Zignewt

On 4/7/2024 at 11:42 AM, Marie51 said:

Can anyone address the dining room issue? I made reservations for 6:30 PM every evening for six of us in my group. Now I’m reading where people have to wait in line and are put at shared tables which is not what we want.

thanks for any info.

In January on the Beyond we made reservations at 6pm every night for 6 people and never had a problem and never had to share with others.  

22 hours ago, jimsig said:

I know people who spray paint their initials on both sides of their luggage with safety orange. Makes them stick right out.   

We use colourful duct tape to put large initials on our luggage.  I wasn't sure it would stay stuck on but it is still there after at least 10 trips.  Sure makes it easy to differentiate our cases from others. 

2 hours ago, MR_T said:

 

1 - how long has it been or how often is it that these get cleaned 😱 there must be all sorts of body fats/creams festering under there enjoying a perfect breeding environment for some pretty bad stuff, and going on the strong bleach smell around the area I’d say it’s been a while since the last cleaning… 

 

 

Ewww those pics make me want to throw up.  I spent a lot of time last March on one of those sunbeds.  We were there the week after they had a norvovirus outbreak and I was very impressed with the cleaning.  It seemed like everytime someone even touched a banister it was wiped down by staff.  They were very on top of it.  Unfortunately it looks like they really let it slide again.

23 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

***Before we get too far into the weeds, I always like to add a disclaimer in case there are any new readers out there: This “review” probably won't be like most of the others out there. The tale you're about to endure will merely be the narrative beginning here at my home in Atlanta, and documenting in words and pictures, my travels down to Miami, and eventually boarding the Carnival Celebration for what will be round number two for me. (First time was back in late November / early December 2022) 

 

I'm not going to be providing pictures of menus or the Fun Times nor any other pertinent information that would help you out if you decided to cruise on the Carnival Celebration. You can find all of that via other reviews here on Cruise Critic or elsewhere.

Which is why Sid's Lives are so much fun to read!

Maybe this is just an issue with the Viva or going trans atlantic, but on our recent trip we were told by the Internet person on the ship that the messaging feature would not work and to not waste our money on the 9.95 feature.

I was able to text family back home but could not text my husband on the ship, even though we both have Iphones.  

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Agreed, Berigner shouldn't be "premium" and I agree that "premium" in this case is a marketing term.  That being said, when considering the mass demographic that NCL is targeting, Beringer might actually be premium 😞 .

I have never before found that I did not like any of the wines in a basic package on any cruise line. There is usually something.  But this time after trying all the reds I just gave up. 

37 minutes ago, Baby Koala said:

Well here you go...we leave on the Prima 11/20/23, Barcelona to NYC and just got the email advising one must contact housekeeping to fill the hot tub in order to use it, you can only stay in for an hour, and then housekeeping must return to drain and clean it. 

That sounds so heavenly to have your own private hot tub on a TA!  If I had paid for a cabin with that I would be so furious right now.  I agree with you - keep requesting it several times a day.  You paid for it!

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

I must eat 3-4 pasteis de nata each day I am in Lisbon. If you are unable to make it to Belem, the tarts at Manteigaria are just as delicious, and there are several locations around Lisbon. The Manteigaria I visited recently was a 15 minute walk from the port. Enjoy!

 

I will definitely keep my eyes open for Manteigaria.  Thanks for the recommendation.  

3 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

@JIMESOPUS Bon Voyage! Looking forward to your sneak peek of the Viva. See you in Lisbon. Here is my sneak peek of the capital city...

 

Those tarts have become my new favorite thing - called Portuguese tarts here at our local store.  I can't wait to try the real thing in Lisbon!  Pateis de Belem is going to be one of our first stops.

On 10/10/2023 at 10:23 AM, MountainToTheSea said:

After submitting it to NCL again third time with a request for them to take another look and explanation they emailed me this morning and my Shareholder benefit was granted. So thanks to everyone who was supportive. My intention of posting was to see if anyone else had this experience and what to do about it. In the end NCL came through and this board was helpful. Thanks.

After reading this, I resubmitted my request and it was approved!  So thank you for letting us know you got yours finally.  I probably would not have tried again without reading this.

Thank you so much for doing this.  We are on the TA in November and have been looking for a live review!  Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

1 hour ago, news70 said:

sorry to hear that, this must be new, I had a 10 day one in Aug got approved in late July  it's booked under NCFLX SPECIAL RATE with ACV 

My invoice shows Rate Code: ALL4CHO.  I don't see anything on my invoice re the flex net rate.

This does not seem right that they can now suddenly arbitrarily deny the SH benefit that others have received in the past.  

I had my claim rejected this week for the OBC.  This is what they said:

Your booking is booked with Flex Net reduced rates. If you have further questions about your reservation, please reach out to your Travel Agent. Flex Net rates are considered reduced rates and do not qualify for the Shareholder Benefit. 

I had booked through Air Canada Vacations just to get the flights as NCL does not let you choose your flights.  The price was not any cheaper than if I had booked directly through NCL.  I guess this is now the price I am paying to choose my own flight.

I just got off the Equinox and saw those signs but not on chairs with unattended items but on chairs that had not yet been claimed.  I didn’t understand why they weren’t put on the many chairs that got reserved at 7am but not used until after 10. 

On 2/5/2023 at 2:43 PM, devinelaw said:

Cabin/Deck items: small usb fan, plug adapters, multi plug strip, magnetic hooks, towel bands, iPads (movies downloaded), iPod, Bluetooth speaker, kindle, travel games, post it notes, pens, plug and cords in organizer, quick charger for cell phones, first aid kit (Covid based items included (tests, thermometer & masks)), suntan lotions, after sun lotion, Clorox wipes, Lysol spray, pop up clothes hamper, in room snacks, flavor packets for water bottles.

Travel and Excursion items: AirTags, backpack, waterproof bag, lanyards, plastic cruise luggage tag holders, go pro and accessories, waterproof phone case

Personal items: boarding documents, passports, cash, credit cards, Covid-19 vaccination cards, prescription medications, Tylenol, Advil, contacts, glasses, glass cleaning wipes, hand wipes, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, deodorant, q-tips, makeup, volumizer hair dryer brush, shampoo and conditioner, hand sanitizer, hand lotion, body lotion, eye drops, razor, shaving cream, after shave balm, fingernail clippers, tide stick, wrinkle release spray, eucalyptus shower beads, silicone wedding bands, apple watch, cellphones, AirPods, sunglasses, reading glasses.

Thank you for this list - I printed it out to get ready for our upcoming cruise.

I am sure I am not the only one feeling sad that ‘our’ vacation is over.  Thank you Sid for taking us along with you!  The best live review ever!

Reading this is almost as exciting as stepping on a cruise ship myself.  Can't wait to see the rest!

21 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

My composition style is just "point and click" one shot, then move on. No obsessing about how it turns out.

Then you have a great natural eye.  You see beauty in things I would just walk right past.  You have a gift.  I have always enjoyed your live reports.  (I am also a Tribe lurker.) 

Oh that explains why we never saw the motion scenes there.  We only ever went past that in the evenings on the way to Cabaret Rouge.  Wish I had known this while on board!

22 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

So we went to catch a quartet in the Brooklyn Cafe. The quartet includes a very good male vocalist (a cross between Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble).

We also thought he was very good - unfortunately we were the only ones there to hear him when we were there last week.  It was a shame so many people missed out on hearing him.  

9 hours ago, DisneyDatknee said:

Anything we need is just a call away. I guess there isn’t a better place to be isolated if we can relax on the balcony with free room service. 

So sorry this has happened to you but glad they seem to be treating those in isolation better than I have read happening on other cruise lines.  My biggest fear was not in catching COVID but in being in isolation in an inside room and slow responding room service.

2 hours ago, OllieS0806 said:

Do you feel like you are missing out by not being in YC? Also, I thought the Fantastica experience got you anytime dining. Is that not the case?

We were on last week, and the only time it felt like we were missing something by not being in YC was at Ocean Cay.  They got transported to their own private section of the beach while the rest of us had a long walk.  I also was told they had waiters bringing them drinks?  Not sure if that is true but it is a long walk to the bar on the peasant side.  Of course they got more benefits than that, but we couldn't see it so never felt like we were missing anything. I have been told that once you do YC, you will never go back!  We probably will try that next time if we sail MSC again.

We also had Fantastica and no, it is not anytime dining.  Either early (I think 6:30) or late which we had at 8:15.  Aurea gets the anytime dining.

I would also like to add my thanks for this great review.  We are travelling to England next week and this has really helped us plan our 3 days in London.  So much to see and so little time!

We are silver and did not get a bottle of sparkling wine in our room on our last sailing (7 nights).  Is this something you have to ask for?

I have to think it is nothing special when they give this at bronze level but you have to be gold to get a bottle of water!

We sailed on the Jade in Jan/19 & were always asked at dinner if we minded sharing a table with others.  We had some lovely meals with people we never would have met otherwise.  They may only ask when it is really busy?