rajones007

The bread with the dipping oils is phenomenal..

Oh yeah! I forgot about that.

 

I've said this a dozen times here at CC--

 

I like that La Cucina isn't well received around CC. Why the bad reputation? I really can't explain it. But it keeps the masses out of there and that's how I like it! It's never busy, you can always just walk right in and get a decent seat by the window, it's always nice and quiet (usually, sometimes there might be a large party going on on the other end, but that's okay), and the service is always prompt and friendly. Plus, they have the best steak onboard.

 

The biggest complaint I've heard was about the pizza. That's only because most ordinary average people think Dominos or Pizza Hutt or a frozen DiGiornio is the pinnacle of pizza cuisine. They look at La Cucina's pizza in disgust - "the crust is too thin!!!...there's hardly any sauce!!!...ewww, it's got olives on it!!!!...it needs more cheese!!!". It's like listening to my daughter when she was 7 years old.

The steak is rib eye and is outstanding..........every bit as good as Cagney's:)

My thoughts exactly. I had one on the Epic that was better than any steak I've ever been served at Cagneys. It was one of the best steaks I've ever had.

 

EDIT. to answer the OP - we always liked their Caesar Salad. I know it's so much of a standard anywhere nowadays that it's never anything special, but La Cucina does it very well...the entire wedge of romaine lettuce, shaved Parmesan cheese (very sharp taste, definitely not the cheap Kraft stuff you see in the grocery store), not overloaded with croutons, no bacon bits that I can remember (they don't belong on a Caesar anyways) and drizzled with the most perfect Caesar dressing ever. (And they always ask if you want anchovies with it.)

I find tapatalk is only useful on a phone. I have it on my tablet, but I never use it much unless I'm on an actual cruise.

 

EDIT. I just tried the CC app......GOODBYE TAPATALK!!!!

I had to sign for my 19 year old on our May cruise and I wrote about it in my review. I'll copy and paste MY experience about it:

 

 

We headed down to customer service to get him signed up. The bar tender at the pool bar told me that all I needed to do was take our room cards and ourselves down to customer service to get him signed up. When we arrived, the lady looked at me like I was a bad parent for letting him sign up to drink at the age of 19. Sigh. I know my child, he's responsible with everything he does. He's worked at his union job for 2 1/2 years, never calls off and never gets into any trouble. He pays his bills on time and he's polite and considerate. I know what I'm doing. So after giving me the "judgement" look, she said I would need more than my room key to allow him to drink. I would need my ID as well. I told her I would have to go back to the room to get it. She ask if our names were the same. Nope, they are not, I'm remarried. She ask if the address on our ID's were there same. Nope, we just moved last week and I have the new address on my ID (only because when I renewed my license I knew that I was moving and knew the address) and he doesn't renew his license until November and has the old address on it. She was really trying. I told her "I'll be back with everything you need as proof" and walked away.

 

We arrived at my room where I proceeded to take out a folder with 1) My ID in it 2) My divorce papers proving that my name use to be the same last name as Kolin when I was married to his dad and 3) My marriage certificate from 8 years ago to my current husband showing that is why I have a different last name. I figured if that didn't do the job, they better take some time into looking up my information in their system showing what my previous address use to be from a week ago (which was the same as Kolins ID) and what my address is listed as for this cruise (which is what my ID said).

 

When we arrived back, we were helped by another representative who did not give us that judgement look and had me fill out the form and printed him off a new card with the PC listed on it.

That's an awesome story. And I'm glad I read it. I'm taking my daughter on a cruise in February and we never even thought about the drinking age. She'll be 20.5 years old at the time.

 

She goes to school in Ottawa, been legally allowed to buy/drink alcohol in Quebec for 2.5 years, 1.5 years in Ontario, then she gets on the ship and she's still not old enough? That's a :rolleyes: if I ever heard one.

[quote name='garycarla']
If I wanted stamps, I would bring them from home - no place to mail at sea anyways.
[/QUOTE]
Ummmmm, are you serious? You do know that your US stamps aren't accepted anywhere for mail drop-off outside the USA, right?

[quote name='ClarkBHM']My kids had picked out postcards and wanted to send them to family members. You can drop the postcards into the ship's mailbox, and they will send them for you once you arrive at port. If I had known that I would have needed stamps, I would have brought them as well, but you can't foresee everything. That's why I went to the desk.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, my kids did that when they were younger. Guest services usually has stamps for all the countries visited on the itinerary.

Did you see that ludicrous display last night ?

Heh.

I go out of my to avoid guest services on the first and last days. Too many people with "issues".

 

this....

Ditto. I never have anything that pressing that I need to go bother them at that time. I often wonder what it is that people need so dearly that it can't wait.

*sigh*

That steak is not from the dinner menu. It's smaller. Put the lunch menu next to the dinner menu and you'll see about the only things that are same are the shrimp cocktail and the side order of Cagney's truffle fries. Any steak takes a few minutes to prepare...they're not something that can be lying around precooked sitting on a steam table . It has nothing to do with it being "from the dinner menu".

 

Here's the Cagney's dinner menu, in case you're not familiar with it: http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Cagneys-Gem-101314.pdf

Yup. That steak they serve at lunch is nothing like you'll get at dinner. I don't even think they even do anything to it prior to grilling. If you're lucky the cook might sprinkle a little steak seasoning on it after it's plated.

 

They're just some cheap low grade striploins that are barely 1/4 inch thick and sold by the ton. Always lots of extra gristle on them for your dining pleasure. And there is no sense telling them how you want it done, because once it's on the grill for 45 seconds it's done all the way through.

What is imgur

 

http://**********/ - the simple image sharer.

 

Well doesn't that rot your socks. CC has blocked it. That's just sad. And embarrassing. They won't provide a useful in-house way to share images, yet they block a very reliable easy-to-use free image hosting site. I guess it's no surprise. This site and forums look like they were designed in 1999 anyways.

hi, how do i make this bigger so i can read it? Thanks.

 

I tried making bigger but no luck

You'd think this being 2014, Cruise Critic would get in the 21st century by now and allow reasonable attachment sizes. Especially when, you know, the site is devoted to cruises and vacations, two things which attract a lot of photographs.

 

OP. Throw it on imgur, please. I would be nice to see the form. Thanks!

I've often thought of leaving my business card under the mat inside the safe. I thought that would be the safest place to leave it without the risk of housekeeping finding it and throwing it out.

 

I would write the date and simple particulars about our cruise on the back of my card, along with a request to whoever found it to please leave their own card (or whatever) next to mine and send me an email just to say you found it. Eventually there would be a handful of cards in the safe.

 

I don't know why I think of things like this.

Are you able to pre-order a Viva Vino wine package this way, as well?

I have no idea (not a wine drinker), but it couldn't hurt to ask.

When I go into the fancy restaurants I just wear a pair of charcoal Dockers-like pants (I think they're Walmart store brand though ;) ) with my nice white (clean) running shoes. Then a cheap polo shirt (again, probably Walmart store brand). Green or red or even yellow - whatever. It all works for me. Sometimes I even wear one of my loud Hawaiian shirts, tucked or untucked, depending on what suits my fancy that particular day.

 

As a guy who wears nothing but rock'n'roll/sports teams t-shirts and shabby jeans/cargo shorts every other day of the year, it's quite a treat for my wife. I believe the term is "hot & bothered".

We generally ask for a couple extra pillows on the bed (not fussy about the type) and extra washcloths and towels.

 

We also ask to ensure there's a jug of ice water and a bucket of beer already in the cabin. (The beer comes with a slip to sign that the butler picks up later.)

 

That's about it.

 

In 3 NCL suite cruises, they always have the ice water and beer already there when we open the door. But the pillows and towels don't come until after the turn-down service on the first night.

Any month with a Tuesday in it.

 

...is what my Dad would have said.

No. You did not miss the cabin of a lifetime. Aft cabins are over-rated IMO.

 

We had one on our Princess cruise and it was nothing but noise, soot, and dirt. We were miles from anywhere we wanted to be, and the motion of the ship is more pronounced in the aft.

 

I always laugh to myself when I read posts by people who praise aft cabins, how they love the sound of the wake and how it's relaxing and puts them to sleep. All I can think about is that those people must like sleeping with their head in a washing machine...because that's exactly what it sounds like.

I've read, several times, on these boards, in the last few months, since I booked my NCL cruise, that once on board you can by a beverage package at any bar. And the bar tenders will sell to just one. I can't verify that, yet.

 

Can anyone verify that?

I certainly hope that's true.

 

I would have liked to buy it just for my 16 yo son on our upcoming cruise, but the online system was forcing me to purchase it for my wife and I too. So I didn't finish the purchase.

 

It's not worth 13.00/day for my wife and I. We'd be lucky to have 1 Pepsi a day between the two of us.

I've been on 3 NCL cruises and I have never seen a cabin door that was decorated.

 

Either I'm not paying close enough attention (entirely possible, I suppose) or I just don't find myself in the hallways of the passenger cabin decks as much as others do.

What happened to the rest of this?

I feel your pain. I feel a little deflated too. There's too many of these reviews that start out to big fan fare and pizzazz and then quickly fizzle out. I've gotten into the habit of ignoring reviews until they reach about 10 pages. Only then do you know that the OP is committed to it. But the title of this thread got me hooked early. And here I sit, feeling let down.

 

The Carnival boards were full of reviews like this. I read one where the OP came back almost 2 YEARS LATER claiming she forgot about it. To her credit; she did finish it, albeit very briefly.

 

Come on OP. Spit out the words, then throw your images up on imgur and be done with it. It doesn't have to be pretty. There isn't an award for style on these boards.

It is the airport we always travel to/from. Never had any problems. Good luck!

Yes, same here. It's my home airport too and I honestly never have any trouble with it. It's about as efficient as it can get for an airport that size with that kind of passenger load. I know people like to pile on YYZ, but for every loudmouth complainer there are a hundred thousand other passengers who passed through without incident.

 

OP> As said prior to me, book the 1.5 connection. I'd wager you'll make it. On the off-chance that you miss it, AC will put you on the next flight in 3.5 hours. If you ask nicely they'll probably give you a meal voucher worth 20 or 30 bucks. So get yourself something to eat and relax.

 

If you happen to miss the connection, when you get back home go to the AC website and find their customer service email and send them a note about your experience. Be honest. If prudent, tell them something along the lines that you were disappointed that your flight was late arriving and that the slow processing at YYZ contributed to the problem. Also mention that you appreciated the meal voucher (if you got one) and their assistance getting on the next flight. If an AC employee was particularly helpful - mention then by name! Most importantly - be honest. Do not write a novel. (And please don't rant and rave about stupid trivial stuff like the flight was too bumpy or the movie you watched was terrible, etc.)

 

Do that and there will be a good chance they will reply with a 5-10% discount code on your next flight. It might not seem like much, but it's something.

We're not Platinum (yet), but when we leave the bag of dirty laundry on the bed in the morning, the following evening it's back on the bed, laundered, folded, and in a wicker laundry basket. Sometimes they put my polo shirts on hangers, but sometimes not.

 

So, less than 36 hours. Every time. Without fail.

 

... it took 3 1/2 days to get it back. Just an fyi for planning.

After the 2nd day I'd be inquiring as to the whereabouts. 3.5 days makes me think it was misplaced.

Funny, I don't hear you crying about being given points you actually were not entitled to... :confused:

 

I would recommend you return to RCL for your next trip. This Latitudes business is causing you way to much stress.

 

I don't believe NCL will, anytime soon, hire more personnel to manage issues with Latitudes members who have not cruised with them in 11 years.

Heh. Most apologists at least try not to be so obvious as you.

My wife and I will turn platinum on our Nov cruise on the Star. We will have done it in 4 NCL cruises, all in suites, and all with some sort of bonus points.

I think the website does that purposely. It's NCL's way of pushing the less desirable cabins in a category, and hoping people will accept that's it for availability and just book it. (The Carnival website is bad for doing that too).

 

My PCC at NCL always tells me to call/email him to check if a specific cabin/area is available.

 

Check out some of the Epic sailings for cabins in the Haven. A lot of times the system will only show you available cabins on deck 17. That's all that showed for me when I was looking for a 2br family suite on 16. I told him I really wanted on 16, and he responded "Yeah, there are plenty available. Which one do you want?".