Shayhooper

5 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Will you be giving them a 10?

LOL

Yes, I will because the service has been lovely and I’m pretty sure is a procedure they are directed to do. If there is a spot for additional comments I will put this feedback there plus some other feedback about some of the food. 

11 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

The same person asking this? 

 For the most part we have eaten at specialty restaurants, so it has been by whomever has served us that meal. However, the few nights we did eat at our table in the main dining room, both our waiter and the head waiter made a point of reminding us about the surgery and giving them a 10. 

I’m on the Odyssey right now and have had a lovely cruise but I have one major thing that I would change. 
 

Please stop reminding us that we will be getting a survey and making us confirm we will give them a 10 rating after every single meal. EVERY.SINGLE.MEAL.  It seriously ended each meal on a sour note that made us quite uncomfortable.  

For us, we far preferred the meal we had at JiJi’s to anything else we had on the ship.  Well worth the cost.

1 hour ago, icft said:

Back to pet peeves; the toilet paper. We now have toilet paper on our trip check list of things to bring. I really should swap rolls with them and bring back theirs to use as finishing sandpaper on furniture projects.

As someone with Crohn’s I truly wish they could use better toilet paper but the thin scratchy stuff is necessary for the on board plumbing systems.  If you do bring your own, please make sure you aren’t flushing it.

53 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

I agree with you to an extent, but the search function on CC is really useless.   A Google search is much more helpful.

Agreed.  These days if I need information about a cruise related topic I get it from either Reddit or I Google.  

I have a few:

I miss actual tablecloths in the main dining rooms and feel like made the dining experience feel more elevated.  

I’ve never enjoyed the servers dancing during service.  Half of them seem to enjoy it but the other half clearly…… do not.  For me, it is painful to watch.

I wish they had better late night food options.

Security is not going to monitor foul language nor should they.  The job they are performing is keeping people physically safe.  Policing abstract things like foul language isn’t appropriate, especially since there is not written policy outlining what word aren’t allowed to be said and if they did have such a policy, their comedians would need to vastly alter their sets.

The only requirement for the serenity area is that people be adults.  Nothing about restricting language, monitoring volume, or limiting behavior.  

13 minutes ago, pineappleprince said:

Anybody have any updates on the state of the plants in central park?

I’m there now and some areas are filled in and others still sparse. I’ll grab some pictures a little later. 

How do you go about changing from MTD to traditional dining?

OMG thank you for this!  I have been trying to book and have been getting the run around because I have been going to wrong site.  So glad I checked here!

For my 1st cruise ever I was on the very 1st sailing of Ecstasy.  It was so long ago that Kathy Lee filmed a promo on disembarkment day.  

I'm a little sad to hear this news.

This is my 1st RCL experience but other cruise lines I am accustomed to buying the drink or dinner packages anytime after booking.  This cruise is a bit over a year out, so perhaps that isn't the case with RCL.  When can you purchase these?  Also, does anyone know what the prices are?

3 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

So I always feel really awkward about this, how do you go about tipping these people in a discrete manner? 

I left envelopes with the concierge with their names on it.  I know they got them because our butler found us and thanked us.

We did an Aft Penthouse on the Escape a few weeks ago and honestly I'm not sure that we will ever stay in anything different.  We timed how long it took us to get to the Haven, including elevator time, and it was a grand total of 4 minutes.  We still used the Haven pool, ate about half our meals at the Haven restaurant, and used the concierge for priority disembarkment.   The ONLY thing we didn't utilize well was Haven bar but that was more because the kids club wasn't open for our 12 year old so we didn't get much kid free time for adult drinking.

I am really shocked at their stance regarding flights that people booked on their own.  IMO they should pick up the change fees or pay to put these people up until the 14th.  

We did the Mexican Riveria in August and still did tours but instead were more picky about choosing our independent tours.  In Mazatlan we booked an electric bike tour - all outdoors with no bus rides.  Cancun we booked a private pontoon boat that gave us a tour and then took us snorkeling, which was surprisingly cheap and involved a quick (5 minute) shuttle to the marina.  Puerto Vallarta we did a Resort for a Day so we only needed a cab ride.  IIRC I booked all of these through Viator.

11 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

When booking the cruise and prior to NCL booking the flights, can you request to fly on a different day?  

 

YES - talk it over with the NCL agent - see what is available - a day or two early possible

three days to a week stretching it - no can do.

Upgrades from basic coach to a comfort class seat or business class at your own expense

yes possible - have affinity miles rewards with a specific airline see if the booking can

be with that airline - simply ask !

If upgrading is not possible - don't give up take it up with the airline -

Center seat - back of the bus - is not a suitable option especially long transoceanic flights !

Thank you!  That is what I was hoping for!  We have frequent flyer miles with Alaska and typically use them for our cross country flights because we can affordably get the comfort class seats with the leg room my son and husband need.  They can suck it up for an hour or two but those LONG flights really get uncomfortable.

OP I hope you don't mind, but I am piggy back on this question.  When booking the cruise and prior to NCL booking the flights, can you request to fly on a different day?  Can you also request the seats with extra leg room?  I'm sure both would have a fee, which I am fine paying but we like to fly in early and my 6'-6" son really needs the extra leg room seats.

IMO this is a case where I would use my travel insurance to cancel and get a refund.

3 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Thanks.  Do you know if the proctored 2-pack can be used for two people? 

Absolutely!   I have heard other people suggest that you buy 2 tests each because there have been reports of some test kids having the fluid bottles empty.

17 minutes ago, GeriatricNurse said:

Currently 'unavailable'!

For those looking for a proctored test, I bought mine here for both cruises I have taken.  Delivery was typically within a few days.

https://store.optum.com/shop/category/tests-devices/covid-19-home-tests/

16 hours ago, AnitaVacation said:

Let me rephrase that....in the US, if you plan accordingly, you can get a free test by appointment...although I heard that the days before Christmas were a huge shht show...

This really varies by location.  Some areas of the country are having a hard time keeping tests in stock which has resulted in testing locations like CVS or Walgreens to cancel previously made appointments.  My area right now, Walgreens has no appointments available.  Ditto with Legacy clinics.  You CAN pay out of pocket at the cost of $150 to $300 a test depending on the test you choose and submit the test to your insurance, assuming you have insurance.

57 minutes ago, Twinbooty said:

To answer the various questions, the ones with symptons tested negative and are fine.  The issue we all had here was that everybody was fine to do tests the day before but as it was Xmas then home tests were the only option and you then get into a catch 22 situation.

 

If you do a home test and are positive then you cant fly to LGB BUT you also cant get a £2500 refund so it actually encourages you to NOT do a test, travel to the pier then find out the result which is just stupid really.

 

As for how it got resolved, eventually at 430pm some 7 hours after testing positive people were taken to their bags and then dropped off either at a local hotel or a place where they could be collected and were safe.

 

When the positive person left at 430 there were still over 50 people sitting waiting on secondary results though perhaps the decision had already been taken they were not getting on. 

 

To be clear, people who were feeling symptoms didn't test prior to boarding a plane?  Or am I misunderstanding that?

ETA: I'm guessing I am wrong on this because you reference £2500, which leads me to believe you flew in from out of the country, which would have required a negative test prior to boarding the plane.

I just got off the Escape last Saturday and can tell you the crew is amazing.    Be sure to see Choir of Men.