 

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Thank you so much! DD will enjoy having cake and possibly the attention surrounding getting the cake.;)

For all of us who are "value cruisers" but enjoy a high level of service/flexibility do not overlook booking in AQ to have access to Blu dining. True it is definitely not eating in Luminae, Murano, or even Tuscan on X but the service level can be outstanding given having one of the better head waiters. Do not forget you can also buy up to these other specialty restaurants and if you know how to negotiate you may get a decent deal.You also will need to reserve one of the cabana cubicles for the daytime if this degree of isolation is important to you and you do not enjoy meeting new folks.

 

We do X to NCL at about a 3:1 ratio because we have not been on a cruise without prepaid drinks and gratuities for probably 4 years. We love sea days so when doing a Transatlantic are pretty much limited to NCL for these. Other than these we always go AQ on X. Our favorite ships are essentially all the S class.

 

I am a bit surprised by the OP's comments about the Haven suites on NCL (we have never tried these since we are, as I said, "value cruisers") as many posters on this site state that suites/perks on X are not quite as good as Haven on NCL. Strange...

Not sure why you posted this on my thread. I do not believe that I, in any way, said that i wanted to isolate myself and in fact, I do enjoy meeting new people, but it is my holiday and sometimes it is nice to just sit and read my book without being interrupted. I simply wanted more info on the Suites since we booked a Royal Suite and have never cruised Celebrity before. Having sailed NCL and been in the Haven 4 times, I believe I am allowed to have an opinion on the perks and service and really just wanted a few simple questions answered by someone that has experienced the Suite perks/service on Celebrity.

When you embark your butler will sit down with you and explain his services and take any special requests. Ours were small (water in the room each day, down pillows, coffee service at 7 am). He will get menus for you as well.

 

 

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Thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. :)

We have done 6 NCL cruises and 9 on Celebrity. Only been in a suite once, on Millennium due to an upgrade. We had a great Sky Suite.

 

I can't answer your specific questions, but can provide these comments.

 

1) In general, Celebrity excels in dining and its service. The staff just seem to be better trained on Celebrity. MDR food is better on Celebrity and its specialty restaurants are fantastic. NCL's specialty restaurants are also excellent, but X's are a cut above. Celebrity has a restaurant dedicated to people in suites, it is called Luminae and it is great. Service and food quality is tops. Some complain that it only offers three main courses, but if you want something from the MDR they can provide that.

 

2) Our butler when we had a suite was great. He was always there for us. We didn't use him a lot, since we don't need a lot of hand holding.

 

3) Our favorite specialty restaurant is Qsine, but it is a bit different from others. I wouldn't suggest it for a birthday unless you have a part of four. Qsine is great with four persons.

Thanks for the info! :)

Greetings to my new Celebrity friends! Platinum+ cruisers with NCL and were less than impressed with our last cruise so we are headed your way. Booking the RS on the Reflection and need Suite tips. We are Haven travelers with NCL, but really need that inside experience for the Suites at Celebrity.

Also, a couple of questions:

1) do the Butlers give you a tour of your suite the first day and explain the perks?

2) is there a designated area around the pool for Suites? Not trying to be snobby, but we are used to the Haven pool and always being able to get a sun lounger.

3) Best restaurant to celebrate my (total foodie) DD's 18th birthday?

4) Any can't miss shows?

Thank you!

Another vote for Bonine! My DS has always had trouble with motion sickness and we have tried everything - prescription and non-prescription, sea bands and oils. Bonine is the only med that doesn't cause him to sleep the cruise away. He can also take it when going out diving without any side effects.

Have a great cruise!

What about taking a small blow up pool for your child? I have seen this several times on our past cruises. You will then not have to stress if he is not potty trained and you will be free from worry on the cruise about any "accidents" that may jeopardize fellow passengers' enjoyment of the pools. I do not know how they filled them up, but it seemed to keep the little ones using them happy and content.

It is certainly no fun when the pools are closed down due to a sanitation issue, but it is not always the little ones that provide the "Baby Ruth". We were on the Epic a few years back and a young man defecated in the Haven pool, not once, but twice. On our 7 day cruise, the pool was closed on 2 different days for sanitation.

Good luck and have a great time on your cruise!

He will get credit for all of the cruises he took. My twin boys turn 18 in May and will be platinum right away :)

That is awesome news for all of our boys! My DS will be platinum too! Thanks for your quick response - much appreciated! :)

My DS just turned 18 so I am assuming now counts as an "adult" when cruising. Does he get credit for the cruises he took as a child or does he now start accruing cruises towards Latitudes status on our upcoming cruise?

I use the term "adult" very loosely. He is more of an adult cat. Perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but should still have someone looking out for him! :D

Loving your review! We are in 9504 for the pre-Easter cruise - beyond excited. Quick question: How did you attach the curtain for the toilet room to give more privacy? I had thought about doing that, too, after seeing videos of the bathroom. With 2 teens that like their privacy (who doesn't when it comes to the toilet? ;)), I wanted to try and rig something.

I love Pitbull, but this looks more like an advert for Vegas. I love NCL, but they missed the mark on this. Of course, my 18 year old son thought it was fantastic, but oddly enough, he doesn't pay for the cruises we go on! :)

I got our pre cruise letter and luggage tags for our spring break cruise yesterday.

 

I have been searching through both NCL.com and here.

 

I have a few questions left over, though.

 

1. Does anyone know how tea works in the Lavazza? Is it pods or do you just use the machine for hot water and get tea bags? Also, I know that green, black, lemon and chamomile are available, does anyone know about chai as a possibility? Or would I have to go to the coffee bar for that?

 

2. Is it possible to get honey for sweetening tea, or is it just sugar/equal/splenda?

 

3. I know there is a behind the scenes tour available for $$. Is it worth it to prerequest this or is there another opportunity to see "behind the scenes" without it? (we are silver, so no platinum tour...but my DH was in the Navy and wants to go. It was cancelled last year on Jewel, so he spent a good chunk of time in the bridge observation area, which was right down the hall from our cabin)

 

4. Has anyone asked the pre cruise concierge to help arrange a "spa day" during the voyage, or would that be better asked when we get onboard?

-Also, (not concierge related) do spa specials (10/20/30, port day discounts, latitudes discounts stack or is it a "choose 1 option" type thing?)

 

5. I prereserved specialty restaurants, but dont know what days/times various cocktail parties will be (and would like to go to these). Should I include asking for rescheduling reservations that conflict in pre cruise concierge requests or wait until we are on board?

 

6. Has anyone had success getting orange juice and/or chocolate milk in the mini fridge and if so, was it extra (I like mimosas, and will have the bottle of sparkling wine, so... and the kids like their milk.)

 

7. Would it be unreasonable to ask for a variety of the single serve box cereals that they have in the buffet to be in our room for our kids to eat when they get up early? Or would that be a day to day request from the butler?

 

Looking back on this, I think Im sounding really picky and demanding. Yikes. I dont mean to be, I am excited though and want to know what is reasonable/expected and what would be unreasonable.

 

Thanks :D

Many have answered, but I thought I would add in my personal experience to see if it helps you a little.

1&2) As reported, the tea is in the pods too. We always bring a little bottle of the Torani Chai Tea spice (and Vanilla syrup) with us to make our own Chai tea lattes with the black tea pods and steamed milk. Not quite Starbucks, but definitely a treat without paying for the coffee bar Chai. I always ask the pre-concierge for the "extras" for the tea for my DD and me. The honey, milk and sweetener have been waiting for us when we arrived.

3) My Dad requested a behind the scenes tour with the pre-concierge and was told that they could request it, but couldn't confirm. Once on board, the concierge confirmed for him that he was on the tour. He still talks about the tour!

4) The pre-concierge has taken care of booking a spa appointment for us, but we like to wait to see what the specials are on port days. We have never had a problem having the on-board concierge book us in when we wanted. Sea days book up quickly so I would definitely get the booking ahead of time.

5) With the UDP, I am concerned with the availability to reschedule around events. I am in the same boat as you (no pun intended! :D) I have booked all of my dining and am going to hope for the best when trying to schedule around the Platinum, Captain's and Haven cocktail parties.

6) I would ask the pre-concierge to have the oj and milk. You are not being picky at all. You should see my list of requests!! We have the full bar for the OS so I have oj, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, Bloody Mary mix, and pina colada mixer. They will either be in pitchers covered with cling film, or in boxes. Makes it so nice for those mimosas and early morning milk needs by the kids.

7) I would ask for an assortment of cereal with the pre-concierge. They will either confirm it for you or request it. You may have to follow up once on board, but that would be a quick request.

I always call and talk the pre-concierge and then follow up with an email to them. I then have in writing their confirmation of my requests.

Good luck and have a fantastic time on your cruise! :)

Thank you so much for the reassurance! It's so good to know other people feel the same way he does. I loved the Epic so much, but my DH likes to remind me that I also have nothing to compare it to, lol. I have some social anxiety, so he thinks I really will prefer the smaller, less crowded Jewel class ships.

 

And trust me, I cannot wait for frozen drinks, pool time, and someone else cleaning up after my messy husband and eight year old son, lol!

The Jewel class ships have a much more open format - grand two-story lobby area - and the casino is a separate room instead of being in the hallway, as it is on the Epic. The only thing I miss on the Jewel class ships is the water slides. They were a lot of fun on port days and most of the people were off the ship. My DD has social anxiety and large crowds bother her. We were in the Haven on the Epic and will be on the Jade in March, but she has had no problems on any of the Jewel class ships when we were out and and about - even on sea days.

Frozen drinks, sun and no cleaning!! Amen! :D

We're sailing on the Jade February 13th, and I'm finding myself a little anxious. Not even because of bad reviews; my only other cruise was on the Epic last March, and I absolutely LOVED it. I know that the Epic is huge and different than any other ship, so I am having anxiety wondering if I'll love the Jade half as much!

 

My husband, who has far more cruises under his belt, didn't care for the Epic (we had a wonderful vacation, he just much prefers the smaller ships), and tells me regularly that I'm going to absolutely love the smaller, more intimate Jade. I guess we will see!

You are going to have a wonderful cruise! We had a great time on the Epic, but like your husband, prefer the smaller Jewel Class ships. All in all, no matter what ship, you will be away and letting someone else take care of you! :) Have a great time!

Under Maritime Law, the rescued person is offered medical attention, food and safe passage to the next available port that has been registered with the rescuing ships itinerary. They would be confined to either the ship's medical center or the brig. They would not be allowed to interact with anyone on the ship except those crewman that are assigned to handle this type of at-sea emergency. If there were severe medical issues, the rescued person would be financially responsible for all bills.

Also, if the rescued person had completely abandoned their boat/ship at the time of rescue, the rescuing party has salvage rights to their vessel. If the rescuing party do not decide to salvage the boat/ship, anyone can then salvage the vessel.