luv2cruise523

I've sailed Carnival, Princess, Royal, and most recently Celebrity. I've considered Norwegian, but have heard mostly bad things about them.

 

Sorry your cruise got off to such a poor start.

 

 

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I would like to encourage you to try it for yourself. I have sailed on most of the mainstream lines and was unsure after reading so many negative reviews. We booked them anyway and found MOST of the negativity unfounded.

You have to remember, personalities have a lot of influence on our experiences.

AmyBeth28

Really enjoying your review. I have to tell you that I'm feeling anxious as I read it. Like you I also have researched and planned our past cruises, only to have some things not go as I had spent countless hours planning :( which left me disappointed. So after 6 cruises (yes, I guess I'm slow to learn ;) ) I decided to not plan and just go with the flow. I found that to provide a much better experience for my family and myself. There is one thing that needs to be planned ahead, reservations at the specialty restaurants. Last years cruise we were disappointed to have all the times before 8pm booked (so much for "freestyle" :rolleyes:)

For this years Christmas cruise on the Breakaway, I have made our 3 specialties reservations at 90 days, the other 5 nights, well, we'll wing it :D

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Still missing the point.

 

Other lines offered much greater kickbacks or the option of canceling altogether when an itinerary was impacted by Matthew last week.

 

No one is asking to sail into the storm.

 

No one is pretending to be surprised by the storm.

 

From what I've been able to glean, they are/were upset by the lack of info and options given by NCL.

 

Normally I'd fall into the "cruise contract/you chose to sail in hurricane season" dogpile with everyone else, but I read ALL the forums and NCL looks bad compared to other lines right now, that's all.

They are not on those "other" lines, they choose to sail NCL. This is how NCL choose to handle the situation. The folks that feel they we not treated as they expected have the choice to cruise those "other" cruise lines in the future.

It really is time for everyone to understand this is a company that you have no say in how it operates. What you do have control over is how you treat others and who you give cruising dollars to.

Have A Great Day Everyone 😊

So...you used YOUR UBP to "buy THEM free drinks"?

That didn't take long, CC Police never disappoint!

I have not, I'm thinking it will be especially nice for the first and last sea day considering were are sailing in December. We just love Christmas week on a cruise.

I have been checking daily for the Thermal Spa to be available to book. Lo and behold there it is this morning. I am doing my happy dance, I click the button, get ready to reach for my CC and wait for it...wait for it...."Sorry no longer available for purchase." Ugh

I will continue to check daily. Always the optimist.

I had no idea, I have used the Belkin one on several cruise ships. I will be shopping for a non surge protected power strip for our December cruise.

Thank for the information.

Hello--booked on the Breakaway 11/13, inside cabin deck 12--VERY small. Me, DW, and 7 yr old and 5 year old. How bad will this be? I have been trying to upgrade, but since we got a promo, they will not honor the promo for an upgraded room (the kids sail free promo). Just want to see if anyone had this scenario, and, is it survivable?

Yes! We did it with teen son and daughter. Your in the cabin to use the BR and sleep. I would rather use the $$ saved on other things during the week.

Our first 5 cruises were balcony, we said the 4 of us would never survive an inside, then my husband won a cruise playing poker and we had an inside for the 4 of us. We were stressing, we had no problems. We would have no problem doing it again.

The weather was nice. By noon the 2nd day we were on deck. All ports the weather was sunny and warm, not blistering hot, which Was fine with us.

You need to choose the ship and destinations that suit your family and budget.

We booked Anthem for the holiday sailing, were very excited to try out this ship and be in the caribbean in the Winter. As it was getting closer to final payment we were having second thoughts about spending that much. We had to book two inside cabins because we have a 14 & 15 yr olds and Anthem cabins are poorly designed for families IMO NO pullmans! $>8,000.

We ended up booking the Breakaway last week balcony for 4 beverage pkg for 2 guests 3&4 only pay port fees and taxes, $100 OBC 8 days less then $4000.

We sailed the Breakaway for Christmas 2014 and really enjoyed it, love the sldes and ropes course.

Whatever you decide you will have a wonderful Holiday on board either ship.

Julie was the CD 2 yrs ago when we sailed the Breakaway. We still talk about her presence around the ship and hiw she would stop and talk when you asked her a question, and was completely engaged. Best CD we have ever experienced. Where is she now??

Exactly. That's why I don't cruise with NCL anymore.

Then why are you on these boards 🤔

Would someone share the prices for the drink packages. Alcohol and non-alcohol. Thank you!

Command Strips work as well and do not leave residue.

Thank you for your review, on Anthem for Christmas!

 

 

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We will be on board for Christmas as well 😊

We ended up booking two Inside Connecting Cabins for just that reason 15yo son & 14yo daughter. Also on Anthem OTS Christmas/New Years 2016.

Totally agree with OP and others, we prefer to cruise alone for the freedom. No matter what you do or say, when you cruise with others, I still feel like I have to be too accommodating.

 

 

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I agree!

14 and 15, daughter and son, connecting cabins only because Anthem of the Seas doesn't have true quad cabins. To the OP, I'm sure you will make a decision that works best for your family. Enjoy your cruise!

Ok, I admit I check our booked cruise EVERYDAY for better pricing, I am sure I drive my TA CRAZY! I can't help myself. We are booked on Anthem of The Seas 12/23/2016 2 adults 1 qualifies for senior and 2 teens. When I booked they had only 1 cabin to accommodate 4 outside deck 3. Today I see that several categories are opened for 4, including a balcony for LESS then we paid for the OS. Have an email into my TA we will see what happens. Also, when we booked we did recieve "free"grats pass 1&2 AND $330 in OBC, I understand that we will most likely lose that, however the price difference is a little over 1K.

Question: Can we bring a Areo type mattress to inflate at night?

We love, love, love sailing for Christmas! Brought Command Hooks and attached to cabin walls hung stockings, brought a small tree and mini lights and ornaments. The cabin looked very festive. Our childern are 14 & 15 .

Illy coffee is very good. It's unfortunate that they have to use UHT milk on board as that totally ruins the taste of the coffee.

Pardon my ignorance, what is UHT milk?

Like you, a huge percentage of those sailing on the Anthem drive to the port. They don't have to worry about airfare. This sends cruise fares higher. People are willing to pay higher fares to avoid flying.

Yes, flying adds $$, We would rather drive and possible pay more for the cruise. I still feel that cruising a a good value for a family vacation :)

Didn't want to take a chance missing out, so we booked it. Cabins that hold 4 are hard to come by. No insides left, had to go with outside. Did score OBC and paid gratuities for passengers 1 & 2 :)

OOP's! Yes I just now realized there are three ships in the RCL fleet that begin with "A". Pardon my ignorance :o. Anthem of The Seas is the ship I am referring to. Yes, I do realize it is a holiday week, that is when our children are off of school. That limits our flexibility, we may just have to bit the bullet :eek:

I know, I know I must be delusional. I just can't believe that many families can afford 6K+ for an inside cabin for 4.