dbrown84

wow. I was on the getaway a few weeks ago, and I knew there was something different about the wings, but couldn't quite put it into words (besides they were smaller). I only got them on the first night because I didn't like the change. Usually I would end each night after leaving the night club with wings. This trip I went with a nightly burger, but had them add corn beef and bacon to it. It was really good.

you will also see a small increase in gratuities for the dining package because you'd be going from one meal to two meals. It's an extra $7

yes, I also feel like it's a real sneaky trick to get you to think you actually have OBC to use. It's really monopoly money. That's why I feel like it's just best to think of the CND as costing $125.

If you book your cabin thru the casino, and/or have a playing history with the NCL casino, you get free drinks in the casino (and at the casino bar). The entry level drink card allows you to get house drinks, beer,wine,sodas, juice, specialty coffee, and boxed waters. The more you play, you earn a higher level of drink privileges. So, a lot of casino customers use their casino drink card to fill in for drinks not available with the free at sea drink package. Personally, I always decline the free at sea package and just use my casino drink card. There are no gratuities associated with this card. I simply tip the bartender or server a buck or two for each drink.

If you happen to be a gambler and have the casino drink card, specialty coffee (as well as water, cans of soda, and energy drinks) are included. You'd have to go to the casino bar to get it

the ship's coffee (at least on the Getaway) is pretty good. You can order a pot to be delivered to your room in the morning for no charge. I ordered a pot for delivery each morning (you have to order by 4AM) and drank it while getting up/showered/dressed in the morning. I usually had a muffin and yogurt to go with it.

ahhh. didn't know that.

I've never refunded that much, so I don't know if they will give you cash, check, or refund to credit card. I've gotten back as much as $200 as cash

If the certificate is in his name, you won't be able to go without him. You could risk him just being a no show if you want, but who knows what they would do then. They may make you pay the full fare

I do the same with my discover card, buying a little every month until I hit the amount I want, up to $1000 max. That way I earn the cash back. I used to prepay the service charge, but now I buy enough OBC to cover it. Since I also pay the balance in full every month, there is no cost and I earn cash back

I never heard a reason. We went to Nassau instead. Our other two stops were San Juan and St Thomas which are both in the US. So I think they had to get in a foreign port else get into trouble with the US

I also do this, and I simply don't put a credit card on file when checking in. You actually get the money back as cash on the last night, if you choose to. I always go get the cash, so I'm not sure the process for returning the extra to you if you leave the ship without collecting it

that's just it, there is always an onboard charge. The cruisenext is charged to your onboard account, not directly to a credit card. So even if you don't charge anything else to your account, you will have a charge for $250 for the cert and $125 OBC. So you will owe NCL $125 at the end of the cruise, which will be charged to your credit card on file

Yeah, I feel the cruise first is a better value, as well as you can buy it when you need it. The one downside to the cruise first is if you cancel and rebook the same cruise, you lose the extra value of the cruise first. I don't know how strict they are with this rule, but it is in the T&Cs

ahh, you are right. I read the casino part wrong. But my answer would still be same.

Technically, yes. If you buy a $250 cruiseNext, you get $125 in OBC. I say technically because it really just goes against the cost of the cruisenext. So it's not like you're really getting anything extra. they could just sell the cruisenext for $125 and have it be worth $250, like they do the cruisefirst certs. BTW, these aren't sold thru the casino, although I believe they may host a cocktail party in the casino. The cruisenext desk is located down with customer service, credit desk, and shore excursion desk

Getaway

honestly, it's how you want to read the article. It doesn't necessarily say that the Prima would be the first ship to sail with ***** products. It says that it would be the first ship to have Coke products as the official drink. so they could have made it "the official drink" upon signing the deal with Coca-Cola. it's all marketing anyway

yes, this is definitely a great post/question. I was leaning towards the escape anyway, but I've decided the Escape is the choice for me. I also enjoys the outdoor space, so spice H2O wins it for me over the observation lounge. I've never had an issue with the travel to the PC port. I use the shuttle from a very nice husband/wife couple without a problem at all. The ride is about 45 minutes but it goes so fast, that it seams like 10 minutes.

just to be clear, if you cancel the drink package you only save on the 20% gratuities. You don't save anything on the cruise fare. To actually save on the cruise fare, you'd have to pick a sailaway cabin, which would mean not picking your own cabin and you'd lose all the free at sea promos, except you'd still get the shore excursion credit

WOW. I'm making the exact decision for the last week in March. Encore looks good because the DR stop is later (11-6 vs 9-4), but it doesn't have Spice H20 or moderno. Really, I think I'm most interested in it because it's a little newer ship. On the other hand, Escape is a Sat-Sat cruise, so I'd have a rest day before returning to work.and the flights are cheaper from DC to Orlando vs Miami. I've never been on either ship, so that's a toss up. I'm really leaning towards Escape, but I'll be following this thread

If you happened to have the casino drink card, you can get cans of soda at the casino bar, as well as specialty coffee and water (including Pellegrino)

my last cruise I didn't have a pen in the room, and I thought it was just an oversight for my room. I went to guest services and they gave me one. Guess I'll have to start remembering to bring my own. I actually only need the pen to fill out the breakfast door hanger. I'm actually surprised they haven't moved this to the app yet.

this looks nice. I could power it with my portable battery pack

They still provided the port maps on the Getaway last week. First port, there was someone at the gangway passing them out. 2nd port, they were on a stand at the gangway. For Nassau, our last port, they were packaged with the freestyle daily delivered the night before