NCLbigfan

   We recently came back from a cruise on the Serenade. Whatever you do, buy the package before you get on the ship. It was our 30th anniversary cruise and I surprised the wife with the all you can take package. It cost me $199.99 online and was advertised at $250.00 on the ship. On the second day we went to look at our sail away photos. My wife saw the ad for the all you can take pictures for $250.00 and wanted it for our anniversary but I surprised her and told her that I had already purchased it but for $50.00 less. Just one of the many surprises I had planned for her on that cruise..

Every day that we were in port we took many gang way photos and every night we sought out the photographers with the different backgrounds. Almost every day they sort us out in the dinning room and at the parties. We came home with over 200 pictures that will decorate our walls and make for a memorable scrapbook. That's less than $1.00 per photo.

However, after taking many of the same poses, we played with the photographers a bit. We started taking fun pictures where the wife was yelling and I covered my ears and vice versa. We took pictures where we were pretending to choke each other. We took pictures on our anniversary where I got down on one knee and proposed to my wife. She did the same to me in the next picture. We took pictures with a bottle of champagne and we even took a picture holding our wedding photo from 30 years ago. The photographers loved us and even referred to us as "the fun ones".

   It was actually one of the high points of the cruise.

On 4/7/2019 at 3:53 PM, Paulette3028 said:

 

 

 

**** Serenade OTS – Renato Arenas took over 12/10/18.   It is probably a 4 month contract since, Alison Hasler who he took over from is expecting a new assignment on a bigger ship, when she returns from vacation.

 

 

On the Serenade of March 25 we had Elizabeth as activities director.

I am sailing on the Serenade of March 25. I waited to book until the ocean view cabin that I wanted was available and then purchased it on January 15. Last week I received my email to "Royal Up" but after seeing where the balcony cabins were that were available (way in the front or way in the back) or seeing the type of balcony cabins that were available (connecting, obstructing, or with a third or fourth bed off the wall) no amount is worth upgrading from the ocean view I have. No thanks, Royal.. no more money from me.

I have another question along these lines.

What's the best price you have seen for the photography in which you can have all the printed photos? I am seeing a price of $200 for my 11 night cruise on the Serenade next month. Not really interested in the digital or a combination of the both.

Thank you all in advance.

Two of my favorites are no longer with NCL.; Sinan and John Ibrahim. That seems to be a recurring theme here. Wake up NCL great people are hard to replace. Stop letting them go.

I think you sent the wrong link. That was for the first one.

I'll go one better.....

I recently surprised my wife with a CD that was made online with some of our favorite songs that we've heard on our 18 NCL cruises. The songs may have been played or performed in the dance clubs, at the sailaway parties, at the pier parties, or songs that many of the bands may have performed over our many cruises. How many have you heard while on board?

The CD playlist is as follows:

Timber-Pitbull featuring Kesha

September-Earth, Wind and Fire

I Gotta Feeling-Black Eyed Peas

Angel-Shaggy

Uptown Funk-Bruno Mars

Sweat-Inner Circle

SexyBack-Justin Timberlake

Bang bang-Jessie J with Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande

DJ Got Us Falling In Love-Usher featuring Pitbull

Freedom-Pitbull (The unofficial or is it official, NCL song)

Cotton Eye Joe- Rednex

Dollar Wine- The Hit Crew

Elecrtic Slide-Electric Slide

Cha Cha Song- Mr. C The Slide Man

Wobble- V.I.C.

Let's Get Loud-Jennifer Lopez

I Know You Want Me-Calle Ocho- Pitbull

Bad Romance- Lady Gaga

Good Riddance(Time of Your Life)-Green Day

You found a dangerous situation in your cabin but failed to report it? It must not have bothered you that much:rolleyes:. As soon as I would have got back into the cabin I would have picked up the phone and called guest services. But thats me....

Off topic, sorry....

Hey Lazlo, I clicked on your first link in your signature to check out your youtube channel but it said it was either not available or no such channel. I think we sailed together a bunch of years ago and wanted to check out your vids but couldn't do it because of dead link.

Thanks

I too was lucky enough to have met her on the Sun cruise in 2015. The meet and greet on this cruise was one of the best meet and greets we ever had with all the games, contests, and slot pull that was a part of it. All meet and greets before and after were nothing like that meet and greet party we had. Rest in peace!

Just an FYI...on my 10/1 cruise the question came up at M&G--we were assured that pins WILL be available again...they are being redone...

As a collector of these pins there are already three different versions for most pins, depending upon how old the ships are. A fourth version would be great as I have most of the first three versions and a fourth would give me some more to collect.

Earlier this year the wife and I went on a Holland America cruise on the Westerdam. The fare was too good to pass up and we booked within a month of sailing. A couple of days later I received an email from Holland America claiming that because of a rather large group that had booked the cruise we weren't guaranteed that we could eat when and where we wanted and that the best time to eat would be between 5:30 and 7pm.

When I took to the roll call I found out that other people got the same email and were upset. We later found out it was some inspirational cruise with the Sandy Patty group. They had 750 members, about one third of the passengers.

It turned out to be much ado about nothing as they had their own shows in the main showroom separate from the regular shows. In fact, the ship often felt empty when they were busy. The dinner wasn't a factor either.

I'm not sure if they book other cruise lines but this is another group to watch out for if you are concerned about large groups.

Reading as we are on the ship this Saturday for the next eight day cruise.

I was recounting a story to my wife about what had happened on one of our cruises with almost the same situation.

We were on the Norwegian Spirit a number of years ago on a two week re-positioning cruise from New Orleans to New York. There was a very large group of Europeans on that cruise. The only thing that was annoying about that group was that each speech or direction from the ship's crew had to be repeated in five other languages after english.

Came early evening and they were nowhere to be found. The dancehall was empty... the casino was empty... the bars were empty and we basically had the run of the ship then. After a while, specials like two for one in the pay dining rooms were announced and 50 percent off during certain times in the shopping areas started to appear so I am trying to convince the wife that no matter what happens we paid a lot of money for this trip and we are going to have a great time.

If we don't because of the situation then we will take our money back to NCL or try another cruiseline.

Part of the excitement of the cruise is the time leading up to it; the picking out of excursions, picking out the specialty restaurants, packing, and trying to learn as much about the ship as possible. I must say that after reading about what is happening on this/my cruise all the excitement has been sucked out.

The wife has been very upset and has already told me she will create a problem if we are not allowed to eat when and where we want and go when or where we want, something I am not looking forward to. I am the one who is laid back, goes with the flow, who makes lemonade from lemons but she is right in the fact that we paid our hard earned money for this cruise.

I'm hoping HAL will try to steer people away but will not restrict people. This is our first time on HAL and I'm hoping it will not be our last but that remains to be seen.

The wife and I are on this sailing but I'm probably not understanding this so maybe someone can clarify. We have as you wish dining but never received an email on this. Is this just for the people who have late seating after 8pm?

Hi. We are doing this the other way. The wife and I are loyal NCL fans (hence the name) who are doing our first cruise on HAL later this month. Wondering whether we will have as good of time as we always do on NCL.

Well. FDR did leave a bunch of $$ in my bank that was earmarked for NCL.

 

Stopping discounts on last minute deals left us with only one cruise this past season instead of the usual 4 cruises we budgeted for. :rolleyes:

 

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I have to agree with that. Since 2006 the wife and I have taken 17 cruises with NCL. During the past year we took a Princess cruise and a Royal Caribbean cruise; the first times we ever tried anyone else because of pricing. In comparing prices next year it seems we will have to go elsewhere again. A three day trip to the Bahamas next year will be $800. on Carnival during the week we can go. A three day trip to the Bahamas on the Sky is over $1,100. That is just too ridiculous so thanks FDR. Maybe I should change my Cruise Critic name.

Yes! That's the one (but only one in the box, not two)...

When I went to the Latitudes rep on the Jewel many years ago, to ask for my pin, she gave me the regular one, and threw this one in as a 'bonus', said they were discontinued, and were just giving them away until they were gone. Which by now I'm sure they all are.....

Damn! Now I have to try to find that one.

I found one in my collection, that is a gold square, with the NCL logo, and a small 'diamond' chip....no ship name...do you know what that one is?

 

edit...it is in a small blue, white satin lined jewel box....

Is that really a pin? Sounds like a jewelry box that might have been purchased in the gift shop?????

The latitude pins have the ships name on them. If this is a pin it just might be something from the gift shop.

The latitude pins have a sharp point sticking out of the back with a clasp that connects to it. Does your item have that or does it have a traditional safety pin-like feature that a button would have on the back?

I have been collecting the NCL pins for years, both from on the ships and from ebay. It is important to note that there are three different varieties of pins through the years. The first batch were square, or rectangular in shape. The second were round and the third kind (the best in my opinion) are oval with a design that is from the bow of the ship. Make sure you know which version you are purchasing as each of the ships have three variations of lapel pins out there. I have my pins on a pin board hanging up on my living room wall and consists of some of their old ships and the current ships. I am still missing a few, however.

The wife and I spent our first Royal Caribbean cruise as eight days on the Grandeur of the Seas back in April. To date, we have not received anything from Royal Caribbean as to what our crown and anchor numbers are.

In the past, when we had first taken NCL and Princess cruises, we were given frequent cruiser numbers right away which allowed us to book future cruises at a small discount with some perks. They also mailed little plastic cards, like credit cards, with our numbers on them.

What is taking Royal so long to reach out to us? I am looking to book next year's cruises but am hesitant on booking Royal until I get that info from them.

Am I suppose to run after them? That's not a good way to do business. Who do I contact?

OK... came home from work and saw that there was another email from NCL. I was able to open this new link and answered the questions. Seems like they want to use the "Feel Free" slogan but it didn't phase me.

Last night I got a survey from NCL in an email. The subject line read: "Quick survey about other cruise lines". Always wanting to help out NCL in any way I can, I decided to open the email.

The body read: "Hello!

We are conducting a short survey (under 5 minutes) about the varying cruise lines.

Click the "Begin Survey" button below to give us your feedback!

Thanks,

Norwegian Cruise Line Guest Experience Team"

When I clicked the link it started to take me to a web page that could not load. The following words were now on my screen: "The URL is incorrect.

Please double check the URL and try again."

Way to go NCL!

I responded in an email to let them know that the URL was wrong but got this response: "This is an unmonitored inbox and all replies are automatically deleted. If you have specific questions or feedback, please find the best contact number at http://www2.ncl.com/about/contact-us.

Norwegian Cruise Line

7665 Corporate Center Drive

Miami, FL 33126

Anybody have this same problem?????

Thanks

On NCL they used to have picture specials throughout the cruise although not so much anymore. On Royal they had a lot of photo specials. For instance, you could take as many pictures as you wanted and purchase all those pictures for a special price of $299.99. If you purchased this during the first two days, the price was $249.99. There was also a special for ten pictures at $199.99 at the end of the cruise.

 

 

I just had to say...NCL also has packages like this as well, that you can purchase at any time during the cruise up until the last night. But...their package is something like 10 pictures for $129 and 20 pictures for $199. ;) :)

I've never noticed this on our cruises but then again we haven't sailed as often as you. Love your lengthy reviews.

Getting dressed up: One of the many things I like about NCL is their policy of getting dressed up if you want you. They call it their “Dress up or not night.” There are those who choose to get all dressed up and parade around the ship as if they are the King or Queen of England and that is fine with me as long as I don’t have to do it. During the dress up night on NCL you have the opportunity to take pictures with the Captain. As you can probably tell I am not one of those who likes to get dressed up. I go on vacation to relax. In fact, on one of the many cruises we’ve taken, my wife took a picture with the Captain while she was in her house dress. Nobody said anything, Nobody did anything. Nobody passed judgement (as far as I could tell). That was one of the few mid-cruise pictures we’ve purchased. I’ll talk later in this report about picture taking.

On my trip with Royal, there was also a dress up night in which you could take pictures with the Captain. However, I felt that it was more mandatory than I had previously experienced. For instance, in several places within the diary, “Cruise Compass”, it read: “Tonight’s dinner dress suggestion is Formal. Tuxedoes or suits and ties for men and cocktail dresses for ladies.

There were also large billboards throughout the ship encouraging you to rent a tuxedo on board for the night. I understand this is a business aspect for Royal but come on. Also, at events during the day the cruise director, cruise ship hosts and activities director kept encouraging up to put on our best clothes that night.

I did see many people wearing tuxedoes or suits and ties and for the first time I was concerned that they might not let us into the main dining room.

Now don’t get me wrong. I still put on a buttoned shirt with a nice pair of pants and my wife put on a nice blouse and pant set. It’s not like we were looking like slobs. I just refused to wear any kind of suit or tie, although I hadn’t brought one anyway. As I walked into the dinner dining room, the Maître “D commented that we looked really nice. Really? It was just the type of clothing I wear to work everyday.

Photography: During our first few cruises the photography department played a big role for us. We were two of those people who took pictures at every opportunity, at meetings, at the gangway, at the embarkation, at dinner and so on. And we were two of those people who purchased many of those pictures. Over the years we stopped buying pictures and then taking them, except for the embarkation picture. That is the one picture we always take and purchase.

On NCL they used to have picture specials throughout the cruise although not so much anymore. On Royal they had a lot of photo specials. For instance, you could take as many pictures as you wanted and purchase all those pictures for a special price of $299.99. If you purchased this during the first two days, the price was $249.99. There was also a special for ten pictures at $199.99 at the end of the cruise.

One special that I wanted to partake in was the embarkation special. There were two pictures taken of the wife and I just before we boarded and the special was to buy one and get the other free. However, you could only do this on the first sea day, which was the second day, which was also the dress up night. I did not know that the photo gallery closed early that day so when I went to purchase the pictures that night I couldn’t. I ended up buying one picture for $22.95 later on in the cruise. On the Sun earlier this year the embarkation photo was only $19.95.

More to follow including, The Report From The Bridge and Television programming