Winnigirl

We had the same decision on the weekend. I went back and forth about a hundred times. In the end we opted for the aft-balcony. It just seemed a little more unique and it' s something I always wanted to try. The only thing the mini-suite had was a bit more room and perhaps a bathtub - but a typical balcony. We spend a lot of time on our balcony and through reading a lot of advice here we got one of the cabins with the larger end balconies - 12310. Coincidentally our daughter booked a studio, which is just steps away from us - 12571.

The Norway was our first cruise in 1987. What a wonderful introduction to cruising and I'm so glad that my daughters had the opportunity to experience the joys of "fine" cruising. Formal dinners, cheese courses!, servers wearing white gloves, afternoon "Tea", the scorching heat of the beautiful teak decks and so many more wonderful memories. That kind of cruising is pretty much gone forever. It makes me so sad to think of what became of this beautiful ship.

Polo shirts are fine for the Dining Room, as long as they have collars. The truth is that none of these rules are ever enforced too strictly. I would have them take one pair of long pants to wear to dinner. It's not that they'd be turned away - it's just a good teaching tool to teens that sometimes you just have to follow the rules, even if they don't make sense to you.

As for Pompeii, I would definitely recommend a tour.

For both of those rooms, the bed is near the door and not the balcony. Also, being on deck 12 you might get some late night noise from deck 15, but probably not a big deal. Also, being in an aft you will get vibration while the ship maneuvers into port. This will be lessened the higher up you go, but you'll still have sone

 

See if you can get 309 or 310 on deck 10-13. Those will have the bed placement that you want, plus a larger balcony on the corners.

We have changed our cabin to 12310. Thank you for all the good advice! I know we're going to love having the bigger balcony.

I've always enjoyed NCL - from our first cruise on the Norway - never have seemed to have problems others have had. For the millionth time - food is so subjective. The best food I had on any cruise, bar none, was on a Med. cruise on the Jade. We were on the Oasis of the Seas last year and we loved everything about that ship - except that the food was very mediocre. It certainly didn't ruin our cruise. We're on the Epic this year and I look forward to trying some of it's specialty restaurants. So, in response to the OT, unless the food was so terrible that it ruined your cruise, I would say -- give NCL another chance. $2,000. is a lot of money.

For both of those rooms, the bed is near the door and not the balcony. Also, being on deck 12 you might get some late night noise from deck 15, but probably not a big deal. Also, being in an aft you will get vibration while the ship maneuvers into port. This will be lessened the higher up you go, but you'll still have sone

 

See if you can get 309 or 310 on deck 10-13. Those will have the bed placement that you want, plus a larger balcony on the corners.

Bed placement isn't too important to us. I would like a larger balcony. I'll do my best!

If you are the type of people who like to sleep in, then don't book it. If you want to be up when you pull into port and start your day, then go ahead and book it. Get the corner though. The balconies are much larger!

I don't think we've ever slept in. We're usually up by 7. Is there some unusual noise in the morning? It's my favourite time of day. We're booking this afternoon - I'll ask about the corner cabins.

Aft balconies are great, which deck?

We have a hold on 12313. I also have the choice of 12312. Thoughts?

Yikes - we're booked on the Epic for Dec. 21 - and all this balcony talk is making me very stressed! We are considering an aft balcony - but the positives and negatives have left my head spinning!

Oh man. Hanging in for the rest of the story. Glad it seems to have a happy ending.

 

When I started my cruise on the Spirit on May 6 I used my iPhone camera to take pictures of the fronts and backs of all my ID and credit cards as well as my passport. I then emailed the pictures to myself on Gmail. That way I'd have a copy on my phone as well as accessible anywhere by logging into Gmail.com.

 

I also used a money belt tucked inside my pants to store my cards and passport. For the entire time I was in Europe I kept only a few small Euro bills and my ship card in a zipped pocket in my pants and/or my shirt. Even that was a close call since I managed to drop my ship card onto the sidewalk in Athens on my first port excursion. Luckily the tour guide saw it happen or I too might have had a crazy story to tell.

 

For added fun, I brought along a small wad of Canadian Tire money (these are "bonus bucks" that you get whenever you shop there, they are actually printed using the same kind of paper as real dollar bills and they look like real currency, only in tiny denominations like 5 and 10 cents). I kept the wad of "fake" money in my front pockets. I almost hoped I'd get pickpocketed!

 

At one of our ports I saw a couple have a very close call with the ship. I watched as officers and crew stood around the gangway, obviously waiting for someone. Soon enough a lady with a rolling suitcase disembarked, talked with the crew, and walked toward a waiting taxi. They started to retract the gangway. Suddenly another taxi came roaring in, and a man came running out. Both the man and the woman came running back to the ship, they brought down the gangway again, let everyone aboard, and off we went. That man was seconds away from missing the ship and his wife had packed a suitcase in preparation for both of them to make their own way to the next port!

LOVE the Canadian Tire money idea! I've got a bunch of it lying around - I'm going to try that! Can't you just see the pickpocket's face?

As fabulous as ever Victoria! Your pictures are just amazing. I'm sure I say this about everyone of your reports - but you can't improve on perfection! You and Max are an adorable couple!

Am I allowed to ask disney questions?

 

If you're staying either at the WA or at a disney resort, are you able to access restaurants without a disney pass, or do you have to have a disney pass (e.g., park hopper) to be able to get to restaurants?

 

Beautiful pictures - makes for an awesome read. Many many thanks for posting, and I'm really glad this was cross-posted in the RCI section of the forums so I found it. But gee does it make me miss Princess. :cool:

If the restaurant is in one of the parks, then paid admission to that park is required, whether it's a day ticket, park hopper or annual pass. If the restaurant is in one of the Disney resorts, then no admission ticket is required. No admission ticket is necessary for the restaurants at the Marketplace or Downtown Disney, either.

Wonderful report, as always, Victoria. Your photography really is amazing. Always nice to catch up on your family travels!:)

We've cruised all three lines and to tell you the honest truth - I don't think there's all that much difference among them. Diehards of one line or another will disagree, but I think you'll have a great cruise on any one of them.

you are definitely safe with in the RCC "compound" there are many vendors that have handmade crafts and general tourist stuff. They ask you to buy. They are certainly not as aggressive as they are outside of the gates. my DH and I went out and were only out for 15 minutes and did not feel comfortable.

OK - thank you. We were in Roatan, Honduras last fall and if it's like that "compound", then I think I'd feel ok about looking around. I definitely wouldn't go outside the gates.

My dh will be golfing in Jamaica. I've chosen to stay onboard. I don't know a thing about Falmouth or how it is set up. Is there an area at the port that is safe for a woman to wander around and shop? Or would I be better off just staying on board?I don't want to take any tours, but I might want to get off the ship for a bit just to look around and browse in a few shops.

A+ as usual, Victoria!

Note to self: Avoid Dulca on future trips to Barcelona!

Love Alec and his "twin"!

(Victoria, Neil was passing by whilst I was reading your report and he wanted me to tell you that he has never seen such fantastic photography!)

I'm so enjoying this report!

After checking out our staterooms, we headed to - where else - the buffet. It wasn't crowded at all (I think the lack of crowds in the Garden Café were thanks to the many port days). Rachel and Mom started discussing that there were already so many things that NCL just handled better than any other cruise line.

 

Like the silverware in the buffet. On Royal Caribbean, you pick it up out of a basket and then have to juggle it and your plate since they no longer provide trays. On Princess, they bring you silverware after you sit down at the table. Which in theory is a good idea, except the turnover rate in Horizon Court was so fast that they couldn't keep up during peak hours. So you'd sit there without any silverware and had to wait on the crew members to not only wipe down the tables, but bring you silverware and drinks. NCL, however, had the perfect solution. The "duh" to all other cruise lines. The wire basket for condiments on the table also has a space for napkin rolls. So when you're seated, the silverware is already on your table. The crew members walk around and refill baskets that are getting low on silverware. Never did I sit down at a table and say, "Oh I forgot my silverware!" Or even worse - "Where's the silverware?" If only our dining halls did this....

 

The food selection at the buffet is very good. In our opinion, their buffet food totally knocks the socks off of Royal Caribbean's and Princess's. The selection was comparable to that on the Carnival Dream (which was very good), but the circulation of the space was much improved (that was my biggest complaint of the Dream - circulation). It's also noteworthy that the Epic had scooped ice cream (and soft serve) available in the Garden Café at no additional charge. And, sorry Princess, but you do not have the best pizza at sea because NCL's totally topped yours. So of all of the cruise ships I've been on (excluding the Disney Magic... I was a young child and don't really remember the buffet except they had Mickey Mouse pancakes which were AWESOME), I give the Norwegian Epic the award for best buffet.

 

After lunch, we explored the ship a little.

 

First time cruising with boys...

 

May 8, 2013 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

May 8, 2013 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Then the boys were ready to hit the bar. They contemplated purchasing the Ultimate Bar Package, but after seeing what all it excluded, they chose not to. They were also worried that if they paid upfront for alcohol that they'd feel like they needed to get their money's worth and be plastered all week.

 

First we headed to the Atrium Café, which is more like a coffee bar. We had a drink there and moved upstairs to O'Sheehans. This is where the boys met their favorite bartender who taught them the Loaded Corona, Max's "drink of the summer."

 

This is the bartender's creation, though, so if you want to try it out yourself, here's how it goes:

 

1. Get a Corona (or Corona Light if you wish)

2. Drink down the neck of the bottle

3. Fill with a shot (or more) of Bacardi Limon

4. Cover your thumb over the mouth and slowly turn the beer upside down, then right-side up (or if you have baby thumbs like me, you can use the palm of your hand as long as you keep a lot of pressure on it)

5. Enjoy!

 

Sounds deadly, right? Well, it is extremely loaded. If you are a 6'+, 240lb+ male, three or four of these and you'll be feeling really good. :D

I'm so glad you were so positive about the food on NCL! I was on a thread a little while ago where everyone was saying how terrible the food was - and I was thinking but....but....but...:confused: Without a doubt NCL's food was the best I've tried on any line! Glad to know you concur.

Ain't gonna happen unless they develop some serious fortitude inside the Beltway. Just like they never got rid of the dollar bill after issuing coins, instituted the metric system, or abolish the expensive penny like Canada has done. Those congressional cowards are so afriad they might lose votes, or more importantly corporate dollars. :rolleyes:

Yeah...funny thing about those pennies.:confused: One day we had them, the next day we didn't... no one told me. It's ok - pennies were a nuisance anyway. Passports are good! What if you get invited to Paris for the weekend? It would be crummy if you couldn't go because of not having a passport. Hey, it could happen.

Your first day in Rome sound like a scene out of National Lampoon's European Vacation! Looking forward to more!

Wonderful report, as usual, Victoria and your pictures are terrific (as usual!) I've always loved our Norwegian cruises and I'd like to try the Epic. Now....on to Rome!

Loving the report. I had the exact same treatment by the manicurist on the Jade several years ago - she was even from Jamaica too! And I thought I was the one with the driest feet ever to grace a cruise ship!

OK - now you've got me jumping between reviews and hopping over to MB to see if you're reporting there too! Can't wait to see that first picture of you meeting up with your family and Max!

Welcome Home Victoria! Oh my what adventures you have had! I'll be anxiously awaiting more of this report and your family reunion!