chicago or bust

11 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

and some ships (at least the Pearl, Breakaway and Getaway) have complimentary Asian restaurant 

My wife and I will be on the breakaway  this coming March for are honeymoon.  Knowing this we will definitely plan on going to taste or savor, and the Asian restaurant for sure. Thanks again to all fellow cruisers!

What restaurants are free of charge? Savor or which mdr? Or does every restaurant besides the buffet have an upcharge cost?  Thank you in advance if anyone knows I'd appreciate any info. 

Happy cruising 🛳 

closed loop (embark and debark are the same ports) vs open jaw (embark and debark are different ports)

i know open jaw allows boarding at any port of the passengers choice.

Any suggestions on best deals for staying, parking, and cruising in NOLA. We want to be close to French Quarter and at a decent place. Leaving June 28th on Elation. Any advice appreciated.

 

 

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the port of new orleans cruise parking lot is located right next to the terminal,both are a stones throw from the ship . (convention center blvd) looking north from the lot 3 blocks down you will see the harrahs casino. the following blocks north of harrahs is the french quarter. so its like 1/2 mile away.

the real deal about parking here isnt the price its the convienance an safety.

btw...if by decent place you mean outdoor food courtyards/bar, outdoor market shops and coffee stores etc. then yes its busy

Does the garage at the port ever fill up? Would I need to make a reservation? Thanks in advance.

i went to the port of miami parking lot the day before my cruise date because i too was had the same worries as you. the parking structures are 5 levels, i walked the stairwell of lot C to find an open spot. when i reached level 3 it was half full, levels 4 n 5 completely open. and that was for the ncl epic

got a free cruise from NCL casino (only have to pay port fees & taxes) anyone ever receive this -also how does it work (and how do you figure the costs)

i've been on 3 of these ncl cruises that were gifted by casinos . fyi, the port authority at every destination charges the cruise line for how many hours they stay and when(compare it to the carnival arrival and depart times for each island and you will see ncls windows are much more convenient).

you will have to pay u.s. taxes on the discounted ship fare, plus mandatory gratuity for the ships staff($12/day). i know the tips scheme seems odd and can make you feel uncomfortable with it being imposed upon you. but the method works and in the end you will want to tip them again.

-how does it work? do you mean can u upgrade?

we have upgraded this type of cas offer through ncl booking, went from inside family cabin to family balcony on the epic in dec. 2013.

port of miami parking is your best bet. clean, safe, structured parking with security and port police present. it is also literally 100ft from the terminal where u embark/debark.

in the end you will see peace of mind and geographical convienance/location are worth 10-15 dollars a day.

I will be on the Epic April transatlantic for 11 nights and have heard the coffee is really bad. I intend to bring my own coffee, along with filters, to make my own in my cabin in the mornings. Can anyone tell me if I am able to get those little individual half & half containers on board somewhere to keep in my cabin? I also don't want to wait for room service delivery when I want my coffee.

stewards will replenish the coffee tray in your cabin daily.

-2mugs

-2caffienated filter packs

-2de-caffienated filter packs

-packs of sugar natural and artificial

-4pack of cream containers 1/2 n 1/2

you can obtain/horde the small creamer containers at the buffet and store them in your cabin mini fridge. i discovered that the casino(level 7) has self service beverage stations that offer coffee at most times of the day if you want to avoid going to the buffet(level 15).

the closest you will get to cream on the ship is vitamin d in the small milk cartons. or 2% from the cold milk dispenser in the buffet. it would be a waste to use a carton of vit d for coffee so i settle for the 2%. unless you want to pay at the specialty coffee shop for the perfect cup is up to you

dont be so petty! a vacation with loved ones is worth so much more than the details of 1 room. if that is the focus of your trip thats terrible. think of all the other things you could enjoy doing. drop the negative energy or it will carry over to rest of the trip.

last summer i shared in the experience of having a room above the bar/dance club, it was rough the first couple nights. eventually falling asleep around 2am. but i soon learned a couple tylenol pm's helped for a good nights rest. the noise didnt bother me at all, it comes with the territory. but like you said you live and you learn. overall it was one of the best vacations i ever had.

on the 2nd day so many of my fellow neighbors complained to the concierge that for the next five nights the dj turned the bass down to a minimum, which helped slightly. but they do make an effort.

btw you have plenty of time to try to switch or upgrade. my family gains the biggest discount by booking a couple months in advance and then calling the cruise line 2 weeks from the sail date to see if any reservations were changed. we had a inside family cabin 2 weeks from sail. we called and they offered a upgrade for 600 to a balcony cabin, we declined. 1 week out we called and they offered a family balcony cabin for 300. so the booking not really over until you board the ship. stay proactive and maybe you can resolve these worries of yours.

this thread makes no sense why not just flush through out the process?? drop a log...flush..drop another...flush....:p

"I will warn you that being in St Maarten with 5 other ships including the behemoth Oasis of the Seas puts quite a strain on being able to get around. We rented a jeep & the traffic was so horrible between the amount of tourists and the road construction we basically spent the entire time in the vehicle unable to find a place to park in Marigot or Phillipsburg or at Maho beach taking us almost 3 hours to circle the island (which should take about 90 mins to do)"

same thing happened to my family and i. we were on a 7 day eastern aboard the ncl epic last month, 4 ships at shore. St. martin was are first port and we decided to rent a jeep and tour the island. to be truthful no amount of preparation could of prevented the mess that awaited us. immediately leaving the port we pulled into traffic at 9am. a crane truck was stuck perpendicular on the ONLY road that leads to phillipsburg(dont believe me look at google maps). after waiting 30 minutes traffic eventually learned to move around him...crazy! what awaited me was even better lack of road signs, street signs, town or area display boards; closed off MAIN avenues, numerous unposted one way roads unseen on gps or rental maps. the bonus to all this is the mentality of the drivers here. no one will yield to your signal, parking lots and corner gas stations are treated like 2nd rate roads when traffic starts. Parking is a joke... this was the first time i've ever seen a tow truck on an island so close to port.

to be safe i would say prepare for the worst....could your wife handle/survive 7 days of terrible or extreme weather? my concern would be the physical toll it could make on your wifes equilibrium. it takes me a week to shake off the sea legs after a 7 day cruise, calm or stormy weather.

found them to be very useful when at port. meeting in crowded shopping areas it helped a lot

it was during a very early breakfast in the main buffet area on the ncl pearl last year. i'm waiting 3rd inline at the omelet station listening to the guy at the front complain to the cook. i hear... your not cooking it right,your flipping it wrong, thats not how u do it...blah blah blah. once he finally gets his eggs hes so pissed off. he started berating the cook and his competence as a chef.

1st post!!!! just wanted to see my clock:cool: