dales wife

We booked in August 2014 for a February 2015 cruise. Our cruise documents with stateroom number became available a couple weeks or so ago I think so I don't anticipate any further upgrades. Price drops - I didn't realize I should watch for price drops so don't know if there were any. Where can you find an explanation of what BX versus BC versus BD means? Thanks!

After Final Payment, if the price of a higher category cabin drops to the price you paid for yours, NCL is not required to upgrade you. But if you do monitor and see the price for your sailing drop, many call in and have gotten upgrades and/or OBC. (If they get a 'No', they try calling again and talking with someone else.) I did thus this for my son's Inside cabin, and went from the 3rd lowest Inside category (ID) to the highest. Some have jumped up considerably (for example Inside to a Balcony) in extreme price drop cases! Again, there's no guarantee you'll get offered anything if you call, but from what I read on here, it's certainly worth it to try.

If you are looking for detailed info on categories (more than what NCL's website describes), I've found the spreadsheet one CC'r made (for the Breakaway/Getaway) to be helpful.

Here's the link to the thread; the spreadsheet link is in the first post.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1843049

And I absolutely love cruisedeckplans website for info, pics, deck plans, etc. of any ship. Here's the link to one of the Getaway pages. Click on "category details" under each category for a description.

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Norwegian-Getaway

Not sure if you'll get ads or not, or if you'll have access to all that the site offers, as I paid a few years back to be a lifetime member.

Hope this isn't TMI. :)

I think we booked a Guarantee (GTY) rate. A balcony, BX. Now that our room is assigned on the Getaway, we have room 13732. That looks like an upgrade from the BX from looking at the deck plans. Am I right? Does anyone know any details? We are no longer 1st time cruisers but haven't been on many and we are Norwegian newbies. Thanks! :rolleyes:

I'm no expert but looks like you upgraded, to BC. I'm curious what sailing you are on and how far out you booked? And if you know if there had been price drops between the time you booked and were assigned?

We booked our BX balcony only a couple weeks ago, assigned a BD on deck 9, Aft.

Hope you enjoy your Norwegian experience. We've only done a couple of NCL, but love it! First time doing a GTY, so we're anxious to see how that goes.

Post your experiences with booking a Guarantee (GTY) rate. I've had generally positive experiences and am curious what other results us CCers have had. Perhaps this will help others decide if booking a GTY is right for them (though we know there is no rhyme or reason it is always good to know what outcomes have been).

 

Ship.........GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

Breakaway...IX...............IB................... .....5833

 

Initially we weren't thrilled with the assignment. Low floor, as far back as you could go, etc. But we ended up LOVING this room. We liked the extra space in the room, and how close we were to stairs/elevators (especially since the ship is so large). No complaints about movement or noise here!

Alegeeter, do you happen to have any pics of that Breakaway cabin #5833? Lots of people ask, but no one seems to have any pics of those "square" inside cabins on Breakaway/Getaway. I'm thinking of getting my son & friend one. If no pics, can you elaborate on the layout/size?

Yes, I remember doing lots of research for our Epic cruise in 2013. I finally settled on cabin 8197 (BF). Chose that particular location precisely because of the us obstructed straight down view. Every time we were on our balcony, we'd comment that we were glad we weren't in the higher priced balconies overlooking those lifeboats! We also had our steward replace the two chairs with two loungers (yes they fit). As for the location, we loved the aft and easy access to the elevators/stairs.

 

Also pay attention to the bed configuration. Glad again I had researched and chose a cabin with the bed by the balcony. As you probably have read, the sink is in the room, so in cabins where the bed is closer to the bathroom (as it is in cabin 8199 -- you can tell by the curve of the wall on the deck plans), you will have very little room to stand in front of the sink because of the bed being directly behind you.

 

Hope this helps.

That should have read "UNobstructed straight down view".

We are going to be upgrading our cabin tomorrow and I have a few questions about location, balcony coverage, etc.

 

 

 

The other ones I was looking at was deck 8, Aft, covered balconies (cat BF, cabin 8199) with no lifeboats. Anyone sail in one of those?

 

 

 

I realize there are no elevators/stairs mid ship.

 

Thanks!

Yes, I remember doing lots of research for our Epic cruise in 2013. I finally settled on cabin 8197 (BF). Chose that particular location precisely because of the us obstructed straight down view. Every time we were on our balcony, we'd comment that we were glad we weren't in the higher priced balconies overlooking those lifeboats! We also had our steward replace the two chairs with two loungers (yes they fit). As for the location, we loved the aft and easy access to the elevators/stairs.

Also pay attention to the bed configuration. Glad again I had researched and chose a cabin with the bed by the balcony. As you probably have read, the sink is in the room, so in cabins where the bed is closer to the bathroom (as it is in cabin 8199 -- you can tell by the curve of the wall on the deck plans), you will have very little room to stand in front of the sink because of the bed being directly behind you.

Hope this helps.

Ship...........................GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

NCL Getaway..................BX................BD.......................9284

This was our first time doing a GTY. We are sailing on 1/31/15, just booked on 1/2/15, got cabin assignment right away.

Do you think booking a GTY so close to sailing date makes a difference in the chances of getting those awesome upgrade cabin assignments I'm reading about?

I do realize GTY's are a gamble. But has anyone had any experiences changing their GTY cabin assignment, if you were truly unhappy with it? (Please be nice, no need for lectures).

We love Norwegian too! We loved our Epic experience, and we're deciding whether to sail it again (with our inexperienced cruising friends this time) or try the Getaway. For us, it's Norwegian's entertainment that impressed us most.

Since you're willing, I have a question for you...

I have no doubts that Illusionarium is a high quality show, the illusionists are great, etc. My specific, perhaps odd, question concerns the "storyline" that's typically woven into these shows. How involved does it get with the "supernatural"? For example, with talk of ghosts, or seances, etc. (And please, the more "spoilers" the better.)

Hi we just booked on the Pearl for March 16, How do we know if there is a charter on it? and who it is?

 

Also someone on another post said the waterslide has been taken down, anyone know if they are replacing it?

 

thanks

Concerning the water slide, no they are not. It was disassembled during our 1/5/14 cruise last week. We were told it is gone for good. The space was needed for stage & people on the Pearl's frequent music charters. Also the slide was not utilized on Pearl's Alaska cruises.

The info that the slide is not coming back was confirmed yesterday by a CC member who checked with her son who is part of NCL's crew (in particular he works with the music charters).

I'm guessing that the best servers/staff are in the specialty restaurants (as many here have stated) because they've been promoted to those positions. I would certainly hope our comments on the Hero cards plays a part in those promotions (and other rewards), otherwise why fill them out?!? We personally don't leave extra cash tips in the dining rooms (no one but the server would know), but on the last day of our cruise we do take time to fill out cards for those staff members who stand out in our memory at that point because their service was exceptional, meaning they went beyond what we would have expected. :)

I called Casinos at Sea today and did also confirm that they removed the slide and it will not be going back on...i switched my upcoming cruise to the Getaway :D

Seems like the Pearl's slide issue may have turned out to be been a good thing for you! Like you, we also thoroughly enjoyed the Epic slides. Though we didn't get to use the Pearl slide (we were on the 1/5/14 cruise along with ParrotGurl and watched it being disassembled), there is no way it could have compared to the Epic slides. It had a few turns, but still looked more like a pool slide you find at many hotels; your boys may have been disappointed. Sounds like a smart move to switch ships and can't wait for you to report back on how your family enjoys the five slides in Aqua Park aboard the Getaway. :D

Hmmmm.... what is your recommendation for desserts at MDR?

 

Just returned from our 2nd NCL cruise (cause we liked it so much better than our previous cruise line) in under a year. My husband is very picky about what he eats (he's a connoisseur of plain, not fancy food) and loves NCL's NY Signature Cheesecake. On our 2nd cruise we also discovered the Raspberry Truffle cake. He ordered one of each on the nights we ate in the MDR (both were on the menu every night and neither are available on the buffet). There were 5 us us traveling together and we all loved those two desserts. My 24yo daughter also fell in love with the Bread Pudding.

Agree with the other posters, the Manhattan Club is large and no matter what time we went, there was rarely a line (we cruised in April 2013). We found if there was a line, it moved quickly. By that I mean they took down your name, gave you a buzzer, and a coupon for each of you to get a complimentary glass of champagne while you waited. By the time we got the champagne (at the bar just outside the dining room, about 20 feet away) our buzzer went off to be seated. I must confess, we actually began waiting until we saw a line so that I could get my free champagne first!!! ;)