Da-Painter

Its been a pretty well documented problem on some of the NCl ships, with the Theatre, or night club below these aft cabins on the 8th floor.

We have booked the 9th and 10th deck aft cabins, but would never stay on the 8th deck aft.

NCL knows of this issue, but it does not stop them from booking the cabins, nor telling folks about it ahead of time. Sometimes money is more important then full disclosure.

Let this be a good review for folks considering booking these suites.

Sorry about that.

We booked for Jan 2016 about 1-2 years ago, on the Dawn, SF aft suite, for about $2,800 for two. And get $300 OBC.

I see for Jan 2017 the current price is about $5,500 for two.

At that price, I do not see value in cruising. We will spend our vacation $$ elsewhere in the future. Yes, I would call that Sticker Shock.

oppps,

Interesting....

Anyone with some insights?

What do you want to do? Beach????

The Alhambra was great, the only problem for us was using a NCL excursion. It was a drawn out, very wasteful use of time, to make it all day, and overly expensive.

Terrible guide through the Alhambra, lots of waiting.

Use a non-NCL tour.

And remember that NCL can edit all reviews. So if you state items about the excursion, which NCL does not want published, they will be deleted.

Hows that for worthless reviews. :confused:

Plenty of adults in diapers, too... just sayin'... :cool:

Finally,... another appropriate response. :cool:

Just wait.

There will be lots more comments from folks proud to announce everyone they will tip every day, in their life.

Come on folks, lets hear it all over again. Its been a week. :eek:

We took our time getting off the ship last December in Barcelona, got off the ship about 8AM.

There were tons of taxi's there. Its about 25-30 minutes to the airport, during rush hour. About $35-38 Euros for 2 people.

Easier then the NCL 'hurry up and wait' on 6AM shuttle.

No need for special shuttles. ;)

As the author of the original post, I am quite surprised that several of those who replied came to the defense of the cruise line, even employing some remarkable mathematical gymnastics in order to do so. Here are the facts which you can check if you want to go to the NCL web site and do your own calculations. Take, for example, the June 19-26, 2016 cruise on the Epic. We can ignore the port charges, as they will be the same per passenger regardless of how many persons occupy the cabin and regardless of the fare that they pay NCL. If two adults take the cruise, the price is $899 x 2 for a total of $1798. At the bottom of the chart, it states clearly: "Extra Stateroom Guests are Half-Price." In the school I attended, half of $899 would be $449.50. So the total fare to be paid by the four occupants should be $899 + $899+ $449.50 + $449.50 for a total of $2697. So now, let's go ahead and change the number of guests on the web site to FOUR. The NCL website calculates the new fare automatically, and it comes out to $3137 (again ignoring the port charges). That is $440 more than $2697. If you accept the fact that the two adults are still paying $899 apiece, then the two kids are paying $669.50 each and NOT $449.50. Call it what you want but I call it deceptive and dishonest. So, let me ask the stout NCL defenders: If you took your family out to dinner to a buffet in which the adults pay $18.00 per meal, and the kids eat for "half price", how would you react when you got the check and the restaurant charged you $15.00 for each child because they declared that the kids pay half the price of something called the "revenue calculation"? Based on the responses to my original post, I guess some folks would think that was just fine! :)

Well said.

I noticed a lot of the NCL Cheerleaders gone in the last month or two, figured NCL laid them off with a lot of their other staff. I guess most of them got laid off.

You are correct, its 'deceptive'. :eek:

Can u elaborate on the codes. Also, do you have a current approx. cost of what it would cost from the airport to the top of the Las Ramblas?

About $35 Euros. :)

You don't need to reserve for shows on the Dawn. :rolleyes:

We were on the Spirit December 6-16, 2014. Weather was dry, except was sprinkling part of the day during our shore excursion to the Alhambra, Malaga.

Most days were short or long sleeves, with a few light jackets thrown in.

Sprinkled one day in Barcelona. But there are folks selling the small umbrellas every time rain shows up.

Great cruise. ;)

The next NCL sales promotion will be: "Includes Free Room Service, book by the end of the week......................" :eek:

Since you are going on a 10 day cruise, I would suggest to spend the extra and get the balcony. A 5 day cruise could be okay for an inside, but 10 days you get to see so much more, coming in and out of ports, even just sitting on the balcony on sea days is so much more enjoyable. We have also stayed in inside cabins.

We did the 10 day Canary Island cruise last December, was a great cruise. Enjoy!

When we arrive in our cabin, there is an envelope for DW and myself, with 'coupons' for the free laundry, dinners, parties, etc., we are each platinum.

Did you get these when you arrived in your cabin on the first day???

FYI, we stayed here in January, when you check in, they surprise you with an additional fee for "Safe Warranty", just a way to extract a few more dollars from every traveler. Tell them you do not want it, its just BS. :eek:

Were there lines for every single food item, or was it because people wanted to form one giant line to walk past every single dish instead of simply going to what they wanted? Lines at buffets are generally due to stupidity of people getting the food. I have no tolerance for stupid, so I probably would have grabbed a burger like that dude, to save some idiot from having to deal with me.

True. I appreciate folks that know how to deal with simple things, like this, in life.

Some folks in the line think they are looking at diamonds at Tiffany's, they want to stand and stare. When in the buffet I just go around the dozen people standing behind the shoppers.

The proper protocol is "Grab & Go". Fast, easy and quick. I am not there to shop, but to eat. "Grab & Go".

I admire the man in the picture, he's experienced in buffet lines! :eek: :cool:

There is a service called "Rush-It", it right as you come out of the cruise terminal, right across from where you entered when you arrived. They also use another name: "Advanced Check In". Its $40 per bag for the first 4, then $5 for each additional.

You drop them off, can charge it, and you pick them up at the lower lever, luggage carousels, when you get to the airport. There will be a person waiting there you give your claim tag to.

Its safe and we never had a problem.

We crammed 7 into a van with luggage and everything, it was horrible.

Just take 2 taxis, its a flat $7 per person, just easier then trying to plan a limo for a 5-10 minute ride.

The taxi drivers want you to cram into one so they get a higher fate.

Just walk up to the taxis separately. You get dropped off at the same place. :eek:

Except for locations, most balconies on the Spirit are all the same.

There are only a zillion hotels at all locations and price ranges in Barcelona, that you will have to decide for yourself, or look at post from other folks regarding this. No one will have your ideal hotel.

Staying at a hotel, have the hotel desk order a large taxi for you, there are large vans vs. a small sedan taxi. Plan 30 minutes for a taxi ride at that hour of the morning. How long before your flight you arrive is up to you, we are not fans of sitting at the airport for 2 hours before a flight, factor how long you move as a group with baggage and check in.

Good luck.

We were in Barcelona in December and planned to take the train up to Montserrat, but slept in, and awoke at 12:30 in the afternoon. Yes, the room had the curtains which darken the room. Rushed down to the hotel lobby, and the hotel had brochures for different companies.

We used Barcelonaguidebureau dot com, they depart at 3PM right at Placa Catalunya, and they did a great job, would recommend them. You can buy your tickets right there, I think if you book your tickets online, you save 5-10%.

When we go to Barcelona again in 2016, we are taking the bus/train from the airport up to Montserrat and spending the nite there. Will watch the sunrise in the morning, weather permitting.

Good luck, its a must see!!!!

When we got off NCl in December about 8:30AM, later then everyone else, there were lines of taxis out there, a weekday, no problem at that hour.

Get your tickets online ahead of time for the Familia for 9AM, and you should be fine.

We did not have any wait for the Picasso museum, but that can vary all the time.

Enjoy.