wcook

All right, now I’m <peeved> Now that I’m home, is there any way for me to officially complain? Not that I expect anything in return. But this is sooo wrong.

That was super weird. They moved up the all aboard two two hours. Maybe I missed it, but there was zero announcement of the change. You had to read the daily newsletter and notice that it was 3:30 instead of 5:30. I would have expected signs upon leaving the boat and have crew remind every single person leaving. But that didn’t seem to be the NCL way. At least not this cruise.

Games are shown in multiple locations.

The main thing that would help is to have lots of 16 year old boys on the cruise. But I’m not sure how much control you have over that 🙂

I noticed both Martini and Mojito tastings. There might have even been more. Here’s a shot I took of the mojito glasses

My first NCL cruise comes to an end. Overall, it agrees with my general philosophy that the mainstream cruise lines are much more similar than different. Given the right itinerary and price I’d sail NCL again. But I won’t go out of my way. If anyone has any questions about the Epic or Southern Caribbean out of San Juan, ask away. The Ugly: Boarding in San Juan was a disaster. Three plus hours in lines, mostly outdoors and worst of all, absolutely nobody from NCL around to reassure people, hand out water, take care of the elderly, etc. and zero acknowledgment or apology afterward The Bad: Not a big deal, but I don’t like the 24 hour food source being a sit down restaurant. Who thinks this is a good idea? And there was just an overall sense of disorganization. Show times would change from published times, with the daily letter being wrong. All aboard times at a port changed without any announcement other than in the small print. That sort of thing. The good: Fantastic group of fellow passengers. Friendly, helpful, and a great crew in the solo suites. The solo lounge in general was a really nice touch. And finally, breakfast in the Taste dining room. Such a better way to start the day than the chaos in the buffet.

I’ve been sailing MSC lately and really like it. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the Yacht club as they don’t let riffraff like me in the place. I will say the thermal spa areas on the new ships are wonderful.

/checks waist/ Nope, not everywhere.

On the Epic, there is N informal hang out session from 5-7 each night when the studio bar is open. It’s completely separate from the single’s meet up scheduled for the whole ship.

Somehow, we all get in cars every day and drive around. From an actuarial standpoint, that’s effing dangerous*. Many of us eat grilled and or processed meat every day, despite it being a known carcinogen. Volcanos sound scary, but in the grand scheme of things they are nothing. * as a former actuary, that’s the technical term.

Just curious, if someone does a bid upgrade into the Haven, are they entitled to all the benefits of staying in the Haven? I know at least one line *cough*MSC*cough* allows you to bid for a room in their ship-within-a-ship, but doesn’t give you all the services.

Duh. You’d look like an idiot. Now a Buccaneers Brady Jersey, that’s a different story.

Baby, won't you help me to understand? Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

So you are saying…. There’s no such thing as a free lunch?

20 minutes to JFK??? I take it you don’t have to get on the Van Wyke.

But I think it clear NCL is playing games. Jacking the drink package price to over $100/day and then setting a tip rate of 20%. No sane person would pay that, would they? Don’t get me wrong, $20+/day is a nice price for drink package. But Im allowed a few eye rolls at calling it free.

Throw a nice shirt in you bag at the last minute just in case. Importantly, do not check to see if shirt has shrunk during Covid (as so many clothes seem to have done.) Fill rest of bag with t-shirts and beach ware. Reserve a restaurant when you get on board, but don’t bother unpacking shirt. About 10 minutes before dinner, remember you need to dress. Find shirt at bottom of suitcase. Dig pants you wore onto the ship out of dirty clothes pile. Dress. Tell yourself “you look fabulous” but do not look in mirror to confirm. Have a wonderful dinner.

These are the requirements for online check in. If you don’t do online check in, they can do everything for you at the dock.

In LA? 🙂

when you have a drink package. Always a fun time, but mostly for the free champagne I think. Just a big goof - a only on a cruise ship activity. But somehow I feel like I’m being cheated since I’m not “scamming” free alcohol. Maybe I could actually buy some art. Bwahahahaha. Kidding. Anyway, auction starts in 10 minutes. Hope everyone is having a great day.

When my wife and I were in college the was a shoe store on the shopping street that was always having a sale. We were recently back in town 30 years later. Warmed our hearts to see the shoe store was still there. And yep, they were having a sale.

70% of flight horror stories include that phrase.

at the way you pulled me out of time You hung me on the line Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you Ba da da da da da da da da

For what it’s worth, I flew BDL -> SJU yesterday. As I’m sure the news reports pointed out, it seemed like half the flights in the country were cancelled or delayed. I hear there’s some sort of storm going on (It’s 78 and beautiful here in San Juan on board the Epic.) We were only delayed 90 minutes, but that would not have been fun if flying in with a quick turnaround

I’m on the Epic. It was bad! It took me three hours from the time I got to the terminal until I was on board. Spoke to a couple that had priority boarding due to status and it took them 2 1/2 hours. So much for customer appreciation. Rumor in the line was that some people from the previous cruise didn’t get off and had to be found and removed. True? Not true? Who the heck knows. Lots of chaos. Hours of waiting, much of it outdoors. At least I was in the shade. And as just about everybody pointed out, nobody from NCL was around. It would have done a world of good to have people out, reassuring people that, yes, they were in the right line. Handing out water. Giving some special care to the elderly and those who needed it. Maybe even an apology or two. Not a good start.