MsAnnMcD

The sing alongs in Captain Cook's were really funny. We had about 10 of us from the Navy London reunion group and he sang Gilligan's Island and named every one in our group one of the characters. We had to get up and do things too - dance, lay on the piano, take off their shirt (guys). It was fun. He also picked on 2 couples consisting of parents and their married daughter and son in law where he sang Stacy's Mom. Nobody seemed to mind.

A bunch of our group did the R Rated Quest on the final night and I saw the videos the next morning. Hilarious stuff if you can get a group to do it! It's like a perverted scavenger hunt where the emcee calls out - a man with womens underwear on thier head and the first group to get up on stage gets the points. Other things were a couple demonstrating their favorite position. The crowd really gets into it. Sadly, my friends came in second. :D

BTW - The prime rib was in Crossings the last night and it was excellent. My husband ordered and received an end cut. Delicious!

Since you asked, I think if I were to go on that ship again I would book an excursion in Nassau to get away from the port area that is over-run with people and ships OR I'd stay on the ship and take advantage of a spa special ($129 hot stone plus a couple other treatments normally valued at $179) followed by lounging by the pool.

Also, on GSC we had 2 large cabanas for our group. They were great and came with float matts. I finally walked all the way to the end and found the lagoon and that was my favorite part of the day - floating around the lagoon. If you are an early bird, they don't let non priority folks off the boat til 10 AM so you might want to book something - snorkeling, kayaking etc - so you can get off the boat at 8 AM. We had a great day there!

The straw market on GSC only takes cash and they didn't barter. The price is as labeled.

Looking forward to hearing back what your experiences are! Have fun and wear sunscreen!

Since Jeff sent me lots of info before I left Sept 18-22 I figured I'd chime in.

We had an aft balcony on deck 9. The fold out couch was worn and there were a few chips in the paneling. The bathroom has some permanent stains and the electrical outlet didn't' work. None of that really impacted us. We were where we wanted to be.

In the common areas I didn't notice too much wear and tear but I wasn't really looking for it.

Since we were 9 aft it was easy to walk up to the great outdoor cafe. Only on debarkation day did it seem really crowded.

As for the shows we only did the Capt Cooks piano bar and it was rather R rated but hilarious. Very fun! We also did the Karaoke in the Plantation Club and enjoyed it.

Bar service seemed good to me. Spent a few mid afternoons by the pool and was always able to get what I wanted when I wanted it. Sadly, the day the Freestyle stated they had Margarita specials at the pool bar 3-5PM it was the regular price but various flavored. I thought it was the same price as the morning bloody mary special for $5.95. :(

We found the food in the main dining rooms to be excellent. On embarkation day we went to Crossings and had a wonderful meal. When we finished our cabins were ready. Dinners were held in both dining rooms and the food was served hot and delicious. The prime rib was outstanding.

We arrived at 11 and only sat in the holding area a short while. Very easy and well organized.

Our reunion group had 23 people. All our prearranged gatherings went off perfectly. There were 11 groups and several weddings on this cruise. Also I saw lots of bachelor and bachelorette groups when we were in Nassau. That said out of the 11 cabins we had only 1 had an issue with rowdy neighbors and a lot of noise.

Overall the staff were great as I've become accustomed to with NCL. Everyone I spoke to was really helpful. The room steward gave us plenty of towels and towel animals and remembered our name. The dining room staff and event coordinator Jenny were wonderful. The bar staff in the Outrigger took great care of us at our cocktail parties.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Have fun folks!

Thanks Jay Sam. I sent an email as I am running a Navy Reunion group this weekend. Appreciate you taking the time to post! A few quick questions here - How did you find the condition of the ship? What was the type of guests on the weekend cruise - old or young, partiers or sedate? Was the food in the MDR good and what is the one must do thing on board? Looking forward to reading your answers. Much appreciated!

My husband and I have done Boston to Bermuda in October 3 times. The first was on the Majesty when we were married on her. No problems and the weather in Bermuda was great. The following year we booked the same cruise to celebrate our first anniversary. The Majesty hit a storm on the way back that blew out a few windows (that shouldn't be an issue on the Dawn) and delayed her arrival in Boston by a day. We were comped a day on our cruise and spent just as much time in Bermuda. We did have to dock in the Dockyards one day (the Majesty used to dock in St George's) which actually added to the fun of it. Third time was for our 10th anniversary on the Dawn. No issues. Personally, I like the weather and lack of crowds in Bermuda in October. As for potential weather, you are at the same risk in October as you are June through September since it's hurricane season. That said, they stay ahead of the weather and divert ships to the best of their abilities. If you want to go in October, go for it!

Thanks folks. We are using a TA per NCL's preference/request when this was first being planned a year and a half ago. The group will be approximately 40 people total. We were told we couldn't have the 24x7 hospitality suite as it was already booked by another group. The ship is the Sky which only has 3 conference rooms and we are going this September.

I originally thought having a TA would make organizing this easier. All it really does is remove the money handling! The questions keep pouring in from attendees and it often feels like I'm simply using the TA as a conduit to NCL.

I got married on an NCL ship almost 12 years ago. That event was for 50 people and it was much easier to organize than this reunion. I'd feel better if there was someone who's been in my shoes that could provide some advice or lessons learned to ensure this goes off as planned.

Anybody?

Hi all,

I'm in the midst of organizing a military group reunion on a cruise. The date was selected over a year ago.

Since it took til now to get the required deposits for the minimum needed, we find we can't have a 24x7 hospitality suite. We are being told we can't have hospitaly suite/conference room hours unless we have a paid event going on in the room. Have others encountered this?

In past land based reunions we have had a gratis hospitality suite where we could lock up our memorabilia when we weren't using the room. We were led to believe we could do this on a cruise reunion but are now being told differently.

I would like to hear from anyone who has organized any reunion on an NCL cruise - family, military, business - so I can ask additional questions.

Thanks Cruise Critic folks for your help!

Hi Luv2Cruz

A year and a half ago my husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary with an aft suite on the Dawn out of Boston to Bermuda. Like you I got all my info on the CC message boards before the cruise. I too threw out the paper work and kept the luggage tags! So I feel your pain and uncertainty.

First, in your cabin you have a Butler. Ours was Erlindo. He will do anything for you IN the room. Any room request you have PRIOR to boarding (empty fridge and load it up with your favorite beverage, blankets, pillows, food, decaf pods for your coffee maker) will be fulfilled by the butler. These requests MUST be done a month prior to departure (call NCL and they will arrange it). I waited too long so got stuck with whatever was in the fridge. You will use your Butler a lot. He will come at roughly 4 each day with your snacks. Feel free to request what you want (popcorn, fruit, chocolate, sandwiches, cookies). If you don't feel like going out and want room service he will bring it. We tipped him some when we first got to port (along with our room steward who made the best towel animals and cleaned our balcony glass on port days) and also at the end of the cruise.

As for the concierge, he will take care of things OUTSIDE the cabin. Show seats (your cabin key gets you a special balcony area anyway). I really only used him once. I had prepaid and booked dining (as we always use the specialty restaurants on sea nights and wanted our anniversary to be in La Cucina). When we got on board to find our champagne and strawberries in our suite, we saw the invitation to the Captain's reception was at the same time as our anniversary dinner. We called our concierge, Roel, and he switched our reservation for us. He also informed us of the 9 course chef's dinner ($100 per person). He was always present and available to assist with excurions etc. We just didn't see the need to use him. It's a personal thing.

The suite entitles you to breakfast and lunch in Cagney's every day. That is worth its weight in gold! We tipped our servers there at the end of the cruise as they took such good care of us. There is also a suite only lounge during the day that you have access to. That is also a great place to escape to if you want to read, play games etc.

So if you don't use the concierge much (as we didn't) then tip accordingly. The butler got the biggest tip as he really did do the most for us. The steward got more than we usually tip in a balcony because there was more to clean and he brought new beach towels sometimes twice a day.

The suite also gets you pre -boarding lounge with an escort to your cabin as well as priority tenders to ports and priority departure. Again - worth its weight in gold.

All this said, my husband and I enjoyed it for a special occasion. We wish we could get a suite without the butler and concierge and just the Cagney's access and priority embark, debark.

Have a great honeymoon and enjoy the suite life!

Ann

I'm a platinum Marriott Rewards member and have never stayed at the Miami JW but every other JW has been top notch! Sounds like you got lucky to me.

I love Le Bistro, and you can get a table in the wine cellar section. It's really fun, and you are not back in the deep interior.

That is exactly where we spent out 10th wedding anniversary! Great spot and we had the piano bar going nearby which made it really romantic.

I concur that it is fine for a single of 5' 6" . We were in 10726 last October and its a great cabin. Roel was our concierge and he was wonderful. The balcony door should remain open/locked when you are out there. The handle has a way of falling and locking you out if you aren't careful. :o

Glad I wasn't the only one thinking about this today. First the earthquake and now this. My heart goes out to them! And the most amazing thing is they will go to work with a smile on their face and many passengers won't have a clue.

Gotta have the eggs Benedict at least once. Alternately, I love their oatmeal too. Definitely do the MDR at least once for breakfast. It's worth getting up early!!!

I was on this cruise and agree with only one aspect - it was definitely an older crowd (and hubby & I are in our mid 50's). I've done the Bermuda cruise in October twice before and expect a more mature crowd and some families with small children but this time I thought the pendulum was stuck on the older side.

Now, I have to refute not only this evaluation of the food but several other reviews. We ate in the Venetian and Aqua MDR for dinner and found both to be excellent and definitely not over salted. Also, the service was outstanding and not slow at all but very well paced. I had the surf and turf and the lobster was moist and the beef delicious and not chewy or over seasoned. Other MDR meals enjoyed were pork tenderloin, salmon, chicken, etc and didn't eat anything I didn't like. One night we went with the special which was Indian in nature and outstanding. We also ate in La Cuccina, Le Bistro and Cagney's which were exceptional. We had a minor hiccup with seating at Le Bistro but when we told Maie the hostess of our issue she moved us out to the wine cellar where we heard the music and had a great meal. I had the lamb shanks and hubby had the duck. Delicious! We had burgers in Garden Cafe once and they were yummy. We never ate in the Blue Lagoon though. I loved the popcorn in Pearly Kings each afternoon.

The weather on the 2 return sea days wasn't great. Due to wind, outside activities were cancelled and for roughly an hour we couldn't even go out due to safety issues with the doors. Not sure if this is why the checkers, chess, ping pong and shuffleboard games were stored or not.

The entertainment in the Spinnaker was changed on 2 nights during the cruise to accommodate the excessive amount of Red Sox fans (us included). All other entertainment went on as planned. The only night I was in the atrium it was for Carribean Wave who did different music than what they played by the pool. The couple (Patti & ?) I only saw once in the Spinnaker for a Latitudes party. The shows in the Stardust theater were excellent and I was very I impressed with the acrobatics.

Let me also add this was our first time in a suite and we both really enjoyed the extra space, aft balcony with 2 lounge chairs, priority embarkation/debarkation, day lounge and breakfast and lunch in Cagney's. The butler and concierge were nice but a lot of what they offer we did for ourselves but still provided gratuity commensurate with the service.

The room steward Erick was truly the most impressive staff member I encountered all week. On embarkation he let us know his hours, asked us to use our room sign, provided extra beach towels, always had cute towel animals (loved the mouse under the pillow and the monkey hanging from our curtains) but what blew me away was seeing him wash the outside of ourbalcony plexi glass from Heritage Pier the first day we were in Bermuda. We definitely took good care of him!

All the staff from the officers we met at the Captains reception to the washy washy girls had smiles on their faces and did a great job. I am always amazed at the level of service provided and it really is hard to come home and have to do EVERYTHING for myself again.

All this said, this is the first time I've come home and not been anxious to book another cruise. We have done 5 total in 10 years and have enjoyed them all and experiencing different ships. Yet this time I'm in no hurry to go on another one. Maybe it was all those OLD people! ;-) LOL