tjt87

3 hours ago, ECCruise said:

And we find it fascinating that you don't see the point AT ALL.

 

OK I'm from the UK and always pay my DSC. There are two aspects here. First of all. Up until recently NCL in Europe sold the cruise as "Ultra all inclusive"  and included the "Tips" in the charge. I think the change in policy has caused some confusion over here.

Secondly, tipping is not at all a widespread custom in the UK and some other parts of Europe, I've been going to the US for many years,  and I feel comfortable with it now. But at first it was completely alien to me.

My first trip to the US was to visit Disney World. I worked 2 jobs to save up, one of which was as a Barman in a busy pub. In the 3 years I worked there I never once did I or my co workers receive a tip. On new years eve we got the occasional drink "paid on" but that was it, and we never complained because that's the way it was. You were paid a wage and did your job tax was taken off at source and that was it.

Now I know you have a "tipping" culture in the U.S. and now I have my head round it that's fine. A lot of people from the UK, so called baby boomers and such do not get it. Over here you pay for what you get. You see a price on something and that's what you pay. You don't  get to the till and find you have other taxes etc. to pay. So the culture over here is very much you pay the up front price and that's it.

Not better or worse, just different

.

No, but thanks for asking

On 5/6/2019 at 8:02 PM, Deeliteful said:

Many thanks for this review Peter and Patrick. I will be on the Breakaway on 2nd June cruising the Eastern Caribbean.

I have never sailed NCL before and chose this cruise as it was my only option to fit in with a convention in Orlando the following week.

My main concern is the Freedom style dining as I am travelling solo and have always shared tables in the past which I enjoy (mostly!)

Certainly sounds as if there is plenty of choice in entertainment and dining and look forward to finding out soon.

Hope to write a review myself and let others know my thoughts.

 

Thanks once again.

 

Pat

Hi Pat

One thing I recommend you do is book any dining that you definitely want to do before you cruise through your account page on NCL. Also book any entertainment you want to see as soon as you can once onboard.

While it is freestyle cruising you need to be prepared, it's a bit like having a night out at home, you wouldn't just rock up to your favorite restaurant and half 8 on a Saturday and expect to walk straight in.

Do a little planning and it will make life a lot more enjoyable once at sea. There are quite a few "Things I wish I'd known before cruising NCL" threads on here.

Enjoy 

I Like an ICE bucket, get it filled each evening and then use it to fill my water bottle in the morning

Maybe something to do with this

Hi Kieth, great review.

I've just read on another review that the "Cirque dreams" dinner show is being, or has been replaced on the Breakaway.

Do you know what it has(Will be) replaced by.

8 hours ago, jakeawhite said:

 

We did hang out at Howl at the Moon for awhile on Tuesday night! It wasn’t bad, but just wasn’t very entertaining. Maybe we were there at a bad time?
The entertainers made sure to let us know between every song they were accepting tips.

I think we really enjoy the Piano Bar on Carnival because everyone is more or less in a circle around the piano, so most sing along and interact with each other. At Howl At The Moon it’s setup for the comedy show.

We will certainly give it another try though!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Guess a lot depends on your sailing. A 10 day sailing from NOLA is going to have an older demographic than a seven day from Miami. I loved the piano bars on carnival (my favourite bar) but I found myself thinking where is everyone at night. On a seven day NCL I found a lot more going on at night.  6 Carnival 7 NCL so no axe  to grind. Just always found the night time buzz better on NCL. 

7 hours ago, jakeawhite said:

Walked around and enjoyed the breeze a bit more on the ship - it's a nice night! The entertainment options seem to be a bit limited tonight, nothing that interested us enough. We find ourselves missing the piano bar on Carnival ships, our favorite place to hang out every night! We ended up grabbing an ice cream cone and are hanging out in the room now. No big complaints, we're content to just watch some TV and go to bed! We'll go enjoy Harvest Caye tomorrow when we get up and will see Rock of Ages tomorrow night!

Is there no Howl at the moon on Breakaway? If there is you have to go, best mixture of live music, piano bar and comedy with a sing song thrown in. You'll love it if you like the Carnival piano bar. Far better IMO

I love it, I think it says we've changed, get over it, move on.

I just sailed on a Marella (British) cruise in November. It was all inclusive but the upgrade to premium drinks gins, whiskys, cocktails etc. plus premium coffee and bottled water was £7.00 a day, about $9:00.

The whole thing, flights UK to Barbados, transfers, a weeks cruise, large balcony cabin with hammock and a week in a Barbados beach  hotel was £1800. (about $2330). I've already book for this year and I'm paying about the same just for flights and the cruise( with standard drinks package) this year on Breakaway.

Next year time to look elsewhere I think.

4 hours ago, Emmandjay said:

Not 100 per cent sure, but the app runs through a free part of the ship's Wi-Fi, so I would think you need to be on board to use it.  They give you an instruction sheet as part of your welcome pack when you arrive. Hopefully someone else can give you the definitive answer. Enjoy your cruise!

OK Thanks

6 hours ago, Emmandjay said:

Once you are on board you can download their app which , among other features allows you to book the restaurants.  There are also several terminals around the ship which do the same thing.  We found that Surf and Turf booked up very quickly.

Thanks for that, do you have to wait until you board to download the app?

We are going on explorer in a couple of weeks and want to book Surf and Turf and Kora La.

Tui have recently altered our flight times and I think we will be among the last on board, will that cause us problems?

Are smart jeans OK for the restaurant?

16 hours ago, dronnygirl said:

We were recently on Explorer and the shows start at 8.30 and 10.15pm.  We usually eat around 7.30 as this gives us plenty of time to the late show. Sometimes we've had a really friendly shared table and have still been chatting at the table at 10pm!

Thanks Dronnygirl.

Is it the same show at both times?

What's the best time to book a meal on Explorer  if you want to see a show. Also do people prefer before or after a show and why?

On 10/27/2018 at 6:13 PM, Pensioncruiser said:

It will be more comprehensive if you are in premium 😉

What extra do you get in Premium and at what extra cost?

On 10/19/2018 at 6:42 AM, brian1 said:

I don't know what happened there but my reply was the last 2 sentances,lol.

Thanks Brian,

We land at about 15:00 so hoping to be on by about 17:00.

I know there are a few flights due after ours so will probably sail mid evening time. I was just wondering if the ship would be fully operational or not

Original question was,

I'm on the Explorer out of Barbados in November.

Anyone know what's open on embarkation day? what are the eating and drinking options available? 🍹

Thanks in advance

Any answers?

Hi all,

I'm on the Explorer out of Barbados in November.

Anyone know what's open on embarkation day? what are the eating and drinking options available? 🍹

Thanks in advance

Unfortunately no trips available for us being first ship in it was a bit dangerous so just walked into town but Mrs PC to upset to go far we could not find any of the friend's we had meet over the past years. St Marten was just about up and running but non of the sea front bars open and still some boat's in the shop fronts.

 

Sent from my VF-895N using Forums mobile app

Hi PC when was your visit please?

Link to the article here https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cuban-cruise-fushion-marella-havana-tui-latest-a8552216.html

Makes a reference to there being more that one ship in port

Has anyone experience of booking day passes at resorts in the Caribbean? On the Celebration 7th Dec arrives Antigua 16th Dec and looking at the port calendar 2 other ships (one huge) are there at the same time (thanks to CC for this resource link!) Having been to Antigua twice on normal vacations have done the sights so seeking some beach R&R but maybe avoiding Dickenson Bay. As my favourite beach has lost its hotel and with it facilities just checking alternatives.

Also as the cruise finishes in Barbados and flight doesnt got until 4 pm is there anything close to kill time? can probably stay on ship but after a transatlantic a bit of terra firma ought to be maximised.

Have a look at this

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=1100

Or you could try and google "Resort for a day"

Its just part of cruising, if you don't want to dress in a Tux just don't cruise, if you were on P&O you would not have the choice of dress in the MDR

Hence why I wouldn't go P&O I've done my share of Tuxes and had my fill. I see a Caribbean cruise as laid back, chill out destination and will dress accordingly. The only concession I make will be a jacket and pants/ jeans for evening meals.

Yes but enjoy dressing up

Or enjoy dressing down;) it's your vacation:cool: