okwriter

1 hour ago, redcoats1976 said:

i thought you meant you were staying permanently...i had a jealous.

Same here. ☺️

I stumbled onto one of your earlier threads about cruising solo when I found this thread. I was looking to see if you'd posted a review. Curious how you like going solo, as I'm considering it...

Yes, expect to lose, but you never know! I usually do better if I'm not on free drinks. :)

The last sea day (on a 7-day) has been the best for me, twice hitting and coming in just barely under the hand pay amount. But I have a friend who also won a grand about midway through a 7-day cruise.

I always used to say the machines weren't as hot the first few days. Then I took my sister and she crapped money at every machine that first two nights! Someone also hit it big at one of those BMW machines that first night, and someone hit a royal flush on the card tables. Craziest thing ever!

Hi, We're interested in anyone who has stayed in one of the rear facing balconies on the Ecstasy. We love the rear of the ship and think it would be cool to be able to sit on our balcony and watch the wake from the rear.

Can anyone tell us about it or who has a few pics to share.

 

Jim&Pam

My friends and I stayed in an aft cabin in 2011 on the Ecstasy. Would definitely do it again! I can't find pictures at the moment, but you will love it. A bonus is that because you are at the back of the ship, there isn't a lot of traffic in the hallway. :)

I thought my cruise was sold out, so I thought I wouldn't get a call!

 

I am going from deck 1 porthole to deck 11 spa balcony. $432 flat adder. This averages to $30.86 extra per day for the wife and me. That is almost cheaper than the daily spa access. I am soooo excited!

Enjoy! I'm having serious cruise withdrawals right now, so I'm jealous! :p

Actually, suicide is desperation and blindness. Experiencing a pain you see no escape from and a blindness to any value you have on this earth. Depression knows no bounds and if you have not walked through that valley yourself or with someone you dearly love, you really have no idea.

Those of us who *have* walked that valley understand your explanation, and we thank you for trying to educate those who haven't.

Not "enclosed" any more than any other balcony. We were very near the back. I think only one other cabin behind ours and then the corner and the aft cabins.

... matter of fact in all our years of world voyaging I can't recall a casino being open when we were in port or at anchor nearby.

On my first cruise (Carnival Sensation), the ship overnighted in the Bahamas and the casino on board opened that evening.

I assume reservations are required for steak house? If so, how far in advance should they be booked? Is it possible to get reservations the same day? There's always at least one night that we're not crazy about the main dining room menu. There's just no way to know which night that will be.

Once on board, you can look at the menu for the entire cruise on the television in your cabin and decide which night you want to eat in the steakhouse. I've had good experiences at both the the steakhouse and the Italian restaurant.

I cruised NCL after 9 times on Carnival. They were comparable in many ways, in my opinion, but I felt Carnival edged out NCL because the beds were much more comfortable. Sleep is important to me. :)

I'm missing the Magic today, so I picked a random review to read. Yours was a good one so far! Thanks! *sigh*

I would never book another regular balcony if a cove was available. Love them!

I've cruised on the Ecstasy and had a great time! For me, a cruise is what I choose to make it. I would book online on the Carnival site or by phone, but if you've changed your mind, none of this really matters. :)

NCL has different mini suite categories at different prices based on location of the suite in the ship. Generally speaking, the higher decks and mid ship positions cost more than lower decks and front and aft positions. Therefore, if your original room was in one of these positions, it was the change of location that was the upgrade. The rooms, however, are the same.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks! Since this was a "guarantee" booking, I don't know if we were assigned one cabin and then upgraded --- only that our documentation said it was an upgraded. We were very far back, with only one cabin after us before getting to true aft of the ship. We loved it. ;)

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong about this, too. We paid for a mini-suite guarantee, but I noticed when looking at my papers today that our cruise documents said "Please note, in an effort to provide you with the best Freestyle Cruising experience, we have given you a complimentary upgrade to stateroom 11134."

Isn't that cabin a mini-suite? Why was it considered an upgrade? None of it matters at this point. We loved the cabin! But it might help someone else -- or me if I ever cruise NCL again. :)

Just an FYI for anyone reading this review, O'Sheehans is not a pay venue. Perhaps the OP is confused.

You are so right! Sorry! It's been awhile since the cruise, and I stay confused! :D

I have cruised Carnival 9 times and decided last year to try NCL. My group is all women age 50-ish who usually sail from Galveston on the Magic. Last November, we flew into Houston and sailed from Bayport Terminal in Pasadena (NCL calls it Houston). This was a 7-day cruise November 15-22 on the Jewel with stops in Cozumel, Belize City, and the new (at the time) port in Trujillo, Honduras.

It’s been awhile since the cruise, but I wanted to share some observations in hopes it helps someone. I have never had a bad cruise, and most of the things I write about don’t make or break my experience. These are just my observances and opinions based on the Carnival ships I’ve been on (usually the Carnival Magic) compared to my only NCL experience—on the Jewel—and based on the activities we participate in---usually just the casino :). These are in no particular order of importance.

COST: This one goes to NCL. We got a guaranteed mini-suite for 4 people for $450 each all in, and a $70 (total for cabin) OBC offset that a little. This was way better than anything I’ve paid for a comparable room on Carnival, and nobody had to climb a ladder to get into bed.

EMBARK/DEBARK process: This was a split. Getting on board was easier on NCL (than getting on the Magic in Galveston) due to less people and being the only ship in port. Debark process is much, much easier and faster on Carnival but seemed somewhat of a “cluster” at Bayport.

OVERALL CLEANLINESS: This goes to Carnival. It wasn’t that the Jewel was dirty. It was just that Carnival (on the Magic) seems to have people everywhere cleaning everything. I didn’t see that on the Jewel, although the NCL staff is very proactive about squirting your hands with hand sanitizer as you enter and exit places. Our balcony was just plain nasty and wasn’t cleaned all week.

ROOM STEWARD: This was a toss-up, with perhaps NCL leading by a nose. (I didn’t ding the room steward for the nasty balcony because I “think” there is a special crew that cleans those.) Our steward was awesome and we tipped him extra accordingly, just as we’ve always done on Carnival. I really liked that he made the sofa bed back up during the daytime, whereas Carnival never has when we’ve been in a room where the sofa doubles as a bed. We also loved having a coffee pot in the room, and he made sure we had all the supplies we needed!

BEDS: Carnival definitely wins this one. The beds on the Jewel were really hard, whereas the ones on Carnival always seem so plush!

ENTERTAINMENT: Can’t comment. We didn’t participate.

KIDS’ STUFF: Can’t comment. The kids on board did seem well behaved, as they are on Carnival.

CASINO: Hmmm. This one was a toss-up. We are slot players, and there were always machines available. Overall ($$ won or lost), we didn't fare much better or worse than on the Magic. Bar service seemed equal, too, whether we were paying for drinks or qualified for free drinks (two of us did; two didn’t). We really liked that on NCL they put out a very small “buffet” to snack on at different times of the day in the casino.

DINING: The edge goes to Carnival. We only did one paid venue, and that was O’Sheehan’s. It was decent, but as far as free meals in the dining rooms, Carnival wins. Maybe it’s because I’ve been on the Magic so often that I have my favorites…not sure. The buffets were comparable, with the setup perhaps slightly better (rarely any lines) on the Jewel.

EXCURSIONS: Toss-up. We don’t do many ship excursions on Carnival, and we only did one ship excursion on NCL: a beach outing in Trujillo. It rained in the mountains all day and began raining on the beach about 30 minutes after we got there. Not sure if anyone on the Cruise Critic NCL board posted about the adventure getting back to the ship. There is only one small road through the town, and several “low water stream crossings” on our way to the beach turned into roaring rivers by the time we headed back to the ship. We were on a bus at one of these crossings for a few hours waiting for the water level to fall (it didn’t), then transferred to a different type of bus that was able to drive through the water. It was scary! We finally got back to the ship about dark, and the crew met us with warm towels, as we were all very wet and very cold. NCL also reimbursed half the cost of the excursion, which was a nice gesture but nothing we’d have asked for.

Hope this helps someone. I’d do either again but all things being equal, I’d go back to the Magic. My deciding factor has to the beds.

One of the low water crossings. Picture taken from inside the bus on the way TO the beach.

One crossing on the way back to the ship. This one held us up for two hours.

Another crossing on the way back to the ship. Yes, we were scared! We weren't sure if the locals were waiting to cross the "stream" or gathered to watch the silly American tourists float downstream on the bus. :confused:

I'm on the breakaway November 30th. Was booked in a balcony cabin on deck 11 aft but once they changed the smoking policy and stated smoking areas will be allowed on the waterfront I switched my cabin to cabin 8780 right next to the waterfront. Might not be the best location but it's definitely one of the most convenient. I have some mobility issues so it's not that I'm being lazy to walk to a smoking area I just rather not have to get a scooter I rather be able to walk in the morning for my coffee and cigarette without scaring all the passengers so early in the morning lol

:D We will probably scare a few passengers in the morning, too!

I don't know what the waterfront is -- we didn't research the ship at all. Just saw a good price for 4 and snagged it. We were ready to try something new, even though we all have a soft spot for the Carnival Magic.

I'll go check out the waterfront and see what that is! Hope you have a great cruise!

OKWriter... Hi, My Sister and I are on the Jewel in Dec, on the 13th. We booked a Mini-suite GTY as well. What cabin did you get and when did you get it assigned? We have yet to have a cabin assigned. I had read that the GTY Mini-suites are usually Aft. We are hoping for a little forward toward Mid-ship but whatever we get is fine. The Elder is also a smoker, that's why we love balconies, and we were wondering about the closed smoking area. We will be on deck 11 so should be able to go to 12 to smoke outside. I, myself, am not a smoker but I want the Elder to enjoy her cruise. She is a Cabin-dweller and loves to sit on Balcony, read, smoke and watch the water. That is her vacation. She will still have a good time.

This is our first time on NCL so we are looking forward to a new experience

Hope you enjoy the Jewel and the cruise.

Jodie

Hi, Jodie. I don't know for sure when we were assigned a cabin. But someone on our roll call had received their assignment, so I went online and looked--sure enough, we had our cabin, too! It is 11134. We love balconies, too, and have never sailed without one. We have always spent a TON of time on ours, especially in early morning and late evening. We probably still will, but it won't be quite the same.

Hope you also enjoy your first NCL cruise!

Thank you everyone for the great answers! Since this is our first NCL cruise, I called the 800# to book, and the guy who booked us said he also smokes and assured me that we'll have plenty of options. Of course, he probably gets paid per cruise booked, so... :)

On Carnival Magic, half the casino bar was smoking, so we were always able to go there for a smoke while waiting for the casino to open. We were also able to sit outside at the Red Frog Pub and smoke, so we're hoping for a place like that, too.

Like I said earlier, we'll be fine, I'm sure. We're excited to try a new ship, new port, new casino, new everything! And we figure, "How bad can it be? We're cruising!" :)

Thank you again!

And we spend a considerable amount of time in the casino, so that won't be an issue. :)

Guess I should have been more specific. :) WHERE are the outside areas now? We booked a guarantee mini-suite and our cabin has been assigned (way aft). We booked before the policy change was announced, and I was trying to see how close or far we'd be from a smoking spot. It won't matter--we'll comply--just curious and getting anxious now that we are in double digits to departure. Thanks!

I have used Sam's Limousine several times when flying into Houston Hobby and cruising from Galveston. Great service!

When the new policy becomes effective, where will the smoking areas be on Jewel (or where do you *think* they will be)? I've never been on any NCL ship, so I have no idea what to expect! Thank you!

I've used them twice for transportation to/from Houston Hobby to Galveston when cruising on Carnival (four passengers each time). They were GREAT! I'm booked now for a November cruise on NCL and thinking I'll call them for a quote. Wouldn't hesitate to use them again! :)