Da-Painter

Sounds like things are starting off great, want to hear more.

The Spirit is a beautiful ship. Glad your husband could catch up on his sleep.

Doing this cruise next year.;)

I spoke to a PCC today, who told me the new schedules should be out within the next 10 days. Will see........:rolleyes:

Also, we have always used a FCC for full deposit on a suite, the lower level suites. This time we used it, but had to give a additional $250 deposit. Has more changed with NCL? The terms & conditions are the same on the old FCC forms and the current. Or ?. :confused:

Sorry to hear about your experience, sometimes NCL just does not make sense.

I called NCL Wednesday about their Black Friday $150 OBC for a suite, and was told could combine the $300 9 month OBC with the special. (I did not speak with my PCC).

So booked a suite for Jan 2015, found out the two offers were not combinable. They gave me the $150 OBC. Discovered this on MYNCL. So called back and went through the wringer to get this straightened out, instead for the $300 OBC.

On the www5.ncl site, the terms and conditions for the Black Friday offer show an old T&C from 3/29/2013 for wine and dine at Cagneys for Breakaway sailings. They told me the T&C were on the new web site, and were very vague. (Do not use the new site-horrible).

I under stand your frustration. Enjoy your cruise though, just got off the Jewel earlier this month, enjoyed it. :confused:

I've got two cruises in aft penthouses on the Pearl....May and November. I was the corner on 10, it was fantastic.

Good for you, this was our first aft, really liked it. We had a forward, but you couldn't use the deck much, too windy. :)

Is it funny that you didn't have one, but I did, you would think things would be standard in all similar cabins. It was on the desk across from the bed. I didn't notice it at first, since I didn't use the desk.

Maybe we had one, but it ended up in your cabin..... Teresa was our Butler..... :cool: We will take one on our next cruise, there surely will be one then in the cabin....

ps... we enjoyed the aft suite so much, today we booked a Jan 2015 aft suite on the Dawn, West Carb, up on the 10th deck, we were on the 8th on this last cruise.:):):)

We were just in an aft suite on the Jewel, we did not have a clock.

On the telephone display it shows the time, but is hard to read.

There was a clock on the coffee machine, but we could not adjust the time, it was always incorrect.

So on tv they cycle the displays, and you can find the time there eventually.

In the elevators, they have the time on the displays, but they are incorrect.

On the Dinner menu boards throughout the ship, showing the waits in the restaurants, they show the time, but it is also incorrect.

Then with the various time zone changes......

Bring a clock.

Wrist watch anyone.??? Does anyone really know what time it is?????..:rolleyes:

I am looking to book an aft suite on the Dawn.

From those who have stayed in any of those cabins, were you bothered from any noise/music from the Spinnaker Lounge below on deck 7??, or from the spa/salon that is on deck 11.

Wonding if deck 9 is the safest option, usually deck 10, then 9 sell out first, leaving deck 8.

Any comments would be appreciated.

With the $300 for booking a suite 9 months or more out, and Black Fridays $150 OBC, I might be able to afford one....:):cool:

Happy turkey-day to everyone.

Also consider how much luggage you have. DW and I each had one roller piece of luggage, we could handle this. If we each had 2 pieces, it gets tougher to handle. You have to get it on and off the bus, and up over the bridges by yourselves. If you can not handle this, consider a taxi.

Beware of folks helping you, which may keep going with your luggage.

We were just on the Jewel in 8632, we had 2 large chairs, and a small round table, but do not think 2 loungers would fit there, they are not very deep.

Agree, they may fit on deck 9 & 10 as they are deeper.

Hope this helps.:)

Thanks for posting this, we did the PC in 2010 for our 20th wedding anniversary, we had a forward cabin, it was wonderful.

After watching your great video, I want to cruise the PC again, maybe this time go east bound.

Thanks for taking the time to video and post it. Gotta show DW.:)

1. Prepare hand by expanding or opening all the fingers to prepare for grasping of object.

 

2. Extend arm in direction of desired object.

 

3. Grip object with one or both hands.

 

4. Retract arms while maintaining grip on object.

 

5. Move one foot in front of the other in the desired direction of travel.

 

6. Arrive at desired new location.

 

7. Acquire new target surface location for object.

 

8. Extend arm.

 

9. Carefully release grip on the object when contact with target surface is achieved.

 

-- END OF PROCEDURE

You make it all sound so easy.

Thanks for that, its the funniest thing I read on CC in some time. :):cool:

We were just there, after going through the initial line, where you go through the security scanners, you will turn left, heading for the line, and the suite check in is down at the far right end of the counter.

From there they take you to your lounge, then to the ship.

After doing the stuffs at the counter, you can get your picture taken before going into the lounge if you wish.

Enjoy, John did a great job. :)

Order room service for breakfast, and request milk on your request/form. They will deliver the little cartons to you. They usually have a variety of the different %'s. Then keep them in the fridge.

Then go have a 2nd or 3rd breakfast. :cool::cool:

We are doing the same cruise next week. How was the traffic on the way to the port? An earlier poster said it was a zoo, but I was hoping it had gotten straightened out.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Jo Ann

We spent the nite in Lake Charles, LA, left there about 9AM and drove directly to the Fulton Garage, got to the garage about noon, and no problems with traffic. 60+ MPH all the way through town. But we spoke to someone who also drove into NO that same day, and they mentioned how bad traffic was. I dont know if it was horrible earlier, or later, but for us, no problem.:)

ALSO, thanks to CC'ers, for the advice for Fulton Garage. We registered and pre-paid for parking at Fulton Garage for $8/day, I think its usually $12/day. Spoke to some folks who parked at another lot paying $20/day.

Hope you enjoy your cruise!!! Thinking of booking it again for next year.

Its a good get-a-way cruise, we like the sea days as much as the port days. :):)

How did you keep the door open and not have it slide back and forth?

We put a wet hand towel on the bottom track, which kept it open. "Most of our motion was forward to aft, but we did have the side motion which would cause it to slide open and close."

 

Where all did they take you on the tour? I really want to take the tour as we just turned platinum but not sure my back will hold up long enough.:(

"The tour was 1 hour, on our last cruise DW went on, (on the Spirit) it was almost 2 hours. This one we walked down the I-95 hallway on the 4th floor, went through 1 side of the theatre dressing room, (not onto the stage as in past tours), through one side of the kitchen connecting the MDR's, to the bridge viewing room, at the forward of deck 11. The only stairs were up and down narrow stairways at the aft, going up and back down to the dressing rooms. Otherwise, we took the elevators up and down. You could always start the tour, and stop at anytime you do not feel like continuing, just let the tour director know you are done."

I really hope they do open up in Australia as I definitely put it on my bucket list. "We, as well as a lot of other folks, are hoping the same."

 

Glad you had a great cruise. We will be on her for Christmas.:D

"It was a nice cruise, no complaints, have a good time.:)"

We are on the same itinerary in December. Do you have any Dailies?

Sorry, left them in the cabin, maybe someone else has them??

We just got off the Jewel 7 day Caribbean from New Orleans to Jamaica, George Town & Cozumel, from November 3rd to 10th. Since there is another similar review, I do not want to duplicate anything, but add our experiences.

We also had a Aft Suite, first time with an aft, and enjoyed it. We could leave the door partly open at nite to hear the ocean, we did not mind the minor amount of additional rocking, we actually enjoyed it. The cabin was very quiet, never heard anything.

John D'Souza was our concierge, and thought he was the most involved concierge we have had. He kept in contact with us, in person and on the phone, making sure we knew the events coming up. The early entrance to the Chocolate Buffet, preferred embarkation & disembarkation, suite gatherings, he would come through the restaurants to see how we were doing. We used him for a few things, he made it a point to be visible and available to help us with anything.

Teresa was our butler, again, she did a great job.

I reached Platinum, and went on the "Behind the Scenes Tour" with Natalie, the Cruise Consultant. She also headed the Latitudes parties, she did a great job on the cruise. The tour was on Monday, about an hour long. I had been on the ship tour before.

We ate at the MDR's for dinner, and a few lunches, and never had any issues with service or quality of food, it was all very good. One nite everyone on the ship went to dinner at the same time, and were given a pager and coupons for everyone for a free Bubbly at the bar, had about a 20 minute wait. DW and I are both Platinum, we had 2 free dinners. We went to Le Bistro one nite and we could substitute for Chin Chin for the 2nd nite. Both were excellent, also very empty. Teppanyaki was always busy, but they also put on a show for you. We went to the Blue Lagoon a few times, good as always. Its on the 8th floor, and seems to be a hidden secret, as never packed.

Had room service on two mornings when we had shore excursions, delivered promptly and good.

Had Cagneys for breakfast and lunch, agree, the breakfast was good, but the lunch, not much of a different menu from other restaurants on the ship.

Went to two shows, the 2 comedians/magic show. Both were funny and good, had seen many shows on other cruises, did not feel we missed anything.

We did 3 shore excursions thru the ship: River Tubing Safari, very slow paced, DW did the Dunn Falls, and really enjoyed it. Stingray/Barrier Reef, had very rough seas at our first stop, they cut the time short, and supposively gave us a partial credit back, The 2nd location we had Stingrays swimming all around us, they were raised around people, and were very tame. The 3rd excursion, in Cozumel, we went to a small ruin, the guide spent about 45 minutes explaining the history to us, we saw about 1/2 of it, then it was time to go. Went to a beach restuarant with a pool and chairs to sit on. The beach was rocky and too rough to go into. Pretty lame excursion. We should have booked our excursions right after getting on the ship, the ones we really wanted were booked.

In Cozumel, we docked next to the Pearl, and late in the day, the music and dancing by the crews of the two ships occurred again. They did this last year, and it was entertaining to watch for about 2 hours before we departed. Crew in costumes and on stilts, the music sounded the same, but the crew and returning guests all had a good time.

We found the ship very clean and in good condition, the staff always friendly. Not a lot of kids on the ship, of course at this time of the year you would not expect many. Never saw any issues with fellow guests. There will always be folks that are not familiar with elevator usage, it seems unnecessary to pass out an instruction manual for its usage, but, maybe it would be helpful for some folks. Remember, let the folks out, before you barge your way into the elevator. Attended the Meet & Greet, so got to meet fellow CC'ers.

Over all, a great cruise, bought a few more Cruise Rewards, so have to get to work on where we are going next. I asked the possibility of adding Australia to the agenda, and was told they have started selling Cruise Rewards there, (?), so maybe that will be a new location to be added, as new ships coming out, and the new schedules to be released in the next month.

We were happy with the ship and cruise, so look forward to continue cruising with NCL. No hot negative issues, pleased with everything. Any question, please ask.

Yes, just tell them at the Pursers' desk who, and how much, and they will put it on your account. :cool:

The onboard Foreign Exchange Desk charged a $10 transaction fee. (We did not use this service.)

Woody

Correct; we brought with us $100 Euro bills, and they would give you smaller change, no charge for doing that. That was helpful. :)

This is a really useful thread! Can you tell me, do the balcony cabins have a fridge?

Yes, and we had our room steward remove everything, so we could put our stuff in there.

Re laundry, DW is Platinum, so we get a free laundry. There was a mid week laundry special. Our room steward, Charlie, took our laundry, and it was back the next day. They even ironed the t-shirts. If we had factored in doing laundry on the ship, we would have packed less clothes. We packed for 2+ weeks, figuring out wearing clean clothes. So next time, we can take less clothes. Then DW and I will both be Platinum, and get laundry done twice.

And agree, the crew on the ship are great. They are to be commended. :):):)

Did you get WIFI on the ship?

if so, where?

What was the cost?

thanks

We used the ships internet, 75 cents per minute, and its s.....l......o.....w.........

;)

And on embarkation day, you have a special check-in line, and will be personally escorted to your suite. Or, it they are not ready, to Cagneys for lunch.

On the Star last December, they have a "Pillow Menu". If that isn't pampering, but it works on us.

Enjoy!!!!! :)

Glad I came across this thread, it has provided me with a good amount to read and get my head around, not sure if we want to do Istanbul as a Organised Trip or DIY little bit concerned of getting lost etc

like yourself I have looked at pre purchasing tickets, fabulous idea and I presume you can just wander to the front of any Queue? I also want to do the Basilica Cisterns, any ideas the cost for entry and in what order these venues should be visited ?

What would we do without internet eh lol

arrive at Port Buy a Map and get on with it:D

We purchased our Hagia Sophia tickets online, when we arrived, we went right in. There was a long line for buying tickets. Then we went up to the Blue Mosque, but it was closed from 12 noon til 2, but actually opened up again at 1:30. So we went across the street to the Cistern, no TL, we only had Euros, its only $10 TL, and they directed us to a currency exchange about a 5 minute walk away, and got TL. The restaurant and gift shops in the Cistern take Euros, but not for admission. We spent about 1-2 hours in Hagia, about 30 minutes in the BM, and about 25 minutes in the Cistern. :)

I have now finished the pictures - you can view them at bobandjoannstravel.shutterfly.com

I'm stumped, how do I look at the pics???