DesertGal40

I feel bad for the families on this cruise.

 

We cruise over our kids, spring break, which is often the same as college spring breaks, and have never encountered this.

 

NCL made two business decisions: to sell the unlimited beverage package to individuals under 25 and to take a ship and port that normally has 7 day cruises and switch them to a 3 and a 4 day cruise. Those decisions align perfectly with the marketing decision to go directly to college campuses and sell the cruise to students.

 

Maybe they are banking on getting all of these students as future cruise passengers. I don't know how else they thought they could make money on 4 people to a room with unlimited drinks (although, come to think of it, 2 of those people had to pay for beverage package). It is not like this demographic was going to buy art in the gallery or pay big bucks for shore excursions.

 

Maybe they think the current and future revenue from these college passengers will outweigh the lost revenue from the families on the cruise who are now permanently turned away from the brand and possibly even cruising as a whole.

 

I feel bad: for the families and other travelers whose vacations were ruined; for the stewards and other staff who had to clean up after the drunken hoard; and for the poor bartenders who were probably grossly overworked, undertipped and under-appreciated.

 

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But shouldn't other cruisers take the time to research this cruise, take into consideration that it is a shorter cruise that occurs during Spring Break, and make a decision that they will be okay with a party atmosphere? Also, many cruise lines sell unlimited drink packages, but even those that don't have people who overindulge. You can't say it is the cruise lines fault. Would someone who is trying to diet say the unlimited food is the cruise lines fault too? Everyone has the responsibility to limit their consumption. People need to be held accountable for their own actions. Just my opinion

If you track your runs, it makes for a pretty funny looking GPS map photo in the middle of the ocean. My husband also hates treadmill running, so this worked for him. The most annoying part were the tight turns, which made it impossible to maintain any kind of pace, but he simply got the distance in and ignored the rest. During port stops he runs on land.

We've only cruised Disney, and their track goes all of the way around the ship, but it does go through the engine room area (kind of interesting). It did get pretty windy at times but it was fairly empty. I ran every day around 10:00 a.m.

Good idea to run in ports, especially since ours is port intensive. My husband would probably have a heart attack if I said I was going to do that though. So, I'll stick with the ships running. It's good to hear that your husband enjoys running on the track on the Epic. As dumb as it sounds, I considered moving to a different ship when I had read reviews that the track area wasn't great. The thought of going 11 days without getting my daily run in is too much. Plus, that is my sanity so.....

There was a much more recent thread about the Epic's jogging track. You'll find your answer there. Here's the link. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2604649

Thank you. That was really helpful!! I so appreciate it

Thank you for the information. I try to get my 5 miles in every day, so while this may be tedious and a bit boring, at least there is a place to run. I loathe treadmill running.

They provide distilled water for c-pap machines.....really don't know why you'd need "bottled" water to mix formula for a 6 month old....

If I was crusing with an infant, I would only use bottled water for formula as well. Sometimes the water may have additives that aren't safe for an infant.

Following!

I saw dolphins while jogging across the Mediterranean on a treadmill. You're up really high and looking out a huge wall of glass.

Can't beat that!

 

But the track is just a long back & forth. My wife did 5 miles on it one day--but she usually just likes to run to zone out everything.

Out of curiosity, how many back and forth laps did it take for a mile? This is going to be our first Non Disney Cruise and I used their running track every single day.

Do Haven guests get any kind of discount on a cabana?

This is good to know. We have only cruised Disney in the past so November will be our first with another cruise line. We are currently booked in the Haven (although I'm having anxiety about spending so much $$). We wanted to splurge a bit since we are celebrating a landmark birthday, our 15th wedding anniversary, and my daughters birthday. I was slightly worried about the dining experience. My husband loves trying new dishes and desserts (he is one of the few that can eat and not gain an ounce). I am gluten free so that can always be a challenge so typically would stick with fish or chicken, veggies and a salad. On our Alaskan cruise, I ate salmon every single night and truly was a bit bored. It sounds like the Haven dining offers a lot of flexibility.