westoftheashley

Hey everyone, the husband and I will be on this ship, as long as Covid doesn't ruin it.  Anyone else gonna be on there? 

Hi Everyone - 

Hope this hasn't been discussed already and I just missed it with the search function.  I'm new to MSC, but have been on about 20 cruises in total.  We were looking at a cruise on the Divina and trying to figure out what to book.  We found they have what looks like a nice suite available on the front corner of the ship - Cabin 9009.  Then we noticed for about $1500 more, we could book a deluxe suite in the YC.  However, looking at what I can see online, all the "deluxe suites" in the YC look very small compared to the other cabin we found (it looks more like a Mini Suite or premium balcony on other cruise lines).  I'm not directly familiar with YC, but we have done two cruises in the NCL Haven and did really enjoy it.  However, I don't know if it's worth another $1500 and what looks like a much smaller cabin to get YC.  Thoughts?  

Oh, that would have helped! We'll be in Nassau. Everyone is 30's and 40's. Looking for something fun, but low key.

Hi Everyone -

I'm looking for a recommendation on something to do with a group of 15 guys. I was thinking something all inclusive and relaxing would probably be best. And, something that doesn't break the bank. Any suggestions?

We've done quite a few cruises on several different lines, and I will say it does seem hardest to meet other gay couples on Carnival. NCL is by far the best. We've had one Carnival that had a great crowd at the LGBT gathering every night, but I think because it left out of Puerto Rico instead of the states, it drew a different clientele.

My partner and I will be on this one as well. Can't wait for a wonderful HAL cruise!

Hi Westoftheashley!

I am on the Jan 7th sailing. Two friends are also on board. They have not sailed on HAL so they are once again virgins...I look forward to meeting you both. How about a sail away get together and break the ice.

Tom

Sounds like a good plan to us!

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Hey RMS - My partner and I just booked the Rotterdam for January as well. What dates will you be sailing? We're on the 7th to 14th. Looking forward to trying one of the smaller HAL ships!

Thanks 2Shoes! How did you book the night before besides the b2b? Did you call Carnival directly?

Well, I've seen several people post that they have to turn in the passenger manifest to homeland security 72 hours early. This is apparently incorrect from what Carnival told me - they can do it the same day.

Hey Everyone. So, I have some time off last minute that I'm going to take. There's a cruise out of Charleston that works perfectly with my time off. However, it's completely sold out. I called our PVP to confirm, and was told it is indeed sold out. We live 10 minutes from the port, and his suggestion is to go there day of and see if there are any cancellations. He has some customers have had success doing it, and with us being so close, it's worth a shot. Anyone here had any experience booking at the port?

Just off the Jade Sunday. The TV's are new, but not the system unfortunately. There were two movie channels that rolled through some fairly new movies (La La Land, Ghost-busters, Fences, Passengers, Jason Borne, Rogue One, and several others I can't remember). The info channel had the lineup for the day and what time the movies were going to play on those two channels. I wish it had the interactive system like some of the newer ships had.

From what I saw on the future cruise credit, you give them $250 that you can use on a future cruise and they give you $100 on board credit to use on your current sailing. You have to use your $250 credit on a future cruise within four years.

BTW, we had non-refundable credit that they wouldn't use for our gratuities. I went to the casino and using a slot machine, charged the same amount of the credit to my room. It charged me a 1.5% fee. I did one spin on the slot machine, cashed out, and took my voucher to the cashier who then gave me cash. It used up my non-refundable credit and I walked away with cash - which I guess you could take to guest services to pay down your service charges.

Just off the Jade today and off the Escape a few months before. Jade is much smaller. Entertainment is not nearly as good as Escape, but it's not bad at all. They updated the TV's on the ship, but not the system. There's no interactive TV's or pay per view in the room - just a few basic channels.

We are just off the Jade today. We were in one of the Haven Owner's Suite - 9004. No problems using the front balcony all the time. Loved it sailing in and out of port. As mentioned, it can be very windy at times. The heavy outer door will "latch" to stay open, but we also placed one of the chairs in front of it just to make sure. The room is very nice - the updates look great. You should love it. Our only complaint is it's fairly far from everything. A bit of a hike to the Haven area and breakfast/lunch restaurants and most bars.

Just off the Jade. The refit looks great. Most of the chairs haven't been updated, but the staff said it will be soon. We were in 9004 - Owner's Suite. Loved the room, but not happy with the location. Far away from everything.

Right... didn't see the Jade there.

Ok cool - It was the first time for us when we were on the Escape needing reservations for most of the shows. Thought that might be something for all of NCL.

So, we did the upgrade to the Haven this coming up cruise (we're on the Jade and called the up-sell number to get it). We're traveling with several of our friends who are in steerage (I mean, not in the Haven). If we wanted to make reservations at a specialty restaurant or a show for us and our friends, would the concierge be willing to help us with this?

We were on the Escape last fall and Margaritaville is free for lunch the first day for Haven guests. It was a nice perk - we probably wouldn't have tried it otherwise, and we both enjoyed it.

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

Hi - we're thinking about upgrading to the Haven again. Last time we did in room dining a few times which was nice. This time we're traveling with friends who will not be Haven guests. If we order from the MDR for dinner in the room, can we have guests join and the butler bring and set up for them too, or is it only for the booked guests in the room? We're sailing on the Jade. Thanks!

We'll just miss you - we're on the week before. Group of 12 of us. We'll try and leave the ship in one piece for you!!

Still not sure yet! It looks like we may be winging it!

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We had heard similar with kids, but had no issues. It probably depends on when you go. We don't enjoy a bunch of screaming kids either, so we try and go when school is in. This time was just after labor day, and the ship as a whole had few kids. The ones we saw in the Haven were all well supervised.

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We're just off the Escape last month, and going on the Caribbean Princess next month. We were on the Regal two years ago on it's first seven day in the Caribbean. We enjoyed the Regal quite a bit. The buffet is great as most have said. We did not enjoy the incredibly long time it took to have dinner in the main dining room or the tiny balconies on this class ship.

What I'm not sure of is if you're going to spend the money for a Penthouse on Princess, have you tried the Haven on NCL? I think most of the things you complained about NCL would be remedied by staying there. We love our quite time together to decompress, and there is no better place to do it than in the Haven. And while they don't have their own buffet, they do have a private restaurant with excellent food and fast service. Also, you can order from any restaurant on the ship and have it served at the table in your room. For someone who wants a good bit of quite time, this is great. But you also get the benefit of having the large ship, being able to go to the excellent production shows, and many of the other positives that NCL has.

Just a thought....