Burgmeister

The supply of PG tips is very random. They tend to be hidden away in the buffet, but as often as not in my experience they don't have them at all. If tea is important then I wouldn't rely on it.

I never leave home without a supply of Tetley! It is the nectar of the gods!

Can't tell you at the moment but we have sailed on Freedom, Independence and Explorer and we have a cruise booked on the Epic for the end of May. We have always enjoyed RCL so I'm preparing myself to be disappointed (and hoping to be pleasantly surprised!!)

As an aside, it's worth taking your own teabags along. The tea on the ship is pretty appalling.

Believe me Keith, that's a given!

This was our experience in early 2015, but more recently they have stopped charging Spanish tax on UBP orders on cruises out of Barcelona, whether or not they leave the EU VAT area. We did both types of itineraries on the Epic last November/December and there was no tax on any drinks ordered with the UBP while in or near port.

I questioned NCL UK on this via email and this was their response "As you have received The Ultimate Beverage Package as part of a promotion the 18% gratuity charge and VAT is included "

I wasn't convinced they were necessarily correct, but your experience seems to have backed this up.

Thanks for the info. At least my wife will be happy in the morning - well, bearable at least! ;)

Firstly I should state I don't drink coffee, I am a true British tea man through and through. Having said that my wife is weak. She will, at times, sup from the Devil's cup and have a coffee.

This will be our first time on NCL and, having read the NCL website, I believe that there are no kettles in the cabins but there are coffee makers. Is this true? We will be in a "mini-suite" (a.k.a. a tiny bit bigger balcony cabin) if this makes a difference to the answer.

Assuming that what I have read is correct and there is, indeed, a coffee machine in the cabin, what type of coffee does it use i.e. ground coffee, coffee pods etc. Finally, is any of this material provided or can/should you take your own?

Thanks

I don't know, but I think it's likely.

OK cheers

Thanks Keith

Sorry, forgot to ask as a follow up....

Does that mean we have to sign for all our drinks - including the soft drinks on daughters soda package?

Thanks Keith

Yes, this has always been the case for those of us in the UK and some other places. The perks are no extra cost to us.

Keith, I think I'm getting confused with the differences between UK and US customers and their UBP offers :confused:

Do UK customers need to pay tax on their drinks when in port?

Cheers

I'll thank you in this thread as well Keith!!

Cheers

This is true. In fact, you don't even need t get a taxi to the station as there is a metro station just in front of the port. The Naples metro is pretty new and efficient. It's quite out of character for Naples.

Sorry for the stupid question, but is the Metro a train, bus or tram? We are only going as far as Ercolano as I'm much more interested in Herculaneum than Pompeii. I know its smaller but I believe everything is better preserved.

Thanks Keith, much appreciated

Another "Classic" I'm partial to is a Blue Hawaiian.

Light Rum

Blue Curacao

Pineapple Juice

Coconut Cream

We have never cruised with NCL before but we have the UBP thrown in with our cruise this year. I assumed that on the package you could only have the cocktails listed on the menu but, from reading this list, it appears that I am wrong. Can we order any cocktail (provided the barman knows how to make it)?

Are there any bars that are better than others on board for getting cocktails made (The RCCI ships have excellent cocktail bars with very knowlegable bar staff)?

Ideally, would love a Singapore Sling made the traditional way...

30-35ml Gin

15ml Cherry Heering (or cherry brandy at a push)

7.5ml Benedictine

120ml Pineapple Juice

15ml Lime Juice

5-10ml Grenadine

A few dashes of Angostura Bitters

A shed load of ice

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

We are booked on a Meditteranean cruise on the Epic over Whitsun and, when looking through our foreign currency, noticed that we have about $200 in cash from a holiday to Florida 3 years ago. Due to helath issues I can't see us going back to the States for some time so I'm wondering what to do with the dollars. I could change it back to GBP but I was wondering whether I could use it to pay some of my bill on the ship? Usually when we cruise i just lump everything on a credit card but can I pre-load the account with cash to use during our cruise?

Thanks

Burgmeister, when is your cruise? It is possible that the main dining room menus will be changing after the new year, if not sooner. So the current menus that people can provide you now may not be menus you get on your cruise. But everyone's comment above are still valid in general (there is a steak option all the time, you can order as many desserts as you like, etc.)

 

To get an idea of the menus on the Escape, which I believe are expected to go fleetwide at some point, see the following thread:

New NCL Menus...

 

Again, these are not the menus on the Epic, but they may be by the time you cruise.

We don't go until next year, so thank you for the link.

Thanks everyone for all you input, much appreciated.

Thanks BirdTravels, that was really helpful and put my mind at ease. The options look very appealing.

Are you allowed to ask fro more than one dessert? :)

Thanks Kerry. So, given that there are 3 choices on the "Specials", am I deducing correctly that there are 2 choices that remain constant?

The problem is that I'm a bit of a fussy eater. On RCCI, if you don't like any of the choices they will always get you a steak, is this the same on NCL? It was always my fall-back option before.

Can you pre-book tables or do you just turn up and wait in line?

Any more help would be gratefully received!

Thanks

Hi

We have booked a cruise on the Epic but have never cruised with NCL before, always been with RCCI previously, and I was wondering what the complimentary dining options are like on this ship?

I have been to the NCL website and the sample menus given for The Manhattan Room (which I am assuming is the main restaurant?) was pretty limited (3 options for starter and main course) but was marked "Specials". Do they have a selection of starters/mains that are available every day in addition to the "Specials" or is that the only choice you have? Also,do they provide a kids selection?

I appreciate that there is a buffet restaurant as well but we do like to do the whole "sit down dinner" thing when cruising.

Cheers

wasn't me with the link, but since i have searched quite a lot for the new drink menus that apparently started to be rolled out this spring, i can link you to a thread here that had pictures of some new bar menus:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2196711

 

to me it looks like pretty much every drink (unless you want your cocktail to be made with high end booze) is covered under the UBP. i wish they hadn't changed their menus, some of the cocktails are a lot pricier than they were when i was on the Getaway. but with the UBP you'll be fine.

Thanks 23words.

Apologies to Demonyte for not giving the original credit where it was due.

23Words, that was a useful link you provided however, it doesn't say how much the drinks cost, I mean, what drinks can you get at under $11?

Got off Explorer yesterday, and yes, there was always a cocktail of the day.

 

 

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Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

Now that I think about it, on cruises from Southampton the drinks pricing INCLUDES the gratuity. There fore a drink priced at $14 would really have a value of $11.85 + 18%, so should therefore fall within the pacakage limitations.

I thought this had changed again now and you just automatically had 18% added to your bill on top of the advertised price?

Can anyone confirm whether they do the "Cocktail of the Day" on the Explorer?

Thanks

I believe they dropped the corkage fee in the last couple of months.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=336&faqSubjectName=Food+%26+Beverage&faqId=5442

Interestingly, this contradicts with the FAQ found here http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/ where, if you scroll down to the question "Can I bring alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages (from home or from a port) on board?"

It says

"From 1st November 2012, guests are now allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine or champagne on board at embarkation, this is per stateroom, not per guest. These are for consumption in the stateroom. If a guest wishes to consume these in any dining venue or bar/lounge, there is a corkage fee of 25USD per bottle. No other drink than wine or champagne will be allowed."

Glad that's clear then! :rolleyes: