SuiteRose

If it's a sail away rate inside there is no option to add a perk like the open bar, studio cabins get 1 choice. So if you were looking for the open bar that's a consideration.  The studio cabins are located inside the studio complex so there is added security as it's a card key only area.  You also have the studio lounge to enjoy.  I have stayed in one when I could have gotten an inside for less but I wanted to experience the studio room and was very pleased with it.  As a woman, having the added security was nice.  They had scheduled meeting for all solo guests and also planned dinners, shows together and even excursions. The studio lounge with it's snacks and coffee all day and night was cool too.

when did Royal Caribbean start offering open bar cruises?

All you need to do is to practice some common sense... I see hundreds of people line up before the dining room opens.. of course its going to take them time to seat everyone (so showing up before it's open is pretty silly unless you have a specific reason)... if you are at a show and it lets out and you walk with hundreds of people toward the dining room, again, it's going to cause a line to be seated.. most times the line isn't for a table it's for your turn to be seated... every once in a while there is a wait during the busiest times when the dining rooms may be at their capacity.. but that's rare ... so if you just use some common sense you won't be in that situation and can most all times, walk up and be seated immediately.

Check the category on the invoice.. if it ends with an X you did not get any offers as those cabins are excluded from the promotions. If you choose another category, you can change your choices for options... did you book direct with NCL? if not, they are not the bad guys.

playing port royal on May 11th aboard the Breakaway. the excursion time says 8:30 but will I be given a specific tee time at some point how does that work?

http://www.portroyalgolf.bm/

check their webpage... they have the $150 pp rate back that includes club rental if you are interested.

we booked our own tee time with the course, not as an excursion...

Bottom line.. turn OFF DATA as soon as you leave the port... when at sea use airplane mode.. or your phone will incur hundreds of dollars in data fees.. (I know from personal experience when my husband left his phone on and in a drawer so missed Verizon's texts telling him about the charges)... I'm not sure using your phone as a hot spot would actually work at all and if it did your data bill may be as high as your cruise fare.. and this is personal experience, not guessing... I get the unlimited internet plan for $29.99 per day.. trust me, it's a bargain compared to what your roaming fees will be if you don't put your phone on airplane mode or turn of ALL data...

I'd rather by the closet... I've sailed in both.. you only go in the closet to get dressed.. but the bed by the balcony to me blocked the balcony door and I'd rather have open access to the balcony than the closet..

we played at Port Royal in September of 2015. We found a "cruise ship" rate that was $150 but included club rental. Took the bus to the course and played. It's an amazing course! We had to walk up the hill but they drove us back down in a golf cart. I think next time I'd take a taxi. I'm not sure if that rate is still available, we booked on line before we left on the cruise. I would highly recommend it.

I really wish they would come up with southern Caribbean itineraries from Miami. I am beyond tired of the same ports! Carnival does it. In fact, Carnival has some really good ports ... I just can't bring myself to try it again

:(

check the Sun 11/17/2017

Miami (Florida); Oranjestad (Aruba); Willemstad (Curacao); Kralendijk (Bonaire); Philipsburg (St. Maarten); St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); DISEMBARK Miami (Florida)

and the Star 11/20/2017

11-Day Southern Caribbean from Miami

SHIP Norwegian Star

CRUISE PORTS EMBARK Miami (Florida); Ocho Rios (Jamaica); Oranjestad (Aruba); Willemstad (Curacao); Philipsburg (St. Maarten); St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); DISEMBARK Miami (Florida)

both the the Southern Caribbean and both to Miami

... here we are in late October 2016 and I still am not seeing anything for the beginning of 2018 (Jan - April) other than Hawaii which seems to keep going right out into 2019!!!! Really? :confused:

I'm not sure why you aren't seeing them, but they are open to April of 2018... click on the right arrow to get to 2018 in the advance search area

We will be taking our first cruise on NCL shortly and have cruised numerous times on Princess and Celebrity. We have recently been told that NCL has taken nickel & diming to a new level; not allowed to bring water on board and worse than that, not allowing water purchased on board to be brought back on board. Cutting back on the quality of food and charging for decent food items in the complimentary dining rooms.

 

Can anyone comment on this and compare the overall experience on NCL to Princess and X.

you won't see charges any differently than on other lines... all of them have specialty dining... which of course is optional... actually NCL just has more options for specialty dining... and also, they have rolled out new and exciting menus.. I was just on the Breakaway and the food everywhere was great.. so I have no clue what you are talking about... can you be specific about what is "nickle and diming" on NCL that isn't exactly the same as other line?

How about a room which is next to a bar or theater? Or room right below the buffet?

 

I'm in the same boat as the OP.

You won't be "next" to a bar or theater.. they are really on separate decks.. you may be just over one... but it would be very rare that it would be much of an issue for sound.

The only one that would be a concern for me is being assigned a balcony cabin right over the waterfront and just over the Five O'Clock Somewhere Bar as that's a smoking area of the waterfront.. but the chances of that are slim and maybe that wouldn't be a big deal to you...

But there are no obstructed balconies on the Escape and certainly no bad decks... you made a great move!! enjoy!

I think, in addition to making addition revenue, it was to stop folks from putting baggage tags on them and having the shore personnel and the ship's personnel from taking the time to screen them and then transport them.

 

I think folks should be able to bring water and soda on themselves if (1) they transport it themselves with no help from shore or ship personnel and (2) pay the equivalent of what it would cost to purchase it on the ship, as most have said if they have their brand on the ship, they would be happy to purchase it on the ship and (3) if alcohol is found in any container, that person would not be allowed to board the ship. To me, this would be a win win for everyone.

I think you hit the nail on the head... people became ridiculous with amounts of soda and water they brought on board, cases and cases.. and it did take extra time to scan...

I have no clue why on vacation you'd want to hall something like cases of water on board.. the ship water is great and pure, and if you need water in your cabin during the night, and are afraid to drink the water from the sink, why not just bring on a refillable filter bottle and fill it in the buffet (by using a second glass to do so) and bring it back to your room.

I have no idea why this is such a big deal...

Sorry one more thing to add, and yes sorry a CON...water bottle prices are INSANE.......NCL you need to figure out a better pricing chart.

I truly don't understand that big deal about bottled water.. the ship water is purified water just like the bottled water you buy. It tastes that same. I have a well at home and drink almost only water and love the ship water, I would never pay for bottled water on aboard and never try to lug cases of water... I was sooo happy when they ended that ridiculous policy to allow people to look like fools going on a vacation with a stack of cases of water.

and the ship water is FREE!!!!!

No there isn't a curtain -see attached photo from Escape

There have been posts where people spoke of bringing a plastic shower curtain and magnetic hooks that attach to the ceiling and setting up their own

 

Enjoy your cruise!

are you kidding me??? OMG!! how ridiculous and low class :( next they will be hanging clothes lines across the cabin and washing their underwear in the sink...

I, too, have long, thick hair...I bring my own dryer. The ship's are NOT good, IMO!

I guess you aren't reading about the blow dryers and blowing a circuit.. if it says not to plug one in, why would you disobey? I have long hair and have never had a problem on the Breakaway getting it dry.

Just an FYI .. NONE of the aft facing Penthouses on the Pearl hold 4 passengers, they ALL hold 3.. there are 2 forward facing penthouses that hold 4 --- 10500 and 10000 the rest hold 3 (it's because of the jut out that there is a double sofa bed)

All of this information is available on the deck plans which are open for view to anyone... so there is no reason that is should have come as a surprise that the cabin held 3...

I'd always have them available when booking to check on my own where the cabins are how many they hold.

Lol ... looks like it. I will never refer to that again. They should like that to CC :cool: The answers would be so much better !

I've seen plenty of wrong answers on CC ....remember... not every person can answer every question...we all have different areas of knowledge..... not even people in the call center an NCL know ever single answer to every single question... people do their best to help..

We are sailing on Celebrity Summit June 26. I also checked out what was in Bermuda while we are there. No Breakaway.

 

Hmmm, seems like Breakaway is doing a mystery cruise to Nova Scotia that week. Fine by me.:D

The Breakaway is chartered during that week...

Just off the Sky.

 

Very brief review for now.

Ship is in great condition and well kept. Crew was awesome

We had the All inclusive Drink plan. Worked out well especially if you tipped $1.

Awesome Dining room staff From Mr Collins to Waitress Ni to Asst Waiter Milton.

Great stateroom Attendant

 

Food was terrible. Had three good meals. One was breakfast. The other two were Steak Chimichurry and the Prime Rib.

Embarkation was very unpleasant. They scheduled us for 1030am. Finally started to board at 1150am.

Room Service is $7.95 added charge.

 

For a last minute quickie vacation it was fine. Would not be our first choice. This was our 33 cruise, Fourth on NCL. We booked this because our already booked cruise was cancelled with another line.

 

Comedian was also very good. Other shows - not so much.

Just a couple of notes.. the check in time and boarding time is different.. the ships most always start to board about noon... the room service charge has been in place for a year.. food is subjective so I never rely on others comments... I've seen a great improvement in the food over the past couple of years.. if the new menus aren't on the Sky yet, they will be coming... also as a seasoned cruiser you know that most of the staff in the terminal is not from the cruiseline..

keep deck 9 they have the biggest balconies and you have both sun and shade..higher decks have much smaller balconies and noise from Spice H20

Same here! LOL. I know it doesn't sound like that big of a deal to most people, but those phone calls about kill me. :o

 

 

 

Thank you for taking a look! Those are the dates I can't make reservations as well. If I recall correctly, 3/11 was an issue, too. It must just be a coincidence that I have shows booked on those evenings. We'll have to compare notes at the meet and greet and see if we've been able to iron it out. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks!

why do they "kill" you, I've always found the telephone agents at Norwegian to be very friendly and helpful?

if you get the UBP as a promotion, there is no obligation for the others to purchase a package.. last winter the promotion included soda packages for the other 2 but that ended in the spring.. now it's just the beverage packages for passenger 1 and 2.

We sailed in one on the Gem and loved the little added privacy and cover. No issue at all for us, I'd sail in one again anytime.

Hello All,

So THANK GOD i'm already booked for our 7 day 3/6/16 cruise R/T NYC on the Breakaway. The prices for an inside cabin just jumped $300 per person overnight....WOW that is huge...Is this the trickle down effect of FDR (Frank Del Rio) taking over...lol

 

I thought it would be better to wait to "scoop" up last minute savings as the cruise got closer to sail date...obviously the only "scooping" will be to the un-booked potential passengers having to scoop a lot more money out of their pockets.

 

This will be our first cruise as a family/ large group/ wedding at sea...and if things continue as is...I hate to say this will most likely be our last with NCL...we are longtime platinum Princess loyalists who were looking for a change...well so far..we got the change we were looking for..I cant tell you in the last 9 months of being booked how many policy/ onboard changes I have bear witness to....and I didn't even step foot on the NCL ship yet...

 

Is anyone else seeing this pricing arbitrage on their already booked cruises? i guess the new motto is to book as early as possible..that way NCL gets to hold on to your deposit for a much longer period thus collecting millions in short term interest on a grand scale...

 

Stay tuned in March....I cant wait to give my review!!!!!

 

Enjoy the weekend...

-Mark

March from NYC is always like that... if you want to sail from NYC during spring break you better be one of the first to book...